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Comrades 2012 - Here We Go Again.
Posted by
Unlikelyrunner
,
30 August 2011
·
153 views
As "Yazz" once said in a popular 1980's hit, "The only way is down, baby, its you and me now..." Erm, hang on, wasnt that "up"? Oh, well, maybe I should have stuck to the tried and true saying of "with every up there must be a down".
So, Comrades 2012 hey - it only seems like yesterday that I said to my family that Comrades 2011 would be a 1-off, a 40th birthday present to myself, a way to cure a mid life crisis of sorts. How wrong I was. Comrades is in my blood, its addictive, its inspiratrional, moving, motivating, life changing, the superlatives for such an event are difficult to list in a web blog. I suppose thats why they call it the 'greatest human race'! So yes, health permitting, I will be lining up again in 2012 for the 'down' run.
Looking back to the days and weeks after the Gold Coast Marathon. I was very energised after the GCM. A 5 min personal best time and very little soreness, so I was back into running on the Tuesday. 12 days later I was lining up for the Kokoda Challenge, a 96km mountainous trail event in teams of 4 which we managed to knock off in 21hrs.
The week after I decided to have a crack at a local 10km race and this is where it all went wrong. Yes, I ran a sub 45min race, yes I ran a 3 min PB, but it was horrible. I went out in 22mins for the first 5km which should have been very comfortable for me, but I fell apart. I came back in about 22:40 when I was expecting to do a negative split. And I tore my calf at the same time. Ouch!
I had a 3 week lay-off and a few expensive visits to the physio and yes, there was a lesson learnt there and then. However, in hindsight it was 3 weeks of good rest and I have been slowly working my way back up ever since.
I am now churning out 60km weeks and 20-25km Saturday long/slow runs. My plan is to continue to roll out 60-70km weeks right through to Christmas. Assuming I can stay healthy this will give me an excellent launching pad for a serious tilt at a Bill Rowan medal in 2012.
Happy running everyone, and to the weatherman, can you turn the temperature down a notch or two please?
So, Comrades 2012 hey - it only seems like yesterday that I said to my family that Comrades 2011 would be a 1-off, a 40th birthday present to myself, a way to cure a mid life crisis of sorts. How wrong I was. Comrades is in my blood, its addictive, its inspiratrional, moving, motivating, life changing, the superlatives for such an event are difficult to list in a web blog. I suppose thats why they call it the 'greatest human race'! So yes, health permitting, I will be lining up again in 2012 for the 'down' run.
Looking back to the days and weeks after the Gold Coast Marathon. I was very energised after the GCM. A 5 min personal best time and very little soreness, so I was back into running on the Tuesday. 12 days later I was lining up for the Kokoda Challenge, a 96km mountainous trail event in teams of 4 which we managed to knock off in 21hrs.
The week after I decided to have a crack at a local 10km race and this is where it all went wrong. Yes, I ran a sub 45min race, yes I ran a 3 min PB, but it was horrible. I went out in 22mins for the first 5km which should have been very comfortable for me, but I fell apart. I came back in about 22:40 when I was expecting to do a negative split. And I tore my calf at the same time. Ouch!
I had a 3 week lay-off and a few expensive visits to the physio and yes, there was a lesson learnt there and then. However, in hindsight it was 3 weeks of good rest and I have been slowly working my way back up ever since.
I am now churning out 60km weeks and 20-25km Saturday long/slow runs. My plan is to continue to roll out 60-70km weeks right through to Christmas. Assuming I can stay healthy this will give me an excellent launching pad for a serious tilt at a Bill Rowan medal in 2012.
Happy running everyone, and to the weatherman, can you turn the temperature down a notch or two please?
I hope to be there with you and fly the Aussie flag inside that stadium.
The run down into Durban is incredible.
Basil