Things are looking better

Things are looking better on the training front and it is amazing what a difference it makes when I have some structured training in my life again.

I could manage more training this week than the last two weeks together and my running just keep on improving by the session. Something I am very pleased with, if I can just maintain my running form during Ironman as this is where you can gain or loose a lot of places.

Sunday after Church I did my 2h40 long run and from the start I just found a good rhythm. It was a hot day and with no cloud in sight when I started, the sweat was soon streaming off me. My run route was a 5km out, 3 laps of 7km and a 6.5km back. I prefer this route and depending on the length of my run I can decide how many 7km loops I am doing.

What was amazing was halfway through my first lap the clouds started to build and soon it was spitting with rain. The funny thing was that during one section of the loop it was raining and at the other end of the loop it was blazing hot sunny weather.

It was quite something running into the rain and then out of it again with every loop I did. At the end I could maintain a 5min/km pace, the pace I want to run at Ironman. Another interesting thing was that my body is so conditioned and used to the run/walk thing that without looking at my watch I just sense that 10 minutes are almost up and without exception, if I look at my watch during all the laps it will be between 9-9:30 minutes, just about time to start walking again.

After my run and getting refreshed we had a family BBQ and as Kim said this may be our last BBQ before winter arrives. We used to BBQ a lot but lately we've been doing it only once a month or so. The winter is fast approaching and all the signs are there. The Oak tree in our yard has started to shed it's leafs last week and next to the road the Cosmos plants/flowers are appearing everywhere and me getting home in the dark after work(yikes).

This year we've decided to do a road trip down to Port Elizabeth for Ironman and won't be flying. During the last week almost everything is also being video taped. Not that we are busy with some project but DJ wants to get everything on film. We've never done this before and one can take so much more with you when you drive.

With the Soccer world cup during June in SA, the airlines have become very strict with baggage allowance and penalize you even if you are only just over the limit. Something that was not the case in the past. Having Four ladies and me with all my bike gear traveling we will definitely be way over the limit without even taking everything we want.

I bought DJ a video camera as the one we have is still an old model working with tapes and one of our digital cameras has a video feature but the quality is not great. As you can imagine she is now practising all day long and video tape any and everything, even herself acting and dancing to prepare for our "road trip" down to PE.

Will post some of the clips but need to warn you it is still very shaky and far from YouTube quality.

Below is a picture of a piece of land we own in Springs, where I work. I bought it almost two years ago and it is in an enclosed security area. It is a new development and consist of about 16 one hectare stands and most of them have houses on it already. Our initial plan was to build a house on it when we move to Springs but seeing that we are only planning to move two years from now and that there are only 4 or 5 stands left which haven't been build on, we decided to put it in the market and will sell it if we get a good offer.

I go to the "complex" once a month to just go and check if everything is still OK, not that something can go wrong as it has 24 hour security and there is nothing on it that can get stolen but one never knows if someone has occupied your land without your knowing. Maybe it's just an excuse for me to get away from work and have a few quite minutes on this empty piece of land with nothing disturbing me.

Sunday's long Run

2h40, 32.5km, 2573kcal, 4:59min/km, 139bpm heart rate, cadence 88, temp: ave 28c, max 35c,