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First run of Bronze medal training plan done. I had a bad December so distinctly overweight and under-fit, but the process has begun!
In peoples' experience, are Emirates likely to have a sale in January, or should I just crack on and book flights? Return from Birmingham via Dubai currently £690, which seems pretty good given distances involved.....
And re flights, i flew with emirates last year and i think around mid January i found them for £500. Hoping for the same again this year
When I could, I would do a 50k training run made up of a hilly 5 mi out-and-back stretch near home, a few weeks out from the race. Loos never more than a couple of miles away!!! But sometimes life didn't let me.
Why not walk/run a just-in-case qualifier - then you're not stuck if you get injured or sick for your planned qualifying race. It's one thing for the locals but it's a bummer if you've splashed hundreds on flights and hotels...
Malta isn't a bad practice for Comrades as it is (though net downhill) not flat, and warm-for-february.
I did once drive to Box Hill and ran up it twice for Comrades practice! As Comrades is basically 2 marathons and a parkrun with 5x Box Hill stuffed under the route, it was as specific as you can get in this damp country. (Think SlowDuck recommended it).
Comrades is a long day unless you're Bruce "finished by lunch" Fordyce. You get up at 2am (say), hang around for hours in the dark (is sometimes nippy too). Start at the alarming hour of 5:30. Try not to fall over the 4-inch-high (iirc) cateyes and discarded clothing. Run up or down hill *all* day (ok maybe there are a few flat kms if it ends in Durban and there is maybe 1 or 2 en route but yeah...). Deal with the effects of necking cola/energade/gels for hours with some bananas, potatoes and biscuits on top. There may be barfing. Spray energade instead of water on your head by mistake.
Deal with the fact it's now ??30 deg C with no shade and there may be blisters/chafing which came on after 5h (say) and the end is still 3+ hours away.
.....hmmm TBH though if my PF and dicky knee were magicked away and I lost twenty pounds I could be talked into doing it again nonetheless!!
I just got an email about the Emirates sale, Johnny, so you were right to hang fire. I'm already booked.
Regarding Comrades hills, they are long but not especially steep. As Debra has said we don't have much in the way of hills like them but many of the smaller climbs (which are long hills by our standards) have similarity to the hills in the Denbies estate when I've run there and if I was in the south I would be tempted by this https://www.phoenixrunning.co.uk/events/denbies-20 race round there on the 28th March. In the midlands I like Beacon Hill in Leicestershire, not least because it's local to me, as it has long, runnable climbs and good surfaces. I'm likely to run Charnwood Marathon again, also on March 28.
Sorry you won't be on the Comrades flight from Dubai this year Debra!
Good to see you getting some miles in on Strava, Lowrez.
No running today, but I spent all afternoon shovelling hardcore for a driveway, so that must count as some kind of strength workout....
Hoping for a speedy recovery.
When you have a wish list of snacks let me know.
Have just signed up for the SVN Kent 50 on 18th April. Almost certainly going to go for CTS Sussex on 14th March and Thee Forts on 3rd May - those should both be good hill training and Kent 50 hopefully good rehersal for Viking 100. Back to Betteshanger this Sunday for Cakeathon and to Ranscombe on 2nd Feb - was going to go on 1st as well but I've had it pointed out to me that will be event #100 at Lloyd parkrun so I think I'll want to be there!
BikeIT - take care; if you have repeated a recent injury you need to be very measured in re-stressing the maligned parts, recover well!
Debra - that is a lot of miles - I'm worried that you are loading too much in!
I am taking a general multi-vitamin; Sainos own brand, the list of stuff in these horse sized pills is endless, I am getting old, so thought I should make sure I get my RDA for all these things, in most cases the content of these pills is several times the recommended minimum dose, but, where vitamins are concerned; I don't think you can overdose, and at least I won't contract Rickets or Scurvy
And I don't think you'll be flying over Iraq or Iran, you route to Spain after Dubai?