August-Inspiration

When the Comrades ultra marathon was last held, I, like many non-participant, could be found seated comfortably in front of the television in my sleepwear with a hot cup-of-something in my hand. I watched as pieces of floppy rubber with jelly legs cross the finish line either laughing maniacally or sobbing away the pain of the past six odd hours. My mother mentioned how someone had told her that everyone should take part in the Comrades marathon at least once in their life.

And just like that, a switch flipped and a decision was made.

I was going to run the Two Oceans marathon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crazy. I’ve I’m ever going to run the Comrades, it won’t be before I have many years’ of training behind me. The Two Oceans ultra marathon is half the distance of the Comrades and I could be prepared for it by 2007. I could be ready for the Two Oceans half marathon by next year.

The Two Oceans marathon is considered by some to have the most beautiful course in the world. It start inland then takes the participants along the Indian Ocean, over land again, along the Atlantic Ocean and finally ends inland again. It sounds impressive, but the ultra marathon is only about 42 km (26.25 mi) long and the half marathon is half that distance. With only casual training I’ve been able to do half the half marathon distance, so I recon I could be ready in six months’ time. If I’m not going to be ready, I’ll work for the ultra marathon the next year.

I’ve already started: I’m doing 5 km a day (when its not raining too much). The most important is to work on my stamina. On the floor of my bedroom there is some literature I have to read regarding diet and other exercise. The entire running thing started because it didn’t require too much, but if your in it for the long term, you probably best take the advice of the experts.

Having a longish term project is fun!

Right now, in the background, I’m running the Game of Life. With less than 50 lines of code, I’ve created a simple environment that simulates life itself! Mwahaha! “CreateWorld” and “DetermineFate” are only a couple of the functions. You have to love the university and the things they throw at you sometimes. It’s so cool! Cute, really. Just like with Akon’s Lonely, I know that I as a 20-year old adult am not suppose to be so easily amused, but I am!

Yes, I’m back on Stellenbosch. Day two has already washed away and the colds nights are like limbo. It’s like the new semester completely caught most people off guard and we are still reeling to adjust. Meh. I felt good about the new quarter and set off with a smile and song. But the university is not making it easy to stay positive. Right off the bat you know the work is going to have an extra kick in it this quarter. Also, none of my subjects allow re-examinations on tests any more. Although I’ve never actually had right a re-examination, it always was kind of comforting to know its there.

Continual Evaluation is a bitch.

I’m letting a more ridged schedule take form. The only way to better this semester is going to be to take it one day at a time. A lot of factors are playing together to make this an interesting one…

I received my exam results last week. I was still away and waited for the SMS (“text message”—I prefer the latter term, but the former is shorter and has generally adopted into the South African tongue) in trepidation. I counted off the minutes to midnight, but then eventually accepted the reality that I would have to go to be in stead of waiting up nervously. I needed the sleep for the next day and message only came around two in the afternoon.

My situation was not admirable: my Maths papers were a nightmare and I was completely unsure of whether I did sufficiently in my Applied Maths paper to pass. My best-case scenario, apart from a complete miracle and total collapse of the academic standards of the University of Stellenbosch, was that I would pass Applied Maths but have to rewrite at least one of the Maths papers at the end of the year. But I had already made peace with having to repeat a subject next year. So is life.

Then my cellphone (“mobile”) vibrated and sounded off. I read the message. My phone is one of the first colour-screen models and has an infuriating lag when opening messages. The message opened, and I had to blink a couple of times to focus and discern between the abbreviations and numbers. It was close – very close – nauseatingly close – but I made it. I subdued myself and checked again. Unless my friend had a sick sense of humour, I was in the clear. I considered the former situation seriously, but then embraced the relief. I live again. Another trigger pulled; another empty chamber.

This was, however, not the first time I’ve been in this situation. More or less the same thing happened at the end of last year, which makes this my second terrible exam in a row. Experience teaches one, however, not to have hang-ups about the past, but to look forward and try to improve oneself (I did have one minute improvement).

Ever since the end of the third quarter of my grade 10 year, I’ve had times like these. Granted, my academic expectations and achievements have deteriorated considerably, but the process of powerless waiting and worrying remains the same. At least I’ve learned to deal with the whole thing better (I now have an entire untouched array of procedures, threats and begging techniques I can draw from in the event of a failure).

I feel like a cat with nine lives. When I survive a situation as I just have, I know I’m still alive, but one of my lives have been lost. This is all fine and everything, but I’ve lost count. This is bad. But that is only one analogy. Whether it is dumb luck, destiny or divine intervention, I don’t know how I’ve survived so far. I don’t deserve it. Really, I don’t. A man is only allowed so many cock-ups. But here I am. I can sleep peacefully and breathe out a pledge to work harder next time so I can avoid such an experience next time.

Just like I did last time. “Click”.

You can love your home(s) only so much, move between familiar places only so many times, before you need to get away. Pack in a hurry, turn off the lights and geyser, climb in the car and drive until you are satisfactorily in unfamiliar territory.

That was my plan. Completely out of character, I know, but after what was probably my most taxing five months ever, I needed some time to clear my head. I have a lot of cobwebs to sweep out and stuff to consider, analyse and deal with. I had no plans or any preparation, all I knew was ‘soon’.

Then I met SparroHawk for a beer and some beer a while back. He had the same idea and soon we had a vague idea of what, when and where. And so, on Sunday before last, we set out on our roadtrip. My little Jetta (who celebrated her 222 222nd kilometre on the trip) was loaded to the brim (neither of us travel light) and we sped off into the grey clouded day.

We started out headed north and passed through Worchester, Robertson, Montagu and finally reached our first stop-over, Oudshoorn. We were booked at the backpacker’s lodge there and I was for the first time introduced into this fascinating sub-culture of cultures, nationalities, trust and friendship. The following day we went spelunking before setting off to Jeffrey’s Bay where we stayed for a few days. JBay is a quiet coastal town that has vastly grown over the years, mostly because of the lure it holds to surfers. At that time is was particularly quiet, but we soon enough continued on to Port Elizabeth where we stayed with friends’ for the night. We were only there for a few hours, but I was reasonably impressed with what I experienced in PE. Being overly patriotic about the Cape, that is high praise from me indeed. Finally we set off to Grahamstown, the apex of our journey. Grahamstown, like Stellenbosch, is a student town which encloses the University of Rhodes. Despite it being in the middle of the winter break, the town is buzzing and packed to capacity because of the yearly National Arts Festival that was being hosted there. Our interest was the fringe fest and booked a few shows.

The Festival exposes the casual visitor to strange and interesting people, new music, humour, alcohol, drugs, sex and more. Then there are the shows which hold up a mirror and reflect this back to the audience as themes, sometimes adding less pleasant issues such as rape, statutory rape, mental illness and art. Overall, the shows were brilliant and I thank each actor, director and technician who helped to create a marvellous experience. Also, a big thanks to the friendly and welcoming people we met at the festival.

We again stayed in a backpacker’s lodge. This one is housed in the Old Gaol and stays true to the theme. It wasn’t the first time I’ve stayed in an old gaol, but it was the first time I camped out in the courtyard where the gallows use to stand.

We left Grahamstown tired, yet sorry to leave. We quickly progressed back through JBay, Reebok (near Mosselbay) and yesterday finally glimpsed that much loved mesa that guards the Cape. Thus ended our brief 2000 km (~1250 mi) tour of the general southern Cape area. Before returning home, both Sparrows and I decided to end the procrastination: we headed to the Gouritz bridge and allowed complete strangers to tie long elastic ropes to our feet before cheering us off the bridge. My first bungee experience, just like everyone else’s, was awesome and excellent. It’s definitely something to one day return to. Currently, however, skydiving at the end of the year is in my sight… Overall the entire trip was wonderful and I enjoyed every day.

Did I achieve what I set out to do? Did I find my solitude and clean the mess in my head? No. But then this wasn’t the time to do it. This was a time for new experiences and breaking down barriers. The insight I’ve gained may be worth more than a mental spring cleaning. The year is still but a foetus: much remains to be done and the time is now.