SeaBee

I'm not an expert... but my guess is that going up is not going to make much of a difference. The problem comes when you go down in drop and the calves suddenly gets a bit more of a stretch. Plus, it's trail so you hardly ever land "flat" anyways. At a stage I had shoes varying from 0 (Altra) to 4 (Saucony) I usually ran with interchangeably. And then I actually had 8mm Saucony I ran with when I did marathons or Oceans. But I do tend to strike forefoot - I think that also makes the heel offset less of an impact. Just touch down quickly with the heel. Edit: PS - I have also been told my calves are very flexible, so that may also play a role.

To add to marathon program ideas, what I tend to do for road (when I did that) was to build up to running the full distance of the race (whatever distance it might be) per week. Then add specific work and intervals and more days/volume. And do a couple of runs that surpasses 32k's. That is roundabout the mark where all the gremlins initially come into play. Whether your shoes are good for longer than half marathon distance, bonking, walking, cramps, a sudden dislike in things you used to eat before, all those fun things... Good luck - and enjoy the journey! As well as the destination. Your first marathon remains a super special moment.

Jaaaa, "problem" is that it's classified as group rides, not races. There's not even a post-ride classification in Companion. So I, for one, just pitched up and rode after weekend of training and a crappy work day. So sort-of did not even chase breaks, just settled in and had a lekker ride. Still ahead of by far most of the 4000 on the ride. But when some of the guys started sprinting in the last couple 100m I thought that it's like guys riding each other into the railings to compete for 7 000th place in the Argus. Same for the run. I had that yesterday evening and simply ran, till close to the end where two of us had a short dice to the finish just for giggles.

I also use electrolytes-only for a lot of my running. And ran out whilst on holiday laaaaast year when we just started hearing of this Chinese bat flu. And bought one tube of Cola, because hey, it's cola! Man, I drank that stuff more than required just to work my way through the tube - it is the worst imitation of cola ever! I usually use Biogen citrus. 32GI also has nice electrolytes and of course Nuun.

I have the oriiiiginal FuelCell... think Impulse? With forefoot cell. Really like them. Nice fit as well.

But, ito liveries, while we're talking. Merc royally screwed uo their engin cover with the fade to silver AMG logo's. They should have stuck to last year's livery! I have no idea WTF Williams tried to do. Because that resembles NONE of their past glory. Sorry. It looks like a dinky toy. Haas with their Russian flag - I thought that's stupid even before the protests started coming in. Alfa sorta reveresed their scheme - not too bad. Alpha Tauri has potential, but the white wheels is a bit excessive. Maybe it looks better in action than on photos. McLaren - blue sidepods?! Really? If it was not for that... Red Bull kept it steady, I actually like their livery. What works, works. Then the two newbies. I think AM did an awesome job. Kept it simple, and it's BRG. From the previews, my favourite livery. Alpine has an absolutely awesome livery! Which they (IMO) stuffed up completely with two splashes of red. In the middle of a flowing black section they go red behind the MAPFRE logo ahead of the cockpit. And then the red inside of the front wing endplates. Whyyyyy?! It would have been an absolutely amazing livery without that. But hey, that's my personal opinions. We all like different stuff. And like I said above. Looks counts for 0 points. And I'm not being paid for graphic design - and some of these have some really weird visual stuff-ups in them - on my eye at least.

I was pretty sure MW disappeared through the course of last season. And thought it was due to some subliminal advertising for PM argument somebody had. Now it's back? But yeah, that green looks... well, it makes me green - not with envy. Esp since the rest of the related MW and "arrow" logo's are black. Also have to agree on the numbers. Light into dark red looks great! But hey, as with the other cars. Livery does not score any WC points.

Kids of today... Just Google BT46B. Think that was also designed by Gordon Murray. And obviously driven by Niki. In its only race. Which it won. And then was banned.

Ag no man, pity that Friday won't work for you. I've entered just to get the fitness boost. Will definitely not be "racing".

Yes and yes. Looks like Friday's stage is the baby one, to allow one to more easily do it before or after work. I'm planning on before. What's worse, for me, is that IIRC the Norseman race is also on Saturday.

Ja, also never took it seriously and was full-out in training, incl Norseman previous evening on top of Gran Fondo intervals yesterday morning. Fortunately did nothing on the morning, otherwise I would have died and not just felt like it! I tend to say I'll take it easy. And then I see the xx/xxx numbers. And then whatever is left in the legs get used.

Did it go something like this: Message1: "Hey, there's this really cool run" Message2: "You coming?" Just kidding!

Holy cow... Eina!

Spot the new guy questions coming up... Andymann, do I understand it correctly if I say you do TT leg, finish and then quit as per normal event, go out of Zwift, transition yourself, re-enter Zwift in run mode, pray that the pod calibration is more or less ballpark and go? Esp since it's completely separate events to register for, you must just register for same set. And then WTRL stitches it all together.

It has all become a leg lifting contest... Sorry, this may get long... I sent a WhatsApp to a friend earlier today by sheer coincidence. And the gist of it was. I got gatvol of the racing mentality in cycling a good many years ago. And during the end of that time "found" running - by sheer coincidence, it's a funny story. So a while later I went without cycling for years. I became a runner. But in that time, running (road and trail) became the same. And I got gatvol. And I learnt that cycling (and running!) can be... fun while improving yourself. At this stage... I don't care what your last Oceans time was or whether you ran SkyRun or UTCT or Comrades or 5 African-X's or whatever. That's your story. (Maybe I'm blunted by my training partners, but such is life.) And I know there is a couple of VERY talented runners here. I am not dissing you. I have ridden the last couple of Argus/CTCT's on my mtb with friends. The last one went a bit south ito staying together, but that's also okay. (Sorry Mads!) Yes, maybe age does play a factor. Do I still train? You bet! I have freakin' scary stats... Why? It keeps me sane. It keeps me focussed outside work and all the other sheet. I will always have some goal. I will always chase something. It may be an insignificant virtual event, it may be a big IRL event, it may just be recovering from a bloody small fall that stuffed up my cruciate ligaments. So, a step back. I have "raced" and all. And when I got home, all my wife wants to hear is one thing - after she sees I'm okay! - "Did you enjoy it?". She asked me that 20 years ago when I was chasing stuff, even when I was playing squash before "that" injury and I started cycling. She'll ask me that after my next race. I've now learnt what it means. So after all of that essay... enjoy what you do! Young guns, go flat-out and chase your dreams! Old(er) dogs, go flat-out and chase your dreams. Enjoy it. Enjoy the chase, embrace the building up to the event, training and all. And for the young guns and gunnites... marry a girl/guy who understand all of this! You can NOT do any endurance sport without an understanding partner. Die oom het klaar gepreek vir die aand. (For the foreigners: The speach - even if it was not as good as Cyril lifting the alcohol ban! - is over....)