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After a wonderfully relaxing and playful holiday, away from everything in the Little Karroo, I was suprised to find myself overwhelmed and exhausted on returning to face the reality of the year. Sure, big changes are taking place and new adventures being created, but I'd prefer to be facing everything, meeting and matching the energy of my fear and pain, with fullness and openness.
So I've been working on my fitness levels, swimming and jogging a little every other day, and already I feel more energised and organised. I've also set my sights on running the Two Oceans half marathon on the 3rd of April and have decided to join and run with the Endurance Challenge Charity Trust (ECCT), raising funds for orphaned and affected child victims of South Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The ECCT is the brainchild of David Crombie who has long been an active fundraising athlete. David formed this non-profit organisation with the express purpose of bringing together like-minded runners who wish to harness their passion for ultra-distance running in order to make a difference to the orphaned and affected children in South Africa who are innocent victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Since 2007 their challanges have included ultra-distance the Himalayan (100 mile), Jungle (200 km) and Kalahari Augrabies (250 km) marathons. This year ECCT offers an opportunity to celebrate 2010 by running as a member of Team ECCT in the Two Oceans Half or Ultra (56km) marathons, providing training programs and coaching for all levels, from novice to experienced runners, as well as organised training runs on the Two Oceans route.
ECCT invites anyone interested, including novice runners, to join Team ECCT in this run. Team members will seek to gain both corporate and private sponsorship for their fund-raising role for the benefit of HIV/AIDS orphans. Charities supported are Cotlands, Home from Home and Fikelela.
Donate to this cause. I am maintaining a log on this page, Facebook and Twitter of all donation pledges made. I will also post regular updates regarding my training progress.
I have decided to join and run the Two Oceans Half marathon with the Endurance Challenge Charity Trust (ECCT), raising funds for orphaned of South Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic. Please support this effort by donating. I am maintaining a log on this page, Facebook and Twitter of all donations made.
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29.03.2010: Beautiful morning. Fair paced run to the other end of Fishoek beach and back. Main objective was to ease some of the stiffness from Friday night's dancing. Aside from that and a persistent unpleasantness in my stomach (I don't think I've treated myself well over the last two weeks) the body feels alive and strong ready for Saturday's jog.
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26.03.2010: Probably the worst run yet and hardly worth writing up. Maybe 5km. Felt horrid, the toilet my only destination. Made up for it in the evening doing a 'Transformation Dance' with Sangoma Niall Campbell. Three hours dancing the elements to the energetic beat of four drummers. My muscles were more stiff after that that any training run so far. We must have covered a fair distance!
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21.03.2010: No run yesterday as I was up early on an equinox 'steam' at Phakalane, an acknowledgement of the season's change in a ritual of the African tradition. Today's run was an attempt at some distance running from St James, along the Fishhoek beach, to the end of the Glen Cairn beach and then back again. Slowly out but picking up pace gradually as I approach the chilly end-of-run swim. I'm enjoying how the body just opens up with strong rhythmic and effortless strides, easy breathing and a lightness of spirit. It's fantastic to run this magnificence coast which today was beautifully calm and graced by a whale doing its thing. *sigh*
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18.03.2010: Running a steep uphill is bad enough but when it's joined head-on by the mighty South Easter it's daunting!!! I don't even pretend I'm running. This is the delicate counter-balance of energies, a dance with its roots in respect. You meet the resistance with every small step forward. And then I round the corner and a serene, honey-dripping delight floods my body. It's the same hill but on the other side of resistance I glide effortlessly up as if with wings. 8-10km at a gentle pace. Sluggish at first but for these delicious experiences it's worth it!
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16.03.2010: Fuelled by delicious crêpes with peaches poached in red wine and cinnamon I was inspired to do hill training. Conveniently I live on one of the many stairways linking Main Road and Boyes Drive. But faced with the option of stairs verse mountain I couldn't resist the deliciousness of the fynbos and rocky paths behind Kalk Bay. It was easily a 10km trail run/walk, taking me over to glimpse Noordhoek and watch the stream of cars snake up Ou Kaspe Weg towards Silvermine. Such beauty!
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15.03.2010: Still having to drag myself out to run but oh so glad I do. Kept it flat today, running to Muizenberg and then along the vlei. Easy out, picking up pace back. Maybe 8km? No heroics!
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10.03.2010: Training falling apart? Life happens and often it's very tiring. What is sacrificed for what? Often it's my well-being as my power is given away. I could so easily have not run today, again, but I did and feel 100% more alive. Sometimes when I don't have energy to face life it takes investing a bit of energy to tap into the source. I am so glad I did. I ran about 8km with gentleness and let all the heaviness of everything drop away. The dip in the ocean after was freeZING and I became quite perky :)
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04.03.2010: A bit of a training gap. Aside from a long hike on Sunday I've been doing some personal processing. It's astounding how emotional baggage weighs so heavily on the body. After a lot of releasing and some deep body work I feel energised and wanting to run. Today's was short and fast with a little speed work. Feeling quite strong.
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27.02.2010: What could I do? A beautiful environment, a gently setting sun and a lovely couple to jog with. We did a gentle 4km circuit twice to the bewilderment of the local Karoo community. Starting to get this deep breathing thing!
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26.02.2010: 8km slow run but did the route backwards.... hmmm, in the opposite direction, that is. I think both left and right halves of my body appreciated the switch. Legs otherwise feeling like old dried-up slugs so no heroics. It's good to remember that rest is an important part of training. Focused on slow, steady, deep breathing into the belly - harder than it sounds. Off into the Karroo for the weekend and will take it easy with just some nice long relaxing walks.
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23.02.2010: Strange thing: actually did a warm-up and stretch first. Run was otherwise short (about 6km) and fast, without overdoing anything. It felt good to stretch the body like this. New points in the body complained but gave a nice sense of the transitory nature of things. Once these opened up to the new movement in my body and found a rhythm I again settled into an effortless, perpetual motion. Followed by a lazy swim it's an invigoration way to start the day.
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21.02.2010: A milestone run of at least 14km. What this means for me is that running 21km is conceivable. In some respects it was a tough run as the uphill sections of Boyes Drive had me facing a strong wind. But what a delight! Leaning my body into the wind I could let go of almost all holding in my body. I let my body fall forward into the wind which caught and ravished me as it whistled by. There was no resistance, just an embracing of energies. Eventually, entering into St James, everything dropped away and I became simply a continuous motion. There was no effort, no discomfort, just a steady pulse.
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19.02.2010: Short, flat run starting slowly and building up with three bursts towards the end at about 80% effort for 30 seconds each, followed by a glorious swim. How I love the way the ocean holds the body after a run!
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17.02.2010: I seem to be touring the peninsula. This morning's run took me from Hout Bay to the top of Chapman's Peak and back. It's been years since I've done this gorgeous run and a wonderful reminder of the beauty that surrounds us. It's such a simple thing to get out into the nature that surrounds us and breath it's fresh air. All trivialities melt away. Body slowly getting back on track but I could still do with that massage...
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14.02.2010: Skipped a few days, body felt like it needed the break. Somehow missed team ECCT on this gorgeous morning but still had a wonderful run through Constantia, almost to the top gate of Kirstenbosch, along Rhodes Drive and then back down. Probably about 10km or so. Very quiet compared to the coast with a wonderful bouquet of different smells. Run felt good, light and easy, and although I was tired by the end I've recovered my energy quickly. Back pains are still there though and could do with a good massage. I'll gratefully contribute to the ECCT AIDS orphans funds in return for muscle magic. Anyone?
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10.02.2010: Lovely, light rain tapping to a deep, thunderous, bass accompaniment; perfect for pushing the distance up a notch. I did 10 kms and could feel the edge of my capacity. Rounding into the home stretch I felt like a horse bolting towards the known, pushing harder towards relief. My dip in the ocean was hardly a swim but the ecstasy of suspended weightlessness. Aside from simple exhaustion my body is holding up with the exception of my back. Alignment issues that may require a physio's touch. Curious to see how I cope with Bliss Dance tonight.
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08.02.2010: Dropped gears increasing the pace over a shorter distance. Back and neck not 100% happy but nothing else to report other than how gorgeously beautify the mornings are. What a privilege!
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07.02.2010: Entry for Two Oceans Half marathon officially submitted and confirmed. Race Number: 59620; Seeding: E. Now I need some show of support!
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06.02.2010: Yesterday body stiff but not sore - all sorted with a good swim. This morning I repeated the same run. The legs felt restricted and I felt complaints emerging from various places in my body. So I moved my attention to each spot, breathing into the affected areas and observing. They all eased away pretty fast. I was keeping everything loose and relaxed, opening my stride by letting more of my body be involved in each movement and lowering my centre of gravity so my legs became light and momentum carrying, like wheels. I imagine that any holding in my body uses energy to restrict a flow forward.
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04.02.2010: Everything is holding together so I extended this morning to go up old Boyes Drive. I was away for just under an hour so I figure it's about 6-8km. Same routine: slow, steady, relaxed and with deep, easy breathing into the belly. This time though, I didn't focus on it. It was more like "create program and let it run in the background". Instead, I let my thoughts wander, observing what came up from my subconscious. It made the run less heavy and more like a meditation. I occasionally checked in on the program to look for deeper patterns of holding and to remind my body how it feels to be relaxed. Finished off with some stretching and a glorious swim in the tidal pool.
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01.02.2010: Decided not to run due to stiffness from dancing wildly the whole weekend but after realising the race is 60 days away went for my first 'slightly' longer run which included some hill. I decided it would actually be good for the stiffness. Not sure of the distance. Kalk Bay traffic lights to Muizenberg traffic lights and back along Boyes Drive? Maybe someone measures it? Took it slow and easy paying attention to keeping the body loose and relaxed and the breathing easy. I good run followed by some streching on the beach and cavorting in the waves. Lovely! Note to self: run with water and avoid the midday sun plus traffic pollution!
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29-31.01.2010: On Tantra Shaman Retreat - no running but lots of dancing. Body tired by end of Sunday with stiffness in the right hip.
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29.01.2010: Short run. Felt heavy and sluggish coming back so let my body go loose and wild: limbs flying and body rolling like a boneless clown. It worked!
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Up to 29.01.2010: A few small runs over the last two weeks to awaken the body and get the blood flowing. Realised there's little time and I need to start increasing the distance, slowly, getting my aerobic system in shape.
I have decided to join and run the Two Oceans Half marathon with the Endurance Challenge Charity Trust (ECCT), raising funds for orphaned of South Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic. Please support this effort by donating. I announce all donation pledges made on this page, Facebook and Twitter.
Donations/pledges received:
- R5 a km from the team at Phakalane
"...enjoy those km's!!" - R240 from my partner/lover/friend, Sabine
"...twice the time you wish to gently achieve! Kisses" - R300 from my collegue Dr Shakti Malan
- R50 from Annwen
"run baby run" - R200 from Anonymous
"Good luck Stephen" - R100 from Adele (Utrecht, Netherlands)
- R100 from Jeanne of Touching SA
" May you run with your trademark grace and ease" - Be the 8th...
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