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It is one
thing to go out on your own and do a long training run but are you
getting the
full benefit from such a run? At Fish
Hoek Athletic Club
we offer the Four
Hills for Lindsay 56km training run
to runners who are training for the Comrades
marathon.
How is the
long club run different from that run you go out and do on your own?
Well
the long club run should
be seen by the
participants as a dress rehearsal as it is a simulation of the actual
race
day. That is, we
try to present
conditions as they would be during the actual Comrades Marathon on
29 May.
By this I mean we have refreshment
tables every 2 to 3km on route, stocked with everything
you will be getting
on race day and more. Our
standard water
table fare includes water, coke, creame soda (for 2nd
half),
energade, bananas and jelly babies.
All
tables will also offer a random selection of sandwiches, crackers,
biscuits,
chocolates, oranges, marshmallows and maybe some koeksisters or hot
cross
buns.
Why such a
variety? Another reason for doing the long club
run is to practice
eating and
drinking. Since there are no cut offs
and no medals to be lost, runners have the opportunity to try out the
various
foodstuffs and get an idea of what works and doesn’t work for them.
The thing is, on Comrades
day, you may feel hungry in between tables and ask
spectators for something to eat. Who knows what they may have
in their cooler boxes. At least this way, we are covering
some of those bases for you!
Refreshment
tables
are also stocked with loo paper, vaseline
and certain medications. The long club run is also the perfect
opportunity to practice your pitstops!
The Four Hills for Lindsay long
run is pretty
challenging as the name implies. Runners get the opportunity
to practice
pacing and any race strategies they are thinking of incorporating on
race
day. There are plenty of hills to
practice a run-walk strategy.
The
other
nice thing about this particular long
club run is that all the runners are on the same page, so
to speak. All are
focussed on running the Comrades
Marathon so there is a lot of camaraderie
and sharing of advice along
the route. Don Oliver
mans a refreshment table at about 43 kms and offers good
advice along with his table fare.
Don is
also available at the finish should runners wish to speak to him.
The
long club run
will give you your
“longest time on feet” event before the actual race day. It should be run at your
anticipated Comrades
pace. Pay special
attention to how you are feeling
throughout the run, especially when you are feeling tired and sore. Note how you cope with
these feelings and
store this knowledge in your “mental”
goody bag".
As this
run is scheduled
quite late in your Comrades
marathon
training, you will be running on tired legs.
This is good.
I always imagine I
am at Drummond when I start the run, and so my long club run becomes
the 2nd
half of Comrades
for me.
The
long club run
is also a good place to
try out your running kit for race day.
Make sure everything fits comfortably.
Try and determine any possible problems with
your kit ie. garment
labels, sock lining etc.
The long club run
should be a very positive
experience and sees runners ending their high mileage training on a
good
note. The Four
Hills for Lindsay training run has a support crew second
to
none. They are all former Comrades
runners and/or experienced Comrades
support crew who know exactly how you
are feeling and what you are needing.
Back
to my
initial question. How is the long club run
different from that run
you go out and do on your own? Consider
this, would you stop every 2 to 3km on your own training run? Will you be eating and
drinking on route, if
so what and when? Will
you have someone
to run with, to talk to, to compare notes with?
I’m guessing probably not.
You’ll
stop at a tap somewhere, you may buy a coke and a banana at a shop, you
may
have stashed some water the night before.
The thing is, this is not how you will be
running on race day. You
need to make this running experience
familiar so that it appears normal on race day.
Key
words:
long club run, Comrades Marathon,
refreshment tables
Internal
links:
pit
stops, Comrades,
camaraderie,
Don
Oliver, mental
goody bag, support crew, race strategies,
External
links:
Official Comrades
Marathon website,
Fish Hoek Athletic Club, Four
Hills for Lindsay 56km long training run
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