1.check out the type of course you are racing on and make sure you have trained for it.

Comrades has about 12 major downhills which are between 2k and 4k in length and from what I hear “quadsmashers”, make sure you have toughened the legs up to cope with this and do it slowly so you don’t get injured. For example I built up to 20 x 1k downhill repeats on very steep hills.

2.check out the logistics of travel arrangements

Johannesburg is the airport I land at and I will make sure the flight time doesn’t play with my sleep pattern too much.
Joberg is also a six hr drive from race finish, so I’ll get there in plenty of time to relax and get over these things
The start is 89k from the finish so I need to book somewhere the night before and work out how to get my clothes from the start to the finish line.

3.check out the weather throughout

the race start is in petrmaritzberg which I understand will be 3dg in the morning and dark and up to 30dg midday also there will be about 13,000 people fighting for a position at the start so I will need to be dressed well and maybe carry boxing gloves (small joke) but correct clothing I can lose along the way is important

4.nutrition for the race

I want to be self sufficient with fuel so I will have someone at the 30k and 60k marks (I hope) holding my special needs, I will also carry salt.

Hydration I will monitor to the tee ... this is so important. I believe it's water sachets on the course which I will confirm when I’m there

5.mental focus

a)pace has been planned and course broken up into sections in my mind.
b)going to wear my ipod for the race with all tunes selected to keep me alert when required
c)course profile understood and know where to expect the worst and best
d)dig deep psychological plan - this is very important, will chose certain aspects of my life and use these things to think about when the tough times come, these are all planned out

6. after the race

kiss that medal and wear it all day and night if I,m still standing !!