Comrades Supplement Comrades Training and Info Guide, January 2014

TRAINING Now the Serious Work Starts! You may think there is still plenty time to train before the big day on 1 June 2014, but before you know it, you’ll be on your way to Pietermaritzburg for the 89th running of the Ultimate Human Race. Now is the time to put your head down and prepare yourself physically and mentally for the race by following one of our ofﬁcial 2014 Comrades Training Programmes. – BY LINDSEY PARRY, Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association I f you have been following one of our programmes already, the focus up till now has been on building you up to running consistently and regularly. By this stage, you should be capable of completing at least a half marathon. You can therefore use the guide below to half marathon and marathon times to select the appropriate training programme for you to focus on: Programme Silver (sub-7:00) Bill Rowan (sub-9:30) Bronze (sub-11:00) Vic Clapham (sub-12:00) 21.1km 21km 1:28 1:42 2:00 2:24 42.2km 42km 3:00 3:30 4:24 5:00 My programmes are time-based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time-based programmes also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. Be warned, the Down Run is very painful, so gym work and cross-training are highly recommended to minimise the impact of the increased training load. The focus should be on the legs, including the glutes, the lower abdominals and core. This is especially important while you slowly build up the running kilometres, to help prevent overuse injuries, and will also help prepare your legs for the brutal punishment of coming down Fields Hill. That said, there are plenty of hills to run up in the Down Run, and since this is most people’s weakness we will be preparing you with some hill sessions. Repeats are to be done at 5km race pace (not a full-blown sprint) with a gentle recovery back down the hill. You may find that there are no marathons in your area that fall nicely into the programme. If this is the case, you can contact me through the Coaches Forum on the Comrades website and we can discuss how to adjust your programme. Most importantly, ENJOY the training! Images: CMA There are recovery weeks built into the programme – do not be tempted to do more mileage, as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under-performance in goal races. However, training days are interchangeable, so if your club has its Time Trial (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you can swap Thursday with one of these days, but make sure there is at least one easy day between intense sessions. For example, if the TT is on a Wednesday, you should do you intensity on Monday, Friday or Saturday. 12 Comrades Supplement 2014

Comrades Supplement Comrades Training and Info Guide, January 2014 | Page 12