Lately I've been taking on the off road challenge and must say I am having so much fun. This Wednesday, which is a public holiday in South Africa, I'll be doing my first ever Trail run race.
I've done a few off road Duathlons and Triathlons but never a Trail run. It is a 17km run and I am looking so forward to it. With no IM or HIM's in sight I might focus on some off road racing during the Winter instead of the usual.
Friday I did what was suppose to be a 1hr run but ended up doing 1h20. I did my run in the veld next to our neighbourhood and went through mud (due to the constant rain lately), some small river streams and some bush.
I also had to get used to my new off road running shoes. Some time ago I bought Salomon shoes but didn't like them and couldn't come right. Last week I bought a pair of Newton Trail shoes and after Friday's run I am so happy with them.
Think I've become to used to them and I must say the off road version is just as awesome as the road shoes I use.
The before and after pics, not that clean anymoreAt first I was scared that my knee might start to give me hassles but it was just fine. One thing that surprised me was the hammering my ankles took, didn't know my ankles was that weak.
Some Lessons learned from Friday's run:
Take a camera along, you see so many amazing things and scenery.
Don't worry if your shoes get dirty, running through the next river stream will wash them clean.
Need to tighten my shoes better (left them behind on two occasions while running through the mud)
Don't be scared when you hear all these noises next to your feet while running through the veld where there's no path. Whatever it is may just be as scared and it only makes you run faster.
Sunday I had a two hour brick session and it was raining as I woke up and I just didn't have the power to do another indoor session so instead I took the Mountain bike and did the session off road.
No power meter data but it was so much fun. On more than one occasion I went through places which I never thought was possible if you take into account my mountain biking skills.
You were scared?!!! Can you imagine how scared we all were when we saw the colour of those shoes? Haha thank goodness they got dirty otherwise you might have been arrested for wearing offensive weapons. :)
ReplyDeleteMountain biking is awesome - there is always a hill or a technical section to challenge yourself on! Don't wuss out, commit! You can do alot more than you think!
ReplyDeleteDamn. Those are some snot-green shoes you got there! lol Do you see a difference with those 'trail specific' shoes? I just use my road runners on the trail, I think they do 'ok'.
hit the biggest, baddest uphill you can find on the mountain bike. Take your HR out of that tri-dork aerobic zone ;) Thats where the fun is! :)
Awesome stuff!
Love the attittude.
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