Beyond the marathon

As ever, these regular articles are going to be based around preparing for the next Land Rover Malta Marathon and Half Marathon, but first of all, let me start off with a question: what do you do when a marathon is too short?

Okay, that's not a question that is ever going to occur to most of us, who find even a half marathon far enough. However, it did occur to one Maltese female who had already completed 20 marathons and wanted to discover what lay beyond the finish-line. What would happen, she wondered, if you kept going?

Astrid Fleri Soler came up to me at training one evening last year and said she was considering taking part in The Comrades Marathon in South Africa in six months, and what did I think of the idea? I asked her if she was aware how long the race actually was and she nodded.

"You're aware then," I said, "that after passing 26.2 miles, you have to keep going for another whole 26.2 miles?" She nodded.

"And that after the second 26.2 miles there is still another three or four miles to go to the finish line?"

Astrid nodded again and asked what she should do. For a moment it crossed my mind to suggest a few sessions with a psychologist.

You see, here's the awful thing about the Comrades Marathon; it's got checkpoints along the route. Cut-off checkpoints. Which means that if you do not pass each checkpoint within a certain time, you are immediately disqualified.

As little as 20 metres short of a checkpoint when the cut-off time limit is up, and you're disqualified with no possibility of continuing.

So, you cannot back off and just walk the rest of the way once tiredness sets in. The clock is always ticking.

Over the months, Astrid's training schedule was built around lengthening the amount of running she could handle on the weekend. It did not make sense to spread her training load evenly over the whole week when she was going to be forced to cover 90km in under 12 hours.

Training did not only include running, but twice-weekly gym sessions to strengthen her muscles and joints to ensure they could handle up the hours of non-stop pounding. This was important because Comrades is a hilly route.

To the surprise of many, it wasn't the uphills that were the problem, it was the downhills.

Every runner who has ever taken part in the annual Mdina-to-Spinola will testify that downhills are quad-killers.

Training peaked at around 120 miles per week: that included quicker track sessions on Tuesday and Friday, a longish run on Thursday, two gym sessions, and then a two-hour run on Saturday followed by a single run of up to 4-5 hours on a Sunday morning.

It was not a schedule for the faint-hearted and although Astrid suffered aches and pains along the way, she never allowed any of them to discourage her.

Race day: 12,000 runners (2,000 of whom were female) boarded the buses at 2:30 a.m. to get to the start by 5:30. Not only was Astrid the first Maltese female to ever take part, she was the first Maltese ever (male or female).

There are stations every 2k at which you can get water, coke or an energy drink. Astrid found herself often taking a handful of crisps for the extra salt. The temperature climbed to 27 degrees and was very humid.

Sweat poured from her body as she kept up the pace.

Cut-off checkpoints came and went and she kept to the steady pace she had perfected in thousand of miles of training on Maltese roads.

Towards the end Astrid found herself, along with runners around her, asking helpers for more salt.

The constant sweat loss had meant her body was becoming dangerously low in this vital mineral. If she could not replace the loss, she would grind to a halt. The knowledgeable spectators (this year was the 84th edition of the event) began to produce handfuls and she ate some pure salt as she jogged, washing it down with liquid.

Astrid completed the Comrades in 11 hours 12 minutes, well inside the final cut-off time of 12 hours.

By way of a reward, she and her husband David enjoyed a safari holiday before returning home.

Asked why she did it, she replied: "Many runners are much faster than me. My body is made for endurance and stamina. I plan to do it again!"

More on the marathon in two weeks' time. Enjoy your training!

johnwalsh42195@yahoo.it