SN - I love Cape Town - qualified there for Comrades 2015
So; I can't just simply run another up-run, been there, done that. Will have to do something special or daft on it? Thoughts of that Union Jack dress come back... but I won't survive in that version , plenty of time to think
Realist that some cracking suggestions came in so I am now looking at the Thames Trot and SDW50 as big in the bag build up races along with the DW (in no way of any practical use I am sure). Thank you for the advice much appreciated. I wish I had the ability to get across and qualify out there but that is too much in terms of travel time and expense.
not until I was looking at travelling for comrades......I fancy it now but I think my triathlon days might be behind me..struggling too much with energy levels etc to do the training nowadays..
It's great to see everyone's updates. Debra, really good to read about your steady progress and recovery. I'm sure 2017 will be a good Comrades year for you! Take care.
After my 12:01 Comrades this year I've finally got motivated to start training again - up to only about 20 miles / week so far. Not very confident about 2017 as I'm expecting some major surgery in the next few months which, if the NHS finally get around to setting a date, is expected to destroy any adequate training plans. However, ever the optimist, I have already booked my room at the Belaire Suites (which I recommend, as also mentioned by Debra). Even if I can't run, I would still hope to be there - I'm sufficiently hooked to even be just a mere spectator/supporter.
My first post-Comrades 'challenge' will be the Highlands Perthshire Marathon on 3 September. Given my present low level of training I think I'm likely to do just do the first half of this two-lapper - it's a beautiful course. By the way, I have a reservation at the Moness Resort for the night before (2 Sept.) which I can no longer use as we now have a larger than expected family contingent which forced me to subsequently book a larger accommodation option near Pitlochry. Moness cost £118 for a B&B suite. If anyone is interested in taking it over - any reasonable offer would be good!
Good to hear from you Terry 12:01 - arrgh! Hope you get the surgery soon and that it and the recovery goes perfectly. Whilst Comrades have launched ZINIKELE, its only permeated the home page so far, the rest of the site is in 2016 summarised form and so we don't know the official date for the start of the qualifying period. I suspect though, that if you did put in a second lap at Perthshire you would qualify if you made it in sub 5hrs.
First run with my Fenix3 today, haven't done anything with it on config except tell it my activity was "Running" - it kept vibrating and telling me to score goals? Then at the end it congratulated me on running pbs for 5k and 10k which were pitiful times and nowhere near my pbs? Suppose I better crack out the manual and figure out how to tell it I wasn't plying football etc.
RR how are you This gyzmo is very nice but I'm not sure about a lot of it and even google and garmin aren't helping with goals (I would prefer it not to bother me about anything other than how long it took me to run the last mile). I have paired it with my ant stick that came with my "old" 310xt - I wonder why they don't put an ant stick in the Fenix box? Or did I pair it with my ant stick? Hmm - it wanted to know my wifi password, anyway its pushed today's 8 miler up to garmin land on the web.There is a display on the watch if I press up or down enough times that says "Goal" with a little 5000 under it and then a big16030 below that, it obviously didn't like me running 8 miles today because the next thing has yellow warning triangle (or is it?) with 8.1 next to it and next to that is a bloke on an escalator (or is it a skateboard?) who appears to have been awarded 13 out of 10, for what I don't know. Ha ha - I can't find anything anywhere that tells me why the watch shows all that . Much easier and understandable watching Neymar score a penalty to win gold in a football match , one goal, one result.
10Sep Jungfrau (M) Mac3 02Oct Kielder (M) marty 74 09Oct Chicago (M) becca7 09Oct Munich (M) Mac3 23Oct Abingdon (M) seren nos, jelly bean, Southern Snail 06Nov Soweto (M) Time To Tri 27Nov La Rochelle (M) jelly bean 04Dec California International (M) Dannirr 04Dec Malaga (M) Becca7 09Jan Funchal (M) Becca7 26Mar Canalathon 50km Becca7 16Apr Llanelli (M) seren nos 01May Qualification Closes 04June Comrades
Greetings all. I've added a couple of upcoming races to the list, I hope the formatting works. I'm excited about the Jungfrau which starts in Interlaken, finishing at 2,100m, just hope my legs have enough to get me there! A good warm up for the Oktoberfest the following Saturday where the lost calories will be replaced. Munich will be the more realistic attempt at qualification.
Just been looking at accommodation and City Lodge is full, but Belaire Suites is showing availability. Anyone have views on it - would certainly be handy for parkrun and Mugg and Bean?
RR. I've used Belaire for the last 5 years. Reasonable prices, very clean and comfortable, superb breakfast selections (including very early on Comrades morning) and really handy location. Only R50 taxi to the expo which is also very walkable. Hilton is clearly more swish but it's location is only very good for the expo and nothing much else - it's far from the beach and restaurants. Belaire is right on the North Beach. I'm already booked again for 2017. Plenty of Comrades runners are there every year - Belaire reservations usually fill up before the end of the year.
Thanks Terry, might just go ahead and book, I quite like the idea of having the kitchen facilities too, even if it's just a fridge for my chocolate milk .
They will seren nos I have nothing booked yet; I'm going to see if I have any legs left after this weekend; some bloke is showing off on another thread:-
I'm well excited about this one, 130 is way beyond my current max of 56 . If I ace my personal plan I will cross the finish at 11:00am on Sunday - watch that one unravel
Good luck everyone!
RR - thank you for your donation! I will bring you some chocolate milk on June 4th
Hope your run was good lowrez and the weather was kind. So hope you are still basking in the glow of your achievement.
I ran, well did, the ridgeway challenge this weekend. 86 trail miles which mostly (apart from those dark times during the night!!) were really enjoyable. Thankfully the weather and all that rained missed us otherwise it could have been a different story. Very happy to have run further than ever before and timewise, 22.26. It has definitely put me off running a 100 miles though!!!
But in Comrades talk, read a website about the launch and the big news is that the finish is returning to the Scottsville Racecourse. Apparently its closer to the M3, basically Durban side so they think it will be easier to get away at the end. We shall see on that but good news its going to be 200m shorter than the last up!!!
Oh yes, and qualifying started from this weekend. Get going everybody!!
Marty - brilliant running seems that there are very few ultras on perfect terrain - for me that means road or equivalent surface.
Thanks Dannir and Becca - sorry the tracker didn't work - I had it running perfectly for 3 weeks prior to the big day and then a marshmallow turned up and ruined everything.
Seren nos don't get worried about these crazy mileages this early on Marty and I must be getting something non-Comradic out of our systems...
LLCR130 was a war of attrition I really didn't expect. Marty we had your rain and more. Thunder and lightning in the dead of night directly overhead and the thought of headlines like "Stupid Ultra Runner Struck Down Dead". I even took my head torch off and held it below knee level thinking the metal and 4 AAA batteries were a prime target seeing as I was the tallest thing for miles around. Boy was the sheltering arch of the next bridge a welcome sight. Consequently those already terrible, stony, rutted, grassy canal paths became sodden, slippery bepuddled torture depriving me of the speed I craved, they sapped the running out of me for endless miles reducing my feet to waterlogged painful pads and when I finally reached good solid ground again it was terribly difficult to rekindle the engines. It is wonderful to be sat here with the major medal I received but I won't be rushing back to do it again. Brought it home very hard what a wonderful event Comrades is, even with rain if that ever happens, I love the rain, and running those canal paths in it where they'd concreted them properly was an absolute joy as was finishing prior to the shortened time limit of 40 hours in 38:34 a long, long, way off my target of 27!
Must say a big hello to Sharon for the superb high five earlier on outside Liverpool; to be asked out of the blue "are you lowrez?" was absolutely astounding; I christen thee "Psylocke"; come out of the lurky shadows and join in the fun!
My support crew were phenomenal; would not have made it without them, thanks Team Ultra!
Comments
Who do I recognize here: https://youtu.be/1BG3C5Bva38?t=156 my brain has stopped working
OMG, all of that pain in the last 10k was now SO worthwhile!!!!
I think the other person is also a Martin but cant remember his surname or his tag on here.
See you on the start line in Durbs then lowrez!!!!
SS.. I have 4 days in Capetown then flying to Durban on the 1st June and then resting there until the 6th
then the rest of the trip....so some easy sightseeing in Capetown before resting the legs for a few days
How about... Fit-Running-Cat?
SN - I love Cape Town - qualified there for Comrades 2015
So; I can't just simply run another up-run, been there, done that. Will have to do something special or daft on it? Thoughts of that Union Jack dress come back... but I won't survive in that version , plenty of time to think
Hi
Realist that some cracking suggestions came in so I am now looking at the Thames Trot and SDW50 as big in the bag build up races along with the DW (in no way of any practical use I am sure). Thank you for the advice much appreciated. I wish I had the ability to get across and qualify out there but that is too much in terms of travel time and expense.
On another note SN did you ever consider IM SA?
not until I was looking at travelling for comrades......I fancy it now but I think my triathlon days might be behind me..struggling too much with energy levels etc to do the training nowadays..
another parkrun done this morning
It's great to see everyone's updates. Debra, really good to read about your steady progress and recovery. I'm sure 2017 will be a good Comrades year for you! Take care.
After my 12:01 Comrades this year I've finally got motivated to start training again - up to only about 20 miles / week so far. Not very confident about 2017 as I'm expecting some major surgery in the next few months which, if the NHS finally get around to setting a date, is expected to destroy any adequate training plans. However, ever the optimist, I have already booked my room at the Belaire Suites (which I recommend, as also mentioned by Debra). Even if I can't run, I would still hope to be there - I'm sufficiently hooked to even be just a mere spectator/supporter.
My first post-Comrades 'challenge' will be the Highlands Perthshire Marathon on 3 September. Given my present low level of training I think I'm likely to do just do the first half of this two-lapper - it's a beautiful course. By the way, I have a reservation at the Moness Resort for the night before (2 Sept.) which I can no longer use as we now have a larger than expected family contingent which forced me to subsequently book a larger accommodation option near Pitlochry. Moness cost £118 for a B&B suite. If anyone is interested in taking it over - any reasonable offer would be good!
Keep up the good training all!
Good to hear from you Terry 12:01 - arrgh! Hope you get the surgery soon and that it and the recovery goes perfectly. Whilst Comrades have launched ZINIKELE, its only permeated the home page so far, the rest of the site is in 2016 summarised form and so we don't know the official date for the start of the qualifying period. I suspect though, that if you did put in a second lap at Perthshire you would qualify if you made it in sub 5hrs.
First run with my Fenix3 today, haven't done anything with it on config except tell it my activity was "Running" - it kept vibrating and telling me to score goals? Then at the end it congratulated me on running pbs for 5k and 10k which were pitiful times and nowhere near my pbs? Suppose I better crack out the manual and figure out how to tell it I wasn't plying football etc.
RR how are you This gyzmo is very nice but I'm not sure about a lot of it and even google and garmin aren't helping with goals (I would prefer it not to bother me about anything other than how long it took me to run the last mile). I have paired it with my ant stick that came with my "old" 310xt - I wonder why they don't put an ant stick in the Fenix box? Or did I pair it with my ant stick? Hmm - it wanted to know my wifi password, anyway its pushed today's 8 miler up to garmin land on the web.There is a display on the watch if I press up or down enough times that says "Goal" with a little 5000 under it and then a big16030 below that, it obviously didn't like me running 8 miles today because the next thing has yellow warning triangle (or is it?) with 8.1 next to it and next to that is a bloke on an escalator (or is it a skateboard?) who appears to have been awarded 13 out of 10, for what I don't know. Ha ha - I can't find anything anywhere that tells me why the watch shows all that . Much easier and understandable watching Neymar score a penalty to win gold in a football match , one goal, one result.
Aha! There is this thing called "Activity Tracking", switch it off and the own goals stop hopefully that might extend the battery life too.
28Aug Qualification Opens
10Sep Jungfrau (M) Mac3
02Oct Kielder (M) marty 74
09Oct Chicago (M) becca7
09Oct Munich (M) Mac3
23Oct Abingdon (M) seren nos, jelly bean, Southern Snail
06Nov Soweto (M) Time To Tri
27Nov La Rochelle (M) jelly bean
04Dec California International (M) Dannirr
04Dec Malaga (M) Becca7
09Jan Funchal (M) Becca7
26Mar Canalathon 50km Becca7
16Apr Llanelli (M) seren nos
01May Qualification Closes
04June Comrades
Greetings all. I've added a couple of upcoming races to the list, I hope the formatting works. I'm excited about the Jungfrau which starts in Interlaken, finishing at 2,100m, just hope my legs have enough to get me there! A good warm up for the Oktoberfest the following Saturday where the lost calories will be replaced. Munich will be the more realistic attempt at qualification.
RR. I've used Belaire for the last 5 years. Reasonable prices, very clean and comfortable, superb breakfast selections (including very early on Comrades morning) and really handy location. Only R50 taxi to the expo which is also very walkable. Hilton is clearly more swish but it's location is only very good for the expo and nothing much else - it's far from the beach and restaurants. Belaire is right on the North Beach. I'm already booked again for 2017. Plenty of Comrades runners are there every year - Belaire reservations usually fill up before the end of the year.
noticed that the hilton for the 5 nights we booked is now nearly £1400 .....I hope they honour our direct booking for £403 ...
They will seren nos I have nothing booked yet; I'm going to see if I have any legs left after this weekend; some bloke is showing off on another thread:-
RR - thank you for your donation! I will bring you some chocolate milk on June 4th
Hope your run was good lowrez and the weather was kind. So hope you are still basking in the glow of your achievement.
I ran, well did, the ridgeway challenge this weekend. 86 trail miles which mostly (apart from those dark times during the night!!) were really enjoyable. Thankfully the weather and all that rained missed us otherwise it could have been a different story. Very happy to have run further than ever before and timewise, 22.26. It has definitely put me off running a 100 miles though!!!
But in Comrades talk, read a website about the launch and the big news is that the finish is returning to the Scottsville Racecourse. Apparently its closer to the M3, basically Durban side so they think it will be easier to get away at the end. We shall see on that but good news its going to be 200m shorter than the last up!!!
Oh yes, and qualifying started from this weekend. Get going everybody!!
Wow, well done Marty. The Ridgeway is tough, especially in the dark and the heat.
Hope you had a good run, lowrez.
Well done Marty and Lowrez.
I struggled with a 16 miler yesterday..well done on the ridgeway.
The website has still not been updated.....I keep on checking daily
Marty - brilliant running seems that there are very few ultras on perfect terrain - for me that means road or equivalent surface.
Thanks Dannir and Becca - sorry the tracker didn't work - I had it running perfectly for 3 weeks prior to the big day and then a marshmallow turned up and ruined everything.
Seren nos don't get worried about these crazy mileages this early on Marty and I must be getting something non-Comradic out of our systems...
LLCR130 was a war of attrition I really didn't expect. Marty we had your rain and more. Thunder and lightning in the dead of night directly overhead and the thought of headlines like "Stupid Ultra Runner Struck Down Dead". I even took my head torch off and held it below knee level thinking the metal and 4 AAA batteries were a prime target seeing as I was the tallest thing for miles around. Boy was the sheltering arch of the next bridge a welcome sight. Consequently those already terrible, stony, rutted, grassy canal paths became sodden, slippery bepuddled torture depriving me of the speed I craved, they sapped the running out of me for endless miles reducing my feet to waterlogged painful pads and when I finally reached good solid ground again it was terribly difficult to rekindle the engines. It is wonderful to be sat here with the major medal I received but I won't be rushing back to do it again. Brought it home very hard what a wonderful event Comrades is, even with rain if that ever happens, I love the rain, and running those canal paths in it where they'd concreted them properly was an absolute joy as was finishing prior to the shortened time limit of 40 hours in 38:34 a long, long, way off my target of 27!
Must say a big hello to Sharon for the superb high five earlier on outside Liverpool; to be asked out of the blue "are you lowrez?" was absolutely astounding; I christen thee "Psylocke"; come out of the lurky shadows and join in the fun!
My support crew were phenomenal; would not have made it without them, thanks Team Ultra!
Super impressed Lowrez. Fantastic effort in really tough conditions. Could never imagine running for so long. I think Comrades will now be my limit!!!
Yeah, I've entered already
That's me entered ... going for number 9
Having problems with the site.......it doesn't sell out in minutes like some races does it.....panic......
we are in