Stats: Tuesday, 30 November 2010, 05:15

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58392541

Another awesome Hillbilly run!! Huge thanks to Dy and Jen for your fantastic company this morning!!!

We ran our regular Kirstenbosch route with a bit of a twist at the start.

Route Profile

From Dean Street we headed down Newlands Avenue, Jen setting a blistering pace, Dy and I following hot on her heels. Down the M3 at an even faster clip, we stopped for a quick sip of water at the Shell - the next water stop being Kirstenbosch Top Gate, and a good 5km away along our new route.

From there we headed up along Fernwood Avenue towards Boshoff (this is becoming somewhat of a regular route lately it seems, but nobody seems to mind too much as its quite the scenic detour!)

Route Map

From Boshoff onto Heath and Riverside, to Kirstenbosch Drive, where Jen opted to turn right and head straight up to Kirstenbosch via Stone Church/Winchester Road (our regular route), while Dy and I headed left towards Bishopscourt and up, up and up Canterbury Drive. On the way we met a friendly lady cycling up Canterbury Drive and had a lovely chat until we all reached Gloucester Avenue and she shot off over the hill to rejoin her friends. We met up with Jen at Kirstenbosch Top Gate - some water and a bit of a breather, then we all headed into Kirstenbosch Gardens together.

Some ups and downs and lots of clean fresh air, we reached the Tea Garden exit way too quickly (in my opinion at least!) Quick sip of water on our way out, and we were heading back home.

For there we took our regular route back along Riverside Road. Fairly uneventful, we took it slow and easy all the way back. Until the very end that is, when Dy and I had a sprint-race over the last 100m. Great fun, thanks guys!!!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Friday, 26 November 2010, 05:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58392543

This is just a brief feedback of last week Friday's solo Hillbilly run through Constantia.

I needed a longer run to make up for missing the following day's Phil Pansegrouw Half Marathon out in Bellville (stunning race for those who have not run it yet!), so I decided to go for a run along the 17km Constantia route from the other day.

Route Profile

I posted in hopes of some company, but wasn't really expecting anyone to join such a long run on a Friday, especially not after such a busy week past. One 'maybe' turned out to be a 'no', so I set of on my own just after 5am on Friday morning. In the end I was actually glad for my solo run - my legs were decidedly tired after the past week's hectic mileage and I took it very slow up Kirstenbosch Drive and the short stretch up Bishopscourt Drive. Canterbury Drive was even slower, with a walk-break about half-way up, then I pushed on to Kirstenbosch where I stopped for a breather and some much-needed water (it was HOT on Friday morning!! 20 degrees already by 5am!!!)

Route Map

I plodded along Rhodes Drive to Hohenort Avenue and retraced our footsteps from the previous Constantia run, following Hohenort until it became Alphen Road and met up with Constantia Main Road. From there I turned up Alphen Hill Road and took a walk-break up the hill to Victoria Hospital for some very much needed hydration at the tap. And this time round I was glad for the GU I'd dragged along - my legs were feeling somewhat leaden by this point. Watered and GU'd I set off towards Maynardville and home.

All in all a fantastic run and a great way to kick off the most amazing weekend!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Thursday, 25 November 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57839848

This morning saw 2 Hillbillies hit the roads at 5:30 - bright and early!!

We followed the same route as yesterday (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57745768) - through Bishopscourt and Claremont. Hilly but beautifully scenic.

Dy was sore from yesterday's bootcamp, and I was still a little tired from last weekend's race followed by Tuesday and yesterday's hilly runs, so we took it slow up the hills. Dean Street still felt unusually long...

Route Profile

After we'd crossed over the M3 and down Orchard, Dy realised that we were supposed to be going down Fernwood Ave. Then I remembered that we needed to stop at the Shell for water as there are no water points along this route!! So down Boshoff the wrong way and back over M3 for a few sips of water at the Shell. Back over and up Fernwood, Boshoff, to Riverside.

From there we trotted down Kirstenbosch Drive till we reached Bishopscourt Drive, and here the real climbing started!! Bishopscourt took us all the way through to Norwich, climbing all the way. Norwich is another climb - quite steep at first, but easing up near the top.

Route Map

We had quick breather/walk-break at the top before setting out again, enjoying the downhill. We were soon climbing again, up the top of Norwich towards Canterbury. Some more down till we hit Dunkeld and climbed some more, but from there it was a lovely downhill down Forest Avenue. A bit of a struggle to cross the M3, as traffic had really picked up by now, but a break in the traffic came as the lights were turning red, and we used this golden opportunity to dash across the road into Claremont - Struben to Bowood, then quickly off the main roads into Eden, which is a lovely long stretch of road all the way down the Protea Circle. Quiet, scenic, and flat/downhill.

From the circle we continued past the Vineyard Hotel and down Mains Road for a comfortable finish back at Dean Street. Legs feeling MUCH better after the run!

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I'm going to set out at 5am tomorrow morning for a 17+km run. Starting from Great Westerford as usual (5am) - anyone keen to join is welcome!!

For everyone else - have a fantastic weekend and I will see you guys next week!
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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 05:30

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57745768

Another solo Hillbilly run, but what a stunning route!! I'm very keen to do this exact same route tomorrow - will anyone join me (Thursday 25th November, 05:30)?

Route Profile

My legs were definitely a little tired after yesterdays run, but I just took it slow and steady up the hills. There were an amazing number of cyclists and runners out and about, and surprisingly few vehicles (besides along the main roads of course), so most of the route there was just bird-song, and the occassional leafy rustle of squirrels gathering breakfast, to keep me company.

I stopped for water early - at the Shell on Paradise Road, as I wasn't sure I'd find any water points along this route. And I was right - no public taps, so those joining me tomorrow, please bring along a small bottle of water!!

Next I headed down Fernwood Ave, briefly down Boshoff and Riverside, and up Kirstenbosch Drive to Bishopscourt. I followed Bishopscourt Drive all the way to Norwich Drive (a bit of a climb up till and over Norwich), then down to Canterbury Drive before veering off onto Dunkeld and then Forest Ave.

Route Map

This had me back at the M3 - I caught a lucky break in the traffic and was able to dash across without too long a wait. Struben to Bowood, then I turned off alon Eden Road and followed this beautiful route all the way to Paradise Circle and on past Vineyard Hotel, along Mains Street, past the school and back to Great Westerford.

All in all a refreshing and scenic run! I'm looking forward to a repeat tomorrow, and Friday a longer, slower route to make up for missing this Saturday's Phil Pansegrouw half marathon out in Bellville (fantastic race - for those considering it for Saturday: go for it!! Its hilly but great fun!!)

So: Thursday morning, 05:30 at Great Westerford, and bring water if you think you'll need to drink something in the last 8km (we'll stop at the Shell at 2.5km)

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Stats: Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 05:15

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57648801

And then there was 1 lonesome Hillbilly plodding up this hills.

But what a lovely plod it was!!!

I decided to head through Bishopscourt towards Kirstenbosch for a slow recovery run after this past weekend's Winelands Marathon.

Route Profile

After waiting a few minutes to see if any other Hillbillies would arrive, I set off up Dean Street. That is a long, mean hill when tackled on tired legs!!! Caught my breath going along Newlands Avenue, before shooting over the M3 and then down the M3 to Boshoff (just to be a bit different this morning, I skipped the Orchard-Boshoff leg). At Heath I headed to Riverside, and off to Kirstenbosch Drive. From there I hit Bishopscourt Drive and followed the road over the intersection where you have to turn off Bishopscourt Drive to turn back onto it - going straight as I did the road becomes Canterbury: a lovely LONG hill leading all the way to Kirstenbosch Top Gate (eventually). So I followed the road, all the way (okay, yes, I did give in once for a brief walk-break near the top of the hill - that's where I missed the Hillbilly motivation!) and before I knew it I was sipping water in front of Kirstenbosch!!

Through the gates, there wasn't even the regular security guard opening up shop this morning - the gardens were deserted!!! Until I reached the Tea Garden at least, when I gate-crashed the Boot Camp session: the ladies seemed to be finishing up their warm-up session, a couple of circuits jogged from the Botanical Society lawn, up and around past the Tea Garden. Quick stop to sip some more water at the tap just before leaving Kirstenbosch, and I was on my way back. By this time the highest point of the route was long behind me, and I was enjoying the gentle downhill along M63/Rhodes Avenue.

Route Map

Problem: keeping along this route would get me barely 11km, and I wanted 12. So, off down the M3 again to Protea Road, down past the Vineyard Hotel and up towards Mains Street. Back at Dean Street the 12km alert sounded - perfect!!! I was actually feeling so good by this point that I was sorry to stop, but sadly I can't run all day, I've got to fit some work in somewhere... :P

Chris and Linelle went for a shorter run this morning at 5:45 (both being victims of physio-enforced run-time-restrictions). How was your run guys??

I believe they're looking to run just about every day this week at 5:45, +- 20min at around 6m30/km pace - anyone else keen to join them??

I'm quite keen for a 10km or so run tomorrow morning, 5:15, if anyone feels like dragging themselves out of their perfectly good beds at that unearthly hour :P

Thursday will be another 10-12km. Slow. I'm not sure of the route yet, but I'm open to suggestions! Else I'll come up with something before the end of tomorrow.

And Friday morning I'm considering a longer run, possibly the 17km Constantia route from the other day - but watch this space for details of that one as the week wears on.

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Dean Street Hillbillies

Morning Run: Tuesday, 23 November, 05:15

Hi Hillbillies,

Sorry for the late email!!
Tomorrow morning's run is definitely still on. Pace will be slow. Distance around 12km. Meet 05:15 at Great Westerford.

I'm thinking of heading out into Bishopscourt again - not the long 17km route from the other day that ended up in Constantia (how about next week for that one again?), but the other meandering route along Bishopscourt Drive, maybe head towards Kirstenbosch, or in the opposite direction and just pick some roads to explore around Bishopscourt?? A good, slow, leg-stretch recovery run (I don't think I'll be capable of anything resembling speed for a few days, but I'm itching to hit the road again, I haven't run since Saturday's Winelands race!!)

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Dean Street Hillbillies

 

Race Report: Winelands Marathon 2010

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57549246


The perfect day for my all-time favourite race!!!
Saturday dawned warm and cloudy, with overcast conditions predicted for the rest of the day, with a chance of light rain to cool us down. The most perfect weather any runner could ask for, especially when planning on being out on the road for most of the morning!!

Well done to all the Hillbillies who ran the Winelands Marathon or Half this past weekend - you all did fantastically well!!! I hope you had fun at the same time?

The route, while all along the main roads, is extremely scenic, running past many wine farms and strawberry fields just outside Stellenbosch. The Half Marathon has a dirt-road section from about half-way, before heading back into town along R44/Broadlands Boulevard. The Marathon is entirely on the tar.

I was overjoyed to be running the marathon again this year, having run the Half last year due to undertraining from injuries and flu earlier in the year. While I enjoyed the half marathon route, I felt a bit sad at not being able to run my favourite route... This year I was back and determined to have a good race: not necessarily a good time, but to enjoy myself and finish strong and comfortably.



Route Profile: Marathon

I felt good starting out - I'd woken up on time with my alarm (and actually did not snooze it for a change!), had a shower and got ready without a big rush. Drove through to Stellenbosch with plenty of time to spare, got the best parking spot (and just in time too - within 5 minutes of my arrival, the cars started streaming in to the parking-field in a loonnnggg queue). I walked around a bit at the start, stretching my legs out a little, took my time getting my stuff together (energy gels, tissues and iPod) and even spotted a few friends.

At 5:25 I took a slow stroll to the starting line. There I spotted another friend who'd joined us for our Winelands Training run 3 weeks ago. 5:29 was a moment of silence for the Helderberg Harriers man and his son who were killed a couple of years ago - knocked over by a drunk driver while they were setting out signage for this race. 5:30 the gun went off and we started our long journey back to that same spot.

I felt strong and confident, but kept my pace in check (I've learnt the hard way that no matter how good you feel a the start of a marathon, you will need as much energy reserves as you can save up later on in the race - 42km is a LONG way to run!).

The race starts just off the R44 (Broadlands Boulevard) in Stellenbosch, heads a few hundred meters up R44 before turning off into Drop Street. Then its onto Adam Tas/R310, and here the fun starts! About 5km in, we ran past the Baden Powell/R310 turn-off - the way many people drove in that morning. Some runners around me were joking about heading down there for a shortcut (the road ends up further down that road a bit later). But no, the marshalls weren't feeling generous that morning and we kept on straight. Past Vlottenburg Road (which isn't even a named road on many GPS systems, but very much there) until we reached the base of a long hill, with another, longer, hill looming just ahead, but no runners in sight! Because this was Vlaeberg Road, where we left Adam Tas and headed deeper into the winelands (just past 11km point, almost 1/3 done)

Vlaeberg is a lovely, narrow little road, with gentle gradient, almost flat, and beautiful little dams and farms along the way. Very peaceful and quiet, and a much-needed break from the gentle but long climb along Adam Tas.

 Vlaeberg emerges a little further down Baden Powell Drive/R310, just past the 15km mark (and a little over 1/3 through the race). About a mile along Baden Powell, we saw the little road-side cafe where we stopped for water and cooldrinks on our training run, but on race day there is no stopping. Traffic has been stopped for the current group of runners, and I dashed across the road with them to head down Annandale Road for the next 5-or-so km of ups and downs.

By this time I was feeling a little tired and my feet were starting to hurt (note to self: if you drop your water sachet in the middle of the road right in front of a water-table, do NOT stop and twist to pick it up to help the helpers' clean-up - my feet did not like me after that and it was barely half-way!!)



Route Map: Marathon


Right onto Broadlands Boulevard/R44 at 22km, this was the big out-and-back section, heading a good ways towards Somerset West (which isn't all that far away it turns out!) By this point I was getting a little worried - my feet were sore and my knees were both grumbling just a little. Being on the road for going-on 5 hours, any little niggle can turn into a nasty injury. But I kept going, slow and steady. The half-way mark was behind me, only 20km left, I can do this!

I distracted myself from my own discomfort by watching the faster runners heading past in the opposite direction, having already reached the turn-around point and on their way to the finish line. I was keeping an eye out for some friends who should be coming into view soon. I soon spotted the bright pink Hout Bay shorts of my friend Candyce (she finished under 3h30, and was flying down the road looking extremely strong at that point!). A little ways behind Candyce I saw Paul with his unofficial sub-4h00 bus, and hot on his heels was Josh, looking strong and comfortable, and really motoring down the road!!! (Josh ran a PB of 4h10 - WELL DONE!!!!!)

Soon I spotted the slipway off to Beaulies Crescent, at around 28km, meaning that the turn-around point was just 500m ahead. Wow, so soon??? And I was actually feeling much better by now than I had 5km back. My feet still hurt, and my back was complaining too (bad posture, I made conscious effort to keep my back straight but still found myself slouching from time to time), but I knew that if I had made it this far (2/3 done!) I was going to finish the race without worrying about/chasing cut-off. Now I could relax and really enjoy the experience.

By this time I was so sick of energy gels (7km, 14km, 21km, next one due at 28km but I was feeling a little over-sugared) that I decided to just stick to Coke and water for the next few km. Just as I finished my Coke, I spotted an old friend (there supporting another friend). Then back onto the R44 and I started looking out for familiar faces in the crowds still heading for the slipway and turnaround.

Before I know it, I was cresting the 33km hill and watching the back-markers shuffling along in the opposite direction, still heading for the turn-around and worrying on their behalf about making cut-off. By this time I had realized that I was < 10km from the finish line, and making VERY good time - way better than I'd ever dared to expect for this day. I was not as fit as I'd been for my PB marathon at Outeniqua in April, and I was definitely not feeling as good either (my feet were VERY sore but I ignored them and kept moving). But 4h30 was in sight, if I could just keep moving. I knew there were still 2 BIG hills ahead, so 4h30 would but touch-and-go, requiring some speedy leg-work on the downs and flats to make up for time lost heading up the next 2 hills. Okay, so I might not run a PB on this race, I was realist enough to accept that, but I would definitely run a course-PB (previous best for Winelands Marathon was 2007: 4h43 - I'd beat that by a good 5 minutes at least, which was way more than I'd expected starting out at 5:30 that morning, so I was very happy!)

35km - the big hill looming just ahead. Walk-break due in 1km, but I didn't think I'd make it until that point up this hill, so run till just beyond that crash-barrier about 1/3 up the hill and then take a walk. Done. Walk 300m, time to run. 36km water table just ahead, and there are orange peels on the road - am I in time to get some oranges (my absolute all-time favourite mid-race snack is munching on a juicy orange wedge - it revives me instantly!) Yes!!! They have oranges!!!! I grabbed a  wedge and downed it. One more for the road, and I felt a surge of new energy. Time to get moving!!!

Those oranges got me over the hill and up the next one, still grinning like an idiot and have a ball despite my sore feet and back. At 39km I started to flag again. I'd been sipping at a GU for the last 2km, but it was just too sweet and I ended up chucking the last half away at 39km marker board and grabbing a coke at the next table. A brief rain shower revived me again just at the top of the hill at 39km and I managed to get moving again, this time keeping a close eye on my time, pace and mileage - I wasn't going to make sub-4h30, I'd lost too much time up the last hill, but I was still on track for a PB, IF I could keep my pace under 6m30 for the next 2 1/2 km. No problem - its all flat from here. Go go go!!!

41km: there's a hill just ahead, I forget about it every year without fail. But no hill is going to stop me at this point - I'm doing 5m45 pace, feeling surprisingly strong, and I can hear Harold Berman welcoming the finishers in just ahead. CAN'T stop now!!!

41.5km: the hill is done, just a short little side-road ahead before I hit the field and there's the finish line!!! I've still got 5 minutes to beat my current PB, plenty of time!
42km: rounding the corner on the field, and I see a guy just ahead of me putting on a final burst of speed. Nice, a challenge! I somehow managed to speed up a little more and sprinted for the finish line, finishing just ahead of him, just as the timer hit 4h32m. Quick fumble with the timing chip on my wrist and bend over to touch the mat (very ouch, but it has to pass close over the timing mat to register my finish, and I wasn't in the mood to struggle with lacing it into my shoes that morning) and I was finished, with a new PB safely in the bag!!!!

What started out as a leisurely morning run ended up with a fantastic new marathon time - down from my surprise-PB of 4h35 in April, to an even bigger surprise-PB of 4h32! This was my last Winelands in a while, and I wanted to have good memories of my favourite race - I don't think I could've dared ask for a better memory of my last Winelands!!!

I have to say thank you to Helderberg Harriers for organising this fantastic event so successfully yet again. As always, the day went smoothly - marshals were well-positioned, water tables well-stocked, registration, start and finish well-designed and executed. Everything was so well organised that us runners could relax and enjoy our run, knowing we were in great hands. Thanks guys!!! I will definitely be making a plan to get back to SA at some point in the not-too-distant future to run this race again. Still my absolute all-time-favourite race of any distance!!!

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Dean Street Hillbillies