“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.
| Mon 31 Aug | 12km, Abs, Squats |
| Tue 1 Sept | 11km, 15 min cycle |
| Wed 2 Sept | 1 hour Total trainer |
| Thur 3 Sept | 7km |
| Fri 4 Sept | 3km |
| Sat 5 Sept | 40 min cycle, Abs |
| Sun 6 Sept | Rest |
| Mileage | 66km |
| Running Load | 144 |
“Excuses are for losers. So we have no excuses”
Springbok Captain, John Smit
