I really thought my training last year for Comrades 2014 was probably as good as it gets. only negative was the "limited" long walks, as we did 1 x 50 and 1 x 52k and NO marathons. I managed to get to 1408km before Comrades which was more than previous years. So this year we had a different keep the distance but up the longer walks. As Comrades decided not to accept last years time as qualifier for this year I also needed to qualify with a Sub 5 hour marathon. Having actually done 4 Ultras in a row we now needed to do some marathons...
Sasol is a nice quite marathon, it is a double lapper but not a bad race. I managed to qualify with a time of 4:55 a nice PB in early Feb so now we could do some fun races. We entered Fordyce 50 but it was cancelled so did Jackie Gibson .. we also did Kosmos 3 in 1, not sure whether to classify it a marathon or an Ultra!!
We also did our usual 100k over easter where for a change we did 42k on the Friday and ended the weekend with a 21k race to take me to 105ks for the weekend, my best total for Easter my SIL from Oz actually did her first 10k race and enjoyed it, nice going Hel.
In my last 5 races I have broken PBs 4 times, 21 twice in 6 days and 32 and 25k. So I guess my training is working for me.
So now I sit here on 1380ks 1 week to go and having missed a few days with a head cold. I think I am coming right and will just overtake last years total. What is a realistic target to aim for.
In 2011 the fastest I got my accumulated pace was 7:53 which I kept at till 34ks but Bothas hill is tough and I had miscalculated the effect, by halfway it had increased to 7:56 with Inchanga to come. By 54ks and essentially the main long hill done I had slowed to 8:02 At the top of pollys this had increased to 8:06 but I got it down 8:04 at the finish.
In 2013 the fastest I got to was 7:50 at 20ks. At 32ks when I met Carmenn my actual time was 7 seconds different from the previous Up race- Carmenn gave me a Tonic Water and some dates which helped me focus in the tough hill before Bothas- it worked at 44ks I was still at 7:51 and at 54ks I was still at 7:56. and that's where the wind really started.The next 18s are pretty undulating and when I got to Liz who had baled at 72ks I was at 8:03. With the weather conditions, being so hot and dry and with Liz a baler I decided to slow a bit and ensure I finished as it was really hard out there. I guess by then I also knew that my sub 11:30 was a goner. I ended at a pace of 8:08.
On the down last year I averaged 7:49 which would be 11:36. I need to get my average pace to below 7:45 to go sub 11:30 or sub 7:38 to get 11:20. essentially for every second per km faster of slower your finish time will change by 90 seconds.
Guess the speculation will continue till next Sunday at Sunset..
Sasol is a nice quite marathon, it is a double lapper but not a bad race. I managed to qualify with a time of 4:55 a nice PB in early Feb so now we could do some fun races. We entered Fordyce 50 but it was cancelled so did Jackie Gibson .. we also did Kosmos 3 in 1, not sure whether to classify it a marathon or an Ultra!!
We also did our usual 100k over easter where for a change we did 42k on the Friday and ended the weekend with a 21k race to take me to 105ks for the weekend, my best total for Easter my SIL from Oz actually did her first 10k race and enjoyed it, nice going Hel.
In my last 5 races I have broken PBs 4 times, 21 twice in 6 days and 32 and 25k. So I guess my training is working for me.
So now I sit here on 1380ks 1 week to go and having missed a few days with a head cold. I think I am coming right and will just overtake last years total. What is a realistic target to aim for.
In 2011 the fastest I got my accumulated pace was 7:53 which I kept at till 34ks but Bothas hill is tough and I had miscalculated the effect, by halfway it had increased to 7:56 with Inchanga to come. By 54ks and essentially the main long hill done I had slowed to 8:02 At the top of pollys this had increased to 8:06 but I got it down 8:04 at the finish.
In 2013 the fastest I got to was 7:50 at 20ks. At 32ks when I met Carmenn my actual time was 7 seconds different from the previous Up race- Carmenn gave me a Tonic Water and some dates which helped me focus in the tough hill before Bothas- it worked at 44ks I was still at 7:51 and at 54ks I was still at 7:56. and that's where the wind really started.The next 18s are pretty undulating and when I got to Liz who had baled at 72ks I was at 8:03. With the weather conditions, being so hot and dry and with Liz a baler I decided to slow a bit and ensure I finished as it was really hard out there. I guess by then I also knew that my sub 11:30 was a goner. I ended at a pace of 8:08.
On the down last year I averaged 7:49 which would be 11:36. I need to get my average pace to below 7:45 to go sub 11:30 or sub 7:38 to get 11:20. essentially for every second per km faster of slower your finish time will change by 90 seconds.
Guess the speculation will continue till next Sunday at Sunset..
