On the first of August I started training. It was tough! In the beginning only 2 kilometres a day, at a pace not worth mentioning, but at least it was a start. It improved over time and soon my wife and I entered our first 10km race. Then a second etc. Live was good.

Fast forward to 9 November 2012 and I am on my way to Cape Town. Unfortunately the airline I was supposed to use was liquidated a week earlier, so I had to book a new ticket for more than double the airfare. Eish! Landing in the Mother City we had lunch and went right into another bucketlist conquering item (not originally mine, unfortunately) called lighthouse viewing. There are 52 in South Africa of which a few are around the cape area. Here we go!

In the 3 or so hours available we saw 5: Milnerton, 2 at Green point, Slangkop and Roman Rock in Simons Town. A good days work, I thought. We each have a stance that has to be captured in a photo for it to count and did we have fun with that! We even saw some penguins at Boulders Beach where they stroll freely. Off to his place for the first time for a relaxing evening.

The next morning we went up the west coast of the RSA as far as Dwarskersbos (about 150km from Cape Town). The aim was to see the 5 possible towers on that side of the coast, but first we wanted to see what the westcoast looks like. The towns are small and smells a bit of fish, so it's not entirely for me. The only place I would visit for a breakaway or holiday is Tietiesbaai near Paternoster, as well as Paternoster itself. The five towers were unfortunately not possible as we spent a bit more time doing this and that, but they were worth it! We saw one St Helenabay, Cape St Martins and Cape Columbine, within the Tietiesbaai reserve. A very impressive tower.

We had to rush back to Capetown for a birthday party and could not even stop at his place. Past it to Houtbay for a relaxing evening with some funny stories told, as well a character building, the hard way: By friends! Got home a bit late and had to get up by 04:30 to make it to the race in time, so only 05:30 hours to sleep. Not ideal, but we can live with that.

It's raceday and the reason we actually came. Left home at 5 and got to the parking area at around 06:15. The 800m hill to walk back up to the starting line was no fun. The race started at 07:20 and my first half-marathon arrived. The furthest I've ever ran before is 10km, so I knew it would be a challenge. Also, if you have ever been to Cape Point, its not the flattest road ever. The first 3 or so kilometres were not that bad, until you reach a very steep downhill. The problem with that is, firstly that you run to fast and secondly that I knew we were returning on the same route...

Coming back on the same route was between 8 and 10 kilometres. It was all uphill and I could see that my time was still to fast. Did not want to run myself to the drain and then struggle to finish. I walked the steepest 800m of the uphill and started jogging again. My fasted 10km ever, not a good thing, I thought. I thought the worst was over and that it would be a mental battle only. The target was just to finish, no matter what time. It soon changed as I realised that a time below 02:30 was possible. I just continued at a pace of 7 minutes per kilometre. That was actually the pace I wanted to run the first 10km at, but I could not resist...

If only I knew the future. The next 5km was a battle! All uphill and every time you think it ends, it just continued! It almost broke the camels back (and mine). Then came a bit of gravel which I decided to walk. Only walked 500m before deciding that the road is fine for running and I should kick on. After 18km, and with 24 minutes left to beat my goal time, it was all downhill. My body was in pain, my mind kept me going. The last 1.1km was a fast downhill which I could not run fast as my knees did have enough in the tank. I made it! My personal best (obviously) in a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 8 seconds. Not bad for a first race, I thought.

We spent some time in the park, my second favourite of all the SANparks I have visited (another bucketlist item). We also had photos taken at the most South-Westerly point of Africa, based in the park. A good, fun day, but the pain was setting in and we were tired, so we went home to sleep.

Looking for number 2 of the 6. Who knows, might be even more...