Comrades Marathon tactical tips

Do it right - that is the key.
 
Going into any battle, war or even a small skirmish you want to have a gameplan - What is yours for Comrades this year?
 
The starting point needs to be a target time.

Most runners have an objective, but the big question is - Is it realistic?

To assist you there is a predictor on the www.dogreatthings.co.za/running and the www.coachnorrie.co.za websites.

By inputting your best three performances over the past 3-9 months you will get a realistic view of what you are capable of this Sunday.

Please read the instructions carefully and particularly those runners who are in the 4:20-5 hour marathon zone, as using short distance performances does give errors at that end of the spectrum.

Firstly, please accept that it was only after 1981 that runners had any thoughts of running Comrades the whole way. 

Until then you had your own seconds and no official tables, so you would meet your seconds along the road and stop or walk while you took your drink, food or other support and then start off again. The history annals are full of photos of past winners standing while getting attention from their seconds.

Morris Alexander relates stories of many who stopped and even put their feet up on embankments to get the blood to run back into the body before carrying on  and getting a useful position in the race.

Running and walking got many a gold medal.
 
There is a fantastic story of the second Comrades back in 1922. It highlights the truth about Comrades and the approach you should take.
 
A Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) farmer called Arthur Newton came down to Durban to run to highlight the problems of farmers having their farms taken away by the government.
 
Newton was staying with a teacher called Bill Payne who happened to be a Springbok rugby player and provincial cricketer. This was in the days when at best you trained twice a week and played on the Saturday.
 
Newton convinced Payne to run the next day and so the pair went to the start (which was at Tollgate in 1922 because the hill from the city hall was too steep).

Over 120 runners went off with the gun and although Payne was in rugby boots he went out with the final third of the field, but Newton was behind him.

Payne stopped at Fields Hill for breakfast, then at half-way with a new road friend for curry and a beer and then used oranges and several cups of sweet tea and a cherry brandy to sustain him for the final push to the finish. 

He completed the race in 10:33 with zero specific training.

Newton only overtook Payne around Pinetown and was third at half-way and took the lead at Cato Ridge. His slow build-up and go for the win tactic not only gave him the first of five victories in six runs, but also has been repeated by most winners and indeed 28 of the 30 winners over the past three decades.
 
The lessons are clear.

You do not have to worry about covering the distance. The distance you will do, but your training will determine how fast you are able to complete it.
 
There is no problem with stopping to eat and drink, but realistically it’s more efficient to keep walking so that you are constantly progressing to Durban.
 
Start easy and let your body adapt to the task, then hold a steady effort and only over the last quarter begin to consider what special effort you may achieve.
 
Turning this into a modern day regime, I would suggest you mix running with walking every 10km if you are looking for silver or better, 8km for a Bill Rowan medal, 6km for a Bronze and walk every 3km or less if you are simply looking to finish under 12 hours or have an injury you are nursing.  
 
Those walks can be anything from 90 seconds (about 120m) to 3 minutes (250m) and will split the distance up into segments that help you handle the race both physiologically and psychologically.  Running in this fashion turns a 90km challenge to a interval session of  (for instance) 15 x 6km with two minutes walk recovery.
 
On this basis you are now running from the start to Market, to Tumble In, to the highest point, to Camperdown bridge, to the entrance to Cato Ridge, to Inchanga West and so on - NOT from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
 
The carbohydrate required to keep the mind going is provided by energy drinks in small packages you can carry, such as those Sporty Bites, which incidentally also provide electrolytes and a buffer to counter the acid build-up. One Sporty Bite an hour to 75 minutes is a good starting point.
 
For protein you should have some High Energy meal replacements and for solid food try carrying some salami slices or a small stick of salami or have seconds with some cups of food such as egg mayonnaise, chicken, tuna etc.
 
But the most important thing is to have a plan!
 
Do the planning and do it now.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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