Marathon Running…

Sunday started with my nerves waking me up rather early…  After lying awake for some time trying to prepare myself for the long day ahead, I got out of bed and went about my pre-marathon prep which involves checking and re-checking my race pack to make sure I have everything I need.  I left my friend Amanda’s house in a bit of a frenzy because with all the checking I’d forgotten to keep my eye on the time…

I took my place in the starting group just as the ‘gun’ went off and basically resigned myself to the fact that the race was going to be difficult given the fact that the longest run I’d done since November was 18km… Taking it slow for the first 17km’s, I searched for someone I knew which I could run with but alas, besides some familiar faces I ended up just putting my iPod in and blasting any negative thoughts away.

My trusty seconds were waiting for me at the foot of Red Hill ready with sweet potatoes to fortify me on this notoriously steep and windy road.  As I was about to head off I spotted Christopher, my last Red Hill running partner starting up the hill so I fell into pace with him and the person running with him Julie.  Now Julie is from North Carolina so we immediately hit it off chatting about the States (I lived there for 2 years) and all the other interesting topics you manage  to cover on a race that takes over 4 hours, if you are not sure what these topics include here is a short list:

• Ben & Jerries Ice-cream
• Divorce
• Running shoes
• Other Races
• The Comrades
• Cancer (Julie has survived stage 4 breast cancer)
• Jelly Bellies
• French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

That is just a short list

The trusty seconds were waiting 4km’s from the end with more potatoes and it is only then that I realised we were almost done, Julie and I had been chatting so animatedly and consistantly since Red Hill that it felt like the rest of the marathon had just flown by.  We both realised we weren’t going to make it under 4:30 so we decided to pick up the pace and give it our best shot to the end which we made in 4:34 – I am almost positive we did those last 4km’s at 4 minutes a K…

Now, I meet many people on these races all of which make some impact on me – there is Katie from  Pinelands who encouraged me to go on alone at the half-way mark of my first comrades, then Anne who fell very badly at the Two Oceans but still managed to help drag me over the finish line – but Julie is going to stick in my mind for a long time I think.  She danced for the camera’s just outside Cape Point Nature Reserve and copped a feel from the guy wearing a bra about 5km to the end.  She fought and beat cancer, running between Chemo sessions and bragging about the fact she didn’t need to shave when she lost all her hair – her strength of spirit is tangible and I consider myself privaledged to have spent 3 hours together running with her.  Thanks for running with me Julie, they make them tough in the States too

Special thanks also to Nicolene and Ines for sacraficing their Sunday morning and seconding for me, also to Amanda for letting me stay over – I might have to make this an annual thing!!

If you ran let me know how it went, the gale-force winds we were putting up with didn’t make this the easiest race I’ve done…

3 Comments / February 25th, 2010 / Comrades Marathon, Reluctant runner, Running

The BDO Peninsula Marathon

On Sunday I’m running the Peninsula Marathon which is quite special to me considering it was the first marathon I ever did (although the route has changed).  I’m probably about as nervous as I was 2 years ago because I haven’t done any long runs since last November…

Check out the profile below:

Good luck to all the first time marathon runners, despite the look of the profile this is a spectacular run with beautiful veiws which, if you aren’t too tired, you should stop and admire.

Also for the first timers, the last 5km are always the worst so make sure you eat enough during the race to carry you through to the end.  I have my trusty second Nicolene waiting at the bottom of Red Hill and again just after The Point, so if you are in need of some energy then look out for a red Polo and trot over to ask for some food.

I’ll send an update next week.

2 Comments / February 19th, 2010 / First-Timers, Reluctant runner, Running

Knysna Marathon entries open!

The Knysna Marathon or more aptly, the half, is one of those races which everyone looks forward to.  It is on the last weekend of the Oyster Festival in Knysna which already draws a substantial crowd, but for some reason this race inspires first timers and keeps those not so consistant runners coming back, year after year, to basically remind themselves why they should not run.

Cape Town is left almost people-less on that weekend as everyone who is not already in Knysna heads up there for one of the biggest party weekends of the year and yes, the race.  As I mentioned in my race dissection from last year, there are pretty few people who actually do this race seriously which is probably why it is so much fun…

The entries opened on February 1st, they usually open in April, so make sure you don’t get left out.  The race is on July 10th this year!  Hope to see you there.

Half Marathon Route

Full Marathon Route

Leave a Comment / February 10th, 2010 / Reluctant runner, Running

Running Help…

Help…

In 2 weeks time (13 days to be exact), I have my first marathon in what feels like AGES…  The last marathon I ran was last years Comrades, just to put a few things into perspective   I have been SO slack this year with races – this is not to say that I haven’t been training, of course I have but I just haven’t tested out how well that training has been going…

So the Peninsula marathon is on February 21st.  I was going to use the marathon to try and better my Comrades qualifying time as well as to qualify for the Two Oceans, but since I haven’t taken part as consistantly in races as what I have in previous years – I’m starting to feel the ever annoying running nerves which seem to burrow themselves right into my stomach and make it lurch every time I think about running a marathon again.

Let me know if you are doing the Peninsula too, it would be great to say hi!!

4 Comments / February 8th, 2010 / Reluctant runner, Running, Training

The People Factor in Running

On Sunday I took part in the Bay-to-Bay 30km race which goes from Clifton to Hout Bay and back again.  What appealed to me about this race was partly the route; which takes you all along a very pretty stretch of coastal road; AND because you can do it as part of a relay team which makes the distance a little easier to swallow, especially considering I haven’t run any races in a while…

Jo did the first half which is quite tough in that it is at a steady incline for about 80% of the way, I took over in Hout Bay which takes you straight up for about 1.5km and then on a gentle downhill all the way to the finish.

I had this idiotic grin on my face the entire way; I’d forgotten how fun races can be!!  NO I’m not alluding to being super fit and so races are no hassle, I’m talking about the people factor of races – you get to see all sorts of people at different mental and physical stages.

Lets take yesterday for example, I ran past 2 guys with the number 70 on their shirt (this is their age grouping) – imagine running at that age!!  I also saw people who had clearly been hibernating in Europe somewhere because their skin was so pale I could almost see the colour of their meat and the guy with the hair jersey… yip this man has more body hair than the Yeti which must count against him in terms of wind dynamics.

I ran past people who were having a good run and people consumed by running rage (a special type of bad mood you get while running, a bit like PMS for runners).  I ran a short way with someone who was doing 30km for the first time and heard the excitement in her voice as we chatted about her first Comrades this year.

All the people related things I’d forgotten about, just seeing faces you recognise but haven’t necessarily spoken to before, seems to lift my soul and make me excited for the next 4 and a half months I will be spending on the road.

If you don’t know what I am talking about and you are not a runner, then get yourself a pair of shoes and some gear that doesn’t chafe and get out there to see for yourself.  For those of you who run and still don’t see it – open your eyes, there are little gems all over the place:  in the people, the scenery or just in the way running makes you feel!!!

Hair jersey vs wind dynamics

Photo Credit

One Comment / January 13th, 2010 / Reluctant runner, Running

Calling all Comrades Novices

Novices, Noobs, Newbies, First-timers – whatever you want to call yourselves, I’m speaking to YOU!!

Over the past few weeks I’ve had some correspondence from people who are planning on making Comrades 2010 their first attenmpt at the Ultimate Human Race and to tell you the truth I’m flattered that there are some of you who are looking for any advice or just want to muffle those little voices which are saying “You’re crazy, you can’t do this”  – by reading my musings…

In light of this I’ve decided to create another section here on Reluctant Runner for those of you who are planning on doing the Comrades for the first time in 2010 – it will be called First-Timers (I know, so totally original), where I will be writing posts dedicated to the first-time runners of this amazing race.

So, if you have anything you’d like to contribue, questions about the race or if you just want a place to vent or if you need some motivation then feel free to do so here!!!

2 Comments / October 14th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, First-Timers, Reluctant runner, Running

Zola Budd’s Running Story

A blog reader sent me this story which was in the US Runners World about South African born Zola Budd, known for her world record in the ladies 5,000 metre and some kind of controversy around the 1984 Olympic Games.   If you are anything like me, I know the name and and I know she is famous for doing all her running barefoot, BUT I never really knew the full story of her career and then her disappearance from the running world.

This story is extremely well written, I’d encourage anyone with a bit of time to go throug it!

Leave a Comment / September 18th, 2009 / Running

Weird Running “Shoes”

Way back in 2008 when I had some knee trouble I visited an orthopaedic surgeon to make sure I wasn’t causing any damage in my training for the Comrades,  one of the things  he told me while he was examining me was that I should incorporate some barefoot training into my running schedule.

His reasons were quite valid I thought – when you run with shoes on you strike the ground with your heel first, when you run barefoot you strike with the ball of your foot first which causes less tension on your knees.

Of course the barefoot training never materialised, actually coming to think of it neither did the schedule, but last week a runner passed me on the road while I was driving home and he had these on.

I have seen these (called Vibram 5-Fingers) before and mentioned them on a few of the running forums I go on from time to time, but I’d never actually seen someone using them.  The theory behind these shoes follows what my knee guy had to say about training barefoot – which due to obvious reasons isn’t really the way forward when you are looking at boiling hot, tarred roads with glass, stones and various other foot piercing materials littering your way.

I’m curious to see how these rather peculiar ‘shoes’ perform…  Have any of you out there used them??

Photo Credit

One Comment / September 8th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Half-marathon, Injuries, Reluctant runner, Running, Training

Marathons and Memory – A study…

Yesterday I was sent an email which pointed me in the direction of a study which was done on the effects marathon running has on memory.  I was rather intrigued, especially since I have experience being a lab rat for running research.

A short excerpt from the result of this study appears below for those of you who don’t want to read the whole thing:

Indeed, cortisol levels recorded 30 min after completion of a marathon rival those reported in military training and interrogation (Taylor et al., 2007), rape victims being treated acutely (Resnick, Yehuda, Pitman, & Foy, 1995), severe burn injury patients (Norbury, Herndon, Branski, Chinkes, & Jeschke, 2008), and first-time parachute jumpers (Aloe et al., 1994).

The study showed a significant decrease in explicit memory which deals with the recollection of facts, BUT an increase in implicit memory which is mainly unconscious and basically functions off of experience.

This made me put my running brain into action and have a think about this because this is a pretty profound fining (in my mind anyway).   I know that I feel stupid after a race and I’ve always put it  down partly to exhaustion and partly to the fact that on these long races, I’m running for the most of the way in a meditative state.

Now for those of you who don’t know anything about meditation, here is the Wikipedia definition.   I have been practising various forms of meditation for a few years now and nothing gets me on that meditative level as quickly as what running does.

A while ago I did a meditation course which lasted 5 weeks or so.  By the end of the 5 weeks I was able to reach a meditative state and keep it for the most part of 60 minutes (which is a huge accomplishment considering when you start you can barely last 3 minutes).  After these sessions I would always leave feeling a little dull – calm and with a head so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but if pushed to make any decision or answer any simple questions, you would think that I’d just suffered some serious brain injury.

So, I would like to know what the relationship is between the effects of meditation and marathon running – I know there are other people out there who reach some state of detachment while running (or doing any other form of exercise for that matter).  I think there is a definite correlation between these two states, even though the one is traditionally sedentary and the one is, well, running…

Photo Credit

2 Comments / July 31st, 2009 / Reluctant runner, Running

The Fresh Air Fund

I was contacted the other day by Sara from The Fresh Air Fund in the USA who brought my attention to this really great cause.    The Fresh Air Fund provides free summer camp holidays to children from families in New York City,  who can’t afford to send their kids to camp or on holiday during their school break.

What really intrigued me about the initiative however is that they have a team of runners who are doing the New York City half-marathon, to help raise funds and awareness of this program.  As you all know I’m all about using an event for something good, so if any of you are doing this race (its in on August 16th) and would like to run for a cause then sign up.  Of course if I was in the USA I’d be doing it AND I’d gladly run for the Fresh Air Fund!

Good luck guys!!

Leave a Comment / July 22nd, 2009 / Fund Raising, Reluctant runner, Running