Diary of some MADmen – Entry two – 19 January 2018

Diary of some MADmen is a weekly entry from three crazy guys who are part of the #TEAM18 for MAD2run. They will be running from Joburg to Cape Town, in relay, to raise funds for the MAD Leadership Foundation. For those of you who know the three guys; Josh, Kurt and Allan, what they say in their weekly diary entry could more often than not, be taken as them fooling around. But, as they are all Elite Athletes, we aren’t entirely sure if they are…..

This past weekend, Josh; Kurt; Allan and the rest of the crew from #TEAM18 embarked on a “practice run” of their main journey, which commences on 23 March. During this practice the entire team would cover 360km in and around Joburg. Each shift would consist of two teams of two runners covering 60km in six hours.

During these shifts, the rest of the crew would be at base camp. On the first night it was at Canterbury College. On Saturday, we moved to Pirates sports club, one of the day sponsors for the journey.

Here’s what the guys had to say about their dress rehearsal…

Allan

Dear Diary

Ho Ho Holy crap balls, that was tough!

What an ego destroyer! Not that I run with an ego!

I knew going into the run that I was undercooked, but I didn’t realise how bad. Massive wakeup call!

But oh what an experience. In spite of the lack of training ,the whole weekend was superb. On the run, the guys in the van were supporting all the way. Nothing was said in a negative light. Only encouragement and gees!

The first shift, Friday 18:00 to 00:30, was cool. I’m still not sure where we ran but it started in Muldersdrift and we ended out by Randfontein. During this shift, we covered 60km. So far in fact, that when we had finished and were heading back to base camp for a well-deserved beer, it still took us 45 minutes to get there. And Leon was not holding back on the accelerator.

Arriving back to base camp we tried not to make too much noise, so our other runners could grab some much-needed sleep but when we found out that Kurts double blow-up mattress was basically deflated, there were a number of expletives! While my “team mates” moved inside the school to sleep on couches and the sick-bay bed, I sucked it up and slept on the almost deflated mattress.

Waking up just after 5am to the crow of a rooster, oh that F@&#ing rooster! I was feeling rather deflated after only 2 and a half hours of broken sleep.

Oh well, must move on. And that is what we did. Pack up camp, drive across town to Pirates sports cub where we proceeded to set up camp, have a shower and try catch some Zzzzz’s while watching the Proteas take on India.

The Saturday afternoon shift was hot but with a new crew to share the van with, we were pumped and had some great banter during the time while not on the road. We all had a run, supporters included and we really did pull together to get everyone over the line.

It was great to see Ronald Gall and his family driving with us for a while, giving us some additional support. I apologise again for not stopping but I was poked! Note to self: arrange a catch-up drink with Ronaldo!

I can’t say enough how great last weekend was. Main MAD will be a little tougher, but the exercise regime has already increased and as a matter of fact, I will be hitting the Westcliff stairs this evening for a session, followed by a few runs this weekend.

It’ll be rough over the next few weeks but getting the fitness up will pay dividends when it counts!

Xoxo

Kurt

Dear Diary

Well . . . my Mattress leaked!

It has been 5 days since miniMAD. One of the coolest things I have done in a while.

Great bunch of people, all a lot fitter than me!

The whole experience was amazing. Other than my knee (ITB), I felt strong and comfortable during my shifts.

First shift was Friday, 6pm –midnight and second shift was 2pm-8pm on Saturday. Saturday was HOT, around 35 degrees with a feel of around 40 degrees (felt more like 60).

Night runs are definitely ideal and special. And who would of thought that running at 11pm along a pitch black road in the West Rand (west of Johannesburg) would be beautiful, bizarrely beautiful.

Bright stars, silence and a few owl’s spectating.

I received a “fine” (beer fine) at the debrief for not sleeping in a tent, I think it was mostly because others were jealous because of my idea.

We arrived back to the school at 2am, where we had set up basecamp one and found my sad, deflated mattress in our tent. I needed a plan B. The Leb acted quickly and managed to find a bed (squeaky as hell) in the school’s sick bay.

In hindsight the mattress would have been a better option because outside the sickbay was the meeting point and breakfast spot for the 4am shift.

Between the squeaky bed, the next group of excited MADsters and my team mate Joshua’s cellphone alarm going off every hour on the hour (God only knows why), I had about an hour and a half’s sleep (rest).

I have to give a shout out to my lady, Tanya for all the support, for getting me off my lazy ass in the holidays and for my power pack she hand delivered before the run. You can stay 🙂

If I hadn’t trained in the holidays I would still be finishing my shift.

The gees, the team, the support and the adventure all trumps the lack of sleep though. It really was a special experience and I look forward to the main MAD2run on the 23rd March 2018.

If you are one of the few who are going to read this, please support with a small donation to the cause – The MAD leadership foundation, it really is a great cause. Allan should have the bank details somewhere in this post.

Shout outs have to go out to my family, my business partners at CN&CO, team mates at GT247.com, friends and the Gall family for the support along the way (think eye of the tiger and chariots of fire blaring from their vehicle while holding up traffic ).

Muchos Gracias and until next week.

Josh

Hello Hi!

Honestly can’t believe that it has been a full week since we were running around Jozi Town at some crazy time in the early hours of the morning.

This week has flown by, lots on the go and graft is back in full swing! The holiday cobwebs are gone and we are ready to rock. It’s lekker to be getting back into a routine (back to the 3:50 am wake ups to get the training in before work…something about earning your sunrise). I gave the legs a bit of a rest this week, back on it properly from Monday.

Last week was a massive week mileage wise, I took a decision to push myself and see how my body would respond (I have a tendency to do some silly things like this). I clocked over 100km for the week, which included 47 km in our 12 hours on the road as part of the #miniMAD weekend. A touch MAD, but life would be boring if there weren’t a few ‘nutters’ like myself…

Reflecting on last weekend’s 360 km trot. In the early hours of Saturday morning once we had finished our first six hour shift, driving back to base camp, I tried to find the words to best explain the experience (I was a bit overwhelmed, after all it’s not something that you do every day!) The majority of this shift was in the dark (benefit of this is that you don’t see the road and the hills seem shorter). Running through the informal settlement on the edge of Krugersdorp was definitely a first, didn’t see that coming (I probably would have if I had looked at the route map before, note to self to analyse the route down to CT beforehand).

Our second shift was a HOT one! Jozi really turned up the temperature, 35 degrees and probably 38 odd on the tar! This threw in another curve ball and we had to watch our hydration closely. It is amazing what your body can do, our team rocked this shift on minimal sleep (2 hours) and we all managed to log our allocated Kms.

Lessons from the weekend?

Nutrition and hydration are key to getting you to CT, so eat as much as you can!
Remember to keep smiling, life isn’t that serious, and this is a crazy opportunity that we have been given.
Sleep when you can, a power nap does wonders.
Budget, mentally, for the drives back and forth from base camps to the different pick up points along the route.

All in all, it was a power weekend! I am beyond proud of the mental strength my team mates (Al and Kurt) showed. Thanks to them I still had a smile at the end of the weekend!

Have a killer weekend, till next time!

Ciao

If you’re keen to donate to this amazing cause, please do so here