Learning to walk again

To steal from Dylan, Do not go gentle into that good night...
Rage rage against the dying of the light...

The last few weeks has mostly been spend rushing about, training preparing moving around and finally the big run. Even though the run was probably not the best idea with the amount of running i've done personally it ranks quite high.

As in the poem, i reckon sometimes one should just forget about the critics, pessimists and the rest of the world. To live one day fully, striving to experience all that this amazing life has to offer, even if only for the briefest of moments, must surely be much better than just drudging along and living complacent lives that our society so forces upon us.

After i withdrew from the freedom challenge i've had a lot of time to think. Also had to do some serious thinking about where i am and where i want to be in my life. Withdrawing was extremely difficult, especially since i don't see myself as someone who would give up easily. Went riding and the knee still not there so probably the right choice though, maybe sometimes we learn more from stooping down than by soaring (sorry can't remember who said that), or maybe its a case of learning to walk again.

This however does not mean that the ride, or for that matter the fundraising project is over. I still need to complete the ride down to cape town to finish the Kili2Cape adventure, it has only been extended for a short while. A random quote, dead fish go with the stream.

I'll give some updates on training and cool experiences as they pop up along the way, hopefully in a few weeks i'll be able to continue on the way down to cape town.

The racing on the freedom challenge between Martin and Alex this year has been something absolutely phenomonal, and made me miss riding way more than i thought i would.

To everyone still on the trail, keep at it!

Learning to walk again...

Reality

In everything we do certain truths or realities stand out. The way people perceive things, accepting 'normality', choosing to get stuck in traffic everyday, wasting countless hours on trivial things...

In any case. The reality that struck me was that i had done way too little miles for the trail run on saterday and now the body is letting me know about it. Was an absolutely smashing experience in more ways that i could imagine. Staying on the river for most of the way made for some amazing trail running.

Hats off to the people who run the whole thing, winner did it in half our time. My brother committed to the whole run a day before the event, was an exceptional experience being able to share the run and memories. Had an ok start, but after about 12km one hip started giving problems(must be the old age). Herman stuck with me and gave me some myprodols. Eventually left me just before the 30km mark to go and tape his feet at the next water table. When i got there with some serious thoughts of withdrawing he was nowhere in sight. Probably the right motivation so spend the next 8km zoning out and catching up. Unfortunately some of the beauty of the valley was a bit lost on us, might have to do the Duzi next year;).
Made the 55km cut-off with roughly 20min to spare. The last 15km went slow with us walking most of it. Funny and great experience. Could go on for a while about the river crossings or the legs, walking sticks, lame jokes or the complete nothingness. Eventually made the finish after dark, something over 12hours, but an experience thats stays deeply etched into one's mind.

Had a false start on the freedom yesterday, the bunch was off to a flying start and immediately realised i'm in trouble. Couldn't even keep up to the start of Bisley. Knew the legs would be toasted but was prepared for it and to just hang on and keep going until they improve a bit. Too bad it was my knee that was causing the issues. Soos Marnitz se, net jy kan jouself stop, ongelukkig die keer moes ek.

Eventually had to make the call, there was absolutely no way of even making Minerva without some serious damage. So headed back to Pmb, rested the day, going to a spesialist now and hoping for the best..at least i'm getting some great food while staying here at Aintree;).

Lets hope tomorrow night sees me at Allendale.

Interlude (the other side of the fence)

Ok sorry about no updates for a while. Been hiding from people and society in general.

Struggling to adapt to hundreds of small things and after only two months. Flushing a toilet, or actually just toilets (the normal ones everyone is used to over here) being readily available is weird. Much more so having taps and drinkable water.

Not going to go on too much about that side of things though. Had few more rides with the Specialized carve pro 29er. Unfortunately have to admit that there are some really cool things about the geometry and setup of the bike. Slowly getting used to the idea of riding it. Started running again, much ado about nothing...two weeks till the trail run.

Might post some updates or thoughts until freedom, but for those of you interested in a much more interesting adventure than my daily eating routine follow Jaco Strydoms epic adventure on twitter @jacostrydom. The old blog was beit2cape.blogspot.com. Will check up on that. Else just go search for him on www.endomondo.com. Jaco keep it up! Hope to see you somewhere along the trail!

In any case, loving food, riding with no weight, getting used to running and generally just loving being alive!