Category: Articles
-
So … back to running
After this morning’s run, there’s no doubt I’ll always be a runner Fabulous run. Not for recovery from the 2013 Comrades, nor for something like Comrades, as all the runs before 2 June were: committed, thought-through, after-analysed, all trying to build the right stuff to handle the monsters on the day and get through those tricky 54 miles…
-
Something deeper
The race-pic of me walking Polly Shorrts in long shadows was a bit of a nasty surprise. Legs, body, arms look strong with enough thrust. But my face shows strain. Much more drain than I was feeling. Thought 1: Maybe I shouldn’t have been as confident as I was feeling. Sure I was desperate to see…
-
So why run the Comrades Marathon
I know now why I wanted to run this not-too-but-long enough ultra- marathon. I know to exactly why. Running helps me get the most out of life. The Comrades Marathon, all that it is, gets me the most out of running. Simple. Marvellous
-
Comrades 2013 – Physical overview
Long enough ago … I ran 11 Comrades, one after the other, got sick, got better and a medal a couple years later then stopped for too many years. So this is a kind of second time around and definitely starting over. My record for Comrades Two – two Vic Clapham medals, one DNS and one…
-
2013 Taper day 18
Un-timed 5km time-trial after a 2 km warm-up. The point being to stay up against the effort (effort = 2 steps per breath) of a run from which I can quickly recover . In the old days I would have run 10 km but these younger days, well, I’m older. As maybe it should have, everything…
-
2013 taper day?
A personal note My taper is turning out to be, well, unstructured. I want to run more. I don’t want to run too much. I skip runs if there is just I hint that I don’t want to do it. I set out for 18 km then settle for 12. This morning rain tapped on…
-
2013 Taper day 9
Staleness Woke up easily for my run but felt stale and uninspired. Unusual. I didn’t look forward to running as I normally do. I worked through whether I have been running too much. not really. The alternative of going to the gym and cycling a bit, or doing the circuit didn’t inspire me either. When…
-
Notes from 1946
Notes from 1946 For 6 years through the World War II years, the Comrades Marathon wasn’t run. In 1946 it started again with a field of 22 of which 8 finished. Winner in a time of 7:02:40 was Bill Cochrane, who had also won the 1935 run. Morris Alexander in his book The Comrades Story…
-
2013 Taper Days 5-8
The taper in practice The best part of last Saturday’s 2-hour run was how I felt in the last 3 km -as if I could have gone on all day at that effort level. Which is just as well because in less than 3 weeks I’ll have to do just that – run most of…
-
2013 Taper – 3
Tapering – tweaking the power Day 1 rest Day 2 easy 8 km (mapmyrun.com says its 8.72) Day 3 the same 8 km. This time pushing harder in the last 3.5 km, surging on the 6 little hills, easy on the 30-50 m between. Not too much but faster than yesterday. 1 min 20 faster…