My African Dream

[Sardine]

That’s awesome news, Tom! Well done!
Do they need anyone else there in Kansas?

All the very best for your new adventure!

Thank you for the advice

[Sardine]

This is a "thinking out loud" post.

Today is long run day.
My knee has been feeling "niggly", and it was cold. And windy. And my bed was so warm. And... I was making excuses. So I got up, made some coffee, and had some yoghurt while I watched My Kitchen Rules. It looked pretty grey outside. Maybe I will just go to the gym and do 30 minutes on the treadmill. Better than nothing, right?

No. Excuses won't help me finish a marathon. Unless it's a movie marathon.
No, "embrace the suck", "learn to dance in the rain" etc. I mean really, how bad could it be. I laid out all my kit and switched on a heater so I wouldn't freeze when I changed (genius!)
3/4 running tight things. A thermal base layer top. Nice new socks. My shoes. Two buffs (one for my neck, the other for my head/ears). Gloves. And my rain coat.

I decided to do an easy, flat run, and just see how far I could manage. If my knee gave issues, I would turn around. If it was too cold, or wet, or windy, I would turn around.
But I had to at least get out there and try. Because trying and turning around is far better than not trying at all. And besides, I told myself I would do long runs on the road, not in the gym.

So off I set. And it was awesome. Not too cold, only a little windy here and there. And not a drop of rain. In fact, my raincoat was soaked on the inside because I got so hot, but the outside was dry.

My route was quite flat, and I took in the sight of the sun hitting Strand beach, the smell of wet grass, the beauty that is a city that has been graced with several days of rain.
I explored new roads, evening including a hill climb... which took me to a dead end. Well, it took me to a park, with a river crossing, which I gingerly did.
I decided to not look at my watch for as long as possible- the aim of today was to just see what I could manage with my knee.

But, 6km in, I checked my watch. I was feeling great so I added on more blocks here and there.
I passed some ladies out for a walk/jog, which felt good. Competitive? Who, me?

And then I passed a guy jogging in the opposite direction. He looked so fluid, so natural. And here I am, barely able to walk gracefully.
Some runners are like Valentino Rossi on a superbike, taking a wide sweeping corner- controlled, precise, focused, completely at one with the "machine".
And me? I'm like the dude who has a speed wobble and then gets flung off the bike. I.e. I tend to trip myself up.
Side note: same when I went bouldering. Here I am hauling myself up a 3m vertical wall, huffing and puffing, and this lady just shimmies right on up as if it were a walk in the park. And I'm like an epileptic spider that eventually loses strength and falls to the mat in a ball.

Anyway, so my easy, flat, "lets see how far I can go, 5km would be great, 10km would be awesome" turned into 15.8km. 30m more than last week 
I made the turn home a little early and had to do several laps around the neighbourhood to get an extra 3km in.
While I want to increase my distance 10% each week, I felt happy that I had done just a tiny bit extra. No point in pushing to the point of failure (or serious injury).

I have a session with the physio on Friday to sort out my knee and hopefully also get exercises for my hamstrings.

Then, my Mom and I head to Franschhoek for coffee and cake at Terbodore. Coffee was okay, carrot cake was pretty decent.
All in all, a day well spent.

And I'm so glad I got off my butt and ran! As I went my pep talks involved "embrace the suck", "train hard, fight easy", "work hard, run harder". And at one point I almost stopped: all of a sudden a thought popped in my head "Why are you running?"
Like seriously, why? It was so random.
But, one thing I remind myself is "It's not what I'm running from, it's where I'm running to."
I don't want to imagine where I would be if I hadn't discovered this fantastic form of (free) therapy.
It was really nice to change up the route, and I shaved off 6 minutes. I could feel my energy starting to wane, so I now know my Jungle Oats and banana breakfast is definitely the better way to go for longer runs.

[TeeJay]

Great stuff......but I think running in general is bad for the joints (especially knees). I used to run (a lot) and when I did (back in the day as I'm old now - ha ha) some experienced runners told me to try and train on softer surfaces as opposed to tar (grass, off the beaten track etc) as tar is a very hard surface and causes jarring on the joints. I did that and there's a huge difference running on grass as opposed to running on the road. I know it's not easy as one needs to train long distances and it's inevitable that you are going to have to train on the road. Just be aware of it I guess.

You'll get all sorts of pains when you're older. I think cycling is a much better sport than running (for the joints). Swimming is of course even better.

Good luck.

[Sardine]

Thanks TeeJay 

That is a concern for me.
So, once I do this marathon I think I will tone right down on the running. I would like to keep my running fitness up, so I might look at doing 5-10km a week, maximum. And aim more for Parkruns and trail runs.
And hopefully I can shift focus to cycling, walking, hiking and strength training.

This is why Indecided to soend the money on proper shoes. And why I’m going to see a physio. A couple thousand Rand now sure beats a knee replacement in 20-30yrs!

[Takashi]

Thanks TeeJay 

That is a concern for me.
So, once I do this marathon I think I will tone right down on the running. I would like to keep my running fitness up, so I might look at doing 5-10km a week, maximum. And aim more for Parkruns and trail runs.
And hopefully I can shift focus to cycling, walking, hiking and strength training.

This is why Indecided to soend the money on proper shoes. And why I’m going to see a physio. A couple thousand Rand now sure beats a knee replacement in 20-30yrs!

Trail running is much nicer and as stated better for the joints.

You are in the perfect place to do trail running, the cape is full of awesome places to train .

[Mrs. Zog]

What Takashi said.

I used to run a lot, although the most I ever did was a half marathon years ago. Then I switched to trail running when I lived in a more "normal" climate. When we moved to Florida, I stopped running. It's just too hot and humid. But, my main point, as I'm getting older, my knees give me problems, too.

I now have an elliptical trainer and I can still do some serious mileage indoors in air-conditioned bliss, with various inclines and resistances and minus the impact stress on my joints. It's good, solid cardio. Same, but different. I also have a stationary bike. I alternate those with power yoga instead of weight lifting like I used to, and my joints are much happier and I'm still fit.

I guess as we get older we just have to improvise, overcome, adapt. 

[Tom van Brits]

Sardine everyone got an opinion and I'll give you mine as well.
We all are unique in some way, and sadly running is hard for some on their joints and it's a real pity.
However; my left ankle was amputated in an accident and put back on with internal fusion (it will never come out) and the fusion was put through the head of the tibea after dissection of my left patella and then everything put together. The right leg suffered and still is because of bearing most work and weight and the left is almost 2cm shorter.
Still I run and have completed a total of 6 half marathons under 2 hours, got 2 silver and best time 1h49.
I completed one ultra marathon as well, 50km in 6 hrs.

Pain in the knee (only the strong one which does the most work) get less and less the more I run.
Running develop good muscle, muscle tone and so on.
Please follow your heart, be open to advice but you may find you become a very good runner since you are a little (just a little hey  ) competative.

You are a winner, just look at your career!!

So post some flying pictures already!!

[Sardine]

The clouds towards the Jonkershoek Valley on our way back from... PE!

[Sardine]

Plane is prepped for our PE flight.

Parked in PE. I missed the yellow line 

[TeeJay]

Bad parking there Heather 

[Ri]

Bad parking there Heather 

Yeah, tsk tsk!

[Ri]

The clouds towards the Jonkershoek Valley on our way back from... PE!

The above the clouds photo.... STUPENDOUS!!

[Sardine]

 

Full photo

[TeeJay]

Stunning......mmmm....okay your parking is excused 

[TrailBlazer]

Full photo

Nothing can beat THAT day in the office...

[Sardine]

Thanks Folks 

So, I saw the physio today.
The bad news is my range of motion is pathetic. My left leg can just get to a neutral position, and it is supposed to be able to go further than that.
My right leg could get to about 30 degrees from the neutral position 

So, the pain in my knee is a result of the muscles in my back and thigh being tense.Phew! Not bone-or ligament-related!
After 30 minutes of rather painful poking, prodding, massage and stretching, my range of motion improved.

I have three exercises I need to do twice a day, which should alleviate the knee pain, and improve my running as I am working against myself. Once everything is all loosened up I will hopefully become more fluid. Like Rossi. 

If it doesn't alleviate the knee pain, we will start looking at other potential problem areas. But for now, I am good to continue my training 

I went for a short cycle today. I was going to take today as a rest day but it was just such a beautiful day, so I decided to make the most of it.

[Sardine]

I have a lot of night shifts this month, which means I probably won't fly much (5 shifts... no flights so far), but it does give me a lot of free time during the day.

So yesterday I took my Mom for a drive.
I was up the West Coast last week and saw a place called Route 27 Roosterkoek. There was another thread here about roosterkoek, so it has been on my mind. I didn't check it out last time, so yesterday's mission was to go see what is was like.

First we stopped in Grotto Bay for coffee and a beach walk at a friend. We picked up loads of rubbish from bottles to fishing nets. Quite sad, but therapeutic picking up the trash. Yeah, I'm not even going to try and explain that.

After that we were ravenous and said our farewells and hit the road. Route 27 Roosterkoek has that typical "middle of nowhere quirky feel" with a little stall with trinkets, and of course, the roosterkoek. Both my Mom and I opted for their "Zeah Special", which is 4 small roosterkoek all for R40, and a pot of moerkoffie.
I poked my head in where they braai the roosterkoek. The big ones were about the size of an A5 page (though obviously not paper-thin!).

Mmmm... I couldn't wait! The moerkoffie was lacking the moer, but it was still tasty.

After a fair wait, our roosterkoek turned up, hot off the fire. Each had a different filling: chicken mayo, biltong and cheese, cheese and apricot jam, and boerewors with relish (it was meant to be mince but the had run out).

Sjoe, the boerewors was yum and the relish had just a little bite which was delicious!
The chicken mayo had almost too much mayo, but it was so smooth and creamy.
They weren't shy on the biltong, and it was slightly wet and not too salty. Yum!
And cheese and jam, well, who can fault that.

Good portion size and flavours. I would've liked my roosterkoek just a bit more crisp on the outside, but overall, well worth the drive!

[Sardine]

.

[Sardine]

Bellies filled, we hit the road again, with a stop at the West Coast Farmstall enroute to Darling. My brother in law said they make the best chicken mayo sandwich here. So of course, I had to check.

Another really quirky place with a shop, restaurant, and a massive area at the back filled with birds. Wow!
The restaurant staff didn't seem to interested in their jobs, and it took a good 25-30 min for three take-away sandwiches.

They came with chips, and of course, cold chips aren't lekker. So I munched mine then and there. Probably some of the best slap chips I have ever had! I saved a few for later, and they were just as good cold! 
The sandwich itself was quite big, and made with brown "plaasbrood". The filling wasn't too bad, but they didn't distribute it very evenly, so there was a lot of dry bread! Today I have pretty bad heart burn... oh well. Worth R70? I don't think so. Not when Franky's has a fantastic chicken mayo for all of R56.00 (and the staff are friendly).
However, that filling with some Franky's Diner cornbread... I'm drooling!

[Sardine]

.