The former champion Charne Bosman (Murray&Roberts) will only focus on one thing on Sunday when she lines up to compete in the Comrades ultra-race for the seventh time.
It is certainly not going to be Gerda Steyn who won the Two Oceans earlier this year or Ann Ashworth last year's Comrades women's champion or for that matter any other athlete with aspirations of winning. She is going to be watching the ever fast changing numbers on her stopwatch and with good reason.
"The reality is that I am not getting any younger, which means I can't race the same way as I did seven years ago when I competed in my first Comrades. What I might lack in pure speed I now got to make up by running clever," explained the 43-year-old who won the race in 2016.
"My Tuks coach, Lindsey Parry, and I strategized quite a lot in the build-up to Comrades. One of the things Lindsey kept emphasizing that more is not better. That is why I raced a lot less than in previous years. The Johnson Crane Marathon and Om die Dam were the only two occasions I purposely went out hard.
"Something else that changed is that not once this year did I ever do more than 200 kilometres of running in a week. Lindsey's advice was that when out on the road, I should instead focus on making every kilometre count. As part of my preparation, I did spend several hours on a spin bike. Making sure I got enough sleep was also an essential part of my training regime. It needed to be. After 40 one's recovery is not as quick as it used to be."
Bosman has got a good idea of what she hopes to achieve on Sunday, but she prefers not to talk about it, only mentioning that if everything goes according to plan she hopes to set a new personal best time on the up run (Durban to Pietermaritzburg).
"Everything will depend on how I feel after 60 kilometres. That is why it is going to be so important to keep watching the times on my stopwatch. I got specific personal goals throughout the race, and the challenge is going to be to stick to it no matter what happens.
"I have reccied part of the Comrades route in May to refresh my memory. It made me realize that made me realize there are quite a few steep climbs on the course of which no one ever talks."
Bosman's Comrades CV is quite impressive. In 2013 the first time she raced she finished 5th; 2015 she was second, won in 2016; third in 2017 and was fifth last year. Having won five gold medals means that for the first she will be racing with a coveted green number.
As to what motivates her to still keep on punishing her body year in and year out, Bosman said that she has one remaining goal and that is to win an up-run.
"I genuinely want the Comrades double (winning up and down). Whether I will achieve it remains to be seen but this I can promise I am going to give it my all. Maria Bak (Germany), who won in 2002 when she was in her mid-forties proved that age is a mere number,” said the Tuks/HPC based athlete.
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