2014 Comrades Marathon Countdown Pt 6

Time to prepare the mind.

With only a few days left until race day, I hope you have had a look at the route profile by now. 

Just in case you haven't seen it or maybe chosen to forget it, here is a little reminder:
The official profile as provided by CMA:

And one with a bit less smoothing:

Yes, the organisers call it a 'down run'. They tend to do this every second year. Has nobody told them it is just as tough, and that there are still a few uphills along the way??

Being prepared for race day takes a lot more than just the miles of training (which, I assume, you have already done). You need to be physically fit while at the same time being well rested. You need to be mentally prepared. And you need to be covered in sun screen.

I trust you are all well prepared physically, and going into taper mode now to get the legs well rested before race day. Now you need to get mentally prepared. We'll pack the sun screen later.

27 days to go. You will be hearing lots of Comrades talk now and war stories will abound when you are out on the road with your fellow runners. Listen to all of them, but choose carefully what you want to hear. Don't get scared off. Just garner up some respect for the road that lies ahead.

The first thing you need to understand is how far it is. 89.28km. This is the official distance of the 2014 race as announced by CMA today. But that is for the A-seeded elite runners who get to stand on the start line. Anyone standing back in lower seeding groups can add a few metres to that. Still gonna be shy of the 90km that everyone has been talking about, so not that bad anyway!

The Comrades route is comparable to an enormous elephant. And despite common belief, there are actually 2 ways to eat an elephant:

"One bite at a time" - this is the most talked about method.

1. "Invite some friends to help you" - quite obvious, but often missed method.

Yes, you need to take the route one step at a time. One hill. One landmark. But if you find some buddies to do it with you, it is guaranteed to be a much more enjoyable experience! (You will still have feelings of over-indulgence at the end. There is more than enough elephant for everyone). Finding someone along the route to spend some time with certainly helps pass the time, and kilometres. The life of a distance runner is lonely, but with a few thousand people on the same road, there is no need for that. There will always be someone around or near you that will be keen to chat and cheer you up. There will always be someone around you that is feeling better than you. And there will always be someone around you that is having a worse day than you. Find a buddy and help them along, and that in turn will help you.

Another part of the Comrades campaign that I am sure you have heard about is what they call "the Big Five":

• Polly Shortts
• Inchanga
• Botha's Hill
• Fields Hill
• Cowies Hill

A nice African ring to it. "Big Five". Marketing. Crap. Get over it.


Then CMA refers to other 'landmarks' such as Ashburton, 45th Cutting, and Tollgate. So the organisers have admitted there are some hills on the 'down' run. Real buggers too. But they only earn the classification of 'landmarks'. And then there are some that are longer and steeper than Heartbreak Hill on the Boston Marathon route. But they are not quite big enough to earn names on the Comrades route. So the are generally not spoken about.

Well, over the next few days I will send out a number of emails with detailed route descriptions and explaining the route in 'bite sized chunks' to try help prepare your mind for what lies ahead. I'll try include some of the unnamed hills too.

Spend some time looking at the route profile. Let it scare you now. You have 27 days to get over it.


And remember - distance running is 90% mental, and the other half is physical.


Stay healthy!

Cheers,
Andrew

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3
Part 4
Part 5