Sasol Half Marathon Report

This past Saturday I ran the Sasol Half Marathon at Sasolburg in the Orange Free State. Apart from getting married and going on honeymoon I’ve been battling with a pulled muscle below my ribs on the left side. So taking all of this into consideration I decided to do a very comfortable, slow run to see where I was in terms of running ability at this stage.

I thought I could be in for a tough run so I was glad when the weather and everything else turned out perfect on Saturday morning. The race started at 6AM which was perfect as well. Here in South Africa 6AM is the normal start time of races in summer which helps a lot on the warm summer days. I’ve done some races which started at 5AM as well.

Shortly after the start. Sorry for the blur but there were too many runners behind me to slow down or walk to take a photo.

There were about 2000 runners at the start. This included 10km, Half Marathon and Marathon runners. I started slow, chatting to many friends I saw for the first time this year. The race had plenty water points and was very well organized. I decided early on I’ll be back for the full marathon next year.

Water point early in the morning.

 Lots of evidence that it rained the night before.

I felt very good from the start but kept it slow and easy. The route is quite flat and fast with a gentle downhill for most of the first half. It would be easy to start too fast here. We ran towards the Sasol plant which is the reason the town of Sasolburg exists in the first place. The first 11km had no uphill at all…only flat and down.

 Running towards the Sasol plant.

That’s me with my super new red cap.

The water points were excellent and all the helpers were very friendly. They kept saying “see you next round” and even though I was feeling great, I was glad I was doing the 21km loop only once.

Great water points!

The whole race was run through the tree lined streets of the town. At some point we ran on the outskirts of town with some nice views of the farms and open land that surrounds the town.

Running on the outskirts of town.

The first mentionable hill was just after 14km, two thirds into the half marathon. The route is certainly easy and if you are well trained a good time can be run here. Altitude might put a stop to any PB’s (PR’s) though.

1st hill just after 14km

Top of the 1st hill (only two hills on the route).

I felt super all the way and could definitely have pushed harder, but I stuck to my plan of slow and easy to gauge myself at this stage of the year. Before I knew it I was at the 20km mark with 1.1km to go.

 I was happy to turn in for the 21.1 and not continue for a seconds lap.

The final kilometer even included some trail! Yay for that!

I felt really good as I ran into the stadium…

…onto the track…

…and to the finish.

I felt great when I crossed the finish and not tired at all. The pulled muscle also behaved and I was only aware of it the last few kilometers.

A nice medal and t-shirt after a great run!

All in all this was a great race and I felt really good the whole time. I am happy and will certainly start pushing up the mileage from this week onward.

Thanks for reading and have a super week everyone!

Friday Facts

Our one dog, Spiral, was hit by a car on Wednesday and is in hospital with a badly broken leg. He will spend the weekend there while they wait for the swelling to go down so that they can put the leg in a cast. We miss you Spiral!

I bought new running shoes yesterday. I went to buy another pair of Nike Pegasus 28, but bought the Nike Citius +4 instead. They are incredibly comfortable and fit my shape of foot perfectly. I’ll give some feedback once I’ve done some proper running in them.

I’m running the Sasol Half Marathon tomorrow morning. It is a 6AM start so I will be up early to get there in time. I have a non-running injury to a muscle on my left side just below my ribs. It’s been hampering my running like a broken rib would and I hope it will be fine for 21.1km tomorrow morning.

That is all from me at the moment, have a splendid weekend everyone!

Thank you and thank you and main 2012 goal

Two times thank you and then the news about my main 2012 running goal.

1st thank you everyone for all the good wishes and blessings for our marriage. It is all appreciated very much.

2nd thank you is for Jill who's Secret Santa package finally made it to Africa. I warned Jill about "Africa Time" and I was not wrong about that. The package I sent also made it to the USA last week.

Jill sent me some awesome goodies from Colorado. A lovely book! A great Rocky Mountains t-shirt, some Colorado playing cards, Colorado jelly beans and some stickers. Thanks Jill!

All of these goodies from Jill was sent to me to get me excited about my main running goal for 2012. That goal is to run the Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado in August.

Yes, I plan to take my lovely wife on a trip over the ocean and will combine this with a little mountain hike up Pikes Peak. I will of course be joined by Jill herself and she already convinced Ewa to come along as well. I'm sure there will be some good blogger meetup or even multi meetups during this trip.

So I am off to train very hard right now!

Have a super week everyone!

We did it!

Got married that is! This past Saturday I married the woman of my dreams.

You may kiss the bride...

Done!

On our way to a short honeymoon...very happy!

2012 New Years Race

Hi everyone! I wish you all the best for 2012. Sorry for being MIA for so long, but life is crazy at the moment with our wedding just a few days away.

Running is going well and I ran my first 2012 race on 2 January. I ran the New Year’s race at the Pretoria Botanical Gardens and had a very good time. Everyone was in great spirit and we all were just there to enjoy our first race of the year.

A few pics from the race:

Lovely venue for a race.

Starting my first race for 2012.

There we go!

We started inside the botanical gardens and ran to a gate at the top of the gardens. We then went out onto the road and ran around the outside of the gardens. It was a lovely, warm morning and everyone was in a very good mood at the beginning of the new year.

I ran with some good friends. Here is Samuel (green) and Anthony (Red).

  

I ran my butt off to get this photo of Anthony from the front. Usually I just see his back for a short while. I won’t mention the 80km he ran at the year to year race that finished the day before.

Samuel and Emmy, a good friend that is running her first marathon at the end of January.

This area of Pretoria is very hilly and we were soon reminded of this as we made our way around the top part of the gardens.

Proof that the fast guys also walk sometimes.

There are a few places in Pretoria where the roads are made from concrete and not the normal tar roads we have around the country. The reason is that on hot days the tar melts and run down the steep hills. So if you find concrete roads you know there is a very steep hill to get over.

Spot the runner… no, only walking here…

Going down. I prefer a steep uphill above a steep downhill like this.

We made our way right around the gardens and entered again at the same gate where we went out earlier. The gardens are really beautiful at this time of the year. We finished with a 2.5km loop through the botanical gardens.

Lovely place to run.

A last sting in the tail. More walking.

Finish!

I enjoyed the run a lot and was glad to do my first 2012 race. I was happy to receive my first medal for the year.

With that done I am now focusing more on my wedding that happens this Saturday (14 Jan). I will start my build-up for the longer runs of the year on 20 January. For now I’m just keeping a strong base.

Happy running everyone! May you all achieve great goals this year.

How I Peed On A Leopard

OK everyone. The 15th point of my previous post is explained below. Not that big a story but still one to tell...

How I Peed on a Leopard

Years ago I was fortunate enough to go on a 5 day hiking trip with a friend of mine. I had some contacts in the army that allowed us to do a hike on army property. The army bought 7 game farms and turned one into a military base. The other 6 were merged for later use but remained “untamed” for many years.

We decided to do a hike that would take us over the six game farms and just slept where we found a good spot. It was an amazing experience and we encountered lots and lots of game very close up. The best part was the feeling of total freedom we felt the whole time.

On the third day we decided to have lunch on top of a mountain with a spectacular view. My friend was busy preparing lunch and I was standing at the edge of a ravine admiring the unbelievable view. There was a ledge about 3m (9ft) below me that went all the way along the top of the mountain we were on.

I decided this ledge would be a perfect spot to pee on. Yep, I was a free man in my early twenties and this appealed to me…J So I did the P thing 3m down while admiring the great view. The next moment we heard a growl and a leopard suddenly got up right below me where I was doing the P thing…right on him! He got up with a growl, looked at me, and then walked away on the ledge…not pleased at all.

We didn’t hang around to see where he went or what he did next. We had our lunch an hour and a lot of kilometers later. I can’t remember if I completed the P thing or not. I can confirm that at least I didn’t do more than the P thing…it might have been close.

And that's how I peed on a leopard!

Thanks for reading! Have a super week everyone!

21 Random Things About Me

AJH at Age Groups Rock did a 21 Random Things About Me post a while back and I thought it a good idea to do the same. So here are 21 random things about me.

1. I am a very big stats fanatic.
2. I’m seen as quite the nerd.
3. I have very green fingers, everything I touch grow out of control.
4. I drink a lot of coffee.
5. I don’t drink tea at all…never!
6. Although I live in Johannesburg, I’m stopped very often on my way to work for cattle crossing the road. I love it!
7. I breed tropical fish and have literally hundreds of baby fish at home.
8. I love chocolate cake and sometimes bake my own for carbo loading before an important race.
9. I love chocolate milk and use it as my recovery drink.
10. Living in Africa is special for me.
11. I don’t like eating out and can easily skip restaurants for ever.
12. I love nature and being outdoors makes me very happy.
13. I love swimming but hate cycling so I stick to running.
14. I have completed 4 triathlons including one half iron man.
15. I accidently peed on a wild leopard once – true story!
16. The radio in my car has never been used although I use the CD player sometimes.
17. I finished my first cross country race with a broken arm.
18. I ran my second cross country race with my arm in a cast.
19. I’m the youngest of 4 children.
20. I don’t need much sleep and get by with 4.5 hours a day comfortably.
21. My best time for a marathon is 3:48.

Thanks for reading and happy running everyone!