Comrades Training - May 2010

Finally, May 2010 has arrived. This year sees the celebrating of the 85th running of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday 30 May 2010, as well as the FIFA Word Cup soccer tournament, just two weeks later.  What a year it's going to be. Who will ever forget running the Comrades Marathon the year the Word Cup soccer came to South Africa!  A story to tell your grandchildren one day!

I have never seen anything like this year's frenzy. The moment the entries opened, there was an overwhelming response with the initial 20 000 places for the lineup being snapped up in record time. I heard that the additional 2 000 places that were made available in January were taken up in 5 minutes!

Due to the World Cup being staged from the second week of June onwards, this year, like last year when we had the FIFA Confederations Cup soccer tournament, the Comrades Marathon has been brought forward to the end of May!

This means that come 1st of May, there is VERY little time left to train.

Somehow, this year for the first time I can remember, the organised races available are out of sync with the "Comrades training calendar".  For example, the RAC 10 km run that always comes up a week or two before Comrades, is now run on 13th June, two weeks after Comrades!  Actually, if you live in the Gauteng area, you have no choice but to have a club run or training run on three out of the four Sundays leading up to Comrades.

There are just 2 official races in the Gauteng area. On Sunday the 9th May, there is the annual Colgate 32 km & 15 km race from the Boksburg City Stadium.  I would suggest doing the 32 km race, even though it is quite close to Comrades.

On Sunday the 16th May, there is the Gauteng Striders Half Marathon & 5 km from the Johannesburg Stadium.  I really feel that for most "back of the field " runners, this race comes just that little bit too soon to Comrades.  If you feel you can run it and then have sufficient time to recover before the 30th May, then run the race.  If you are not sure, play this one conservatively and simply do a 15 km training run.

I have heard rumours that the Comrades may even be fixed once again at the end of May permanently, and if this is true, I'm sure the race organisers will very quickly come back into sync and arrange the official races appropriately. But for this year, you will really have to rely on the club, some friends, or yourself to take you through most of the remaining weeks leading up to Comrades.

This shouldn't be too much of a problem, as by May 1st, you should already be in the middle of the Comrades "taper", where you reduce the total weekly mileage by around 10 - 15%  per week. Each week, the training gets shorter and easier.  Once again, you want to arrive at the start line slightly under trained and "raring to go", as opposed to over tired and "stale".

The weekly mileage should read something like this:

Week ending:
May 2    - 66 km
May 9    - 62 km
May 16  - 55 km
May 23  - 46 km

Goals for May:

    1. To continue with the taper by running approximately 10 - 15 % less each week
    2. To get to the start line of Comrades as injury free as possible.
    3. To line up on the day well rested and under trained so that you are looking forward to the big day with anticipation.
    4. Not to run any individual run of more than 10 km if you have a minor injury.
 
 
 

As mentioned above, there really aren't that many runs this year in May, but here they are anyway:
 

Good luck with this year's Comrades! I feel sure the excitement of running Comrades during this special year will make you "light underfoot" and help you achieve whatever goal you have set for yourself.

Enjoy.