ROAD RUNNING |
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Images : Tobias Ginsberg & Action Photo SA |
found them all brilliant . I think the shoes have helped me do higher mileage as well , because it felt like an easy transition , and I am really , really grateful for that .
MA : You mention high mileage weeks . What kind of mileage are we talking about here ?
GS : My highest mileage week was just over 200 kilometres – 202 , to be exact – but I was doing an average of 160 to 180 per week since February .
MA : You said before the Two Oceans that it was your one big focus for the year , whereas in the past it was perhaps more a stepping stone to the Comrades . So that begs the question , what are your plans for the rest of 2022 ?
GS : I have a 10km in Manchester in May , at the Great Manchester Run , to get back into things , but after that , I still have many options and have not decided yet , which is very different to past years . There is Comrades at the end of August , but also the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in October , and other races overseas , including
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the big city marathons , so it is a hard decision . I respect the Comrades , and most of my running career has been built around Two Oceans and Comrades , but I think it will be the wrong decision to race Comrades if I want to do a fast marathon soon after that . I might be able to recover in time , but it would be taking a big chance , so that ’ s why I say it would be like making a bad business decision .
I ’ m still weighing up my options , but it is unlikely I would do two big races within a few months of each other . Peres showed it can be done by winning the Tokyo Marathon earlier this year and then winning the recent Boston Marathon as well , but the Comrades is far longer , and the Down Run is far more jarring , so I need to think about the longevity of my running career . Three big races in one year is already a lot , let alone running two of them within a month or two of each other . As a professional athlete , I have to make some tough calls , so as much as I want to stand on the start line of a race I have won before , there are so many racing opportunities out there , and I need to choose carefully .
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MA : A follow-up to that , because you have broken the Up Run record at Comrades , is the Down Run ‘ calling your name ,’ so to say ?
GS : Yes , absolutely ! So , if I can ’ t compete at Comrades this year , then I will definitely go for it next year , because I believe 2023 may be a Down Run again . That also helps me with the decision what to run this year , because in my mind I know I also have the option to race Comrades next year . But even the decision for the 2024 Comrades is hard , because I really want to go to Paris for the next Olympics .
MA : On a related note , how do you feel about the Comrades being run in August , or would you prefer it going back to June ?
GS : I feel torn , because Comrades in August means that you can always race Two Oceans hard , which is good for me , but torn because I spend a lot of time running with the Joburg running community , and I know that for them to train through the cold and dark of winter in Joburg is going to be really tough . Also , I want to see the Cape Town Marathon grow – it ’ s a gem we ’ ve got here , and I hope people will make
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