Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[Raab]

Really hoping for a strong showing from Tollefson, IMO a stronger contender than Walmsley.

[Mudsimus]

I might add a disclaimer that I do not like the Vic Clapham. It was introduced in the year 2000 (I believe) to get numbers. Do I frown upon those that achieve the vc? Absolutely not...I respect anyone that committees themselves to running this race... But...I also think the addition of the vc has allowed sub 11hr runners to complacently accept the VC. On the flip side.. My brother law of almost 30 comrades used to always say he wouldn't consider a VC finish as a finish in his books .. But he got one in 2016 and 2017 and he was very pleased with it regardless....but....he also upped his training this year and in 2018 he was back on the bronze train..by a solid hour compared to his 2017 time...so food for thought too. I have also said before..as a compromise... It should be considered a finish...but sans a medal......

 

I mean no disrespect to anyone on this thread... That's just my personal opinion of the VC. I would be interested to hear opinion from those who are in that 11 to 12 hour band...if the cutoff was 11... Would you still be entering or would you be changing your training regime?

On a long run a few weeks ago some strange old timer decided to join in and spoil my me time. For the next 8 odd km he rambled on about +11 hours not being a finish in his book. Ironically the last time he ran Comrades was 10 years ago.

 

Personally if I can just finish next year I will be well chuffed.

[Chris_]

Don't take this the wrong way but I think life in general, how anyone did it in 'the good old days', will always be first prize.

 

A lot of us didn't even know 11 hours was ever a cut off.

 

Personally.. I was given 12 hours to complete it, I did my sums and had an average pace that I knew I couldn't go above. Thats just it. I reckon the cut off could have been 11 hours and I still would have made it (although on that day definitely in the medic tent..). I think a lot of people aiming for just a 'finish' go by that method.

 

And no matter the cutoff you will always have the majority coming in in the final 30 mins. You cut the 5 hour qualifiers out, then the 4:30 qualis become the stragglers.

 

On a side note I also wonder the split between runners aiming for an actual time, compared to runners just going for a finish.

[Stretch]

Don't take this the wrong way but I think life in general, how anyone did it in 'the good old days', will always be first prize.

 

A lot of us didn't even know 11 hours was ever a cut off.

 

Personally.. I was given 12 hours to complete it, I did my sums and had an average pace that I knew I couldn't go above. Thats just it. I reckon the cut off could have been 11 hours and I still would have made it (although on that day definitely in the medic tent..). I think a lot of people aiming for just a 'finish' go by that method.

 

And no matter the cutoff you will always have the majority coming in in the final 30 mins. You cut the 5 hour qualifiers out, then the 4:30 qualis become the stragglers.

 

On a side note I also wonder the split between runners aiming for an actual time, compared to runners just going for a finish.

I'm competitive... Very competitive... Maybe that's the difference here.. My view is how much time can I do it in.. Not how much time do I have to do it in

[Jackes]

 For the next 8 odd km he rambled on about +11 hours not being a finish in his book. Ironically the last time he ran Comrades was 10 years ago.

 

On the subject...

 

I read an article of an interview with one of the two record holders of the most comrades runs before this years'.   Where he went on about how the comrades is still 11 hours in the books of their old timers and that is what they finish it in, they don't do the 12 hours thing...   Well, funny thing is the comrades results page...  Beware what you say I guess..   haha

[tjommies3]

Growing up I watched Comrades religiously, and like most I had the thought that I should do this one day. Then that dream faded away but not completely because I am determined to do it now, even more than before. I don't really care about the colour(or material) of the medal, so if anyone can finish the distance on the day regardless of the time, they should be given a pat on the back. The problem I have is that we all know what type of training is necessary in order to be physically and mentally prepared for this race, but why go through all the torture during training and then the torture of the day by stretching it out for as long as you possibly can and still finish? I know that with the training I can put in, I should easily do it in sub 10 but I am aiming for sub 9, and if I feel good I'll even push for a sub 8, and then if I'm better than that, then I will try my utmost to go for that silver. All these things are what I think of and it obviously depends on what happens on the day. I'm not interested in back-to-back events, I just wanna go out and give it my all first time around.

 

All of this after never really wanting to run in general. How things have changed for me, finishing a marathon only on my 3rd attempt, now I am aiming for a potential sub 3:30 this coming Sunday after barely 2 years of taking running seriously. I am by no means a natural runner but it took hard work to get to this point. Every person has that natural sense of wanting to improve, so that's what keeps me going.

[dave303e]

How are you all balancing your training in terms of hours breakdown, obviously you are mostly all cycling as well a bit?

 

finding that balance between running, cycling, strength work, paddling, and climbing is a constant fight for me

[Andrew Steer]

Don't take this the wrong way but I think life in general, how anyone did it in 'the good old days', will always be first prize.

 

A lot of us didn't even know 11 hours was ever a cut off.

 

Personally.. I was given 12 hours to complete it, I did my sums and had an average pace that I knew I couldn't go above. Thats just it. I reckon the cut off could have been 11 hours and I still would have made it (although on that day definitely in the medic tent..). I think a lot of people aiming for just a 'finish' go by that method.

 

And no matter the cutoff you will always have the majority coming in in the final 30 mins. You cut the 5 hour qualifiers out, then the 4:30 qualis become the stragglers.

 

On a side note I also wonder the split between runners aiming for an actual time, compared to runners just going for a finish.

 

I think that's the crux here, big difference between people who are natural/talented or focused runners who wan't to test their limits... and the many other people who just love the event and want to be apart of a special day.

 

I fall into the latter, I'm not built for running (skinny me is still well over 80kgs), I've got zero family running history, it was just something I as a South African always admired and in 2013 decided to give a crack after I'd followed a few of my friends Comrades journeys. My training regime (or lack thereof) is frowned apon, and I can live with that, but it gets me what I want, and funnily enough, as much as I treasure my little medal and that special journey between Durbs and PMB in June, it's the build up, the friendships, sharing this journey with my wife, my clubmates, even the little chats on the hub, the Strava chirps, the little personal battles we all fight that make it now an intricate part of my yearly life.

 

I do have aspirations of a Bill Rowan one day (that's in theory doable for me), training hours should become more readily available down the road as my little girls grow up, but I'm quite content for now to keep enjoying this little adventure and making the most of life inside and outside of the Comrades journey.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Andrew Steer

[Chris_]

How are you all balancing your training in terms of hours breakdown, obviously you are mostly all cycling as well a bit?

 

finding that balance between running, cycling, strength work, paddling, and climbing is a constant fight for me

 

With great difficulty... lots of goals in my head, not a lot of action on the ground 

 

I have an hour in the morning during the week, getting 1 run, 1 wattbike, 1 strength work in. Because Karkloof is the immediate goal maybe a second run and then day off somewhere. Weekend - cycle and long run.

[Chris_]

also, if anyone wants an Adrienne Hersch 21 entry, shout

[Chris_]

How are you all balancing your training in terms of hours breakdown, obviously you are mostly all cycling as well a bit?

 

finding that balance between running, cycling, strength work, paddling, and climbing is a constant fight for me

 

Whats your schedule? how do you train for 100 miler

[dave303e]

Whats your schedule? how do you train for 100 miler

 

I usually aim to get 35-50km running a week(every week for nearly 8 years now), then 2 hours wattbike and then squeeze in the rest...

 

As for training for karkloof 100 last year:

10 weeks out I upped my running to like 70km/week, 7 weeks out I went for a stupid long run and got runners knee, didn't run for the following 4 weeks and only wattbiked and paddled, for the last 3 weeks I went back to my usual 35-50km/week running.

You can see those 4 weeks of no running in the result though, turned at 50miles in under 10 hours, finished over 24 hours.

 

 

Edit: I am still on the fence to race this year, will decide today or tomorrow...

Edited August 29, 2018 by dave303e

[Chris_]

(every week for nearly 8 years now),

 

 

 

I think this part is worth more than any ridiculous training plan I download 

[Paddaman]

The most interesting thing for me is that in the day of big data and analytics, as well as massive data sets available (strava and garmin ext) that no mathematical/statistically based training app/ programme has been developed, where you can either enter your desired distance and speed and get a 26 week training programme, or that your last 26 weeks of training can be numver crunched to give you a prediction of race time.

 

I know a lot of number crunching has been done post facto after comrades ext to show the relationship between total mileage vs final time, and I know that garmin has some analytics to predict times based on fitness, but I have yet to see a algorithm that can crunch numbers on the fly and then give a tailored programme.

 

It seems that training programmes remain a bit of an art form rather than a science.

[dave303e]

The most interesting thing for me is that in the day of big data and analytics, as well as massive data sets available (strava and garmin ext) that no mathematical/statistically based training app/ programme has been developed, where you can either enter your desired distance and speed and get a 26 week training programme, or that your last 26 weeks of training can be numver crunched to give you a prediction of race time.

 

I know a lot of number crunching has been done post facto after comrades ext to show the relationship between total mileage vs final time, and I know that garmin has some analytics to predict times based on fitness, but I have yet to see a algorithm that can crunch numbers on the fly and then give a tailored programme.

 

It seems that training programmes remain a bit of an art form rather than a science.

 

If you into numbers and training stats, you can bring strava stats into powerBI and build your own dashboard and build from there...

[Mats]

The most interesting thing for me is that in the day of big data and analytics, as well as massive data sets available (strava and garmin ext) that no mathematical/statistically based training app/ programme has been developed, where you can either enter your desired distance and speed and get a 26 week training programme, or that your last 26 weeks of training can be numver crunched to give you a prediction of race time.

 

I know a lot of number crunching has been done post facto after comrades ext to show the relationship between total mileage vs final time, and I know that garmin has some analytics to predict times based on fitness, but I have yet to see a algorithm that can crunch numbers on the fly and then give a tailored programme.

 

It seems that training programmes remain a bit of an art form rather than a science.

 

There is a program function on the Polar website

You pic the distance, the race date and so one.

It then calculates the program for you based on your settings.

You can move exercises around, allocate additional rest days.

It also adjusts the program from time to time.

 

They also have a race predictor times for 5km 10km half and full marathon based on your current training results.

 

I have followed the 5 and the 10km programs before and the prediction times was out by 10 - 20 seconds on each.