#52weeks52peaks

If these shoes could talk! The Altra Running, Lone Peak 4, my shoe of choice for basically 80% of my #52Weeks52Peaks project. Saved me in a few sticky situations with the incredible MaxTrac grip! They deserve lazier days now, although I’m pretty sure they will still see many an adventure! A few scuff marks are the only scars of epic memories created! #altrarunning #lonepeak4 #altrarunningfans #embracethespace #zerolimits https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Bryv5JfTX/?igshid=1rgdgip77favk

#52 #52Weeks52Peaks L’Agulhas And that’s a wrap! The final one was always going to be at my happy place & on my happy trails! A cold, windy, rainy run, shared with @wings6509 ! We’ve been mates ever since we met in early 90’s in Agulhas, and have had many an adventure together as teens, students and adults 🙈 Other than sharing this with my family (but with my wife still recovering from pneumonia), Wings was the obvious choice to share a beer with before 7am on the 1st peak you see when standing at the southernmost tip of Africa! What’s next for 2020? Watch this space! But first, some quality family time! #altrarunning #tailwindnutrition #ultimatedirection #squirrelsnutbutter #squirrelswhotrail #suunto9 #RUN #happyplace #southernmosttipofafrica https://www.instagram.com/p/B6pbboYJngX/?igshid=m2uxvjgvlte

#51 #52Weeks52Peaks HeuningBerg, Bredasdorp This wasn’t really on the cards, but it turned out to be a little gem of a run discovering a whole new network of trails in Bredasdorp. Having been in Agulhas for the past week, but having my son with me (which consisted of a whole lot of father & son adventures)I was slightly inhibited from running till my wife & daughter arrived late yesterday afternoon, hence a 8pm run last night to let the legs know they can still do it! Fast fwd a few hours, and with good friends visiting us for the weekend, I had to get a run in! It turned into a 2 birds with 1 stone situation, so while the wife was doing some grocery shopping in Bredasdorp, I decided to tag the peak most visible from the town center! And what a pleasant surprise! These trails will definitely see me back again exploring when I have more time available! But for now, 51 down, 1 to go! #altrarunning #zerolimits #embracethespace #tailwindnutrition #gotailwind #ultimatedirection #suunto9 #squirrelsnutbutter #squirrelswhotrail #snbathlete https://www.instagram.com/p/B6T3wfMpjrZ/?igshid=1ww2d6y419dwa

#50 #52Weeks52Peaks Dwarsberg, Jonkershoek 50*. Time to raise the bat or lift my trail cap! This was probably one of the more difficult runs I’ve done this year! Not because of distance, vertical gain or environmental factors, but it’s been a emotional & physically draining week! 2km in on a 28km run, and knowing that you’re about to climb 1400m + in the first 14km, makes for a bit of a mind shift! When I got to the top, which consisted of a 300m vert bundu bash, scramble & boulder session through a field of pynbos & reeds, I received the good news that my wife is getting discharged from hospital a few hours later. So it became a bit of a race down on an empty tank to get back to Somerset West asap. The marshland on 1200m above Jonkershoek which leads to Victoria Peak & Dwarsberg, has a little hidden gem, with filtered water streaming from a spring. Two 2 go! Time to go coastal for the holidays, so no more 1500’s! #altrarunning #tailwindnutrition #gotailwind #ultimatedirection #squirrelsnutbutter #snbathlete #suunto9 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6BFRzop3Bl/?igshid=1u2qicavxms1

#49 #52Weeks52Peaks Victoria Peak, Jonkershoek The grand old lady! Had company in Julian Vermeer today! Beast effort by him, barely 5 days after #utct 100km. At 28km & 1600m elevation gain, not quite the recovery run he had intended! #altrarunning #tailwindnutrition #gotailwind #ultimatedirection #squirrelsnutbutter #squirrelswhotrail #suunto9 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5tIMNrpbXh/?igshid=jekv9505cg28

#48 #52Weeks52Peaks UTCT El Diablo This week has been an interesting one which included a tummy bug, multiple trips into Cape Town for #utct as the sweep coördinator, with long days & very short nights (maybe last night’s 80min sleep before I had to get up again was slightly self inflicted) So I had to find a gap at some stage today between managing 2 sweep crews during the 21km event, clearing a bit of route myself and dropping of timing scanners & radios on Tafelberg Rd. So I took the chance, headed up the trailhead and tagged El Diablo, more commonly known as Devils Peak, incl taking a 3sec power nap 😜, before running back down joining the contour path just in time with the leading 21km runners & experiencing the front end of the race for a short section! 48 Down, 4 to go! 📸 4 by Xavier Briel #AltraRunning #TailwindNutrition #UltimateDirection #SquirrelsNutButter #Suunto9 #myutct https://www.instagram.com/p/B5iVQMnpIWp/?igshid=15wiekbbhtau7

#47 #52Weeks52Peaks Simonsberg, Stellenbosch The highest free standing mountain in the Western Cape, topping out at 1380m. A straight up & down run, climbing 990m in 4.2km. I had my 1st encounter with Simonsberg back in April when I got invited along with some trail mates. It’s been on the list of re-do’s ever since, and yesterday I took it on solo. Not always the brightest idea to start a run at 13:20, but that’s the gap life gave me this week! Managed to take more than 24min off on the ascent, & 13min on the descent! The Altra Lone Peak 4’s saved me a few times on the down! Pretty chuffed with my effort in the heat & taking my hernia into account! 🖖🏻 to go! #AltraRunning #TailwindNutrition #UltimateDirection #SquirrelsNutButter #Suunto9 #mountainsummit #trailrunning https://www.instagram.com/p/B5MrXpLJ8im/?igshid=qkt76k255ds5

Week 45, #52Weeks52Peaks Paarl & Bretagne Rock Short, steep, rewarding! Once again the maxtrac grip of the #AltraRunning #LonePeak 4’s worked wonders on this iconic slab of granite towering over the Boland town of Paarl! Met a few of the Paarl trail crew, but other than that, a nice solo mission to cap off the week & restore the balance after yesterday’s 21km road run 🙈 #AltraRunning #TailwindNutrition #UltimateDirection #SquirrelsNutButter #RUN #Suunto9 https://www.instagram.com/p/B4rgoyipiDB/?igshid=t17ui5rbwy1b