Training Log Archive: Stijn

My big goal for the year - Ultra Trail Cape Town 100k! We were SO lucky with the weather... pouring all day the day before and 30+ degrees the day after. We had sunny, 25 degrees with a nice cooling breeze :) My main goal was to finish within the not-so-generous 17-hour cut-off time, but I did have "The Original" cut-off of 15 hours in the back of my mind if I had a great day.

For once, I paced the race perfectly, taking it very easy for the first 37km over Signal Hill and Lions Head, up Platteklip, down to Constantia Nek and across to Llandudno beach. Possibly too easy, as I got a bit of a skrik about the 4h45m Constantia Nek cut-off at one point, but made it by 23 mins in the end. I arrived at Llandudno feeling fresh and comfortable.

The plan had been to be in the same state at the 50km mark at Hout Bay so that I could keep a good pace on the very runnable section from 50km to 74km, rather than manage a failing body and spirits as is normally the case. That was the plan until I hit Suther Peak at the 45km mark. On paper, this 600m climb looks perfectly doable, but it just beat the crap out of me. Feeling light-headed and weak on the way up, I deployed the now-famous Strategic Lie Down for a good 5 mins before stumbling my way up the rest of the climb. At that point, I thought my race was over as there is not much lee-way in the cut-offs to allow for a stumbling pace for the 2nd half!

Fortunately, the descent on the Karbonkelberg jeep track boosted my spirits again - I was able to run it quite strongly and found a running rhythm very comfortable again. So it was just those pesky steep climbs which would be a problem, of which there were very few left. Back in the game. At Hout Bay, my amazing seconding team of Andrew & Hayley Hagen told me there was general carnage and crying for the runners just up the road... i.e. they were ripe for the picking - stick to the original plan and run these next 24km. It was very hot on the river trails through Hout Bay, but I steadily passed runners all the way up and kept a good momentum going. Probably spent a bit too much time at each of the aid stations (since I was getting so well looked after by my elite seconding team) as I had to re-pass a few of the runners several times... anyway, the main thing is that I was enjoying it which is a rare phenomenon this far into an ultra.

Over Constantia Nek, through the Groot Constantia vineyards and along some beautiful green belts to reach the end of the "very runnable" section at Alphen Trails. Re-focus. Time for some hiking, up to and along the contour path (and over those ridiculous steps just after Skeleton Gorge). After the steps, with about 7km to go to UCT and another 11km to the finish from there, I was suddenly in race mode again. An enormous blister made this rather painful, but I was running strongly along the technical trails, picking off runners on the way. Super-nostalgic running through UCT, past Jammie Plaza and up the stairs past the MSC noticeboard. Up at the Tennis Club, I had a gang of 10 of my friends cheering me in - such an awesome boost in the home stretch!

Last obstacle - the climb to the Blockhouse. Really steep. Same light-headed feeling returning (why only on these steep, slow climbs? - weird), but very close to the end now... push push push. From the Blockhouse, I was running again (albeit pained by the blister and being blasted by an insane wind). Beautiful sunset on Kloof Corner as I was running along the contour and then the last 3km drop to the finish. I ran these really hard, trying to sneak under 15h30m for some arb reason. Anyway, it felt great :) Practically sprinted around the field at the end and finished with a manic jump over the line.

Put this race on your bucket list. Brilliant route, vibe and organisation!

Splits (and position out of 98 starters):

Kloofnek (13km) 1:30:55 - 72nd
Platteklip Top (18km) 2:41:25 - 70th
Constantia Nek (30km) 4:22:11 - 66th
Llandudno (37km) 5:24:28 - 66th
Hout Bay (52km) 8:12:08 - 60th
Constantia Nek (62km) 9:46:56 - 55th
Groot Constantia (66km) 10:17:35 - 54th
Alphen Trail (74km) 11:24:42 - 51st
Nursery Ravine Bottom (79km) 12:19:52 - 48th
UCT (87km) 13:44:53 - 44th
Tafelberg Road (94km) 15:11:26 - 45th
Finish (97km) 15:30:17 - 45th

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move134270775

C • Nice going!! Absolutely cra... 8

Last little leg loosener in Cape Town with Fran.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move133838464

Taper run with Fran.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move133554397