Comrades 2015

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  • Good summary...bringing back some fond memories

    I do see the webpage keeps telling me it hasn't loaded properly and to try reloading but the issue doesn't go away.  Mine ends at the earphones paragraph?

  • marty74marty74 ✭✭✭

    Loving the new picture of your green number Douglas - huge congrats from me on that one.

    As for TO, the entries last year opened around October time so keep your eyes peeled for then.

    Jwheezy - Up is much easier which i know sounds wrong. Its just that the last 20k or so of the down are all downhill so kills your quads and anything else that hurts!!

  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭

    JWheezy the Up run is harder, and slower, but less uncomfortable in a way. I was bloody glad it was a Down in 2014, would have come home with nowt otherwise. 

    I am probably not going to be there next year but watching the coverage on YouTube I did find myself completely forgetting how hard it was !

    Have got new dog so number is right again now...

  • Mc HillyMc Hilly ✭✭✭

    Fido2dogs, thanks for your link to the FAQ write up, I'm thinking of doing it for the first time next year and your comments are really helpful

  • Thanks for the feedback Marty and fido, still can't quite believe up would be more comfortable, especially as I found the downhills actually easy going and had no problems with my quads downhill, albeit I was going slow over the last 2 downhills and that's what really worries me about the up run especially as I hate hills, anyway I will be fitter next year and hoping that will get me across the line. Good luck with the new dog Fido!

  • Wondering if anyone can give me some advice on entering for 2015 if I am a South African citizen living in the UK? DO I still go through the international process?

    Cheers,

  • Carmen23Carmen23 ✭✭✭
    I think zulu, if you are registered with an SA run club you can enter as SA, otherwise, it's the big money!

    The man who knows is Speedy ( falsely known as Slow Duck), he'll clear it up..
  • Hey Zuluboy - I entered 2014 as an international.  As Carmen said above you really need to enter via your club in SA to pay local prices but if you can't then it's reasonable at the current exchange rate and I think there are still certain benefits in being an 'international' - registration in 5 minutes vs. standing in a very long queue in the heat and also having access to the international tent afterwards makes meeting up very easy.  Hopefully you can save on accommodation by staying with friends/family

     

  • ....anyone doing the Giants Head marathon at the end of the month?  novel combination of running, hog roast and barn dancing!

  • Many thanks guys. 

    I've been living in the U.K for the past 16 years so unfortunately not a member of a S.A running club - I don't mind entering or paying from over here though., As like you say, the entry fee with the current exchange rate is really favourable for us and there are some perks of international entry.

    Yes. Most my family are over there still. They live just near Umhlanga so that's a big bonus with not having to fork out for hotels.

    Not sure if this is needed in another thread somewhere but I'll post it here and see what others think and I can always move / edit -

    2015 will be my first comrades.

    I ran for Natal as a junior and was quite good. Growing up I wanted to run the comrades. Bruce Fordyce was my hero. I wanted to be like him so much. I used to run everywhere. 

    Sadly I got involved in some bad stuff, smoking, drugs, rehab etc and I was sent over here to the U.K to live with my mom where I eventually came clean and started a family and got myself together.

    About 10 years ago I started running again and did my first marathon off a few months training. After that I had some relationship problems and the running stopped. 

    About 5 years ago I started cycling just for fun and 2 years later I was racing up at elite level here in the U.K and Ireland.

    It became a full time job training 25 - 30 hours over winter and I am quite thankful to have great sponsors, support and family around me.

    Unfortunately a few months ago I came down quite badly and smashed up my hand while racing and it hit me quite hard mentally. 

    In the time where I was unable to ride. I realized that there was so much more I wanted to achieve outside of cycling and maybe now was the time to step back from it and just enjoy life again.

    Quite soon after the crash, I started thinking about running again. Possibly it was a substitute for not being able to train properly and race.

    I checked in the cupboard and found my old running shoes and I started running again. I knew for sure that I was aerobically capable and the muscular / bio-mechanical side would take a few weeks to adjust, and boy did those first few runs make some strange feelings in the legs the following days..

    4 weeks into running again and I'm doing slow 20k @ Z2 HR runs/jogs no problem in just under 2h with very little muscle fatigue the next day. I know I can push myself harder and run at increased effort but I'm not 100% sure the muscles are fully adapted yet and would hate to tear something that's not ready

    So what do you guys reckon. Do you think Is it possible to do a comrades in under 12 months training based on my background? I'm certain that my body is physiologically capable and now is the right time.

    Cheers,

  • Definitely you have enough time and it sounds as though you'll adapt well to training but you need to load those miles into your legs without risking injury first. 

    Worth doing some homework on injury prevention (this website has it all) and try to keep your flexibility (beware increasingly tighter muscle groups) and add some supplemental strength training as you go

     

    ....you may want to throw out your old shoes (you'll be doing a lot more of that from now on)...

     

  • haha, many thanks thanks justanotherrnr - Everyone loves new shoes image

    Injury is one thing I am very weary of at the moment, as I know that my aerobic side far outweighs the physical at the moment. I'm still out on the bike most days days during the week and I find that helps a little with stiffness. I'll have a mooch about here for injury prevention specific to running.

    Stretching and Foam Roller daily. Possibly a bit obsessive about that really.

    In the past I would go for massage once a week from local sports college who needed patients to work on. As of yet I have not loaded the legs with anything I cant stretch or foam roll out..

    I'm really exited about this new journey and hopefully see a few of you on the start line next year!

  • Zuluboy - I'd get back into the massage habit if I were you. A good massage therapist can spot potential problem areas and deal with them before you even know you had them. I've often gone in and thought I had issues in one area only to find the problem is actually somewhere else. Especially important if, like you, you're changing sports and using different muscles.
  • Mc HillyMc Hilly ✭✭✭

    Having been inspired by all the reports in the 2014 forum..... I've gone and done it..... i've booked my flights..... i'm going image. Now have just under 1 year to get in shape and get used to some longer distances! Looking forward to seeing several of you at the start line next year!

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭

    Sounds like you have a good pedigree Zuluboy.  Sounds like your engine is pretty powerful if you've been elite cycling.  It shouldn't be too difficult to channel that into full-on running.  Certainly it sounds like you know the disciple and process of training - just you should become specificities of training to race the up run over 54 miles of hills and heat.

     

  • Best of luck Mc Hilly, you will have a fantastic experience and a year will get you to the start line in great shape. All the best and see you at the start line.

  • Before I went to Comrades this year I watched a video clip of the down route, super speeded up with a great sound track. Made me dead nervous watching it but watched it again last night and could remember so much of it. What a wonderful event it is and 3 weeks down the line, it's still sinking in what we achieved. I'm not going back next year but I was so wanting a bronze last year but alas missed it by 11 minutes. I think I might just make a return trip one year for that elusive Up bronze. image

  • PH,  it sounds to me like you're on the cusp of a green number (via a Bill Rowan)

  • Thanks so much for all the advice and help, guys - Its really great that everyone is so helpful. 

    Been getting some solid runs down and enjoying being out more and more. Really need to stop smashing the long runs for a bit and focus on some more structured training. 

    Got my sights set on the Chester marathon as my qualifying event - I hope that's a valid one to do for the comrades..


     

     

     

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
    Zuluboy - Chester marathon has been used as a qualifier by others recently. It's actually not a problem for any international to nominate pretty much any marathon.
  • Hi all, ill be back for my back to back! Hopefully crack the silver this time. Been struggling since Comrades so clearly I'm a softy who needs toughening up!  100 miler between now and then may help. They say you can run comrades off marathon training but I've learnt you defiantly can't race comrades off marathon training. 

    Unfinished business image  

  • will it sell out fast fir next year with it being a 90th Anniversary? Was just wondering if I needed to be right on the ball come September. I know it usually takes a few months but was just wondering. 

  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭
    It is still 55 miles Muzza!

    Re "struggling", you *did* do Dartmoor Discovery the week after... I think the phrase, "two hilly ultras in a week made me feel tired" might be somewhere near the truth...?
  • Fair point! Lol forgot that bit. image

  • SAFERSAFER ✭✭✭

    Zuluboy, you can enter as a SA entrant provided you are registered witha SA running club and have an SA postal address. I ran in 2013 and as you can tell from my profile pic I ran as a uk runner. A right soutpeel! in my opinion run as a uk runner. You get to use the international pick up, go to the international drinks, where you get to meet Bruce Fordyce. I took along his autobiography and got him to sign it. I like you grew up in Durbs and had wanted to do Comrades all my life. Bruce was and still is my hero! To meet him was one of the best days of my life. As a uk runner you also get the international tent at the finish, in my opinion worth every penny. The uk bunch are really friendly as you can tell by this and previous threads. 

    Good luck with the training and yes, you may make it on 12 months, just take it slowly one step at a time.

  • DannirrDannirr ✭✭✭

    I think I'm in for next year.  I've made the hotel reservation - I guess that means something, right?

    Expedia has a special rate for the Hilton if you book now - $130 per night including breakfast.  That's really cheap.

  • Mc HillyMc Hilly ✭✭✭

    Any females planning on going next year who might be interested in room sharing? I haven't yet checked out the expedia offer Dannirr mentions, but will do so, I'm guessing the price for a single room isn't much different from a twin, so if interested in sharing please msg me

  • MC Hilly, if your patient and wait till flights come available there are bigger overall discounts through Expedia. I went alone this year and the rooms are no more expensive for 1 person. 

    I'll defiantly be staying at Belaire again, found it great! Quiet, great sea view, awesome breakfast, right by parkrun and it's only 10/15 min walk from expo. 

    Where re does the start of the up run start? 

  • marty74marty74 ✭✭✭

    Just dug out my 2011 brochure and it starts on Dr Pixley Kaseme Street, with the corrals between Church Street and Samora Machel Street. I guess this information will make more sense when you bring up google maps and plot it. Hope it helps.

    Essentially though its on a main dual carriageway out of Durban so its not as crucial to bust a gut to get a high seed as possible since running is much easier sooner.

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