Halfway Through...

By Frank

Time certainly  flies. It is now past 11 weeks into training for this year's Comrades Marathon since it all began on the first day of the year. With half the journey through which has already covered base building and improvement phase which has went really well, sadly the peaking phase for "Hell March" did not actually started well due to bad weather and a sick me. However, I managed to at least pick up some pieces left of me and shouldered on. And as of this entry, everything is still pretty "safe".

It's 2 weeks now into the month of March and it all started with exceptionally hot and dry weather, and not to mention the unexpected haze. It was so bad that I hardly can see anything beyond 500M at one point. I was lucky that I am a member of a gym and I can put the treadmill to use. Running was certainly not affected although it was really tough to run long on it. Taking it as a mental training I guess. Besides this, the month started with me feeling bloated. The gut felt bloated probably due to indigestion. It got a little bad towards the end of the first week and I slowed down there, giving my body some well deserved rest. Besides the physical problems, I too had some issues to myself too. Some emotional and mentally draining issues.

The workhorse for this year's Comrades training.

As for shoes, running very close and frequent with me are my Saucony Virrata and Kinvara 4. Once a while, the Saucony Mirage 3 will be out for some action too, though it mainly served as my recovery shoe. The Virrata I am referring to is actually my very first pair which was courtesy from Saucony Malaysia. I used it mainly for speedworks though once a while for longer distances such as close to 30KM. I am going to retire them soon as I've already ran  close to 500KM with it averaging at about RM0.60 per Kilometer, a very cost-affordable-comfortable shoe. Then I've the Kinvara 4 which is also my first pair courtesy of Saucony Malaysia after the launch last year. This pair is still pretty healthy  and am still on active duty. The Kinvara 4 is the workhorse for my training this year as it will be my race shoe come this 1 June 2014 hence its good to train in them to get the best out of everything. As I've picked up  a second pair of Kinvara 4 for the recent Titi 100 and coupled with my second pair of Virrata, there is no issue with my footwear. And in addition, my actual race shoe which is the ViZiGLO edition of the Kinvara 4 has just arrived too!

The outsole of my first Virrata after close to 500KM.

Anyhow, I am still keeping myself positive on training. With another 11 more weeks to go before the big day, there is still a sufficient time for more work to do and to improve. And hopefully in a couple of week's time after this entry is posted, "Hell March" will be completed with a positive result at my fourth Twilight Ultra Challenge, my usual annual peaking event. Here's to the other half of training as my journey to Kingsmead continues!

The Kingsmead Stadium at Durban.