Being foxy

As part of my initiative to broaden my horizons by attending different types of talks, I ended up tonight at the annual John Orr Lecture presented by the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering at Wits. The lecture was given by global strategist and scenario planner Clem Sunter.

I've heard Clem often on the radio and I've read bits and pieces that he has written - I always enjoy hearing what he has to say. He's a superb speaker and I was spellbound. I don't even know how long his talk was - it was that good. I could have listened to him for another hour! Clem is speaking again at Wits on 22 May 2014 - details not yet available.

He passed on an incredible load of information and thoughts and concepts and scenarios - the fundamentals of which can be found in his books. I haven't read them but I'll definitely tuck into his 'fox' books.

I need to do a bit of scenario planning myself and having been to Clem's talk tonight I feel like my mind is moving into a better space to conceptualise and plan for next year (and the next and next).

Route finding adventure

I've just had a few days goodness-knows-where... in grassy mountains of the Transkei, near Lesotho. It was completely new terrain for me - passing through towns and villages that I never even knew existed. I was out there to help a friend with scouting for an event he's been working on. He needed a navigation-runner person to link some sections of the route. I'll tell you more about the event when he's ready to let the cat out of the bag.

I haven't played with 1:50,000 topographical maps for a while so it took a bit to get my eye into distance judgement and interpreting the contour lines - reading the gradients of slopes and adjusting to what hills are and aren't represented. The 20-metre contour interval is quite a height.

My companion for this outing was Wayde, an old AR friend. A most suitable adventure companion - strong on foot. On Monday we approached the first section and were instructed to find a route from where we were to a pick-up point on a road - some distance away. We were also to consider water-drop options, that could be accessible by vehicle.

We started from here - where the photo is taken from. And heading for about the point on ridge where the down-arrow is pointing - and then along the ridge.

What a most wonderful outing we had! We didn't run, but instead walked - enjoying the scenery, taking photos, encountering friendly locals and looking at route options. And what a pleasure to have a map in hand and to just go anywhere we wanted to.

Wayde at a river crossing.

A little baby dung beetle with a little baby dung ball.

Loads of horses out here. Baby season too. This foal is all legs.

Lookin'back. That purple X... that's where the landscape photo above was taken from. Our start point.

We found these really cool rocks. Table top-like and just standing there on top of a mountain surrounded by grass.

Flowers! 

And then that was the end of a glorious Day 1.

For Day 2 we had a shorter outing - with no maps. We were essentially on part of a hiking trail. I was itching for maps because in terms of a race route Wayde and I think that there's a much better route option. The hiking trail is beautiful and sometimes a little difficult to follow - so it made for a nice little 'sans maps' adventure.

Nice start to the section - rock art.

Cattle country. Also lots of sheep and goats. 

Our find of the day! Wayde spotted this rock pool at the end of a spur, a bit off the trail. We went to investigate. to the left and right and ahead of the pool, the spur just drops away with cliffs. It's not a deep pool - maybe 15-20cm of water - but potential for a nice little splash when filled with rain water.

Mr Froggy

A good two days of play (and a day of travel either side to get there). A wonderful treat to visit a part of South Africa that I've never been to and to navigate new routes. I do get a kick out of route planning.

Foot off the accelerator? Hardly.

I thought that once I'd finished the English course my foot could come off the accelerator and I'd be able to juggle less balls... But there's hardly been a moment to breathe.

Forest Run & my chance to run
Forest Run entries went online this week. The date for Forest Run was set not long after this year's event and unfortunately it clashes with the Addo event (this year we were a week apart). The races are totally different in terrain, they're spread far apart geographically and as I've only got space for 150 runners anyway, it's no biggie.

But, a new race hit the calendar this week -  a 70km up here in Gauteng, which will serve as the SA Trail Champs -  a qualifier for the World Trail Champs. I was flattered to be offered the opportunity to have Forest Run as the SA Trail Champs event, but I declined because my event doesn't have the elevation gain nor steep ascents nor technical terrain that the qualifier should have... So runners that were planning to do Forest Run are having to decide which of the two races to do.

For me, the decision is easier. As I'm organising Forest Run, I'm taking the opportunity to be a participant and so I've entered the 70km. I can pour my energy into making Forest Run wonderful for my participants; and then stretch my legs on this new course. So while the events split participation, the timing is quite nice for me personally.

Festive Metrogaine
You'll have read on here about the Festive Metrogaine on 30 Nov. This is going to be fun. I'm marginally involved - all credit goes to Sarah, Stephanie and Christie and their helpers from WITSOC. I'm a peripheral 'consultant' - these experienced orienteers have it all under control. I'm planning to run and to get a taste of my own medicine by running my event format.

Open navigation coaching evenings
On Wednesday evening we had the first of what will be regular, structured navigation coaching sessions. Although I'm planning and organising, I'm ably assisted by fellow orienteering coaches to keep the groups small. The objective behind these sessions is to provide more activities and skills advancement for our club members - and also the general adventure racing community. Other people getting involved are trail runners and mountain bikers, particularly for events with navigation elements.

We were lucky to miss the rain - it poured before the session and cleared to usher in the most beautiful evening. We had 11 participants and look forward to even more at the next session on Wed, 5 Dec.

On the AR Club side we've got some fun activities planned for early in the year.

Mini-FEAT Jo'burg
Back in my home base for mini-FEAT in Jo'burg (Monday night), I had my usual structures in place. Maggi was on hand to take photographs - we've got some lovely ones of the speakers Wiam Haddad and Stephen Venables. It was a superb night and both talks were captivating with magnificent images. I'm aiming for 2-3 mini-FEAT events a year.

Wiam Haddad spent 13 months on Marion Island. A lovely seven-minute talk about his experiences.

Our first foreign featured speaker, climber, mountaineer, adventurer and author, Stephen Venables. He spoke to us about his sailing-climbing adventures in the Far South to the Antarctic Peninsula, Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia Island.

A pic for my 'brag book' - with Stephen Venables and Wiam Haddad

Run recce
I'm off on a run recce on Sunday - not for an event but to assist a friend. Back on Wednesday. A few days of running is just what I need.

Other things
I've been giving my veggie garden a bit more attention. The patty-pans are forming, eggplants are getting bigger, Swiss chard is growing, butter lettuces are getting big, sorrel has been growing out of control, my tree tomato tree is taller than me now and laden with its first fruit, the artichokes have been delicious and the nasturtiums add lovely colour to the beds.

Crochet has been slow... I started a new blanket project at the beginning of the month. Progress is slow. I'm aiming to create a landscape image (green hills/grass, tree, blue sky, cloud, sun and flowers) from squares. Last night I pulled off patterns for a bunch of xmas decorations, which I'd like to try my hand at making.

I'm doodling here and there. Gonna take my drawing book with me to the run recce. I'm sure to find loads of inspiration from the shapes and patterns of nature as well as lots of fresh air and no computer.

I'm looking forward to a quieter time in December when I really need to make space to think and plan instead of just reactive doing.

This is most of what I'm up to. There are always other games afoot. Phew!

Forest Run entries open

This is the eventing week eh? *grin*

As you know, I had a few days out in the forests at the beginning of this month to prep the route for Forest Run 2014. I'm really excited about the changes - especially the direction flip, which I'd been planning on since I first started thinking about Forest Run over 18-months ago.

I'm sticking with the two course distances of 35km and 62km. I'll probably drop in a 6-8km route for runner supporters.

Entries are now open. You've got 3.5 months to get race ready. I hope you do.