Two Oceans Marathon- 2010- 56 KMs

The Two Oceans marathon is not my favourite marathon. I have a medal fromm 2002 and in 2004 I registered but pulled out because of a chest infection.....and in 2009, I was forced to bail out. I am not sure wheter turmultous emotions the knee injury or a year of smoking had the effect of my not finishing. I still completed the comrades, with the knee injury and the smoking, so i guess the emotional trauma was the deciding factor there.......which resulted in me having severe stomach cramps....

Although the Two Oceans Marathon is 33 Kms less than the Comrades marathon, it can and should be considered just as gruelling, and the body feels the strain of it.

The race starts on Main Street and is deceptively easy for the first 21kms, however although you are running in flater conditions, your legs have to work constantly.
Geting to the Magaliesberg mountains and into kalk Bay is wonderful, even though raod works mar the terrain, the houses are all so beautiful. I love going past the old age homes and seeing the happy smiles of the elderly who get out to watch the spectacle and merrily wave while chewwing toothlessly on nothing.

The next part through the suburbs that take you to the half way mark is quite ardous and boring, but there are always beautiful kites on display to take away the hurt that is beginning to tighten the Quads. Then we get to the half way mark ( 28 KM) and the climb up Chapmans Peak looms ahead.......At once eager for the view and the excitement, but not wanting to lose time and develop cramps serves to interupt the total enjoyment that is possible on this truly scenic part of the race. This is also the place in any marathon where most runners "hit the wall" anyway. Not one for carbo-loading with supplements, ( I just eat a lot)I am already expecting to hit the wall hard......my body soon tells me its had enough and I am only just pasiing the LLamas, grazing in the field alongside the foothills and am nowhere near the real climb....Thankfully the Chappies twists and turns so that I cannot see the whole climb in one complete sweep ahaed........In the previous attempt I did Ou Kaapse se Weg and that one was worse because you saw what was waiting ahead.

The best thing to do is find someone else who is climbing the way you ( as badly as you)are and let them distract you till you get to the top.......it also helps if they have a panado, to spare.........A gorilla suited dancer is another welcome distraction which is a bonus at this stage.

Once at the top it is not as easy as making up time racing down the hill, your sore muscles deny you the opportunity to do this and you should be grateful as this is where a lot of injuries are avoided. Having family meet you after this ardous journey up and down the hill is very welcome, especially when they have drinks and ener jellies as a surprise. A small flat stretch in Hout Bay takes you to the 42 kay mark, dont expect to do a PB on this one, and you wont be disapointed!

Drinking coke every three km is not easy on the lining of the stomach and alternating with powerade, even though the caffiene assists in getting you to the next table is the best way to go. Bland cold baby potatoes in their jackets are devoured with appreciation that one expects from young women with eating disorders, in their binge phase.

After Hout Bay, when youve hit the wall, bounced back, and are are expecting to work hard, you have to pull out all the stops, to keep focused. It sometimes helps me to sing the same refrain of some song over and over again, or to count to eight, and i sometimes count out aloud. What never helps to to see better atheltes, or better trained athletes, constantly pass you when youre feeling roughedned by the route. Then you just wish you had registered for the 21 instead.

But you persevere, and the boards start entering the late forties, and you begin to feel it may have been worth it, you also check the clock to see if you can do a PB, and tell yourself to go for it, but your body ignores your sill sugesstions. By now youre in the last ten Kms of the race and believe any one in the side who tell you its all gonna be downhill plain sailing after you round the next bend.

Just as you redeem your faith in yourself, the 7 hour "bus" starts catching up with you, you realise that your PB has flown out the window for sure, and no lying to yourself can change your mindset here. Now you seriously consider that you may actually not get the medal afterall the hard labour you have just put in. All the near miss stories that your pals and fellow runners have told you start to seem like it could happen to you, and you hang onto anyone who tells you you have this one in the bag, sometimes asking twice "are you sure?" Just the same, you then speed up a little to make doubly sure, but even then you see another hill to the noisy anouncements in the field and cheering crowds just out of reach........as you enter the field all the aches are forgotten, the cheering crowds and blur of faces, holds your loved ones and the promise of a welcome repreive from the pounding and you cannot help but succumb and wave stupidly and grin happily back at strangers who seem to know your joy.......not at getting the medal, but the joy of finally listening to every fibre in the muscles of your quads and calves, which have been telling you since 15Km to stop. You stop, your training partner who smells and looks like she has just crossed the karoo barefoot, wants to take a picture to mark the ocasion, you agree knowing you look worse for wear than her, and probably smell just as bad......

Pain, stupidity, joy and pleasure, intertwined into glory of conquering another Ultra marathon!