There is a very generous 83 days to go to complete our preparation for Comrades.  With a solid qualifier behind you can enjoy the next period of 6 weeks leading up to the famous national fixture, Two Oceans Marathon 56km.  Our training here in Cape Town is so appropriate and spends a lot of time on parts of the Oceans route which is always a huge advantage.

The long run this month to bridge us from a 42km and then a 56km in April is the Smitswinkel 50km club run on Sunday March 15th. This is not enough long distance runs and you must add a 30km run on 28th March.  We are awaiting approval of Louws Corner to UCT 30km as a club training and this would be ideal but failing that, you must organise personal groups to run 30km on suitable local routes.
   
The change in route of the Peninsula prompted many runners to opt for a slower finishing time and many qualified in 4hrs 45mins (6,75mins/km).  On the day, this was a very fine achievement but viewed against our Oceans bronze medal target and an unofficial Comrades 11 hours qualifier your April 11th race must be run at 6,4mins/km.  One of the rules of long distance road running is "The longer the distance, the slower the speed”.  It would be wise to consider this when you run Smitswinkel and run just a shade faster than your Peninsula time.

Here is the March programme for W.P. taken from my main programme:

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
w/c	02/03	09/03	16/03	23/03	30/03
Monday	REST	REST	REST	REST	REST
Tuesday	8km	8km	8km	8km	8km
Wednesday	8kmT/T	8kmT/T	8kmT/T	8kmT/T	8kmT/T
Thursday	12km	12km	12km	12km	12km
Friday	8km	5km	8km	8km	8km
Saturday	8km	5km	8km	8km	8km
Sunday	25km club run	50km Smitswinkel	15km club run	30km club run	15km club run
Total	69km	88km	59km	74km	59km

Total kms for March 2009 = 349km (5 week month).

Confirm you are entered for Comrades by March 31st and send in qualification later after Two Oceans.
A hard training month is required to do well on May 24th.

Don Oliver
Cape Town
March 2009