I’ve been meaning to write this race report all week but things have been pretty hectic so here goes. Last Sunday the 28^th of November I did my second triathlon, the Tshwane African Cup at the Pretoria West Power Station. If I had seen this picture before I entered I don’t think I would have.

Where we swam at the Pretoria West Power Station

I’m sure there are better venues to have a triathlon in Pretoria. The water wasn’t the cleanest I’ve swum in to be dead honest I’m worried I might have a pair of boobs growing out my back in a few years from now.

As far as the race goes, I wasn’t planning on racing really hard with my first half Ironman distance triathlon in just a couple of weeks from now. What I planned to do was swim like I normally do, slam the bike and then take the run really easy. Swim wise I was happy with my performance; I was out of the water in 30 minutes flat (according to my Garmin the swim was just over 1600m). I have been battling with a left shoulder niggle and wasn’t able to pull as hard as I normally do with my left arm so I kept going off course and pulling slightly to the left. I also received my first right hook in the mouth in an open water swim.

The bike went as expected to. I really made a point of working on my nutrition on this ride because I really need to get better at eating and drinking on the bike especially as I head into some longer distances. In saying this I dropped my water bottle about 2kms into the ride. I normally carry a bottle of USN Epic Pro and a bottle of water. So my clumsiness wasn’t really a train smash but I do like having water so that I can was down the gels I use. I’m not a huge fan of the aftertaste the gels leave. I got off the bike in just over 1:08 (an average of 32km/h), time wise it looks great but the cycle was almost 4km shorter than it should’ve been.

The run was a four lapper around the dam we swam in. I ended up running a 61minute 10km which I’m happy about (the run was slightly short too). I took it really easy on he run and just hung in there for a final finishing time of 2:43, 18 minutes quicker than my first Olympic distance triathlon. I really need to work on my though moving forward if I want to improve my times. Swim wise I am not going to win any races but I am more than competent in the water. As far as the bike goes it’s probably my strongest discipline and not many people passed me on the bike in this race but the guys and girls I was getting off the bike the same time as were doing sub 50 minute runs. I think almost everyone passed me on the run!

I had a good race but in general but don’t think I’ll do this one again in the future. As I mentioned before there HAS to be a better venue in Pretoria to do a triathlon. Secondly the organization wasn’t great. We started 20 minutes late. A couple of times on the cycle the marshalling wasn’t great, headed towards a few intersections and wasn’t sure if we were going left right or straight. Thirdly I don’t mind paying high entry fees for races if you’re getting value for money for your entry. Bear in mind that in order for me to race on weekends I need to take the day off work (Which costs me a days income because if I don’t work I don’t get paid) so generally races cost me a lot more than the average competitor. The entry fee for this one was R230 and we didn’t get much for our entry fee. We got a pair of socks in our goodie bag and not a medal in sight at the end. Glad I did it for the training but won’t be going back and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else to do in the future.

Here is the data my Garmin 310XT recorded for my race:

I never mentioned it to anyone, except my wife, but the story just got a whole lot funnier so I thought I would share.

I just got back from the Kruger Park on the weekend after a 10 day holiday with the family. I managed to get a couple of runs in while I was there (in the camp of course – you couldn’t pay me enough to run in the park on my own). As always I used my Garmin 310XT on my training sessions to monitor my session. After what was supposed to be my second last run in the bush I hit the showers. We were camping so the ablutions were obviously communal.

The day we were scheduled to head home I wanted to go for one last run. I couldn’t find my 310 though. It was absolutely nowhere to be found. We literally packed everything up and didn’t come across it. I then retraced my steps to when I last used it and remembered the shower. I could clearly remember taking it off in the shower, putting it on the window ledge and thinking to myself “do not leave it there when you’re done”. I obviously had. I was sick to my stomach. I went back and it was gone. I asked the cleaners if they had seen it and they all said they hadn’t. I sent my son up to reception to see if anyone had handed it in. Once again to no avail. I was feeling more and more down. I love my 310 and I couldn’t imagine training without the damn thing.

As we were about to leave the camp site after packing everything up a gentleman arrived on a golf cart. In his hand was my 310. I nearly kissed him. Really. It actually crossed my mind because I was so happy. He was from housekeeping and said that one of his guys had found it in the shower and handed it in. I was so relieved having had it returned.

Its a great story of honesty and integrity triumphing over evil. It would have been so easy for whoever found it to try and sell it off and make a little bit of extra cash.

The saga continued today though when I dumped all the info onto Garmin Connect from my recent travels. I have been away on and off for the last month and haven’t had time to dump the data. I was looking at some of the training I had done on my travels. The run along the promenade in Cape Town with my best mate James. The workouts I did in Nelspruit and Witbank. Going through the data from my trip to Kruger I noticed a workout of over 3 hours. I found that strange as I am still nursing my itb and I only ran while I was in the Kruger. But I definitely didn’t run for more than 3 hours. So I opened up the workout for a closer look. Turns out who ever found it decided to try it out before they handed it in to housekeeping.

Below is the workout as I found it on Garmin Connect

Bailey Schneider and I were talking about the Garmin range of sports GPS units on the afternoon drive today. As part of the entry process for the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge Highveld Stereo are giving away 20 Garmin Transitions packs, but only if you enter before 1 August 2010. You can enter by visiting the Cycle Challenge website. In that pack is the Garmin Edge 500 cycling GPS unit. I don’t train with that particular unit, I use the Garmin Forerunner 310XT which I absolutely love, but the functionality of the two units are very similar. If you love gadgets you will love training with a Garmin. Below are the details of the ride I did on Sunday afternoon. Take a few minutes and analyse the data to see what nifty little gadget it is: (by clicking on the view details button at the bottom)

Another long one in the bag. It wasn’t pretty but I was reminded yesterday on twitter some days you’re the kicker and some days you’re the ass. A marathon is tough even if you have a great run. I’ve only done three but I learnt the most out of this weekends Wally Hayward marathon. I had a serious lesson in vasbyt.

The race was a two lapper and according to the nedbank 2010 race guide its one of the easiest marathons you can hope to run. I think they must have been talking about a different race to the one I ran on Saturday.

The blister that I picked up at the Loskop Marathon 2 weeks earlier had kept me off my feet for a week and a half. I did a 5km time trial on Wednesday in a pb time and felt ok so decided I’d give the marathon a go. I took a bit of comfort knowing that it was a two lap race and if my foot wasn’t holding up I’d call it quits after 21km.

I felt a bit flat the morning of the race and although there was a huge threat of rain it thankfully remained dry. I started off at a pace of just under 7 minutes per km and felt ok for the first five to ten kilometres. The foot was tender but it seemed to be holding up ok. By the time I reached the 12km mark I was ready to call it a day. I had an internal argument going on, one part of me saying 21 it is and the other saying finish what you started. As we got closer to the 21/42km split I became more and more indecisive.

As I got to the split I turned right and watched the half marathon runners head towards the finish line. I’m not sure knowing what I know now if I’d do it again! By the time I hit the 28km mark I was broken. Both my feet were really sore and I was convinced I had developed some more serious blisters. As you do on these long runs you tend to go through patches and while you go through a rough bit now you know it will get better, you just need to hang in there.

I was blown away by the amount of runners that had seen my picture in the May 2010 Runnersworld and it really helped having their encouragement along the way. There were two patches in the 30′s where I got swept along with a couple of guys that helped keep my mind off the pain in my feet.

I managed to push through and finish up in a time of 5:18. What I took out of this race is sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and push through the pain. I was definitely the ass at the Wally Hayward but I’m proud of myself for not taking the easy way out and heading to the finish at the split. I’m learning that long distance running is very much a mental game and once you start taking the easier option it’s that much more difficult to push on the next time things get tough.

Below are the details of my run at the Wally Hayward Marathon on Garmin Connect:

My preparation for the 2010 Loskop Marathon was not ideal. A constantly niggly left foot after the Vaal Marathon 6 weeks earlier never allowed me to do the sort of mileage in the build up that I would have liked to have done. I also decided to change the shoes I was running literally one week before the race. This in hindsight probably wasn’t the wisest decision either. In the week prior to the race with the new shoes my tendonitis cleared up so I decided to risk running the 50kms in the new shoes.

We decided not to sleep over in either Middelburg or at the Loskop Dam the night before as I was on air until 7pm on the Friday evening. We woke up at 2am and were on the road to Middelburg by 2:30am. An early start to what was going to be a long day.

The Start of the 2010 Loskop Marathon

By the time we reached the start I was a bundle of nerves. As it started to get light the 4000 runners began the trek to the loskop dam. Earlier on in the week I had spoken to my good mate Dave Walters from MPower FM in Nelspruit and it turned out MPower FM was the media partner for the race. We were going to try and do a couple of live crossings from the road and the first one was as the gun went.

My goal was to go out until halfway at just under 7 minutes per kilometre until halfway and then take the rest of the race as it comes. It all went according to plan. About 5 km in I got swallowed up by Vlam’s sub 6 hour bus and decided to stick with them for as long as I could. I actually finished the Vaal Marathon in the bus and that’s how I qualified for Comrades 2010. That’s why it wasn’t vital that I finished under 6 hours in this one but the goal was to spend as much time as I could on the road to get a decent long one in the legs.

Peter Swanepoel and myself about 8kms in

Halfway - 25km to go to Loskop Dam

Looking back down Bugger's Hill

The ball of my right foot started hurting about 20kms and I just thought it was the hardness of the new shoes. Turned out it was the start of a monster blister. More on the blister later though. Going down Kranspoort Pass hurt like crazy. That pass is steep and I took it very slowly knowing that I had enough time in the bag to finish regardless of what happened. After turning into the valley the road stretches out in front of you and you get your first glimpse of Loskop dam.

At the Marathon mark with my Garmin 310xt

There is one last ugly sting in the tail of the Loskop Marathon. Varaday’s Hill. If you’ve run it you’ll know what I mean. After 46km on the road, you’re tired, your body aches, you know you’re close to the finish and then you arrive at the foot of Varaday’s. It’s a horrible climb and is made worse by it positioning in the race. At the top of Varaday’s the view down to Loskop Dam is nothing short of spectacular and it then leaves you with a jarring 2km to the finish.

Looking back down Varaday's Hill

The view of Loskop Dam from the top of Varaday's Hill

I completed the race in 6:16 and some change and to be dead honest was knackered. First thing I did after getting my finishers medal, t-shirt and goodie bag was to find my family and take my shoes off. The blister on the bottom of my right foot was extremely sore. I’ll leave the story of the treating and subsequent lessons learnt from that blister for another post.

Generally I have only good memories of the 2010 Loskop Marathon. It was well organised and the 2011 Loskop Marathon is definitely one to pencil in the calendar.

I was so looking forward to the Spar Lantern 10km night race last night. It was rated as one of the best 10km races in the country last year. I wanted to take part as I had heard that it was well organised and the atmosphere was amazing with the entire route lit up by lanterns. After last nights race I have no idea why it was rated so highly.

I think why it was so bad last night was mostly because of the big field. The announcer mentioned after the race that there were over 4000 people taking part and that was what contributed to the absolute scrum that took place on the roads. The entire race is run on the Agricultural Research Council’s property in Irene. The roads are fairly narrow and not in the greatest condition. The lanterns were few and far between and the road surface was not great to negotiate in the dark.

There was only one table which was placed just after the 3km mark and the route then doubled back on itself and we passed the same table at around the 7km mark. The route doubling back on itself is the major problem of this race.

The 5km fun run/walk and 10km race start at the same time. It took us almost 11 minutes to do the first km (that is not including the 3 minutes it took to get over the start line. The reason for this was the unbelievable congested start with many people pushing prams and having small children with them. After the first kilometre things started to flow slightly better and we were sort of able to run. It was just after the 2km mark that things got really congested again because the leaders were now doubling back on the route and the already congested main field on two lanes of the road now got shunted into one lane. So the scrum continued. Things got slightly better when the 5km runners took a detour and the bigger race continued along its way. It was just the 8km mark that the 5km runners joined the route again and it was virtually impossible to run again (never mind push for the finish) once again we had to scrum our way through masses of people with prams and small children. The finish was not much better. As we approached there were tons of people standing on the road and I thought that was pretty cool the way they were supporting the runners. It was only then that I realised they were runners and the congestion in the finish chutes for the 5km had backed up to about 300m before the finish.

I think the organisers really need to have a serious look at the 2011 race. Either the field needs to be limited, the venue changed or the route dramatically altered so that the two races are separated and so that it doesn’t double back on itself. To be honest I don’t think I’ll be back in a hurry.

Other than that it was an enjoyable run. Its not the most difficult 10km run you will ever do as you can see by the route profile below (You can have a look a the entire race on Garmin Connect from the data I collected with my Garmin 310XT). I ran with an old friend, Gareth Edwards – sports anchor for the E News channel whom I hadn’t seen in ages. That boy is crazy fit. He is a pretty good cyclist and has just recently got into running. He did a 90km cycle in the morning, ran the race with me and hardly broke a sweat!

Berg en Dal 15km Night Race Route

The only downside of the route was that it was very dark in places that one couldn’t see the road surface but other than that the water tables were well organised and in particular the last table before the finish had a great atmosphere. A big thank you has to go out to the bloke who brought his bakkie and was blaring Robbie Wessels through the sound system. It was much appreciated and a road race in Krugersdorp just wouldn’t be complete with a Robbie Wessels song or two.

I didn’t break any records as far as my time is concerned but that wasn’t the objective of last nights run. All I wanted to do was get some time on my legs. I wanted to pace myself and have a comfortable run which I definitely did. As far as the time is concerned, I did it in 1:52 which is exactly the pace I wanted to do it in so I’m pretty chuffed. I’ve uploaded the details of the run that I recorded with my Garmin Forerunner 310XT onto Garmin Connect, have a look if you want to analyse my run in a bit more detail.

December has been one silly month! I am actually glad it is over to tell you the honest truth. I’ve been pretty slack updating you on the progress of my training but at least I haven’t been slack on the training. I seem to be recovering pretty well from my foot injury (although it has been playing up a bit the last couple of days again). I’ve managed to get a few 10km runs in the last two weeks which has been good preparation I think for the Berg en Dal 15km night race that is happening on 13 January. If all goes according to plan I will run another one on 20 January in Kempton Park and that will be great preparation for the Johnson Crane half marathon at the end of the month.

As always I’ve been training with my Garmin Forerunner 310XT and you can see what training I’ve done on Garmin Connect

It has been a pretty productive week as far as my training has gone. I am still battling with the tendonitis in my left foot but as the week has progressed my foot has improved. I’m still going for physio every day with Derrick Carter and he seems to be working some serious magic. I was able to run 4 times this week; Monday I did about four kilometres (on grass) without much pain during the run. Wednesday I ran 5 on the road with a little discomfort but was really sore later on in the day as I cooled down. On Friday I was able to run nine kilometres with no pain at all and on Sunday ran six and it felt fine.

I think we are on the right track and it looks like I’ll resume my training programme for Comrades 2010 within the next week or so. I’ve also been cycling on the days I haven’t been running so all in all it has been a pretty good and active week. Don’t forget that I record all my training using my Garmin Forerunner 310XT, you can follow my training at Garmin Connect.

The weather this week played havoc with my raining plans. With two weeks to go to the Roy Brown memorial half marathon I really wanted to run the 15km night race last Wednesday in Benoni just to see how I would cope with a slightly longer distance. I was really nervous the first half of the week leading into it, but Wednesday morning arrived and the weather was shocking. I decided not to risk getting sick by running in the cold and wet conditions. That left me with a huge dilemma as I still hadn’t been able to do a run longer than 10kms up until now.

I decided on Saturday after my weekend breakfast radio show to try and get in a 15km training run. I ran quite a difficult route and coped quite well I think. I was tired but felt that I could’ve done a bit more if I needed to which bodes well for the 21km. Friday night also saw the Krugersdorp Run/Walk for Life’s yearly prize giving. I was shocked and humbled to receive the most improved runner for 2009. I really wasn’t expecting to win anything so it was a pleasant surprise.

On a bit of a worrying note. I went out for a run on Sunday afternoon to try and get rid of some of the stiffness from the previous days 15km and have seemed to done something to my foot. I’m hoping its nothing to serious and some good rest and anti-inflammatories will be able to sort it out in the next 48 hours. All I know is that it is really sore if I put any sort of pressure on it. Don’t forget that you can follow training and progress for Comrades 2010 at Garmin Connect.