Additional information and help for Comrades 2007:
- Wednesday May 16 – Final Comrades Preparation Seminar at Kings Park Sports Medicine centre – Walter Gilbert Road Durban (next to Virgin Active / KZNA) at 18:30 – Free – bookings 031 303 3784
- Tuesday 22 May at 18:00 in the Colin Webb Hall at University KZN Main Campus in Pietermaritzburg Contact Evan Brauteseth on 0836507876
- The final preparation chart published in The Mercury on Friday 18 May 2007 – this is available in KZN coastal areas or through Shamilla Vaid on 031 3082911
May is a key month in Comrades preparation as it is host to the three to four weeks of Peak training. This is when you distance is at it’s greatest, but remember there is no point in pushing up the distance to the detriment of your health. If you have cold, flu or an injury then work within the restrictions of these ailments. Doing more and “running through’ these ailments may only make them worse or put you in a position where you need to drop out of Comrades on Sunday 17 June.
Your peak distance is determined by your best 10km pace and hence your average training pace. This determines how much should do on average each training hour and no matter whether you are a top club runner or barely made the 5 hour marathon qualifier your peak training should not exceed 12 hour per week. Exceeding this means you are unlikely to get enough recovery and you are at risk of injury or illness.
Illness is probably the worst option at this time as it often means time off from running and in some cases the use of anti biotic or other drug treatment which will have an effect on your performance for around 3 weeks after you have finished taking the course. In short if you are forced into taking anti biotics within 3 weeks of Comrades you should either dramatically change your target finish time – or perhaps more wisely – withdraw from running the race. Comrades has been around for 82 years and will be around for the rest of your life so don’t risk your life or health by running with illness or its aftereffects.
While the emphasis will be on distance, which should be at your Comrades pace or SLOWER!! – do not omit all the quality work. You will still have quality sessions each week and these will take on greater importance again in the final week of may which is the first week of your three week taper to the great Comrades Marathon of 2007.
Enjoy May – the cool early morning runs and beautiful sunsets make this amongst the best times of the year in South Africa.