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I have identified
three different approaches to running the race. These are:
Balls
to the wall!
The testosterone
approach. I definitely don’t advise you do this.
Basically it involves giving it your all in the first half of the race
and then hanging in for the second half. Just remember, they
don’t give out medals in Drummond! That second half can be
very, very long if you blow at halfway. These are the guys I
pass later in the race, they are usually walking while I am still
running at the pace at which I started the run.
Start
slow, get slower!
This is the Don
Oliver approach
and it works very well. As the name implies, start at your
desired Comrades pace and just try and stick to it. Needless
to say, as the day goes by, you will get slower, but that is
OK. Just make sure you try and follow Don’s pacing
chart as
best as you can. He makes allowances for a slower second half
as well as giving you a 10-15 minute buffer at the end. This
approach allows for a fair amount of walking, but unlike the balls to
the wall approach, you will be walking with purpose, not dejected!
Run
all day!
This is my approach.
In many ways it is similar to Don’s approach but with the slight
difference of not getting any slower in the second half.
Basically it means running at an even pace, but does include walking as
per Don’s approach. This is how I go about it.
I
don’t worry about the first few kays when running in the big bunch
because there is a lot of stop-starting as the road narrows.
My approach come into ‘operation’ once I am able to run
freely. What I do is to establish a comfortable pace, I must
feel totally at ease running, then I ask myself, “Can I do this all
day”? If I can answer “YES”, then that is the pace I stick to
all day. If the answer is “NO”, I usually need to slow down
slightly. I run with one of Don’s 11-hour pacing
charts but
the truth is, I usually only catch up to his splits with about 20 kays
to go. The thing is, I know what Don is doing on his chart so
I don’t panic if I’m behind at any stage. The main difference
between Don’s approach is that I start out slightly slower but it evens
up later in the second half.
If
I were to give advice on this matter, I would say, follow Don’s
approach rather than mine. My approach requires a lot more
mental
strength.
Key
words: Different approaches, balls to the wall, start slow get slower,
Comrades pace, run all day, Don Oliver
Internal links: hanging in, pacing
chart, mental
strength
External links: Official Comrades Marathon
website
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