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I wouldn't call myself an expert on Comrades, but let me
tell you how I have approached the great comeback to be ready
for the 2nd half of the year.
I like to think that my training had gone off well, I had
split it into 3 blocks, and had followed the program most
of the time. The first block took me to Cape Town Marathon
at the end of Feb. The aim had been to get myself into a routine
and therefore fit enough to train for Oceans. Not wanting
to train hard for more than 4 week without a rest week I took
2 weeks easy after the Marathon. With the legs nicely rested
I jumped into a 4 week block of Sunday long runs and Thursday
hills, Tuesdays we played with a few track sessions.
With Oceans, being an altra I even threw in a Marathon as
one of my long runs. I then took a weeks taper before lining
up for the race. Holding back in Oceans I recovered quickly
and started to pick my mileage up again. I had one block left,
and this was the important one. I wasn't wanting to go over
the top with my training. If I had been wanting to put in
those 200km weeks I would have done that for Oceans. With
only 4 or 5 weeks of training left I started again. I needed
to put more time on the legs without upping the kays to much.
I slowed my long runs and tried to get used to running at
Comrades pace. My hill session took a new turn, I was not
only running up fast, but the down hills became important.
I started my taper with 3 weeks to go by cutting back on the
distance , but keeping the speed work going.
With the race now behind me and been safely back in Cape
Town I had to get the legs working again, I'm not one for
sitting around and doing nothing. Most of us Comrades runners
feel we can join in the regular club run, and yes you can,
but then you will hear stories of how it takes 6 months to
recover from the race. Yes it could well take as long as that
to recover if you get back into running to soon. You could
go the other extreme and take 4 weeks off running. I'd like
to see any runner do that...
I do the next best thing, keep it short and do lots of track
work. I didn't really get a chance to do any more running
that week of the race, I took a few days driving home. Come
Monday morning I was back at the club, but while I sent the
other guys out for an easy 10km I turn at 5km and headed back
to the track for some 200's. In fact that was my routine all
week, On the Monday I started running at my 1000m pace, so
all I really did was stretch my legs out. By Thursday I had
picked the pace up by about 3 seconds. My 2nd week of running
was meant to be the same as the first, but I'm not always
willing to follow my own program!!! I will stay away from
distance, and the long stuff on the track, but with the legs
working properly I'll be back soon. If you are like me and
addicted to road races I would say go ahead and run them,
but stay away from racing. Each race you race to early will
put you back and you will end up one of those guys who says
that it takes 6 months to recover from Comrades.
I'm wanting to race Peninsula Marathon mid September, so
over the next couple of races I will start trying to get used
to the pace I plan running the Marathon at.
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