Comrades training - July 2015
by Gary Sobel (Physio) 01/07/2015, 09:20
Training for the 2016 Comrades
Marathon
The July 2015 training programme
At this point in the year you have already decided that you would like
to run next year's Comrades marathon, and have actually started your training
towards it.
The question is, what kind of training programme should you follow?
The novice will tend to rely on the advice of
others - having obtaining his programme either here on this site, through
his running club, a running magazine or through a friend who has run Comrades
before.
In this column I describe a tried and tested training programme which
I have been prescribing for the last 16 years. Having said that, it's never
a good idea to simply follow the advice given here "blindly". Every
runner is different, and every runner has their own particular set of circumstances.
While there is excellent value in learning from
the experience of others, it is essential to modify training programmes
to suit us as individuals. We thereby avoid the dangers of placing
too much faith in a "total programme package".
This programme is aimed at runners wanting to
finish the Comrades marathon in 9.30 to 12 hours. Every training programme
is devised with specific goals in mind. Programmes differ in their
recommended weekly mileage, suggested speed, rate of progression, and selected
races on the road racing calendar based on what the ultimate goal of the
runner is. For example, a programme aimed at achieving a "Silver"
at Comrades is vastly different to one aimed at getting you through a 10
1/2 hour debut Comrades.
The seasoned runner is more fortunate in that
he can incorporate his passed personal experiences, both positive and negative
into his training programme, thereby benefiting from the combination of
past experience and newly available information.
For more on how to individualise a training programme
in order to minimise injury, please see further below.
Let's now look at the training for July 2015:
July 2015 Training:
The Novice runner:
The novice will continue to slowly adapt to running on the road. Make
sure to run at a steady pace that is comfortable to maintain for the duration
of the run.
Goals for novice runners - July 2015:
1. To run three times a week consistently
2. To enjoy being out there "on the road".
3. To continue preparing for your first "official" 10 km road
race 10 August 2015.
Total weekly mileage: 11
km, 13 km, 13 km, 16 km, 16 km
This is achieved by running just three days a week. On Tuesdays
and Thursdays you can run a slow relaxed 3 km or 5 km. The Sunday
run will start out at an easy 5 km run, and will slowly stretch out and
build up to the 10 km road race on 3 August. That leaves Mondays, Wednesdays,
Fridays and Saturdays to rest. This rest is as important as the training,
especially at this early point in the year.
Total Monthly mileage: 58 km
That's quite a long distance for someone who has
never run before. Remember, all the running should be at a nice relaxed
pace.
Road race distances to be achieved:
none
We will run 5 km on the road during the first three Sunday, followed
by 8 km runs during the last two Sundays. All these runs will be done without
the stresses of running in an official road race.
Highlight of the month: none
In August, we will be doing our first road race,
the Old Ed's 10 km run.
Let's look at the whole month's training at a glance for the novice:
Novice runner's daily training
- July 2015
Week ending: |
5/7 |
12/7 |
19/7 |
26/7 |
2/8 |
Monday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Tuesday |
3 km |
3 km |
3 km |
3 km |
3 km |
Wednesday |
Rest |
5 km |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Thursday |
3 km |
Rest |
5 km |
5 km |
5 km |
Friday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Saturday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Sunday |
5 km |
5 km |
5 km |
8 km |
8 km |
Race |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
11 km |
13 km |
13 km |
16 km |
16 km |
Let's now take a look at the training for the regular runner during
July 2015:
The Regular runner:
Having just run this year's Comrades marathon,
you would have been resting up from the Comrades for the rest of the month
of June. We now get out our running shoes and get back "on the road".
Goals for regular runners - July 2015:
1. To maintain a steady 3-4 runs a week consistently
2. To simply enjoy your "comeback" after the layoff following
Comrades.
Total weekly mileage: 20
km, 18 km, 21 km, 23 km, 21 km
This is achieved by doing 5 km on a Tuesday, 5 km or 8 km on a Thursday
and 8 km or 10 km on a Sunday. Run only 3 times a week, leaving Monday,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for resting.
Total Monthly mileage: 90
km
That's around a nice easy 20 - 25 km per week, all done at an
easy pace, to ease the legs back on the road.
Road race distances to be achieved: 3x8
km and 2x10 km
There are very few races on offer in the Gauteng area this year.
See below for details on the Pirates 10 km race on 5 July and the Zoo trot
10 race on 26 July, both of these being 10 km races.
Highlight of the month: None
Simply getting back on the road after Comrades
will do at this time of the year.
Let's look at the whole month's training at a glance for the regular
runner:
Regular runner's daily training
- July 2015
Week ending: |
5/7 |
12/7 |
19/7 |
26/7 |
2/8 |
Monday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Tuesday |
5 km |
5 km |
5 km |
5 km |
5 km |
Wednesday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Thursday |
5 km |
5 km |
8 km |
8 km |
8 km |
Friday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Saturday |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Rest |
Sunday |
10 km |
8 km |
8 km |
10 km |
8 km |
Race |
Pirates |
"club run" |
"club run" |
Zoo Trot |
"club run" |
Total |
20 km |
18 km |
21 km |
23 km |
21 km |
Here is the complete list of races on offer in the Gauteng region during
July 2015:
Race calendar for July 2015 for the Gauteng
region
Race date |
Race |
Distance |
Venue |
Sunday 5 July 2015 |
Pirates 10 km Run and Walk |
10 km |
Pirates Club |
Tuesday 7 July 2015 |
Brooks Dark Run 8 km & 4 km - Series 2 |
8 km & 4 km |
Johannesburg Zoo |
Sunday 26 July 2015 |
Zoo Conservation Trot 10 km & 5 km Run/Walk |
10 km & 5 km |
Johannesburg Zoo |
In order to prepare you mentally, as well as allowing you plenty of
time to pre enter the races coming up in August, I include the list of
the road races in the Gauteng region for 2015:
Please note and send in your entries early for the Old Edwardian 10
km run on the public holiday 10 August, where beginners will be running
their first 10 km road race.
Gauteng Race calendar for August 2015:
Race date |
Race |
KM |
Venue |
Saturday 1 August 2015 |
ELB St. Vincent Colour run |
7 km |
James & Ethel Gray Park |
Sunday 9 August 2015 |
Totalsports Ladies' Race - Johannesburg |
10 km & 5 km |
Mary Fitzgerald Square |
Monday 10 August 2015 |
Old Edwardian Half Marathon & 10 km Run/Walk |
21.1 km &10 km |
Old Ed's Club |
Tuesday 11 August 2015 |
Brooks Dark Run 8 km & 4 km - Series 4 |
8 km & 4 km |
Glenvista Counrty Club |
Sunday 16 August 2015 |
Wits Half marathon and 10 km |
21.1 km &10 km |
Wits Alumni Club |
Saturday 22 August 2015 |
Clearwater Mall 10 km & 5 km |
10 km & 5 km |
Clearwater Mall |
Sunday 23 August 2015 |
Arthro Choice Midrand 21 km & 10 km Run/Walk |
21.1 km &10 km |
Kyalami Equestrian Park |
Sunday 30 August 2015 |
Zoo Conservation Trot 10 km & 5 km Run/Walk |
8 km & 4 km |
Johannesburg Zoo |
Sunday 30 August 2015 |
Wanderers Half Marathon & 10 km Road Race/Walk |
21.1 km & 10 km |
Wanderers Club |
How to individualise a training programme in
order to minimise injury:
Programme Flexibility
Programmes must not be adhered to unyieldingly.
The runner must be flexible and must allow for changes in his programme
due to unforeseen circumstances such as injury, an unplanned business trip,
bad weather, or 'flu. For example, if it is impossible to have your
long run on a certain Sunday, you could reschedule the programme to have
this run on another day, and to have the Sunday as a rest day.
Also, we have good and bad days, and this should be taken into account.
If you were feeling particularly good on a Sunday and ran very hard, you
might be feeling stiff the next day and may take the day off, even though
the training programme has a 15 km run on the agenda.
Excessive Mileage
It is a common mistake for the novice to take
a training programme written for the experienced athlete, trim a few kilometers
off it (if at all), and attempt to follow it. Excessive mileage can
only lead to overuse or overload, i.e. too much, too fast, too soon.
Let me elaborate. The act of running applies stresses to the body.
The body must adapt to these stresses, failure of which will lead to injury.
Adaptation is a slow process.
Take the example of playing squash for the first
time. If one were to play for a few minutes on the first day and
increase this slowly each day, callouses would develop naturally to protect
the hand. Had you overdone it on the first day, the skin would have
broken down and resulted in a blister formation. So too must the
runner's ligaments, tendons and muscles slowly adapt and become "road hardened".
Rest Days
The novice refuses to take a day off. He
generally feels that he cannot afford a day's rest let alone a week to
10 days to allow for the injury to heal. It has taken such hard work
to build himself up to his present distance, that he is afraid he would
lose all his fitness were he to lay off.
The experienced runner accepts that he has sustained
an injury and takes himself off running for a few days to let the injury
settle. Rest days are very important. They are essential to
allow the body to recover. For the novice, this should mean rest
- no running, no squash, cycling or aerobics! For the seasoned runner
a rest day may mean 5 km of light jogging.
Speed
Another common fault of many a runner is joining
a group of friends who run at a faster pace than himself. What may
be a promised "slow" run may turn out to be a sprint for him from start
to finish.
Choose your running partners carefully.
Run at a realistic and comfortable speed in order to achieve your specific
goal.
Sudden Increase in Mileage
Many runners tend to panic if they fall behind
their training programme. They therefore tend to start cramming in
the mileage to catch up with the weekly mileage of their training partners.
Beware - sudden increases in mileage can easily lead to injury! Many
runners have their best Comrades in the year that they were forced to cut
back on their training due to an injury.
Over Racing
Something that distinguishes the elite athlete
from the average runner is the ability to choose his races carefully.
Many experienced runners and novices alike tend to enter and race each
and every marathon on the marathon calendar. Many even promise themselves
to take it easy, and when that gun goes off there is a rush of blood to
the head and off they go racing for a personal best. If you tend
to be guilty of this you may prefer to rather join the club run, where
there is no temptation to race at all.
Reasonable Goals
One would never expect the karate novice to be
able to break 8 tiles with his bare hands in his first week of training.
He does not have the necessary technique, speed, skill or stamina.
However, after three years he is able to achieve this with ease.
Similarly, the novice runner must set reasonable goals and must progress
slowly and realistically in order to achieve these goals.
So what we are saying is don't regard your training
programme as law - use it merely as a guide. Most importantly, enjoy
your training.
See you back here in August.