by Axel Rittershaus | 19 Jun 2014 | Training Session
Sometimes I am lucky when I am facilitating leadership development trainings and some participants join me for an early (6.00 am!) morning run. Today was one of those occasions and we have a very international group here when you look at the places where we usually...
by Axel Rittershaus | 19 Jun 2014 | Training Session
A 2 hour run was planned. But when I went out for the run, I just did not feel like running. If I’d be following a training program right now, I would have forced myself to carry on and complete the session planned. Currently, 2 weeks after Comrades, I allow...
by Axel Rittershaus | 13 Jun 2014 | Training Session
I’m still in a relaxed “post Comrades mode”. I eat a lot and run very little 🙂 During a business trip, I went out for a run in Düsseldorf, which was hit by a serious hurricane two days ago. Every third tree in the city area has been knocked over or...
by Axel Rittershaus | 12 Jun 2014 | Race Review
It was my 4th Comrades.
And it was my toughest … In the morning, I woke up 1 minute before the 3:00 am alarm went off, everything looked really good. I felt good, and confident. This year’s Comrades ultra-marathon was a so called “Down Run”...
by Axel Rittershaus | 9 Jun 2014 | Training Session
Day no. 6 after Comrades. The first 3 days I had very sore legs, mainly the tights were hurting due to the effect of the long down section in the last part of the race. Already on day 3 I went to the gym. I was not as strong as usually while exercising with weights....
by Axel Rittershaus | 3 Jun 2014 | Race Review
It was my 10th Ultra Marathon run in total, the 4th Comrades (and the 3rd Comrades Down Run)… …and it was the toughest race I ever ran. I mean ever! I managed to finish in 9 hours 46 minutes, which is 20 minutes slower than my best in 2012 and just 1...
by Axel Rittershaus | 31 May 2014 | Ultra Marathon
After some trouble with Hertz rental car, which I am never going to book any more, we made our way to the Comrades 2014 Expo. Before we even got there, we met Olesya & Elena Nurgalieva, the Russian twins, dominating Ultra running for more than a decade. Together...
by Axel Rittershaus | 29 May 2014 | Ultra Marathon
What am I going to eat and drink during a 9h+ race like the 89 km Comrades 2014 Ultra Marathon? In the past I very much relied on Peanutbutter-Sandwiches (I took 2 slices of toast put peanutbutter with salt in between and cut that into 4 pieces). But over the years I...
by Axel Rittershaus | 29 May 2014 | Training Session
I just printed the boarding passes for the flights to Durban 🙂 Now even my nerves are kicking in. It’s not very easy to concentrate on work, so I do stuff which does not require 100% of my concentration. Today it was just a gentle and very short run without any...
by Axel Rittershaus | 27 May 2014 | Training Session
Today I received my final confirmation email for Sunday’s Comrades Ultra Marathon. It says “hard is what makes it great”. Yes, I have to agree. This week of reduced milage is not easy. Especially since I do not want to gain any weight during this...
