15km Training Run: Saturday 3rd July

Hi all,

With this weekend's Spookhill 15K race postponed till next weekend, I'd still like to get a training run in before Knysna next weekend. Anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome - I'll be running from the Rondebosch Common at 7:00 am on Saturday morning (corner of Park and Campground, starting by the memorial stone), running around 15km. The route is flat, pace easy. There are a couple of water points along the way, but maybe bring a small water bottle just in case.

This is the rough route map that I'll be running: Rondebosch Training Run

Route description:

We start at the Rondebosch Common and run over Belmont Road onto Main, turning left. At Klipper Road we go right, up a slight hill towards Newlands Avenue. Follow Newlands Avenue in the direction of Kirstenbosch till we reach the M3. Follow the M3 past the Shell garage (water point) towards the Protea Road Circle. Follow Protea Road towards Main Road (water point at Engen) and across past Newalands cricket grounds. From here we go right into Palmyra and left into Queen Victoria. We now follow the Don Lock route for a while, running down Queen Victoria until we reach Cook Road. Cook takes us to Keurboom Road, where we head right, and left into Belvedere. Left again at Ave De Mist. At the circle at Ave De Mist and Coniston, veer left onto Coniston, which becomes Oakhurst Avenue when the road turns right. At the end of Oakhurst we'll turn right onto Campground (water point at Shell), and up towards the Common. Once around the Common makes 15km.

If you know of anyone else looking for a 15km run this weekend to take the place of Spookhill (minus those scary hills/mountains), bring them along - the more the merrier! Saturday is predicted to be cool but clear, if a tad windy (hence the slightly more sheltered Rondebosch route choice).

See you guys at 7a.m. on Saturday morning at the Rondebosch Common!

Regards,

Angela

Stats: Thursday, 3 June 2010, 06:00

Another stunner of a day for running, if a little nippy to start with, and a group of Hillbillies eager to hit the road, made for a great hour of speedwork! It had been raining on-and-off through the night and early hours of the morning, so we had to decided whether to run and risk getting wet, or sleep in and risk regretting a perfect running morning. Being Hillbillies, we decided that a little water wouldn't melt us, and tackled the great outdoors, keeping an eye on the sky the whole way. Maybe that accounted for our speed this fine morning???

 

Either way, we did the short-fast-and-flat Claremont route again, flying past through Claremont and past the cricket grounds. We sped along Campground, stopping briefly for water at the Shell garage near the Common, before motoring over Belmont and racing down Main. We somehow managed a sub-5m00 pace for the last km, but throughout the run didn't get a single drop of water on our heads! At least not from the sky - the 'joggers tap' at the Shell has 2 settings: "off" and "gusher", and anyone brave enough to use it gets pretty well soaked in the process. But water is water and usually by this point along the run no one minds getting a little wet.

All in all a fun morning :)

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Stats: Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 06:00

An absolutely stunning morning for a run, we'd planned Kirstenbosch to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Running a little late, we had to abandon our earlier plan of taking the scenic route along Klaasens Road and stick to Rhodes Drive, dodging traffic till we reached Top Gate. A welcome water break, and we headed into Kirstenbosch Gardens for a scenic, fresh and relaxing downhill jog through the deserted Gardens, followed by a quickish run back.

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Stats: Thursday, 27 May 2010, 06:00

Thursday morning dawned cool and dry, with a significantly smaller group of Hillbillies due to the Comrades runners tapering or already in Natal preparing for the big day.

So we opted for an easy, flat run to cool down from the week and ease our way into a quiet weekend of Comrades-supporting!!

We ran the old favourite route, with the only hill being right at the start, up Dean Street. Gradually up Newlands Avenue and down the M3. Stopped for a quick drink of water at the Engen on Main Road, then over towards Newlands Cricket, and a slight incline over the railway bridge. Down Campground, over Belmont and we headed up Main Road for the home stretch. A lovely calming 8.5km - a good way to start off the day and round off the week!

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