October 2009
Training Programme for Comrades 2010
CENTRAL GAUTENG PROGRAMME
Where are we now? It
is 241 days to go. We’ve made a good start and are laying some very
nice foundations for Comrades. The months of September to
December are what we call conditioning months. We condition both mind
and body. If you are following the programme that ended up in
September with 5 days/week running and a solid 209kms for the month,
you must be well conditioned for the body. Your mind always needs
constant attention as the demand of training for Comrades is always
changing. This month we need to look at the speed we are running at. We often neglect the speed factor when we talk and train for Comrades. It is just not all about slowly grinding away at the kilometres. Comrades is about being able to run comfortably nearly for all day. At least 11 hours. To keep going over this huge distance you must be running at a speed that you feel is very comfortable. To accommodate the distance you have to decrease speed and go slower. The golden rule is: "The longer the distance the slower the speed.” When we are busy running 89kms the speed must be slower than you have ever run before. You must therefore be running faster at the shorter distances. You will run Comrades 89kms slower than the Two Oceans 56kms speed. At this point in time you must be running 10km, 15km and 21km faster than the speed that you will be running the 32km Tough One on November 22nd 2009. The target for the Tough One 32km is under 3hrs 15mins which is 6,1mins/km. The shorter races will have faster target times: Target for 10kms = 59mins (5,90mins/km) Target for 15kms = 89mins (5,93mins/km) Target for 21km = 2hrs 06mins (5, 97/km) To run these sort of times you have to be running the races with only very short stretches of walking. The speed of walking is about 10mins/km and if you walk too often you will soon find that the speed you have to run at is suddenly close to 5,5mins/km which you can not manage at this stage. It is the best advice to keep running for as far as you possibly can and that will be judged solely by yourself. At the start of the race you must judge how fast you can go to handle the race distance. The technique is pace judgement that you have to learn very early on in Comrades training. To learn pace judgement it is best taught by yourself during the mid week training runs and the club time trial. Measure your training routes by car odometer, give the route a name, time each route running an easy pace that does not get you out of breath. Record it in your logbook. That is your current steady state running speed. Now edge up the speed just a fraction during each run and ease back if you tire. Start going faster again as soon as you recover. Over a couple of weeks the times for each route will come down using the same effort. There will be an improvement in your steady state speed and the result will be easier and faster race times. Aiming at the 32km Tough One you will need to run a 21km this month and another in early November. We always just increase our distances by biteable bits and chewable chunks. You will hardly notice the extra distance each time and soon you are comfortable running half marathons and a 32km. This month there will be only a small increase in monthly kms but hopefully you will be running a bit faster. Here is your October Training programme. You will notice that I have included an 8km time trial on Tuesdays. They are extremely valuable to judge your fitness over the weeks. At this stage, use it to pace yourself at steady state. Mix with the Comrades runners and enjoy sharing with them your hopes for next year.
Total monthly kms for October 2009 = 205km Note: 10 October 2009. Capital Classic 10km. Lynwood, Pretoria. 18th October 2009. Southgate 15km. Southgate. 31st October 2009. Hunters Half. Hatfield, Pretoria. Thought for the month: "Looking forward to November so the novices can enter Comrades.” Don Oliver Cape Town October 2009 External links: Official Comrades Marathon website |
Copyright Don Oliver 2009