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Comrades 2018
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Thanks JAR
Foot gear effect is something I need to perfect! Making trainers look more the part.
I like your idea on signature... what I'd like to achieve is some kind of Banksy notoriety... never the same costume twice; but you will always know when its me... actually... if I achieve the costume I've been working on for months now it could well become the signature... no way is that being retired after just one showing... will I ever be satisfied enough to reveal it though? Ha ha!
popping in.. struggling with running recently... so has hubby... but he managed to get a pod D yesterday so we will start together this year in Pod SD rather than Pod c.. I have serious doubts over my ability to finish comrades but will start it..
Hi seren nos, sympathies with the struggles but glad your husband got his qualifier.
Ran my last big mileage weekend before Comrades: 39 miles at the SVN Ranscombe Spring Challenge yesterday and 50K at Rachel's Ranscombe Ramble today. Feeling quite good today until my left calf seized up at about 24 miles, so I walked the last bit. Should be okay with a bit of self-massage I think. 3 Forts Marathon (trail) next Sunday, then no events until Spring Cakeathon at the end of the month - which I intend to take very gently as a last long training run. Aiming to do less miles but faster during this next month.
Well done Mr seren nos, good speed too! Sorry you are plodding Mrs seren nos, keep at it, it will come good
Good to see you starting to cruise Debra, you have put in an astonishing number of miles lately, your plan looks like a very sensible approach to the big day.
Didn't spot Slow Duck at Chester Half yesterday but had a whale of a time as Silk Spectre; forgot my watch and was just so full of running; scared myself again with a 1:57, have not gone sub 2 for a half in years. Stats say I dismayed a total of 1,444 runners by overtaking them in my outfit and I negatively split every 5k getting faster and faster and faster, just felt so good, I should run without the constraint of my watch every time! Waiting for some pictures, hoping for a good action shot of Silk storming it. Got one shout-out for "Barbarella" which I hadn't considered until now - what a wealth of options in that bag; zero gravity away!
Well done at Chester, lowrez.
I finally took the plunge and bought a Garmin 935, since the price dropped under £400. I've used it to record the runs over the weekend (and it told me I'd done c 85500 steps on Saturday and c66000 on Sunday) but I now need to learn how to do stuff like uploading the info, setting data screens and so on. Only c12500 steps so far today.
Debra - good work! You have really cranked out the mileage in your build up this year. I expect you will be well ahead of the target schedules? I recently bought the Fenix 5s as I have small wrists! But I'm enjoying the functionality. I worked out how to download gpx files to it for a recent ultra in North Holland and it worked well. It had a wobble on a beach section but there was only one way to go, just a weak signal there I guess. I'm also encouraged by my current "superior" VO2 max readings! My final warm up marathon is 13 May at Vise, Belgium just South of Maastricht.
40 days to go everyone, the countdown begins! Heavy duty March/April out of the way but the May schedule still looks fairly full to me.
It probably does Mac, haven't ever done anything with it really other than select "Run", "Start" and "Stop" should probably look deeper. I'm not feeling those kind of restrictions in these costumes though. Sunday's wasn't a skirt...
Blimey, only 40 to go? My last events will be Liverpool RocknRoll 5k/Marathon on 19th/20th May. What to wear? What to wear?
I had a decent run too and clocked 1:37.
Debra - some fantastic mileage going on. Hope calf holds up.
40 days. Yikes. I still seem to have a busy month ahead. 32 miles on monday with a final 4hr run 2 weeks later. Schedule seems to be giving a 3 week taper. Sure it was 4 last year
Just been looking at flights. Quite a lot more than last year from what I remember
SS I feel my weekend is empty, no event booked - I fancy a marathon to keep the pace going
lowrez: Sympathies for the lack of photos. it's the digital age, so they can't have forgotten to put films in the cameras! I note that there are still places at the SVN events in Northampton on Sunday and Monday if you can't cope without an event this weekend! Always fun and these two are a Chocathon and a Cookiethon.
Pleased to report that after some self-massage of my left calf and a gentle 3-mile recovery run on Tuesday my legs were fine for running with the club yesterday evening.
Anyone done both Three Forts and Beachy Head? If so, how do the two compare?
Nice running SD. A shame about the photos lowrez. At least you got a decent one above.
No races for me this weekend. I'm actually intending to do my long run tonight and run home from work, as it's something I've been intending to do for a while.
Becca, many thanks for that information - I'd been hearing how tough it is. I'm not intending to race it, but runnable hills (other than the start) should make it good training for Comrades!
Enjoy your run home from work.
Thanks Lowrez and Becca.
lowrez - all of my photos seem to be from the last 200m - I'm sure I saw numerous photographers on the rest of the course too...
It's either a senior moment or I was busy at work because I'm still 99.99% certain it was done. My plea for an on-the-day entry (which they used accept ) has fallen on deaf ears so I won't be there and will have to fashion a run somehow myself with enough climbing this weekend.
I've never run Beachy Head but I do enjoy 3 forts. The big hill Becca refers too is really tough at times but its good prep for Comrades overall. Also unless you get out fast prepare to spend some time queuing because its reduces to one abreast for short sections - if you're running for a time best to get ahead of people at the start.
Enjoy
Ha ha! I actually have 14 finish line photos from t'official photographer, they'll cost me £30 if I want them but when I look at them there are probably just 4 individual shots, the rest are varying duplicates as they've gone click, click, click in rapid succession. They are very good photos I just don't fancy paying out the equivalent of £7.50 each. Some further research on angles illustrates others do have some minor variation; the route passes through the finish on both outward and inward legs so some people have more photos, but the toggers have been lazy and just hung around the finish for convenience I think. Local newspapers and a local sports photographer were also out there which is how I came by the above bargain basement photo in comparison, although I now notice the local toggy has taken down his set - good job I got in there before "the lads" were sent around. This being a "work event" we did have our own toggy too, but, my decision to go up north the Friday before and carbo-load on beer and curry exempted me from receiving the arrangements e-mail and I appear to have run down the wrong side of the road and not turned up at the post run photo-op. Hmm... so why didn't anyone tell me about that on the day... you don't think it was anything to do with what I was wearing do you?
I do appear to have a growing fan base egging me on to more daring things... although it is me donning the clobber of course so its not just "all them"
Thanks for the event suggestions - bit too far - I can't over-night at short notice - just spied the Milton Keynes website - great memories from last year - but they are sold out - I would have been able to do that in a day by train I think.
I sent you a private message a while ago via this site, which I suspect you have not seen - have a look in the 'inbox'. I hope your training is going well after that long, hot, slow London with me.
It looks as if all in this group are training well - I'm so envious of you all!
Have a great weekend of running everybody - it looks like some warmer weather acclimatisation opportunity has arrived at last!
Have fun on Saturday!
Anyone here doing Milton Keynes on Monday?
SS that cheaper flight was no good at all, daft combination of airlines with you having to go and get your bags at every changeover to re-check-in, and the connection times were horrendous, several hours a piece in remote un-air conditioned terminals that don't serve any food or alcohol. Well worth the extra £200, indeed more, for a carefree cruise across the heavens in luxury.
Carmen - walking is an integral part of Comrades training, you did well sticking it out, that is massively more important than doing that "running" thing, which I think is overrated. Those miles are going to serve you well on the big day. I bet, it being LDWA, there was a lot of mud and hills and difficult terrain involved? I tried to get into MK but was too late
(as usual 
) I have a friend who is running it. Contemplating turning up to cheer anyway, are you running it?
Max - great Paris result despite the angst - you are getting all your timing problems out of the way prior to the big day. Hope the strains resolve quickly. Those cut-offs are majorly generous first half, dangerously so I think, having suffered a close shave last down run; there are now 2 extra ks on the second half side and still "only" 5h50m to bring them home if you shave through the first half in 6h10m, I am staying well away from that margin this year (he said with bravado)!
No race for me this weekend and I did my long run last night, running home from work, which turned out to be 28 miles. I've been commuting for almost 11 years and have long fancied doing this run so it's nice to have achieved it.
Good to hear from you Carmen. Sorry to hear that Pewsey didn't go so well but I agree with lowrez that it will still have been good training. I might have remembered that race being easier than it is as I had run Bath Beat the day before and that is wretchedly hard so Pewsey was a relief.
Nice running Max. I hope that your pacing at Comrades will be more conservative.