Running in the early morning rain, in Cape Town

I've been in Cape Town for a couple of days for work and play and visiting - home tomorrow night (so still more time for play). Although my schedule has been non-stop with instructing an O workshop, meetings and visits, I had a good dose of play on my agenda this weekend.

Saturday began with an early, early morning that saw me heading out with dear friends Heather and Michael to AR buddy Ugene Nel's run on the mountains above Muizenberg. I got some great pics but they're on my camera and I didn't bring a USB cable to pull them off. Not a USB cable in the house - so I'll post pics and a story from the race after I'm home. Suffice to say that it was a lovely morning with perfect weather, lots of elevation gain - 1200m and the first hill was a BIG one from the start - and stunning trails and views. I placed 19th lady -  a very fair result for a harry-casual outing. Heather rocked in as 5th lady.

On Saturday night I went to watch my fabulous cousin playing at The Assembly in CT town. His new band - The Roland Albertson Band - is rocking. The venue had superb sound and lighting and they were superb. Really easy listening music and a great vibe. On Roland's website (www.justforthemusic.com) you can listen to his music and download tracks. FEAT's theme tune comes from the track, White Wednesday.

Then, after little less than 5hrs sleep I was up again and M&H and I headed out for a run. We picked up their friend Gerhard on the way and parked on that cable car road. It was drizzling lightly so we donned rain jackets and set off towards Block House and on to the contour path. Bit of wind at first but once we got into the vegetation - fairyland! Really stunning.

8, 9 10... autotimer! With Heather, Michael and Gerhard

Our initial plan had been to run the trail and then go up and over the mountain; but there was heavy cloud up top and it was certainly to be howling and miserable up there. So we chose to turn around and run back. The weather had started to clear so the view over the city was lovely - even saw a rainbow.

Gerhard, Heather and Mr Rainbow

The day evolved to be a beautiful one - no cloud, no rain, which I spent sight seeing, visiting crafty markets, lunch in Hout Bay and hanging in Kalk Bay. It only gets dark here after 8pm, so it gives lots of time for really hanging out. Lovely.