The Looooong Run

No build up, no excitement, no supporters, no start line, no medal...just 60km on the road.  That's what the long club run is like.  On Friday, 27th April, while most South Africans were enjoying Freedom Day by turning off the week day alarm - my alarm, along with a few hundred other runners was set for much earlier than a normal working Friday.  Most clubs organise a 60km training run before Comrades as one last long run.  I opted to do the run of a different club, rather than my own for a few reasons.  Firstly I run for a fairly small club and only about 40 people take part in this particular long run.  However, my running man runs for one of the biggest clubs in the country and there are roughly 400 people that run their long run.  So in the fears of getting lost with such a small group of runners from my own club, I decided to go the safe route and stick with the crowds.  Also, while any 60km is good training, this particular long run is known to be one of the most difficult routes and therefore, perfect Comrades training.  So at 5:30am on a public holiday, I set off in the dark to run a long and what I had been warned would be a very boring, but extremely difficult 60km.  Everyone I had spoken to was right, it was long and it was tough, but it certainly wasn't boring.  Despite the fact that the route was missing all the supporters, vibe and excitement of my first Ultra Marathon, I really enjoyed it! Maybe its because I was running so slowly, maybe because I was running with a very experienced Comrades runner who had loads of good advice, or maybe it was just feeling as though the plan was coming together.  That after all these months of hard training, I could now run 60km (predominantly uphill) comfortably.  Whatever it was, it felt great!  It was a long morning on the road, but every step was worth it! My first thought when I had finished, was that Comrades is still an additional 29km-which is a very scary thought! But according to Comrades king Bruce Fordyce,a scared and intimidated Comrades runner is a successful Comrades runner.  And if that's the case, then hopefully I'll be successful come June 3.