| TRAIL Mail #23: Friday 23 July 2021 Sent to 9,571 readers | Durban poison. Are you over-training? Yoga for runners. | | | | In this issue - Trail Talk. Durban poison. Over-training. Yoga.
- Your Photos. Winter trail fun.
- Funny. You then, you now.
- Calendar. Weekend announcement.
- Gear. First Ascent, Salomon.
- TRAIL 40. What's in the new issue?
| | | | | Happy Friday If you ran this morning, RESPECT! The sub-polar front from Antarctica is here, and I swear I saw a penguin in the garden a moment ago...
Durban poison
One place that isn't bemoaning the cold wind from the south is Durban. It's a chilly 25 degrees Celsius here this morning (kidding!) but I can seriously say that no-one is complaining about the clear skies letting out the warmth. Durban's runners are looking up this morning with relief, thinking 'Thank goodness, I can go outside again!'
The past week and a half in the city has been surreal. A chemical factory to the north of the city was targeted in the attacks against civil society, and spewed both highly toxic liquid into the beautiful uMhlanga estuary (all visible life forms there are now dead), and massive plumes of particles into the Durban skies. The collapsed structure prevented the smouldering remains from being cleared until yesterday (based on the info I have). I updated the situation on my Facebook profile on Wednesday.
It's probably safe to say that very few trail runners in Durban have been overtraining (or running much at all, except for midday, when the pollution could escape the temperature inversion).
| | Our new issue
Issue 40 is out. Have you read it yet? If you enjoyed the bestselling book Born To Run, you'll possibly also connect with Yoga For Sports Performance, written by experienced yogi Jim Harrington.
The irony is that after reading Born To Run you might have thought that yoga couldn't improve your running. Well, Harrington also read it, and as a surfer and coach to world-class sportspeople in several sports, he only found inspiration in disproving that. | | Are you being floored by over-training?
Have you been putting in too many hard sessions in response to underlying stress about COVID and the civil unrest? It might be worth checking out the signs of over-training syndrome from Lucy Etherton in our article.
Wishing you happy trails this weekend. I look forward to seeing your trail pic on our Facebook post on Monday.
Deon Braun TRAIL publisher | | | | | | Your adventures
You've been revelling on our winter trails lately. 1. Bianca Brent was one of the 3peaks gang jolling in the Outeniqua mountains above George. They really loved it. 2. Also a fortnight ago, Andre Oosthuizen tackled snow on Seweweeks Peak with photographer Zane Schmahl. 3. Last weekend, Phillip Gibb looked into Elephant Eye cave in Tokia for the first time. He liked what he saw. | | | | 3. FUNNY | | You then, you now.
Are you a late starter? Hit reply and tell me your story. We may publish it as a letter in our next issue. | PROMOTED EVENTS
Heaven & Hell Mountain Marathon. Wed 22 – Sat 25 September (EC) 5km, 8km, 14km, 22km, 44km, 88km, 176km. Rhodes. New 100 miler has over 16,000m vert! Start 5am. R50-R3,800. alpineswifttrails.co.za
Otter African Trail Run Challenge. Wed 6 – Thu 7 October (EC) 5km/42km. Nature’s Valley. Run the classic route west to east from Stormsriver Mouth to Nature’s Valley with 2,600m of ascent, 11 hour cut-off. otter.run
Otter African Trail Run Race. Fri 8 – Sat 9 October (EC) 5km/42km. Nature’s Valley. Run the classic route west to east from Stormsriver Mouth to Nature’s Valley with 2,600m of ascent, 9 hour cut-off. otter.run
Dassie Trail Runs. Sat 9 October (EC) 6km, 10km. Nature’s Valley. Float over rocks, roots, pebbles, through riverbeds and test yourself up steep climbs. Start 8:30am. R240/R280. otter.run | |
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