Wowee. Didn't think that it would hurt so much! Still limping after continuous icing this Easter weekend. Really struggled with my left calve which is still sore and hard as rocks, the knot behind my upper left leg and a slightly sprained right knee!
Never thought that the downhill's would hurt so much! Didn't plan on hurting from 30km's either. In my mind I thought it would only happen after 42km's!
Had a good start till halfway. Going up Chapmans Peak through the badly cambered route hurt my knees. Stopped at the physio coming down Chappies for a rub down and strapping. Going up Constantia Nek my calves starting hurting but coming down the Nek everything hurt like hell! The wind didn't help pushing me forward as I tried to slow down. My left quad pulled and I had to stop dead and massage myself. The final 10km's was all mental with my quad's pulling and my calves and knees already very sore. I wiped my eyes about twice going down there. Didn't even anticipate the UCT climb as everyone warned me about the Nek and somehow that bit was overlooked! SeanF you were cruel recording me after that!
Got to see NT, Peter and MHB finish :-)
Met up with a clubmate that blew after 42km and was walking when I saw him at 50km. He still managed to finish :-)
Glad I enjoyed the view when I did that small training run 3 weeks ago because I didn't get to enjoy it this time while running. In a strange way I wish they would repeat the broadcast because I would have liked to know what happened in the race, who won, etc etc :-)
Thank you very much for the crowd support, the people who said they'ed come out and support, the club mates who did the 21km and come back to shout near the finish and the forumites I didn't see but who were out there to support us! You guys don't realise how much that all means to us!
Read about runners experiences and here.
Check out the results of the forumites that finished the race!
Still haven't worn my shirt yet but this is what it looks like (thanks zuluafrica) :
See me being interviewed at the Two Oceans!
Wednesday 26/03/2008
Forumites started a yay or nay for Comrades 2008 :
Smurf says "Oceans is harder than Comrades - so they tell me. I think the exact comment is that the cut-offs and various medal categories are "tougher"!
Talk is already going on over at
http://www.runnersworld.co.za/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10927&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60
Looking at Comrades program the tally at the end of March should be 865km! My training log only totals 583km from Jan 2008 - Two Oceans (Average 48km/week.)
I'm so stupid. Just follow the program as from March and worry about what can still be done now!
The hard training period taking us from the beginning of March through to mid May, includes one more standard marathon and three ultras, one of which Must be the Long Club Run of 65kms. This confidence booster marks the end of the hard training and the beginning of the wind down.
A period of 11 weeks is the maximum that the body can tolerate before starting to break down in many ways from tiredness to sickness and loss of motivation. In the 11 weeks, we must fit in 3 ultras and a standard marathon meaning that you will be running a long run every 2 or 3 weeks.
In between it is vital to have easy weekends to recover before taking on another ultra.
The total of 865km is well past half way and already one standard and one Ultra have been completed. At this stage, with the gradual increase in total kilometres each month, it is expected that you are injury free and also in good health. Your strength and endurance is building up to huge proportions and you are comfortably running distances in comfort that you previously thought was impossible.
All info was on http://www.comrades.com/print.php?type=pages&id=42
Thursday 27/03/2008
I believe that you have broken the back of your comrades training already. You have built up to a steady weekly mileage, and it shows in your sub 6 time at TO. IMHO a sub 6 oceans will give you a relatively easy run at comrades. If you work hard enough for it, i reckon you can go under 11 too. Considering the fact that your recovery has been good, i would even say throw in another 2 marathons before comrades. I dont believe that there is a need for a long club run, but from what i hear about the 4 hills run, it is organised like a race. So, its one to consider. The jump from TO to comrades is not THAT big. The numbers look big, but once your head gets around that, and you know what to expect, the gap becomes a little hop.
So from here... Keep your mileage over 80km per week until third week of May. Get in two slow (only just sub 5) marathons... one in mid april, and one in mid may. There is absolutely no need to race these!
Also clock up one week where you go over 100kms in training and races. Remember that you dont need speed to run comrades... just endurance.
You need to keep some spark. I STRONGLY recommend running a weekly TT, of just 5km. Make sure that it is run sensibly. You dont need to run a pb here every week, but you do need to work hard. ANY sense that you are hurting yourself, and you stop immediately. Considering that this is an up run, keep grinding on the hills in training. DO NOT run hill repeats. They are the fastest way to get injured. Run the hills that you encounter on training, and work all the way to the top. Watch what you eat from here on out, as every kg that you have extra, is a kg that you have to carry up and down hills.
Avoid intervals and sprints, as there is absolutely no place for those in a comrades training program for a vic c or bronze. They are risky, and yeild little reward. Stick to the basics. Run your weekly TT, and at least one other run of 20k hard each week. Dont kill yourself, but hard. The rest of the training can be done as a recovery run, or simply as you feel, but the important thing is that you get it in. Stay consistent, eat right, stay sensible, and look after yourself, and I look forward to hearing how easy your comrades was!
StuW
We will start with our Comrades training on Monday which will include hill training once a week and speed work once a week; we will do our distance (LSD) running over the weekends.
Connie
http://www.runnersworld.co.za/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10956
Thanks for the pm Nina :-)
I read your post on the Comrades 2008 thread. If you can do TO, you can do Comrades. Just step up your weekly mileage to up to 90kms (a long run on the weekend is crucial). Try and do another ultra of 60kms if you can sometime in April. Don't worry about doing an 80kms before Comrades, this will just break you down. If you've stepped up to 60kms, then it is only another 30+ kms which are "unknown", but you will run-walk the last bit of Comrades anyway. It really is do-able, as long as you push the weekly mileage up a bit, and do those long runs (40 kms long runs per weekend, say on Saturday mornings, should be fine). This comes to you from a not-so-fast runner, who does not either do more than 80-90kms weekly mileage. I've done 2 Comrades on this "programme" off a TO training base, and I did 10:02 for my first one (up run), and 9:33 for my 2nd one (down run)...
Go for it! Good luck!
Is the Comrades qualifier to easy?
http://www.runnersworld.co.za/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10473&start=20&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=wilprow++lagoons+65km
Friday - 28/03/2008
Check out these athletes who branched up from a bronze to a Sainsbury :
Matiwane, Busisiwe
Jennett, Melanie
Mkwae, Ntombikayise
Kennedy, Charlene
Louw, Marie
Shadwell, Julie
