Diary of some MADmen – First Entry – 12 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…..

KURT

Dear Diary!

12 Jan 2018- Shit, today is the day!

Shit, today is the day, miniMAD is upon us! 36 hours, 24 runners, 360km through the streets of Joburg. Pretty sure all my essentials are packed. Hopefully. Mixed emotions right now. I managed to get in some training over the holidays (thanks to my gf) but not nearly as much as I would have liked (oh well).

My ITB (fancy abbreviation for a knee injury) still haunts me and I hoping it will stay my friend over the coming weekend (luckily Josh has packed the painkillers . . . and beers).

Nerves are on fleek and the excitement is definitely there as it sounds like an epic adventure and great time with the other #MADsters, but yes, I am kakking myself still!

Our team kicks off miniMAD (not sure if they get the least fit to start or the best looking) and we run from 6pm until midnight, we have to cover 60km in total, 15km per person. The recent heatwave we have had has also been top of mind, so we are stoked for this time.

Tomorrow will be a little warmer, when we run from 2pm to 8pm and cover the same distance.

Our basecamp is just that, a camp. Tonight we sleep (in tents) at a school on the West Rand and tomorrow night at a sports club in the north of Jhb. Cold beers and a braai for recovery, while another team tackles the 12am – 6am shift.

I hope my mattress doesn’t have a leak.

Let’s do this thing!

 

JOSHUA

Hello and welcome to 2018!

Where did 2017 go?

It honestly feels like just the other day that we decided to challenge ourselves and sign up for MAD2Run 2018. I am not sure how much thinking went into this decision, but it’s too late to back out now!

Less than 3 months to go ’til we set off on this crazy journey, using our feet to get us to Cape Town. Shucks that’s a long way to run! Time to up those training miles and leave the holiday excuses behind…maybe the booze as well.

Personally I have changed my fitness track a bit, I used to ride a bicycle A LOT… the bike has taken a back seat over the last couple of months and running has become a priority. I will admit that I have enjoyed the extra hour of sleep in the morning, running is far more practical on this front as it takes up less time of your early mornings. Although a 12km run does feel like a 3 hour bike ride, baby steps though…still have time to put the finishing fitness touches together.

This weekend (actually 6pm today) holds the first big test of 2018 for the # TEAM18 MAD2Run, its MiniMAD time. A 360km urban journey around Joburg and surrounds! The distance that we have to run isn’t as far as Big MAD, but it’s bound to be an interesting 36 hours nonetheless (my physio session has already been booked for Monday!!)

Final touches of prep, cooler boxes packed (carbs are the most important part of recovery) and a few clothes thrown in a bag.

Let’s get this thing started!

 

ALLAN

Dear Diary,

Ho Ho Ho How the hell am I meant to run 30km this weekend?! Only two weeks after Xmas and New Years celebrations, not to mention the wedding I’ve just attending of a mate in Hoedspruit where all we did was eat, swim and drink. Not necessarily in that order!

Admittedly it was exceptionally hot there, a sweltering 39 degrees so I was able to sweat most of it out but come on, the only running I’ve done since the start of December was, the Booze2Run, which was for MAD2run and the annual Pirates club Wobblers & Wigglers Mad-hatters run. Both of these involved drinking!!

One positive for me was that I was looking after my nephew and niece, which involved running after them making sure they didn’t cause too much havoc. So right now, I am considering that exercise and I’m sure those with kids can attest to this being correct.

Regardless, this weekend should be fun. If we suck, we suck. If we rock, then ….well that is what is expected of us so no-one will say anything. Let’s hope it is the latter!

Wish us luck!

xoxo