Training for the Comrades 2007

 * Comrades training for beginners and regular runners alike
* Why you should be running during July.

The arrival of July signifies the start of a new running year.  We now start a brand new training programme designed especially for the beginner, which will detail all the training necessary to partake in next year's Comrades marathon, Comrades 2007!

We also start a new separate training programme for regular Comrades runners, detailing the training they would need for next year's Comrades marathon as well.

I would also like to look at why it is so important to start your training now, in the month of July, in the middle of winter.

Lets first, lets take a look at the training programmes for July 2006:

For the novice, we are going to start running according to set number of minutes, as opposed to a given distance.  Running for just 10 minutes is sufficient for your first few runs.  See below:

Goals for novice runners - July 2006:

1.  To put on your running shoes and go for your first run
2.  To run around a flat, grassy field, for just 10-15 minutes each time.
3.  Make a commitment to run regularly at least three times per week.
 

The regular runners programme:

Goals for regular runners - July 2006:
1.  Rest
2.  Recover
3.  Start up with a few weeks of relaxed, easy running.
 

Gauteng Race calendar for July 2006:

Date                             Race Name                                        Time
Sunday, 2nd                  Dis-Chem/Northgate 10km                   07:30
Sunday, 9th                   Alberton Half Marathon                        08:00
Sunday, 9th                   Adcorp Pirates 10km                            09:00
Sunday, 23rd                702/FNB Walk The Talk                       06:30
Sunday, 23rd                Loop en Val 10km                                08:00
Sunday, 23rd                Pick `n Pay Junior 10km                        08:00
Sunday, 30th                 Benoni Harriers Centenary 10km          08:00
Sunday, 30th                Leppan Beech 15/5km                          08:00
 

Why you should be running during July!

With the Comrades marathon having just been run two weeks ago, there is now a full year ahead to train for next year's Comrades.  For beginners, I always recommend starting to train for Comrades at least 12 months before.

But the question is, is it really worth starting right now, as July is generally the coldest month of the year and it is very unpleasant running in these conditions?  It is so much easier to "sleep in" in a nice warm bed on a cold winter's morning, rather than get up and start pounding the streets in the cold and the dark.

What about the regular Comrades runner who has just finished this year's Comrades Marathon?
Is there any advantage to running during this period of the year?  Is running during this period more beneficial than having some time to rest and recuperate?

The answer for both groups of runners is a resounding YES!, July is an excellent time to be running.

For the beginner or the person who does not run at all, you really need to start, at some point in time, to change your lifestyle from that of a so called "destructive" lifestyle to a more healthy way of life.  Evidence is accumulating that in  westernized communities the most frequent risks to health are a result of destructive lifestyles, which include nutritional over-indulgence, lack of exercise, stress, cigarette smoking, obesity and excessive intake of alcohol.

Running is an excellent means of achieving good health.  Starting to run in July, when it is really not the most convenient or pleasant, is a sure sign that you will continue with running, especially when the weather starts to improve.

What about those who have just completed the Comrades this year and are really enjoying so well earned time off their feet?  Why the need for them to run in July?

Whilst I do believe in taking a  few weeks off after running Comrades in order to rest and recuperate, I do not advocate taking the rest of the year off for good measure.  There are many runners who eat, drink and sleep running for the first half of the year and then, for the remainder
of the year, forget that running ever existed.  There is also the danger of getting too used to resting and out of the habit of a daily running routine. What starts off as an intended four to six week rest period after Comrades, can become a five to seven month hibernation.

I would like to encourage runners not give up running during the winter months after the Comrades marathon.  We should utilise the six months from July to December to derive the full benefits of running, and not wait until the 1st of January to begin running again.

Let us examine our motivation for running in the first place.  Surely the most obvious reason for running is to achieve good health. Running brings with it several benefits both physical and psychological as well as positive lifestyle changes which result from sensible running.

The first of these must surely be a sense of general well-being due to an increased awareness of one's body, and as one is able to do more, one's self confidence increases.
Considerable weight loss can be achieved when running without stringent starvation programs.  Sensible eating accompanying sensible running, can only result in a healthy, well performing body.
With regard to smoking, it has been found that there is definitely an inverse correlation between the amount of running and the amount of smoking.  "A serious smoker cannot be a serious runner".

These benefits are only achieved and maintained through constant training. How often have I heard the novice runner say:  "I want to train like mad, do one Comrades, get a silver and then give it all up". Had this runner achieved his goal, his efforts would nevertheless have been futile in the search for good health.

The other day I came across a 40 year old businessman. He was grossly overweight, had a pot-belly, smokes at least 30 cigarettes a day and was totally unfit and out of shape. Knowing that I was a keen runner, he told me that he had run five Comrades Marathons many years before.
"In my youth",  he said, "I really was a fitness fanatic and was supremely fit".   What good was his previous training to him as he got older?

The above two cases illustrate the futility of extreme peaks and troughs in training. I am far more impressed by a 70 year old man who has regularly been running three to five kilometres three times a week for many years.

In conclusion, I would like to encourage those of you who are not running at present to put your running shoes on and "hit the road".  To those of you who are regular runners, by all means have a well earned rest of say 2 - 4 weeks, but then get out there again in order to maintain the changes in lifestyle running affords.

See you in August 2006 ......