Many non runners think it’s madness to start thinking about races that are 7 months away, wanting us to live day to day rather than thinking too far ahead not knowing what lies in front. Yet I learned from my days studying a Primary School teaching degree (partially finished) that planning is everything. Sure it doesn’t have to be as detailed as lecturers and tutors wanted lesson plans to be, but for the big ticket item on next year’s agenda the planning started with the qualifying run in Melbourne. Now the plans are coming together day by day in knowing what I want and when I have to have these things in place by. So here is a summation of where the planning process is for Comrades 2018.
QUALIFICATION/SEEDING
As mentioned completing the Melbourne Marathon in 4:32 was enough to ensure that I would be on the plane to South Africa come hell or high water next June. Fortunately it means that rather than having to burn the legs that I have on entering future marathons with the objective of qualifying, and not being 100% certain that the time would be recognised, I can now even think about using training races as a means to get a better starting position. Of course at the end of the day believing that saving a minute or 2 at the start can lead to having the wrong mindset on race day itself, for specific Comrades race day planning won’t be fully known for a while.
THE REMAINDER OF 2017
Only a solitary event, the Point to Pinnacle in Hobart in just under 3 weeks time, remains on the 2017 running schedule. After that the plan will be to try to rest the legs wherever possible with the aim of starting specific training on January 1 2018. That’s not to say that I won’t be 100% inactive given I’ll be looking to actively recover from mountain madness and I may do the odd trundle here and there just to keep myself sane.
A TENTATIVE 2018 PRE-COMRADES SCHEDULE
Naturally circumstances will change according to fitness and employment, but at this point I am looking at the following schedule to provide me with what’s necessary to get myself ready to accomplish the toughest mission undertaken in my life.
JANUARY 21-27: TRAINING WEEK IN BRISBANE. Like 2017 the week that I always schedule off from work will be spent in Brisbane to do a little training in what should be cooler conditions. The plan will be to run at least 4 times that week (Sunday, Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday) with the run on the Australia Day public holiday Friday to be a lap of the road on Mt Coot-tha, unlike last year when I probably foolishly tried to do a trail run instead of sticking to the road. Doing this week away from my home base should also freshen the mind knowing that I can do this training without feeling as though I’m stepping on egg shells interrupting others at home.
FEBRUARY 10-12: BRISBANE WEEKEND. Work and possibly football commitments may restrict the number of weekends I’ll have to run in Brisbane, but I’ll be looking for some kilometres either around Coot-tha or on the roads of Brisbane on the 11th of February.
FEBRUARY 25: WANGARATTA. At this stage I’m likely to only do the half marathon here, although it is tempting to complete the second lap of the course to complete the full. Being a weekend hit and run mission as opposed to last year when I was forced to take time off work may make travel arrangements slightly rushed, but an overnight stay in the northern Victoria town has been booked so all I need to worry about is when I depart home base. I will even be back in Brisbane by the time night descends on February 25, for the plan is to catch the afternoon train which gets to Broadmeadows (a suburb reasonably close to Tullamarine where the airport is) just after 4PM.
MARCH 17: PORT MACQUARIE. I have entered what is known as the “Breakwall Buster”, an even where runners complete all 3 events offered in Port Macquarie’s Running festival (a half marathon, a 10km and a 5km). Less that 50 runners managed to complete all 3 events last year. The attraction for doing this is this will be to my mind a decent training run under race conditions for that time of year. Added to that will be trying to stop and start again on tired legs as I anticipate I’ll be needing to do in South Africa later in the year. Accommodation has been booked, however flights may cause me to have to look for a day’s leave from work that I wasn’t anticipating having to use.
APRIL 15: CANBERRA ULTRA (50km). The almost traditional lead up for a number of Australian runners prior to Comrades, this will be my 3rd attempt at completing this distance which hopefully will lead to a second finish. Not looking for a time as such but if I get somewhere close to 5 hours which may or may not improve my starting position it will be seen as a bonus. Hopefully things go well this time because as you may know luck has often deserted me in the Capital. It will most likely be the upper limit in terms of training runs unless I find the time to do something beyond 50 with elevation changes so I have to make the most of it.
MAY 6: WINGS FOR LIFE, MELBOURNE. This is something I’ve had my eyes on for a little while but for the first time work commitments won’t be standing in the way of entering. For those that don’t know this run has no finish line as such, rather the race ends when a catch car passes you. We get a half hour head start, but given the car goes 15km/hr to start it’s bad news if you’re not past the 15km marker. With the start time at 9PM in Melbourne (the run is worldwide and starts exactly the same time everywhere, meaning if Auckland had this event it would be an 11PM start time, or 3PM in Abu Dhabi if anyone is that game) even footy won’t prevent me from getting to this event.
MAY 27: ROCKY RIVER RUN (21km). With Comrades falling a week later this year I can return to running the half marathon at my local event rather than just doing a casual 10km systems check before getting on a plane just under 24 hours later. It will be the last meaningful training run distance wise and I’m hoping to get as close to 1:50 as possible, depending on the course as there are narrow bridge crossings which can hold up faster runners. Post this event I’ll probably only do 1-2 more training runs and perhaps do Parkrun at North Beach in Durban as I did last year, but I certainly won’t be doing anything that is beyond 10km or perhaps even 45 minutes if I can avoid it and resist temptation.
THE FLIGHT PLAN
Financially I am in a better position than I was 12 months ago, and I have knowledge on when I need to be in certain places based on accommodation bookings (Durban on the Wednesday before Comrades, with the return trip to be via Adelaide for footy commitments). At this point I have made no decision on departure port related to the overseas flights (the 4 options are Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, with the Southern capital being more cost friendly at this stage), whether I wish to spend an overnight stay in Johannesburg which given the flight arrival times via Perth may require 2 nights being booked rather than 1 or whether I choose to fly through to Cape Town on the Monday and fly back to Durban on the Wednesday. A decision on flights will likely be made by the week of the Brisbane training week in January, with hotels being paid for closer to the arrival date.
Perhaps this will give some indication as to where I’m at in terms of preparing for June 2018, and I haven’t mentioned any training specifics. Sure I’ve experienced a Comrades Marathon before but at this point I’m still to formulate a meaningful training plan taking into consideration employment factors and race weekends/recovery weeks. That may come a little later on but for now I can at least relax the mind if not the body throughout November and December.
When last we touched base the gun had just signalled the start of the 40th running of the Melbourne Marathon. Usually this is when we see if all the training could be put to good use, but as we all know injury severely restricted this so it was a case of trusting the lessons of the past and hoping all systems hang in for the entire day.
It was the usual slowish start as everyone tried to get some sort of running room and a good position heading into the first couple of corners. It turned out that I had lobbed close to the 4:10 pace group, which would be a good place to start if I wanted this to be a Comrades qualifier. In past years being in this group would mean an ultra conservative start given I’ve lingered in sub 4:00 groups in the first half of the run. Still it felt comfortable running in a decent sized group without fearing that I might run into someone, or even something attached to the pacers themselves for in past years I’ve often channelled the inner Tim Cahill heading the balloons that this year was not present.
As usual the runners scrambled at the first opportunity to stop at the first drink station on St.Kilda Road, which enabled to me utilise my usual hydration plan. It wasn’t until the 3rd station just shy of the 9km marker where I felt the need to take on fluids, something that I often in the past have trained for. Prior to that however there was someone who managed to notice the 2016 Comrades cap that I was wearing, so I was able to have an all to brief chat to her running down the back section of the Grand Prix track. It’s always nice to be able to have a little chat to someone along the way which kind of normalises the run. For those around me it’s not so much a race against the clock but another long Sunday trot around a sports mad city.
Went through the 10km split in around 57:30, slower than some previous years but well and truly on track for what I had set out to achieve. Shortly after came an unscheduled pit stop which fortunately only required an old fashioned wee. There was no panic on my part even if it wasn’t planned, after all it happened at my first attempt at a 50km Ultra in Canberra in 2015 and I actually felt better afterwards. It wasn’t that hard to get on the back of the train through the pit lane, and as I glanced across as I trundled down the main straight of the GP track, seeing the 4:20 and 4:30 pace buses behind was satisfying.
There was a point of difference this year running along Beaconsfield Parade this year in that only one side of the road heading city bound was being used (in past years runners were covering both sides of the road). The biggest mental test of this marathon is always looking for the turning point just after 18km, but this year I wasn’t even giving it a second thought. The half was covered in just over 2:01 which again is slower than a normal half marathon time for me (1:53 in Wangaratta was a year’s best), but again with no pain in the legs and the conservative approach meaning I felt better at that stage than ever, surely keeping up with the 4:10 group would be easy enough. Yet fate again intervened as it did in Canberra a number of years ago. Once again I had to make another pit stop as some chicken chips I consumed on Friday took a couple of days not to agree with me and 5 minutes in the porta-loo was the result. Momentum was pretty much lost in terms of keeping up with the bus, particularly as I had to slightly backtrack to ensure I picked up the first of my Lucozades at the adjacent personal drink station, but everything was still on course and it was just about time to start calculating just how I would need to approach the remaining kilometres to get the goal of a Comrades qualifier.
The time had started to slow a little, although the 30km split at least showed I was still inside the 3 hour marker, leaving me on track for something well inside the mark required. I managed to remark a few times to spectators that me slowing down was as a result of a lack of conditioning due to the injury, so I was still happy enough to have gone well for this long and still not feeling any pain whatsoever in the leg. Plunging down into Alexandra Avenue is always a difficult task given the slower half marathon competitors and a number of 10km chargers are sharing the same bit of road going at a pedestrian pace, but I’m not sure if they had heard my warnings of the wheelchair athlete coming through on their inside (most of them did hear the accompanying cyclist guiding him through the traffic). He was doing it a lot tougher than I was especially ploughing up the rise towards the Shrine of Remembrance so I assume my encouragement was as welcome as the cheers for him that came from the crowd.
Big Man in Blue leading the charge to the finish….well it seemed like it.
PHOTO CREDIT: Marathon Photos
The 35km marker came and went with my time blowing out to 3:35, and by that stage I decided to walk up the hills and use the downhill runs to get momentum to make up any time loss. There was an extra uphill section this year owing to construction works that would normally see us onto St.Kilda Road a lot earlier, but the downhill was helpful and with my second Lucozade in my hands (as sticky as it was), I was able to go through the remaining drink stations without a need to pause. I was almost apologetic to pedestrians looking to cross the road beyond the 40km mark, although perhaps an overhead bridge over the tram lines linking Federation Square to Flinders Street Station could be a solution that Melbourne Council could look at in future city planning. After the usual pose for the photographers waiting around the corner, it was the quick plunge down the final hill although it was at that time that the calf and achilles started to show signs of packing it in.
With the hallowed turf of the G within smelling distance there was a slight problem as to how we could get to entering the stadium. Fearing that I went the wrong way, a volunteer at least assured a few of us we were heading in the right direction. Perhaps they should have gone to Venice to help some of their runners head where they needed to go (DON’T BELIEVE ME, THEN WATCH THIS!). I trotted into the MCG, then for some reason allowed a group of runners to go past me. If it was out on the open road I’d normally have some sort of justification for doing this but perhaps I had felt the time was in the bag and I could possibly help others to get their goal accomplished. For the first time in years I was able to jog across the line without physical impairment, and the final gun time of 4:32:53 (NET TIME: 4:31:13) was similar enough to last year. I can only imagine how well I could run if I was close to 100% in the build up and I had some decent training under my belt!
Makes for good reading, and relieves the stress of having to qualify next year.
After a short catch up with another runner who did the half marathon (bit surprised he noticed but perhaps wearing zinc helps), it was downstairs to retrieve the gear and to get a massage from an Asian lady who worked me over harder than Jeff Horn did to Manny Pacquiao. Pleasingly I was able to confirm the time later that day and on the Monday the details were gladly entered into the Comrades profile to confirm my place on the start line in Pietermaritzburg next June.
So where to from here? Naturally I don’t have to enter any marathons for the sake of getting a qualifying time nor do I have to continue to have to train right through December, as my plan is to do minimal training in that period, partially to rest, partially due to work. It means I can plan the first 5 months of the year leading up to the return to South Africa with some surety and knowing I have another “Grand Final” to run. It means I can financially plan well in advance and also I can explore options in terms of when I travel and where I may choose to camp overnight if necessary. In short, it’s safe to say that this mission was a major success that I may not have thought possible 2 months ago!
It’s funny how people call target events their “Grand Final”, especially given how so many train for month upon month just to make it to the start line. Whilst I’m now experienced to know how much training is needed to get through marathons to make the experience worthwhile, the added pressure of what lay ahead made this year’s Melbourne Marathon arguably the most important marathon I would ever start.
Every year it seems I do something slightly different than in previous years, and 2017 would again prove to be no different. This year I decided to travel to Brisbane on an overnight train (well close to overnight given the departure time was technically on the same day as arrival) rather than fly and stay overnight which I had done last year and in 2013. Then it was off to the airport taking advantage of PLATINUM FREQUENT FLYER STATUS (Virgin Australia are kind people, KA-CHING!) for the first time to arrive in Melbourne after 6:30 on a coolish Friday Night. Check into the apartment, then for the first time in a while I felt unsure over what to eat which may have been a sign that this weekend had more riding on it than just a 5th finishers medal.
In past years, I would rise early to make sure I got to the MCG for bib collection and associated activities early enough to have the rest of Saturday at leisure. For some reason I just couldn’t rise from the slumber until after 8AM, and it wasn’t until 10AM that I started walking to the hallowed ground, just to stand in a decent sized line for about 30 minutes (well I know they usually warn people to get in earlier if possible but sometimes it can’t be helped). The process itself was much like every other bib collection, straightforward and complete in just a couple of minutes.
Some may question why I don’t take up the early entry option to get the bib mailed to me, partially for peace of mind having it in my possession and partially to give work to myself. The simple answer is that unlike most other marathons I enter, any marathon participant is able to utilise a personal drinks station service at a trio of locations,of which I use stations 2 and 3 given the hydration plan doesn’t allow for me to start looking for any fluid until the station prior to the 1st personal drink stop and that I feel that it’s too early to look for a special energy boost. Also using the later stations would be a psychological aim and goal that many runners need in the second half of tough events like marathons.
Another change to the program came after I collected the bib. In past years I would have a little lunch, then wander off into the suburbs for some shopping. This year all I did following lunch was purchase some essentials for the next day (including a lighter knee brace thinking that would support the left knee), then flop on the bed flicking between Facebook updates and the races on TV (kept the money in the pocket this time). Had my usual pre race pizza just after 5PM, with the last thing I ate prior to a nap (you don’t really have a big sleep on race eve) being some ice cream. Again it wasn’t the first time I had ate this on race eve having done so in Perth at least twice before, and it’s not recommended for everyone. But to me that would be the best nerve settler I could think of knowing how much race day Sunday would mean.
Fortunately I didn’t sleep through any of my alarms, but I was a little worried when I discovered the bulky knee brace that I usually use to support my right knee wasn’t in my bag, or at least I couldn’t spot it without doing a full search which at the time was something I couldn’t do. Often the right knee does get sore late in long events but the brace was more for peace of mind than it was a fully blown injury support. Without any K-Tape in the bag either, I was at least glad I made the investment in the new knee support the previous day. Apart from that the only other real choice I had to make was the choice of zinc for the nose, with Blue winning out over Yellow on the basis of being first found.
Even the walk to the MCG didn’t help ease the nerves or tension. Usually it would have been an easy task following pathways and wandering across the footbridge that links the Melbourne Park precinct with The G. For some reason this year those constructing the start area had so much fencing erected, I had to backtrack to Birrarung Marr and enter using the footbridge heading to the Members concourse. Not ideal to have to use up more energy than I had anticipated, but at least I didn’t have to wander down stairs. Once inside the bowels of the G the preparation became as normal as it could have compared to past years. Plenty of time was left to have a last loo break and a decent stretch, although my worries about the calf meant I didn’t jog or do a great deal of dynamic stretching. The moment of truth arrived at 7AM EDST……..TO BE CONTINUED
Been a long time since I bothered to post something, but this weekend is as significant as any other in the running year for me so I suppose I’d better make something up for the masses. Well perhaps most of it is the truth but it doesn’t stop so called proper journalists so I guess what I dribble out here might actually make more sense. That and the fact that I’m probably as nervous as anything for next Sunday.
Since returning from South Africa injury has basically derailed my running for various reasons. It may or may not have been a silly decision to run Gold Coast after Comrades but everything was actually going OK for about 20km until the hamstring decided to cry enough forcing me to basically walk the last 22. Then seemingly recovered from that a calf injury suffered playing football has plagued me for the last 2 months. The injury resurfaced warming up for the City2Surf, where if the gear truck hadn’t departed for Bondi Beach at the time of warm up I’d probably have withdrawn (how I managed a 1:30 with a blown calf I’ll never know). It lasted through the half marathon at the Perth City to Surf reasonably well with some careful management but a combination of cramped seating at Subiaco Oval watching the footy and the red eye back to Brisbane caused a flare up that basically stopped me training for a fortnight.
After seemingly recovering from that again the calf gave me trouble in Sydney, this time at the very end of the warm up in the half marathon. I limped to the start line, shuffled across the Harbour Bridge, but the issue became too much to overcome after 8km and in the end I shared a ride in a sad wagon with an elite female marathon competitor who had as much grasp of English as I did of actually taking care of myself. It took 15 days for me to even attempt a training run following that, and having completed just over an hour continuously without pain in the leg the start line at Melbourne will have me on it for the 5th time.
As with last year the Melbourne Marathon will hopefully confirm my ticket into the Comrades Marathon, although fortunately for me I managed to secure one of the entries that flew out quicker than the time it takes Cookie Monster to raid a bakery for unsold stock of what he famously consumes. The simple scenario is that a completed run under 5 hours will ensure I can concentrate on training for Comrades in 2018 rather than another event just to punch the qualifying ticket. If I can somehow get under 4:20 (which if fit is the realistic aim) I can be in the start pen ahead of where I started this year. If I don’t get under 5 hours it may be all or nothing at Canberra in April next year (whether I do the 50km or marathon in the capital may also depend on performance in Melbourne, although running the 50km in a sub 6 hour time will be sufficient), given that the ballot for Tokyo didn’t fall my way. I may give consideration to running the Cadbury marathon in Hobart in January but I’m not 100% certain that this event or the marathon in Wangaratta in February (where I’ll be planning to enter now that Tokyo is off the agenda, they’re on the same weekend) will be recognised by the relevant authorities as a qualifying event (Melbourne has no such problem, I know many of the 157 entered from Australia will be using this as their qualifier)
Travel plans for me this time will involve overnight trains to Brisbane this coming Friday morning (got to love 12:30 AM departures) and an afternoon flight into Melbourne. Whilst the itinerary is planned just what I’ll be wearing this year hasn’t. I’m sure I’ll be wearing something comfortable for the distance on top without having to make hasty purchases the day before. When everything that I plan to happen comes to fruition on Sunday, then I can think of travel plans to Durban, with plans to spend an extra night (Wednesday arrival) as opposed to 2017.
For those running in Melbourne, hope to see you on the start line!
MHJeffrey027 Running 