There is less than 4 weeks to go to the 2012 Comrades Marathon and all the long training runs have been done. It’s now time to cut back on the long ones and sharpen the edge if you’d like as we head towards race day. On episode 12 of my running podcast I chat to Doctor Jeremy Boulter, who is the convenor of the Comrades medical panel and the Comrades doctor, I also wanted to chat to someone who is an ordinary, everyday runner who has a lot of Comrades experience to impart and that is exactly what Richard Wulfsohn has to offer. He will be running his 31^st Comrades Marathon this and has some valuable information to share when it comes to the down run. We look at the trail running scene in Gauteng when we chat to Debbie Agenbag from Wildtrail (http://www.wildtrail.co.za). You can get hold of Debbie on the following email debbie@wildtrail.co.za

I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here

Episode 11 of the Running podcast sees us only 4 weeks out from the 2012 Comrades Marathon.  This week I chat to John McInroy about the Unogwaja Challenge, Gareth Edwards (Morning news anchor on the E News Channel) about his recent entry into running, Thani Vilakazi (Marketing coordinator for the Comrades Marathon) about getting your qualifying time in for proper seeding and Lindsey Parry tells us exactly what needs to be done over the next 4 weeks as we head closer to the 2012 Comrades Marathon.

I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here

Episode 10 of my running podcast sees me chat to Lindsey Parry about the Comrades Down run. In Particular the route, what you can expect and what you should do on race day to have a successful run in 2012. I also touch base with Simon Buckden who is in the middle of running 100 marathons in 100 weeks. He has had a few curve balls thrown his way of late including being diagnosed with cancer. We also chat a bit more about the Parkrun concept and his involvement with a parkrun in his community.

You can find Simon on Twitter here http://www.twitter.com/100mara100weeks and his website is http://www.raceto100.co.uk

It is Ironman week for me and this week’s podcast is slightly different to the ones we have done in the past. I have changed the technology slightly for the first two interviews I have done this week as far as how I record the show to improve the audio quality. It will also allow me to interview folks abroad so look out for some international guests in the weeks and months to come.

On this weeks show I:

-          Chat to Tanya Kovarsky who is a freelance writer, editor, blogger and 9 times Comrades Marathon finisher about a concept called Run Soweto 10km as well as get some great advice on tackling the Comrades down run. (As mentioned in the show her blog can be found at http://www.keepcalmandrun.com and on twitter you can find her @TanyaKovarsky on Twitter and the hash tag is #runsoweto10km)

-          Chat to Raoul De Jongh about Ironman as well as decreasing your carbon footprint as an athlete. (The sites we mentioned were http://www.urban-ninja.co.za and http://www.pureplanetracing.com )

-          Catch up with Rene Kalmer ahead of this weekends London Marathon and chat to her about the London 2012 Olympics.

-          Run through the races happening around the country this weekend

I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here

Episode 8 of this running podcast sees me catch up with TV & Radio personality Liezel van der Westhuizen. Besides being an Ironman and a Dusi Canoe marathon finisher Liezel is super fit and super busy. I find out how she fits running into her schedule. Lindsey Parry from the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria speaks to us this week about using a run/walk strategy when tackling races like the Two Oceans and Comrades. I also preview this week’s road races.

It is a big week for ultra runners in South Africa. The Old Mutual Two Oceans happens on Saturday in Cape Town and for those of you in Johannesburg the Randburg Harriers Easter 100 provides some great training for Comrades this weekend. We chat about both of those events in this weeks show. We also chat to Comrades winner Nick Bester about cross training and he gives some great advice on how to get running as a novice. Lindsey Parry from the HPC at the University of Pretoria chats about hydration. The question is what should you be drinking, how much of it should you be drinking and how often should you be drinking it on a long run? Lindsey answers all those questions and more on this week’s episode.

Just over a week to go to the Two Oceans and with Comrades approaching pretty quickly we chat about rally driving, shoes and the run walk strategy on this weeks show.

I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here

The line up this week is as follows:

Bruce Fordyce (9 times winner of the Comrades Marathon) – we chat the run/walk strategy, cross training and injuries with the king of Comrades

Gugu Zulu (South African rally driver & TV personality) – Gugu shares with us how important staying fit is in motorsport and we find out what he has planned athletically in the months ahead.

Lindsey Parry (Sports Scientist at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria) – We chat about shoes. How many kilometres should you get out of a pair of running shoes? What running shoes should you be running in and we also discuss the minimalist/barefoot movement.

Race Calender

This is the fifth running podcast and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Don’t to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here
The running order of this week’s show is as follows:
- Lindsey Parry (HPC – University of Pretoria) on Speed Work
- Bruce Fordyce (9 Times Comrades Winner) on when is the best time to do your long run before Comrades and how long is long enough
- Nick Bester (Comrades Winner) on what to do if you have an injury
- This week’s race calendar

I am happy to report things have settled down a bit after last week’s chaos, training is going well and I have managed to put together an interesting episode of my running podcast this week. Granted I am a bit biased but hopefully you’ll feel the same after listening to it. Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here Also if you would like to be in touch you can email podcast@bradbrown.co.za

In this week’s show (Episode 4) I speak to:

Nicole Da Silva – 5FM DJ who is running her second Two Oceans Half Marathon this year

Johan Van Staden – Comrades Marathon race director about substitutions at the 2012 Comrades Marathon

Lindsey Parry – High Performance Centre University of Pretoria talks black toenails

Bruce Fordyce – 9 times winner of the Comrades Marathon talks about the Parkrun concept and also gives advice on getting started in running.

Weekend Race Calender 17 & 18 March 2012

It has been a manic week with everything that possibly could go wrong going wrong, from meningitis to motorcycle accidents! But as the say in the entertainment business, the show must go on.

(I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here)

This is episode 3’s breakdown:

We chat to Koula (TV Presenter & DJ on 94.7 Highveld Stereo) about her running career

We chat to Lindsey Parry (High Performance Centre – University of Pretoria) about heart rate monitors and resting heart rates

We look at this week’s events calendar

And we chat to Seruscka Naidoo (Communications Manager Nike South Africa) about Run Jozi