5 Years Under My Belt

Today I completed 5 years of serious running. Mind you, by serious, I don't intend to give anyone even the faintest idea that I'm a good runner (I'm neither an elite runner nor the son of an elite runner). I simply mean that I've taken it seriously in terms of my own health and physical fitness -- I've run consistently (my wife would say obsessively) over a period of 60 months and have come to love it.


I began this journey on 9 July 2003 by walking, with my wife, 2.9 miles in 45 minutes. We gradually added a bit of jogging here and there. Eventually, we got to where we ran 2.5 miles together before I split off to do another 2+ and she ran a bit more and cooled off. I loved that time together and was very sorry for that time to end. Thankfully, it hasn't ended completely, though. My wife completed the Richmond 10K this year (You go, girl!) and I looped back after I finished and did the last half again with her. Notice -- the picture was taken right at 6 miles and she's smiling.

I almost always run in the early morning but I completed the 5 years this evening with a very rare evening run -- 6.3 miles in 51:15 (8:07 mpm). The temperature was 80° and the humidity was 80%. I do not like running in that kind of weather -- give me 50° any day -- but I woke up this morning to a severe lightening storm and couldn't run (I'm obsessive but not completely wacky). In that 5 year period, I have run 6008 miles.

2003: 557 miles (Jul-Dec)
2004: 837 miles
2005: 924 miles
2006: 1364 miles
2007: 1453 miles
2008: 872 miles (Jan-today)

It took a full year to get to the point before I could stop saying simply, "I like the results of running" and I could say "I like running." My absolute favourite run, besides the times with my wife, was Chapman's Peak in Nordhoek, South Africa.

I hope to be running for 30 more years (or more). By then, of course, the 30 year olds will have to dodge my cane (as they blow by me).

Run well, y'all, and remember the milestones,
Bob

Wedding Pictures

I've posted some preliminary pictures of our son's wedding. Click here to go to the site. The link was created using Tiny URL and it points to a site hosted on dotMac (Apple Inc.).

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Our Reason for Being in Cape Town

Finally ... we're back home. There are not words to describe Delta -- at least not words that are a part of my vocabulary. First, it took us over an hour to get checked in at Johannesburg and there weren't more than 20 groups ahead of us. Delta had only 3 ticket counters open and 1 of those was dedicated to Business/Elite customers. It was like they were on a go-slow.

Then, our seats were more cramped than any I remember in our 22 years of international travel. The only way to get my knees behind the seat in front of me was to sit up perfectly straight with my backside jammed into the back of my seat. I couldn't stretch my legs out under the seat in front of me because of a bar of some sort under the back edge of the seat in front of me.

Finally, our final flight from Atlanta to Richmond was canceled because of a "maintenance problem". They booked us on a flight for tomorrow with no guarantee of a hotel room. We were on stand-by for the next flight but didn't get on that. Then we were on stand-by for the final flight of the day and were #'s 4/5/6. At the very last minute, they said they had room for 2 of the 3 of us, so my wife and daughter had the van keys and the luggage stickers. I was going to spend the night in either the airport or at my brother's on the north side of Atlanta. But, just as I turned to leave, they said they could put "one more Allen on". We go te last 3 seats. So, a huge 2-thumbs down for Delta for a trip that ended up having us traveling for 42 hours from the time we left for the airport yesteday until we got home tonight.

Still, the awful trip hasn't detracted from the very special week we just completed in Cape Town, South Africa. We spent a week "on vacation" with our son, his fiance, her parents and one brother, my parents, my wife's mother, our daughter and a small group of our son and his fiance's friends. And, let me tell you, Cape Town is a beautiful place to spend a week (and in which to get in some beautiful runs). Then, the wedding was Friday. They wanted it to be somewhat untraditional but it was very special.

Left to right: Stacey (our daughter), Stephen (our son), Anna (our new daughter-in-law), Jonathan (Anna's brother)



Off they go.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

From the Mountain to the Shore

What day is today? Wednesday, I think. Monday, I went back up the mountain but went all the way to Chapman's Peak (8 m to 305 m). The last half mile up was really difficult but I'm really glad I did it.

Tuesday, I didn't run. We were changing locations and I didn't want to have to deal with wet stuff. Plus, after having run Chapman's Peak Rd on Sat and Mon and a shorter run on Sun, I thought I needed a break. It was actually a good decision because the wind was really, really strong all day long.

This morning, I woke up in St. James -- just north of Kalk Bay and just south of Muizenberg -- (as if that's of help to anyone) and, yes, that's where I went to sleep. :) It was a gorgeous morning. A bit warm for my tastes but with a nice ocean breeze blowing. I decided to run about an hour to get a bit more distance. My legs were dead but it was really good to run along the coast. There's an electric train that runs right on the shoreline and decent enough sidewalks about 6' up the hill from the tracks. So, a pretty good place to run. Ended up running 8.1 miles, 1:05:24 -- 8:02 mpm pace -- I turned around at the northern edge of Simon's Town. Click here for my route -- it isn't as spectacular as Chapman's Peak but still a pretty run. Coordinates, if you want to look on Google Earth, are:

34°08'02.63"S
18°26'15.68"E

Run well, y'all,
Bob

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!

All I can say is WOW! I'm in Noordhoek, South Africa -- on the peninsula, south of Cape Town. This weekend we're on the Atlantic Ocean side, staying at the ACTS (African Christian Tours) Team House. On Tuesday, we move about 10 km to the Indian Ocean side. It is beautiful here.

Before leaving Johannesburg, a good friend described two runs for me -- one relatively flat and boring (in his words); the other gorgeous but brutal. We arrived at the team house about about 1:00 AM Saturday and got to bed at 2:30 AM or so. But, if I was going to run, I had to get up by 7:00. I woke up at 6:45 and was out the door at about 7:5. This is the view that greeted me as I walked out the door:


As I headed out, I tried to decide whether, in my state of way too little sleep, whether to do flat and boring or brutal and beautiful, up Chapman's Peak Road. When I got to the place where I had to go one way or the other, it was such a beautiful morning, I decided to go brutal and beautiful. Here's the visual result -- the total run was about 6.6 miles and 55:13 (average pace of 8:22 mpm):

Team house, looking up at the Chapman's Peak Drive

Start of the mountain climb

Looking back over the team house

Still climbing

Over-the-side view

The road is cut into the side of the hill

Chapman's Tunnel

Up...

Looking ahead over the side

Another looking back shot -- or my view on the way down

Nearing the peak

I can go a little farther

...and up

Note the sign and my photographer (we drove the route later in the day)

I turned around at this point so this is my first view on the downhill

Oh, did I ever make the right decision! It was brutal but so worth the pain. The mountain part of the run was about 2.3 miles up and, of course, the same down. gMap-Pedometer didn't give me a good elevation plot but it was a long climb. The last picture was taken at about the peak of my run, so you can see how high above the ocean I was. There were numerous bicyclists and runners -- I would guess 150 bikers and 50+ runners -- and only a dozen or so motored vehicles the whole time.

Eat your hearts out -- this was the prettiest run I have even done -- hands down, no competition, qualifies for a Runner's World Rave Run. Here are the placemark name and coordinates for Google Maps and Google Maps satellite image:

ACTS Team House, Noordhoek, RSA
--> Latitude: 34° 5'52.47"S
--> Longitude: 18°21'27.12"E


Run well, y'all,
Bob