Comrades 2017

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  • Best not to think of the cost. I'm off to Devon today for my "free" marathon that I got from my sisters friend. As I pointed out to her yes it was free, apart from accommodation, petrol, food and dog care :):)

    RR -good luck in Paris. Ran that one in 2011 when it was hot :/

    Dannirr - good luck at MdS this weekend 

    and to to anyone else running 
  • Good luck to everyone running this weekend:
    Dannirr - Hope you have a wonderful time out at MdS 
    RR - Enjoy paris - think of the heat as climate training for June 
    SS - Devon will be beautiful in this weather - good luck and have a blast 
  • Mac3Mac3 ✭✭✭
    Greetings all from sunny Amsterdam.  Long time no post from me but getting to grips with life in the Netherlands.  Training going fine and substituting the treadmill for the hill training.  I was in the UK last weekend and able to do a long long run in the North Downs.  Over Easter I'm South of Munich and near the Alps for some decent hills.  Rotterdam marathon this weekend but that's a training run of sorts.  But not helped by being wiped out last night by a cyclist on a pedestrian crossing when the light was green for me.  It was an almighty collision and I had to visit A&E!  Looks like I have a broken nose, big grazes on the right knee, but luckily nothing else.  The black eyes are coming along nicely.

    Lowrez - every faith in you to get the qualification, if it wasn't last minute it would be out of character!  I'm doing a recce to the Rotterdam Expo after work in the hope to avoid the tales of woe you experienced

    Mr Z - excellently paced qualifier

    Dannirr - looking forward to your MDS report

    JAR - so glad they accepted your case, they did keep you in suspense though!

    Enjoy the sun this weekend, expecting 19C in Rotterdam on Sunday.  Wishing those carrying injuries (incl. myself!) speedy recoveries.

    Finally, are there plans for a get-together in Durban the Friday evening before the race?  It was a nice evening last year to meet some of those on the forum.
  • I thought the entry fee was cheap......and am happy to pay more if it means cheaper entry for locals... its a minor cost compared to the holidays costs.....in fact I think the cost of the yellow fever jab and malaria tablets cost more

     so if i have got this right...i sign up to one of the charities.raise money and providing i have over the 5000 rand in the pot before race day i will get to have the Pen C start......I have tried reading the website several times and failed to understand.. :)

  • Yup, that's spot on Seren. R5,000 is about £300 so should be easy enough to do. There is a deadline for when the fundraising counts towards to seeding which is early May I believe
  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭

    Seren - agreed too - good charity summary - the deadline for the 5,000 ZAR donation is same as qualification, you must have it logged through the site by May 2nd to get that Pen.C place. Are you onward holidaying after Comrades to places that need those jabs and tablets? If you are "only" doing Comrades you don't need any.

    Mac3 - good to hear you are on form, sorry to hear about the scrape with that bike, sounds like you were very lucky to not take a hit to your running engines. Good luck in Rotterdam it is a pb-er if you are after one, although this close to Comrades advice is not to push too hard :)

    I ran for the first time since Manchester yesterday, but it was an enforced sprint rather than a planned training run; had to transit Liverpool on my way back from over indulging in beer and curry further Up North. Felt like I was back on the Liverpool Marathon storming down Castle Street to James St to make my train connection back to The Wirral. First few steps were very painful on my ham, nearly keeled over sideways, didn't really expect that as I felt like recovery was going well from Manchester, had to keep going though otherwise I would have missed my train - it continued to give me gip but not at the initial shocking level it hit me with - I better take it out for further punishment today.

  • Briefly, as I'm busy at a conference:

    RR, good luck in Paris.
    Dannir, have a great time at MdS
    S-S - enjoy Devon!
    Mac3 enjoy Rotterdam

  • thanks all... i will get the fundraising started then and will make up any shortfall at the end of the month.. :)
    Lowrenz....we are incorporating Comrades into a 5 week 25th anniversary trip so we are going onto the garden route for a week before heading for kruger then Zambia and Kenya...

     8 weeks without any training now with the hip....going to do a family walk at the coast tomotrrow so hopefully will not get too much pain...15 minutes of tidying my mothers garden hit my limit today

  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017
  • Lowrez - love the picture of RR
    Hope the hamstring is improving

    Mac - Sorry to hear about your accident. Sounds pretty awful . Recover well.

    Seren -  you hip's not sounding good. Are any of your physio exercises helping at all? Are you keeping your fitness up somehow?

    Well, Exmoor trail marathon was like nothing I've done before. Hill training, yes. But nothing like Comrades :) Within half a mile everyone was walking as it was so steep, narrow and stony. The very last mile had 149m of descent,but long before then I'd decided that up was better than down. It took me 7h 5m but according to my garmin I was actually moving for 6h22m. I genuinely don't know what happened to the other 43mins. I didn't stop long at the check points, had 2 brief toilet stops and took photos. My legs are trashed at the moment, which obviously wasn't the plan but I'll get some massages on them. I did make myself walk fast when I couldn't run, to practise for June. The elevation gain was 1653m with some of that being a gradient of 20%. Stunning views but brutal. Think I might also wear a cap in Africa which I don't normally.

    Hope everyone else has had a great weekend in the sunshine B)
  • Mac, I'd missed that about your accident. Sympathies and good luck for rapid healing.

    Southern Snail: well done! Sounds rather like the CTS Sussex ultra I did last year.

    seren nos, that sounds like a great trip to look forward to.

    Being at a conference has not helped me run much. Managed to run to work and back Monday and Wednesday, then early morning runs of 5, 6 and 9 miles Fri/Sat/Sun. Oh well, hopefully this coming week will be better - and I have the marathon on 17th.
  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭

    S-S super Comrades training, well done, loads of hills and plenty of time on your feet. Definitely wear a cap at Comrades, you will get an official one in your bag from the expo which lots of people will wear on the day. If you take your own just be careful about logos. I put gaffer tape over the letters on the one I used a couple of years ago just to make sure.

    Nice miles Debra, your system will be loving the relative break from longer activity.

    I think RR clocked a 4:30 today beating her Portsmouth time, and as she predicted consolidating her Pen.G

    Jelly Bean was asking if we all wanted to meet up on the Friday evening before Comrades for pasta? Last year JAR booked a restaurant called Spiga. I didn't make it due to my late arrival that day but this year I am getting in a few hours earlier so I would go for it anyone wanted to meet up?

  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭

    Must get better reading glasses; it was Mac3 talking about that meal at Spiga not JB!

    Sooo... this Two Oceans jiggy... it has a 7 hour cut-off... aarghh! Hadn't realized that until now. That of course is the Comrades qualifying time, but if I don't make that mark I don't get a result or medal etc so I will have to "go for it". There are a couple of other cut-offs, one at the standard marathon mark of 5h20m, that kind of calms me down a bit as I did Manchester in 5h10m and I should in theory have improved from that in the last few days? Arrghh!

  • we can't be talking about dinner arrangements yet......  :o  
    that means it's close ..... I'm not ready yet... aaaaaahhhhhh
       
  • sorry, i'll get a hold of myself 

    i love a good panic :) 


  • Excellent work on your run SS - a real test and training run for Comrades! 

    Well on RR for your work on Paris - that looked like a hot one! 

    I have confidence in you for your TOM lowrez 

    I wonder how Dannirr is getting on - I bet he's going to have quite the tan in the desert 

    I had a  relatively quiet week on the running front - took it a bit easy to make sure I am fully recovered from Manchester before i kick off with the last big training block, but 30 miles in total, all runs done in the blazing sun, so have a pink nose! 

    Got my kayak our yesterday, had a good paddle and didn't plenty of eskimo rolls which worked out as a great core workout and followed up with a chilly sea swim. It was fantastically refreshing to do some exercise that wasn't running!  
  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
    Sorry to hear of your accident Mac3 - I hope there are no long term issues from it for you.

    Retrospective good luck to Danirr for the MdS.

    Good work Southern Snail - that sounds hard

    I've managed a lot of good sleep lately and running is improving - I managed 24km in 2:13 yesterday - much, much, much better than Monday's sufferfest.  I passed the half-marathon mark in 1:57 but fading fairly fast.  I'm strategising about my qualifier and I think it might be best to do a planned run/walk to extend my currently limited range. Onward and Upwards
  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017

    That sounds very positive Bike It; you are improving all the time despite some set backs and worries. A 1:57 half is good form irrespective of whether you can keep going at that pace, and, a run walk seems a great way to extend that to a sub5.

    I work on the ground floor of a 3 storey building and always use the stairs; its probably quite pathetic to be bragging that I vaulted up the ascent just now without a care in the world, but I suddenly realized what an amazing improvement that was compared to a couple of months ago where I dragged myself up the last steps out of breath with my quads complaining.

    Things are moving in the right direction, is it all happening soon enough? We will see :)   

  • Southern SnailSouthern Snail ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Lowrez - decisions decisions about where to qualify. I'm sure you'll make it whichever one you choose. BTW if you work on the ground floor, how many stairs do you use to get there

    My my husband and I are about on the Friday evening if there's a meet up.

    Bike It - well done on your last run. Onwards and upwards.
  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭

    S-S Its become Two Oceans by default now, the rules are identical to Comrades in that if I want that medal I must make the cut-offs and finish within 7 hours, beyond that I get nothing. A long way to go to come back with just the complementary water, oh hang on, I wouldn't make it through customs with the water! Its probably not a coincidence that Comrades qualification is 56km in 7 hours.

    Steps, lets see; its 3 to get into the building on the ground floor - ha ha - I quite frequently visit the top floor though - that's a few more; blimey there seem to be 13 per flight per half floor - I hope that's lucky.

    I'm not sure that being continually in recovery/taper with marathons or more every other week is a very good training plan, but I seem to be surviving on it.

    Hope you are recovering well from Exmoor :)

  • Becca7Becca7 ✭✭✭
    You probably know this already lowrez, Two Oceans is quite a fast course until the last 9 miles, so the cut offs should hopefully not cause a problem.  In the last 9 miles you have two serious climbs (the compensation is lovely scenery) and some crazy cambers at some points.  It's entirely possible to run a fast time.

    I spectated at Brighton yesterday.  Nice to see a few Comrades caps, including Slow Duck.

    I'm hopefully coming to the end of some medial tibial stress that has been limiting my running but I've been doing cross-training on the bike, cross-trainer and yoga.  I hope this works, as I have Boston Marathon a week today.  I was never going to go for a fast time there but it would be nice if it wasn't uncomfortable.

    Well done Snail.

    Good that you managed to fit in some miles around your conference Debra.  A lighter week is no bad thing.  

    Sorry to hear you had had a bump Mac.  Hope Rotterdam was good.

    Well done Bike It.  Good progress.
  • Lowrez - my son was born on Friday 13th. It's a great number
  • On another note, I was also looking at the charity section last week and couldn't work out where to add the money to. Did email them last week but haven't got an answer yet. Anybody know what to do?
  • great to hear you're making progress BikeIt! 

    Good luck at Boston Becca - pleased your ITB is behaving 

    SS - I'm not sure I fully understand your question about charity section. you set it up with the login that your registered with. 
  • Southern SnailSouthern Snail ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017
    MR Z I tried that. It said to click on the blue fundraising icon next to my name but there was none. I suspect I'm being dumb. Will look again and focus more :)
  • Lowrez - that picture is exactly what I look like - how did you know? :) 
    Paris didn't quite go to plan - I was cruising comfortably round at under 4 hour 20 pace for about the first 23 miles, it was warm but not excessive and i thought things were going well. Then I kind of fell apart a bit in the Bois du Boulogne - nausea, stomach cramps, all sorts, and just ran out of running. I thought I was going to have to walk the rest of the way, but I managed to pick it up a bit and do a 1/1 walk run towards the end. Slightly disappointing, but it was probably a bit optimistic to run a marathon on a hot day at 9:50 pace when I've mostly been training at over 10. 
  • Terry48Terry48 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Good to see that most of those who've been injured seem to be making good progress. In case I'm not back here before the weekend:

    Lowrez, have a good run in Cape Town - I'm envious, only ran it once, way back in 1978. Fond memories and I know the route well.

    Becca, enjoy Boston and have a good one. For how long are you going there?

    Bike IT, I'm envious of your doing 1:57 over 21k - that bodes very well for a sub-5.  
    I've only managed about 2:19 for 21k very recently.  Boston (UK) is going to be a very stern test in a week. Only 2 months training after surgery is pushing it but I'll give it my all.  Had a discouragingly difficult 10k in 64 minutes yesterday - very hot, fairly hilly trail. After an intentionally low 40k week last week, I plan no more than about 30k this week before Boston - hope that will help! (very under trained).
  • I do not seem to have any adverse reaction to sunday's walk....The shirt gardening on Saturday killed my hip though...Makes me wonder if the consultant is right with bursitis or if it's back related...Still will try and do a couple more walks over Easter to test out
  • Good luck for all racing especially those going for times....I was wondering if I hadn't qualified if I would have been tempted to swap chips with my hubby for him to get me my qualification time....Something g normally I would be totally against...But wondering if I would be tempted in this scenario...Glad that I got it in October so I don't need to test my morals
  • lowrezlowrez ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the course info Becca, I wasn't overly aware of that aspect actually. Looks like I need to put some time under my belt on that long down drift before those hills kick in. What are they doing there just where you don't want them? That first hill is where I began to crash at Manchester but I am hoping it was the man flu and the heat rather than anything else. Most unexpected to get brilliant sunshine in the second half at Manchester; I did not manage things well that day at all. Really looking forward to this one, nice challenge irrespective of any other "variables" - ha ha - :)

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