COMRADES MARATHON 2008 WEEK 10: Feeling the pain

"It's not whether you get knocked down...
it's whether you get up"
Justin Herald

This week has seen more pain and effort when all I want to do is sleep, rest and have a few days off! However the dream of running Comrades gets me out of bed and striving harder.
At the end of last week I could feel some tightness in my left hamstring, and have managed to push through it all week. I figure I need to learn how to run with pain and visualise myself running as if it is the last 10-20km of Comrades. After all you can't be an ultramarathoner without experiencing some pain.
On sunday though I felt it was a bit sore and curtailed my run. It may have been a bit aggravated from the strong work Rheanna did to it on saturday. It is due to nerve tightness and comes from my back so it isn't anything serious to worry about. At least I am not damaging my body at all.
Although the last few weeks have been progressing well, the pounding on the body has probably signalled it may be time to have a few days rest. We'll see how the body responds in the next few days.

Training for week Mon 5 Nov - Sun 11 Nov
Mon 5 Nov	6km intervals, 1 hour total trainer
Tues 6 Nov	15km
Wed 7 Nov	12km, weights
Thurs 8 Nov	2 hours total trainer
Fri 9 Nov	32km, 30' cycle
Sat 10 Nov	16km
Sun 11 Nov	4km, weights
Weekly mileage	85km

"Only those who risk going too far
can possibly know how far one can go"
T S Elliot

COMRADES MARATHON 2008 WEEK 9: Taking it to the limit

"There is no substitute for work. It is the price of success"
Earl Black

This week it was back on track by pushing hard and discovering my limits.
A strong beginning to the week with extra sessions (mostly abs and strengthening) in the evenings on monday to wednesday, was backed up with my longest run ever on friday, albeit quite slow. It was a tough run, and by 30km I was starting to feel stiff but then my music played the "Bryan Habana" song and that inspired me to push through. My battery on my MP3 ran out with 5km to go and that made the last 5km tough. Usually my feet get sore at about 30km but this time I only started to feel it around 40km. However my hamstrings felt very stiff about 43km which made running tough and I didn't feel I could have run much further.
After initially feeling pretty good for running 50km I started to think how can I run another 40km on top of that!
This was also the highest mileage I have done in 1 week ever. The 3 runs at the beginning of the week often feel harder than the higher mileage at the end of the week!
With 224 days to go I still have plenty of work to do. Next week I shall have an easier week and aim for 90km.

Training for week Mon 29 Oct - Sun 4 Nov
Mon 29 Oct	7km intervals, 1 hour total trainer
Tues 30 Oct	20km, 30' cycle
Wed 31 Oct	15km, weights
Thurs 1 Nov	2 hours total trainer
Fri 2 Nov	50km
Sat 3 Nov	10km, 30' total trainer
Sun 4 Nov	20km
Weekly mileage	122km

"Success is not a destination that you ever reach.
Success is the quality of the journey"
Jennifer James