Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[Andrew Steer]

I beg to differ on the Vaal Marathon. Its a flat route BUT you have to work the entire way. Johnson Crane is easy and from what I heard, Kaapse Hoop is a good fast qualifier for Comrades...

Johnsons is super flat, Vaal I prefer as it's a bit more rolling... and Kaapsehoop is downhill half the time, so a quad/knee killer. Each to their own, but less hills usually equals quicker times which is what qualifying is about. 

[Pieter1]

I use my old garmin footpot. you pair it with zwift and calibrate iton zwift . works nice and display your heart rate and speed.

Awesome! I tried just pairing it with the watch but no joy. I'll try find a foot pod.

[Barry Stuart]

I remember a few years ago listening to one of coach Parry's podcasts, in which he mentioned doing gym work for the down run.

 

This got me thinking, to the experienced runners on here, what pearls of wisdom do you have that you are willing to share with the novices for Comrades as well as those tackling their first down run?

I'm obviously a rookie as well but I can say that the 10 Westcliff repeats I did the other week absolutely trashed my quads. I've never had muscles that sore for the days that followed. I made sure I ran back down the sloped section on the side rather than the stairs after each repeat and by the fifth repeat my calves were doing those spasm twitches. I can only imagine how good those must be in building quad resilience for the down.

[Hacc]

Johnson Crane is early in the year, very hot and very flat. You work the full 42km and you actually wish for a hill and a down hill. I normally do the marathon. I decided next year to only do the 21km. January is early in the year for a marathon.

 

Vaal is just as flat, I hated it. It feels like an obstacle course with all the potholes. Quite a popular race as your time is mat to mat and not gun to mat.

 

Kaapse Hoop is mostly down hill except for the last 4 kms. The one huge factor is the heat and humidity... Yes it is an easy qualifier but the heat gets to most people. If you are planning to use Kaapse Hoop as a qualifier you better do heat training. Go do your long run at 12 in the afternoon, not at 6 in the morning.

 

My best marathon is Sasol. Also flat but not as bad as Vaal and Johnson.

 

I ran Sarens 21km this year and I quite enjoyed it. Could possibly be a good marathon to use.

 

If you really want to impress everyone then use Deloittes Pretoria marathon as a qualifier [emoji48]

 

But like Andrew said each to their own

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Edited September 13, 2017 by Hacc

[Zatek]

Whate millage should you in a week to run a matathon?

 

Thinking of upgrading my kaapsehoop from 21 to 42km. Trying my luck to qualify early for the comrades.

[SeaBee]

I have a mindset of doing race distance in a week as a minimum. But I'm the (relative) noob... and don't run anything further than Oceans on tar. So in my mind, depending on your goals of course, you'll be cool for the marathon given that you do about 40-45 k's a week.

AND you have had some long runs. Weird things happens after 32 k's. From perfect-fitting shoes causing black toe nails to the dreaded wall... 

 

BTW, I've heard Oudtshoorn is apparently also a quick qualifier. Buddy of mine says you tend to ID all the Oudtshoorn qualifiers by picking them up before halfway, having been seeded way ahead of you.

[Hacc]

If you want to just qualify for now,  and you don't mind coming in at 4:59 for the marathon then I agree 40 to 50 kms a week. If you can run a "comfortable" 30km long run then you should be able to finish a marathon. The most difficult kms on a marathon for me is 28 to 32. That is where the serious negotiations with yourself start. 

 

Obviously, if your plan is a sub 4, sub 3:30 etc then you need to focus on speed work and quality over quantity during the week as well. 

[Pieter-za]

Anybody who did the 94.7 & RAC 32km Tough One in the past? 

From the RAC entry form I see there is a 'Sweat Shop Challenge' where one can get a 'combined medal'?

Thanks 

[Hacc]

Anybody who did the 94.7 & RAC 32km Tough One in the past? 

From the RAC entry form I see there is a 'Sweat Shop Challenge' where one can get a 'combined medal'?

Thanks 

Yes, when you finish the Tough One there is a tent where you give them your 94.7 time and then you get another medal. So you get two medals at Tough one.

 

They also send out results with the combined time.... It is actually very interesting how close your 94.7 time can be to your Tough one time. A friend of mine rode a 3:01 last year and ran a 2:59 tough one...

[Mats]

How do you guys balance the cycling and the running?

Or is it one of those things that just takes a long time to adapt to

[Hacc]

How do you guys balance the cycling and the running?

Or is it one of those things that just takes a long time to adapt to

It is for me very difficult. This time of year (after Comrades) I cycle over weekends and run during the week. As I don't really have any running races planned for the rest of the year (except the Tough One suffer festival)  my main focus is cycling. You can be running fit but it does not mean you can sit on a bike for 100kms...

[Jackes]

And I would say if you can do at least 2 x 30-32km long slow ones in that, you should be ok.

 

Keeping in mind that qualifying now is less important than going into January fit and injury free...

[Pieter-za]

Yes, when you finish the Tough One there is a tent where you give them your 94.7 time and then you get another medal. So you get two medals at Tough one.

 

They also send out results with the combined time.... It is actually very interesting how close your 94.7 time can be to your Tough one time. A friend of mine rode a 3:01 last year and ran a 2:59 tough one...

Thanks Hacc

[dave303e]

How do you guys balance the cycling and the running?

Or is it one of those things that just takes a long time to adapt to

 

run 3/4 times a week cycle once or twice... any runner can get on a bike and manage a long cycle, most cyclists won't be able to run a big distance without injury so I usually load the running slightly more.

It is also far easier to always have running kit in the car, and to find 20-40mins for a 6-12km run is far easier and more beneficial than to find 1 hour for a 15-25km mtb....

[ScottCM]

run 3/4 times a week cycle once or twice... any runner can get on a bike and manage a long cycle, most cyclists won't be able to run a big distance without injury so I usually load the running slightly more.

It is also far easier to always have running kit in the car, and to find 20-40mins for a 6-12km run is far easier and more beneficial than to find 1 hour for a 15-25km mtb....

 

12km in 40min, damn dude, i wish i could get my 10km time down to that 

[CobusV]

Johnson Crane is early in the year, very hot and very flat. You work the full 42km and you actually wish for a hill and a down hill. I normally do the marathon. I decided next year to only do the 21km. January is early in the year for a marathon.

 

Vaal is just as flat, I hated it. It feels like an obstacle course with all the potholes. Quite a popular race as your time is mat to mat and not gun to mat.

 

Kaapse Hoop is mostly down hill except for the last 4 kms. The one huge factor is the heat and humidity... Yes it is an easy qualifier but the heat gets to most people. If you are planning to use Kaapse Hoop as a qualifier you better do heat training. Go do your long run at 12 in the afternoon, not at 6 in the morning.

 

My best marathon is Sasol. Also flat but not as bad as Vaal and Johnson.

 

I ran Sarens 21km this year and I quite enjoyed it. Could possibly be a good marathon to use.

 

If you really want to impress everyone then use Deloittes Pretoria marathon as a qualifier [emoji48]

 

But like Andrew said each to their own

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

I achieved my marathon PB on Deloitte. Started with club-mates (way way to fast) en blew at 26km. Managed to press the reset button and finished in 3:34.. Went through half way in 1:40. Still, I prefer the ups and downs rather than flat marathon where it feels like you working all the time.