First up we have a contribution by Andrew Dollenberg. A veteran of some 95 odd marathons and ultras, he usually looks like he needs a good meal and enjoys quality family time on the road (long runs) with his wife Annelie and 5 year old daughter Abi. He is that guy sporting a foam peak and pushing a red pram with big wheels.
Look out for some more posts from Andrew in the future under the heading "CC Comrades Corner - Andrew Dollenberg"
Yes - there are about as many days left before Comrades as what there
are kilometres in the up run.
Welcome to my 2013 Comrades series of encouragement, thoughts, ideas
and, of course, sarcasm. Once again, my emails and info will relate
mainly to novice runners and the average runner looking to complete
Comrades with a Bronze or Vic Clapham medal. Bill Rowan and Silver
athletes should seek help elsewhere (like maybe the local psychiatrist).
Hope everyone is on board again this year, and training has been going
well so far.
Training plans have probably been a bit tricky for those in Mpumalanga
with some of the long races being cancelled, and unfortunately this
makes long runs a bit of ones own responsibility rather than relying on
races. No need to stress - there is still Elands Marathon coming up, and
Loskop. Although these may be good for time on the legs, they certainly
are not great toning runs, as they do not emulate the road from Dbn to
Pmb in any way. Also, make sure you get involved in your club long runs
and weekend training runs to build up the mileage and get some
encouragement from fellow athletes.
This year the Comrades race is being run on pretty much the same route
as last year. Just the other way round. So you may find it useful to
include a few hills as part of your training. Hill training need not be
specific hill workouts, hill repeats, or hill sprints. Just make sure
your regular training runs include some hills, and make sure you run
them rather than walk or plod. This will make you stronger, build
endurance and at the same time lower the risk of injury.
By this stage, you should have already run a marathon and hopefully got
a qualifying time in. At worst, you should be looking to qualify in the
next 2 weeks. Then racing should be over and focus should be towards
quality sessions and long, slow distance. The body takes time to recover
after long runs, and racing certainly punishes the legs and damaged
muscles need time to rest and repair. Racing a marathon could be
detrimental in that it may eat into the following training week, taking
away some of your mid-week runs and replacing them with foam-roller
sessions, ice buckets or physio appointments. Honestly, you would be
better off running!
The key to completing Comrades comfortably (if that is at all possible)
is putting in the training. Training needs to be focused on long weekend
runs and long mid-week runs. Three long weekend runs of 50-60km should
be scheduled up to mid April. If this is not possible, split the run
over Saturday and Sunday, with 2 runs of 25-30km each. The Easter
weekend is also a great opportunity to get some mileage in - with 4 days
off of work, what better opportunity to run! Putting in 60-100km that
weekend should actually be quite simple. Mid-week long runs should
happen once a week with a steady paced 15km-18km (unless you are doing a
weekend long run, in which case you should not go over 12km on any
mid-week run).
Weekly mileage should be between 60 and 80km per week through March,
increasing to 75-90km per week in April. Don't over do it, as you will
certainly pay for it through injury, illness, fatigue and lost interest.
Just keep your training consistent. Remember - the goal is to prove
yourself on 2nd June, and not before then.
And importantly - make sure you include some rest as part of your
training program. As you ramp up the mileage, you will feel tired,
lethargic, and even irritable. Taking a day or two off to recover
properly might be more beneficial than pushing through.
Enjoy the training, run sensibly, and keep the goal in mind.
See you on the road!
Cheers,
Andrew.
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| Andrew attacking the Gomgat climb - 2012 Moral Regeneration 21km |
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