Training Log Archive: Stijn

My first Mnweni Marathon and somehow the stars aligned for a perfect race for me! Conditions were perfect with cool, slightly cloudy weather in the valleys and recent fires having burnt the slopes making for very runnable trails. I genuinely set off hoping to sneak under 6 hours at best but with a more likely result being 6h-6h30m.

I started with Rob and Warren in the front pack along the gravel road, but soon let them get ahead as I settled into a more sustainable pace for me, so I was in about 20th to 25th place when we started the first singletrack climb. Here's where I very quickly noticed that I would immediately start gaining ground and passing people again on every section which was too steep to run and required some good old power-hiking. It's always been a strength of mine, but I guess 6 weeks of mountain hiking with an 18kg pack helps too :)

I was 1 minute behind Rob's 6h split from May at the 9km mark, but then 5 mins up on his split near Shepherd's Cave at the 14km mark. This gave me some good confidence that sub-6h was achievable. I kept passing people on the way up to Mnweni Pass, spent a bit of time running with Warren & Greg up to the start of the pass and then gave it horns on the ~800m climb to the top. I was very surprised to spot Rob up ahead (he was starting to feel the altitude after a recent blood donation) and even more surprised when he told me we were in 7th place! I could see 2nd-6th up ahead so set off in pursuit. Caught 6th & 5th just before the top and managed to get the 6th fastest time ever for the full Mnweni Pass segment on Strava (51:35).

Very runnable conditions on top and caught the 2nd-4th runners (Pieter, Nicolette & Louis) at the top of Rockeries. They proceeded to put big time on me down the technical Rockeries descent (I'm such a wuss). Matt caught me on the descent and was keen to stick with me as I knew the way. His presence behind me kept the pressure on and I was descending much better for the 2nd half of the way down.

The trail got faster and faster and as I was nearing the road, sub-5h was getting within reach. I set a cut-off of 4h30m at the road, with 6km to go. If I made that, I would go for it. After a nice efficient route through the top of the village, I got there at 4h33m. Decided to try anyway and hammered off down the hill at just under 4min/km. Things got much tougher when the road flattened out with the occasional hill and with nobody in sight ahead or behind, I was just running for time. I even resorted to emptying my water flasks with 3km to go (serious business this haha). Didn't know whether I had it until the finish was in sight with 500m to go. Made it with 1 min to spare and must have been quite a spectacle with a proper bout of cramps setting in as I finished! 4:22/km for the last 6km which is my fastest 6km in more than a year ;)

Held onto that 5th place, 6 mins behind Louis in 4th and 16 mins behind Iain, who won in 4h43m.

So happy with the result (as you can tell by this long, gushing report)! I'm quite liking the idea of sticking to these 30-50km mountain races and get that awesome feeling of running hard again (and not just slogging it out for a finish). Keen to stick to "just" 50km training weeks and try introduce some quality sessions too.

TE 4.5 https://www.strava.com/activities/2686633493/overv...

C • My strategy for next time! 5

Auto-belays at CityRock.

18,20,20 in a row
(25a),(24a)x2,(21a)
21,19,18 in a row

TE 3.2 http://www.movescount.com/moves/move305866284

Starting to feel like a runner again :)

TE 3.4 http://www.movescount.com/moves/move305558164

Lead League round 3 with Rob. 44 points again.

18L,(21Lx),(26Lx),(28Lx),(24Lx),(22Lx).

Nice longish run at Klippies. Feeling more comfortable and able to sustain this pace. Just in time for Mnweni next weekend ;)

TE 3.7 http://www.movescount.com/moves/move305149868

CR with Rob.

18,20,(24a)x2,(24a), 15mins spray wall.