TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE

Without a race planned for the weekend I started thinking of where to run, and the mountain was calling, I ran enough road last weekend...

It's been hot this week and my thoughts turned to the dam for a swim. Silvermine or Table Mountain... With so many paths open to me I kept an eye on the mountain as I rode to work and while I sat in the office (yes I can see the Front Table out my window).

I started to think, start at UCT and head up Newlands Ravine, pop over the saddle and follow the contour path across the face of the mountain before dropping down to the Pipe Track which would take me to Kasteels, the Dams for a swim and down Skeleton into Kirstenbosch before heading back to UCT.

On paper it sounded amazing so I mailed a friend to join me, but while writing the mail I thought it might be a little long (4hours + of running) so I mentioned in the mail that maybe a trip up India Venster and then through The Valley of the Red Gods to the Dams... I was getting excited.

I was going to be alone... My friend was running a race: Run The Roodeberg  so I looked it up and thought maybe I should run on a new mountain (To Boldly Go Where I Haven't Run Before...) After an e-mail or two to the organizes I found out I wasn't the only person thinking it would be a nice mountain to run on, in fact the race was full, so I wasn't getting in!

Never might I still had my mountain and I didn't have to race, so I could enjoy the route.

Starting at UCT I looked up:

Early morning sun

That's where I was heading, up through UCT to Rhodes Mem and then up to the contour path...

A bit of flat on the Contour path

15min later it was time to head up Newland Ravine... 1.2km and 380m climb later I was in the saddle!

The saddle is a little over grown in places and as I made my way across to the otherside I decided that my shortened route was still going to require just too many hours away from my lovely wife, so...

I did the next best thing, headed up the Devil! (leaving the other route for another day!)

It only 1km to the beacon at the top, so I hit the split button and started to climb... I wasn't moving like a champ, but more like a three-toed-sloth and it took me all of 16:53 to reach the top (another 314m climb) some 80min since I had left UCT. I wasn't the only person up there and I had to move away from the beacon to get some alone space:

Should have been up an hour earlier to watch the sunrise!

A group of school kids (about 30 boys) had been eating breakfast as I got there and then left before I could, so I sat for a bit to give them a head start before I took off...

Not wanting to have to overtake them on the downhill I stopped at the lower beacon:

Cape Town...

Table Mountain

Cape Town

Then it was time to head down...

Head to turn back for my phone!!!

The down hill took another 16min I wasn't taking any chance as I was alone and safty come first! I wasn't going to drop straight down Newlands, the way I had climbed up, but I turned right and headed round the Devil on a couple of the path I will be racing on come Oceans Trail.

Last picture

From there it was on to the King's Block House and down to my car at UCT...

OK so lets see what Garmin said about this run:

Distance:           15.14km (not long for a long run!)
Time:                 2h20:57 (that's not very fast!) I also spent another 65min taking pictures and sitting around!
Elevation Gain:  1540m

P.S. I ran a flat 15.5km on Sunday that only took an hour!

LEGS CALLING FOR A REST

The weeks roll into months and the year is over... so while it's been an easy year I might have picked it up just enough to earn a rest week. 

Let's look at the last three weeks:

Saturday 20th saw me running up to the dams and I knocked off another 17km on the Sunday... this set me up for the week ahead:

Monday could have been an easy 10 but after 5km we did 10 x 6sec steep hills (I call it a plyometric session), then it was back to the track for 3km at marathon pace...

Tuesday... this was big, in fact the session was so scary I shortened the warm up to only 2.5km. So what scared us... 25 x 400m...  We had to earn Christmas dinner!

Christmas dinner with the family was filling my Christmas eve so I only had time (and legs) for an easy 8km before work...  Yes I was still at the office! 

Christmas day... just like any other little boy out there I was up at first light, but not to look under the tree, I was fitting a run in before church. Nothing to big just up the Green Belts, up Cecelia and up Nursery ravine! 8km of climbing had taken me to the top of the back table and now it was time to head back!

Santa's on his way...

After the 9-o-clock service it was time for me to cook Christmas lunch... I had lamb and chicken on the weber, and the weber under an umbrella (it was raining)!!!

With Christmas over I met some friends at Constantia Nek and popped up round the dams to burn off Christmas pudding!

Saturday and I thought I had better do a bit of running instead of climbing the mountain for a 3rd day in a row, so I run a rather undulating 19km!

Sunday long run... No Dawn and I went for a cycle!

The end of Chappies

 So I went for my run at midday! 16km easy...

So I left the road again!

Monday, the office was closed, so I took Dawn out for Breakfast... But we needed to run first!

I also have a beach to run on!

Tuesday 30 With the year running out of days I headed to the tack for a last session...

Another 25 x 400m

Wednesday so how does one end the year? I thought Lion's Head would be a good idea, and it was, but even at 06h30 there were to many people with the same idea.

While sitting there I saw the Table was set...

So I popped over and headed up India Fenster!

Only 16km, but 2h25 and 1300m climb...

     Oh if that wasn't enough I still ran the 8km race in the evening with Dawn!

Thursday and the start of a New Year... I headed out from home and up Skeleton. I was really slow, but after a quick swim in the dam I headed down Nursary.

Working on my tan!

Friday, my friend Mark met me and we went for a little cycle... Well it was a little cycle for him, 80km seemed a long way to me!

Saturday... I run ran 5km to ensure the legs still worked (they didn't which didn't bode well for Sunday!)

Sunday, and the first Race of the year, Bay to Bay 30km... Maybe I went out to hard, but it was very hard work after 15km and I wasn't flying when we hit the down hill to the finish...

The legs were calling for a rest!

So I have listened and taken this last week easy only 3-5km a day.

 (that was till Saturday when I hit the mountain again...)