Dave's Comrades #13 14 June 2026

This year I decided to join Liz in the San Parks Honorary Rangers Charity batch, they really do look after their athletes. Unbelievably welcoming and we knew 2 of the volunteers which made it even more special. So great to catch up with Cathy Nash at registration. We each received a custom written message as below.

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Shoes

As I showed in my previous post my new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 25's were a total disaster. Not sure why shoe makers are intent on making trampoline shoes. Having nearly wrecked my 60km I just left them aside , I did try them about a week before Comrades on a 10k but am  totally convinced they are much closer to a neutral shoe and have very minimal anti-pronation support. I know someone else who has abandoned Adrenaline as well . How the sole can wear out in 200km I have no idea.

I took the shoes I did last years Comrades with, added some ShooGoo to the heal and did a 20 odd km and they felt fine so they became my 2026 Comrades shoes. The picture on the right from the night before the race.    These shoes have done just under 1000km with no issues at all 

After Comrades they showed hardly any extra wear. They felt comfortable and performed well, I honestly believe I made the correct decision to use my old shoes, going forward I may use the 25's on 21km races. I will need to find new long distance shoes for my next long races, I will consider NB860, GT2000 and Kayano to start with. 

Leading up to Comrades I had a few issues

• Knees still felt a bit sore from the 55km that i did
• Hamstrings felt a bit tight but nothing like last year 
• My walking has been slower this year which made me concerned
• My shoes

As usual we stayed at Nikki in Hilton , she only got back from Moz on Friday so we had time to deliver our support package to Nigel in Howick and proceed to Comrades House to collect our race numbers, and our supporters pack from San Parks where we had a long chat with Cathy Nash who we both worked with 20 years ago.. This was followed by a great evening catching up with Ian and Sascha. Amazing how little kids become such awesome adults.

An early morning forest walk was followed by a trip to Karkloof Market for breakfast, then back to Nikki and a quick visit to finish are but that appeared off bounds which was a pity, having seen the weather forecast we decided to get donation blankets for the bus trip down then returned to Nikki to get ready. 

I really struggle with the concept of setting an alarm for 1:30 AM, but I guess we do what we have to do.. We took a bag with to the start, arriving at Longmarket school we were sent in to a car park and straight out to the busses, missed the one leaving at 2:30  but no issue bus was full at about 3am so off we went. It is quite relaxing for me not to have to worry about the start and we got into our pens at about 4:30. The pen was quite full , we had brought packing material to sit on so bums were kept warm. I found the buildup to the start a bit slow, less singing but still a good build up. The actual feelings that erupt at the start are indescrible so you need to join us next year to experience it.

I quite enjoy watching Group 1 disappearing away into the dark, slowly we moved forward, I must say that the smaller batches are much better as there is way less pushing and shoving. Once we got to the front it was pretty much ready set go and off we were. 

It was good to see Mavis Morris doing her 11th and Marinda Ludick back looking much happier this year doing her 32nd which is awesome, saw both in the first 300m of the race, a bit later I saw Margiet and walked with her for a bit as the climb to PMB started in all earnest. 

I still follow Norrie Williamson's even effort principle because I believe essentially meaning that you use the same effort no matter the gradient, I find this resonates with me. One can use heart rate as an easy reference guide to keep your effort consistent you need to bring in some creep as with time your HR will creep higher. Looking back over my HR from the day, my highest HR was mostly the last 10 odd km before Drummond.       

My goal was to try and average around 7:40 per km but pretty soon I realised that  was not going to happen. I seemed to settle at around 8:00 per km which was fine as the first goal is always a medal , after that is assured you can worry about speed and time. 

When Tobie Reyneke ran next to me going up Cowies he warned me not to lean so much forward. Seeing here during my brief time walking with Bronwyn it is obvious how I hunch my shoulders almost trying to pull myself forward, I think I did improve after this. Fields Hill was the last time I saw either Bronwyn who steamed ahead or Tobie who did his normal Tobie thing by helping Victor Boston who was struggling with nutrition.

I find it amazing how on the day of Comrades I just seem to get in a zone and keep moving, mostly I am just checking my pace and ensuring that I am still on schedule to finish. I really do find it strange that my total focus is just to keep moving and hardly ever really think of not making it, it is much more about ensuring that the finish is still safe.

I find the multiple group start seems to make it more congested for me. I found both the slower athletes from group 1 and the fastest from group 3 seemed to congest around me. Not too sure why but I really got the impression that the roads were more busy, but interestingly the busses seemed to be much less intrusive and had minimal effect on me.    

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Amazingly I never felt my hamstring , at one stage I thought of maybe transferring my knee guard from my left knee to my right, but never did it.  It was really good to get a Heineken 0 and an energy bar from Nigel as I entered Hillcrest. Just seeing a friendly face along the way  builds confidence and the feeling of support that it brings with it is such an encouragement.

Going through the bottom of Botha's Hill I was very pleased when the 11:30 bus went past and because of it's size it forced the spectators off the road and giving us more space to get through. I saw Trevor and Lorriane at Alvestone , I see them there pretty much every year.  Going down to Drummond is always a special time as it means we are nearly halfway.. Nchanga - Kypies absolute nememis - was a longish pull but seemed to pass by quite quickly, I settled on a nice pace and just kept keeping on.

Just after the SanParks water table at 60km I saw Liz , she was wandering over the road and was complaining about needing her beer, which was about 3km away. She really could have done with getting a drink and food at Alvestone - something to consider for next year. I got to Nigel took my beer and energy bar and was off again. I felt pretty comfortable and was very relaxed knowing that if nothing went wrong all should be ok. 

Going down Little Polly's was interesting to see the new road being built, this continues all the way up Pollys as well , just the bridge to complete and this will potentially allow massive numbers next year. As I crested Polly Shortts it was amazing to see the sunset and Nikki and Sascha who had to come to support . This was really a special meet up and a sip of beer to keep me going. I now knew that if I averaged below 9 min/k I was safe and I never went over 9 in that section. As I came past Comrades House I heard the familiar sound of a bus and was so determined not to allow them to pass me . I felt like I was really flying in that last km as I led the bus down the final straight. 

The final check for medal scan was efficient and going in to the green number club and getting a wrap and a drink was good. I then checked on my phone to see where Liz was and my phone's last update for her was Drummond. Nikki had said Liz was just behind me at Pollys  and should make it,  I was now confused. I messaged Nigel and Nikki as to her status, somehow I got no notifications of replies. I decided to go and check if Liz had collected her tog bag, I saw her bag but could not retrieve it as I had no recollection of what was  inside.. Note top self take a photo next year of what we put inside. The finish area is a sealed off area, so I went back to the green number tent to see if Liz was there she was not.  I then checked my phone and saw that she had finished at 12:04 so where was she... To check in medical you have to leave the finish area..... So I went back to tog bags, the bag was not there on the field ( If I was more awake I would have remembered  the manager brought the bag to the fence to id he left it there) So now I went on a wild goose chase to Vitality. When I got  there Liz called and said she was in Medical with cramps. I now needed the sticker for her tog bag. A nurse brought it out to me , got the tog bag and when i got back to medical I checked my phone and  saw the messages from medical .. 

To cut a long story short if Liz's finish had updated on the app or least the second last mat, by the time I noticed messages it was way to long. It is not really that safe walking around with your phone out all the time. I heard of a woman who lots her handbag etc. Check all your messages, if I had I probably would have seen Nikkis message. I asked if Liz went past her at 17:19 she replied yes so I knew she was close. I missed the next message to say she had finished. If I got that I would have met her in Green number... One does irrational things when tired. But it was good that we both took our phones as we could communicate eventually. 

Overall for me a great day out , not so much for Liz but we have made a note of our mistakes and will rectify next year.. 

Next saga

We walked down to where the car was parked and liz needed a drink       

I must have walked another 5 km after the race , I eventually left Liz at the garage in the middle yellow circle below having searched every car park in site only to later discover our car was parked in the blue circle. We eventually made it back to Nikki and are on the road to recovery.

 

I got a bad cold from Tuesday  which affected our time at Thendele and now Liz has got it to but hopefully we  can kick the gremlin into oblivion pretty soon.

        

Shoes glorious shoes !updated!

I have used Adrenaline for all my long races since model 13 or 14

Generally I find them to be great shoes hence using them for so long.

I have walked 8 Comrades and a 100 miler in them. I tried a pair of Saucony Glide which were not so great in 2022, caused some knee pain but not like yesterday

I started walking in 2008 with Asics Nimbus.I was analysed on video on a treadmill which confirmed no pronation. As a test I was sent to the Asics importer at the time looked at my shoe and moved me to Kayano. Which I used for 2 or so years and moved to Adrenaline .

I was pretty happy with them up till 24 , which I did Comrades 2025 in.

On average I get 1600km per shoe, I do need to add a bit of shoe goo on the heels as a heal striking walker that is acceptable.

The picture below is after 160km 1 x 10km 1 x 21 2x 42 and 1 x 48

 

 

Add in a 55km and I am already through the sole.

 

But this is not actually my biggest problem, my knee tends to bend in when landing , the stability I need is to prevent this from happening.  I tend to get pain in my Sartorius as it passes the knee joint.

I use a patella knee strap to apply pressure to the Sartorius which massages it and eases the pain. All my Adrenalines to date  have supported me sufficiently ( the Saucony Glide did not)

These 25’s are sooo soft that they collapse in way too much. I had to cut my Midrand 60 long walk short yesterday . I ended up walking really slowly and trying to work out what the cause.

Looking down while walking I could actually see how my foot was landing and moving way past where it should then bouncing back to the correct position. How on earth can you call these shoes stability shoes when they feel like you are walking on balloons..  

I am now in dire straights, not knowing what to do for Comrades this year which will be my 13^th

Liz is still happy with her Ghosts after I converted her about 10 years ago.

 UPDATE:

I may just use last years shoes, they have better support and  have "only" done 950km. 

I am trying to put a picture here but Google says that this site cannot be accessed by DaveAWalker as it belongs to DaveAWalker.... I can add text...

NMC Fast 3 in 1

 

Liz and I really enjoy this race, we stay at the same place every time and it is just so peaceful and quiet.

Martine from Midrand Striders joined us again and did the 21. We drove down on Friday, collected our numbers and off to out Accom for a relaxing evening, good braai, with a little rain and  some wine... It is really difficult getting up and 2:45, but once up the adrenaline takes over. 

Caught the bus to the start which was further along the road to Sabie as the finish was now at Riverside Mall and not the stadium so no more heartbreak hill. Met up with the Dollenbergs ( ex Midrand) on the start line and had a bit of catchup, they ran together and did comfortable sub 4's, must be amazing to actually be an athlete. 

I asked Liz to stay with me to halfway but after 10km I realised that the 2:15 goal was not going to happen, I offered Liz the option to go ahead but she stayed with me. In the past I have done more running training but felt that  it affected me too much so did not run much this year. I felt this lack of training and needed to take it easy.  I only ever run the downs, knowing the route helps as I tend to start walking at very similar spots very time.

Liz got me to half way in 2:21 then took off like a rocket, eventually completing her first ever negative split which was really awesome.. I carried at sub 7 feeling mostly good but I could feel the camber quite a bit and on along stretch down to 30km I suddenly felt a twinge in my knee, so moved closer to the edge  of the road which was  more level. I walked quite a but down teh hill, knowing we had some climbing ahead , I felt I was walking well so kept on keeping on. 

Nearer the end I was able to jog again , Race screen    (https://apps.garmin.com/apps/6a30651b-ca67-41a5-96dc-60634983fc93) is awesome as you can correct the pace, in my case I clicked a lap at 20 to go, which corrected the watch to be 20km at 20.2 which gave me a slight buffer. The only issue I have is that some times from the 42km mark it can be 400+ m to the finish line but it was not in  this case , even though my watch ended on 42.5km I was still safely home in time. Qualifier done. 

Liz was 2nd in age category for the marathon, Martine was 2nd in age category in the 21 and I qualified,  very successful day all round!

We will be back...           

Mielie Marathon 17 Jan 2026

Heard of this race in 2008 from Tony Green while doing my first Marathon in Delmas, eish took a long time to get there....

I convinced Liz that this was a good, booked a guest house and we decided to visits friends in Orkney afterwards.. 

We set off on Friday , found our Guest house and decided to do our pre Comrades snacky meal in the garden. Off to collect our numbers and Margit hijacked Liz while I waited in the queue. Got our numbers, set off to find a Woolies.. got a great selection of snacks and headed back to the our GH. 

Had a beer at the pool, snacks in the Garden and early to bed. Three rooms were taken by Marathoners.. A lot of activity at 4 am and off to the start, parked under a tree. Saw Roto interviewing a few Legends, Julian "1001" Karp, The Running Mann, The Running/Walking Keith etc.

It was so awesome to be in the second row of athletes, Liz was in front of me.. I secretly knew that I needed a perfect event to qualify but also still know its only January. I went through my first park run in 34:30 and begun to feel like it was my day, Julian had warned me about the climb into Odendaalrus , slow poison which I thought carried on till the 42km mark. Flat is hard and you work all the way. This is the flattest marathon I have ever done, it just seemed like there was no respite. 

I think my "fame" has preceded me in some quarters as Maggs who was  the 5hr bus driver greeted me by name, also promising not to block my path ... subsequently I realised she was the 11:30 Comrades bus driver who I had a few interactions with.. This was a small well run bus...   Run with Maggs

Small municipalities rally battle with Sewers etc, so we had a few sections where pace increased in spurts, we passed the legendary Louis Massyns house which was special.. 

Using my usual equal effort, I just kept going, my AHR was  pretty much  138 the whole way, from memory I am normally in the low 150's on a marathon so I guess either I am a bit fitter or just unfit... I really enjoyed doing this marathon, not often I can do a 42 with hardly any pressure, I had hoped for a 4:58 but by halfway on my watch it was on 2:28 and the actual halfway by road markings was 2:31 ish so I knew qualifying was out so I decided to just enjoy the day out. 

I cannot say it was very scenic route but it was really enjoyable to spend so much time in the countryside, mostly on a lonely path with hardly anyone around. I really prefer these out of town races, all the 47th Mielie races had a total of about 1000, 298 official finishers in the marathon, also helped Liz get a podium for fist 60 up lady... 

After the prize  giving we went back to our GH where we showered and headed to Orkney to see Eve and her Niece Eurika. We were treated  like royalty and managed to restore all the weight we had "lost" , what an awesome recovery and catch up...

Roto did his usual race review and I have included the link here.

       

            

Comrades 2025

Background

To qualify for Comrades this year we "only" had to do a sub 5 marathon, which I had really hoped would allow me to walk my qualifier.. Circumstances did not work that way and we ended up doing NMC the fast one in Nelspruit again, same as 2023 except it was our first marathon of the year. I really enjoy this race far more than Kaapse Hoop, it is really festive and good fun and we stay a Hippo waterfront which is such a good place the locals go there for a weekend. 

The race was good I was doing quite well and  on track for about a 4:40 when I felt my right hand Psoas tighten a bit , probably from overstretching while running downhill. I reigned in the pace and settled on a sub 4:50, which ended up as a 4:51 but still a fairly safe qualifier. Did not really feel my Psoas again after that.

Once again circumstances made us change our routine and we did the Tshwane North 50k on Easter Saturday  believing Akasia was pretty flat, which it largely was. At 30km I paced Mr 995 Julian Karp and he told me the next 8km were tough, ha ha Tough is what makes it great I thought and kept going feeling really strong. This route is along Berg road which keeps you as close to the Magaliesberg as it can. But you can see 2 severe dips in pace, that was where we were taken up to almost vertical peaks. Supporters we jogging down and running up with you to try and help you get up. This was neither good for my Psoas or my Hamstrings, but being a little stubborn I tried my best to keep going at a reasonable pace...  

  
Near the end after my watch being quite close to the km markers even km 49 was close but 50 came up and I saw nearly a km to go... I was pretty tired after this. That evening we still did a dogwalk as they would miss out the next few days..

My legs  were a bit sore but nothing serious. We carried on training as usual with a 25km cycle mixed in- as we have committed to doing Amashova the cycle race in July. Legs were fine.

I truly believe that the best training one can do for Comrades is the Midrand Striders 60km , the profile is pretty  close to first 60km of Comrades  with some nice long steep climbs. My goal here is always to get as close to 7:30/km as possible as that is my target pace for an exceptional Comrades. I started off well but my legs just did not feel like walking.  Two years ago I cut it short because of bloody toes after doing a 10km  racewalk the day before with long toenails. This year I had no excuse, still cut it short  and form about 41km onwards just got slower and slower. I did think that at least if I go slower I will have more time on the legs. I just felt  like my Calves, Hamstrings and Glutes were all about to cramp and really did not enjoy it..

A week later I did Cradle 32 and although a little slow it is a tough route and I felt fine. I was a bit worried so decided to go see Kendrah the Chiro , first time in 5 years  I think. She sorted out the Psoas and Hamstrings with some needles. We then went to Ngwenya where I at last got Liz to understand  accelerating training  during the week, essentially it is just every day is faster than the previous day, doing just 10km then we did a slower 22km and back to 10kms I felt fine , although I was taking lost of Electrolytes and Mag... Unfortunately on the last day Liz tweaked her knee which brought some concerns.. Back in joburg we took it easy with just Dogwalks and a 10km. On the Monday I went back to Kendrah as my calves were now tight so we needled Glutes Hamstrings and Soleus.

Off to Hilton to stay with Nicki, where we lazed around as we surveyed the route in the distance. I did my usual walk along Walters rd but Liz and Nicki went into the forest and Nicki managed to fall and hurt her hand and shoulder, that was my reasoning for staying on the road.Had to go into PMB to fix a puncture and go to registration. Also met with Nigel to give him some 0% beers and energy bars..

Liz got some amazing goodies from the Honorary Rangers who were her charity. Charity batch was with Green numbers this year in Group 2 so it was not benefit to do charity batch but next year I will go with Honorary rangers for sure..

On Saturday we set off to drive the route and stopped in Hillcrest to buy  our snacks for supper. We seriously believe that just eating  a snacky meal of Croissants, cheese , coleslaw.  chicken strips etc works best.  After checking in we walked to the finish as we always do to get a better feel for whats what and where to meet after the race etc. I truly believe everyone should be familiar with the finish before the race.   We each had a tot of Ardbeg An Oa which calmed the nerves a bit 

Race Day

It is really weird waking up at 1:30 AM but thats what we do.. I got dressed and popped down to collect whatever breakfast I could from the pick and go . Back up lift and we were ready to go. Busses were from 1 am to 3 am so we decided on 2:15. We walked   out of the Maharani and as we went passed the Elangeni, the staff said to go straight through the hotel which we did, it brought us to the front of the queue, and almost straight into a bus. You realise how long this race is when it takes 90 minutes to get to PMB....The bus driver stopped in PMB as he did not know where to go. Someone wnet forward and Zuckerberg to the rescue he took us to the drop off.

Into our pens which were much smaller this year batches were reduced to about 1500 from closer to 5000 in the past, which made it much more controllable..   We had our blanket which we sat on and chatted to various people. Met a group from the UK , one lady hoping for her back to back having done an 11:53 on 2500km of training in 2024 - sadly she did 12:16, I overtook her at about Umlaas rd. It was awesome to have Louis Massyns small batch just in front of us. The vibe was great as usual as we all enjoyed the singing. The first start went and we slowly moved forward to the real start line which was quite a unique experience. Eventually when the gun went having been in PMB  for 2 hrs we felt liberated.. My first km was pretty close to the fastest km ever on Comrades at 6:51, I was not concerned as it is a good downhill. As per usual I use Norries guidance and try to just use  even effort , meaning we go slower on  the flats and even slower on the ups.  I seriously felt that everyone seemed to be going faster than previous years..  I feel like I was going well at the top of Pollys and made sure I kept to the Left hand lane to ensure I was out of  any rutting. As I started  up little Pollys I saw a lady from Bothaville who was doing her 30th in 2023 and we did much of the race together, she was alone but I remembered a partner. I asked her where her hubby was, she said he passed away the day after getting home from last years Comrades. She had a picture and some ashes which she was going to scatter.. sadly her 32nd would be the first time she baled... eina. I felt the backs of my legs tighten a bit, but by the time I got to chicken farm I was wondering if I should just stop when I got to Nigel in Camperdown. It is really great having Race Screen on my Garmin as my expected time went out to about 11:40 and then gradually coming down. By the time I got my beer and bar at Nigel there were no thoughts of stopping. I sort of decided if my pace went post 12:00 then I could reevaluate. It was round about here that the 11:30 bus caught me with the words , "we are exactly on time but plan to finish at 11:28 to ensure all in the bus finish"... so why do they then carry on going till  I am 4 rows deep in the bus then take a walk break.  To be honest I HATE busses!! They always do this to me... I extricated myself from the traffic and informed the bus driver that their rules are to take 1 lane and no interfere  with other runners. about 1km later they did  the same thing, a few choice words were uttered and I stormed off... The next time they caught me there were many warnings about respecting other runners, may have even mentioned walkers! I think it was around Cato ridge that they went ahead and I never saw them again.

By now I had got my Predicted time to around 11:20 ( with the 11:30 bus ahead of me) and was feelling quite good. My biggest fears were Drummond to Bothas and the onramp before Tollgate.. I had forgotten to give my shirt to Nigel so decided t drop it off at Enthembeni school, which was successfully done - my daveawalker shirt has been donated... On my way up Nhcanga, Kypie's absolute favourite hill, I passed  Juilan on his attempt at 1000 marathon's and Ultras, not quite knowing what to say I asked if he  thought he would finish , and he complained about his back. Eish I guess I realised then it would be tough for him to finish.. I enjoyed the down into Drummond eating some nuts and ginger, I was welcomed by the announcing saying he loved my hair - sorry Liz. I saw a number of familiar supporter faces in Drummond then set off to greet Arthur and find Bothas. This is a tough grind and most runners aim to do it in an hour, I made it in 62 minutes and managed to see Trevor and Lorraine (My brothers friends)  at their usual spot on Alverstone. When you get to  Kearsney college you know that horrible hill is done. I mostly drank the isofit and sometime water, either in sachet  or bottle (which was called Spring water).

By now I was feeling pretty good and saw Ben Burger taking photos, and eventually got to Nigel at Hillcrest where I collected a beer and bar again, less comments about he's drinking a beer this year but it was a 500ml can not a 340ml bottle this time. We crossed the freeway and now the down would start.. 32gi were handing out anti cramp, which I guess most people did not know how to open so they just tossed them, what a waste. You just snap them and the chilli dip comes out, yes they believe capsicum prevent cramp- I like them so tucked in. By now my predicted time was about 11:35, which was perfect, down and down we went , then we crossed the freeway and on the flat I felt my right hamstring and calf tighten - never to reappear fortunately.

I probably went down Fields Hill faster than ever but just kept a consistent easy pace around 7:30, many people struggled down, one guy was lying down shoes off taking a nap.. others also stopped, which is not a good idea, you must keep moving forward 1 foot in front of the other and repeat till you see Moses...  I walked in the right hand yellow lane as it has less camber, this seemed to work for me. Often in the passed I have tried to walk the shortest route but the overall camber changes so much which is hard as a walker. I do not enjoy Pinetown that much but getting through there means we are getting closer.. Going up Cowies is not bad, plenty of banter around, then only 18km to go and suddenly Sam calls out , he is Shane's brother from Carlton who was  on the road supporting his club. He took a few photos, which were great

By now I was just ticking over rolling in the kms and feeling great , legs were fine no cramping. The one mistake I made was in correcting the distance on race screen. It should never stray more than I guess 400m , as it corrects to the nearest full km. I decided to leave it as is an just add 16 minutes to the total , so I pretty much kept my predicted finish at 11:30ish .    The 11:45 bus came past on the freeway using all 4 lanes, and requesting I move to the side to all the bus to go past unhindered. Fortunately they went passed quite quickly and I did not see them again. They did have a remnant led by a conductor who was behind them, As they passed me they stopped, I diverted left to avoid taking out legs , as I got in front  she said they would run for 3 light poles and promptly stopped after 1, fortunately before I caught them she started running again so I just hung back and let them go, never to be seen again. Up to Sherwood and the cutoff, down to the on ramp, which I took very easy as I have seen many legs cramp going up there and people topple..

Under Tollgate bridge and I was happy to just plod along at 8:00/km knowing I was pretty safe. I do not really like the freeway finish ,I much preferred going through the town. but as we were about to turn towards Moses, I saw Louis and realised he should be safe with about 2.5km to go. His 2 loyal lieutenants were with , I wished him well and strode on. That flat section from Kingsmead is from the pits , it just goes on and on.. As I came in I was confused by the announcer who I gathered was welcoming Julian in but it was the oldest finisher and then he said Julian was still coming but sound was bad,   and Louis was mentioned as well. 

Overall very happy with an 11:47:46, 12 of these now done, I guess  next year I will do a few more marathons all walking...    Running is a pain in the butt.

These were my segment PBS for the day, so I guess I did pretty well

Mcmillan Rd ClimbPR6:27

Bothas Hill downPR16:02

Cowies Hill from waterpoint to WoodsidePR7:20

Harrison Flats - Comrades Down RunPR22:52

York to MoyeniPR6:48

Comrades Down - InchangaPR1:22:19

Comrades down run - 35-40kmPR38:10

Comrades down run - 30-35kmPR37:02

Comrades Down - Winston ParkPR45:58

Post Race

When we got back to joburg Liz ended up on antibiotics for flu and I have been pretty much man down.. Have not felt like this since I had covid...This is Saturday and we managed a dog walk this morning but Pashas was pulling way tooo hard and now I feel my hamstring again..

Roll on Amashova, who is gonna join us?

Anecdote

Body Battery

Not sure how many people monitor their Garmin Body battery  but I keep it on the back burner.. Here is my body battery for the day of Comrades. To have been at 5 ( which is the lowest it goes) form 4 hrs into the race, makes my performance even more impressive. Even my Midrand 60 where I felt terrible I ended at nearly 20..

Start

Yes a single start may have  better vibe but overall I was very happy with the 2 group start.

Finish

I like the idea of the  street finish but this worked up to the finish line after that it was cr8p. Too many spectators blocking the athletes getting out. Once the athletes got out they were exhausted so just sat down. It was SOOO congested  I forgot to go the green number  club, although I doubt I could  have got there. We were worse than sardines even after they decided to open up group1 for group 2 medals- they still took 5 minutes to do that. Soup impossible to get there.. drinks same thing.. By the way what happened to Castle Lite??

Digimag

This was a real stuff up. I could not view it on my phone, normally I analyse start and finish to get it in my head, no chance of that, Why send the link on the Saturday before the race by email??????   Surely final race info could have included start and finish images. I agree in saving costs but that should have been emailed 2 weeks before the race. 

Team Vitality

I met up with Liz at Team Vitality had a chicken burger and spoke to a couple where the wife had finished here first and we were convincing him to join us next year.. He took some pictures of us, just to prove we were there. I must say the people at TV really look after us well.

Thats all.. for now 

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