Sasol Half Marathon (2hr 18min)

Hello Dear Reader,

You read the title of this post correctly, I ran the Sasol Half Marathon in 2 hours and 18 minutes. If you do the math, that's 7 minutes minutes, yes, 7 minutes off of my time from last Saturday's Ottosdal Draf en Trap! Woohoo!!!

Now that you know the good part, let me rewind and tell you the story from the beginning:

At about 8:00 pm last night, my friend "Doc" and I left Maseru for the tiny town of Vanderbeijlpark, South Africa, which is about 10 minutes away from Sasolburg- the race location. Just getting there was half the fun, because we laughed the whole way! We drove through one small town after the other...streets with potholes the size of swimming pools. An opportunity to pop a tire at every bend. Luckily, there were no mishaps...but almost.

After what seemed to be an endless freaking drive, we arrived at our hotel just after 12:00 am and ca-rashed...just to wake up at 4:30 am and drive to the event.

The race registration area was packed to the rafters as participants scrambled to register and get sorted before start time of 6:00 am. Doc and I both had so much fun, not only laughing at each other, but laughing at all of the funny things we saw (inside joke!). I must say that I had the best time because Doc tagged along (more like me begging him to join in). Having someone to share in the experience made the even that much more special.

At exactly 6:00 am, the marathon, half marathon and 10km event took off. Doc and I started off at a slow and steady pace until about 4km, when I desperately had to use the ladies. You should have see the two of us run across the street to the petrol station. That little, and much needed side tour set both of us back by about 5 minutes. Continuing on at a slow and steady pace, Doc and I mustered along side by side until about the 7th when I noticed that he was starting to slip behind me. At the 8th kilometer, I lost sight of doc and off I went with my jazzy pink iPod as company.

The flat course allowed me to run, and run, and run without walking until I reached a big hill at the 13th kilometer. Once the hill was overcome (about 4 minutes), I ran the entire rest of the way! Wow, I can't believe how quickly I'm improving. I know that I say this all of the time, but I just keep thinking about my inability to run more than 8 minutes at a time last August, to now running almost an entire half marathon...and cutting off 7 minutes of my time from one race to another at that!

When I reached the last 900 meters, I entered the Sasolburg sports stadium and was passed by the 1st place runner of the full marathon. WTH?! How is it that this guy can run a full marathon in a slightly shorter time than I can run a half marathon?! I'm just sayin... Either way, I picked up my pace and blasted through the finish line!

Doc reached the finish line shortly after I did. His personal race recap was nothing less than hilarious! While running, he met and seemed to have extended conversations with several race participants: 1) Doctor who works at the Sasol mines. He went from 85 kg to 91 kg and was on a mission to get in shape; 2) Two guys from the area of Morningside in Johannesburg with hectic accents. When they found out that Doc was from Lesotho and ran the high altitude half marathon, they promised to exchange numbers so that they could participate next year; and 3) An older Indian man who was planning to run the 2011 Comrades Marathon (86km) and has run it 16 times before. (I actually shook hands with the man and wished him the best of luck...like he really needed it).

After shaking the Indian man's hand and walking out of the stadium, Doc and I posed next to the race indication sign...cause I know you would probably want a picture!

Well, that's all I've got for now. I need to rest my weary bones, ice my ankle, and keep a 24/7 watch over my toe (dropped something on my toe earlier this week and looks like the nail will fall off. TMI?)

Anyway, thank you all so much for encouraging me at each and every step. ...and the goodness will continue this upcoming week as I attempt to

focus on running hills...and next Saturday as Doc (pretty please?) and I attempt to run the Crocodilian 32 km (20 miles)!

Until next time...one foot in front of the other...keep it

movin'!

Yours in (another race) training,

Dani

PS: Check out Couch Potato #2 and his girlfriend Aila!

Bib #80267 and Runner's High

Hello Dear Reader,

This morning, I received my official confirmation of participation in the Two Oceans Half Marathon- Bib # 80267! Even though the half marathon is about two months away and I have about 5 "training races" and THE BIG ONE in between, I'm super jazzed about running the Two Oceans! A great deal of my excitement stems from the fact that several of my good friends, in addition to the larger Maseru running crew, will be running in this race. The fact that the race is over a long weekend in Cape Town is surely a plus. However, the two biggest factors are that 1) I would have completed my goal of running the Publix Georgia Marathon and will be alive and well; and 2) The Two Oceans is a BIG DEAL in South Africa.

For the duration of my long-term relationship with South Africa (about 10 years now), I've come to realize that there are three races that everyone talks about: Comrades Marathon (Durban), Two Oceans Marathon (Cape Town), and the Soweto Marathon (Johannesburg). These races, in my opinion, are deeply interwoven within the cultural fabric of this beautiful country, amongst many other things. I look forward to joining runners from around South Africa, Africa, and the world to take part! At some point within the next two years, I would like to commit myself to running the full marathon (56km/35 miles), which will take me from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean (hence the name of the race). And, as part of my New Year's resolution to run a marathon in a country other than the US, I WILL be running the Soweto Marathon on November 7th, 2011!

On another note, I have to admit that I have not experienced a runner's high in what seems to be a long time! The last time I remember feeling the amazing adrenaline rush that running can bring, was during a run in Zambia...when I encountered three Zebra walking towards me. Who wouldn't get excited to see that?!

Although I was pretty damn geeked to have completed the Ottosdal Draf en Trap with a PR of 2 hr and 25 minutes, I didn't get that very distinct feeling of can't-sit-still/super-productive/alert/motivated/Energizer Bunny/Redbull "it gives you wings" without the Redbull!

This morning, my alarm clock went off at 5:00 am, but I couldn't seem to muster up the energy to get out of bed...it was so comfortable after all! Instead, I decided to check my email and received a message from a friend who left Lesotho six months ago. The email asked, "Are you still running?", that was it! After that, I couldn't continue to lay in bed when I could/should be running. Up and out the door in 10 minutes.

Initially, I was going to follow my regular route around the industrial area, but in a last minute and random decision, I cut across the street to run up a huge hill I've been trying to conquer for a while now. Danielle=1; Hill=0! And I kept running and running until I met up with my regular route. Now,I could have continued with the regular route, but again, in a last minute move, I ran up another hill along side my former stomping ground...the gym. A quick nod in acknowledgement, but continued to run. Finally, I met up with tail end of my regular route, which includes a short, but steep hill. Something within me, however, told me to keep running right up the steep hill that leads to my house. Usually, I fast walk this hill as a cool down of sorts, however this time...I slowed down my pace and...kept running all the way to the top!

Clearly my name is Hillary today, because I was all about those hills!

By the time I finished stretching, that ah-mazing runner's high set in! Thank you G-O-D! Luckily, the high tends to last all day so I'll be on high-drive. So, if you see me smiling with a wild look that says, "I'd rather be running", you'll know the back story!

Well, that's all for now. Wish me luck in tomorrows half race! And as always, you'll be the first one to get the results!

Until next time...one foot in front of the other...keep in movin'!

Yours in training,

Dani

Yet another race: Sasol Half Marathon

Hello Dear Reader,

I know you're going to think I'm crazy for what I'm about to tell you, so I'll just say it straight: I'm signing up for the Sasol Half Marathon. There, I said it! Oh, I guess that me signing up for another half isn't so crazy-sounding. I mean, it's not like I haven't done it before. Well, here's the crazy part: It's this weekend! Yes, this weekend, as in exactly one week after I completed the Ottosdal Draf en Trap Half Marathon...as in Saturday, February 5th!

Several times over the past couple of months, I've spoken a lot about how undisciplined I've become in my marathon training schedule. Now that I'm less than two months away from the Publix Georgia Marathon, it's time to step it up in a whole new way...safely. I need to ensure that my body has time to adjust to the high milage that I'll be asking it to cover soon enough. In order to hold myself more accountable, meet milage milestones, and add a little bit of excitement to training, I've decided to enter weekend races of varying lengths.

The Sasol Half Marathon was an unexpected find. I wasn't exactly looking to run a race this weekend, but what the heck! Why not?! ...And surprisingly, I'm not sore at all from this past weekend, so I think I'm in good shape to run another one (Linesiya, I'm listening to my body and it says "You go girl!")

Instead of continuing to blab, I'll let you in on the race description:

Difficulty Rating: 2.

Route Type: Lap

The marathon is two-laps of the half marathon route. The course is mainly fast and flat with gradual gradients. There is a fairly challenging 900 metre long hill in the last third of the lap. The race is run through the residential, industrial and commercial precincts of Sasolburg.

Sasol Half Marathon

After comparing the route description and the route elevation, I'm trying to figure out how the picture can possibly be call "flat". I guess I'll see when I get there.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress, as usual.

On another note, keep your fingers and toes crossed that my side of town finally gets running water restored- 8 days and counting without it!

Until next time...one foot in front of the other...keep it movin'!

Yours in (unexpected race) training,

Dani

PS: I'm still looking to update my training playlist. At this point, I only have about 3 hours worth of songs and I somehow suspect that more than 5 hours of music is needed for the big day! Thanks in advance.