by Axel Rittershaus | 12 Oct 2015 | Race Review
For the past few years I happened to be out of town every time the Cape Town Marathon was on the race calendar. And I was not too keen on running it, since it’s neither a very beautiful nor a really fast race. Usually I use the Red Hill (January) and the...
by Axel Rittershaus | 10 Oct 2015 | Inspiration
Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun… … or taking some time out from blogging … or working and traveling a lot. Now, I am happy to get back into my blog writing and keep you posted, informed, entertained about running and training....
by Axel Rittershaus | 13 Jun 2015 | Race Review, Top, Ultra Marathon
“If I don’t finish in less than 9 hours, it won’t be because I am not fit enough, but because I am mentally holding myself back from running fast enough” were my words to my wife at dinner the evening before the race. I kept them in my mind all...
by Axel Rittershaus | 25 May 2015 | Inspiration
It’s Monday and only 6 more sleeps until race day of the 90th edition of The Ultimate Human Race – The South African Comrades Ultra Marathon. It will be another up run again, 1800 m elevation up, 1200 m down, 87.8 km total distance. I can’t wait to...
by Axel Rittershaus | 6 May 2015 | Race Review
Number 7, I can’t believe that this is the already the seventh time I take part in the most beautiful marathon in the world. This year I was happy and lucky during my preparation – no injuries, no illness, and a new training strategy I felt very confident...
by Axel Rittershaus | 30 Mar 2015 | Training Session, Ultra Marathon
Two weeks before the Two Oceans Ultra I usually do a final long run. After last weeks 53 km training session, my plan for today was a 40+ km run, easy and smooth. It went perfectly, the first 3 hours I ran in the fog, cooling me down wonderfully. For the last 1.25 h...
by Axel Rittershaus | 23 Mar 2015 | Marathon, Ultra Marathon
The Two Oceans Marathon organizers asked me to write a blog post regarding running in what in South Africa is called a “bus”. Other call it “pace setter”. The principle is the same: A girl or a guy has a balloon or a flag indicating her or his...
by Axel Rittershaus | 21 Mar 2015 | Training Session, Ultra Marathon
Thanks to Atlantic Athletic Club, the running club I belong to, for once again organizing a fantastic “Nek 2 Nek” training run, 3 weeks before the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon 2015. The distance was calculated with 47 km, but I always like to do one 50 km run...
by Axel Rittershaus | 14 Feb 2015 | Inspiration, Training Session
Have you ever heard the name Renato Canova? The Italian might be THE best running coach in the world, coaching numerous world class athletes, like Moses Mosop, who together with countryman Geoffrey Mutai broke the Boston Marathon record by 3 minutes, finishing in 2h...
by Axel Rittershaus | 13 Feb 2015 | Statistics
This year’s training strategy is way less stressful than last year, where I did many very fast (for me) intervall sessions. I focus more on consistency at a pace of 20 – 45 sec slower than Two Oceans Ultra race pace (which will be 5:10 min/km). January I...
