Runnersguide

The Comrades Marathon in 2010 is more than a year away. Roughly 430 days to go – so what is the plan?

For now it is too far in the future – but there are some positive things that you can do –

1 – Run regularly, at least four times a week. While the Comrades Marathon is a daunting task, it is conquered one training run at a time. Regular running is the key.

2- Get the race into perspective. Remember you will be running a long distance race. This means learning to run long and slow. It is a complete waste of time running time trials and trying to get super fast. What is the use? You will be running 90 kilometres. It is all about time on the feet.

3 – Add a longer run on the week-end. For now I don’t think that the long run should be more than 15 to 20 kilometres. Week runs no more than eight kays.

4 – The basic plan, although it sounds a bit obvious, is to arrive at the start of the race in peak condition. That is to say ON THE DAY – not a day before and not after. This is the tricky proposition. So here are the basic steps. Base training until January next year. (Oh groan, groan) That is to have little variation in what you are doing now. Distance training until end March next year and then tapering in May.

5 – Goals for now are to get into shape for a half marathon by October. You should then be ready to run a 32 kay race (20 miler) in January and your marathon in late February/ early March.

6 – Get some inspiration watch this

Remember – you are an e-mail away – never be afraid to give me a shout.

Thought for now “I am training for the greatest ultra marathon in the world – it deserves my best”

See you on the road.

Tom

Having a clear plan and then executing it is the best way to succeed.

There are many who are looking at next year’s calendar already. Many are beginning to lay the foundations for successful running in 2009. Those runners who are plotting and planning now will find great success by this time next year.

It all starts with the odd phone call, then two or three and then a deluge. Many fellow runners are phoning at this time just to find out if the fixtures list is ready for the next running year. Just by the way, it is not completely ready, but that is not our story here.

It is a good idea to plan your running year ahead and it is a good idea to have that plan as detailed as possible. Many, I know are going to have a crack at the Comrades Marathon in 2010 some in 2009. Some of these runners will have one medal already, and inspired by the great achievement this year, will attempt the ‘down’ run. There are some runners who were simply inspired by the event, the courage and determination shown on the television. Now they too want to find that hero-person inside of themselves and they too will run next year’s down run.

Runners come in many shapes, sizes and talents and there are many, couch-potatoes no less, that are runners, only they just don’t know it yet. They want to find fitness and health and are not motivated by the heroic deed of running a Comrades. Their heroic deed is just to complete a 10 km race by next November. That, for some, for many, is just as worthy a goal as the Big “C”. What is most important in all of this is that you must have a plan. It is most important to set a goal and then stick to it.

More than just setting the goal, it is vital to work out the finer details. There must be a clear and workable way on how to get there. The steps along the way, the races along the way must be clear and well expressed. It may sound a bit obvious, but you must plan your 10 km race, then your half and so on, before you can reach the goal of Comrades. Clarity of purpose is important here as well as the details on how to get there.

The one ingredient that is necessary to make all of this work is commitment. It is important to write down this goal, to express it clearly, and to be passionate about the outcome. Moreover, once written down and the commitment made; it is time to go public about it. Tell all who will care to listen, put it out there for all to see. That way there is no backing out. That is the way of success.

So, you say then, hey, what about your goals for 2009. Well, I do not think I could take the damage of another down Comrades, but here goes: I am fully committed to run the following races in 2009 – The Loskop and the Tough One. Never mind the other races in between used as training, but that my friends, is my schedule for next year. Now its time to nail your colours to the mast, paste yours in the “comments” for all to see.

Feel the passion when you have direction, commit yourself unreservedly and give your running a full go next year.

I turn to philosopher Seneca “ When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind”

Yours on the road.

Tom

Oh boy, the Comrades Marathon is looming. The kosmos has come and gone, so has Easter. Two Oceans is but a distant and fond memory. The last stretch in the arduous training beckons, the long run.

I know that there are some that feel that the final long run went out with ‘baby boomers’ and a sleek, athletic Fordyce. Shorter and faster seems to be the more modern trend, just more of it. I still give strong support to the idea of a final long training run.

Comrades is an absurdly long race, and for most, we are on the road for well over ten hours. The pace is seldom fast, in fact just the opposite. This is a race taken with a much slower pace than usual. Seldom does a runner with ‘ten hour special’ ambitions run faster in the second half. Most of your training, if done prudently has already been done at a much slower pace. So why change anything?

And there for me is the rub, DO NOT change anything on race day. It is an old rule but a good one. Try anything new on race day at your peril. Need to buy new shoes? Do it now, run in them and get used to their feel, otherwise enjoy the blisters.

This also goes for the training, and the lead up to the race. There are few opportunities left to do the final long run. I recon 60 to 65 kilometers in one go with about a month and a bit to recover for the big day. That means about this week-end or next week-end. Remember, you want to be at your peak on race-day and not a minute before

For the speed merchants, silver junkies and racing snakes, this may not be entirely the most prudent advice, that much I may grant you. Except for this – it is still a long way, it is a brutal course, and you will need to put some distance in your legs to survive the last 20 kilometers – especially Polly’s

Yours on the road.
Join me at www.runnersguide.co.za
or at www.swimmersguide.co.za

There was a time long ago when we went in search of self-actualisation through sport. We did find it in the sacred games of the Greeks in the seventh century B.C. This was a time when athletes learned to transcend the dynamics of fate through heroic action in the dust and trial of the Olympic arena.

In our modern times many are turning to the Eastern disciplines – Karate T’ai Chi and Yoga, not only for the grace they offer and the physical power they contain, but also for the accompanying philosophies they carry with them. Now, more than ever, running can lead us to the inner games that set us on a path of real personal growth.

With a combination of Zen and modern psychology, we are able to go beyond the rigidity of technique and we can begin to conquer these inner fears that hamper performance in home, boardroom, shop floor and sports field. Running enables us to achieve a level of fitness that guarantees the unity and well being of body and soul, without gamesmanship, rules, special equipment or even opponent.

By running within ourselves it is important to grasp hold of the psychological process that unfolds on the run, rather than the external goals of PB’s and external competition. The unfolding paradox is that this type of running will unleash the hidden energies, both psychic and physical that will enable you to run much farther and faster than ever before. Running within is good for us.

In the first instance, this inward approach releases the power of the body and illuminates the workings of our mind. We have always suspected the close relationship the body has with the mind, running merely affirms this ancient truth. The fit athlete can stave off unpleasant shifts in mood, and can stem the feelings of helplessness that suffocate a healthy zest for life. Trained runners have little difficulty in maintaining the natural cycles of eating, and sleeping. Soon running becomes the major organising element of our lives.

The cultivation of the body as the touchstone to greater psychic powers reaches back to the ancient Greek and Egyptian mystery schools, where physical exercises for opening the mind were passed on secretly from one master to the next, and were practised in the strictest isolation. However when we run together we can reach a much higher energy level, and it helps us to run much faster and farter than if we ran alone. Running with other people offers a synchronous bonding that allows you to delve deep into meditative states.

If we run within ourselves, it is in this crucible that we can experience all the transformations that man is capable of. In truth we can embark on a fantastic journey through all the pathways of muscle and bone, leading all the way to the furthest reaches of our mind

Yours on the road