Congratulations to all the Comrades Marathon qualifiers. Here are some interesting training facts relating to the countdown:
From now until June 9, most of you will be running an average of 110km a week. I recommend that your chosen daily running distance is combined with weight training. Keep up with aerobics and robust muscle strength exercises three to four times a week.
Weight training includes abdominal strength training, deadlifts as well as squats and arms.
Road runners are reaching their peak condition. Be sure to taper down on strong exercise. Tapering down means that all cross training, weight training and bulking will gradually be reduced to zero. Thereafter you are in a rest period.
Research has shown that runners who train hard will continue to gain strength, while resting for 10 days before the race. You are in an energy conservation mode.
Distance running fitness is at its peak during the rest period, so continue running between 5 to 10km daily during the rest period. Ironically, while your body is at peak fitness, it is also fragile. Don’t attempt cross activity, such as sprinting, hurdles or contact sport.
Running fitness is a leg hinge movement, in one direction only. Rotational twists and random stresses from other sports will easily strain the ligaments. Use ice-packs if you tweak a ligament. Get kinesiotaped by your therapist before the race. The sports tape easily endures up to 12 hours.
What to do four days before the Comrades Marathon:
– Maintain a carbohydrate diet.
– Watch videos of runners who succeeded against strong odds and learn to run with your heart when the legs get wobbly.
– At the Comrades Expo, get to the South African Society of Physiotherapy stand from June 6 onwards. A physiotherapist can assist with sprains or strains. If you are at the expo a day before the race, gather your stuff quickly, get your legs taped if necessary and retire to your hotel. Get a good night’s sleep. Runners have made the mistake of losing vital rest time running around the expo.
– Stretching of muscles and tendons: Do daily stretching right up until the race day. Stretching is most effective when the limbs are warmed up for 10 minutes. Stretching is effective in relieving aerobic residue in muscles when it’s done again immediately after strenuous training. Don’t let the body cool down too fast.
– Timing: Limb stretching is effective when sustained for 30 to 60 seconds.
– Shoes: Brand names could not be any better, these days. There is a range of local and international brands. Tight shoe laces give heel pain and/or tingling at the top of the foot.
– New shoe hints: Run with a shoe you have trusted for up to 200km of training. Buy two pairs of the same favourite shoes, so you can wear one out during the previous year’s training.
– After the race, the body, especially the bone marrow, takes 21 days to replenish vital iron and haemoglobin lost during the run. Rest as much as possible and build your immune system.
Thilor Naidoo is a physiotherapist based at The Atrium in Overport. She has been associated with Comrades Marathons since 1990.