Comrades 2023

 

Preparation for this has been different, initially I expected to qualify at my first marathon, Johnson Crane but that was not to be. I can only really run Downhill and even though I had done a number of 20km training runs, they were probably a bit slow.  32 to 40 was  a lot of uphill and I realised qualification was not happening.. I ended on pretty much 5 hrs.. Next up was Edenvale marathon which we did  last and my brain remembered it being pretty much down hill from 14 to 21 and therefore 33 to 40. Not sure but I then did worse.

So off to NMC fast one where it was a lot of down hill some uphill and a wicked last 2km. Both Liz and I decided there would be no Comrades if we did not qualify here, we both had reasonable races and I plan to go back and try to walk a PB there next year.

Our normal 1XXkm over Easter was changed as we did the Runzone 48 which was good to do a longer walking race at pretty much 7:30 per km Both felt good and  we recovered well.. This was followed by the Midrand 60km ( which profile pretty much matches the first 60km of Comrades)  meaning we had done a 42 or long every month.. Something I learned   on C22 was that Long runs are import ( even if I walk them) 

So we arrived at Nikki in Hilton the Thursday evening before Comrades in a positive frame, positive is good complacent is not ..We slept earlyish and did not set alarms. When we woke we did the same 7km  we did last year. I sort of wanted to do a faster walk than last year but thought I was close to 7/km last only to discover when I got back that I had in fact done 7:30/km last year , so my 7:10/km was way faster not bad on that route with about 200m elevation gain! My last km in 6:14 including some uphill. Yes I felt ready..

Later we went to register, first time as a green number, felt pretty good , walked round the museum also for the first time -not really a museum person . Afterwards we did some calorie buying and got some blankets.. Back to Nikki for another great meal and socialising, but early night and no alarm. Two nights of 9 plus hours sleep were pretty much essential..Liz and Niki are friends from varsity and  needed a long catch up but we did  need to make room for  another couple who were staying over as we set off for Durbs..  We learned a few years ago that if you are a couple who both race without support you need to stay the night before and after in the same place. You can use a bus for transport and I really do not fancy catching a bus after the race, so we always stay near the end. This time was Garden Court South Beach- thanks  to Discovery Miles. We are not fans of restaurant food, remembering our seconds  food poisoning from a few years ago makes me nervous as well, so we stopped at Hillcrest Woolies and bought an assortment of snacks., Broccoli and Humus, spicy chicken, chesses etc.  We still went to the end as one needs to do, so much better to have a real idea of everything than to believe a drawing...  

Arriving at the hotel at about 5pm was ideal as there was less idle time and we could have our miniature whisky and dinner , sort out our clothes  .. great having a spare bed. One cannot really sleep the night before as setting the alarm at 00:45 means not much sleep. Previously with Kypie we caught the bus and it was due for a full overhaul so needed first gear on all hills plus they got lost in Durban with road closures so we had to run a bout 2km to the start as the bus got stuck in traffic.. Last year  we joined the anti clockwise queue at ICC from the wrong direction... This year we were prepared.  

 

It was an early start , we wanted to leave the room before 1:30 and we did. Popped in at breakfast  and got a muffin and couple of Croissants and set off for the ICC. We probably should  have gone along the  beach front to Marine Parade but we instead did the night club route, got a few comments and  were asked for one of our blankets.. We out ran him and caught up with some other runners, which deterred him.. walked to the front of the queue and on the bus.. Was a slowish bus but we were at the start by 3:30. We stayed out of the wind just outside of business class( E batch - @THERUNNINGMANN) and waited till it started filling up then went in waited with our blankets as the numbers  went up. E batch is full of legends, well slower ones anyway the fasters ones would get better seedings. My whole reason for 1 more Comrades was to start in E batch , with people sporting 47 , 48, 42 , 34 , 32,24 etc wow this was awesome. Spoke to Mr 100 miler - Tobie Reyneke, we were  joined by a group from Midrand striders.   The one real downer, less singing at the start, the sound system was supplied by Eskom so we missed large chunks but the feeling at the start of Comrades is not reproducible. It makes the 1530km of training worthwhile. One really needs to experience   the camaraderie, the emotions, the fear , the expectation.. 

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The image below tells us an enormous amount about Comrades. At about 20km you get the highest point (817m) of the race, whereas at 58km you get back down to the 650m elevation you started at. The bottom  of Polly's and Little Polly's is about 15m below the start. Drummond is just above the start.  

The start is quite fast till the climb up to Polly's be it on the old route or the new one it is not that bad. Then climbing up to the highest point is just frustrating as one encounters peaks and then sees a higher peak, not even sure where the point is as Road works have removed the sign..

 

I really felt way better at the start than I thing I have ever felt.. I had a number of plans as per my usual prepration.

Plan A - Get a medal

Plan B - Get a Down Race PB my old PB was 11:40:09

          Plan C - Get a Sub 11:30

Plan D - Get a Comrades Race PB ie beat 11:27:35

          Plan E - Get a Sub 11 hour

I was pretty confident of a Plan B and about 3km in chatting to Belinda Skinner I said hoping for Sub 11 but need a perfect race, she said if you don't believe then you have no chance!... That early in the race one needs to be conservative and so I was. I walked  good pace using Norrie's even effort as a guide and just kept one foot in front of the other.

I noticed the camber ( truck rutting as well) going down Polly Shortts more than ever before, but felt pretty good. I really felt that the km boards came quicker than any year previously. I felt in a zone, the roadworks did not affect me at all. I now feel that the route is what it is , my not enjoying a hill or circumstance  or detour does not affect the fact that it must be done so just do it.

Round about 30km I noticed my knee was getting sore, this is the reason I wear knee straps, the strap tends to massage the insertion point  of the Sartorius as it joins on to the Tibia.  I have a belief that it is my tired pronation that causes this pain, this being the reason I use Stability shoes n longer distances. I have used Ascis Kayano and Brooks Adrenaline in the past and with these shoes and a precautionary strap or two I have been fine.  

       

This year I tried Saucony Guides, and having done a 48km and a 60km in them I felt confident in the shoe, so I can only believe that the road camber must have also had an effect this year. It is a difficult pain to describe , it is not really a sharp intense pain but you know its there.. I had various theories about uphill and the downhill causing but it pretty much never went away. It must be the slowest I have ever walked down Inchanga, thinking at least when I go up it should be easier but it was not.. 

I thought of stopping (maybe for a few seconds) but I had Nigel Asprey to give me a cold Heineken 0  in Hillcrest , having already had one at Cato Ridge. The hardest section on the down  is from Drummond to Kearsney College, I normally aim for 1 hr and was exactly on schedule. The climb from Assegaai rd to the highpoint in Hillcrest is a bit of a wakeup call, and by the time I got to Nigel I guess my knees felt ok. He told me Liz tried to buy a plot but the tar won so I was a bit worried about he bleeding as she is on warfarin.. I love the "He's drinking a beer remark". as I walked  down the route,probably the same people as last year!.

Just before Winston park I met Eric my cousin who also told me about Liz, it seemed like she would be ok. From Drummond to Winston Park was my slowest section of the race. Even though the descent from here is big , as a walker the momentum gained from downhill is minimal as ones foot tends to extend out then drop backwards as the ground leg stays behind. Runners get the benefit of being airborne.. This section was a long grind but it was getting closer to Durban. 

Something I missed this year was Bavaria Brau 0 IPA and Beer , the Apple this year was more like an apple juice and was way too sweet.  I liked the IP a sit was different flavour and a pallet cleanser. I did take some Manhattan Sour drops as they are also a different flavour. Along the way I ate some Cashew nuts, BlackCat Peanut butter bar, droe wors , along with some USN Salt tablets. I never really felt like cramping was going to be an issue.

Faisel a friend was meant to be at the top of Fields Hill, he appeared way to early in my reckoning but I guess just before the top  is quote vague. He was very eager to please and the benefit of seeing a friendly face is most welcome!. At the top of Fields I overtook an 11:30 bus, met up with Julian Karp and we chatted down the hill, then I overtook another 11:30 bus and just at the bottom I overtook a third one. I knew they would over take me again, but I need to do my own race. Going through Pinetown and up Cowies was really enjoyable, albeit with a bit of knee pain, but it was not debilitating. The section  of the high way to Sherwood is not my favorite but you can almost smell the sea. As the busses retook their place in front of me I just kept going and really enjoyed the finish back at Kingsmead. 

Something I cannot get my head around is how Comrades can actually measure the route and and say 87.701 km half of which is 43.8505 km. Drummond is measured as  44.37 officially. Therefore halfway is 519.5 before   Drummond but CMSA put it about 100m past Drummond. The controversy of the Sherwood  cutoff where it changed from 50 min to 60 mins but the distance changed from about 9km to about 6km.. Sorry CMSA someone must be help accountable for this, to be cutoff at 11:02 and have the Comrades App predict a 11:58 finish.

On crossing the finish line it was so congested, I got to the Green Number Tent , all food was done but I collected my corrected Green Card ( sorry Green Number card). I set off to find Team Vitality but after going round and round I eventually found my way through the masses.. Took a look around, bit could not see  Liz so headed to the tog bags and or Medical, poor TV lady said I must get food.. When I got back to  medical from the tog bags Liz appeared. I was so grateful that she was ok. We went back to TV, watched some TV of the finish and decided to go back to the hotel.

Amazing how we felt, both chuffed with our results, and easily able to get back to the hotel and start our recovery. We finished off our snacks  and started the marathon of updating friends and family on social media.. The camaraderie  around this race is super special.

Liz had her obligatory dip and we met up with a fellow midrand runner who runs on our route every morning.. We walked along the beach to Ushaka, shared a hake and chips at John Dory's , bought some Spices and then set off to Eric and Ingrid for a catchup. Had an awesome evening catching up.

Today I still "needed" 300 points for my Vitality exercise goal, and did a good 10km, I can still feel my Sartorious, on both legs so it's not an injury just overuse, probably the result of my running too much earlier in the year just to qualify  so that Rowyn James could call me a jogger, and imply that runners in the last hour are no longer relevant.. Eish I really feel its time for big changes on the organising committee of Comrades... To have your 2 safety officers  resign just before the event says it all. Follow the TheRunnigMann    on Facebook for more on this  Comrades Cut off

                                    Keep going one foot in front of the other 

 

  

   

 

 

 

    

Stiff muscles

After my recent not so great marathon at Johnson crane  I knew I needed to back track a bit..

 I have always had tight muscles, suffered from cramping during basics in the army, medics jsut gave me Besserol. But it did not really help running made me cramp, along with excess exercise- like a 2.5 hr gym session thanks to idiotic PT instructors.

I have back issues and often needed realignment, and my Osteopath did blood tests and discovered my Potassium levels were low. He advised that Potassium Chloride ( SlowK) would probably not be absorbed by my body and that I needed to find  alternative sources. 

A year or so ago I found some Chela Potassium and it seemed to help but as usual we use it till its done and forget about it....  Well I bought some more last Friday and voila below are my last 5 x 10km walks on the same route. 

I have struggled for a long time to get my stride over a meter. Yes my cadence is down a bit but  overall my pace is better  and my stride is longer. Yesterday I was working harder on cadence hence the slightly shorter stride near the end.. 

 Below are all my February walks. The 1-2km are just dog walks but I do try and  concentrate on flicking my feet to improve technique.

Hopefully I can maintain this momentum

  

22829

 Well that was fun....

We normally spend a night or two with Nikki before Comrades and we saw no reason  to change a winning formula. We also know that one must stay at the same place the night before and the night after especially if you have no seconds staying with you..

The drive down was reasonably uneventful , had our coffee milkshake a the Coffee Patch while topping up with biltong and dry wors at the Outspan. The road past Little Switzerland is struggling a bit with subsidence, so we took it easy.   In to registration and great to be the first the queue.. Everything very efficient, although the bus tickets system was left open to abuse as no controls were in place for pre-paid tickets. Collected our wildlands goodie bag and off to drink wine with Nikki. Great meal and catchup was followed the next day by an out and back contour around Hilton which felt a bit like Inchanga. 

    

Nikki then offered to take us on the midlands meander, where we discovered this, which got me thinking a bit

followed by a visit to Swissland cheese where Fran gave us a sumptuous tasting which we wolfed down with a bit of wine. Lying casually on the grass watching the goats go by. I can recommend a chill here.  Then back to Hilton for more energy loading..

It was great to sleep both nights without alarms and just to relax.. But now we needed to get into gear and do the route. I have pretty much always driven the route the day before,  It really helps me focus, Liz also appreciated it this time.. We liased with Nigel who provided Heineken 0 at Cato Ridge and Hillcrest, so that all of us  were in tune, we also popped in for a coffee milkshake at the Brown Cat Cafe. 

Then completed our   route check at Moses Mobida where we  sorted out meeting points and logistics for the next day. We had planned to eat early but neither felt hungary and we also were going to buy broccoli and humus for  later but some how we did not. We ended up checked in and ready to roll, from the 24th floor..

We walked along the promenade from the Marine Parade to the Casino to get a feel for our post race walk, and ended up snacking on nuts biltong and halva, while preparing our race clothes. Having seen others posting photos of copious quantities of gels etc I posted this, yes i did drink the Devils peak Hero.       

We had a whisky to calm the palate, and kept up with social media as the vibe started building. One negative of staying at the finish is getting to the start , for which we have used the pre race bus service for the last few years. With the PMB road works the busses started at 2:30 am..Eish we had a 10 minute walk to the bus pickup.. or so we thought.  No real takeaway breakfast , just a grab and go so we did and then left the spoils in the bakkie.

There were a number of us walking to the bus, and as usual a bit of banter was forthcoming. We were not totally sure where the buses left from and suddenly we saw them, Lots of people embarking , spotted a few friends but were told to go to the back of the queue.. As we went around the corner we realised we had come up the wrong road and the queue went way back... Liz managed to get us in and we chatted with a few novices. One youngsters first marathon was 3:33, he had no idea how he would do over 90km...Into the bus and as Liz said boy but this takes forever to get to PMB..

At least this time we dropped off just behind H batch so we could go up one of the cordoned off side roads, and get up to the tog bags at C batch. We did the charity batch thing again as it benefits wildlands allows us to feel more part of the start. We took blankets with this time so rolled one up to sit on the pavement put the other over our shoulders. As usual it was very festive with most amazing vibe, until the cock crowed. 

I had my plan to get going as close to 7:30 as I could and to just keep going, knowing that sub 7:59 would give me my green number,   

It was good to start with a bit more light as there was really only 1 dark area just before Comrades house I think. As usual I had many greeting me  along the way,  Tony Green who walked my fist ever 42 with me but he now runs , Adrienette said Hi, John Thole   ( from Edunova/ Skyrun) jogged with me for a bit... Bill Slater (Oz) who I have never met introduced himself by saying " I used to climb with Liz", we are still unsure how he recognised me!! Gradually I settled into my rhythm and tried to focus on even effort , I checked my  HR and it kpet pretty consistently at 144 which confirmed my even effort was working.

Amazing the down run goes wickedly down Polly Shortts then you climb Little Pollys and seem to keep on climbing till the highest point at about 20km.  I sort of split the distance up in my mind, my thinking was to complete 15km within every 2 hours. if I could do 1:50 for every 15km then I knew that was 11 Hrs. I never expected to achieve this but 1:50 was my goal to get some time in the bag.  I know all serious coaches talk about negative splits and  yes for top athletes that may work but for us back of the packers I think it is a no no.  If i can get 30 mins ahead of 2 hrs by halfway that leaves me 6 hrs to complete the race..  Coming in to Camperdown an 11 hour bus caught me and as is their norm they wait until they have completely surrounded ne before stopping for a walk break. I extricated  myself and made sure that I sped away from them, the next time they caught me they stopped as they got to me , which I appreciated., I got quite a few positive  comments from most of the bus drivers , official and social.    

Going along the route I saw the cellphone tower at Cato Ridge (30km) and knew that I would get a Heineken 0 there, plus feedback on Liz, with the roadworks this was really the first place we got a lot of spectators. I had a slightly irritating sock which I also fixed while Nigel took the cap off. It was really interesting  walking along drinking a beer.. At about 31km was the first cut off and I was almost 40 minutes to the good which was my plan. At 47km a lady passed me and said only 53km to your green number, that is the distance I did when I cut short the Midrand 60 because  of my sore toes.. I made sure to forget that as quickly as I could.

I really missed having Kypie next to me as he was for the last 4 Comrades, just to have someone to bounce ideas and thoughts off, but I guess it just made me focus more on my race  From early on my left upper ITB had felt tight/ tender, it never really changed throughout the day , it was just there as a niggle. From 30 to 44 is almost numbing as there are long uphills plus the up and down of Inchanga before getting to Drummond - the mythical halfway, where I saw Caitlin but not Ronel who were seconding David van Dyk.. But as numbing as this section is the next section all the way up to the top of Botha's hill is insane torture. It is almost 8km of climbing, I know its tough so I just dropped my arms , knowing that I am undertrained on long long days out, and tried to relax. Trying to keep my even effort without over doing it. I saw Trevor and Lorraine half way up and it si absolutely amazing the boost it gives when familiar people encourage you. It is great having strangers shouting your name but friends area bigger boost. |I always miss the final little hill at the top where some lady was telling us to pump our arms and  race to the top, I muttered something.....

From the top of Botha's one feels it is down hill but there are still uphills, and a Heineken0 to look forward to. Bavaria were the Comrades beer sponsors and  provided us with Beer and IPA  in 150ml cans, the first time I saw a can was on the top of Botha's but I was on the other side of the road and I do not go backwards on Comrades... Suddenly all water tables had cans and I started tucking in, swopping between water energade and beer. I heard someone say something to me but could not quite catch it and this Hillcrest Villagers runner told me "They said you are frigging awesome!" That got me pumped as I strolled along.

Nigel was at his spot at Hillcrest, got my beer and the update that I was more consistent than Liz, who was slowing a bit. Walking along I had many comments about me drinking beer. I found it very encouraging especially as now we were into a heavy spectator area. Then I saw Tienie on the side of the road, we are great friends and it was great to walk down to the RWFL  gazebo where Petro was waiting. 

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 Then the boring highway section before going through Gillits where it was great to see Cousin Eric and Ingrid lounging on the side of the road... Now that was a booster as Eric asked if I was walking the whole way....  . Next was the FNB mile where the stand up comedian said "Here us the first of our walkers...  they have to walk at 12min/km!!", guess he needs an education. for me to walk and complete an event I need to walk at the same speed as someone who is running.. Runners often ask me how fast I am walking and realistically the answer is "the same as you are running....," 

I took it really easy down Fields Hill  where for the first time ever I had stomach issues, maybe  the combination of dates, dried ginger , energy bars and dry wors was not perfect. I guess nothing is but I decided not to stop and gradually the cramps subsided. I found that if I pushed  too hard on the ups thst my calves tightened so I walked just below a compromising speed.  Through Pinetown and its cut off , still 40 mins ahead which was my goal, slowly up  Cowies hill, at the top was a medical emergency which did not look good but medics were there..

Say Jacques who said Tobie had not come past which was a worry... or was he taking it easy.. Antionette had stormed past me, boy is she fit!! Passing Bennie Roux at 18km to go I realised that I was getting close now... just get down the freeway to teh last cutoff at Sherwood, I passed Brad Brown along the way , as I was frequently grabbing IPA's wherever I could. Up past the last cutoff , my customary greeting with Stephen Conway, and up the murderous off ramp for the final  freeway section with the first 12 hour bus breathing down my neck.

That last section is soul destroying, with memories of 2018 when Kypie & I had Anzel in tow.. Past Kingsmead to Moses Mobida. I had tears in my eyes entering the stadium, then crossing the line and funneling through to the Green Number room where.. 

 

this appeared .. I had my photo taken with Blanche Moila. I quickly checked  Liz was not there, grabbed a sandwich and a drink and headed off top Team Vitality. I got a massive hug form Antionette who said Tobie had just come in so that was a massive relief.  I could not find Liz at TV and so set off to the tog bag area, where she arrived with a media round her neck and looking great.    We went back to TV for a meal , leaving there at  18:30 to walk back to our hotel, I saw Stephen climbing over the bridge having completed his 21st... still too scared to walk it. 

I managed to add a bit of distance to our journey but we got back to the hotel.. 

Job done.

We have both need a bit sore, Liz has  bit of a cold./flu  but by today Saturday the 3 Sept we are pretty much recovered..

Thanks for coming along on the journey ..

Keep walking Johnny

Comrades 2022 22829 loading

 Eish this is the last week to conceptualise my 10th.

Some thoughts.

I honestly believe that the only reason we train for an event is to enable us to get to the start line positive about the outcome. If we are supremely confident in our own ability, like Tobie Reyneke,  then we don't need to train, we go out and do 100 milers for fun. Even injured he was able to arrive at the start line of Washie this year and run his fastest  100 miler for a longtime. I am not suggesting we run or walk injured but this realisation of arriving a the start with a positive attitude rather than expecting to fail works for me. At the start of a race hearing people expecting failure  just drives me insane. Why bother starting?? 

So for me to follow a rigid coach supplied training plan will never work. If I do not feel good today and coach says speed work, the only beneficiary will be the Physio... I train by how I feel, knowing that I need to be  confident in my ability I do take heed to LSD speedwork etc but not necessarily  on a rigid basis. With this whole change of Comrades dates it has been really hard to plan, (plus our holidays and trips and .... ) no Easter 100+  fewer marathons, no ultras, damn toe nails. All these curve balls could have affected my preparations but then I am only looking for excuses .. I have trained the best I could have and that has resulted in my being ready , one can NEVER make up for a missed training session/event/etc. It is what is and I am ready.

These are my 5km splits for some of my downs

My plan for this year is pretty simple. As can be seen above pace is pretty consistent through the day , unlike an athlete aiming for 9 or 10 hrs who has hours in the bag, every comrades I have done has been between 11:27 and 11:55. I pretty much need to make sure that every 5km in the first half is done in sub 38 mins or 7:25/km  . I know then first hour after Drummond will hard all the way to the top of Bothas, but after that as long as I have time in the bank I can take the hills easy. I know how hard it is to take off a second on ave pace in the second half , but how easily a 9:00/km hill adds on a second.

I like this idea of looking at groups of 5km as it will make decision making easier, I need to keep an eye on average pace as I would really like to finish in 11:3X as my fastest down was 11:40:06, but anything better than 11:59  will be accepted with gratitude.

I t looks like the weather could be interesting, temps have gone from 34 deg down to 20 deg I guess somewhere  in between is probable, but nothing I can do about the weather so don't worry about what we cannot change, let me rather focus on being positive and have the privilege to wear this shirt with pride.

     

  

Comrades 2022 loading....

 So here goes with my Comrades 2022 preparation update...

I always do the Midrand Striders 60km which is normally  6 weeks before Comrades..

As I also racewalk and invariably AGN decide to have a Grand Prix the day before the 60km, I have no idea why or who is trying to block me.....  This year with a new CGA Racewalking commission   so they decided to make the AGN event a qualifier for the CGA team for Provincials.. No ways I can miss a qualifier so I entered..

I use Maxed shoes for 10km RW and they are really a size short.. hence only using them for 10km.. I normally am quite good at cutting my toe nails... but I forgot about the smaller shoes.  I wanted to do a sub 67mnin 10km and kept very consistent and finished in 66:25 so was very happy, finished first in Age group so overall very happy. Chatted a bit with friends then started walking to the car..   I could not believe how sore my toes felt.. Got back to the car and the smallest 3 toes on each foot were quite bloody.. sorry no pics.

I did trim my nails when I got home!!!  But wearing my Brooks Adrenaline ( Comrades shoes) meant I had more space for my toes. Overall this was not great preparation for the 60km, which started at 6 am , in the dark. My goal was to get as close to 7:30/km and try as much as I could  to keep it there, after about 12 km I was pretty much on target but that's about when my feet started complaining. I felt like I had stones in shoes, under the soles, normally I  sort of kick the ground and move the stones to the front  of the shoes. This did not work as my toes were so sore and then every time I went uphill the stones used gravity  to irritate me once more.. The 60km is an out and back so I tried to take my mind off my feet by trying to guess when I would see who coming back. I normally carry minimum Norflex so that I do not take unless I really need to. I had decided I would take my lone Norflex at Halfway..  Seeing Liz at about 28km , when she asked if I had Norflex  I knew I would not be getting one, she looked finished  so I gave her mine..( I was worried about her, she to was worried as she told me later I was limping a bit.. probably from the toes)  Turning at 30km with the new route I had in my mind thought we would not be going down the sand road towards Diepsloot..I was wrong we went pretty much as far down as the sand did. Had a snack and back up... eish..I felt finished, ,pace had dropped to 7:45/km and interestingly my Average HR which was pretty much 138 most of the first half had dropped to about 128  when I checked it at about 33km. I normally only look  at HR after the event.. 

I decided to just see if I could finish but the suggested cut off is 8:00/km and as i got above that and my HR got below 118 I realised I was not going to do the full 60 and decided to take a short cut which would take about 7km off the route. I was really struggling along at over 11:00 /km at times but mostly managed to stay with those who were essentially about an hour ahead of me. Looking at the profile below its easy to see  why the pace was so slow near the end. The hills are monstrous..

When I go to the end I was expecting Liz to be there but no.. so I went to the car and low and behold my Cellphone which I left on Airplane mode was flat. So I decided to go look for Liz, A quick stop for diesel while keeping an eye on the road and I found her literally 300m down the road. I then went and got some Alcohol free beers - not a pretty sight walking to the bottle store and joined up with Liz...

Caught up with some ex club mates at Midrand striders. Boy were my feet sore.

No walking till Thursday and feet at fine.. 

Currently my goal for 5 weeks time is 7:41 /km which will give me a Down walk PB... 11:40:10 is my current pb... Interestingly by making the distance distance 91 not 90 drop the required pace by 5 secs /km. Distance is 90.8km this year

 

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Pacing

Running Mann

Pacing is key to success in a race

I have been trying to work out a simple explanation of my personal pacing philosophy (3p) and on a walk the other day it all came together ...
  

Key

Lap           1km

Pace         Pace  for that  km

GAP          Strava evaluates pace based on elevation gain and loss and gives an approximation of effort  

Elev           Elevation gain/loss of the km  

HR             Heart rate

7:20           Planned pace - this is a comfortable training pace for me 

Elapsed     Total walk time

Goal           Goal time at 7:20

Gain Total  Ahead or behind Goal in total

Gain km     Ahead  or behind for current km

Ave Pace   Am I on schedule

So to do a sub 11 on the Up Comrades one needs to finish at just below 7:35 pace. A simple 41 s /km slower will be a sub 12.. Ah the simple basis of pacing. I do round these off a bit, but it is your average pace that is critical. Garmin has a Race Screen if you have ConnectIQ, this will allow you to correct the distance when doing an accurate race eg Cape Town Marathon where I corrected my watch distance about 4 times, actually seeing how the 1m is added in for every km as per measuring guidelines- this prevents a race being short  (page 15...    MeasurementOfRoadRaceCourses.pdf ) plus the extra few m for not taking the shortest line. This race screen kept me on target for a 4:34:30 finish time for a G seeding , some running was involved and mat to mat.  I used the Race Screen on Comrades and I believe it helped me as by changing that data screen I could see exact finish time at that ave pace.. No fade is built in but that is easy to workout. I tend to round off my race distance to allow a bit of fade even in the final stretch. 

Looking at my above walk, the first km was 27 too slow, no really an issue (yet) then I lost another 35 secs but this is my hardest hill on my route.. now I am 62 seconds behind target, with 13km to go I need to now average 7:15 ie 13 x 5 secs is 65 seconds to get below my 7:20, where a runner has the advantage is in being able to run downhills below 6min/km and gain that 62sec plus in 1km . I need to chip away at the deficit slowly. Remember every km I do faster than 7:20/km will eat into  the 62sec  and every km slower will add to it .   3km add another 13 secs, but then i gradually wore away at the deficit till in the 10km I erased it. I then managed to build up a cushion and get ahead of the clock.

I hope this is not too confusing, if it is send your queries...

   

Comrades 2019

This has been a weird year for training and for all the extraneous events that have had an impact. We've had work pressures, family issues , injuries, flu, lack of motivation .. its been tough.
I have tried to downplay expectations even knowing that this was probably my best hope of a sub 11 but at the same time realising that it may be a bridge or two too far.

We stayed with our friend Nikki in Hilton and decided to catch the bus from PMB to Durban , leaving our car at the finish gave us the most flexibility on the day. As usual we went to  the finish and explored the area,  found the tog bags , and the Team Vitality tent, wow it was different when there were 10-20000 people filling in all the gaps....

Although Kypie and I had planned to do the race together we had not really made a proper meeting up plan.. The trip down in the bus was reasonably uneventful until the driver stopped to let some people relieve their bladders. We were a bit concerned the bus may have broken down but no we soon  set off on the wet road to Durban.. The rain had stopped and form my app it showed no more rain, other apps seemed to predict rain at 7am, with the start being in the dark at 5:30. To ensure we had warm clothes at the finish we left a bag with Biddulphs in PMB and took one to Durban. With our bags handed over we entered C pen( By raising R6000 we get into the Charity batch- we took 50 seconds to cross the start , the last runners crossed about 12 minutes ) at 4:40 where we hoped to meet up with Kypie. We never thought we would get there before him and besides we could see everyone walking past us to get in the batch so thought we would see him if he was late. We got quite far forward in the batch just by following others forward as they moved to meet up with friends. Next time we will plan this better!!

The usual quiet Durban build up with National anthem then Shosholozawas followed by the cock crow and the Cannon which wakes up all the poor pigeons in Durban....   I seriously believed that Kypie was ahead and hoped he would not start out too fast... Our goal was to get to 7:20 / km and stay as close to that as we could knowing the hills would impact us and move that to 7:30.. That was plan A.    If you watch the video here at just on 50 minutes race time you can see the Orange cap on the other side of the road, that's me Comrades 2019 video  Not sure if we feature again I have not watched the whole recording yet

At about 12km I looked at my watch and average was 7:20/km a few seconds later I heard " I am so thankful to have caught you" we were re-united.. In 4 Comrades now we have only been apart for 17 in the first one and 12 now. It was great to be reunited but round about here I started feeling  my left hip flexor /piriformis complaining. Not much I could do so I just ignored it, my stride must have changed / compensated for it as later I felt my right hamstring tightening. Both of these were worse on uphills and camber.. So as we started Cowies hill it was there. It did not slow me down but was an irritation.
Met up with Nigel Asprey at 32km and got  a Tonic water which is a really great change of flavour. I was a bit disappointed as this year they only had naartjie energade and my favourite is the blueberry, but hey beggars can't be choosers..My goal had been to get top the mat at Drummond in 2:22  and we managed a 2:25 which meant sub 11 was very tight as the mat is not quite halfway.

Going up Nchanga my hips were mildly sore, and my calves also were complaining a bit but that's life.. Looking at the splits afterwards we were faster on all the big hills than 2 years expect for Pollys... It was not a bad climb just goes on and on and on. and this starts at the conclusion of the hardest road marathon in South Africa

 
           
I truly believe in even effort so whether going up down or flat you should expend the same energy which means that you never push to hard. As your energy levels and enthusiasm wane so your speed will drop. And yes it drops, suddenly at the top of Nchanga you are into a breeze and it slows you and saps your energy . Up Nchanga and pretty much all the way down again.

By this stage  one is going through the motions, keeping going forward trying to stay positive.This is a heavily undulating section with no major hills but you look across to about 6km ahead and realise you need to go down quite a but before ascending to the same height.  Just after the highest point I looked across and who would not recognise those legs... Liz was on the side of the road puking... We thought biltong had solved the problem but not yet.  I tried to encourage her to stay with us and jog ahead on the downs which she did till we started little Pollys but she was pretty tired. With a heavy heart we went on but we did slow a bit as by now I was leaning quite badly to the left, I think when I finished in 2015 I also had a slight lean but that was only at the end . I was trying to pull my back straight but with the camber on the road it was not easy.   There was an Ex SA cricketer Mornantau Hayward struggling up Pollys and Kypie took great delight in chatting to him  as they inched up the hill.. It goes much quicker if you take your mind off the task at hand..   
 
We just kept moving on not quite knowing how Liz was doing but knowing that if I stopped I probably would not get going again.   To turn around and look backwards while walking forwards is a no no 80m into a race, eventually a friend Brian May acme past and said he had helped Liz coming up Polly Shortts. That was a relief. It was great to finish my 9th Comrades with an awesome walking buddy. at last we got the exact same finish time..

After finishing I went to get my  togbag ( we both had stuff in each tog bag just in case) so Liz would have warm stuff  to put on as PMB cools off quickly and sunsets at about 5:10pm Once I had my bag I went back to the finish, it felt like there were a million people there. Fortunately met up with Adri who confirmed Liz had finished. So do I go left where there are millions of people or right to medical to see if Liz is there. She was not at Medical so I fought my way through the hordes to our club tent, and eventually found Liz who had puked again, there was another team member Bruce who had also puked and said the berry smoothie helped him so Liz had one and felt a bit better, by which time the medic arrived but Liz said she was ok. Her skin showed she was not dehydrated so we decided to avoid the biggest non military temporary medical facility in the world.  By this stage  Bruces wife arrived having spent 2 hours at some other tent waiting for him..
     
We then set of to find our car and get Liz into a bath at Nikkis place.  I had a meager meal as not really hungry, Liz just had another smoothie.  We drove back home on Monday and why did I only stop once when I got home my legs and back had seized up pretty much. I initially slept well last night then tossed and turned and tossed and turned.. This morning I am still very tight but it has been gradually easing. I really prefer not to take any pain killers or NSAIDs so as to allow the body to heal naturally. If you tell the body there is no pain it will not heal itself. I should be fine in
a day or two..
Dave

Liz you can see below how Liz slowed after Camperdown but she ended faster. A few more kms and we would have ended together..

 Kypie
Looking below you can see that Kypie was 1 minute behind across the start line..

I used race predictor on my Garmon 920xt it was awesome you put in the total distance and when you get to a km marker you can press the lap button and it will correct the pace and ETA..   In ths case I put in  87km as I did not want it to go a km short. It worked really well  just when Kypie met up with me we were on a 10:42 pace but as the hills kick in this drops but it was awesome near the end as predicted ETA went just over 11:30 and we by then knew we were safe.