• Run
• Start Gym
• Do not drink carbonated drinks during the week other than special occasions and weekends
• No sweets during the week
• Only one sugar in my coffee (non if filter)
• Use only low fat milk

The one thing that coincided nicely with this was the start of an informal boot camp started by some friends at Church. Keeping the activity up with a group of friends made a huge difference.

I did get injuries, especially from running, but then I just switched to swimming and more gym, and later on cycling.

For a time I concentrated mainly on weights during the winter months, then the triathlon bug bit me and I got a bike

So here is a graph of my weight loss of the year. enjoy.

Currently I am sliding between 81 and 79 depending on how much running and cycling I do.

Now that is amazing.

Of particular interest was the gears setup. Also They are not perfect even after the service. I wonder if any bike is perfect.

Pants

Anyway, my bike and I were off and then I turned around after 1km to turn my pants around. What an stupid thing to do, lol, but can you imagine how difficult it is to take them off and put them on correctly at 5am with shoes on? My goodness, it took 3 attempts.

Tube

The ride was easy, that was the point. At about 17 km there was a thumbp, thumbp, thumbp. Looking down there was the evidence – a flat rear tire. Took 10 mins to change – hmmm I need to practice.

Stupid Car

Only a few kilos from home there was an off ramp up to the University just before a set of traffic lights. A car passes me while I am slowing down for the lights up ahead, it does not seem to know what it is doing – first it looks to be turning then suddenly it stops and indicates. I had to slam on the breaks skidding up to the car. I am not going to make it so I turn the wheel and fall just short, taking the fall on my left arm. The bike made contact with the car but not as hard as my elbow did with the ground. Other than that only my chain came off.

What if I was not slowing down or I was not as quick on the brakes as I needed to be?  One other time I was forced to slam on the breaks as I was hurtling down a hill at 50km/hr when a car just turned into my path – fortunately then I was far away enough to steer away as well.

Anything like this happened to you? Got any crazy stories?

KH&*^(&*^#YG#&*#I@KL)))@)J@J@&(*^%@

</flameInhibitatorOn>

Why does my calf just disintegrate sometimes? There is so moment in time that I can point to and say ‘ouch’, just a slow crumbling that has a hazy start and a loooong drawn out end.

I understand the 10% rule, I am careful, I cross train, I run more towards the forefoot.

But no, one calf has to be lazy and spiteful; getting me to stop by breaking itself down.

It is as if I am not allowed to run for longer than 1.5hrs at a time. Seems as if I have to run 3 times a day to get the proper training distances in and then surprise my calf on race day with “Yeah! you though you had me made, pah!”

For now I’ll just be careful, does not make sense to stop – if I don’t run for 3 weeks I’ll just be unfit the next time is happens.

I can’t really afford Compression stuff so tight socks and ice will just have to do for now.

frustrated.

Last year

In the last year I have clocked the following kms and hrs:

• Swim 81.50 km, 33hrs 09mins
• Bike 1768.90 km, 67hrs 27mins
• Run 483.80 km, 46hrs 53mins

This does not include all the rowing, hiking, using the elliptical etc, things I do to warm up and re-rehabilitate.

My biggest highlight of 2011 was definitely JailBreak. Part of me regrets not completing the maximum distance, but then again I would not have finished as strong and as confident. JailBreak, for me, has really boosted my confidence that I can easily complete a half Ironman.

Goals this year

• Do well in 11Global
• Trail Run more, love it!
• Pretty much double my mileage, at least.
• Improve my swim times. It is a struggle to get below 20m/km without burning out.
• Complete a Marathon
• And of course – an Ironman

It is going to be a struggle with family work and finances, and of course injuries, hmmm. But it is going to work out – I just know it deep inside me.

It was a stunning venue, held a couple hours before Sunset. Pity there were not many photos taken, no of me, but here are some photos to check out …

Find more photos like this on The Trail Series
The course was extremely tricky at times and steep enough to through my Heart Rate into 100% forcing me to walk :O – over 70% of the time my Heart Rate was in the 90% to 100% range (that was over an our, hectic)
Well tricky or technical, however you want to phrase that, is a completely subjective term I use with my limited experience. In the end there was about 551m height gain (anything over 500 I deem as mountainous, ha ha ha).

My Pace was about 7.16min/km which was no bad considering my experience and the terrain. Anything less than 7 on a course like this would be respectable (so that is what I will be aiming for next time).

Unfortunately I rolled my ankle twice (same one) first not so bad in the middle of the course and then again badly just a few 100 meters from the end. I am, however, recovered from that and running again – phew.

Next time I won’t take so much liquid with me (can get quite heavy), start more in the front (it was a bit difficult to pass on the narrow roads and single tracks), and get someone to support me at the race really needed that after rolling my ankle and my car being quite far away (for ice and the recovery drink)

This is something that I would buy if money was not an option.
Very nice.
Check the video out…

This is a pilot teazer for The African Attachment’s documentary entitled ‘Wandering Fever’ based on the story of South African Ultra-Marathon and desert runner, Ryan Sandes.
www.wanderingfever.com
Music by Signpost.

It was raining, the drops pitter-pattering down in some alien Morse code that translated to “Go back Home and sleep”. It was 06:20am and I was the first one there, and no I was not going to listen.
As people began to arrive I made my way to small tree that they were taking shelter under, there I signed in – I think the sign-in book was completely soaked by the end.
Man alive I was thankful for my arm warmers – even useful beyond early morning cycling (I did not bring a wind breaker).

The previous day I had bought a Salomon’s Twin Belt that holds 2 x 600ml bottles and space for other things. Carrying a single bottle by hand was just not a good idea on a slippery mountain trail. Needless to say I was grateful have the extra hydration and an energy bar for this 3 hour trail run in the rain.

Not having run with a group before brought on a bit of apprehension with the thought that I should hold back. Ummm, that lasted for a bout 10 meters. Soon I was in the lead group in what I thought to be a average pace (usually I blunder up into some direction and then scamper about looking for the path in amongst the foliage).

The run was awesome. There was lots of stops and waiting – while that was frustrating at times it was great just to take a few moments and enjoy the environment (it did not have to be a race). Granted there was no view to speak of because everything was covered in cloud.

A lot of the trail was difficult – according to my limited experience – especially because of the slippery rocks and board walks; I even slid on the dirt road, :O
Once we had to cross a pool of water where a small waterfall was gushing down onto the rocks, two of us took the chance and leapt off a tree branch to clear the water. While this avoided getting my feet wet, it was pointless because all the flora that hung over the path held more water than anything else.

Maybe next time I should wear calf guards of some sort so that they can protect my poor legs from all the spiky plants. Although I am not sure they would have lasted, lol.

The run down was a mix of careful slipping and gung-ho dashing. In the end we sprinted much of the last kilometre or so; it was exhilarating.

Map and Profile

Swim

The Swim went well, if a bit choppy. It seemed that the decision to allow wetsuits was borderline which had me worried because the added buoyancy of the wetsuit was taking away some of my apprehension. In the end wetsuits were allowed, phew.
I was out of the water after 24 mins which was pretty ok – I know I am not a fast swimmer (something I need to work on). Fortunately I was was not kicked in the face, lol, but I did get an elbow into my goggles which caused me to choke on some water – not so funny. Somehow I managed to swim into the rope at the first bouy, that did make me laugh in a semi embarrassed kind of way.
My take home on the swim leg was that it was a lot less terrifying that I made it out to be – next time I can give it 10% more.

Cycle

This was where I knew I had to give the extra effort to take the pressure off on the run. The wind intimidated me somewhat, however I knew that it would work for me as well as against me – s0 all I needed to do was work clever. In the end I was pleasantly surprised by my time. This was quite a flat course which helped a lot, but I just don’t know how to get an average of 30km/hr – a golden goal for me. Will have to add some speed training and sacrifice all the hill training I do.
Considering where I am now with road and trail running this is an area that will probably be my strongest at the next event – 11Global? Watch this Space.

Run

The run was always a big worry for me because I have been struggling with the left calf. I strained it from over training – a case of too much too quick. So my goal was to take it easy, which I did. In the end my pace was what I normally hold to on an easy run.
In spite of all the brick training I did and the knowledge that my legs would be heavy off the bike, I could not shake that heavy feeling. Also by the time I entered the run leg my stomach was a bit sore. The stomach pain will have to be put down to a few differences in my diet the night before (the lasagna was a bit too cheesy?) and the GU Chews that I don’t normally use.

My Transition Bucket

And to inspire me as I made my change overs in the transition areas. There were family photos on the inside with notes of encouragement on the inside

Conclusion

There was no doubt about it; Jailbreak was hard and more so because of the wind. I know that next time I will improve, and I know next time I will do the Maximum.
Stick with me on my journey and you may see me do an Ironman