Dwarp uploaded some nice Puffer photos!
Robinson proves tougher than Puffer
Every year in August, approximately a 125 athletes gather in the pre-dawn chill at Cape Point. This is undoubtedly the Cape’s extreme season, and they huddle together within the reserve’s parking lot in an effort to escape winter’s bite as they wait for starter’s orders. It is a low-key event and, when they tramp off on their gruelling 80km odyssey, it is to muted cheers rather than raucous applause.The HI-TEC Puffer owes its name to a rather droll acronym: the ‘Peninsula Ultra Fun Run’. It is the ‘fun’ part that non-ultra athletes will dispute, but there is no arguing with these runners as they stride off along the Cape Point roads in the dark, heading for the reserve gate. The first 30km of the run is along tarmac, ensuring that they settle into a comfortable pace and tempo, but the ‘epic’ status kicks in as soon as the mountain trails begin.
The big guns made their intention clear right from the start of this year’s race, with favourites Will Robinson and Bruce Arnett cranking up the pace from the word go. Both were well ahead of the lead bunch by the time the sun rose above the distant Hottentots-Holland peaks, reeling in the kilometres as they streamed along the road to Scarborough.
Arnett, the current record holder with a time of 7h 26min 38sec, battled to stay in touch along the tarmac, but must have been hoping that his mountain goat skills would save the day on the technical trails. Red Hill proved to be the first major climb, and by this time Robinson had a lead of around 12min on the second-placed Arnett.
The singletrack past Kleinplaas Dam lead the runners over Black Hill, through Fish Hoek and up the Old Wagon Trail. With the gaps starting to open up, Robinson stuck to his guns through Silvermine, with Marc de Rooy and Costa Dimopoulis in 3rd and 4th places closing in. Top lady Linda Doke also moved up the field into the Top 10, with adventure racer Tatum Prins staging a concerted charge.
Cool and cloudy conditions made for good racing, and Robinson steamed past the Constantia Nek cut-off point with the record well within his grasp. Well stocked water tables and seconding points along the route characterises the HI-TEC Puffer, now in its 14th year, but despite this, the strain of running 80km began to take its toll. Cramps, scrapes and strained grimaces were the order of the day as the runners laboured up the steep Smuts track on the back end of Table Mountain, with 30km to go to the finish.
Robinson was by now well in the lead, and unaware of the duel playing out further behind him between De Rooy and Arnett. They were head-and-head coming through the lower Cable Way Station, but Arnett managed to fight off the challenge along Signal Hill. Robinson, in the meantime, steamed over the finish line, looking fresh as he shattered the Hi-Tec Puffer record by a margin of more than 10 minutes, finishing in 7hrs 13min 56sec.
Arnett (7hrs 53min) and De Rooy (7hrs 55min) followed in his wake, with the Ladies’ favourite Linda Doke (8hrs 26min and 5th position) managing to triumph by a narrow margin after a ding-dong battle with the indefatigable Tatum Prins. The latter came in 4min later, claiming 6th position overall in her first ever attempt at the Hi-Tec Puffer Ultra.
They are not the only heroes. Brian Key, a phenomenal 70 years young, finished the race in 20th position, while nine athletes took on the ‘Tuffer Puffer’. This double-or-nothing madness saw them starting the Friday before race day at 8AM and running the 160km to Cape Point and back, through the night, and without a break. This epic race was won by Eric Tollner (23:30:26) while a new ladies record was set by Janette Terblance (24:55:14). Michelle Fookwe was the last athlete home (35:14:29)
It is no wonder that Puffer veterans subscribe to the saying: ‘Running in heaven; feeling like hell’. All the blood, sweat and tears dissipate when they cross the finish at Ferryman’s Tavern in the V&A Waterfront, and their eyes say it all: “Despite the pain, suffering and exhaustion, you can bet your life we will once again be lining up at the start next year”!
Blood pressure 180/75!
I knew I was having health problems as I've being more sick than usual this year than in the last 3 years. I was out of work thrice this year already! I complained to my doctor about consistant fatigue, an elevated heart rate and extreme tension that comes and goes on my left side only. I insisted I might be having a mild stroke or heart palpations but he felt it was just a muscle spasm.
I've already decided to pull out of marathons (PPC, Cape Town and Voet of africa) and concentrate on the smaller races instead. I don't regret that decision after having a hard time at John Korasie recently when I was "finished" at 21km with another 9km to go. Supporters may have joked that I couldn't even speak when they greeted me, but it's something I don't take lightly.
The male nurse that did the test advised me to change my diet (eat more green veggies, yuck) and increase my iron, multi vitamen and falso? intake. I must also try to stress less at work and life in general (yeah right!)
My systolic blood pressure of 180 is high.
What is high blood pressure?
Imagine that your arteries are pipes that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal.
What do the numbers mean?
Blood pressure is really two measurements, separated by a slash when written down, such as 120/80. You may also hear someone say a blood pressure is "120 over 80."
The first number is the systolic blood pressure. This is the peak blood pressure when your heart is squeezing blood out. The second number is the diastolic blood pressure. It's the pressure when your heart is filling with blood--relaxing between beats.
A normal blood pressure is 120/80 or lower. High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. If your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/90, you have something called "prehypertension."
What problems does high blood pressure cause?
High blood pressure damages your blood vessels. This in turn raises your risk of stroke, kidney failure, heart disease and heart attack.
Does it have any symptoms?
Not usually. This is why it's so important to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
High blood pressure is making my heart grow too large
Dr Scurr says: Many people don't realise that high blood pressure can cause the muscle on one side of the heart to become enlarged.
In fact, if your blood pressure is raised for more than a few months then it's almost an inevitable consequence.
It's usually the left side that's affected because this side works much harder anyway, as it contains the main pumping chamber of the heart. While the right side has only to pump blood to the lungs, the left side has to pump blood all around the body. Just how easy this is depends on your blood pressure.
When you have high blood pressure, this makes the heart's job harder because it causes the arteries to tighten.
Drawing on one of my favourite analogies, imagine how much harder it is to blow through a drinking straw as opposed to a six-inch length of garden hose - that's like the strain high blood pressure puts on the heart.
And like any other muscle in the body, the harder the heart muscle is worked, the bigger it will become - in the same way that your thigh muscles get bigger if you cycle a lot.
Fortunately, a thickened muscle can easily be detected by an electrocardiogram (an electrical recording of the heart's activity) which is performed by your GP.
There is a further type of investigation, called an echocardiogram, which is performed in hospital using an ultrasound scan and measures the actual thickness of the heart muscle.
The risk with a thickened heart muscle is that it can lead to a condition known as hypertensive heart disease.
This is where the heart's pumping chambers change shape, affecting how well the heart works.
In the end, it becomes impossible to pump blood to all the body's tissues and the result is heart failure. You then get a build-up of fluid in the system, particularly in the lungs, causing progressive breathlessness, weakness and, ultimately, death.
Even before that late stage, patients with hypertensive heart disease are at much higher risk of heart attack or stroke.
High Blood Pressure
How Can I Control My Blood Pressure?
More than half of Americans over age 60 and about three-fourths of those 70 years of age and older have high blood pressure. The good news is blood pressure can be controlled in most people. To start, there are many lifestyle changes you can make to lower your risk of high blood pressure, including:
Keep a healthy weight. Being overweight adds to your risk of high blood pressure. Ask your doctor if you need to lose weight.
Exercise every day. Moderate exercise can lower your risk of high blood pressure. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day most days of the week. Check with your doctor before starting an exercise plan if you have a long-term health problem or are over 50 and have been inactive.
Eat a healthy diet. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products may help to lower blood pressure. Ask your doctor about following a healthy diet.
Cut down on salt. Many Americans eat more salt (sodium) than they need. Most of the salt comes from processed food (for example, soup and baked goods). A low-salt diet might help lower your blood pressure. Talk with your doctor about eating less salt.
Drink less alcohol. Drinking alcohol can affect your blood pressure. Most men shouldn’t have more than two drinks a day; most women should not drink more than one drink a day.
Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. If you smoke, quit.
Manage stress. People react to stress in different ways. For some, stress can cause their blood pressure to go up. Talk to your doctor about how you can lower stress. Exercise and getting a good night’s sleep can help.
Whenever I complain about this or that I find out about someone that had it worse than me.
Little Miss runner pants had a cycling accident this past weekend and was kind enough to post some pictures.
i feel like i should tell you guys this, although i’m in no mood.
… i was riding saturday morning when my front wheel got caught in a crevasse, i came to a full stop, and endo’d onto my face.
my helmet cracked, and probably saved my life, but the other place i hit was…
my face.
my top lip split into 3 parts and 4 of my top teeth got knocked out.
i’m pissed off.
i’m angry.
Thursday 27/08/2009
Funny how I posted about a fellow bloggers fall and then I stumbled upon another 2 bloggers who also survived crashes!
So Can I Run With This?
This is what happens when you trip over a rock, sand, or your own two feet, as you stand on the uphill side of a camp fire. You (ok, well maybe not you, probably only me) put out your hand to break your fall and your hand has nowhere to go but into the fire. Luckily you're rolling so the hand goes in and out and nothing else lands in the fire. Your hair doesn't catch on fire. You don't burn off eyelashes or eyebrows. Didn't have to STOP, DROP or ROLL. I was very lucky.There Was Blood and Tears
I really felt good. At this point, I had finished the 20-minute "tempos" and was just pedaling easy about 17-18mph. Traffic wasn't bad, so I wasn't feeling crowded by the cars. But for some reason, I rode too close to the edge of the road and my front tire slipped off. I've done this before, and I can usually correct. Not yesterday. The difference between the road and the shoulder right there was probably about 6 inches, likely due toall the rain we've had this spring.
All I remember was thinking that "yep, I'm going to fall," and "I wish it was in the grass rather than the road because this is going to hurt."
I don't remember much about the actual fall. Just that it did indeed hurt and that I needed to get myself out of the road.
