January 2010
Training Programme for Comrades 2010
CENTRAL GAUTENG PROGRAMME
Where are we now? From
January 1st 2010 we have 149 days to go. That is plenty of time
to prepare for Comrades provided you start the programme right now on
January 1st. There are1400km to run before Comrades and that will
include two standard marathons and three Ultras. The month of January
is devoted to the preparation for a standard marathon that will be in
February. To prepare for a standard marathon you need to run two runs of between 25km and 32km and train for approximately 60 -70km/week. That is the job for the first month of the New Year. Most of you ran the Tough One 32km in November and are now fully recovered. In the preparation for a standard you must start off running a 21km race faster than the pace you expect to run in the 32km and the 42km races. We have a rule for the ultra distance runners that you will join in March. It is “As the distance increases, the speed decreases.” So the 21km race this month will have to be one of your fastest runs for Comrades because you will run slower and slower as the races build up from 42km to 50km and 56km. Let’s
look at the speed you should be looking at in January. To do that we
first look at the time we expect to do for the qualifier marathon at
the end of February. From the results of Comrades and in particular the
last Down Run last year in 2009.I have got a record of how the runners
finished comparing the medal category with the seeding grade. The
seeding grades in Comrades for a 42km marathon are:
Our
target is to finish in under 11 hours at Comrades and from the results
the best chance for you is to get a D grade seeding under 4hours
00mins. Not many of the novices at this stage are thinking
of getting under 4 hours just yet. Anyhow it is advisable to aim at least for a F grade seeding, under 4hours 20mins. The speed for a standard marathon in 4hours 20mins is 6,2mins/km. The recommended speed for a 32km race during the build up to a standard should be 6,1mins/km which gives you a 3hours 15mins finish time. For a 21km race during the build-up the pace should be at 6,0mins/km giving a finish time of 2hours 06mins. In January over and above running a 21km race we need to set up a programme of recommended races leading up to Comrades. Here are two menus for your major races this year. Menu 1.
Menu 2.
To
prevent overtraining the rules are that on the weekend after a standard
marathon or an ultra, you should only run not more than 15km on the
Saturday or Sunday. Therefore you must have at least a two weeks gap
between marathons. Here is your training programme for January 2010.The training programme for January includes running for 6days/week now. Never miss the rest day because this is the one day where your body can recover and give the body a chance to repair the small damages that are caused by your regular running. The speed during your training runs are important only to the degree of not overstraining yourself. It is a difficult balance you must have to figure out for yourself to handle the increasing load and avoid causing injuries. This programme has been specifically designed to avoid doing too much too soon and you will see that the increase in weekly kilometres and the length of the long runs only increase gradually. Achieve your monthly objective and success will lead to success. Objective. To run the Dischem 21km in less than 2hours 06mins
Total km for January = 276km Notes. January 17th Dis-Chem Half marathon Bedfordview. January 31st Johnson Crane Half marathon Benoni. Thought for the month: “No better way to start off 2010 than with a good solid training programme.” Don Oliver Cape Town December 2009 External links: Official Comrades Marathon website |
Copyright Don Oliver 2009