Author: shaldonnaicker

Shaldon is a young-at-heart adventurer and traveller with a desire to learn. He is a mechanical engineer from Johannesburg, South Africa with a passion for sport, literature, writing and his country. He only regrets the things he did not try!
Sport

A 9-Week Marathon Preparation Diary

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

Introduction

In the paragraphs below, I have laid out the actual program I followed, in preparation for a marathon.  This is not a recommended training plan.  Rather, it is a historical training log.  It may only be useful and applicable to me, but I believe it provides an excellent reference.  

I do recognise that most marathon training plans are 12 weeks long; but for me that would have meant training through the festive season or eating into the Comrades training block.  While I would have preferred 12 weeks of prep, I had to do with 9.  So, in a way, this log provides some insight as to what an 9-week plan could deliver.  Basically, 9-weeks was a default amount and not an actual thing!  

Note:  These 9 weeks of training were built on a full year of solid training in 2023.  I ran just over 3400kms in 2023.  However, November and December of that year were rest months, where I averaged less than 150kms per month.  So, leading into January 2024, I was well rested, but still with a good level of fitness.  

Goal: The aim was to beat my, GPS measured, marathon personal record (PR) of 2h54m and 11s, at the Vaal Marathon on the 3rd of March 2024.  I will get into the reasons for choosing this race later, but I want to mention why I chose to attempt it at this time of the year.  Linking to the earlier comment, running hard in the beginning of March, leaves me enough time to recover and then train for the Comrades Marathon in June 2024.  Mind you, this kind of effort is not recommended by many experts who would say it is too close to the Comrades for comfort.  I agree!  But for me, my body is still recovering well, and I want to capitalise on the gains that the Comrades’ training plan is giving me.  It would be a pity to gain all this running fitness, and then not really use it. 

Continue reading →
0 Image
Adventure, Travel

Drakensberg Explorer

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

What a thrill it must have been, to explore these dragon mountains?  To trod on land that no man had ever set foot on!  To set eyes on landscapes that had never before been revealed!  To summit a peak and gaze out over the edge; knowing that only then, had the path been set for future climbers.  But, these rewards would not have come without strife and effort.  Teams of men, lugging huge loads over treacherous terrain with the risk of fatal falls ever-present!  Temperamental weather, that would in one moment drench all in sunlight and then soak with a thunderstorm the next!  And the uncertainty of the road ahead!  For every potential path to the top was a game of chance.  A gamble on whether the road led to success or whether it was abruptly interrupted by the terrain!  Yet these pioneers of the Drakensberg Mountains, whose legacies are honoured through the names of many landmarks, must have had a thrilling adventure.

These days, very little, if anything; of this majestic mountain range is left to be explored.  Every peak has been conquered, every river traversed and every pass negotiated.  The Bergs have been carefully mapped out.  The safest and most accessible passes have been marked.  The paths have been beaten flat by decades of explorers following in the footsteps of those that went before them.  Bannerman, Leslie, Grey and many others alike are to thank for this.  Yet, some parts of the Bergs, have for the most part, been left alone and to their own devices.  There, the modern hiker can, even just for a brief period, be called an explorer.  The choice of the way up, is up to the hiker.  For a short while, you can feel as if you are paving the way for those to come.   That was our journey up to Mafadi.

Continue reading →

3 Image
Adventure, Travel

Journey to the Sky

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

The continent shivered and shook as the great rift tore at the African tectonic plate like a sheet of paper.  The subsequent crack gave Earth’s molten core a path of release, at unimaginable pressures and evil temperatures.  The lava, having been captive in its subterranean prison for millennia craved the freedom of the earth’s surface.  But the strata between the tectonic plate and the atmosphere will not give up the access to the lava’s freedom so easy.  Despite this, nothing would stand in the way of the magma’s escape and with the great impetus of its power, it bulged the strata up towards the sky.  Like a branch being bent by an unstoppable force, the layers that made up the strata snapped, creating a small pathway to the surface.  The lava now had a route out of its dark dungeon.  But the small fissure in the strata was insufficient to accommodate the great volume of magma flow.  And in mighty frustration, the lava pushed the strata even higher towards the stars, cracking the earth wider.  Finally, the lava found relief as it poured out like champagne onto the slopes of this newly created mountain.  The surface of the land had never before experienced the inexorable flow of lava and not even the massive rocky boulders could stand in its way.  The magma tore down the mountain, devastating everything in its path.  It pumped itself out until it was satisfied and the rage of its origin subsided. Continue reading →

0 Image
Adventure, Travel

The Dragon’s Drink

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

I have been intrigued by the mystery of the Drakensberg mountains since the first time they stared down at me. Parts of the N3 highway get fairly adjacent to the Bergs and on these occasions it is as if those rugged mountains are calling out to me. They have filled me with a sense of wonder; sometimes as a result of the secretive mist, other times because of the snow capped peaks or the lush green slopes, but mostly because of the sheer majesty of the peaks. The Bergs are aptly named for their dragon-like appearance, for the name ‘Drakensberg’ literally means “Dragon Mountain” or “Mountain of Dragons”. The Zulu name ‘uKhahlamba’ or “Barrier of up-pointed spears” ratifies the awe that these magnificent peaks created, not only in me, but in the early settlers too. It is with this sense of fascination that I tackled my climb up to Champagne Castle.  So named because of the celebratory bottle of bubbly that was accidentally dropped on its peak by two intrepid mountaineers many years ago, thus quenching the Dragon’s thirst.

Continue reading →

0 Image
Culture

The Blogger’s Block

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

I write and write and the words just flow. Beautiful words! Words that bring out emotion, words that capture the imagination! Ideas are forthcoming and they reside on the closest tip of my mind. Mere minutes go by and the pages fill up. It is exhilarating and I have to pull myself away from the keyboard to serve my basic needs.
Then, there are the days that the word tap is closed. All I can muster are words like “nice” and phrases like “I love it” and all these overused clichés of which social media has an oversupply. My ideas are stale and unoriginal and creative thoughts are muddled in the farthest most inaccessible reaches of my mind. Hours can pass without me even approaching the keyboard, let alone typing a line.

Continue reading →

1 Image
Travel

The “Other” Garden Route

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

The traditional garden route in South Africa follows the N2-West from the Storms River in the Eastern Cape to Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. This 200km stretch of road has the reputation of being South Africa’s most beautiful route. So much so, that many of the country’s pathways are often neglected and even forgotten. Sometimes, if you just drive these “other” routes slow enough to take it in, you will discover more subtle beauty. Continue reading →

0
Travel

The Bustling Metropolis of Secunda

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

Having completed almost 50 reviews, with all the Tripadvisor badges that come with it, I reached  the embarrassing conclusion that I have only reviewed one spot in my home town…  The buzzing metropolis of Secunda!  Now that last comment may be loaded with sarcasm, but the truth is that Secunda has become a rather bustling little town with loads of restaurants and venues for locals and visitors to choose from.  And, having lived here for most of my life, it is only appropriate to share my thoughts on the local venues.  This specific post contains all of my Secunda reviews in one write up, with the individual posts for each restaurant also listed under that specific establishment on Tripadvisor.  I hope you will find this useful whether you’re a visitor or just a fellow local.  

Before I begin though, and to put these reviews into perspective, it must be noted that service levels in Secunda are notoriously poor.  And with the way the mind operates, medium service against such a backdrop appears to be great.  I have tried to be as objective as possible but forgive me for sometimes over rating our service.  However you can be certain that what I rate as poor service is truly poor, bordering on atrocious.   Continue reading →

0 Image
Sport

Blessings Always Rain on the Wanderers

Posted on by shaldonnaicker

Even if the Proteas had a Cricket World Cup trophy in the cabinet, the famous 438 ODI would still rank as the greatest day in South African cricket history.  Not necessarily for the significance of the victory (which, as the decider in a five match series against old rivals Australia, it actually was) but rather as the ultimate display of gritty character for which the subsequent Protea test team would truly become known.  The Wanderers stadium, affectionately known as the Bull Ring, instantly became knighted in the same glory and not a single ODI at the ground goes by without mention of that legendary day.   And it seems that the Bull Ring just can’t get enough and regularly produces absolute humdingers when welcoming the Proteas home.  

Continue reading →

0