The Unbearable Lightness Of Being...Chris Allan

Deep into the second block weekend, after a couple of weeks of busy at work, I finally managed to get to see physio extraordinaire Chris Allan. I had to take a coffee and a La Cucina muffin, because I don't think he realised how messed up I actually am. I put my neck out a couple of weeks ago, the week before the Prince Albert race, and have had this constant headache, as well as I can't turn my head to the right, I kind of have to swivel from the hips. I think its stress related, and running with a pack has not helped the situation. My ankle, more specifically my achilles has been noticeable lately as well. It was kind of funny because half way through the session, Ryan popped in to get some stuff and they were chatting as I writhed in agony as Chris had to practically get up on the table to get enough leverage to get my back clicked back into place, and the last part where he struggled to get my neck to click at the end - but the difference after was so noticeable, I slept through last night for the first time in MONTHS - probably also because I hadn't gone to sleep the night before because of a problem I had with the house - loooong story. The sessions so far in the block weekend have been okay, but tomorrow's long run lies like a mountain before me - no pun intended, we're going to climb Llundudno Ravine and head across the Twelve Apostles to MacClears and then back into Hout Bay - its going to be a tough one - have to concentrate on my nutrition to see if I can overcome the recent bouts of nausea.

Blocking!!

Howzit

A good start to block week. 3hrs with packs. We ran Chappies and the Constantia Green Belt. I must say i really enjoyed it. Its really cool to have built up endurance to a point where you can go out for a long time and still finish strong. I think our pack weight is up to about 9kg's.

Tommorrow is gonna be a bit of a pack run with friends ....the usual suspects ... and then Greenbelt a little later on.. I think we have to be careful not to push too hard....coz Sat is gonna be heavy!!! hahaha

Next week we are gonna be up in PE to watch Ironman. It oight to be good fun...but i think its gonna hurt my heart a bit not to line up at the start.

Chat tommorrow

Chow 4 now

R

Have to change the title now after hearing the news, 270km not 250km.

Mid week

I am pretty much eating everything I can lay my hands on - I am just hungry ALL the time. Been keeping myself busy with some swimming and gym, spent sometime on the dreaded spin bike yesterday morning and a long/short run last night at the club.
Its weird how all of the sudden its become so much darker so soon, and so much colder. I ran in a long sleeve last night, and the usual burden turned into a bit of a blessing. It's quite sad to see summer bleeding away slowly, but I guess winter has its own advantages and disadvantages. The one thing I enjoyed about trail running last season was it never ever bothered me if it was raining while I was running, sure I got cold, but I remember cycling in the wet and it was terrible!!!!!

Pre Block Week

Howzit Guys

Its been a pretty non eventful week so far mainly because we have a Block (4 days in a row of big distance) starting on Thursday. We can look forward to about 15 hours of running. I have been thinking about routes and what we should do. Yesterday was Club run - Andie and I did about a 7km warm up before hand..... and ended on about 18km. The funny thing is that now days an 18km run feels as if I am running 5km. :)

I got a little news from the Sand Crab that apparently we can expect alot of sand running(what? in a desert? Sand!! Cant be) & dunes in the 4 Deserts - Namibia. Hahaha. Another bit of useful info is that the race in going to be about 270km...20km further than expected. Apparently on the web site there is a Google map with some co-ordinates. I'll check it out and post it.

This week up to Thursday I am mainly going to swim and gym to keep the blood flowing.

Chow for now

R

Crossroads

It's photos like these that sometime really put things into perspective.
I haven't blogged in a while, probably because I'd pull the whole world into my own little black hole of despair - yes, I lean towards the dramatic.
Its been a rough last couple of weeks, personally and in terms of training.
On the training front, I ended up being very disappointed with my race in Prince Albert, its not the end of the world, I realise that, but you know how sometimes when things are weird, a mole hill looks pretty much like a mountain, even if they are the Swartberg and it's midnight and you're vomiting the entire contents of your stomach down the cliffside. I even managed to black out at one point when I tried to run, from weakness, from shame who knows. I managed to start running again after what seemed like an eternity in the darkness, alone with the real Ghosts of the Swartberg. Its a bit frustrating really, all I had wanted to do was say, OK that was the best I could do. Anyway, water under the bridge now - it's just one race.Right?
The thing is though, I seem to be building up a history of "strange" occurances during my races, I train hard, text book in fact, but on race day, if something will go wrong, and let's face it, when you start to do something over two hours things are bound to go wrong. I almost pulled out of the bike on IronMan SA with cramping so bad I couldn't actually turn my cranks,I started vomiting uncontrollably during the run at IronMan Brazil, I snapped an ankle during Tuffer Puffer, something I still don't think I actually got over completely, it was also one of the first times something bad happened that I could not overcome and finish. Now I get sick AND black out, which begs the question, if these were only one day events and I struggled to finish, what on Earth would make me think I am actually going to get past day two of Namibia? I've thought alot about this, it's taken a huge effort to get to the point where I could have entered, I thank QlikView for this, and I thank Rob for firstly listening to all my crap and also for all the training experiences that we've shared as well as all the amazing people I have met as a trail runner. I had made up my mind that maybe it's not worth even going, if there's a more than just a likely chance that I am not going to finish. Maybe I need to separate the race from the other stuff that's happening in my life.
I thought about how Rob and I did the big climbs, and how strong I felt and that even though THAT was how I was meant to run and couldnt, the fact remains is that is how I CAN run...its just that I don't often get a chance to prove it. To myself. And then everything just gets lost. Kind of like me.
Sorry if this is a bit "out there".

Wolverine

hahaha - well after strict instructions from Chris to keep runs flat and easy, plus dodging the temptation of Linda Dokes hill session ... I listened!! Saturday started at Silvermine where Andrew and I watched the Ironman athletes doing some laps.... then the Sand Crab joined us and we were off. Level 5 contour path for starters ... then the River path....then back to...yawn....level 5. The good news is that my calf didnt hurt. I could feel it though. It worked out to be a good run and i was quite tired at the end but really happy that i could run.

Sunday - a road & trail combo. Still tried to keep it flat.... this is big ask if u live in hout bay... there arent any. Anyway....ran to fish on the rocks then up chappies (flatish..haha) and then along a trail back down. We finished off with some work along valley road.

Finally we ended the run @ Nandos - haha double chicken burgers all round!!! I'll check with Chris tomorrow but hopefully i'll be allowed back on the hills tomorrow.

It was very quite on the roads i guess because Argus is over and Ironmanners are tapering - 2 weeks left. We did bump into Lisa Baumann surging up Chappies looking very strong...I think she is gonna kick ass @ Oceans this year.

Chow 4 now!!

R