Despite the hot weather, work scheduling and the occasional bodily let down, training for Comrades 2017 has been progressing steadily if not positively. Naturally I’d love to get the confidence boosted by logging a nice long run, but the mind has often been the victim of the humid conditions that have often prevailed in this part of the world in the last few weeks. It would often be a case of running reasonably well for 4km, then I’d need to have a spell in order to properly regain focus and to hydrate properly. Not that there’s anything wrong with doing that given that in 3 months time the big trip is taking place and anything short of permanent disability will prevent me from making that start line (and even then….)
But I’ve now realised that this weekend is the first race weekend of the year. February is usually a month where I’m finding my feet and building up the kilometres rather than focusing on race goals. Yet this year is totally different in many ways, and the early preparation has meant that conditioning under race conditions rather than training runs is a requirement. After all, these races are the easiest way to build up the kilometres I need to succeed in Comrades.
To achieve this will require a visit to a place where I’ve never had the pleasure of setting foot in. Like I’ll probably be heading to South Africa in May/June, the travel component will likely be the time where I’m most nervous compared to when I’m standing among what I understand will be close to the capacity field of 500 for 21 of the best kilometres I’ll have covered this year. Whilst the course itself won’t provide the elevation that Comrades will offer (I’d get as much elevation change in a sharp 3km time trial around the block at home), it’s all a number of things on Sunday, namely
- New Experiences (New town, different terrain with cycle paths being the bulk of the course surface)
- Race simulation and using it as training
- Boosting the confidence knowing that March will be mainly literally pushing the barrow uphill so to speak
In terms of what I want to achieve out of the run itself on Sunday morning, the following goals are in mind:
GOAL TIME: Somewhere between 1:55 and 2:00 is ideal. Just outside 2:00 is passable, anything slower than 2:05 will be cause for concern
RACE PLAN: Steady for the first couple of kilometres, then look to increase the tempo from kilometres 6-16 before a strong finish. If I can stay with a pack for the first 6km it will be ideal.
HYDRATION: As per usual, ignore the first 2 drink stations and utilise the stations at 6.5km, 10.8km and 15.4km. Unsure if I’ll take on board sport drink or water, although I’ll have a drink of h2o prior to the start
TRAFFIC: There is a marathon taking place that begins 15 minutes earlier. Even though it’s unlikely that the front runners will catch me prior to the finish given we’re using the same course (they’re running 2 laps of the half marathon course), I’ll need to be mindful of giving room for faster runners much like in the Perth City to Surf when the leading half marathoners pass me when I’ve done close to 30km. There may be times where I can gauge my pace off a marathon runner particularly when I plan to increase the tempo for the middle 10km sector that I’ve identified yet I’ll need to be mindful that I’m not in their race so there’s no need to hold them up without necessity.
Following Sunday the plan will be for a couple of training runs in Melbourne which is basically going to be a recovery type session. Monday is a travel day (the return train trip), but Tuesday and Wednesday mornings will be the scheduled times for training. Then the following week will be another week in Brisbane, again climbing Mt Coot-tha at least once and possibly twice. Hill climbing will be a focus throughout March, as will pain management. I’m certain there will be times where I’ll be sore on the long trek in South Africa so being able to cope with the pain whilst maintaining some sort of pace may become valuable if I want to finish. The next few weeks therefore are going to be busy, but hopefully it will be all worthwhile.
The main reason for the latest trip away from my Central Queensland base to the capital of Queensland was to tackle the climb around Mt Coot-tha, which many runners from the Brisbane area use to train on for their Comrades journey. Yes the workout was successful in many ways, but the lessons from this run would probably be more beneficial than any fitness advantages or strategical ploys that may come from it.
Everything started well enough, pre-planning of the route started a number of months in advance and I had some idea of where to go based on the online maps and route planning. Despite a false start on the Wednesday which was the original day where I was planning to go (a combination of soreness and sleeping through alarms the cause of delay), I was up and mobile just after 4 AM on Australia Day (January 26, the date where it should ALWAYS be). I also armed myself with some food for this run knowing that eating on the run would be required over a 12 hour sojourn in June. Mind you storing such items was a little tricky, with a small chocolate protein bar tucked below the Skins often digging into the skin and causing discomfort.
After a comfortable first hour along familiar pathways it was time to detour off the main path and onto a couple of streets leading onto Sylvan Road that would hopefully lead to the paths (as opposed to roads) up to the mount. It was all smooth until it came time to find the path over the Western Freeway (a road that leads to Ipswich) to start the climb. After a slight detour thanks to a pathway being designated for cyclists only, I managed to stumble upon ANZAC Park where instead of turning right I chose the left hand turn, and kept going left until the path flowed onto a back street. After some consultation with the phone GPS, I navigated my way back to the park, then after continuing to go right found the overpass that would get me onto the big hill. It seemed I was back on track especially after passing a couple riding some CityCycles that I thought nobody ever used (the lady couldn’t believe I was outpacing her).
The plan was to then follow the road heading anti-clockwise on Sir Samuel Griffiths Drive, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed the well known Powerful Owl Trail may at least keep me out of harm’s way and perhaps get me even quicker to the other side with the end of the trail being adjacent to the Channel 9 studios. What I didn’t anticipate was the fact that the trail was a typical trail as opposed to a covered or man made path, and that many parts of it were steeper than I had anticipated. Yes it meant that I had to walk several sections which I may have had to do if I had stuck to the original plan of being a road warrior as opposed to a trail blazer, in fact regular walking up the bigger hills is a key to success when June comes around.
It was close to the 1:45 marker in terms of active time when I had reached the Channel 9 studios, and I was at least determined to plunge downhill following the road even though the traffic was slowly building. It was at that point I noticed that there was another trail (named the Kokoda Track, though nothing like the real Kokoda in terms of distance) that perhaps I should follow to at least get back to the bottom. Perhaps reconsidering my options would have been better after I was confronted with a very steep downhill section where traction would be a major issue. Rather than trying the kamakaze approach which probably would have sent me to hospital or heading back to the road (which in hindsight is the best option, rather deal with traffic than have an isolated incident) I basically traversed from tree to tree using vegetation as a brake. There were a couple of slips but no tumbles, and after successfully negotiating the difficult section I decided once the 2 hour mark had been reached according to the watch that I would stop recording the exercise for the day.
Yes it was the longest training I had accomplished in terms of distance and for a single session (the previous marker had been split into 4 sections), but I still didn’t feel as happy as I should have. Partially because I felt that following the trails and paths were an error, partially because I was hoping to see 20 kilometres rather than 17, partially because it was still going to take a while to get back to base. It took another 90 minutes (and 2 stops to refuel) to reach Indooroopilly train station, where perhaps recording the walk through the back streets may have made for a more impressive day on the road.
There will be at least one more meeting with the mount coming up in March prior to departing for Durban. It is anticipated that I’ll be following the road for the duration this time, as I’ll also need to start perfecting the art of downhill running. With 5 climbs both consisting of uphill and downhill sections and plans to basically walk the bulk of the uphills, being able to control running downhill to leave enough energy to plough up the next hill is crucial. As long as I stick to the roads everything SHOULD be OK.
A progress report on distances traveled in training will come in a couple of days, there are another 2 sessions planned before next Monday so those will need to be logged and included.
This week I’m spending my Comrades Marathon training time in Brisbane, a change of scenery and conditions (not so humid) hopefully is going to help. The following was recorded on Tuesday Morning, 24 January 2017 at the Abbey on Roma Apartment complex.
Tomorrow as mentioned I may even do a Vlog entry on top of Mt Coot-tha, depending on how I’m feeling and how well I’m able to record from the phone as opposed to the tablet. I may even stop recording Mr.Squiggle style!
They say the hardest part of training for big events isn’t necessarily the first day, but the days that come. Motivation is always at its highest on Day 1, yet by the end of the second week the plans haven’t exactly been followed (not that there’s a big issue with that, doing a few years of a teaching course at University taught me that rigid plans often come unstuck) and whilst my motivation hasn’t waned it can be easy to see how those who see running as a weight loss assistant can see how hard it is.
Frustratingly I haven’t been able to so far attain the distances that I really want to look for. Sometimes it’s a case of needing a short breather to regain the good feeling in the legs to resume, although there are many runs in my personal schedule that allow for this. In fact many of my training runs call for either multiple efforts over the same distance (not necessarily the same route) or multiple efforts where the distances are increasing. Sometime this week, most likely Wednesday or Friday, the plan will include having a 4km effort, a 5km blast and a 6km finish with active rest (walking for 5 minutes or to a suitable starting spot for the next effort) all in the one session. What I want to actually achieve, and this is more aimed at weekend runs, is to nail a 12-15km stint without a rest break, partially to prove to myself that the fitness levels are improving, partially because the first event for the year is approaching and stopping during that half marathon isn’t an option.
What hasn’t helped matters is the climactic conditions. I know summer in Australia can be ridiculously hot at times, yet the humidity is something that many more talented and dedicated runners find difficult to overcome. Even now as I’m typing this blog entry the sweat is pouring off the arms and the forehead, and getting a decent night’s sleep is challenging. Weather apps on my mobile devices have confirmed that even though the air temperatures are possibly comparable with what I’d be facing at some events during the year, they also indicate that based upon the humidity the temperature also feels like what it should at lunchtime rather than an hour or so after sunrise. What makes it even more of a tease is that the sky is filled with clouds yet there’s little prospect of rain just when a short shower could be what I need to complete a program.
On the plus side, this is probably the earliest I’ve ever started formalised running training since taking it up in 2012. Normally I tend to choose Australia Day (January 26) as the normal start date given the first event I run usually isn’t until March. Obviously the plans with an event in February and the sheer training required to at least get to the finish at Comrades has brought the timing forward. Perhaps I’m not used to trying to go hard or go home at this time of the year (self control is something I need to learn on the training roads, still battling to slow down to make the distances I want I suppose), maybe I’m getting carried away with seeing many weekend warriors going online to advertise they are doing massive runs well before the day I’d want to be peaking (although I suspect some are trying to peak twice with a qualifier in mind).
So what am I going to plan in the next couple of weeks? I know that I need to find the hills more often and next weekend I’m hoping to incorporate a number of hills into a decent distance run of up to 18km. Then I’m spending January 23-27 in Brisbane to change up the scenery for training runs and keep the mind fresher. Perhaps I’ll even look to have a crack at going up Mt Coot-tha on the Wednesday (25 January) in order to get at least some longer sustained uphill running under the belt. Hopefully the weather will be kinder to runners than what we’re currently experiencing.
As for the logistical issues, the race bib for Wangaratta is in the post and hopefully should arrive either Monday or Tuesday. The entry for the big 50km in Canberra has been lodged, so the major lead in race (sounds strange describing a 50km event as a training run doesn’t it!) is locked in and ready to go. I may even look to add an event in either March or May depending on what the work roster has to say and how the finances will stretch. With airfares to and from Durban to be paid in the next couple of weeks attention will turn to making sure I have enough Rand to last the trip. I’m thinking of at least saving R10000 (which is close to $A1000 give or take a few dollars) plus whatever I exchange prior to departing Australia should be sufficient to cover most of my costs.
TRAINING STATS for JANUARY 2-15 (Courtesy of Strava)
SESSIONS: 6
TOTAL DISTANCE: 50.7km (24km 2-8 Jan, 26.7km 9-15 Jan)
ACTIVE TIME: 4 Hrs 47 Mins
ELEVATION GAIN: 281m Total (155m 2-8/1, 126m 9-15/1)
Normally this post would come up in November with plenty of time set aside to plan everything. Naturally I decided to get lazy last year and not post here for way too long, so whilst I had an idea of what I wanted to do putting down on paper or in digitalised form proved to be a step too far.
Obviously the entire schedule isn’t 100% confirmed nor even contemplated beyond the Gold Coast Marathon in July. Hopefully the body will hold up sufficiently to be able to do what I want to do. However the following is what I plan to do for the 2017 running year. I have decided to split it into a 2 part series, with the first part being 100% confirmed barring unforeseen circumstance, and the other part at this stage being overly dependent on other factors such as work to confirm.
100% CONFIRMED EVENTS (entries may or may not have been lodged but will in the coming weeks)
FEBRUARY 26: Wangaratta Half Marathon, Wangaratta, Victoria (21.1km)
APRIL 9: Canberra Ultra Marathon, Canberra, ACT (50km)
MAY 28: Rocky River Run, Rockhampton, Queensland (10km)
JUNE 4: Comrades Marathon, Durban-Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (87km)
JULY 2: Gold Coast Marathon, Gold Coast, Australia (42.2km)
OCTOBER 15: Melbourne Marathon, Melbourne, Australia (42.2km)
EVENTS WHERE I MAY ENTER
MARCH 19: Twilight Run, St.Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland (21km)
AUGUST 13: City2Surf, Sydney, New South Wales (14km)
AUGUST 27: City to Surf, Perth, Western Australia (21.1 km)
SEPTEMBER 17: Blackmore’s Half Marathon, Sydney, New South Wales (21.1km)
NOVEMBER 19: Queenstown Marathon, Queenstown, New Zealand (42.2km)
Again either list may change dependent on work commitments, financial considerations and general fitness. I’m hoping that the heavy training load for Comrades that I am about to commence won’t have a negative impact in the second half of the year. Keep in mind too that I’ve scaled back distances in some events where I’ve taken the longer option in previous years, with the local run here in Rocky a couple of days before the scheduled departure for South Africa meaning the half marathon (which in 2016 turned out to be closer to 25km than 21 due to a marshalling error) is not a realistic option. Ditto for Perth, where if I choose to run the event for a 3rd consecutive year the hope is to run just the half marathon in order to preserve legs for a serious tilt at Melbourne. Queenstown is at this stage very tentative pending work leave, given I’ll probably need to depart Australia on the Thursday in order to make it to Queenstown to collect the race bib.
As the year goes on I’ll at least be giving some content for each event I actually start from this list, so keep an eye out as hopefully 2017 will provide satisfactory outcomes, at least compared to 2016.
MHJeffrey027 Running 