Don Oliver's May 2010 training programme for Comrades 2010

The answer is a scary 28 days to go. On May 30th you will be showing all of us how good you are at this monster: the Comrades marathon. If you don’t feel ready just yet that is precisely how you should feel because there are two more big training experiences to come. First up on May 2nd is the 4 Hills for Lindsay run over 56km. It is your last long run before Comrades and since it is at the end of a 9 week hard training period, it must be taken really easy. Look; no km boards, no age categories and no stopwatches. This run is just about time on your feet and controlling yourself to run easily and slowly and have a little rest and stretch at each and every seconding table. The course is hard but beautiful and the helpers experienced and encouraging. Back at the clubhouse you can get a shower, hot soup and a drink. After a two day rest you can start to wind down.

It is also the time to look at the overall picture of where are we now. At the end of this month the programme you followed will look very much like this:

Month	Monthly km	Longest Run	Longest time on the road
January	270km	36km	3 hrs 45 mins
February	254km	42km	4 hrs 40 mins
March	296km	50km	5 hrs 50 mins
April	362km	56km	6 hrs 15 mins
May	127km	56km	6 hrs 45 mins
Total	1309km

In the log book you have done two standards (Peninsula and Club Run) and three ultras (Smithwinkel, Two Oceans and 4 Hills.) That is a very impressive record for anyone lining up at Comrades this year. You are better prepared than probably half the field.

The wind down is a time for repairing all the micro damage that has been done to your muscles. This is the time that you get really fit as you settle down after a couple of weeks at a new level of confidence and amazing strength. All the little aches and pains and niggles fade away to be replaced by a feeling of being alive and just waiting for the day to show Comrades how you can run it. The wind down is a gradual decrease in the distance run each day and each week. The long weekend runs are replaced with tantalising short easy runs that leave you feeling that you can run all day. (That is precisely what you will be doing on May 30th. From before sunrise until the sun sets over Durban).

It will be a time to have no regrets as you look back at your training log from January 1st 2010. If you have done 80% of the programme that will be enough to take you through. The “Die is Cast”. Too late to catch up on any long runs or races missed, or even training runs missed or cut short. If anything else at this stage please follow a structured wind down from May 3rd. Never arrive at Pietermaritzburg tired. Arrive in the peak of your condition.

In May the 4 Hills for Lindsay run must be taken easy with no targets for a finishing time. There will be no clock at the Fish Hoek A.C. clubhouse. Only the weary, proud and excited are expected from the first to the last. Finish this one and you can count on getting a brand new 2010 Comrades medal later in the month.

The May training programme will show a gradual reduction in weekly kms and don’t be foolhardy to try to keep up the kms you have been doing in April. No harm to do a couple of relaxed races over 21km but no longer. The times you run will be frighteningly good even though you are trying to slow down. Try out your shorts and race kit you intend to wear for Comrades and if you like, load up with about 10 sachets of squeezies and work out where to store them with out irritating you on the run, Don’t use them it is just a practice.

In May if you have any niggles or sniffles don’t run. If you feel it might be serious get help from the doctor or physio. Eat well in May and build up stores of everything particularly sleep. Make exciting plans to meet your running friends in Durbs and make more detailed plans with your actual running partners on how you will be running the race. Settle on the right Pacing Chart for you. No dreaming just a target time that fits in with your race times this year and the kms run. They are already on the website for you. Get a fix in your mind on your halfway time at least. Second half is inevitably slower. Picture yourself running round the grass track at Sahara Stadium to the roar of the crowd which is just for you.