Playing in the mud. Grown-ups only!
Man what a weekend!! Whoooha!! I did an adventure race in the Freestate (South Africa) this weekend and had the time of my life!!!
The event started at 9am. It was overcast and the weather was mild. Absolutely perfect conditions for racing. The first section was a short 1.5km trail run next to Vaal river embankment. We returned to the starting position and jumped on our bikes. We cycled into a nature reserve and had the most awesome single tracks that featured a good combination of hill climbs and downhills.
Halfway through the cycling leg, two black wildebeest came thundering over the trail at full speed. They passed right behind us and disappeared into the growth. Unfortunately I didn’t see them, but apparently it was quite a close call.
Right after this we went down a very steep and rocky slope. I took a bad line and ended up in a very rocky technical section. I went flying of my bike and basically jumped right over my handlebars. My bike popped up behind me and ended up upside down. Luckily I managed to stay on my feet. Falling there would’ve hurt like crazy.
Jacques (one of my team mates) got a snakebite (mtb lingo for a puncture on a rocky section) on the downhill and we struggled a bit with dodgy spare tubes and pumps. After a second tube, we set off again and the heavens opened up. It was poring down on us for another 3-4km. It was a pretty flat section so we gunned it all the way! We had mud up to our ears. You struggle to see with all the dirt and rain in your eyes, but I didn’t care. I tore up those tracks!
We reached another trail running section where we ran/hiked up a hill with an ascent of around 100m. From the top, we had a spectacular view of the entire nature reserve. Unfortunately one can’t really stop too long to appreciate the view. This trail running section was quite tricky since it was went and there was a lot of rocks and loose mud around. The downhill section was a much easier run and we averaged around 13-14km/h. Great fun! The total distance was roughly 3km.
When we got back to our bikes it turned out that Jacques had another puncture. His tire went completely flat during our run. We borrowed some patches from another team, patched the tube and was on our way again. The last 5km mtb section was very flat and again we burned through the mud. Man I love that!! It looked like I had a mud bath!
We got back into our running gear and ran up the embankment again. The last leg was a water surprise, and it turned out to be ride down the river on a tube. We jumped into the Vaal and drifted down the river. We went over a few rocks and some of my friends went home with a few cuts and bruises. After 300m or so, we got out and ran a half km through slippery mud up to the finish.
What a race! The atmosphere was great and not serious at all. Everyone was just out there having fun. You would hear someone screaming and shouting for joy every now and again. Quite weird to see grown-ups turn into kids again.
Our time was 2:29, but we must have lost at least 25-30mins on the punctures. The winning team did the course in 1:30, so I’m quite pleased with our time. Time aside, I can’t remember having this much fun since being a kid. It appears that adults can still have fun playing the mud after all!
A shot of our team after the race. Wet, dirty, happy.
From left to right: Me, my friend Jacques and my AR buddy Cobus.
Some random people at the tubing section. Smiles all round.
A view of the river we tubed down.
My bike!
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 03/15/2008
- Time: 09:00:00
- Total Time: 2:29:10.00
- Calories: 1700
Filed under: Run, Cycle, Mountain Biking, Race Report, Trail Running, Adventure Racing
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Trail run, sky’s the limit
I ran a 4km trail run with my AR buddy. We did a 150m ascent, which means we climbed two insanely steep hills. The view was amazing. We were pretty much dead after the second hill. The rest of the trail was all down hill or flat, which was very welcome. I’m crazy about trail running. Just a pity the distance doesn’t quite reflect the effort.
Logbook Activity
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/13/2008
- Time: 17:10:00
- Total Time: 00:30:12.00
- Calories: 308
- Distance: 4.03 km
- Average Pace: 7:29.44/km
- Ascent: 150 m
Filed under: Run, Trail Running
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Quick trail run
I went for a quick run with my adventure racing team mate. We went for a run in a nearby nature reserve, but we had to cut our run short, because the reserve was closing.
We did manage to scale a massive hill and had an awesome view of the city. I’ll definitely go running there again.
Logbook Activity
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/08/2008
- Time: 18:30:00
- Total Time: 00:18:07.00
- Distance: 2.55 km
- Average Pace: 7:06.04/km
- Ascent: 104 m
Filed under: Run, Trail Running
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Trail running in Mpumalanga
We were away for the weekend to go rafting. I’ll do a post on the weekend itself a bit later.
We camped at the most beautiful and tranquil place, close to Hazyview in Mpumalanga. I decided to have a run on Saturday morning before we went rafting. There were some quad-bike trials close to our camping site that snaked along the river through some stunning forests. It had the same feel of a rain forest, but not as extensive.
It was a gruelling run, but the environment definitely made up for the effort it required. The terrain was very very tricky with a LOT of small climbs, twists and bends. At times I wondered if a quad would even manage to get through that terrain. It’s quite hard to settle into a comfortable rhythm, but later on you get used to the weird broken style of running. It was great fun though! Wish I could have a run like that everyday.
Logbook Activity
- Type: Run
- Date: 02/16/2008
- Time: 06:00:00
- Total Time: 00:51:55.00
- Average Heart rate: 158
- Max Heart rate: 182
- Calories: 631
- Distance: 7.16 km
- Average Pace: 7:15.31/km
- Ascent: 110 m
Filed under: Run, Trail Running
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Argh!!… I’m a weak runner
As part of my strategy to beef up my running performance, I wanted to do a half-marathon this Saturday. I figured I’ve done a few 12km sessions and several 10km runs. So I should be able to do a 21km, right? You only take your pace down and push through… well NO!
I did 15km today, just to see what the world beyond 12km feels like… and it felt terrible. I started struggle after the first 5km! The next 5km was on semi-single-track-trails. I love those trails, but they crawled by. The next 3km was on-road and quite easy, but the last 2km broke me. I ran home like a drunken pirate. My legs were dead tired.
So would I be able to a 21km? I suppose I would, but it wouldn’t be a very fun 2:30 of my life. So I decided to put the half-marathon on hold until I’m ready. I hate doing it though, but I exercise and race for the fun of it all. Unfortunately today wasn’t much fun, but still a good learning experience.
Hats off to all of you that have a marathon under the belt. You have my respect.
Logbook Activity
- Type: Run
- Date: 02/06/2008
- Time: 17:00:00
- Total Time: 1:42:00.00
- Average Heart rate: 168
- Max Heart rate: 179
- Calories: 817
- Distance: 15.17 km
- Average Pace: 6:43.59/km
- Ascent: 95 m
Filed under: Run, Trail Running
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