Comrades 2019

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  • TCPTCP ✭✭✭
    Hi all.  Just been catching up on everyones exploits.  Loads of great running.  I've noticed a lot more chatter on Facebook about Comrades.  It seems a lot more real now.  My mind has just been concussed on my 10 in 10 tomorrow.  I need to get through that uninjured and then I can focus on the A goal.
    SS, have you done a TiT before?  Any advice?
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭
    Good luck both, you are a right pair of... LOWREZ! don't you dare type that next word!...Arrgh - sorry Mrs 1owrez...got to run guys...literally!
  •  :) 

    TCP - No never done a TinT before. Never even done 2 marathons in a row or in the same month :)
    so definitely no advice to give!! I think I'm just going to treat them all as long slow (and getting slower) training runs. I'm worried if I try to put any speed in that I'll just crash. I'm also just going to think about it as 8 laps. If I think too much about the fact that I'm just about to run 262 miles on a 3.28 mile stretch of the Thames I might go bonkers.
    How about you? What's your marathon experience? I'm going to put my Comrades top on in the morning though I suspect It will be covered up. Cold start apparently. Will see you in the morning.

    Am now going to put my feet up and do nothing for the rest of the day :)
  • Debra/Lowrez/Mordo - good luck on Sunday. Looks like good running weather
  • TCP: I thought I already gave this advice to SS but now I can't find it... Having done 10-in-10 twice, once with marathons, then with 50K a day, my advice is:
    • Go slow on your first one even if you feel great - save energy for the later days!
    • Eat and drink every lap or two, even if you don't feel like it. In fact, ESPECIALLY if you don't feel like it.
    • Rest as much as you can each day once you have finished. And eat plenty - I swear by a proper protein and carb recovery drink or similar as soon as possible after finisheing each day, then proper food.
    • If your legs feel still at the start of any morning, just shuffle - they will loosen up after a bit!
    • I was told before my first one that day 3 or 4 would be worst, but actually I found the legs were fine throughout the 10-in-10 marathons.
    • Remember to enjoy it - keep encouraging other runners, and they will encourage you, and it will make it all a great experience!
    Have fun!
     
  • Southern Snail - thank you - I'm just going to treat Boston as a training run, as I'm still about 1 minute per mile slower than I should be - and I realised last night that it's a 3-hour drive up, which with a 9am start means getting up soon after 4 am and leaving the house by 5am...
  • TCPTCP ✭✭✭
    SS - Most I've done is 3 in 4 days or 4 in 7.  My aim is just to complete it.  Walk a lot and look after myself.  Got to get to the end without breaking.  Comrades is my 'A' race.
  • Terry48Terry48 ✭✭✭
    SS and TCP - go well with your 10 in 10. What a major challenge!

    Debra, Lowrez and any others - enjoy Boston.  If I were not visiting family in Scotland on the day I would have loved to stop by as a supporter.
  • TCPTCP ✭✭✭
    Thanks Debra, great advice as always.  I am looking forward to it.  I can't wait to get going as everyone in the real world thinks I'm stupid.  At least everyone on the Thames Path tomorrow will understand. 
  • Becca7Becca7 ✭✭✭
    Good luck SS and TCP and anyone running Boston of either variety.  
  • marty74marty74 ✭✭✭
    Good luck TCP and SS. Have a great 7 days and see you both next Saturday!!!
  • Thanks. See you next Saturday  :)
  • TCPTCP ✭✭✭
    It is going to be a long 10 days.  Marathon 1 done.
    Good to meet you SS.
  • TCP - well done. I found that harder than it should have been for day one! Good to catch up briefly. I accosted some other 10 in 10 runner who had your name and asked if he was doing Comrades and he said yes. Threw me a bit when we worked out he had nothing to do with runners world!!
  • TCP, SS: well done both! Now REST, EAT... and get out there again tomorrow. You'll be fine. :-)
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭
    Well done on day.1 SS and TCP :) Hope you are doing similar to me right now; resting, sipping coffee and browsing on flapjacks :)

    I am not a satnav kinda guy, overshot Nottingham and spent an hour longer on the road than expected. Gay Ellis arrived in the post this morning and she is ready to run.

    I am staying in Boston University Halls of Residence and have met plenty of other runners. 

    It's pretty cold here, just popped to a 24 hour Asda, that shut at 10pm? To get a cheap warm top, don't fancy waiting around freezing tomorrow.

    Good luck for Monday Dannirr :)
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭
    Debra, hope your drive is easy and stress free, take care :)
  • Well done lowrez - a great costume and a great run from you today!
    I ran a lot slower than 2 years ago, but that was to be expected in the circumstances - it's going to take a lot of work to regain that minute per mile... A cold and windy day, but at least it wasn't raining. :smile:  And the drive in both directions was okay (bit of traffic this afternoon but that has to be expected heading for London on a Sunday evening).
    TCP, SS, how are you after Day2?
  • jkissanejkissane ✭✭✭
    Great to hear about the training & races people are getting in.

    Had a 63.3k ultra yesterday, was fairly challenging as we spent the last ~30k running straight into a yellow wind warning that was in force for the county! I ended up ~20 mins slower than planned but that wasn't exactly a surprise given the conditions. Luckily the rain stayed mostly away as windchill would have been very nasty with the strong breeze.

    Had a good chat with a Comrades runner in the hotel afterwards as he spotted my cap, turned out he used to live in SA and has 18 runs under his belt. Injury has kept him away for the last three years but the draw of the double green number is strong so he's on the fence as to whether or not to go this year, his marathon yesterday has qualified him.

    Another marathon coming up next weekend, weather looks like it will be ~20C so quite the change from yesterday's 5C, bit of warm weather running is just what I need to prepare for SA.
  • mordomordo ✭✭✭
    SS thanks for the good luck shout out
    unfortunately Brighton was a mess. My back started hurting after 9 miles and I had to stop as it was too painful to even walk/run. 
    My first DNF in a marathon and a race I would likely not do again given the poor organisation in my view though it might just have been bad luck - got there on Saturday to pick my number and was told they had run out of pins, Sunday had to wait about 15 minutes for baggage drop, dropped out at 11-12 miles which was half a mile to the end and no-one could direct me, eventually got directions and had to go to an open mini-tent to give them my number and then sit in the cold while they sent someone to look for my baggage. Eventually got it about 45 minutes later and was sat in the cold next to someone who had been waiting for over an hour. 5 minutes before I got it (3 hours after the race started) one of the team came to give us good news that the last baggage truck should come in the next hour so all is well at which point a lady who did the 10k and had been waiting for 2 hours for her bag decided to go for a walk. I gave them my honest opinion then of how displeased I was or maybe it was just the miserable part of my first DNF
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    JK 40 miles of goodness :) although half of it into daft headwind? You did well to finish.

    Boston was somewhat blustery at times yesterday too, but I loved every minute of it, thought it was going to be really cold but Gay Ellis kept me warm :) At one point I cruised past a 100 marathon club member and congratulated him on his achievement and got locked into this crazy conversation I wished I hadn't started. I am not being detrimental, it just a description, good luck to the over achieving superman that the was, but, he was an absolute running nerd, so nerdy he didn't realise he was a nerd. So he responded with; thanks actually I have run 238 marathons, this is my 239th, I'm not enjoying it, this wind is ridiculous, I would be much faster without it, its not like Barcelona, that was well warm, I really liked that one, and I did that trip for less than £60, can you believe the flight out was only £29 and the return was just £9, you can't buy enough diesel to drive that far never mind fly, how do they do that, these cheap airlines are going to go out of business at that rate. I can't wait for this slog to be over, can you believe this wind... it was the best incentive I have ever had to increase my pace whilst shouting out the odd "really", "incredible", "you don't say" etc as his voice got weaker and weaker blown away on the not so harsh wind, he was definitely over-wind-sensitive :D

    I did realise early on my pace was somewhat fast compared to recent training runs and thought about easing off, but, I wasn't stressed at all by it and just let the cruise control handle it. Only at around 22 miles did I start to flag off the 10 minutes per mile or under I had been churning out till then, and I had to stop at about mile 23 to address some chafing other wise I think I would have been a little quicker, very pleased with 4:21 though :) way faster than Xiamen's 4:48 and a great confidence booster.

    Think it will be Wednesday before any pictures emerge from the official photographer - I am scared at how much this costume shows off undulations of fat like no other!

    Great seeing Debra who had a great run, loved how surprised she was to see me finishing that early - we are in a photograph together at the start that might emerge sometime!

  • Debra BourneDebra Bourne ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    mordo, my sincere sympathies for your back and the need to DNF, and that sounds like a real mess with the baggage - last baggage truck coming within 4 hours of the start is 'all is well???!!!'  Running out of pins is stupid as well. It -was- cold yesterday, wasn't it? Next year try Boston - very well organised for the baggage. Although numbers sent out in advance did NOT have pins included (at least, mine didn't).
    jkissane, well done on that ultra - particularly with the second half being into the wind.
    Only saving grace for me at Boston was that the worst of the head winds were in the first half (although that does mean I can't blame the wind for how much I slowed down later on).
  • Becca7Becca7 ✭✭✭
    Fantastic time lowrez, Gay Ellis have given you wings.  Either that or having to get away from 100 Marathon guy.

    Well done on getting it done Debra in circumstances that have not been great preparation.

    Sorry that it wasn't your day Mordo.

    Nice running JK.

    Good luck to SS and TCP for today's run and to Dannii and anyone else taking on Boston.

    I'm still playing catch-up as far as training is concerned.  90 minutes on Saturday and 210 on Sunday gave decent time on feet.  The run yesterday was harder work than it ought to have been in the last few miles but I think that, unusually for me, this was down to a lack of fuelling, as I forgot to take any snacks and I'm not used to running unfasted.
  • lowrez: congratulations again on your fantastic run yesterday. Sympathies for the bore problem! You disappeared just after we got our T-shirts - I didin't see where you went.
    I had lots of pleasant little conversations with a variety of people before, during and after yeterday's run, including several Comrades runners, someone from Dunstable Road Runners who remembered me as Lloyd parkrun RD, as he's run with us a few times; a runner from Blackheath & Bromley who recognised me as Lloyd parkrun RD; a couple of people doing their first marathon, and others. I started not too badly but it was hard to hold pace throughout and I faded horribly towards the end - finished in 4:20 and something, compared with 3:54 in 2017. The last few miles I concentrated on being encouraging to anyone that I passed, and one lady thanked me afterwards for being so positive and helping her get going again when she had been feeling far from positive, so that was good. My other good deed was picking up dropped gloves (three, one at a time from about mile 12 onwards) and a buff along the way and taking them to the finish to hand in at lost property.

  • Wow a really busy time for everyone this past week.
    Mordo, sorry to hear about your back, hopefully you will be back out there soon.
    TCP and SS keep up the great running, 10 in 10 must be super difficult, huge respect to you both.
    Lowrez and Debra great running to you, hope you were able to enjoy yourselves.
    JK great ultra marathon run, and good luck with your marathon this coming weekend.

    I have also been busy, Bonn marathon last weekend and then we ran a timed 6 hour race yesterday and I managed to get 65,5 km. I felt pretty good throughout the runand was happy with my distance, my goal was 62km so a real bonus to get over that. it was a great training run for Comrades and just went to show how the past weeks of back to back long runs are paying off.
    I wish you all a good week and hope there are not too many sore legs.
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    Mordo - sorry you had a crash, hope you can sort out your back soon; when I had a problem like that lying in my back then bringing my knees up to my chest and leaning forward to grasp my arms in an interlocking move that resulted in me being rolled up like a ball, and then rocking backwards and forwards was very therapeutic.

    SS and TCP I hope things are going OK :)

    KB brilliant running

    Becca I think I have got quite used to running on low fuel. I don't take anything for halves these days, and have been doing 18 milers on just water, although, I am still fearful of mile 18 on a full marathon and was taking penny chews every 3 miles to ward anything off. Didn't have a perfect stomach all day, and at mile 20 or so took some jelly babies and jaffa cakes on offer and indigestion got much worse; a very unladylike Gay Ellis burped her way through the next couple of miles :D Well done on keeping your training schedule going

    Wishing Dannirr well at Boston today!

  • jkissane - well done on your ultra in weather like that! and good luck with next weekends marathon. Lets hope they have the weather forecast right for you.

    Mordo - sorry you needed to pull out. Hope you can sort your back out satisfactorily. Sounds like you had a nightmare end to the race though. I never know why some of these organisations cock up though. Surely it's not rocket science to think it through and not leave people suffering in the cold.

    Lowrez - well done at Boston. Sounds like you had a great run. You're getting speedier and speedier. When to we get to see the pictures? Do you not have any of your own?

    Debra - well done to you too. I know its slower than you want but hopefully getting there

    Kitebeast - great running at Bonn and your timed event

    Dannirr - hope all went well at USA Boston today

    Day 3 completed. I have no idea how I'll do another 7!! I could do with a new pair of legs. Was feeling a bit sorry for myself earlier but I think that was probably heat exhaustion from an epsom salts bath!! I feel better now. It's actually going ok but it's definitely tough. Got a couple of blisters but other than that ok so far. 90% of the field are mad people who have done 100's of marathons. I'm not tempted to get sucked in. Lots of them know you Debra 
  • SS: great to hear you've completed day 3. It shouldn't get any harder from here and might even get easier! Do say hi from me to the mad people...
  • Debra - will do :) Theres one guy who's apparently on 1000+ :/ Legs seriously stiff this morning

    Lowrez - have received mail
  • SS: By tomorrow your legs should have accepted this is what they are doing. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other...
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