Stats: Sundowner 10K 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60402154

Brilliant Hillbilly turn-out at last night's Sundowner 10K race!!!!

Allen, Angela, Charlene, Chris, Dy,  Josh and Tanja!!!

Well done to all of you, you did the Hillbillies proud!!! Even though this was a flat race, the Hillbillies seemed in their element, flying through the crowds and putting the marker boards behind them in quick succession.

Chris and I spotted Josh and Tanja at pre-race registration, and chatted a few minutes before making our way towards the start. Tanja joined the main crowd at the starting line, while Chris, Josh and I stood a little off to the side where it was slightly less crowded (apparently there were record entries yesterday, with over 2000 entrants!). After the gun went off we lost Tanja in the crowds and didn't see her again during the race.

Chris and Josh were planning a quick run, I tried to keep up with them for as long as possible. They wove through the crowds and quickly pulled ahead: by 1km I'd lost sight of them completely. But I found Allen, and we ran together much of the way. Allen was flying along, and really helped pull me along at a good pace.

Route Profile

About 3.5km in we reached the first water table. It was a lovely cool evening (the first time I've ever run this race that it has not been a real scorcher of a day!) I was extremely thirsty by this point. Running past the first water station, the helper had just given her last water sachet to the woman in front of me, and was still digging for more when I flew past. Next helper was turning around to talk to his buddy as I ran past him, pulling the water out of my reach as I ran past. I was debating turning around and grabbing a water packet from him when I noticed another helper ahead. And as luck would have it, he was just finished digging a handful of sachets out of the supply and handing one to the person ahead of me, so I plucked the next sachet out of his hand as I flew past, yelling a heart-felt 'thank you' at him.

That water was just what I needed. After Tuesday's run and Sunday's long one, I was still a little tired, and flagging fast at this point in the race. A few small sips of water give me a much-needed cool down and energy boost and I managed to keep going at my 5m15 pace. I didn't think I'l be able to keep it up, but for the time being I was okay.

Route Map

By 5km turnaround at the pool, Allen was looking strong and I was wondering when I'd be forced to take a walk-break. I saw Josh flying along about 700m ahead, already past the turn-around and on his way back. Chris wasn't far behind him, maybe 200m at this point. Around the corner over the grass, and Allen and I were now part of the 'back' crowd. Seeing the hundreds of people still heading for the turn-around (some looking strong but some obviously taking strain) gave me the boost I needed to keep moving. Halfway point is behind, I could do this, I could keep up this pace till the end, but it was going to be a lot of hard work. Allen was looking so strong I decided to stick with him.

Soon Allen was surging ahead of me, but I was happy enough to stay behind as long as I kept the gap less than 50m.

Finally, at around 7km mark, I dug some energy out from some unknown reserve and surged ahead to pass Allen. I know Josh and Chris were long gone, probably almost finished by now, but I was on track for a 55 minute 10km - not a PB, but the best 10km time I've run in a long time.

Next challenge: stay ahead (a bit of incentive to keep moving). Allen, I have to say a huge thanks to you for motivating me along the route! If you weren't there to challenge me I probably would've taken it easier and finished a couple of minutes slower.

By 8km I saw Chris just up ahead - his ITB had flared up again and he was forced to take the last few kays slow. He still finished under an hour though, which was brilliant!! Well done!!!

1 mile to go, I was ready to find a quite spot and just sit down. But I can't do that, gotta keep moving!!!

1.2km - I can do this.

1km - slowing down for a slight hill leading towards V&A: push harder, go go go!

700m - hill over, easy on the down, don't want to trip now

300m - flat and nearing the finish

And then finally there's the queue at the finish line: I'm stopping my timer the moment I hit the queue, I don't care what the 'official results say', they're going to be way out, I'm keeping my own time on this one: 53 minutes and 55 seconds: if I can find my 2008 Cape Town 10K results I can find out whether or not this was a PB - but either way its close!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 05:15

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60245223

Thank you to Charlene and Dy for joining me this morning for an interesting run through the Rondebosch area! Even though the morning was extremely hot (22 degrees before 6am!), we had a good run, taking plenty of water breaks along the way.

We'd all run on Sunday out in the Tygerberg area, so were all in the same boat with slightly tired legs. But that didn't stop us from running a quick pace - apparently we're all stronger than we think!

Route Profile

We started out at Great Westerford with me getting stuck in the gym after dumping my gym back in the lockers. Head to the door to join the others outside and the door won't open!!! Press unlock button, but no *click* Great, now I get stuck in the gym until someone else triggers the door lock release from outside, which at 5:15 in the morning won't be anytime soon. Building security is still asleep. The others' cellphones are either at home or in their cars, so calling them won't help. What do I do????

Well it turns out that the lock-magnet sometimes jams, and a hard enough yank on the door will release it. So I escaped from the gym 5 minutes later and rejoined the others outside to start our run.

The run itself was pleasantly uneventful, with little traffic out at that time during the holidays. We started out up Main road - no hills today! Over Belmont and around the Rondebosch Common, which seemed unusually long this morning. We noticed the heat almost from the start, and enjoyed the odd breeze that came our way.

By 5km we were done with the Common and heading towards the Shell for some much needed water. The water was warm but wet, we all drank and splashed our faces to cool off before setting off again, this time for Sandown Road.

Sandown took us all the way through to Milner Road, and shortly thereafter we doubled back up Ave de Mist, towards the WPCC grounds, where Dy suggested another water break - its great when someone reveals a new tap along an old favourite route! And this time the water was cold too!!!

Refreshed, we headed off through the WPCC, changing our route slightly from the original plan - that's what's so nice about these morning runs: we improvise routes as we feel like it, often coming up with interesting new routes to add to our ever-growing repertoire. Emerging from the far side of of WPCC, we headed towards Squirrel Way to rejoin the original route along Water Road, along the canal.

Route Map

A short but fairly steep climb (the only real 'hill' of this route) led us back to Palmyra Road, but we quickly turned off into Mariendahl and headed towards Newlands cricket grounds (hmm, I'm sensing a cricket-theme to this morning's run!). Up and over the railway bridge (the digital display on the Carecross building confirming the hot morning, clocking in at 22 degrees already!), we hit Main Road for a short while, before turning off again into Letterstedt to view some more of the area's landmarks: SAB, Newlands train station, Springbok pub, Sports Science Institute.

Then suddenly we're heading down the subway under Main Road, dashing back up in front of Great Westerford, and 11.4km later we're done. Hot, thirsty and tired, but feeling great! A shower and some coffee and I'd be ready to face the day ahead.

-------------------------
Thursday we'll do 11-12km, easy paced but with a few hills. The current plan is to follow our old favourite route up Glastonbury and through Kirstenbosch Gardens. Probably the scenic route along Klassens Drive. Meet 05:30 on Thursday in front of Great Westerford (and I'll try not to get trapped in the gym and keep everyone waiting again!)

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Tuesday, 21 December, 05:15

Hi Hillbillies! I hope you all had a good weekend??

Thanks again to those who joined me on Sunday for the Tygerberg 30K training run, and well done to Dy for completing her first 30km and for running so strong the entire way!

Tomorrow morning will be a recovery run - slow and flat. We'll try to keep the distance to around 12km, the aim being to warm up our sore, tired legs, and give them a good stretch at an easy pace, without any hills - we'll save those for next week (*evil grin*) - I included a route-suggestion for next week with the previous email/weekend run stats.

Tomorrow morning we meet as usual in front of Great Westerford (just look out for the small group of runners underneath the trees at the little centre-island in the Great Westerford parking lot)

Time: 05:15

Distance: +- 12km

Pace: very easy

Profile: FLAT (the railway bridge on Belmont is the biggest 'hill')

Route: http://bit.ly/eSI8KZ

From Great Westerford, we run up Main Road, along Belmont and around the Rondebosch Common (Campground, Klipfontein, Milner, Park) We then head down Sandown Road towards Milner, up Ave de Mist, past the far end of WPCC and up along Oakhurst Ave, back to Campground Road. Down again towards Keurboom, we turn right int St Patricks Road, into New Road which becomes Water, and follow the parallel the canal till we reach Heatherton Road. Short bit along Palmyra to Mariendal, under the Newlands subway, then follow along near the railway line behind SAB and past Sports Science Institute till we reach Boundary Road. Under Main Road and we're back at Great Westerford.

View Larger Map
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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tygerberg 30K Training Run, 19 December 2010, 05:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60166246

Wow, what a perfect morning for a run it was yesterday!! Overcast and cool, hardly a breeze, very little traffic.

Charlene, Dy and her friend Kerryn, and I, all set off from Parow just after 5am on Sunday morning, all in good spirits and looking forward to a relaxing run and some fresh air. Dy was tackling her first 30km.

Route Profile

We started out at quite a quick pace, with Kerryn leading the group, lots of spring in her step. The rest of us followed but at a slightly more reserved gait - there was a long road ahead of us and we wanted to save some energy for the hills ahead. It was great watching Kerryn skip and float - she was clearly enjoying herself, and isn't that what running is all about: having fun?!?!

Anyway, we were off, heading down Plattekloof Road, enjoying the flattish 'warm-up' stretch. The first couple of kays were fairly uneventful - we were finding our rythm, stretching our legs and having good conversation. We started noticing the slight gradient increase from Richwood, and slowed our sub-6m00 pace a little to prevent an early burn-out. By now we'd left Parow, Plattekloof and Richwood far behind and the rolling hills of the Durbanville Wine Route lay ahead of us.

Overcast as it was, I was getting quite hot by this point, there being no wind to cool us off. But I was so grateful for the cloudy conditions!! The weatherman had promised a hot day ahead, and I wanted to be home by the time the sun started beating down.

By the time we were passing km #12, we were feeling the gradual but steady incline. At least the Hillcrest olive farm was just ahead, somewhere around the 13km mark. The hill wouldn't last forever, and we managed to keep moving. Finally at around 13km we saw the white wall of the olive farm, and knew that our first break was just ahead. I was running with Kerryn at this point, with Dy and Charlene not far behind. Kerryn sped ahead to the water point while I was happy just to keep running at this point.

We regrouped around the tap, filled our bottles and splashed water on our faces to cool off. The mist was so thick over here that we couldn't see the top of 'Big Mama' hill looming ahea - all we could see was an incline disappearing around the corner and into the pea-soup mist. Some of us knew what was ahead, having run this route before, but others were here for the first time. I cautioned the others to take it slow and easy and beware of the false top: not so much an issue in the mist, but on a clear day you think you can see the top of the hill and plan accordingly, only to find at the 'top' that there is still some climb left.

So up 'Big Mama' we went, Dy and I taking the lead, Charlene and Kerryn hot on our tail. We took it slow but steady, and before we knew it we were at the 'top' sign near Ntida. After all that climbing, the downhill ahead of us felt fantastic!! Legs still strong, spirits high, we floated down past Bloemendal, towards Tygervalley area.

Route Map

At the robots we stopped to regroup, then set of on the slightly undulate drop towards Kenridge, passing a couple of runners heading up in the opposite direction. We spotted 2 sites of leftovers from what appears to have been quite serious car accidents - loads of glass and bumper fragments and who knows what all else. Kerryn spotted 2 wooden crosses on the right-hand side of the road and went to have a closer look, while the rest of us continued on towards the Kenridge BP, eager for a break.

Refreshed and once again regrouped, we set off to tackle the next hill - 'Oops': first sister of 'Big Mama'. 'Oops' officially runs from the bottom of Jipp de Jager until the top at the Golf Course, but Van Riebeekshof Road is also a bit of a climb, a bit of a pre-Oops warm-up.

Not quite a km later we noticed the gradient evening out - 'Oops' conquered! There was still a little post-'Oops' ahead from the Golf course to the Engen, where we stopped to regroup once again, fill our water bottles, and re-energise on some ice cold Coca Cola.

Then it was off once again, to tackle the next sister: 'Ouch'. Ouch indeed - she's not very long or steep, but following so soon after 'Oops' she's quite a sting in the tail (or in our case, our abused hamstrings!) But slow and steady wins the race (or conquers the hill), and we were soon cresting 'Ouch' and looking forward to a long descent towards Hendrik Verwoerd Drive.

Refreshed from the downhill, we mentally prepared ourselves for the last sister: 'Eina'. As with the previous 2 sisters, 'Eina' isn't particularly long or steep, her biggest weapon is her location - 25km into the run, after 3 tough hills, she deserves her name!! But the key to conquering any hill is to know your enemy (or as my friend Paul would say: "The hills are your friends") and chew the elephant one bite at a time. So we step by step we made our way up 'Eina'. First get past the church. Now past Eksteen Road robots (which thankfully played along with us). So far so good, now to get past the Protea Hotel intersection. Great! Now admire the view and slight break in gradient before tackling the last stretch along Lover's Lane to the Hannes Louw Road intersecion.

*phew* climbing done! 'Big Mama' and her 3 sisters have been conquered yet again. The reward: a long downhill cruise before reaching McIntyre Road, De Grendel in sight, our cars just ahead.

Seeing our cars still safe in the parking lot, we were still just shy of 29km, so we headed off down De Grendel towards the traffic circle, left towards the atletics track (but not quite insane enough for a 'victory lap' around the track) and back around the circle before finally heading into the parking lot to finish our morning run.

Kerryn was waiting for us when we eventually finished our run (she'd been struggling with painful hip flexors for more than half of the run, so she headed straight for the finish line and a good stretch while we clocked up a few hundred meters extra, to bring our mileage total up to 29.4km. Close enough to the 30km goal, without overdoing things and still keeping the run fun.

Huge well done to Dy for completing her first 30km run!! She ran strong all the way, and pulled the rest of us up the hills. She even had enough energy left to run the final 3km at 6m00 per kay and just under, and rev up to 5m30 pace for the last 500m!! Fantastic!!! You'll breeze your first official 30km race Dy!! Well done and thank you also to Charlene and Kerryn for your great company the whole way! I hope you guys enjoyed the run as much as I did??

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Here's a suggestion for next week Tuesday's regular mid-week Hillbilly run (28th December, 05:00): http://bit.ly/gDaUfe - kind of the Two Oceans Half Marathon route but with a few minor Hillbilly twists, and about 18-19km in total, including a scenic detour through Kirstenbosch Gardens (Google Maps unfortunately does not have record of Kirstenbosch internal paths and walkways so I can't plot that bit of detail):

We'll start at Great Westerford and head down Main Road towards Wynberg. We follow the Two Oceans Half route pretty until we reach Kirstenbosch Top Gate, where we enter the Gardens (water at the Gardens entrance) and wind our way down to the Tea Garden entrance (more water if needed). From there we follow Kirstenbosch Drive to Bishopscourt Drive, cross the M3 into Struben, follow Bowood to Eden to Protea to Kildare and finally back to Dean Street. Not many water points along this route, so please bring a small water bottle along. Friends welcome too! It's holiday time for many people by then, so hopefully we'll see some new faces join us next week? Feel free to call or email me if you'd like details of next week's runs, or just pitch up on the morning and join us.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Thursday, 16 December, 05:30

Hi Hillbillies,

Even though tomorrow is a public holiday, there will still be a regular Hillbilly run at 05:30. Something flat and easy-paced to taper for this weekend's Tygerberg 30K training run. I'm thinking around 8-10km.

The only catch is this: if no-one lets me know that they'll be joining me (I know that some of you are going out of town on holiday or running the Gugs race) then I'll assume that I'm running alone and run from home. If I know that someone will be joining me then I'll go to our usual meeting spot at Great Westerford and we can run from there.

For those going away or starting their holidays this afternoon or weekend, have a happy holiday season, and keep running :)
For those staying home - I'll be running every week as usual, and sending out emails as usual.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 05:15

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59671663

This morning was the long-awaited and much-feared 'Rhodes Memorial Run'

Dy, Jen and I were the only Hillbillies insane enough to tackle these hills at such an early hour, when most people are still at home, dreaming of sleeping late during the upcoming December holidays...

Route Profile

We set off down Main Road (nope, once again no Dean Street - we'll have to reclaim our namesake soon!) at a fair clip, eager but a little nervous for the mountain ahead. Jen had a busy day ahead of her delivering mouth-watering cookies she's spent so much time and effort baking these last few days and weeks. I'll be exercing all my self-control not to dig into my batch - they're Christmas presents not lunch!!! Christmas presents, NOT lunch!!! So far so good, this evening I hide them away or wrap them up so I won't be tempted.

Back on track, the thought of cookies kept me moving, because yes, I will most likely end up keeping at least one pack for Chris and I. Sorry, but I haven't got the willpower to give away ALL of my cookies as gifts...

Okay, try again - back to the run...

Starting to warm up, we hit the first hill going up Grotto Road. And steamed up strong and steady. At the top of Grotto Jen said goodbye to complete a slightly less insane route (although the hill ahead of her when she turned back was quite something!), and Dy and I headed onwards towards UCT and the M3 subway.

We managed to (kind of) keep talking up the UCT path, kept running all the way to the subway/M3 underpass (and thinking back to my first few Rhodes Mem runs where I was reduced to a barely-moving walk by the time we reached the first campus-road!) and had a walk-break and much needed breath-catch heading under the M3 and up the stairs towards the UCT sports fields. We hit the sports fields running, nice and flat, before hitting the stairs up to the main campus ring-road, yes, running all the way. On towards Rhodes Memorial, a bit more climb before a very welcome downhill towards the gates at the bottom of Rhodes Memorial access road.

Here we stopped for our first water break - you may not feel like you need water at this point, but trust me you'll appreciate the hydration before you're half-way up the next 'hill'!!!

So off we went, through the turnstile, as the main gates were closed (no cars and less cyclist-traffic, brilliant! Although we did dodge a few mountain-bikers charging down the hill, and later a few struggling up).

We'd barely started up the hill when we heard a couple of bangs that sounded scarily like gunshots in the not-too-distant distance. A couple of singular pops, one after the other, a short break, then a few more pops - what was going on???? I'll admit that I was a little freaked out here, Dy and I both eye-ing the trees around us in case we had to dive for cover. I kept an eye on the road to make sure the source of the noises didn't appear behind us. Silence. Then suddenly a few more 'pops' but the source of the noise had moved beyond us by this point, probably on the M3, heading towards Town from the sounds of it. *phew* relief!

Route Map

And wow, we're nearly at the bend in the road, which means not that far from the top!!! And we're still running. And sort of talking. The kind of talking where you gasp in a breath of air and puff/speak on the exhale. Then suddenly the gradient lessened and we could see the first little downhill ahead, followed by another gradual uphill, then parking lot, water and awesome view!!!

Once at the top of this daunting climb, you realise that it isn't actually all that bad. It's survivable (and that includes dodging speeding mountain-bikers) And the water at the top is so cold and sweet and refreshing, you almost forget about the long climb just barely behind you.

Heading back down we faced a fairly strong head-wind, but it soon died down when we reached the more sheltered lower-lying roads, running next to the M3, past Newlands Forest/Reservoir and beyond the Newlands Avenue traffic lights. Light traffic let us cross to the other side of the M3 quickly and easily, so that we were ready for some more water when we reached the Shell.

From here we detoured via the Liesbeek River Trail - just a short stetch at this point, coming out close to Protea Road. Up Protea, past our Engen-water-point and over Main. We were passed by 2 guys really motoring towards the cricket grounds - both doing their own thing but running pretty much the same pace. They were flying! We weren't doing too badly ourselves at this point either, and as Dy so rightly pointed out: neither of those guys had Rhodes Memorial in their legs! We were doing extremely well, clocking fairly comfortable 5m45/km pace.

Short-cut through the dead-end road that eventually reaches Campground, up into my neighbourhood (but not quite past my house - I didn't have my house keys on my anyway, so I didn't have to option to run home and catch up on some sleep!) and towards Belmont Road. We raced over the railway bridge and survived a sharp turn into this end of the Liesbeek River Trail - a lovely long stretch that would take us all the way back to Great Westerford. We only had to dodge 1 cyclist today, and he was taking it slow and enjoying the fresh air (we've had some close calls in the past with cyclists speeding along the very narrow trail).

Splits

The last kay or two was hard work, we'd been running hard since we reached the flats and were ready for a break. But so close to the finish we kept pushing, somehow clocking consistant 5m30-5m40 pace, with a few dips into the 5m15 region. Don't ask me how, but we did it!! We didn't even have to stop to dodge the 2 guys pushing their shopping cart along the path - I noticed the guy not pushing was moving alongside the card, and started yelling "excuse me, can we squeeze past please, sorry, excuse me, thank you, thank you" with Dy joining in as we squeezed past the cart, the second guy having heard us and quickly jumped back behind the card to make room for us. I wonder what they must have thought seeing us sprinting down the path, just for fun!

Then suddenly the Main Road subway was looming ahead. Under the road, then push up the very last hill into the Great Westerford parking lot. It took a few seconds for us to catch or breath again, but wow did that feel great! 14.6km of awesome running!!! Now that's how to start your day!!

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On Thursday I'll be running slow and flat, a bit of a taper for Sunday's long run along on of my favourite route out in Bellville/Parow area. 5:30am, probably 8-10km.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Tuesday, 14 December, 05:15

Hi Hillbillies,

Apologies once again for the late email. Tomorrow morning's run is still on!!
And a real treat at that - we're running up Rhodes Memorial again!!! Long overdue, and an old favourite route with a summer-twist: we run from Great Westerford along Main Road towards Town (no Dean Street tomorrow, we're just the 'Hillbillies'!) and head up Grotto Road towards UCT. We cut through UCT middle campus along a pedestrian path and cross underneath the M3 at the UCT subway, emerging at the far-end of the UCT sports fields (Two Oceans finishing field). From there we head up a short ways to the jogging path above the M3 until we reach the road leading up to Rhodes Memorial (there's a tap at the base of this road, which may be working, but there is a tap at the top which is always working).

After a tough ascent we take water break at the top and admire the view for a few moments, before heading back down from Rhodes Mem. Along the M3, we'd usually turn off down Newlands Avenue to head back to Great Westerford for a 10km run, but this is where the twist comes in - we continue straight past Newlands Avenue and down the M3, past the Shell (more water) and here we can either hop onto the Liesbeek River Trail for a short bit or just hit Protea Road. Water stop at Engen on Main Road before heading past Newlands Cricket Grounds, towards and over Belmont, and then back along the Liesbeek River Trail to the Main Road subway in front of SAB.

See you at 05:15 in front of Great Westerford.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Thursday, 9 December 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59184106

Once again it was just the Hillbilly ladies braving the early morning - Dy, Jen and I set out at around 5:30 this morning for a scenic, relaxing run to welcome in the coming weekend. Up the hill that everyone loves to hate: good old Dean Street!! Slowly up Newlands Avenue to the M3 where we once again turned down for water at the Shell. Here Jen said goodbye to us again to head out for a flat 8km loop.

Interlude: Jen will be doing this 8km loop again next week Tuesday, going past Newlands Cricket grounds - anyone keen for a slower, flatter run is welcome to join her. Dy and I will be heading up Rhodes Mem!

Route Profile

Okay, back to business: after a few sips of water, Dy and I set off up Fernwood Ave, along Boshoff then cut through Heath to Riverside. No 'Ferarri Track' this morning, we headed towards Kirstenbosch Drive at a fair pace, really getting into the run by now. And trying not to think about the looonnnnggggg hill ahead that is Canterbury Drive (such a deceptively nice name for such a brutal climb!!) Hillwood Ave came and went (this is the false top of Canterbury that often catches me unawares - here I think I'm at the top, and feeling so good about still feeling so fresh, relatively speaking; then out of nowhere I catch sight of the road-name and my bubble is burst...)

Somehow Dy and I managed to keep a conversation going most of the way up the hill. At the very top we relented to gravity and slowed down for a brief walk-break as we turned towards Gloucester for 'scenic detour' towards Kirstenbosch. (On a side note, I've got an evil glint in my eyes right now, thinking of yet another evil detour I'd like to add to that route - running up and over Monterey Road before hitting Klaasens and following the easy, undulating course towards Kirstenbosch Top Gate - that should add another kay or so to the total, still keeping this route well under 15km, a good distance for a Tuesday morning. *evil laugh*)

Route Map

Back on track - we didn't take that additional detour this morning, we ran up Gloucester and immediately hit Klaasens Road, enjoying the gentle, rolling hills - pretty much the last of our hillwork for the day, except for the first little bit of Kirstenbosch just ahead. Arriving at Kirstenbosch we took a few moments to stop, catch our breath, have some of the coldest, sweetest, freshest water in Cape Town, and took a walk through the gates into Kirstenbosch. A few meters later we started running, tackling the very last hill of the day.

One of my favourite routes is this one through Kirstenbosch - the air is clean and fresh, and depending on which paths your feet choose, you are surrounded by a myriad of sweet scents. And you rarely see other people at that time of the morning. Except maybe the Bootcamp ladies - and we just happened to run smack into the middle of one of their sessions!! Quick hello to the trainer, Lea, and we were off again, through the parking lot, down past the security booth and back towards the road.

Being early, we managed to cross over the usually-hectic road quickly and headed along Kirstenbosch Drive and down Riverside for our usual return-leg route. This time we did hit the 'Ferarri Track', but we didn't go all-out as we sometimes like to do. Crossing the M3 a few minutes later also brought a lucky break or two, and we were soon heading our merry way down Alster Ave, up the speed-bump of Lady Anne Ave and through the cycle/pedestrian alley to Van Holdt Street. A short way down Kildare we took the circle into Mains Street, and once again a lucky break - we crossed over to the non-school side of the road (I can't wait for school holidays to start, so that our running routes will be a lot less trafficked and less exhaust-fumey!)

Somehow we always end up speeding up as we near the end of Mains Street, even when we're tired or trying to take it easy. Today was no different and we found ourselves subconsciously quickening our steps. Over Dean Street, we sprinted through the Great Westerford parking lot to our meeting/stretching area. AWESOME RUN!!!! Thanks Dy!!! Jen was long done with her run by this point - I hope you had a good run?!?!

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Next run is Tuesday 14 December, 05:15. As mentioned a little earlier, there will be 2 route options:

• Dy and I will be doing a longer Rhodes Memorial route (somewhere around 15km, first half hill, second half flat (actually the second half is pretty much the last 2/3 of Jen's route!))
  
• Jen will be doing an flat, easy 8km
  

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Thursday, 9 December, 05:30

Apologies for the late email, tomorrow morning's run is definitely still on!!!

Meet 05:30 at Great Westerford and we'll do an easy hill-session out Bishopscourt way. I'm thinking the scenic-route to and through Kirstenbosch Gardens?? Its amazingly beautiful, taking in the mansions, stunning gardens and tree-lined streets of the Bishopscourt area as well as the ever-popular Kirstenbosch Gardens.

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Next week Tuesday (14 December) we'll tackle Rhodes Mem at 5:15, but instead of our usual run-up-run-down-run-home, will add add a -run-past-crickets-grounds between the 'down' and 'home' parts, making the route somewhere around 13-15km. Nice and easy, its completely flat after the little speed-bump that is Rhodes Memorial, which is in the first 1/3 of the route.

The following week Tuesday (21 December - I know many people will be on leave by then = perfect excuse for a good long run!) we'll try the Constantia 17km route (maybe tweek it a bit to do a 21, our own private Hillbilly-half-marathon?) Maybe take this opportunity to bring some out-of-town friends along, advance prep for the inevitable Christmas/holiday lunches and dinners with family and friends. It will be a 5am start though, to fit in the extra mileage. But that is only for 21 December.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Twilight Team Run 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59103067

Despite the massive crowds, this race was immense fun!!! All the Hillbillies did fantastically well, finishing within 3 minutes of each other!!

Route Profile

We started off mostly together, right in font at the starting line. We soon got separated by the masses, but Chris and I caught Dy and Tanja within the first kay, somehow passed them, and managed to stay ahead for the entire run. Allen was hot on our heels the whole time, but we didn't see him until he came sprinting through the finish line right behind us. Dy was hot on his heels, with Tanja arriving soon after. With a new 5km PB - WELL DONE TANJA!!!!! Despite the crowds and the heat and a mean little hill around half-way, she ran a fantastic time!!!

The route may not have been anything special, but the vibe was something else!! With prizes up for grabs for the best-dressed teams, some teams were really going all-out to win those prizes!!! I was sorry to have left my camera at home, but I'm sure there'll be tv or at least newspaper coverage of this event, with many of the best costumes featured. The one that really impressed me was the team of 'Spartans' - they arrived with a banner, drums, and spartan-kit, banging away at their drums and marching in like a small army!!! The most original costume of the entire event!

The 'race' started out at the Grand Parade in Town. Needless to say traffic was utter chaos, with many people arriving well after 7pm. Luckily most of the Hillbillies had aimed to arrive early and got there in time for the official start. A number of people had decided to do their own thing and set off about 15 minutes before the start. We caught and passed all of them!

Route Map

The route starts heading up Darling Street towards Addreley. Right into Adderley to the last traffic circle, then we turned into Coen Steytler for a short bit before heading left into Long Street. Yes, Long Street is loonnnggg!! With a definite gradient halfway through. At least the guys leaning out of the pub-balconies were very helpful in their offers to chuck down ice and water :P

The heat very nearly reduced me to a walk by this point (thankfully the water tables earlier had been well-stocked and we'd left the crowds far far behind by then!) but I managed to keep pushing, knowing that this hill must end soon. Chris had by this point developed a nasty blister on each foot, and fallen behind me ever so slightly (but he caught me again quickly, blisters and all!), I pushed on. Turned the corner onto Orange, and the road goes up, up and up some more...! 3km done, keep moving, only 2 to go!!!

Welcome respite when we turned off into Government Avenue and headed for the Company Gardens - the road levelled out and I got my second wind, picking up my pace once more. Slow down to grab a cup of Powerade at the next refreshment station, stop and turn around to deposit the cup back on the table, then off again for the last km.

We soon hit Adderly again, from the opposite direction this time, and then the Darling Street turn-off was right ahead. Race almost over, and we were flying!!! One of the marshalls at the Darling Street intersection called out to me that I was the 4th lady in. I'm not sure how accurate that was, but we were definitely well towards the front of the finishers - there couldn't have been more than 50 people ahead of us by this point, mostly men. I'm sure we finished in the top 5% at the very least. Awesome feeling, especially since this will never happen for me again - I'm very much a back-of-the-packer (and proud of it!)

Strangely, 24 minutes into the race, there were still people from the back of the crowd heading TOWARDS THE STARTING LINE!!! No surprise they were mainly SAB teams, dragging a Castle cooler box along with them, many with a cold one in hand!! They seemed to be having fun at least, and cheered wildly as we and the people around us sprinted for the finish line.

25 minutes and 22 seconds later Chris and I crossed the finish line together. The Cokes were still icy cold (actually, the helpers were still busy pouring cokes!) and we gratefully grabbed a cup each. Just perfect after a hot, hard run through Cape Town CBD. We'd barely had a sip of Coke when Allen came strolling out of the finish-shute with a big Ive-just-had-an-awesome-run smile on his face!! Followed by Dy and Tanja, and I can guarantee that Team Hillbilly was one of the very first teams to finish. Well done guys!! You were awesome!!!


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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 7 December 2010, 05:15

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59018532

Apologies for the late stats upload, but here are Tuesday morning's stats.

Starting out it was Dy, Jen and me.

Route Profile

The plan was to take it easy along a fairly hilly course, keeping something in reserve for Tuesday evening's Twilight run. We started out bolting up Dean Street, then a bit of recovery along Newlands Avenue. At the M3 intersection we turned down towards the Shell for water, as this route has nothing after this point. From Shell, Jen opted to stick to the flatter 8km route past Newlands Cricket Grounds and over Belmont. Dy and I continued on towards Bishopscourt.

First, up Fernwood Avenue, we kept a comfortable pace. I was on auto-pilot, thank you Dy for keeping us on the right route!! We headed down Heath Road towards Riverside Road and Kirstenbosch Drive. From Kirstebosch we turned onto Bishopscourt Drive and headed towards Kirstenbosch, but after a long climb we turned up Norwich Road and an even steeper hill!!!! But this route is becoming a regular Hillbilly route by now, and somehow seemed easier than previous times yesterday!

Route Map

From Norwich we rejoined Canterbury Drive. By this point Dy and I were having such a good chat that we completely missed our next turn-off onto Dunkeld. But in that area all roads run between Canterbury and Forest Avenue, so we quickly got back on-course.

We caught a lucky break in traffic back at M3 and crossed over quickly. Hills over, we floated down Bowood and onto Eden. More luck with traffic crossing over to the other side of Collington, we cruised along Kildare and Mains Street all the way back to Great Westerford.

Jen was long done with her run by this point - hope you had a good one :)

Dy collected her Twilight number and off we went to start our day.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Tuesday, 7 December, 05:15

Yes Hillbillies, there will still be a run tomorrow morning, even though many are running the Twilight Team Run tomorrow evening (it's only 5km - a nice cool-down!)
Tomorrow morning we won't go too overboard - I'm thinking the loopy Bishopscourt route again - I'd advise to bring a small bottle of water along: we stop at the Shell at 2.5km for water, and then no water again until about 10km.

It's a beautiful route, somewhat hilly, but we'll take it easy and enjoy the scenery.
Meet at Great Westerford, 05:15.

Next week Tuesday (14th December) - who's keen for the long 17km Constantia route and who's keen for Rhodes Mem (but a 15km version of the route, with the "hill" near the start)?? I'm keen for both, one next week and one the week after. Yay or nay??

Also, I'm thinking of doing another 30km Tygerberg route out in Bellville one weekend before the end of the year. Most likely 18th December. I've had a few people say they're keen to try a 30km run, and this would be perfect timing to get ready for January's longer races - Bay 2 Bay 30km on 9 January being the first, from Glen Country Club in Camps Bay, over Suikerbossie into Hout Bay, turn-around (or relay point for those doing the team/relay event) at the harbour and back up and over Suikerbossie to La Med. Beautiful route, with a nasty little sting-in-the-tail hill at the very end...!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Stats: Thursday, 2 December 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58558512

This morning saw me and Dy tackle the hills slowly, one step at a time. After fighting with our respective alarm clocks we each managed to drag ourselves out of bed and arrived at Great Westerford kind of awake and ready to go.

Route Profile

We decided to tackle an old favourite with a twist: to Stone Church and back, but heading up via Klipper Road instead of Dean Street.

Both of us were in the same boat this morning - good and tired still from running hard at last night's race. We took it slow up the hills and made it to the water point still alive and breathing. Some water to drink and even more to splash on my face, and I felt a huge lot better!!! Drink and a cool-off for Dy, and we were ready to tackle the return trip. Which is downhill and flat for the most part!!

We got lucky crossing over the M3 this morning - over the first part while the robots were still red, and the next bit wasn't heavily trafficked so we were able to dash across there without too much of a wait.

Down Alster and then along past Melissa's, and we had Great Westerford in sight. No sprint-races this morning, we finished at a steady pace.

Route Map

Now for a well-deserved cup of coffee, and I'm looking forward to sleeping a little later tomorrow morning. Then on to Lourensford Wine Estate on Saturday to run the Vital Half Marathon (previously called the RWFL/New Balance Half). That's a scenic jog through the vineyards, always a good run, and usually hot enough to justify a quick dip into the dam at half-way (after stripping of just the non-water-resistant valuables/electronics, the idea is to get your running kit soaked through to cool you off for the next km or so of running)

Good luck to those running this weekend - be it a race or a training run. For those not running - have a relaxing weekend and I'll see you all next week.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Race Report: Metropolitan 10K 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58558513

Well done to all the Hillbillies who took part in last night's HILLY 10K race out in Bellville!!! You guys did the Hillbilly team proud!!

Route Profile

The race started at the top of a nasty little hill in the Metropolitan office complex in Bellville. Jen and I drove through early to beat the traffic (expected to be much worse due to the train strikes!) and stuck to the back routes. We got there plenty early, registered, and then just relaxed until closer to starting-time.

We spotted Dy at the starting line, with her Argentinian friend who was running her first 10K. The 4 of us started together but soon got separated in the crowds (1200 runners finished the race).

I caught and passed Jen going up the first hill into the Stellenbosch University Bellville Campus. I caught Dy and her friend near the top of the next big hill. The rest of the race was spent trying to stay ahead of them, but I was too scared to look back for fear of tripping over my own feet along the steep hills (and just a little afraid that I'd see them hot on my tail!)

For the rest of the race I was pretty much on my own, dodging crowds, passing people slogging up hill after hill, being passed again by many of those people heading down, down, down the next hill.

Finally at around 8km mark we had Frans Conradie Road in sight - the worst of the hills were conquered!!! Much as I wanted to just stop and walk up some of those hills, I somehow managed to keep moving. Frans Conradie meant that there was a bit of flat to look forward to. Some minor hills too, but these were a joy compared to what lay behind us!

Route Map

Then the final little sting in the tail - that last hill heading back up to Metropolitan. I made the mistake of looking up at this point, to see runners way up above me. Somehow I had to get from down here to up there!?!?! Made it up the hill, that wasn't so bad. Around the corner and the band is playing at the top of yet another small hill. Okay, just shy of 60 minutes, I can't stop now! Go, go, go!! Band bedhind and yet another hill ahead - what?!?! But I can see the finish line by now, just ahead at the top of this final (at last!) hill!!!

Made it! 1 hour and 44 seconds later I was done, tired but feeling great. I'd just run a course-PB (a long cry from my 10km PB, but that was on a fairly flat course - 1 hour is plenty good enough for this course!!!)

I'd barely dropped my finish-card in the box and downed my Coke when Dy and her friend arrived, looking fresh as daisies. 1 hour 3 minutes for them. 5 minutes later Jen arrived, also way ahead of the time she was expecting to run for this race.

Brilliant run girls!! We definitely showed those hills who's boss!!!


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Dean Street Hillbillies