Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[milky4130]

Gees how hard is it to get an otter entry. I was on the waiting list and missed it again today at 12pm.

[ScottCM]

Congrats to all Big C runners. Can't wait to hear all the stories of the day

[IceCreamMan]

Followed where I could online. Seems a day of much drama and intrigue. Like every other comrades marathon. 

[shaper]

Hot and humid conditions, many say it was one of the hardest they have done.  Also the 2 starts was a bit chaotic and at some point, I assume where they joined, just too many runners.

[milky4130]

Buried myself, give me the up run any day of the week, The Down is the Work of the Devil!!!

[Hacc]

43 minutes ago, milky4130 said:

Buried myself, give me the up run any day of the week, The Down is the Work of the Devil!!!

My best time is on the up run, the down hurts like hell and coming down Fields Hill you start praying for a hill... 

I haven't run Comrades since pre-Covid, I have serious FOMO, and I'm thinking of making a comeback in 2027...
 

 

[Vallende Vaandel]

My first attempt at Comrades.

 

Since I wasn't sure if I would make it to the start line with my injury (lost the whole Jan & Feb to recovery) I lastminute.com booked accommodation and flights etc and decided this year would be school fees. Like in private elite school fees but ok, I can somehow justify it all. The accommodation looked fensie on paper but had many issues and cost me 2 night with almost no sleep but at least I got 5 hours in the night before the race. Rocked up an hour before the gun and checked into Group 2 batch Q. Effortlessly. The whole vibe was amazing and I was blissfully unaware of how much I would hate myself very soon. The gunshot shocked me into reality but the start on my Garmin was pressed and within 4min we crossed the start line. No jostling, bumping or tripping, just sheep being herded to slaughter. Again, it was smooth as butter and I latched onto the 11:45 bus and felt optimistic...

 

0-30km

I sipped my hydration and nibbled my gels, like I practiced every weekend. I knew my gut would require me to stop at +/- 12km because that's just me. And hey presto like clockwork I stopped and had to hustle a bit to catch up to the bus and off we went. But then out of nowhere my stomach cramped up on 25km and I had to call upon George. Twice the taste, zero the calories. I had to drop the bus since running worsened the cramping and I had to power walk trot my way to 30km. I searched high & low but couldn't find any of those 2 ton promised potatoes. The 1 table I did manage to see some I was smack in the middle of the road and in a big group. Hubby managed to get me some and my cramping eased. But I realized I was far behind on my carb intake. The Coach Parry band said I was still on track to make a 11:55 finish if I stay consistent.

 

30-60km

I don't remember much other than the blue haze of the porta potties. I tried to eat gels & potatoes conservatively but by now I had no sense of humor and knew anything going into my body would cause my stomach to cramp up and be rejected either at the top or bottom. I took a cramp block and just shuffled on, by now even the 12h bus waved me goodbye. 41km in. I just wanted to go further than 51km - the farthest I've ever been. I gripped my pacing band like a lifeline and was behind by 5min now. Called hubby and he said he was at the 32km to go mark. Another Vitality runner gravitated towards me and we shared our misery and misgivings. I ate a sucker some aid station gave me and wow did that revive me. I wasted time walking and chatting with Mpho, already having given up. But then the cramping stopped and the will to fight kicked in again. I ate my first gel in over 15km's and it stayed put. I pushed through knowing I was now more than 10min behind to even make the 12h cut off. Miracles do happen don't they?

 

60-90km

3h45min to run 30km. For most runners here this is a run in the park. Not for me. With no energy and already in a salt loss deficit (I bleed salt worse that the dead sea) I just prayed somehow I could make it. I went into dark deep places and pushed, refusing to acknowledge anything my body is yelling at me. The down running was excruciating. The crowd was amazing. My fellow comrades encouraging. I didn't look at a watch or a sign just kept pushing. 10km to go! 1h10m... I just had to push HARDER. And I did. For 1km. Then my core, shoulders, glutes, quads and hips literally just seized. I couldn't even shuffle. I stood frozen. The one muscle I was certain of would fail me, stood strong : my injured calves. The irony. I felt an arm snake around my waste as another Vitality runner embraced me and together we shuffled on like 2 sad neon pink grannies to the cutoff point at Sherwood 1km ahead or a bailer bus takes pity on us. That was a very special moment for me. We laughed and hugged and celebrated our 80km's and made light of the fact that we were so close and yet so far. She will never know how much I truly needed her at that moment, and as the sun set and we hobbled onto the bailer bus... We 'made it' to the finish line with 2 minutes to spare before cut off... Just not the way we expected or wanted.

 

This was the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I'm in awe of my body; one I regularly discredit, neglect and sometimes despise. I did not learn my lesson. I will be back next year to finish what I've started. The race was so well organized and reverberates into the soul of a special kind of crazy person. And I'm forever grateful divorce is too expensive and that my dearest husband already made peace with my ambitions.

[Shebeen]

2 hours ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

My first attempt at Comrades.

 

Since I wasn't sure if I would make it to the start line with my injury (lost the whole Jan & Feb to recovery) I lastminute.com booked accommodation and flights etc and decided this year would be school fees. Like in private elite school fees but ok, I can somehow justify it all. The accommodation looked fensie on paper but had many issues and cost me 2 night with almost no sleep but at least I got 5 hours in the night before the race. Rocked up an hour before the gun and checked into Group 2 batch Q. Effortlessly. The whole vibe was amazing and I was blissfully unaware of how much I would hate myself very soon. The gunshot shocked me into reality but the start on my Garmin was pressed and within 4min we crossed the start line. No jostling, bumping or tripping, just sheep being herded to slaughter. Again, it was smooth as butter and I latched onto the 11:45 bus and felt optimistic...

 

0-30km

I sipped my hydration and nibbled my gels, like I practiced every weekend. I knew my gut would require me to stop at +/- 12km because that's just me. And hey presto like clockwork I stopped and had to hustle a bit to catch up to the bus and off we went. But then out of nowhere my stomach cramped up on 25km and I had to call upon George. Twice the taste, zero the calories. I had to drop the bus since running worsened the cramping and I had to power walk trot my way to 30km. I searched high & low but couldn't find any of those 2 ton promised potatoes. The 1 table I did manage to see some I was smack in the middle of the road and in a big group. Hubby managed to get me some and my cramping eased. But I realized I was far behind on my carb intake. The Coach Parry band said I was still on track to make a 11:55 finish if I stay consistent.

 

30-60km

I don't remember much other than the blue haze of the porta potties. I tried to eat gels & potatoes conservatively but by now I had no sense of humor and knew anything going into my body would cause my stomach to cramp up and be rejected either at the top or bottom. I took a cramp block and just shuffled on, by now even the 12h bus waved me goodbye. 41km in. I just wanted to go further than 51km - the farthest I've ever been. I gripped my pacing band like a lifeline and was behind by 5min now. Called hubby and he said he was at the 32km to go mark. Another Vitality runner gravitated towards me and we shared our misery and misgivings. I ate a sucker some aid station gave me and wow did that revive me. I wasted time walking and chatting with Mpho, already having given up. But then the cramping stopped and the will to fight kicked in again. I ate my first gel in over 15km's and it stayed put. I pushed through knowing I was now more than 10min behind to even make the 12h cut off. Miracles do happen don't they?

 

60-90km

3h45min to run 30km. For most runners here this is a run in the park. Not for me. With no energy and already in a salt loss deficit (I bleed salt worse that the dead sea) I just prayed somehow I could make it. I went into dark deep places and pushed, refusing to acknowledge anything my body is yelling at me. The down running was excruciating. The crowd was amazing. My fellow comrades encouraging. I didn't look at a watch or a sign just kept pushing. 10km to go! 1h10m... I just had to push HARDER. And I did. For 1km. Then my core, shoulders, glutes, quads and hips literally just seized. I couldn't even shuffle. I stood frozen. The one muscle I was certain of would fail me, stood strong : my injured calves. The irony. I felt an arm snake around my waste as another Vitality runner embraced me and together we shuffled on like 2 sad neon pink grannies to the cutoff point at Sherwood 1km ahead or a bailer bus takes pity on us. That was a very special moment for me. We laughed and hugged and celebrated our 80km's and made light of the fact that we were so close and yet so far. She will never know how much I truly needed her at that moment, and as the sun set and we hobbled onto the bailer bus... We 'made it' to the finish line with 2 minutes to spare before cut off... Just not the way we expected or wanted.

 

This was the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I'm in awe of my body; one I regularly discredit, neglect and sometimes despise. I did not learn my lesson. I will be back next year to finish what I've started. The race was so well organized and reverberates into the soul of a special kind of crazy person. And I'm forever grateful divorce is too expensive and that my dearest husband already made peace with my ambitions.

Comrades is indeed a wicked mistress, making it to 80km is not a walk in the park but you get nothing official for it!

Lowest hanging fruit for next year is nutrition. You can't run far if you can't eat, relying on the baby potatoes on route is not a plan - what gels did you use? While I am allergic to hype, I have totally jumped on the Maurten train for running. It is pricey upfront, but you can keep it all down and it is carbs carbs carbs your body is burning. I would recommend giving this a go if you have a delicate stomach and it's holding you back.

Secondly, you can totally train your body to do the loo first thing waking up - highly recommended over the 12km marker portaloo.

 

good luck, keep on plugging.

[Vallende Vaandel]

2 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

Comrades is indeed a wicked mistress, making it to 80km is not a walk in the park but you get nothing official for it!

Lowest hanging fruit for next year is nutrition. You can't run far if you can't eat, relying on the baby potatoes on route is not a plan - what gels did you use? While I am allergic to hype, I have totally jumped on the Maurten train for running. It is pricey upfront, but you can keep it all down and it is carbs carbs carbs your body is burning. I would recommend giving this a go if you have a delicate stomach and it's holding you back.

Secondly, you can totally train your body to do the loo first thing waking up - highly recommended over the 12km marker portaloo.

 

good luck, keep on plugging.

32Gi pro 300 gels. same price as the Maurten, but just too sweet. Will try Maurten again and see what happens, not sure why I switched honestly. Problem is, my longest runs were +/- 25kms and that's not enough for gut training (I know that's too short but I did what I could with a calf tear). The potatoes just settle my stomach, every time without fail. But being a woman with the worst of luck, my cycle synced with comrades and that blew my gastric roller coaster even further out of proportion 💩

[Shebeen]

5 hours ago, milky4130 said:

Buried myself, give me the up run any day of the week, The Down is the Work of the Devil!!!

This is me. Much preferred the Uprun. Granted I did 36% more training mileage last year (jan-jun 847vs 619km), but more cycling this time round. It boggles my mind how the 35km Durban side of the route felt so steep going down yet hardly noticed it significantly going up 12 months ago.

I was in wave 1, felt the 2 start seemed fine. I had a rough plan, which was dice rolling for a sub 10. the 90% chance it didn't come off would then be hanging on and willpower to the end. Which is what happened and i got to 44km to go and was happy to jump in a bus with my shot legs. I soldiered on, walking most uphills. Didn't help that my watch clearly didn't charge to 100% and it  went low battery at halfway and died with 35km left. Once on the highway in westville some rhythm returned and I was only comfortable at 4km to go with 42mins left in the bank for a bronze.

Not exactly a ground breaking discovery, but don't f@#$ with this race - you will get spat out!

finish area was a dogshow. They have so much to improve on if they want 35 000 entries in 2027

 

[Shebeen]

3 minutes ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

32Gi pro 300 gels. same price as the Maurten, but just too sweet. Will try Maurten again and see what happens, not sure why I switched honestly. Problem is, my longest runs were +/- 25kms and that's not enough for gut training (I know that's too short but I did what I could with a calf tear). The potatoes just settle my stomach, every time without fail. But being a woman with the worst of luck, my cycle synced with comrades and that blew my gastric roller coaster even further out of proportion 💩

32GI are super sweet. i'm ok with them but not sure about too many in a single race - nice thing is if you know them then there are plenty on the route.

not sure it's my place to give advice for the second issue for cycles, but know some ladies will "work their schedule" into the calendar for a big race. Assume that means you take double periods of the sugar pills or something like that - would definitely ask around.

[milky4130]

21 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

This is me. Much preferred the Uprun. Granted I did 36% more training mileage last year (jan-jun 847vs 619km), but more cycling this time round. It boggles my mind how the 35km Durban side of the route felt so steep going down yet hardly noticed it significantly going up 12 months ago.

I was in wave 1, felt the 2 start seemed fine. I had a rough plan, which was dice rolling for a sub 10. the 90% chance it didn't come off would then be hanging on and willpower to the end. Which is what happened and i got to 44km to go and was happy to jump in a bus with my shot legs. I soldiered on, walking most uphills. Didn't help that my watch clearly didn't charge to 100% and it  went low battery at halfway and died with 35km left. Once on the highway in westville some rhythm returned and I was only comfortable at 4km to go with 42mins left in the bank for a bronze.

Not exactly a ground breaking discovery, but don't f@#$ with this race - you will get spat out!

finish area was a dogshow. They have so much to improve on if they want 35 000 entries in 2027

 

Agree "FAAFO" should be Comrades new Moto for the Down Run. I also didnt notice that long ascend up fields hill last year, amazing how everything changes once fatigue sets in vs when you are fresh.

While still fresh in the mind I'm already at the drawing board trying to figure out how to get to Fields Hill with legs not shattered. Or How to run down Polly's Hill without blowing the legs so much that I was creeping up Bothas Hill. How to handle that off camber on a never ending descend of Fields Hill. Physically I was convinced I was best prepped for the down run with plenty of gym strength work, but somewhere along the line I stuffed up, maybe it was on the day or maybe it was in the preparation but I do know I need to consulate some experienced folk as I'm just a self coached novice.

[ChrisF]

4 hours ago, Vallende Vaandel said:

My first attempt at Comrades.

 

Since I wasn't sure if I would make it to the start line with my injury (lost the whole Jan & Feb to recovery) I lastminute.com booked accommodation and flights etc and decided this year would be school fees. Like in private elite school fees but ok, I can somehow justify it all. The accommodation looked fensie on paper but had many issues and cost me 2 night with almost no sleep but at least I got 5 hours in the night before the race. Rocked up an hour before the gun and checked into Group 2 batch Q. Effortlessly. The whole vibe was amazing and I was blissfully unaware of how much I would hate myself very soon. The gunshot shocked me into reality but the start on my Garmin was pressed and within 4min we crossed the start line. No jostling, bumping or tripping, just sheep being herded to slaughter. Again, it was smooth as butter and I latched onto the 11:45 bus and felt optimistic...

 

0-30km

I sipped my hydration and nibbled my gels, like I practiced every weekend. I knew my gut would require me to stop at +/- 12km because that's just me. And hey presto like clockwork I stopped and had to hustle a bit to catch up to the bus and off we went. But then out of nowhere my stomach cramped up on 25km and I had to call upon George. Twice the taste, zero the calories. I had to drop the bus since running worsened the cramping and I had to power walk trot my way to 30km. I searched high & low but couldn't find any of those 2 ton promised potatoes. The 1 table I did manage to see some I was smack in the middle of the road and in a big group. Hubby managed to get me some and my cramping eased. But I realized I was far behind on my carb intake. The Coach Parry band said I was still on track to make a 11:55 finish if I stay consistent.

 

30-60km

I don't remember much other than the blue haze of the porta potties. I tried to eat gels & potatoes conservatively but by now I had no sense of humor and knew anything going into my body would cause my stomach to cramp up and be rejected either at the top or bottom. I took a cramp block and just shuffled on, by now even the 12h bus waved me goodbye. 41km in. I just wanted to go further than 51km - the farthest I've ever been. I gripped my pacing band like a lifeline and was behind by 5min now. Called hubby and he said he was at the 32km to go mark. Another Vitality runner gravitated towards me and we shared our misery and misgivings. I ate a sucker some aid station gave me and wow did that revive me. I wasted time walking and chatting with Mpho, already having given up. But then the cramping stopped and the will to fight kicked in again. I ate my first gel in over 15km's and it stayed put. I pushed through knowing I was now more than 10min behind to even make the 12h cut off. Miracles do happen don't they?

 

60-90km

3h45min to run 30km. For most runners here this is a run in the park. Not for me. With no energy and already in a salt loss deficit (I bleed salt worse that the dead sea) I just prayed somehow I could make it. I went into dark deep places and pushed, refusing to acknowledge anything my body is yelling at me. The down running was excruciating. The crowd was amazing. My fellow comrades encouraging. I didn't look at a watch or a sign just kept pushing. 10km to go! 1h10m... I just had to push HARDER. And I did. For 1km. Then my core, shoulders, glutes, quads and hips literally just seized. I couldn't even shuffle. I stood frozen. The one muscle I was certain of would fail me, stood strong : my injured calves. The irony. I felt an arm snake around my waste as another Vitality runner embraced me and together we shuffled on like 2 sad neon pink grannies to the cutoff point at Sherwood 1km ahead or a bailer bus takes pity on us. That was a very special moment for me. We laughed and hugged and celebrated our 80km's and made light of the fact that we were so close and yet so far. She will never know how much I truly needed her at that moment, and as the sun set and we hobbled onto the bailer bus... We 'made it' to the finish line with 2 minutes to spare before cut off... Just not the way we expected or wanted.

 

This was the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I'm in awe of my body; one I regularly discredit, neglect and sometimes despise. I did not learn my lesson. I will be back next year to finish what I've started. The race was so well organized and reverberates into the soul of a special kind of crazy person. And I'm forever grateful divorce is too expensive and that my dearest husband already made peace with my ambitions.

 

RESPECT for hanging in there !!

 

Having paid the school fees, we trust you will be much better prepared next year.  

[Shebeen]

17 hours ago, milky4130 said:

Agree "FAAFO" should be Comrades new Moto for the Down Run. I also didnt notice that long ascend up fields hill last year, amazing how everything changes once fatigue sets in vs when you are fresh.

I had to google that. yes, apt.

 

17 hours ago, milky4130 said:

While still fresh in the mind I'm already at the drawing board trying to figure out how to get to Fields Hill with legs not shattered. Or How to run down Polly's Hill without blowing the legs so much that I was creeping up Bothas Hill. How to handle that off camber on a never ending descend of Fields Hill. Physically I was convinced I was best prepped for the down run with plenty of gym strength work, but somewhere along the line I stuffed up, maybe it was on the day or maybe it was in the preparation but I do know I need to consulate some experienced folk as I'm just a self coached novice.

Gym work. I was planning on doing more, and i didn't. I've never had a gym contract but have access to one and never got into it. even the basic stuff at home makes sense.

Miles, I'm not complaining as I didn't do enough. Had some clubmates who did 1500km+ and even they suffered so not sure that is the only answer.

 

[milky4130]

My goal was 2000km come race day. I surprisingly only fell short by 130kms due to being sick twice, Jan & again in May. Also regularly dropped the Monday recovery run when I felt too sore or tired. In hindsight more hills up & down was needed. Goal was still achieved albeit in a shattered state.

[DJuice]

31 minutes ago, milky4130 said:

My goal was 2000km come race day. I surprisingly only fell short by 130kms due to being sick twice, Jan & again in May. Also regularly dropped the Monday recovery run when I felt too sore or tired. In hindsight more hills up & down was needed. Goal was still achieved albeit in a shattered state.

Congrats on your race. Respect!! Wear your medal with pride.