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Comrades (South Africa) 56 miles
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Cowies, Fields, Bothas, Inchanga, Polly Shorts.
There, all done and not even out of breath.
Seriously, the work of awesome runners.
NO JOY yet.
Was tempted to sign up for another marathon in two weeks time as a traniing run and then thought I better catch a grip and start doing some proper training. So will start training tonight and then mabe do a half instead. It has huge hills and I think I need to avail of every opportunity to run where there are hills. GOing to try and plan ouy mymarathons and long runs on a calendar then .
We're on guys!!
I'm in
Yup all signed up
Alleluia
,Gulp. No turning back.
Also got reply on Comrades forum from the training coach about doing hill training. So going to start that next week. Start at 3% 2 mins on and 2 mins flat. Increase gradient by 1% every three weeks until you get to 6%. and then 2-15 mins run/walking as required etc.
Have started carb loading already.
Must run later.
Fizzi... love hill rep sessions I do
That's usually what is on my schedule for Thursday, and today I did 15 hill reps with jog down recoverys, plus warm up mile and cool down mile... 13.5 miles in all. Great session! Hopefully I'll reap the benefits at Berlin
This is the last hard week with a 22 on Sunday to finish the week on 60 miles... then taper.
The plan is race Berlin hard, and if I don't get the time I want there then race Abingdon 3 weeks later. If I get a good result at Berlin then Abingdon can be a bit easier.
Then I will take 1 to 2 weeks off schedule... rest loads, recover properly, and just go for a few short easy runs when I feel like it.
I will then pick up the schedule from 1st November and start proper training for Comrades
Mick!!!
I have indeed... come to Comrades and you can buy me one 
(cant believe i just entered an ultra while ill, off work with raging temperature and unable to walk nevermind run!!!)
Yes Carmen... I would suggest book as much as you can as soon as possible. There's plenty of time to get the qualifying time
Hope you feel better soon x
I'm in. I can relax now and think about my qualifier - a week on Sunday.
Good night all.
JB...Yayy!!
DD - may be catch you at the Passatore some year (when it is not on the same weekend as Comrades...)
Not sure how it happened - but I seemed to press the wrong button and I have entered Comrades for next year!!!
Not sure what I will tell the wife tonight - (she thinks Marathons are stupid enough!!)
Couple of questions for those that know:
(a) Where can I find out about where I should stay the days before, the days after etc etc - And all the other key logistical things....
(b) I need a training plan.....Where am I best to look? The Comrades Forum...or elsewhere? I have a run a marra a year for the last 2 years, speed is ok (3.17) but distance may be an issue...
(c) I am off on holiday for a week late next week and wanted some inspiring Comrades like running stuff to read - Anyone any tips?
Thanks in advance - Good luck to all....
Trinity- how long does it take you to go up the hill on your hill repeats, and is it a long distance length of hill? and do you go up them fast or just easy as leg strengthening? I wish I knew what a hill of 3-6% looked like in real life .
RW book says that hills are for legs so you dont need to burst a ventricle doing them. though I presume when the legs are stronger you do them for cardio as well?
Methinks thinking about it will do my head in more than trying to do the running!
Welcome The Rat....others will have views but my thoughts would be...
(a) Most people stay in Durban as its far bigger than Maritzburg, has a much bigger Expo and more of a Vibe to it. I stayed in the Hilton last year as do quite alot of the international runners and it is a very nice Hotel but not the cheapest. But there are lots of varied priced hotels in Durban. The Expo is right next to the Hilton and teh start isnt too far away so best to look for something in that neck of the woods.
(b) The Commrades Marathon Association have a Coach - guy called Lindsey Parry who has designed three (I think) training programs, get you round, sub 9 and sub 7:30. There are all on the Comrades web site and are as good a place to start as any. They look very similar to marathon training plans apart from having double runs at weekends. On the Comrades site there are also a number of older programs from previous Coaches - Slow Duck a "Green Number" (11 and counting) Comrades runner prefers these to Lindseys so may well be worth a look.
(c) I couldnt find anything specific last year when I looked on comrades litereature. So fell back on some of the standard long distance running books which are quite good.Dean Karnazes has written a few (either love him or hate him) and also there is Born to Run which is a good holiday read.
3.17 gets you into Pen 2 up front with the fast boys so u are starting from a good place.
Keith
JellyBean- Are you doing Nottingham as well? And are you the JB who posted on sub 3 a couple of years ago. Are you looking for an A Seed?
Have to wait a week due to finances and then will think about flights etc.
Thanks Keith - Very helpful starter for 10....
Also need to think about flights as well - I am going to be short on holiday....any tips for how much before the race I need to arrive.....
No Problems The Rat...time difference is only an hour from UK so for most people jet lag isnt a huge problem. Depends how well you travel I guess as most flights from UK seem to be over night. Most people seem to get into Durban by the Thursday at the latest as first thing Friday morning theres a good bus tour of the route. But as with most races you can pick up your number from the Expo on the saturday if you want so you "could" fly in on the Friday (Thursday night from UK) meaning you might be able to get away with only acouple of days off work.
I left this year on the Monday afternoon and while not ideal it was OK and there were perhaps 10 + other Comrades runners on the plan back to the UK.
The Monday after Comrades is usually a BH in th UK so thats one less days annual leave to worry about.
Fizzio... I am quite lucky in as much as my village is at the top of a hill so there are plenty of hills to choose from, but there are two main ones that I use.
The one I mostly use in the autumn/winter darker evenings (because it's street lit) is a 1 in 10 and from bottom to top is half a mile.
The other one, which I prefer, is bowl shaped. One side is fairly steep but a steady incline and 0.35 mile, and the other side is shorter at 0.25 mile but steeper (you need about 2nd gear in a car to get up it
)
The minimum reps I do is 8 and the maximum 15.
I run reasonably hard up and then very easy down. The aim is to get to the top having worked hard and then fully recover on the way down so my heart rate and breathing is easy, and muscles are comfortable ready to work again.
Obviously I pace the earlier ones according to how many I'm out to do because if I run the first ones too hard and I'm out to do 12 or 15 then the last ones will be too much of a struggle.
Also it's very important that you run a mile easy to warm up first, and a mile easy after the hill session to warm down.
One final thing I do when I've finished the hill rep session, before I leave the hills, is to thank the hills for making me stronger... sounds weird I know, but it's to do with the psychology of the training and leaves you with a positive attitude towards the hills... a positive attitude to hills is always a good thing