Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[DJuice]

17 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Not sure if it is the Park Runs or the gym sessions .... but my cycling has improved significantly over the last year !

 

There's your motivation thought for the day  (please ignore the stupidly low base I started from) 

@ChrisFit is probably both contributing.

Personally the gym session made a big difference in my cycling at an older age.

[Cardiogoth]

21 hours ago, milky4130 said:

Possibly, my understanding is Cardiovascularly cycling supplements running i.e. you can get the same benefit without the load and impact on muscles, joints and tendons. This is especially crucial if you are nursing a running injury. I’ve also heard that climbing uphills on the bike will activate some of the running muscles but without the load running will incur.

Agreed - the more research I do, the more I see ultrarunning pros doing a lot of cross-training, whether it be cycling, skimo or whatever, because you can't realistically get the load you need for running 100 milers at any kind or real intensity without a serious injury risk. 

[Pieter-za]

On 6/10/2025 at 3:38 PM, Shebeen said:

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?

Personal opinion, don't get hang-up on gels - you can get by perfectly on what is on offer at the tables - but have a plan around how you will use it etc.  (In fact, one can do Comrades on very few carbs if you have conditioned yourself in the preceding months.)    BTW - Baby potatoes etc can actually be a plan, it is working for maybe thousands of runners  

Use the marathons and ultra's leading up to the Comrades to experiment, test and refine your nutrition plan.

[IceCreamMan]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKzgHsGKKB8/?igsh=MXhjbHg1b25mYW5qbg%3D%3D

[dave303e]

1 hour ago, DJuice said:

@ChrisFit is probably both contributing.

Personally the gym session made a big difference in my cycling at an older age.

Do some research on the effects that age, endurance cycling and gym weight work have on testosterone levels. At a certain age it becomes more important from what I have read

[Irvin85]

2 hours ago, Pieter-za said:

Personal opinion, don't get hang-up on gels - you can get by perfectly on what is on offer at the tables - but have a plan around how you will use it etc.  (In fact, one can do Comrades on very few carbs if you have conditioned yourself in the preceding months.)    BTW - Baby potatoes etc can actually be a plan, it is working for maybe thousands of runners  

Use the marathons and ultra's leading up to the Comrades to experiment, test and refine your nutrition plan.

It is very possible, it all depends on how hard you are pushing and what kind of heart rate you are managing during the event. Some people run a comfortable sub 6min/km at a average heart rate of 135 other people with the same kind of fitness level has an average heart rate of close to 160 at the same pace. As you say it is all about conditioning, that is why the zone 2 training is so important for Ultra distance events. 

[ChrisF]

On 6/13/2025 at 9:55 AM, DJuice said:

@ChrisFit is probably both contributing.

Personally the gym session made a big difference in my cycling at an older age.

 

Nice long solo ride .... time to contemplate world peace and safe cycling routes .... even time to think about cross training and which helps which ...

 

Nothing like saddle time to train the saddle to be gentle to your postereur ...

 

Forget cross training .... just get BIKE HUB SOCKS for a performance boost  😋

 

 

 

Or ....... just maybe cross training does help to improve cycling 

Edited June 15, 2025 by ChrisF

[Sepia]

This Comrades thing and not the 12 hour medal finish!

Personal opinion, tried and tested.  Not necessary to eat, drink lots of water and swallow a salt tab or two.  As for shoes - gym plimsolls will do.

 

Edited June 15, 2025 by Sepia
Correcting the truth

[ScottCM]

Western states Weekend. One Saffa, Jack Davis, in the event. This is still my main bucket list event. 

[milky4130]

11 hours ago, ScottCM said:

Western states Weekend. One Saffa, Jack Davis, in the event. This is still my main bucket list event. 

Quite a rigorous qualification process if I’m not mistaken? 

[Shebeen]

On 6/13/2025 at 9:59 AM, Pieter-za said:

Personal opinion, don't get hang-up on gels - you can get by perfectly on what is on offer at the tables - but have a plan around how you will use it etc.  (In fact, one can do Comrades on very few carbs if you have conditioned yourself in the preceding months.)    BTW - Baby potatoes etc can actually be a plan, it is working for maybe thousands of runners  

Use the marathons and ultra's leading up to the Comrades to experiment, test and refine your nutrition plan.

I think nutrition is such a personal thing. ja, there is plenty of food on offer, but how many bananas and baby potatoes can your stomach handle?

 

i went all in with maurten this year, the stuff is black magic (for me). i used two drop-off caches done on the saturday, super dodge but worked!

i saw this service, pricey but peace of mind

https://consports.co.za/

 

 

[Cardiogoth]

18 hours ago, Shebeen said:

I think nutrition is such a personal thing. ja, there is plenty of food on offer, but how many bananas and baby potatoes can your stomach handle?

 

i went all in with maurten this year, the stuff is black magic (for me). i used two drop-off caches done on the saturday, super dodge but worked!

i saw this service, pricey but peace of mind

https://consports.co.za/

 

 

I'm with you. Maurten really are the gold standard. I've made the mistake of abandoning a nutrition plan and eating from aid stations, and I came very close to having to DNF as a result. 

[Shebeen]

On 6/27/2025 at 7:54 PM, milky4130 said:

Quite a rigorous qualification process if I’m not mistaken? 

VERY

our guy got in on the raffle

https://www.wser.org/lottery/

[dave303e]

On 6/27/2025 at 7:54 PM, milky4130 said:

Quite a rigorous qualification process if I’m not mistaken? 

Ya it is more a luck/perseverance thing with a lottery. You can also win golden tickets by winning other major ultras.

[Shebeen]

5 hours ago, dave303e said:

Ya it is more a luck/perseverance thing with a lottery. You can also win golden tickets by winning other major ultras.

it's an equitable way to do it in my mind.

Normally races give our entries to returning runners first.

This knocks that out, you need to be top 10/winning qualifiers. Otherwise back of the lottery queue.

 

 

 

[dave303e]

24 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

it's an equitable way to do it in my mind.

Normally races give our entries to returning runners first.

This knocks that out, you need to be top 10/winning qualifiers. Otherwise back of the lottery queue.

 

 

 

I have nothing against their entry process, each year if you are in the lottery and unsuccessful you get more tickets the following year if you enter the lottery.

 

"Each runner who enters the lottery and fails to gain entry into the Run (and otherwise doesn’t gain an entry via other means such as an aid station, sponsor, raffle, or Golden Ticket spot) will have additional tickets in the hat when entering their next lottery, regardless of whether it is the next year or a future year, thus improving the probability of being selected. Every lottery applicant will receive 2^(n-1) tickets in the hat for each failure to gain entry where n is the number of years applied. As an example: If a runner applies and fails to gain entry two times, they will have four tickets in the hat when entered in the lottery the third year (2^2), eight in fourth year (2^3), 16 in fifth (2^4), 32 in sixth (2^5), etc."

 

You can also get entry from running an aid station this year which is a great initiative, put in effort and you can race, earn you spot.

I also applaud them for not tearing the ring with entry fee. $475 is not bad for a dollar based entry fee, especially in terms of the prestige of the event. UTCT and UCT are about R6200, and western states around R8800, so it is expensive but not over the top. They had over 9500 people in the lottery this year, they could seriously hike the prices and still sell out, but they have not done that.