READY AND SET TO GO.

MAY 22 to 28.  In full taper mode now. I had my last visit to the physio on Tuesday.  I am freshening well.  All is as good as can be expected.  I am moving a lot freer now.

 I cruised through 96 km total for the week.  I had few sleep ins and no gardening or anything that might aggravate my back.  I didn't run any hills.  My key sessions: Tuesday 5x 1 km in just under 4 minutes each; Thursday: 10 light 400m or so pick up with 200m wind downs; Saturday 10km in 40 minutes.  I hope Saturday wasn't too solid.   Cruised through 20km on Sunday.  I set out to just run 5:10s but ran a bit quicker.

I have found a few Strava downloads and will use these as a pacing guide for CMA.  The runners  finished strong and started slow.  Hopefully, a helpful guide that accounts for the terrain.

Below is a pretty standard profile.  The landmark that i can't wait to pass by.  The advice i will adhere to (Lindsey Parry is the official CMA coach and he and Brad Brown are a great resource whose advice has been a big help to myself and a lot of runners).  And that bloke Bruce "Digger" Hargreaves who has been a great help with the logistics of getting to SA.  Bruce is the Australian Ambassador and an experienced Comrades participant.  Anyway, that's it.  Next week will be travel, recci, rest and race.

Lindsey Parry and Brad Brown are a great assett for Comrades runners. Their Webinairs have been so very helpful. 

Digger Hargreaves (the bearded runner) running with his 15,000 or so friends.

TAPERING AND GAINING INSIGHT ON THE ROAD TO PIETERMARITZBURG

MAY 15 to 21.  Well, I made it to taper time.  Last year when I committed to Comrades I had just come out of a period where my back was so sore I thought that that was the finish of my competitive age-group running.  I recall one night my back was so bad I couldn't get into bed.  I just walked around the house until too exhausted to not lay down.

My expectations have changed since decideding to run Comrades.  I have already explained why I made the choice in my earlier blogs..  One of the reasons was because the faster running causes my back so much grief.  So...what to do?  Run an ultra. Which one?  Comrades seemed the most illogical choice.  At heart Comrades: The Ultimate Race is a race that has all the ingredients that drew me into the sport in the first place, albeit in a more clubbish level.   Arrh well...we'll see.

I must thank my physio Tim West.  Tim has been a great help in getting me to taper time in the best possible condition, as far my musculoskeletal condition is concerned .  It's pretty well up to me now to finish the task.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=north%20west%20physiotherapy%20keperra

Back to my taper. Even though tapering, i still ran 160km this week.  I'll go hardcore tapering/freshening next week and drop my distance to 60%..  This week I ran 8x 1000m reps in the bush instead of 8x1500m.  I was able to push a bit harder too due to the reduced mileage and more rest. On Thursday 10x600m out at Nudgee to kick things along a bit more.   And parkrun on Saturday.  I was disappointed with my parkrun time.  I felt flat, which was concerning.  Sunday was cut back to 33km.  The first half was over hills and finished with relatively flat 16km.  Last 10km in 46:30 or so.  So, icing done.

I wished I had a better idea of how to taper for an Ultra.  My taper for CMA is pretty close to my marathon taper for Christchurch Marathon last year.  The difference being I was in 17:30 5 Km shape, whereas this year i could only manage 19:30.  Also, I have done a lot of quantity and not near as much quality for Comrades.  Mind you,   quantity often equates to quality if you know how to manage  the process and match it to the event.  Context provides more clarity in writing (and running).

A lot of the advice on ultra tapering is contradictory and confusing.  For instance, ease off mileage but increase your pace. Run 400m reps in the last week to keep loose.  Easing off mileage makes sense but sharpening and trying to lift shorter distance speed for an ultra?   It's not a fast race but an endurance event.   I don't know?  It's most likely my understanding is not up to par.  I just stayed with what i know, which is also seems  contradictory considering what i just wrote about my first taper week.    I am sure i will gain a lot more insight around Umlaas Rd😄😨.

USUAL GRIND

MAY 8 to 14.  This week it was back to my usual grind.  My hard sessions were all a bit slower than expected.  I worry that the cold i have been dealing with is one of those that leaves you with some sort of fatigue syndrome.   I also had all my shots for my visit to South Africa.

 I really hit my straps on Saturdays run.  Felt strong on the hills.  Heaps of season bests up the various hills on my regular course for CMA preparation.  I do worry that i haven't done enough long, solid hills of about eight kms.   Too late now.

I have decided to wear Kinvara 8s for CMA.  My 62 km run last week was trouble free as far as shoes go.  That included a few laps of Mt Cootha with all the downhill pounding.  Below are my Kinvara 7s,which were on special (and a bit colourful for me, but a dollar here and there adds up). Besides  i wanted to try them without obligation.  Also i have a pair of a Ride 9s, which are bit clunky for me.  And further down the Kinvara 8.  The difference is the 8s have a full length Evenrun.  I do think that these shoes feel the same at the finish of a run as they do on the outset.  Anyway, my choice.  http://www.saucony.com.au/kinvara-8-marl-black-d-s203631-000

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH ....GO THE LONG WAY.

MAY 1 to  7 .  I spent this week dealing with a cold and compensating with some LSD.  My cold was mainly neck up, but i did feel pretty weak and sluggish - well more so than usual. What to do?  The general run with colds and running is neck up with no fever go run, albeit cautiously. However, my pulse rate was about 10 to 15 above usual, so i decided to just run long slow distance on my hard session days so as to not stress the ticker or the body too much..  So on Tuesday 30km; Thursday 40km; and Sunday 62 km.

Oh yeah, a quick aside before i forget. I visited physio on Tuesday and the back is doing okay.  It's still bothersome.  All the sneezing doesn't help, but i think i can manage.  One lesson i have learnt is to be aligned when you deliver your blast.

 Thursday's session of 20x400s is most often the session that leaves me feeling the most smashed.  Interesting for me was that i felt better after the 40km run than after my usual Thursday session of 20x400.  Of course there are other factors such as cumulative effects of three days mostly solid training compared to three days of LSD.   I am not saying i felt great or anything, the tiredness was more just heavy legs, not damaged and heavy legs.

Although Lydiard, Clohessy are my main influences, the very first book i read was one of Ernest Van Aaken's.  I have since found a copy of the "The Van Aaken Method" but i can't be sure if it was the same as the library book i read thirty odd years ago. Same method though.  Van Aaken is the original advocate of LSD. My first year of running saw me running LSD.  I still incorporate a lot of LSD in my training  now.  No such thing as junk miles in my estimation. Good fall back when one needs a break from the usual grinders without resting.  All up 223 km this week.  So endurance looks okay for CMA. Cold getting better.  On, on...

JON'S MILE; MAILMAN'S MUSINGS AND THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF STAYING HEALTHY FOR COMRADES.

April 24 to 30:  This week started out okay.  Felt a bit sluggish and I made it worse with a run up Hillbrook. I was stashing water so it was not my usual Jinker run.  I still had a reasonable session on Tuesday over Jon's Mile.  Jon is my son and he liked to just go up there and do cruisy laps- 800m out and 800m back.  The profile is based on  a session that Jon did with Pat Clohessy's group.   Hard up for 450; slight down for 100m or so; turn and slight up; then back down for 450m; then sharp up then slight down for about 80;  then back to hill top.    I stop and walk down the hill for recovery but when Jon ran the session hard he would cruise the sharp down hill.  His cruise laps are about as quick as my all out efforts.  He's a sub 30 minute 10k runner and a 2:20 marathoner (and a lot younger). 

The pay-off from solid training (including Jon's mile session).  Jon is 669.

Wednesday I opted for a hilly run.  This included Mailman's which I seldom run.  I can only manage about six minutes up there these days but I recall when I ran over this course with Andy every Wednesday we used to shoot up it in near five minutes - week in, week out.  He often had to get back for parade at Enoggera barracks  and, if he was late, there would be no dilly-dallying, and even a hint of pootling on my part would see his mood change from the usual cheery, amicable Andy to hard-nosed military man on the move.  I am not a strong hill runner and Andy reminded me of this every Wednesday on Mailman's.  As Andy disapprovingly circled and waited for me at the top of Mailman's my strained utterances, "Going hard as I can mate!!!", would echo across the hills of Ferny Grove.  Training partners?

Saturday morning I intended to have a short sharp run so as to be fresher for an extra long 60km run on Sunday.  This was meant to be my final long run.  However, that scratchy throat I had during my 10k road run at estimated marathon pace (40 minutes) on Saturday turned out to be a pretty bad cold.  So I ended the week with a 16km run with my back still sore and the cold having me feeling crap physically, but feeling good mentally because I knew that I could well sit on my bum for four weeks and still finish Comrades.  And besides, I was up for an easy week.  So ended the week with fingers crossed that my sickness was just a cold and not a flu, and considering how to best manage the coming week.  There are about 200 cold viruses floating around and usually about four influenza viruses, so one has to pretty well keep your immune system in top order to deal with colds but the more serious flu can be prevented easily and safely with a flu vaccination.    https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/colds-and-flu

View from Jon's Mile