The trip to Cape Town for Two
Oceans was another one of those epic types really, with funny stories and
stupidity thick in the air. In the weeks leading up to the race we had
determined that College needed a new pair of runners. He duly went out and purchased
them. At around the 21km mark of the race College was complaining of
significant pain in a knee. Now, you must know that College is not the type to
complain about discomfort or pain easily, if he says it hurts it probably does
(a lot). Somehow he made it through the race, despite the knee that felt like
it was going to ‘give in’ most of the time. As it turns out, when College had
gone to get his new runners he neglected to take his old ones with him and did
not really know the exact type they were. He ended up buying a new pair of
runners which looked very much like
his old pair, but unfortunately were not stability shoes, but neutral ones!
College had done his first ultra marathon in a pair of neutral running shoes
(on minimal training)! Apparently College discovered this while chatting to a
physiotherapist (about the coming Comrades), who must have been quite
bewildered at the amateurish behaviour on show!
After Two Oceans I was reasonably
confident that Comrades was a possibility. Unfortunately soon after getting
back from Cape Town my brother decided to leave M&A and therefore leave me
in the lurch with no manager, meaning I had to be at the shop 7AM to 8PM every
day. So that put paid to that. Closer to Comrades my good friend Kevin heard
that I was going to have to ‘can’ Comrades because of the shop and he offered
to look after the shop so that I could go. I was shocked by the offer! Kev has
a wife, family and very time consuming job, yet he was willing to do this for
me. I was over the moon, and started typing up some notes to help him while I
was away. Sadly, the joy was short-lived. I promptly proceeded to get injured
and was unable to run even 5km without significant consequences in pain and
mobility. I ended up working like that at the restaurant for the better part of
three months. During that time I really took a lot of strain. I was unable to
do anything really besides work. College went down to Comrades and ran decently
for his 10h51 finish. He had not started running that long before January really
so it was impressive.
I on the other hand was massively
disappointed to not be able to go down to the race, even to just support.
Thankfully he had his whole family there and it was a great weekend.
During my time alone at the shop [Puppy
class girl] was very supportive and really helped me get through it. Our
relationship seemed to get on well. Unfortunately during that time she took a
bad tumble off her horse and was badly concussed. She took a lot of strain and
really struggled with her recovery. From my side, I struggled to deal with her
recovery. She is a very sensitive person and it took much longer than I thought
it would for her to get back to normal. At the time it seemed to me that (and I
might be wrong) she simply took the advice that concussions can take up to 6
months to clear up –and went with that as a guide and blocked off the
possibility that she might recover faster. I might have been (am being?) a bit
harsh, but it really got to me, I wanted her to get on with it. Our
relationship took strain, although I thought we were still quite solid overall.
Time went on and eventually I
found a manager, [new manager]. Pretty good guy -not huge on personality but
good on reliability. He could start immediately and I was seriously desperate
by this time! I took a few days to get him up to speed with how things ran and
then worked out some shifts we could work. I made it so that we mostly worked
half days, with me on from open until 13h00 and him from 13h00 until close. I
gave him Saturday as his off day and I took Sunday and Monday –although Monday
I was running around getting stuff for the shop anyway. This freed up a lot of
time for training which was now going full steam towards my second New York
Marathon (sweeeeet!)
Training progressed better that
last time and I was hoping –all being well- to run under 4 hours and in so
doing take an hour off last years time. It would be tough, but I was confident
I could do it. Towards the end of October [Puppy class girl] went to St Francis
for her annual family holiday -her being away for so long (until mid Jan!) put
a lot of strain on me and I started to struggle to maintain my feelings with
her being away for so long. Unfortunately we eventually ended up breaking up
over the phone, which was a very shit.
The marathon didn’t go exactly as
planned. In the week before the race my stomach was playing up badly for some
reason and I found myself in the WC (much) more often than usual. I was a bit
upset about that as I was going to aim for that sub-4, but I accepted it (all I
could do, really) and prepared as best I could.
Right –as will become
clear now, this was all written some time ago. Things have changed somewhat re
this next part. Read on..
One completely rad thing that happened on the New York trip was that I
got to go for a run with Lance Armstrong. He had tweeted that he was in the
City for something and that he was going for a run, starting at Nike Town on 5th
Avenue at 9h30 the Sunday before the marathon. I arrived there (together with
about another 1000 or so people) and the run started with a massive frenzy of
bodies. The pace was fairly hectic (for me at the time!), I estimate close to 4
minutes per kilometer. Lance ran with a few minders in close proximity to
himself so as not to be mobbed. As the run went on the group got smaller and
smaller, the pace was tough! I struggled to stay with and used up much energy
doing so. I didn’t exactly chat to the Boss, but I was running within a few
meters of him. As a massive LA fan, this was a small dream come true. The run
ended in Central Park and Lance said a quick few words of thanks, jumped into a
yellow cab and was gone. Damn, I was now wasted! The run was only 5 km or so,
but I hoped that I had not destroyed myself for the big day tomorrow!
So there it is. Lance
was my ultimate, the last man standing, the BEST. That is no longer the case
(was never), and I am appalled and disgusted by his attitude and actions (for a
great quick read on how I feel go here:
Disappointing! –Lets move
on..
My guides this time round were two
teachers from Marvin Elementary School, Steve Weeks and Bob Cornell –really
good guys. Both had done a bit of running before in their lives. Steve (in his
50s) had beaten cancer and was big into Ironman triathlon. He’d been to Kona a
few times (Ironman World Championships in Hawaii) and was very knowledgeable.
Bob (early 30s maybe?) had done a few marathons but wasn’t as fit. We chatted most
of the way and it was good. I had to stop to throw up around the 25km mark, but
besides that it was fine. We weren’t running very fast, but I didn’t mind too
much. Towards the end of the race Steve developed an injury and sent Bob and I
on our way with instructions on how to pace ourselves to the best possible
finish. Eventually I was running by myself, finishing strong. I crossed the
line in much pain after 4h34m of running. Damn, that whole in-out-in thing in
Central Park at the end ALWAYS gets me! Once again, because I was an Achilles
runner it was dead easy to get out of the finishing area and into the Achilles
tent. Eventually I found Steve (Bob was nowhere to be found) and we walked back
into the city towards our hotels instead of using public transport. We said our
goodbyes and thank yous and parted ways. I went back to the hotel and slept. I
was happy with how the run had gone, slow time, but just so incredible to be
there, and also to meet people like Bob and Steve.
This is where the story ends…
after this my life becomes somewhat normal –and so I stopped writing..
Nevertheless, here is a brief run
down, in point form (I have always been lazy!) of the next few years:
- I met a wonderful girl called Kimmi –we have a child of 3 months old and are so happy
- I went back to New York and ran an all-time PB 3h44 (I have since run faster again)
- I work in an industry that I am passionate about, and (generally) look forward to kicking ass and taking names every day at work
- My brother and I are mates again
- I still struggle with aspects of rehabilitation, though I can do all the things I want to do
- Life is long, you learn lessons along the way… I look back on times when I was ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that I was right when I now realize I was wrong
- There are always challenges in life, but I honestly feel like I have hit the jackpot :-) :-) :-) :-)
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