Training check … as I prepare for Comrades 2018
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Two months into my Comrades 2018 training and so far so good. I am a little behind on the mileage I had hoped to track by now, 120 kilometres to be exact, but I am quietly confident that I am on track with my preparations for my first Comrades marathon.
Two months into my Comrades 2018 training and so far so good. I am a little behind on the mileage I had hoped to track by now, 120 kilometres to be exact, but I am quietly confident that I am on track with my preparations for my first Comrades marathon.Training so far has gone really well, I have run consistently and regularly and have maintained my aim of running longer, slower distances over the weekends and quicker, shorter distances in the week, more out of time limitations than anything else. The important thing is that I have remained injury and illness free, even through the middle of winter!
TRAINING STATUS
June, when I officially started training I weighed 82,5 kilograms and managed to fit in a total of 62.60 kilometres in that month. A little more than a marathon for a month, I know, but when you consider that I had done very little up until then it’s a big jump. In July, I managed to increase my training distance to 
79,81 kilometres, almost 20 kilometres more! A pretty scary thought when you realise that I will be running more than that in one day come June 2018! Never mind, the focus remains and I hope to increase the mileage in August to just over 110 kilometres. Hopefully, by including a few races and using them as training runs, I will be able to increase my training runs exponentially.
79,81 kilometres, almost 20 kilometres more! A pretty scary thought when you realise that I will be running more than that in one day come June 2018! Never mind, the focus remains and I hope to increase the mileage in August to just over 110 kilometres. Hopefully, by including a few races and using them as training runs, I will be able to increase my training runs exponentially.RUNNING CLUB
Allow me to digress just a little and talk about which club I will be running for, come Comrades 2018. I have always been keen to start my own running club and as there was no club in the Paulshof area it just seemed the right time to get the Paulshof Sports Club off the ground. This has taken a little longer than I had initially thought and so for 2017 I have registered for Team Vitality and will be running in their bright orange and black. Soon you will see me in the exciting new colours of Paulshof Sports Club but more about that later.
Besides my training on the road, I have also managed my twice-weekly spinning classes of 45 minutes each. These are part of my cross-over training regimen, which I also supplement with a gym workout at least three times a week. My focus there is to build lean muscle mass whilst dropping a few kilograms of body weight and slowly increasing my power-to-weight ratio, making me stronger and as light as possible which is essential when hitting the road for a long period of time and taking into account the jarring effects of the road on my joints and muscles. My goal of a 72-74 kilogram body weight come June next year is not out of reach!
WHAT’S NEXT
This weekend hubby and I will be running the Old Ed’s half-marathon, the first out of four races in the Discovery Vitality Run Series. A race I have not run before but which will give me a good indication of where my fitness levels are at. My goal is a 2h10, I should be able to do a 1h50 but for me, its about time on the legs and that is far more important than a good time. Let’s see how the adrenaline kicks in or not this Sunday and also how the route is and how my body feels on the day. I should be able to fit in a short 6-8km run before the race on Sunday to finish off my training so I am looking forward to a good time on the road and another 21.1 kilometres on my legs.
Now it’s time to hit the gym for that all-important back, abs and core training,
- Crunches x50
- Leg Raises x50
- Conventional Sit-Ups on the bench x50
- 70 seconds Plank
- 20 Push-Ups
- 5 Min Stretching to end the workout
Stay Active!
HI Darren, I wish you all the best for the comrades prep and towards getting there and completing it..
I stumbled across this, as I am also on the same journey of getting myself to Comrades in 2018, as this year completed my first goal of finishing a Two Oceans, and this one was next on the list.
So I am glad to see someone else to go through same process and the progression to build the mileage and get up to marathon distance and beyond.
Hi Adrian,
Thanks for your response and for the support.
All the best for your journey too and for getting to the start line in about 10 months time. Who knows, we might just bump into each other en route?
Ⅴery energetic artiϲle, I loved that a lot.
Will there be a part 2?
Keep visiting the blog to find out 🙂
That’s awesome, thank you 🙂
Hеy very nice blog!
THanks 🙂
Uѕually I don’t learn article on blogs, however
I ᴡould like to say that this write-up very compeⅼled me to
try and do it! Your writing style has been surprіsеd me.
Thank yⲟu, verү nice post.
I’m truly grateful for the feedback 🙂