There are very few things on the Earth better that getting outside an enjoying God’s creation, and what an awesome creation He has made in the Jonkershoek mountains. Starting super early when most sane people were hiding under their warm duvets, a bunch of trail running enthusiasts were getting ready to life life to it’s fullest. The dark cold morning was never a factor, what was more important was whether or not we had to carry a waterproof jacket, with a hood mind you. The day, however, was too perfect to demand such things, so gleefully I was packing away may rain jacket into my tog bag …. nice – that’s shave off a few minutes. Continue Reading…
Archives For Phillip Gibb
At the beginning of the year I had to make a hard decision to abort my 2013 Ironman attempt; partly due to injury but mainly because it was just too expensive. But then the unbelievable happened; I won an entry to participate in the 2013 Spec Savers IronMan. Wow. Granted, I needed to have a chat with family and decide if I could realistically pull this off, after all it was just two month till Ironman and I had not been putting in the required hours. In the end I went for it! Continue Reading…
Think that that’s me in the back at 2:27 – maybe.
What an awesome event!
Thanks for the video!
There seems to be a completely different mindset when it comes to trail as opposed to running on tar. Well at least with me; I cannot see myself running for 50km on tar but I can on trail.
So when I won an entry to the Three Peaks Challenge Competition there was no hesitation, besides I knew that there was going to be a lot of walking :O
There I was, huddled together with 100+ other trail runners at 5am on a perfect morning, posing for a photograph. My 3:30am wake up a thing of the past and the upcoming 8-9hr run about to form part of legend.
Then suddenly, off we were sent with me trying to get my Endomondo app running on my phone and staying with the group, one day I am going to trip over someone, lol.
It was quite dark and a few early morning party goers were still about – some of whom enquired of our madness.
Three Peaks is just that; a run up 3 very respectful peaks. Normally people would only start the three separate peaks higher up where there was no tar to cover. In this race we started right down at the bottom and had to find our way up, sometimes weaving through people in the streets and sometimes dashing across the road until we made it to the trail sections.
Continue Reading…
It is official; I am a lunatic. Thank to everyone who voted for me in the 3 Peaks Competition – I was in the top three and won the luck draw for a guaranteed entry.
That means on the 3rd of November I will be running up and down Table Mountain, Devils Peak and Lion’s Head – all very respectable climbs (even as stand alones), the distance will come to about 50kms.
What?!!
50km
yip.
That means that it will be a shot at completing a very important goal I have to run an Ultra Distance Trail run, but boy do I make it hard on myself – those three ascents (and descents) are killer. I have done all three before so I know how hard it can be.
Please cheer for me, pray for me and encourage me – every bit is going to be needed because there are going to be many times during the run when it will be needed.
Thanks to K-Way, CapePeaks and Cape Union Mart for this opportunity.
Last year I ran the Gun Run in 01:47:46 which could have been better if it had not been for my calf failing me in the last 6kms. That effort was an indicator of my fitness after almost a year of returning to fitness. It was also an indicator of how well I might do in the JailBreak Triathlon I was to do in December. This year after lots more training I set myself quite an audacious goal; finish the Gun Run in under 1:30.
The course is quite flat and I have changed my running for to be more compliant to the natural form advocated by minimalist specialists (actually I would be interested in getting it analyzed or at least to see video footage of myself). So, I was ready, in my inov8 f-lites (195g with a 3mm heel to toe drop) ready to slay the course.
The start was so much better than last year – less crowded since I started closer to the front. I did not find a 1:30 bus so I was a bit in the dark on how to pace myself, in hindsight I should have put together a pace chart with target times. By the time I hit the top of the one and only hill I was already too far behind to make up the required time.
The last few kilometres went by quite fast as I motored it down the hill and on the final flat, however when I saw that there were 3 kilometres lets I was requiring 3mins a kay to break the 1:30 so I kept it at a sane pace.
My final time was 1:35:59 placing me 205 out of 4150 or 31 out of 577 in my age group.
Next year I am sure I will be able to break the 1:30 time. What I need to do is to add more track and speed work because as fast as I was running I could not turn my legs over fast enough (not for want of trying)
On the slight negative side; my lower calves were a bit sore with my whole calf seriously stiff for almost a week after. A symptom of running my longest distance in minimalist shoes.
The result, however, is still very pleasing leading up to Jailbreak, the question is can I run like this after a 133km cycle 
One thing I do not want to ignore is the running technique that my kids learn, so I am always concerned about what footwear they wear. At least in shoes we buy them. I do keep a watchful eye when they run and always comment on the way they place their feet. Which is easy since my son wants to always run around the garden with me; barefoot (and my daughter follows with a big smile on her face).
VIVOBAREFOOT KIDS – Barefoot is Best from VIVOBAREFOOT on Vimeo.
There is exactly 2 months left for the big Jailbreak, that is 61 days. Sixty One Days to one big escape attempt that will set me up for a very good chance to complete the Ironman next year.
Last year I completed my first ever triathlon at Jailbreak. Back then it was a
1.1km swim, a 44km cycle and an 11km run
with a target time of 2hrs 50mins, I completed Jailbreak in a time of 3 hours with only the swim letting me down with an extra 10 mins (must have been a bad transition). It was always my intention to take part in the Escape from Maximum Security, but now Jailbreak is offering an option called Life Sentence which is in essence a three quarter ironman:
3.3km swim 133km cycle 33km run
which I believe I can do in less than 7.5 hrs (80min swim, 3hr15min cycle and 2hr45min run). The this is not too much of an issue; I have taken part in event that took me almost as long, neither is the cycle and run distance.
The thing that scares me is the swim. Not having a wetsuit to properly train in the open water is a huge stumbling block, added to that I have not been very motivated to keep training in the pool. Things will have to change. The wetsuit will have to be hired (nothing can be done about that unless I win a competition or something) and I will have to put in some effective laps in the gym pool.
This is going to be an awesome challenge, so follow all the detail here as I get ready for the big Jailbreak.