Sunday, 2nd March 2008: 3 weeks to go.

This coming Sunday there's another of those races which have proved popular with runners training for Two Oceans: it's the Tygerberg 30 km race which starts at the Parow Athletic Club. Many of the runners on this email list will be doing the race, so I'm proposing that instead of a Sunday run we use the race as the Sunday run. The race details are:

Start and finish at: Parow Athletic Club, De Grendel Rd, Parow North: from the N1 take the Platteklip Rd offramp, then turn south over the N1, and after a few hundred metres you'll find race officials directing you to the start;
Starting time: 6h00;
Registration: On the morning of the race;
The route: From the sports fields it's out along the Plattekloof Rd for about 8 km, then right into Tygerberg Rd which takes one to the outskirts of Durbanville, right into Tygerberg Valley Rd, along van Riebeekshof Rd, JIP de Jager Drive, Hendrik Verwoerd Dr and then back to the athletic track. From about 11 km to the outskirts of Durbanville one runs through beautiful farming area, right in the middle of which is a daunting hill called the 'Big Mama'. The rest of the route is also fairly hilly.

Thank you to all who provided refreshments to make last Sunday's run so enjoyable: to JoJo who put out drinks at the base and the top of Ou Kaapseweg, and Karen and Jo who provided the drinks and the muffins at the finish. The cold watermelon was particularly delicious in the heat.

May you remain in good health and injury-free.

Gerry

Sunday, 24th February 2008: 4 weeks to go.

As most of you intending to do Oceans ran the Peninsula Marathon last Sunday, the question of how long this coming Sunday's run should be is a debatable point. All who gave me feedback to my question two weeks ago were in favour of a Nek-to-Nek run, that is, a run of about 38 - 39 km. As this will be the last long run before Oceans, the consensus is that it will be ok to run this distance provided that we run it slowly and conservatively, i.e. to provide time on the legs without trashing them. Also, as Karen Little has suggested, we'll start and end in Constantia.

The arrangements for Sunday are therefore:

Meet at: The High Constantia shops (in Constantia Main Road at the turnoff to Groot Constantia)
Start at: 6h00
Distance: About 39 km
The route: From the shops to Pagasvlei Rd, along Brounger Rd past Peddlars on the Bend, along Spaanschemat River Road, Orpen Road, Steenberg Road, up and over Ou Kaapseweg to the Silvermine Village, along Silvermine Rd to Chapman's Peak Drive, up and over Chapman's Peak, through Hout Bay, along Hout Bay Rd to Constantia Nek and then back to where we started.

For those who would like to do more, there are possibilities of extending the run a bit (by about 3 km) by following Ou Kaapseweg to the Fourways stop in Sun Valley instead of turning right at Silvermine Village, and then running north along Noordhoek Rd to Chapman's Peak Rd.

I hope your preparations are going well.

Gerry

Sunday, 17th February 2008: 5 weeks to go.

On this coming Sunday, the 17^th of February, the Peninsula marathon and half-marathon are being run. Most of us are running one or the other, so there will be no organised Sunday run.

The next Sunday run will be on the 24^th of February, i.e. with four weeks to go to Oceans.

Enjoy the Peninsula!

Gerry

Sunday, 10th February 2008: 6 weeks to go.

This weekend run will be a fairly gentle, flattish run as a preparation for the Peninsula marathon on the 17^th of February. We -

Meet at: the Spar Supermarket, Tokai Rd, Tokai
Start at: 6h00
Distance: about 20 km
The route: From the Spar we'll run south along Steenberg Rd, past the Westlake golf course, along Boyes Drive to Kalk Bay, back along Main Rd through Muizenberg and Lakeside, through the wetlands of Kirstenhof, to Tokai Rd and back to the cars.

For runners who would like to do less there is the possibility of cutting down to Main Rd from Boyes Drive before one gets to Kalk Bay, making it anything above about 12 km or so.

We owe a big thank you to Seamus Daly who, during last Sunday's run, was waiting at the top of Zwaanswyk Road with very welcome cold drinks. Thanks, Seamus!

May your training be going well and may you be staying injury-free.

Gerry