Winelands Training Run: Sunday 31st October, 06:00

Just a reminder for this coming weekend's long training run in Stellenbosch.
We'll run 30-35km along the actual race route for the Winelands Marathon (race date 20 November, those who have not yet entered, you have until 11 November: http://onlineentries.mrpricesport.co.za/RaceInfo.aspx?RaceId=12)

Just in case anyone was wondering: this is not an official event and is not meant to be competition to the Plexus race in Durbanville on the same day. This is just me wanting to train for Winelands Marathon, on the race route, 3 weeks before the race and not being able to run on the Saturday. And being the friendly, social person that I am, I like company on my training runs. Especially all of you friendly folks :)

Just a word of warning - Sunday is predicted to be quite warm (27 degrees - summer is here!!), so bring along plenty of water! Sunscreen probably wouldn't hurt either, for those trying to avoid a typical runners tan (distinct sock-line, shorts-line and tshirt arms!)

Meet Sunday 31 October at 6am in the parking lot of Die Boord Spar, Rokewood Ave, just off the R44 in Stellenbosch (directly opposite the actual race venue, to make it easier to find and stick to the race route as much as possible)

Route Map

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Thursday, 28 October 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54616092

Thanks Hillbillies for another fantastic run this morning!! And a big welcome to Marguerite who joined us for the first time this morning! We hope to see you become a regular!

Sticking to the 'recovery week' theme, today was flat, slow and easy. Linelle and Marguerite hit it off right away and had a good chat the whole way. Jen and I took it easy and enjoyed our run too. While we didn't spot quite as many runners out this morning as on Tuesday, we still had loads of company on the road. We felt sorry for the poor motorists, trapped in their cars on their way to work - without first relaxing on a morning run with friends: that must be tough for them!

So that's another week just about done. I hope you've all got exciting plans for this weekend? Or at least take it easy and recharge for some more running next week!

For those of you I'll be seeing on Sunday morning at 6am - I hope you enjoy the long run. It's one of my favourite routes to run (but a bit far away for mid-week mornings). Bring lots of water, its promising to be a hot day on Sunday!

For everyone else, I'll see you guys on Tuesday morning again, 5:30am.


Have a lovely weekend!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Thursday, 28 October, 06:00

Good morning Hillbillies,

Just a reminder for tomorrow morning's run - 6am from Great Westerford, we'll do a similar route to yesterday (Tuesday), flat and easy, sticking to the 'recovery week' theme. We'll stick to 8-10km (cut out the loop around Rondebosch Common from our Tuesday run, and that's pretty much what we'll be running tomorrow).

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54413368

Thank you to Hillbillies Jen and Allen for their great company on our run this morning.

As promised, the route was flat, the pace easy. This is recovery week. Recovery from the tough last few weeks' running, and from the tough weekend races that many Hillbillies have taken part in. Recovery for the long run coming up this weekend in preparation for the Winelands Marathon in less than 4 weeks.

Route Profile

Below are some stats from this morning's run, which was a new route we made up as we went along, and turned out to be quite enjoyable! We started out along Main Road heading towards Town (skipping Dean Street hill, and setting the standard for the rest of the run to be equally flat), then turned down Belmont. A short way down Campground we headed off down Sandown Road all the way through to Milner/Belvedere.

Route Map

Up Keurboom, and soon we found ourselves back on Campground, having come full circle to Sandown again. By this time we realised that it was going-on 7km into the run and we hadn't stopped for water yet, so we bee-lined for the Shell and their Jogger's Tap. From there Allen and I decided to detour around the Rondebosch Common, while Jen went in the opposite direction and met us on our return trip, and we all headed off togther down Belmont and back along the Liesbeek River Trail. A very enjoyable and relaxing run, thanks for the fantastic company!!!

Thursday will be another flat, easy run - 8-10km as opposed to today's 12. Meet 6am in front of Great Westerford.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Tuesday Morning Run: 26 October, 05:30

Hi Hillbillies,

I hope you all had a good weekend?
Please join me for an easy run tomorrow morning at 5:30am, starting outside of Great Westerford.
We'll stick to a flat route, try to work in some Liebeek River Trail, and maybe once around the Rondebosch Common - take in some Cape Town landmarks while enjoying the fresh morning air and recovering from yesterday's tough Grape Run. Anyone wanting some speed work tomorrow are welcome to run ahead (Dy, Josh, Linelle - you guys are getting FAST!! Keep it up!), I don't think my legs will be capable of keeping up tomorrow so I'll be setting a slow and steady pace for those wanting an easier run.

12-15km. Easy pace. Flat route. Run time +- 90 minutes.

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Race Report: Constantia Valley Grape Run 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54300644

Firstly, well done to all the Hillbillies who ran the Grape Run Half Marathon yesterday. Definitely not an easy race, but well worth the effort!! If it wasn't for the unsteady footing most of the way, I'd have taken my camera along for the run. It is really beautiful out there, and there are parts of the race where the general public isn't allowed on any other day of the year. You can find photo's on VOB's website - at the moment they'll still have photo's from previous years' races, but hopefully soon this year's photo's will go up.

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Friday, 22 October 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53907337

Thank you to Linelle and Tanja for joining me on a run this morning. We had a great chat, pity the run was over so quickly!! Thanks ladies, it was great fun!!

Good luck to everyone doing the Grape Run on Sunday. I will be there for the Half Marathon, and I know that Tanja and Linelle will be there too. Anyone else running, come over and say hi if you spot any fellow Hillbillies before, during or after the race.

Most of all, enjoy!!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Thursday, 21 October 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53794277

Thank you Dy and Jen for a lovely run this morning. The pace was relaxed, except for a short sprint-session that last 200 or so meters up Riverside Road towards the M3 - Dy and I decided to add a bit of speedwork into our run, while Jen was happy just to keep up a good pace all the way. We were all a little tender still from Tuesday's long and hilly run (and bootcamp for some on top of that - well done!) but enjoyed this morning's leg-stretch.

The weather played along beautifully too - rain overnight left the air clean and crisp, but the only 'rain' we had during our run was droplets falling from the trees.

Tomorrow morning promises to be very similar - is anyone keen to join me for a 5K at 6am tomorrow morning? The route will be our regular 5K route - flat and easy, with the biggest 'hills' being the 2 railway bridges we cross (Belmont and Campground).

Who is doing the Grape Run this Sunday?

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53578810 

Big thanks to the Hillbillies who joined the run this morning - it was a tough one, but the route was scenic. The weather was a little iffy at the start, with the rain threatening to return at any moment (it was bucketing down earlier this morning, we were close to calling off the run because of the rain!), but we soon realised that there was blue sky peaking out between the clouds, and that the rain was done for the morning.
 

Jen had initially said she would join us until the 4km mark, where she would turn back and keep her run short. Dy and I managed to convince her to continue up to the top of the next hill (actually she didn't need much convincing at all!!). And then up the next hill. At Klaasens Road Dy and I continued on towards Monterey for a hilly detour, while Jen set of towards Kirstenbosch. We met up with her a short while later, and all 3 of us continued on through Kirstenbosch, with Dy leading the way and picking out a new route for us (hmm, where does this path lead? Lets find out!) Checking out the view at the same time, it was an amazing run!!!

We enjoyed the downhill cruise back home after all that climbing, taking it easy and enjoying the break.

We finished our run tired, hungry and happy, ready to face the day ahead.

Thanks Dy and Jen, that was a brilliant run!! And well done to Jen for your strong 13km's!! Hopefully we'll be seeing your for our Tuesday/Thursday runs more often!

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Our next run is Thursday morning 6am. Meet at Great Westerford - a little bit of rain, we'll still run, but a heavy downpour cancels. We'll do an easy 8K up to Stone Church and back. Ease into the weekend and Sunday's Grape Run

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Race Report: Meiringspoort Half Marathon 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53448581 

Some races are worth the travel out to the Klein Karoo - this is most definitely on of them!!

We started in the small town of De Rus, about 30km outside of Oudtshoorn along the N12, and caught an assortment of busses, taxis and cattle trucks to the start in the Meiringspoort Pass (it was a point-to-point race). We were dropped off at our various starting points (10km from town and 21km from town), and told to 'run on back now'.


The morning dawned clear and very cold, but very quickly warmed up to be a typical Klein Karoo day - I was regretting my long running kit by half-way point already, when the shade started running out.


The route was winding and fairly flat, with a gradual 200m descent between start and finish. There were a few 'speed bumps' along the way, with a nasy climb right at the very end as we re-entered De Rust and headed up to the finish line. Thankfully the final 100m was a lovely descent - I'd been gunning for sub-2h00 since around 15km mark, when I realised that my splits were a little quicker than I'd been planning for. The climb near the end nearly foiled those plans, but I managed to make up the few seconds I need on the final sprint and finished in 2h00 on the nose!

Definitely a race I would recommend to everyone to run at least once. The route is very easy, amazingly scenic, the organising club very thorough and well-prepared, involving the whole community with the race prep, and afterwards loads of braais, stalls, biltong, pancakes and beer for all. A very good excuse to get out of town for the weekend, kick back and relax. I can also recommend taking a drive back along Meiringspoort after the race (and a long shower to cool off) and stopping off at the waterfall - its an easy 2min walk from the road and absolutely worth the trip!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Thursday, 14 October 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52921139

Thanks Hillbillies for a great run this morning!! With 2 speedy Hillbillies as running partners today, I had a good speed-session. Dy is back in top form after a lightning-fast Gun Run this past weekend, and Rob is his usual speedy self.

We started at a comfy pace up Dean Street, and stretched our legs along Newlands Avenue. Heading up Kirstenbosch Drive Rob found a hidden energy store and flew up the hill, with Dy and I following close behind. Heading down Riverside, Dy and I had a bit of a race to the M3, temporarily leaving Rob behind, but he soon caught up and then overtook us - still having some energy left after we'd spend ours sprinting.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable run. Scenic, with little by way of vehicular traffic but quite a lot of runners out and about. I can see that summer is well on its way - mornings warm up quite quickly and all the 'fair-weather-runners' are coming out of hibernation and starting their summer running programmes. It's great to see so many people taking advantage of the good weather to spend some time outdoors.

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Some of the Hillbillies will be doing a 5K run tomorrow morning (Friday) at 6am, and for those who prefer sleeping in on a Friday morning, join us next week Tuesday for a longer run - around 14-15km - starting 5:30am from Great Westerford.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52804490

Having missed yesterday morning's run due to rain (which then cleared up within half an hour...), I decided to make up for it this morning with an equidistant run. I had to tweak the route a little - running solo I didn't want to run down some of the quieter back-roads that we enjoy as a group. I decided to combine two of our main routes to keep my distance up, and got in some good hillwork by sticking to Rhodes Avenue (M63) all the way from M3 to Kirstenbosch Top Gate - wow, that's a long climb!! I was rather glad for this past weekend's Gun Run - Kloof Road was good training for this morning.

My reward was a stop for some fresh sweet Kirstenbosch water at Rycroft Gate, followed by a peaceful meander through the Gardens, just making up a route and choosing paths at random.

Heading back I decided to hit our regular 'flat 8K' route - well the last 6km thereof. Water break at the Engen as usual (dodging a whole gaggle of businessmen with coffee and cigarettes in hand (the coffee smelled so good! but the smoke was NOT pleasant.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of runners and cyclists on the road at 5:30 this morning already - I passed at least 2 runners while I was head to Great Westerford just before 5:30. Another 2 ran past Westerford as I was exiting the building. And I lost count of how many people I crossed paths with along my route!! I don't know if it wassc the great weather, or just that everyone was having a good day, but every single runner, walker and cyclist I came across was smiling and friendly and all just seemed to be enjoying the great outdoors.

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I hope you'll all join me tomorrow morning for a scenic, relaxing 8K. We're heading out Bishopscourt way again, so there are a few little hills, but every climb has a downhill!!

Thursday, 6am at Great Westerford

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Tuesday, 12 October, 05:30

Important update: tomorrow's run starts at 05:30!
We meet at Great Westerford as usual, but with summer fast approaching (I know, who'd think from the weather at the moment?!) the mornings are getting lighter very quickly, and the time has finally arrived for us to shift into our 'summer schedule'. So from this week on, until it starts getting too dark again at the end of this summer, Tuesday morning runs will start at 05:30, and Thursday remains 06:00 throughout the year. This gives us the chance to squeeze in an extra km or two on Tuesday mornings, and get extra-fit for summer.

Tomorrow we'll be taking the scenic route to Kirstenbosch Gardens, avoiding the traffic. From Newlands Avenue, up Boshoff Avenue, stopping for water at Stone Church. Then up Winchester, Glastonbury and up to the junction of Klaasens Road. We take a small detour up and over Monterey Road before following Klassens Road to Top Gate. We meander down through the Gardens from Top Gate (Rycroft Gate - don't worry, free entry until about 8am.) down to entrance 2 (Tea Garden) and slowly make our way back to Dean Street.

Hilly, yes, but very scenic. A great leg-stretch after a tough but high successful Gun Run this past weekend.

See you guys tomorrow morning 05:30!

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Gun Run Half Marathon 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52536584

So the 2010 Gun Run is officially over. But it seems that all the Hillbillies who participated had a fantastic day!!! A whole bunch of PB's, and those who didn't run personal bests still ran good times and enjoyed the race.

A HUGE "WELL DONE" to Tanja, Linelle and Dy for their fantastic PB's!!! Linelle cut 2 minutes off from her previous PB - on this tough course that is extra-well done!! Tanja managed to cut a whole 5 minutes off of her previous PB, including a whoping 27 minutes off her 2009 Gun Run time!!! And Dy breezed by in under 2 hours - amazing!!!

As I was approaching the finish line I heard my name being called, couldn't see who was calling me, till I looked down to see Josh happily stretching out his legs on the ground and waving at me - he flew through the course in a stunning 1h54 and was waiting around for Tanja and the rest of the Hillbillies to finish!!!!

While I didn't break any land speed records yesterday (or even approach my 21K PB), I had a great race. I felt strong, and showed that mean old hill who's boss. To say that my previous 2 Gun Runs were disastrous would be an understatement. So this year, to run so strong the entire course, and finish feeling fresh and good - that was my Gun Run achievement. At least now I'll have good memories of what was probably my last Gun Run (unless a future visit to SA happens to coincide with that year's Gun Run of course)

I saw Andre along the out-and-back stretch along Granger street - he looked strong and comfortable. And so lost in the experience that he didn't hear my call out. I hope you had a good race Andre!!

And I'm sure I saw Kari at the start, but she was clear on the otherside of the street with a huge crowd in between, so I didn't get to say hi. I hope you had a good race too Kari!

So congrats and well done once again too all the Hillbillies who took part in yesterday's Gun Run Half Marathon!!!! You guys all did amazingly well!!!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

2010 OUTsurance 94.5 Kfm Gun Run

Good luck to all the Hillbillies running the Gun Run on Sunday.
I hope you're planning to collect your numbers early, because by 12:10 this afternoon it was already getting quite crowded at Sportsmans Warehouse in Rondebosch, when I went to collect my number! It seems we're in record field sizes for all Gun Run routes this year. It has always been a popular race, and this year is no different, so get to the start early and save yourselves the hassle of finding a parking spot 2km from the start, and an hour wait in the loo-queues!!! Yeah, I'm talking from experience here, and I'll definitely be arriving VERY early on Sunday!

Start times and route infor for the various distances are as follows (from the Top Events website):
VENUE:  Beach Road, Mouille Point for all distances
START TIMES:  21.1km - 07:00, 10km - 07:30, 5km 07:45
ROUTE: 21.1km - Mouille Point, V&A Waterfront, Somerset Road, New Cape Town Stadium Precinct, Sea Point, Beach Road, Kloof Road,              Camps Bay, Clifton, Sea Point Promenade.
ROUTE: 10km - Mouille Point, V&A Waterfront, Sea Point Promenade
ROUTE: 5km - Mouille Point - Green Point Park, New Cape Town Stadium Precinct, Sea Point Promenade
FINISH: Sea Point Beach Front, Rocklands Beach opposite Winchester Mansions for all distances
CUT-OFF: 10:00 for all distances

I'll be on the lookout for you guys at the start, but if i don't spot you in the crowds before the race - good luck and enjoy! And please give us some feedback about your race experience afterwards! We'd all like to hear how you did/how much you enjoyed the run.

 

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Thursday Morning Run: 7 October 2010, 06:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52008784

What a perfect morning for a run (despite being a bit windy)!

3 Hillbillies set off this morning, with Jen debuting her very first Thursday morning run with the Hillbillies.

You ran well Jen, hope you enjoyed it, and we hope to see you at more Thursday runs! Watch this space for route details of upcoming runs, we'll definitely be doing today's route again soon.

We had a lovely, flat and easy run this morning - following our usual 8K route along Newlands Ave, M3, past the cricket grounds and along Belmont, but instead of hitting Main Road back along that last kay, we ran along the Liesbeek River Trail instead. Except for getting stuck behind a smoker on one bridge this mornimg, the river route offers clean, fresh air and relaxing sounds of the river flowing by. An awesome run!!

Thanks Hillbillies!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 5 October 2010, 05:45

Wow what a beautiful morning for a run!!! So warm, clear, and fresh.
We had a lovely run up Rhodes Mem, stopping at the very top for some cold water and to admire the awesome sunrise view.

We tried an interesting new variation of the old route, by continuing down past Newlands Avenue on our way back, and crossing the M3 at the Shell. We decided on the spur of the moment to hit the Liebeek River Trail for a short stretch, and wow was that a great choice (thanks again Dy!). Nothing beats a relaxing morning run along a slow-moving river. Unfortunately, that stretch of the Trail is fairly short and we soon found our feet on solid tar again, but it was a fantastic detour and change of scenes from our 'same-old' route!

Thanks Dy, Linelle and Rob for a great run!

Stats can be found here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/51775118

Thursday we meet at 6am at Great Westerford for an easy, flat 8km through Claremont and Rondebosch. We'll hit the River Trail from Belmont Road and follow it all the way back to Boundary. It really is a stunning route, and avoids busy (and stinky) Main Road.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Winelands Training Run: 30-35km

I am organising a long training run 3 weeks before the Winelands Marathon.

Anyone keen to join us is welcome - and please spread the word and bring your friends!

We'll run at around 6:00-6:30 (per km) pace: this is NOT a speed session so don't stress about being too slow. If any faster runners want to go ahead of the group they are welcome to do so, so don't stress about being too fast either. If we can get enough people we might even be able to split into pace-based groups.

The route is pretty much the Winelands Marathon route, with 7km of out-and-back cut out. So its an excellent training run for race day, especially for those who have not run Winelands yet but are keen to do so this year.

The proposed training route can be found here: Winelands Long Training Run

There are one or two little farm stalls and/or petrol stops along the route, where we can stop to buy water/cooldrinks, but I would strongly recommend carrying at the very least a bottle of water with you. CamelBaks will come in handy for those who own them.

Anyone who would like to be added to the Dean Street Hillbillies mailing list, to be kept up to date on the details of the run, can email me at dean.street.hillbillies@gmail.com

Or search for the "Dean Street Hillbillies" facebook group and join our public event for updates.

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Dean Street Hillbillies