“Every accomplisment starts with the decision to try”

Resting HR (average): 54

Injury status: Left calf pain 2/10

It was a week where very little training took place! I don’t even have an excuse…ok maybe the cricket! I’ve been up in the middle of the night watching the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa which hasn’t helped my sleep patterns!

Last week we went out on a Thursday night and I find it very difficult to get back into my routine once it is disrupted. That said, it’s been laziness and sleepingin that has resulted in very little training taking place. I’ve had plenty of work to do on our Promotional Products business instead.

Next week I’ve got to start training again. You lose fitness far too easily, and as Mr Miyagi said “Much work to be done, tournament just around the corner!” With only 35 weeks to go, it’s time to start moving forward again and rediscovering what running is…

“Failure will never overtake me
if my determination to succeed is strong enough”
Og Mandino

“Faith is seeing light with your heart
when all your eyes see is darkness”

Resting HR (average): 55

Injury status: Left calf pain 4/10

Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 24.5; Afterwards 21.5

A week that can only be described as intensely frustrating.

It started off promising with a tough 10km hill session. After a 4km warm-up, I did a series of 4 sprints over the goodwill bridge, followed by another 2km jog, and then 4 sprints up Cordelia St.

On Tuesday it was a gentle 18km, and later that day I started to feel my left calf getting sore. The same pain that kept me out of Comrades Marathon 2008. It wasn’t bad but enough to remind me it is still there and ready to surface.

I had felt my lower and middle back the previous week, not being helped by some crappy chairs when down on the Gold Coast. Whenever my back isn’t happy, my calf gets affected.

After some intense work on my back and leg I managed 6km on Thursday but it still wasn’t feeling right. Friday morning’s long run got postponed, and I decided to take some time off over the weekend and see if I can get my leg right again.

It’s extremely disappointing as the one thing that has seemed to help it has been my neural stretching. At the moment I am more flexible than I’ve ever been, so it doesn’t make sense to be sore. All I can do is work hard to get it right, and pray!

Let’s hope next week is more positive!

“Great hopes make everything great possible”
Bejamin Franklin

“Courage is the discovery that you may not win,
and trying when you know you can lose”
Tom Krause

Resting HR (average): 57

Injury status: Left calf 4/10

This was a disrupted training week, but an important week mentally. A chance to refresh the mind and body as I got the chance to follow the Springboks once more.

The Boks were based down on the Gold Coast, at Surfers Paradise, so there was a bit of travelling. Because we had guests on Monday night, Tuesday was a right off too!

Wednesday I once again had a short run with Adnaan, and we talked once again about how to prepare for the Comrades marathon.

Although there wasn’t a lot of training this week, spending time around the Springboks, watching them train, seeing fantastic role models and seeing them win the Tri-nations gives me plenty of inspiration, motivation and encouragement to go for my Comrades Marathon dream.

Next week it’s back into the hard grind and another tough training week…

“Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value”
Albert Einstein

“You can’t build a reputation
on what you are going to do”
Henry Ford

Resting HR (average): 56

Injury status: Slight Left calf tightness, Neck tension

Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 25; Afterwards 22

Sanjay running along the Brisbane River

An interesting training week, with a slight diversion from my usual schedule. Monday I ran 12km.

Tuesday I got to train with Adnaan Mohammed, a rugby journalist from Cape Town, in Brisbane to cover the Springboks test match. Adnaan has run the last 9 Comrades consecutively, so it was nice to run with an experienced ultramarathoner and get some tips. The pace was very slow as Adnaan hadn’t run for a couple of weeks, but at least it made talking easier!

9 Times Comrades marathon veteran Adnaan running along the Brisbane river

Wednesday I did the total trainer, and Thursday I went out with Adnaan again after the Springbok press conference. We did 7km, but finished with a couple of hill sprints. Adnaan advised me to do more of them, to build up my speed.

Friday I woke up late and couldn’t be bothered running, but Rheanna kicked me out of bed. I was finally on the road just before 5am, and had an aim of running a minimum of 30km.

I felt quite good, unusual for a long run, and started at a decent pace. I hate starting late so I figured I could just run 24km, in a worse case scenario. I slowed down after about 6km, but from then on it was a reasonably consistent pace. I felt good until about 30km, when my feet started to get slightly sore, and my legs started to stiffen up. My pace actually improved slightly so I must have been in good shape, although I could feel that my heart rate was increasing, indicating it was about my limit.

I was happy to have done 36km, in 3 hours 13. About 5:20 per km, 20s per km faster than my previous long run 2 weeks ago. I was probably inspired by spending the week around the Springboks, and seeing how hard they have been training.

Saturday I had a sore neck, and just did a light cycle, whilse Sunday I didn’t trainafter a late night at the rugby, and my neck being quite sore. An up and down week, the aim is keep the weeks consistent and the fitness is gradually returning.

“Excuses are for losers. So we have no excuses”
Springbok Captain, John Smit

“Success seems to be largely a matter of
hanging on after others have let go”
William Feather

AUGUST 2009

Resting HR (average): 58
Resting HR range: 52-65

Average weekly mileage: 48km
Average training load: 126

Running time:km range: 4:43 – 5:41

Weight: 71.9kg
Fat %: 21.4%

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“There are no victories at bargain prices”
Former US President, Dwight Eisenhower

 

“The race is not always to the swift,
but to those who keep on running”
Nike

Resting HR (average): 56

Injury status: Slight Left calf tightness

This was a bad training week, but a good chance to earna rest. Well at lest that’s what I call it! It’s more positive than saying I was lazy!

Monday morning, because we were in Sydney for business, it was nice to sleep in and I didn’t feel like running around a new area considering we were so tired.

We flew back into Brisbane, on the last flight back. As we didn’t get to bed until after midnight, the next day was a write off.

The rest of the week has been a struggle. I really struggle when I lose my routine. I had been going so well. One of the factors has been the weather. It’s been 30-35 degrees in Brisbane (It’s going to be a scorcher of a summer), which makes it really difficult for me to sleep. If I don’t sleep, it’s tough to get up at 4 or 5am to train. Because I’m so busy during the day with our business, the training is then hard to fit in.

I did manage 15km on Saturday and a short cycle while watching the rugby. Sunday was the Bridge to Brisbane, so I took Rheanna to that very early, meanwhile my own body was stiff from my Saturday run. Next week it’s gotta be a full week and some high miles again. September has to be a tough month, and now the real pain begins…

“Success is a journey, not a destination.
The doing is usually more important than the outcome”
Arthur Ashe

“What we hope to do with ease,
we must first learn to do with diligence”
Samuel Johnson

Resting HR (average): 56

Injury status: Slight Left calf tightness, slight shin pain both legs

Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 26.5; Afterwards 24

As time ticks ever so much closer to the Comrades marathon 2010 (it may seem like a long way to some, but when you plan your training schedule there aren’t many weeks to get up to speed!), it’s time to really put in the hard work, which will be rewarded at the other end. People always seem to cram last minute training in, so the idea is to invest as much sweat equity now, and reap the dividends later.

Monday and Tuesday were good days, even though the legs felt heavy from the previous week. The good thing is the resting heart rate is slowly improving, and I’ve been feeling better coming home on my runs, indicating I’m regaining some of my fitness.

Monday through to … I managed 2 sessions a day, with 3 on tuesday.

Friday I ran 32km. The alarm went off at 2:30am, and the last thing I wanted to do was get up! But you think about the consequences and you can’t get back the long runs you miss, so weary eyed, I got up out of bed! I was out the door by 3:20am having done lots of stretches, and checking for the sports news!

I felt terrible almost immediately. Heavy legs, sore legs, no flexibility in my body…just a plain hard slog. I thought I’d be lucky to run 10km, let alone 30. Still I focused on running 6km out towards the east of Brisbane. At 6km I turned around thinking that I would do at least 12km to get back home.

When I got to Southbank (10km) I figured if I could run out to St Lucia (10km out to the west of Brisbane) then It’d be 21km and I would turn around and have to run back home. I started to loosen up a bit after 15km, and slogged my way out there.

Coming home I was met by Michael Edmondson, a triathlete I usually see out on Friday morning runs, and after a brief jog with him, I felt better temporarily.

I stopped for a second drink with 5.5km to go, and then my legs started to get very tight. Imagine a piece of string running down the back of your legs, and then imagine someonepulling on that string, harder and harder. I felt happy to have finally got back to a 30km effort since May.

Saturday was a reasonably easy day doing the exercycle and crosstrainer, and then on Sunday we went down to Sydney for a trade show for our Promotional Products business, so I had a rest day. Next week will be disrupted at the beggining of the week, but it won’t hurt to have a few days off/easy days at the end of a couple of tough weeks for me.

“Defeat, like a headache warns us
that something has gone wrong.
If we are intelligent we look for
the cause and profit by the experience”"
Napoleon Hill

“Pain feels so much better than guilt”

Resting HR (average): 59

Injury status: Slight Left calf tightness, slight shin pain both legs

Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 28.5; Afterwards 25.5

It was good to get back into a decent week of training and really feel like the Comrades marathon 2010 will become a reality. Again!

It wasn’t an easy week however as my fitness has tumbled. I started off with 10km on Monday and 15km on Tuesday. Tuesday I actually managed 3 exercise sessions, and was pretty pleased with a good effort.

On Wednesday we went for a walk that was over 2 hours, and boy did that hurt! I find it easier to run than walk, as the time on the feet is greater with walking and I started to get very tight through the backs of my legs after less than an hour. A small amount of downhill walking indicated just how tough the Comrades marathon will be, with almost 45km of constant downhill in the second half.

Thursday was just a short 6km, and I tried to run faster than I normally do. One the second half I was chasing after a girl who was a lot quicker than me, and seemed to be running so easily. She took a detour once, and stopped to tie her shoe twice, but both times overtook me again. Considering my pace on the way home was 4:34, she can really motor. Gave me something to aim at, and I hate being beaten by a female! Hopefully I’ll be fitter if I see her again and be able to beat her!

Friday my aim was 24km. I started off pretty slow and kept my speed reasonably constant. I ran out 12km, and coming back I was getting sore feet, tight through the backs of my legs, and just plain pain everywhere! I managed to push through and decided I’d aim to do 26, and see how I felt. At 23, I figured I could push another 5km out and aim for 28.

The pain trying to do the last 4km was tough, and I was listening to music from the Karate Kid, some Afrikaans stuff and Van Halen’s “jump” that kept me pushing on. Once I had finished and the adrenalin stopped, the tightness, and real pain set in! I’m not used to running so far, it’ll take some time to build the endurance back up again. I got home, and Rheanna reminded me I’d only have another 60km in the Comrades!

Within half an hour I started to get very stiff, and feeling very embarrassed to be getting sore over only 28km!

Saturday was a strengthening session with the total trainer, and Sunday I was feeling pretty good again. The fitter one becomes, the faster the recovery gets. I ran reasonably strongly for 12km, and am starting to get faster too. To finish with 71km for the week was good, however I always say that you really only feel like a marathoner once you are doing 80km per week and 30km+ long runs.

Sunday I also managed 3 training sessions, although it gets tedious having to have 3 showers a day!

It’s good to be back on track again, and next week I’ll try to have another solid 70km with a 32km long run…

“Ask yourself: “Can I give more?”
The answer is usually: “Yes”"
Keyan marathoner Paul Tergat

“Patience and perseverance
have a magical effect before which
difficulties disappear and obstacles disappear”
John Quincy Adams

Resting HR (average): 61

Injury status: Left calf tightness

Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 27; Afterwards 25.5

The aim for the week was to get back up to 50km, but unfortunately I missed Thursday’s session and Sunday’s session after sleeping in after a great Springbok victory!

In the beginning of the week I managed twice daily exercise sessions, and need to get back into the habit of training twice a day. As I regain the habit and increase fitness, I can focus on making the sessions longer and harder.

On Friday I managed to run 20km, which was one of my most comfortable runs in a long time. I even managed a negative split, and ran very consistently.

Next week I’ve got to manage 50km, and get used to running greater mileage in my midweek runs…

“In order to succeed, your desire for success
should be greater than your fear of failure”
Bill Cosby

“I believe we shouldn’t use traumas in our life,
as an excuse not to achieve our dreams”
Tony Christiansen

JULY 2009

Resting HR (average): 59
Resting HR range: 53-67

Average weekly mileage: 31km
Average training load: 80

Running time:km range: 4:47 – 5:36

Weight: 72.4kg
Fat %: 21.7%

“Victories teach you very little;
it’s getting the defeats and tough times
that make you a better man”
Former Bulls Coach, Heyneke Meyer