Sunday, 3rd February 2008: 7 weeks to go.

There are not many Sundays left for long Two Oceans training runs, so on the coming Sunday we'll tackle the route from Constantia Village to the Silvermine dam, and back. The arrangements are as follows:

Meet at: Constantia (Alphen) Kwikspar, Constantia Village Shopping Complex
Start at: 6h00
Distance: 30 km
The route: From Constantia Village south to the Dennedal cycle track, through the Tokai suburb, along Tokai Road towards the Constantiaberg, up Zwaanswyk Road into the Tokai Forest Reserve, then up to and south along the contour road which leads to the western part of the Silvermine Nature Reserve, and then to the dam. From there we'll backtrack for about 5 km to the fifth contour, then gradually descend along the Tokai Plantation's contours to the top of the vineyards overlooking Porter Estate and Constantia Uitsig, through the vineyards and back to where we started.

This route has just about everything: it has tough uphills and non too gentle downhills which will work the quads, gravel track - uneven in parts - which will give the stability muscles a good workout, beautiful views, and great running in congenial company through forests, plantations and vineyards. We've run it for the last two years, and although people have felt very tired afterwards, the general consensus, perhaps because of the varied terrain, was that it did not leave the legs feeling trashed.

With only seven weeks to Two Oceans we have four possible high mileage weekend runs left. On two of these weekends most of us will run the Peninsula marathon (17^th of February) and the Tygerberg 30 km (2^nd of March). On the Sunday before Peninsula, moreover, one will probably not want to do a really long run. This leaves just Sunday the 24^th of February for such a run.

You have a choice for the 24^th of February:

a) we could do the 38 km so-called Nek-to-Nek run (from Hout Bay to Constantia Nek, over Ou Kaapseweg and back to Hout Bay, or

b) we could do a run from Simon's Town to Smitswinkel Bay, over Red Hill directly back to Simon's Town (29 km), or extend it a bit by going back to Simon's Town via the Dido Valley road (31 km) or Da Gama Park/Glencairn (35 km).

Please let me know what your preferences are.

Gerry

Sunday, 27th January 2008: 8 weeks to go.

As the Redhill Classic (36.2 km) and 42.2 km marathon races are taking place on Saturday the 26^th, I don't believe there will be many of us who will want to run on the day after.

There will therefore be no Sunday run on the 27^th, but we'll resume the runs on Sunday, the 3^rd of February. I'll let you know more about that next week.

The Redhill race starts at 6h00. If you haven't yet entered, you can enter on-line up to Wednesday the 23^rd, at Fish Hoek Athletic Club on Friday the 25^th from 18h00 to 21h00 or on the day of the race from 5h00 onwards.

Have a great race.

Gerry

Sunday, 20th January 2008: 9 weeks to go.

On Sunday the 20^th the major portion of the run will be off-road in the Tokai Forest and Plantation. In short we -

Meet at: Constantia (Alphen) Kwikspar, Constantia Village Shopping Complex
Start at: 6h00
Distance: 23 - 25 km
The route: From Constantia Village along Spaanschemat River Road to the stone church, then to the Arboretum, up to one of the contour roads in the Tokai Forest Reserve, north along a contour road to a stream just above Klein Constantia, back along a lower contour road, through the vineyards above Constantia Uitsig and back to the start.

This is a route which we used to run along quite often when we were able to gain access to the Tokai Forest area via Groot Constantia. It's an exhilarating run, with lovely woody smells in the forest. The views from the top of the vineyards are spectacular.

I hope you're enjoying your running and staying injury-free.

Gerry

Sunday, 13th January 2008: 10 weeks to go!

This coming Sunday the 30 km Bay to Bay race will take place. It's the sort of race which kick-starts the running year and one's Oceans training, and I expect most people will want to run it, either as a 30 km or as a 2 x 15 km relay race. Therefore there will be no organised Sunday run.

The race starts from the Glen Country Club, Maidens Cove in Clifton, at 6h30. The entry fee is R40 for the 30 km race, or R25 per runner for the relay race. You can register on Saturday the 12^th at the Sportsmans Warehouse Rondebosch from 10h00 to 18h00, or on race day itself at the Glen Country Club from 5h15 onwards. Take note that parking is a problem for this race, so it's advisable to get to the start early.

During the Chairman's Run I think there were a few of us who wished they'd heeded the little voice in their heads which had whispered 'stay in bed'. The run was wet and windy and cold, and at the end we looked a bit like cats that had fallen in the swimming pool. Nevertheless it was a thoroughly enjoyable run.

Thank you to Lynette and Tamara who manned the Coke truck, to the partners/spouses who gave us lifts back to the cars in Constantia, and to all - in particular Richard McClarty - who were responsible for organising the run.

P.S. The VOB prizegiving (awards evening) is coming up in mid-March, and our club captain Richard aka Captain Chaos has asked all runners to forward their running achievements during 2007 to him. In particular he's asking for details of your PB's and what you would regard as special achievements. His e-mail address is mcclartyf@telkomsa.net

Enjoy your exercising.

Gerry