ASA Bans iPods From Races

Athletics South Africa has banned iPods from all races. I won’t even try to get the logic behind this decision. Apparently it comes for the cycling world with the controversy over the use of ear pieces to get information from team managers and coaches about the race and opponents. ASA took this further and banned all electronic devices connected to ear pieces or something like that.

Now I wonder how someone can receive info via an iPod. Maybe I can record a motivational message that can give me an unfair advantage…? For decades top runners have been receiving information from the side of the road, written on water bottles, pieces of paper or just shouted out. What’s the difference? Receiving it via a device in your ear or having it shouted to you as you run past your coach? You may also not use your cell phone with a headphone or ear piece. Wonder if you can still carry it and phone someone to come and pick you up if you run into trouble and want to bail out of a race? What about just a MP3 player?

Anyway, this is dumb! If they want to make stupid rules for the top runners that’s fine, but to ban something like this totally is a joke. I never run with music anyway so I don’t get affected by this myself. Not that many runners run with earphones in races. In SA running is a very social affair and once you get to being a regular runner, you’ll rather enjoy the company of those around you than listen to your iPod.

We’ll have to see if and how they enforce this rule. I wonder if any other country will do something stupid like this.

Whatever and wherever you’re running or not running this weekend, enjoy! For something inspirational, have a look at this post by Dave.

100 Days to go!

Well, there’s 100 days left to get in shape and ready for this year’s Comrades marathon on 30 May. Time certainly flies when you’re having fun! With 100 days to go I think it’s a good time to take stock and look at where I am with my running.

The main focus at the moment is to qualify for Comrades. At the same time I’m building up to go beyond the marathon and run some ultras as part of my Comrades training. This year I’m just going for a sub 12 hour finish at Comrades. For this I don’t mind to qualify in the slowest batch (H). To do this I must run a marathon in less than 5 hours or a 50km in less than 6 hours. There are also some easier options with a 48km in less than 6 hours or a 52km in less than 6:30. Sounds easy enough, but I’m in a comeback phase after a long layoff from running and my last marathon was in April 2004.

My marathon training is going well and I’ve done 2 x 32km races as long runs this month already. This week and next week will be my peak training before the marathon with 75.8km and 85.8km respectively. Then I’ll cut back a bit for two weeks leading up to the Elands Valley marathon on 20 March. If something goes wrong here, there are a few alternatives.

So my schedule for qualifying and training for Comrades will be as follow:

20 March – Elands Valley Marathon (Qualify for Comrades)

28 March – Bruce Fordyce 50km (Only if I qualify at Elands Valley)
2, 3, 4 April – Easter 100km (48, 33, 19)
11 April – Slowmag Marathon (Can qualify here if needed)
17 April – Loskop 50km (Can also qualify here if needed)
24 April – Coaldust 48km (Easy last desperate qualifier, 48 under 6 hours)

26 April – Closing date for qualifying

2 May - 65km long run
3 - 29 May - Taper
30 May - Comrades Marathon (89km)

Even if I don’t qualify I’ll still run most of these. I don’t run for Comrades only. I’ve got a few ultra goals for the second half of the year as well. All of this looks very exciting and a bit daunting at the same time. One thing is certain; the 100 days are going to pass extremely fast!

Newton’s 3rd rule: train first for distance, only later for speed.

No I’m not confused about Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of physics. This is Arthur Newton’s laws of training. You might not know who Arthur Newton is, but he is seen as one of the greatest ultra runners of all time. He started running at age 38 and is mostly known in South Africa for his 5 Comrades Marathon wins.

Arthur Newton on his way to his 1st Comrades win - 1922

In his running career that lasted from May 1922 to June 1935 he held both the up and down Comrades records, the London to Brighton record and the world 30, 35, 40, 50, 60 and 100 mile, and the world 24 hour running records. In this time he ran 102 735 miles (165 403 km) in training. Now that is distance! He was also the first to write a book about ultra running and training for ultra running. I think it was first published in 1936. The booked included Newton’s laws of training.

Finishing London to Brighton - 1924

So why this whole Arthur Newton thing? It’s all about distance. In South Africa a lot about running revolves around the Comrades marathon. At the moment, more than 20000 runners are training for Comrades and obviously every expert wants to tell every other expert how to go about this training. The Comrades is an ultra marathon of 89km (54 miles). It is run over a very difficult route and you have to prepare properly to earn the medal. In the past it was accepted that training for an ultra means running very long distances. This has changed over the years and today the modern approach is to run less distance and put more quality into the running.

I’m what Runner’s World refers to as an “old timer” when it comes to these things. I did most of my running between 1982 and 1997. I learnt about ultra running during the years of distance. However, when I listen or talk to most of the “modern runners”, I constantly hear talk about injury, pain, sore knee, niggle, runner’s knee, ITB and the normal list of runner’s aches & pains. Then I look at how they train and find nearly all these runners include some speed sessions in their training or they are constantly worried about the times they run, in training as well as in races. I also find I’m running more per week than most are doing at this stage. Yet, I’m one of few that are running completely injury free. Why? Because I still follow Newton’s rules of training.

Speed will come later, first get strong by running long and regularly (6 days per week). Arthur Newton ran 20 to 30 miles seven days a week. Yes, it was many years ago, but I think this man knew what he was talking about when he created his rules for training.

Newton’s Nine Rules of Training

1. Train frequently all year round

2. Start gradually and train gently
3. Train first for distance (only later for speed)
4. Don’t set yourself a daily schedule (rather a weekly one)
5. Don’t race in training and run time-trials only infrequently
6. Specialise
7. Don’t over-train
8. Train the mind
9. Rest-up before the race

During his 100 mile world record run - 1928

I might be old school or conservative, but I still stick to Arthur Newton’s rules. I don’t worry about the time I finish a race in. I don’t run time-trials. I train for distance. Speed will come later.

Bronkhorstspruit 32km Report

The heat demons are still following me around and Saturday’s 32km race was a lot warmer than the one of the previous week. The temperature was 33°C (91F) when I finished and went up to 35° (95F) after that. Needless to say it was not the fastest run.

I’ve never run well in the heat and don’t think I ever will. I used the race as a long training run so in that way it was good. I certainly got time on the legs! Nearly 4:30 hours of it! I planned to run between 3:50 and 4:00 but at some point a few of us on the road decided to rather be safe and backed off completely. We walked most of the last 7km in a merciless sun. “This can’t be healthy” went through my mind all the time. There was no shade on the route, not even a little spot for some relief.

Apart from the heat the race went well although I had to make an emergency bathroom (bush) stop just after 3km. Luckily I found a perfect spot under a railway bridge and the necessary numbers, which felt like all numbers 1 – 18 could be accommodated. When I emerged from the bushes under the bridge I was stone last! In the end this was a good thing as I could just relax and run at my own pace, overtaking runners the whole way.

I felt extremely good up to the 20km mark. Hey, only 12km to go! Well, that thought didn’t last very long. Between 20 and 21km the heat started to bother me. There was a really tough and long hill up to 23 or 24 km. This is where everyone started to suffer. It was just too hot! The organizers were brilliant and extra water was off loaded at all the water points. These were 3km apart from the start to 30km. Ice cold water was available at all the water points. There was also more than enough Coke and the helpers really did their best to make us comfortable. They must have been cooking in the sun…no shade anywhere!

There was a silent type of agreement between all…just make it to the finish, regardless of how long it will take. We were all there, sharing the experience and there for each other. No one questioned anyone else for walking or taking it extra easy. We all just carried on to the finish.

I actually recovered almost completely with 2.5km to go. I was feeling good and not tired at all. This was a very good sign. The last 2km I ran most of the way and my legs felt as if they didn’t run at all. Even Sunday and today I feel completely recovered.

So I suffered in the heat again, but I still take only positives from the race. I recovered before the end and finished feeling good. I definitely got good time on the legs done. I did some good conditioning for running in warm weather. I completed my 124th 32km / 20miler. I can carry on with my build up for the marathon on 20 March tomorrow with my legs feeling 100%.

Oh yes…and I had these two waiting for me at the finish, both proud finishers of the 4km fun run.

Running Dreams

I have running dreams quite often and most of the time I’m running some race but my legs won’t get moving. I’ve had a few good runs in dreams as well but usually they are pretty messed up.

Last night I had another crazy dream. I think it came from my last post. I mentioned that I would like to meet certain people and afterwards thought I should have added Davy Crockett. I’ve been reading his stories and reports for many years and he also writes about his running dreams sometimes. If you want to read about insane distances and adventures, read Davy Crockett's blog. Last year he ran 7 hundred milers and is planning the same this year. He started the year with a PR at Rocky Raccoon 100 last week.

By the way, in South Africa we don’t PR, we PB (personal best). We also don’t crew, we second. I know at boxing matches when a new round starts you always hear: “Seconds out, round #2”, so it must come from that. In Afrikaans we say: “Helpers uit” (helpers out). So if you help (crew) a runner at a race, you are his second.

In my dream I was walking inside my old university, but everything has changed. No stairs where stairs used to be and no lecture rooms where they used to be. In the end I ended up at a table with some young guy that ordered food for us. This was for his run he said. The food never came and I was upset. I must have been hungry. I’m often hungry during the night and when in heavy training (90 – 120km per week) I often have a 2AM snack.

Anyway in the dream I suddenly joined the youngster’s mom and dad on a trail somewhere in California and told them, this is so great, I never thought I’d be running on a trail during this trip. The mom answered, it will be even greater later when we meet Davy Crockett. Wow, this was magic! I’m finally going to meet Davy Crockett!

Not long and we were sitting at a table with burgers on our plates (I was definitely hungry). Next minute the man himself appears from a trail, Davy Crockett! Coonskin hat and all. The hat had large white ears at the sides and he was carrying a cricket bat. I didn’t find any of this strange, but I did wonder why a cricket bat and not a baseball bat. In SA cricket is as big as baseball is in the US. Maybe he was a cricket fan…? He did approach the table but… alas, we never met…I woke as he stopped running…

I think I like running dreams. I wonder if all runners have these.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I’m running a 32km race Saturday morning at 06:00. My 2nd 32km race in 6 days. Will report back on that.

If you could run a race in a country different from where you live, where would that be?

This is the next questions in Christina's Running Question Challenge.

Question:
If you could run a race in a country different from where you live, where would that be?

Answer:
I’ve been thinking about this for a few years now and hope that one day this will be reality. I’ll travel to Phoenix to run the Across the Years (ATY) 24 hour race. Years ago I was inspired by Lynn David Newton when I read his book, Running Through the Millennium. Since I read the book I’ve been following the race and runners closely every year. I’ve downloaded just about every photo published for this race and has read many reports.

So that’s where I’ll go, for the 24 hour race. I don’t know if I’ll travel that far and then run the 48 or 72 hour. That might mess up the rest of the adventure. Yes, this will be an adventure and I’ll hope to meet Lynn David Newton as well as the Zombies (Don and Gillian) from ZombieRunner. I’ll make sure my trip allows me to drink at least one good coffee prepared by Don at the Zombie Runner store.

Striders 32km – Finished with some problems

My 32km run this weekend didn’t go as well as I hoped for. I ran it as a training run so I didn’t bother about time at all so the fact that I finished another 32km is good. The heat got to me a bit. With all the rain we’ve had this was the first really warm run of the summer. The temperature went up to 29°C (84F) and this was warm for me. The last 10km I struggled and did a lot of walking. Afterwards I was nauseous and even had to stop and vomit next to the road on my way home. Not good at all. I think somewhere I didn’t drink enough water and my sugar levels got a bit high. The sun also got me and my shoulders and back of my neck were sore last night. But I finished and got the distance done which is important at this stage. Another medal on the wall and moving on to this week’s running.

I’ll take it easy during the week and finish the week’s training with another 32km race on Saturday. This will be a LSD training run as well and I’ll concentrate more on my water vs sugar intake. I’m planning a slow run and want to take the first half real easy.

Overall I suppose things are still looking good. My son Rohann added his 2nd 5km medal to his wall as well. I’m positive this week’s race will go much better.