Running coach Archives - Bruce Fordyce

I’M A CHEF

29 April 202321 November 2023
by Bruce Fordyce

Last Sunday’s epic 42nd running of the London Marathon reminded me that I once ran the London Marathon with Gordon Ramsay. Yes “Hell’s kitchens/Kitchen Nightmares/The F word” Gordon Ramsay.

For any astonished non-believing sceptics reading this article who doubt Ramsay’s ability to run a marathon, allow me to startle you further. Gordon Ramsay has completed 3 Comrades marathons between the years 2000 and 2004. His best time is 10:31 (up). For good measure he is also an Iron Man medallist. In language spiced with profanities he rated the Comrades as the toughest @#$& race he has ever run.

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT!

15 April 202321 November 2023
by Bruce Fordyce

It’s such a pity that South Africa’s two premier ultramarathons are run just a few weeks apart. It’s like those poor people whose birthdays fall on Christmas day or New Year. It’s simply too much excitement in too short a time. Comrades Marathon runners are compelled to choose. One of the events must take precedence. If their goal is to run a successful Comrades they must make Two Oceans the supporting act for Comrades. Two Oceans ambitions must be cast aside, and the focus must be the Comrades marathon. For Two Oceans fans it means discarding the Comrades. It’s a little like choosing the Rolling Stones as the supporting act for The Beatles. Neither should be the supporting act for the other, It’s Interesting that many Cape based runners call closed season after they’ve earned their Two Oceans medals. For many of them the Comrades is a bridge too far.

Comrades Marathon 2023

FIND A COACH

12 February 202315 February 2023
by Bruce Fordyce

Casting my mind back over nearly half a century of running I realise that I have very few regrets, very few moments where I think “if only”

Yes “if only I had run a little faster and been a little bolder in the 1980 Comrades marathon, I might have won the race”

But Alan Robb deserved to win that year, and I was a very young runner, and was delighted with my second-place finish that morning. And, besides, a year later I won.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR?

7 June 20228 July 2022
by Bruce Fordyce

As we started the quadriceps pummeling descent of Field’s Hill in the 2012 “down” Comrades marathon. Zola Budd-Pieterse turned to me and muttered “ Jissie dis ver”. “How much further do we still have to run?”

Zola and I had been running together for the at least an hour. Earlier in the day I had been about to pass her, when in a rare moment of genius, it dawned on me Read more “A BRIDGE TOO FAR?” →

Comrades 2022 training

DO WHAT I SAY NOT WHAT I DO

24 May 20228 July 2022
by Bruce Fordyce

The niggle in my lower left leg began to irritate me two or three days before the Two Oceans half marathon that I was hoping to run on Easter Saturday. At first, I chose to ignore it, but the pain persisted and when I attempted a gentle three kilometre jog the day before the race the pain became sharper and more intense.

At that point my sensible, wise running angel sat on my shoulder and Read more “DO WHAT I SAY NOT WHAT I DO” →

Comrades 2022 training

THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF A SUCCESFUL COMRADES TRAINING PROGRAMME…

12 May 2022
by Bruce Fordyce

Photo credit Tim Graham/Getty Images

As Comrades runners start the hard winter training grind culminating on race day on August 28th many of them are still wrestling with exactly what type of training they should be doing on a daily and weekly basis. Should they be running hills? Should they include speed sessions? How many long runs should they complete? and how many kilometres should they run each week and, each month?

At this critical time of the Comrades marathon preparation, I am asked these questions on an almost daily basis. These questions are not as simple to answer as they might appear to be. The problem is that rather like running shoes there is no “one size suits all” answer. So much depends on what each race runner’s goal is. Is he or she hoping for a top 10 finish, a silver medal or 12 hours, Vic Clapham medal? It also depends on how much time they have at their disposal to train. How much time can they steal from work and family and social commitments. Finally, and most importantly it depends on how wisely they selected their parents! In other words what type of genetic advantage or disadvantage they bring to the task. Read more “THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF A SUCCESFUL COMRADES TRAINING PROGRAMME AND HOW I MET THE QUEEN” →

Comrades 2022 training

IT’S TIME – MAY IS THE NEW MARCH

28 April 20228 July 2022
by Bruce Fordyce

Now that the Two Oceans dust has settled, and the postmortems of the great race have been completed it is time to take stock and make plans for the Comrades marathon in August.
When the Comrades marathon association first announced that the race would be run on August 28th there were howls of protest from some quarters. (We all understand that change often makes people uncomfortable. Try changing a runner’s familiar training route if you want to see an adverse reaction to change) But the rationale for the August date was more than adequately explained Read more “IT’S TIME – MAY IS THE NEW MARCH” →

Comrades 2022 training

GET A COACH, START WINNING

10 April 202229 April 2022
by Bruce Fordyce

Coaches Bruce, Iain and Frank with athletes Jeannie (recently won Gauteng 21km championship gold Vet women) and Wayne.

Back in the 1970s when I started running, I had not heard of the concept of a running coach for anyone other than for a handful of elite Olympic athletes. In fact, when I first decided to lace up some running shoe (priced at R4.50 a pair) I think the word “coach” was more familiar to me as a rather posh word for a bus or railway carriage. I’m sure my running companions of that era felt the same. I joke, of course, but the two best known coaches at that time were already from a bygone era. Read more “GET A COACH, START WINNING” →

Category: <span>Running coach</span>