TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR MARCH 2004

by Don Oliver - The Comrades Coach

This month is the beginning of something big. You will understand during March why you were asked to be totally committed to run Comrades. March and April training form the backbone of your preparation and very much forms the basis of your time on Comrades Day. It is a good time for running, with cooler days already here and you are beginning to recognize small signs of strength and endurance showing in all your performances. You have achieved all that I have asked of you. You are on target and have qualified for Comrades. That is a very strong position to be in. No real injuries and liking this idea of “biteable bits and chewable chunks”. You had no problem going from 21kms to 32kms and then to a 42kms standard marathon. That is the name of the game. Achieve a current objective easily and then move on, just a bit further, to achieve the next step. I have seen runners at this stage get a little over-confident and blow it by doing too much. They end up dejected, worn out and injured in mid-May. The art of training for Comrades is timing.

Timing of your build -up races and training and the timing in the actual races and the timing to wind-down before the big event. You will need some help and I will guide you through the minefield that lies ahead for the next 3 months.

For a challenge as big as Comrades, you need a good plan. Our plan has worked over many years and it includes running two standard marathons and three Ultra marathons from the last week in February through to mid May. That is 10 weeks and if you run 5 races in that time, you will be running a standard marathon or an Ultra every second weekend. Obviously all those races must be run slowly, well in control to build up not only stamina and endurance but the two most important qualities of all long distance road runners; patience and confidence. Patience to run for hour after hour in often very harsh conditions and the confidence that you will complete the course, however long, in the planned time.

Your total training kilometres for the period January to mid June will be approximately 1400km.including the races. Just to run 1400kms is not a guarantee of success but how those kilometers are made up. It is how many long runs, rest days and easy days that make up the mix that matters.

Consult you Race Dates booklet containing all the races up to June 2004, or even better, Tom Cottrell’s, Runners Guide which gives details of each race, with the hills, the medals and the cut offs. Here is typical menu for a Central Gauteng runner who is doing Two Oceans as well:- 

This menu fits all the rules: two weeks between races and a total of two standards and three ultras. Each runner can work out a suitable menu for the area they live in. The speed at which you run the 50km Ultra will be slower than the speed you ran the standard marathon. Have a look at these times in the Ultras compared with the standard.

This is the advice for running the races but equally important is the recovery from these long races. As a general rule it is advisable on the weekend following the race, to run only between 15km and 20kms, at a club run at a very relaxed slow pace with plenty of stops and walking. You have to learn to recover; otherwise you will never get through the 10 week training period. The rules say “Hard week – easy week.” This old fashioned rule has never changed and is one of the most important features of the programme.

The reason we run Ultras is to condition all our systems to running for very long periods and the mind will be telling the body that it can succeed as you ask it each time to run just a little bit longer distance. For your planning, you must get a regular drinking pattern established for yourself that gives you about 50 g carbohydrates per hour from the refreshment stations and what you take along yourself. Get used to using the corn syrup squeezies that give you 20g carbohydrate per sachet. Swallow one per hour on the hour plus about 300ml of Energade (10% carbohydrate) and you will be safe and strong the whole way. Drink water as well, when you feel thirsty which will probably be an additional 250ml per hour. Try to eat in Ultras, such as bananas, biscuits, rolls for a practice for Comrades where you will be on the road for more than half a day.

Get comfortable with your peak, sun screen, socks and your club colours.Get comfortable with your running friends who must not be too fast, too talkative or stop too often or surge too often. You will spend all day with them at Comrades.

Use these races to get a routine in place for the last few days before a long race, such as eating, sleeping, last two days training and all the toilet and breakfast habits on race day. You must practice all this so you know it will work for you on June 16th.

A piece of running folk lore;”Smile as you go through the standard marathon mark.!”

Please note that the run on April 4th can either be the Korki or a club run depending on the menu you chose.

This month’s running programmes are:-

BILL ROWAN (sub 9 hour)

Running Advice: Your qualifying standard marathon was between 3hrs 20mins and 3hrs 40mins to give you a B or C batch seeding. Your total kilometers for the weeks in March are not very much different to last month but the racing programme is heavier. The Wednesday longer mid-week run will be going up to 12kms and should be run just under 5mins/km comfortably. Make quite sure that your racing techniques are in place, particularly the 50g/hr carbohydrate intake to prevent fading in the last stages. Continue with your Time Trial running close to 37mins.Do not include any specific hill training or track work in this programme.

Objective: to complete a 50kms Ultra in 4hours 25mins

Training Tips

1. Do not run everything fast. Have slower days.

2. Do not walk in the Ultra apart from a few steps at drinks tables.

3. Enjoy your rest day, you deserve it!

SAFE BRONZE (sub 11 hour)

Running Advice: It is nice to get the qualifier out of the way so you can relax now and build up some valuable runs without pressure. I keep emphasizing to all Comrades trainees that the skill in this big build up is to have an easy weekend after a hard one. It is not always easy because you are so enthusiastic and want to talk to everyone about it and they will be on a different plan to you and you will be tempted to go to another marathon the following week. Forget it. Develop a relaxed approach to the races and the long club runs. Be a patient runner.

Objective: to run a 50km Ultra in 5hrs 10mins

Training Tips

1. Only run 15km on the Sunday after your qualifier.

2. The race programme is pretty heavy this month, so go slowly in the training runs.

3. Check those running shoes. Will they last until June?

VIC CLAPHAM (sub 12 hour)

Running Advice: No shame in doing a 4hour 50mins standard marathon to qualify for Comrades. You have got to meet a lot of guys and girls out there in the races, who are very grateful for the 12hour cut-off again this year and fully intends to use every minute of it. Of course you get more cheers when you finish to a full stadium than all those other fast guys. I looked at last year’s results and can see that a lot of Bronze and Bill Rowan hopefuls fall back to a very acceptable Vic Clapham on the Big Day. The other runners are the old “toppies” who have seen it all before and bore you with tales of how fast they used to go in their heyday! Keep up the walking- running mixture and don’t get scared with the kilometers you are writing in the logbook. You will never get a bad injury from training and racing the way you are running. Keep it up and move up to the Ultras without any fuss.

Objective: to run a 50km Ultra Marathon in less than 5hours 50mins

Training Tips

1. Keep to your plan of getting a Vic Clapham.Think about a Bronze next year.

2. Don’t over drink because you are on the road for a long time. Drink water when you are thirsty and 400ml Energade plus one squeezie per hour. You can try eating rolls, biscuit.etc

3. Use the water sachets to spray over yourself to cool down.

Here are your Pacing Charts for the 50km Ultra

 KM BOARDS                     STOPWATCH TIMES                                        

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