On Friday night, the plan was to drive to Clarens, South Africa; get some rest; and wake up early in the morning to run the Surrender Hill Half Marathon. Work, however, had other plans. On top of the fact that I was super tired from being on the go for the past month, I had sundowners with a team of my primary program's funders and someone from my headquarter office. When we were finished, I simply couldn't muster the energy to drive to the race. Doc didn't seem too upset that I didn't go, because he spent a concerted amount of effort to keep me in Lesotho to run an 18km route he's been raving about. Although I would have preferred to get a medal for my long run, I agreed to go with Doc at 7am on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning= rain= our planned 7am meet-up wasn't going to happen. Laying in my bed, thinking of the work I needed to get done before I head to the US on Friday, and feeling terrible about not making the race, I took a chance and looked at the Nedbank Race Calendar to see if there might be any races I could attend. Just my luck...the Cape Gate Vaal Marathon...in Vereeniging, South Africa...not too far from many of the races I've completed. Score!
Doc paid me an impromptu visit on Saturday morning, forcing me to get up and start my day. After an extended lunch with Doc, I spent a few hours at work, and then hit the road for the Cape Gate Vaal Half Marathon!
Luckily, I arrived at the hotel early enough to relax, catch up with a few people on Skype, and get to bed early (for once!). At 4:20 am, I hit the road for the 30 minute drive to the race venue: Dickie Fouries Stadium.
As per the usual, after registration, I took the opportunity to relax and observe the madness. Yes, I did say madness! There were so many race participants, it was almost overwhelming. Usually, there is a great deal of fan fare at many of these races: tents, booths, food venders, other venders, etc. This race, however, had very little to do other than the race. Turns out that this event was the last opportunity for runners to qualify for the Two Oceans Marathon (56km) in April (remember, I'll be running the half).
The massive participant base created a totally different race experience than I've had to date. Usually, after the clock starts, the running pack tends to thin out rather quickly. During this race, the pack never really thinned...at least not where I was. The mostly flat course also made running a bit easier and prevented many people from falling back. There were several hills, but being Hillary and all...well...you know what I mean...easy! Speaking of hills, that's what I'll be focusing on entirely for the next two weeks...my taper weeks!
Long story short, with three kilometers to go, I picked up the pace and went into a
full on sprint. Might as well finish strong, right?! Good thing I put a little pep in my step, because it helped me set a new personal record (PR)...21.1 km (13.1m) in 2hr16mi
n! Just in case you didn't know/don't remember, my last time for the same distance was 2hr18min in the Sasol Half Marathon! Woohoo!!!! Since every time I run a half marathon, my time decreases, I'm even more motivated to continue to run to see how low I can go! My next chance to test my skills in a half will be when I run the Two Oceans during Easter weekend. Cha-ching!!!Race over, ready to head back to the hotel, I was
stopped by some of the guys Doc met while at the Crocodilian 32km. One guys said, "Sho! You love to run!" Now that I think about it...I guess I do! I, Dani, who, before August never ran more than a couple of minutes, loves to run! I went from never participating in a race, other than pass the potato relay race during school field days, I've run one 10km, 4 half marathons, and a 32km! Wow!
Now that my practice races have been completed, I have no more long runs, and only have two weeks left until the Publix Georgia Marathon, I need to do a bit of reading on how to successfully taper! One would have thought that I would have a detailed outline of tapering procedures since my 2nd job is also runner blog stalking, but nope, I don't! I knew that a taper would happen eventually, but wanted to focus on the task at hand...complete my (modified) training plan!
Well, that's all I have for now! Time to start thinking about this whole taper business!
Until next time...one foot in front of the other...keep it movin'!
Yours in (taper to the BIG ONE) training,
Dani
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