I can see home ....

Took a while to upload - pic from Dischem 21km in Jan

Psyched out, on psych couch, psycho babble, psycho....

Oh boy - what am I doing? How big is this challenge, how much is it taking out of me, how much is it costing (new shoes and all) - can I reach the goal? I injured my hamstring last week and had a forced rest - it was divine and I was very running inspired by Sunday when I ran 18kms on fresh legs. And then the psychological wheels fell off again. I am not sure what I am training harder at the moment my legs or my head. So the immediate aim is to run the qualifier marathon next Sunday (I am sh....ting myself!) and we then work on the next step. I know I have speed in me but it is very elusive at the moment.
I have an easier running week this week although I do run a 5.6km race on Thursday. Hopefully rested legs will give me the umph I need to qualify.
Bought new shoes this week. My last pair of Asics Cumulus were good for about 770kms. I have bought Asics Nimbus which are a harder shoe so will hopefully be good for 800 - 900kms - which includes Comrades.
Faith, Gratitude, Abundance
Faith, Gratitude, Abundance
Faith, Gratitude, Abundance

Fake it til you make it

Wow this was quite a tough week. I ran fine on Tuesday - 10km. Thursday did the timetrial - I felt like I was running in syrup - I simply could not get speed, it was such an effort. I just kept on saying to me stay steady and focus on building the milage but still..... My time was 48:40 so slower by 2 minutes from the last time trial. I ran on Saturday by myself and again was so slow and battled with fatigue the whole run. Was pretty demotivated when I got home to a worried husband coz I had taken so long. I ran the club run on Sunday - 21 km Northcliff run (apparently reversed). Whew big climbs up the ridge and even bigger descents. It rained a bit and was cool which was great. The views were absolutely stunning. I then ran home in order to get some further distance - did a total of 31 kms. I was chuffed for the distance but it was tough. I made me doubt my ability to finish Comrades in the allowed time. I was hoping for a 4:30 in my qualifying marathon but looking at these sorts of time I guess it will be closer to 5 hours - eeeuw that is cutting it so close!
I am only now getting a sense of the commitment for this huge challenge in my life. My Sundays are pretty much wiped out at the moment coz i am so exhausted from the run. I am having to work really hard at not psching myself out of this. I need to readjust goals and headspace. Perhaps fake it til I make it......

Comrades Training Programme

This is the current training programme - I have tweaked it quite a bit but think this will be THE ONE.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly total	Actual total	Races/long runs	Notes
4-Jan	Rest	6	10.5	0	6.6	0	18.5	41.6	40.1		5:03
11-Jan	Rest	10	Rest	8	Rest	5	21	44	50.51	Dischem 21	5:37
18-Jan	Rest	7	Rest	8	Rest	8	25	48	50.08		5:37
25-Jan	Rest	10	Rest	8	Rest	10	26	54	51.44		6:20
1-Feb	Rest	9	Rest	10	Rest	12	26	57	56.34	26 rh zoo	7:08
8-Feb	Rest	10	Rest	10	Rest	15	28	63		own route
15-Feb	Rest	13	Rest	8	Rest	15	25	61		25 rh hurlingham
22-Feb	Rest	14	Rest	8	Rest	12	18	52		own route
1-Mar	Rest	8	Rest	7	Rest	rest	42	57		Remax 42 edenvale
8-Mar	Rest	rest	Rest	8	Rest	10	35	53		35 rh leslie
15-Mar	Rest	12	Rest	8	Rest	15	30	65		30 rh randburg
22-Mar	Rest	14	Rest	10	Rest	18	30	72		own route
29-Mar	Rest	14	Rest	10	Rest	20	rest	44		own route
5-Apr	Rest	14	Rest	8	Rest	20	30	72		own route
12-Apr	Rest	12	Rest	8	Rest	8	60	88		60 rac
19-Apr	Rest	5	Rest	8	rest	20	32	65		32 rh gordon
26-Apr	Rest	14	5	10	Rest	20	25	74		25 rh radiokop
3-May	Rest	14	Rest	10	Rest	20	30	74		30 rh
10-May	Rest	13	Rest	10	Rest	10	26	59		26 rh zoo
17-May	Rest	12	Rest	8	Rest	5	15	40		own route
24-May	Rest	5	Rest	4	Rest	2	89	100		COMRADES