All runs over an hour are to be done at target Comrades pace or slower, as you need to get your legs accustomed to working at a specific pace of very long periods of time.
Time trials are to be done hard, about 65 – 90 percent effort. Do not race 100 percent and risk unnecessary injury early into the training.
Your hill repeats are to be done at a steady pace, slightly faster than 21km race pace. The aim is to gradually increase your speed, strength and muscular endurance without doing damage,
Your qualifier is not a race, it is a training run and a chance for a mini dress rehearsal. You need to be conservative and feel that you could have done a few more kilometres should the need arise.
The club long run is NOT a race. This is the time to try out your race day shoes, running kit and socks, find out where Vaseline needs to be rubbed and, importantly, to finalise what nutrition you will be using on race day.
It is CRITICAL that you do not overdo it – if you get to 50km and you are really achy, then stop and get in a car, mission accomplished. Bruce Fordyce – 9 times winner of the Comrades – very seldom (if ever!) completed the “long club run”.
Congratulations – you’ve started your successful journey to the Start Line!
This is going to be my 9th Comrades and still this advise is so crucial. I tend to run my timetrials all out and never treat a race as a training run. Hopefully i get it right this year. Thank you for the brilliant advise.
Bruce has never told anyone the truth about his training, why would we believe he doesn’t complete long club runs