I am a comrade :)

It has been 3 weeks since I completed the comrades marathon, and its only started sinking in now what I have achieved. Its abit unbelievable. I completed in 11hr 54min. That is a long time to keep moving but I am over happy that I achieved what I set out to do at the start of this blog, almost 9 months ago.

Here is a brief recount of my race.

I was not nervous at all, in fact the racing bug had struck and I was just excited, so much so that I got up at 2:45am to start carbo loading. I took in 300 g of carbs in cereal and carb shakes. Then I changed into my gear. I felt quite fat because of the carbo loading and the tapering before the race.

My wife and father in law dropped me of at the start. Just walking towards my pen, I was taking in how beautiful durban looked. As I entered my pen and looked for the 11hour bus, my strategy was to take it easy. I met one of my friends and he had come just to race until drummond and then drop off. He had completed the down run the previous year and he was giving encouragement in that I was quite ready for the race.

The gates separating the pens when down and you could almost feel the energy. The national anthem played, I sang it with all the energy and thought this is what it must be like to play for your country...incredible. Then started shoshaloza, the energy was picking up pace. The cockerel, with so much history when of, chariots of fire and bang! it had all began, the 2011 comrades marathon.

I was into a small jog, but the energy of the supporters of extraordinary and you just wanted to move faster. On the N3, it seemed like a stadium, with supporters on all sides with the flood lights bright.

Along the way I saw a few friends who where quite shocked to see me running. I was equally shocked to see them supporting. I kept up with the 11hour bus quite comfortably. However I did stop to take a leak around the 35km mark and lost the bus all together.

I was on my own for quite awhile, keeping a good eye on my times. Inchanga was quite a beast long, hot, far, steep just plain hardcore. I did a status on facebook but essentially it goes like this chappies and constantia nek bow before inchanga.

Then onto the a rather flattish section, more undulating onto umlaas road(highest point of the race). Before then I was running around harrison flats which was abit boring and freaking hot and then I saw my loewely, beautiful babbi. She came running to give me some puri patha, I turned it down and my father in law trying to get the perfect shot of my running, i'd like to believe my speed surprised him, hahaha. My mom-in-law and sis-in-law where also there. It was one of my highlights.

Around camperdown, the 12 hour bus caught me up, I was so stressed, because if the 12 hour bus passes you, you rather drop off the race, or so I have been told. I looked at my timing charts and noted that this bus was ahead of schedule, way ahead. But I joined the bus than try to fight it and the energy and fun was quite refreshing. Faizels bus!.As approaching little pollys and big very beeg pollys, the wisdom of our pace came through. We had just under 2hours to complete 12 km. We walked little pollys. The legend was proven, people were vomiting on the way up, some guy offered me mountain dew, because the water tasted crap. I was in no mood for the squeezies I was taking. I reached the top and hit a chilled walk to the finish.

I ran to into the stadium and the emotion of finishing was string. I held back the tears. Males don't cry, weep any fluffy stuff. I had completed the greatest human race, the comrades ultra, I a mere mortal has challenged and conquered a most challenging of trial. Who would have though. I would not have succeeded without the support of my lovely wife, my in-laws and my dad, who came to pietermariztburg specially to see me finish.