October 2009
Training Programme for Comrades 2010
WESTERN PROVINCE PROGRAMME
Where are we now? 241
days to go does not raise much interest at the moment but when you get
only 41 days to go you can start worrying all about “Am I ready?”
My job is to make sure you are indeed ready for the big day on May
30 2010. Don’t worry provided you are running regularly now
and managed to run 5days/week in last two weeks in September. To
run regularly is one of the cornerstones of training for Comrades. This month you have to consider how fast you can run comfortably bearing in mind you will be qualifying in the middle of February with a 42km standard marathon. At this stage you are concentrating on shorter distances and your races should have only been as far as10km and the time is expected to be 60 mins. That is 6,0mins/km. When you qualify in the standard marathon of 42km the speed will be slower but not all that much. You will be aiming for 4hrs 20mins to get an F grade seeding. That is 6,16mins/km. The target of 4hrs 20mins is chosen to give you the best chance of getting a bronze medal at Comrades by running 10hrs 50 mins. That is a speed of 7,3mins/km. The lesson for this month is well known to ultra distance marathoners: "The longer the distance the slower the speed.” It is vital for novices to be running at about 6,0mins/km on your shorter races so you can afford to slow down as the distance increases in the next couple of months. It
is easy to run faster provided you do it gradually over two months at
least. You do not need to do specific speed training on the track
or sports fields. When you go out this month on your measured
training route take your stop watch and time yourself including all
stops for traffic, drinks stops and walking up the hills. You will
be surprised that you are probably a bit slow. Next time on that same
training route concentrate on running just a bit quicker but under no
circumstances get out of breath or tired. If you get a bit breathless
slow down but pick the pace up as soon as you recover. Do the
same on your other training routes and log the times carefully. Within
a couple of weeks the times for each route will come down for the same
effort you are putting in. This simple technique teaches you about
yourself and the pace you can handle and keep up for a measured
distance. You apply the same technique in the road races. Start off slowly until you feel warmed up and comfortable then almost imperceptibly go a little faster. As soon as you get a bit worried that you can’t keep this pace up, just slow down while you recover. In races the smartest way to improve your finishing time is to not waste time. Grab a drink at the drinks tables and keep jogging to swallow it. Slow down on the hills but keep jogging very slowly. You will make up your time on the downs. It will not improve your own performance if you run with friends that are forever walking and stopping. For this month there are no longer distances planned in training but only a small increase in the race distance to a 15km. In place of extra distance you will be running slightly faster all the time. This month the target times for races are 10kms in 59 mins and 15kms in 90 mins. You will be getting fitter by this programme and will be able to handle the longer distances coming up. Here is your Comrades training programme for October.
Total kms for October 2009 = 194 km Notes. 1. 11th October 2009. Gun Run 10km Green Point 2. 31st October 2009 Isostar/Sanparks 15km Tokai Thought for the month. "Looking forward to November so the novices can enter.” Don Oliver Cape Town October 2009 Internal links: qualifier, External links: Official Comrades Marathon website |
Copyright Don Oliver 2009