10k!! :D

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Sedgefield
March 22nd 2009

Published: March 24th 2009

All will become clear as the entry unfolds... :p

Had a bit of a lie in today, was very nice!! Though got woken up eeeearly by a phonecall from one of the other instructors wanting another instructor's number!! Sunday seems to be lie-in day at the moment - I properly got up at 8!! :p had brekkie, did some washing, chatted to Iona, now we're here :p its like quarter past 10 in the morning - might go to the beach later!!

So Thursday (19th) was quite a hectic day!! Me and Iona were up at the gym at 6:15am for a private spinning class with Deon. It was fun to do proper 'moves' on the spinner, but it was haaaard on the legs!! Sprints on full resistance - not fun!! Not like running at all :p came back and had brekkie, listening to Death Cab full blast :D had David and James speakers, since they were on course!! Deon then told us what we needed to revise for our theory LOC's, then we spent the morning revising water safety. Reminded me of Higher Geography revision!! Learning safety policies, word for word... :p had lunch, slagged off Fuller's taste in music (vengaboys!!) :p and went and bought some more pens - lots of revision means lots of writing, on top of my diary and stuff!! We revised some more then did some kayak rolling - I realised half-way through that my paddle was broken, both blades were facing the same way!! Once I got a shot of another one, it worked so much better. Iona can now hand-roll, and Natasha is nearly there!! I'm not getting the hang of it at all, but we don't actually have to be able to do that one so its all good. We had floatation devices on our paddles some of the time, to prove how easy it is to roll if your paddle set up is perfect, its incredible!! Came back and went to the gym (again) for a Thai-Bow (sp?!) session, with one of Deon's friends - it ended up just me and Iona and the guy's wife and daughter, it was good fun!! Thai-Bow seems to be lots of kicks and punches and boxing, was kool. Want to try it again!! We found out later that night that we were getting an LOC test the next day on Sea Kayaking/Canoeing - even though it was water safety we'd revised!! So I think I messed it up, but I've looked at that section now, and I'll be able to do it again if I've failed. Really annoyed about it, but ach well. Will find out tomorrow, I'm sure.

Friday - got up early for self-PT, went for my usual hilly run, did it in 30mins 15secs, want to get it under 30mins. Did some planks/had brekkie. Did that canoe/sea kayak test (rubbish) it took ages!! We do not need to be able to write lesson progression plans for sea-kayaking!! Then got whisked off to Willow Point to help with clean-up, and to help make a green salad :p I cut loooots of tomatoes and swept the toilets, yummy. Drove back to Upendi and helped Ted with his gear clean-up - then got whisked in the buckie again to take the whalers back to the boathouse!! Had to abandon Ted's gear clean-up list, felt bad. It was such a nice row back though, didn't even take too long, just over an hour. We nearly lost the rudder at one point though (oops) :p looked behind me at one point and saw the sun setting behind the trees, it was stunning. It was such a nice temperature as well. I thought of Kieran, and how we would have loved to have done this!! We had some nice chats on that trip back - we ended up talking about our first/worst/best kisses, it was funny!! Came back after taking gear up to the boathouse, and all showered and had a Braai, was nice, met and talked to Hank for the first time, he was really sound.

And Saturday, me and Natasha got up at half 5 to register for the Sedgefield Strider's 10k!! Ted did the 30k also. It was such an awesome experience, sooo glad I did it!! We got goodie bags, hehe. So we went up and started, we were quite far back though, took aaages to get through the start line and in to a pace, even though there weren't anywhere near as many runners as there is at the race for life!! It started getting a bit hard half-way, then I started counting each kilometre!! Got water off Chris's sister at one point, that was kool!! The last k was hard, but I hoyed it in!! Nearly went the wrong way though - the split for the 10 and 30k wasn't clear, and I ended up nearly running the 30k way!! Didn't though :p I was the only one on the 100m or so sprint to the finish, was sooooo awesome to pass through!! They took my little tag, and I found out I was the 3rd female to finish!! Was amazed. Got powerade and a medal (only the 30k runners got t-shirts!!), waited for Natasha who had hurt her ankle again 😞 then got the most awesome ice-cream ever (got pics) :p - it was dipped in chocolate!! Went to the pharmacy to get Natasha an ankle brace, went back to base and I quickly walked up to the craft market to get the guy to check my CD I got the other week - turned out it was fine, it was the rubbishy CD-player in Upendi that was making it jump!! Fuller gave me a lift half-way up, she's being fairly sound. Came back, and me and Iona and Natasha went to the prize giving!! We bumped in to Ted again - he finished the 30k but had cramped up twice along the way, shame!! I got my prize :D R80 (like 6 quid, but money does go further here) :p was such an amazing feeling. The official time was 49mins 59secs, but knocking a min or 2 off that for the start will give a more realistic time. Was well chuffed :D next time I'm going to try and push myself a bit harder, because I was at a really relaxed pace for that one because I'd never run that far before!! I'm so happy that I did it, unbelievably. Its times like these that really convinces me that all this is worth it - I'm going to focus on that feeling whenever I feel exhasted/homesick. Came back, wrote a letter to Aunty Fiona and Uncle Bryan (got awesome cards off them the other day!!) and showered then Nadia drove us to Chris's - we had such a good night!! Spoke to my Roy too 😊 I love speaking to him so much. We had a healthy braai (for once!!) it was awesome, had braai sandwiches (like toasties) and me and Iona make the salad. We listened to music, I read the George Herald :p watched Get Smart - I missed the first half, but the 2nd half was fun!! Its so amazing to be able to chill at a friend's house, staying in a dorm too long drives you slightly crazy!! We came back and had hot choc and went to bed 😊

I can't believe its 9 weeks now I left. And its only a week and a half til I see Granny and Grandad. As I said before, time passes slooowly, but when you think back a week ago, it seems like it was yesterday. The days are soooo long though, we get up so early. Its strange, I've been thinking a lot recently about friendships, and what they are and whats really important. I hate the fact t hat I get aggrivated easily, I can't believe I let little things affect my friendships. I'm glad I've come to this realisation 😊 also, its mothers day!! Only found out about this yesterday, when I turned the page in my diary and read it at the top :p I love you mum!! I'm sorry I didn't realise sooner that it was mothers day. Ailsa, you'll have to do something for the team!! :p xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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