Essentials of Comrades Training

1. Run. Get outdoors and run. Often. As many times a week as possible. Also stretch, do sit-ups, press-ups or more sophisticated versions of these exercises plus quad-strengthening exercises.
2. Get a training program. Let it guide the pattern and combination of runs. Beware of the distances and paces that they say you must achieve.
3. Learn what you need to eat and drink before, during, after and between runs to sustain your training and yourself on the run
4. Increase, gradually sure, but increase the distances you run over the week 16 to 17 weeks before the taper before the race.
5. Keep a record of your training: what you plan, what you achieve, and how your body and mind respond to the training.
6. Make sure you recover from your runs and allow your body to adapt to the workload.
7. Deal with any problems – injury, pain, illnesses even minor ones, as soon as you are aware of them.
8. Build an understanding of what you will face on the race day – the distance, the hills, the weather, the start, the finish all of it – and what you will need to do to cope with it.
9. Develop a race-day plan with a projected running pace. Practice it. Often.
10. Get an understanding of why you want to run Comrades and explore that a little. Your motivation and inspiration are important components of getting through long runs.
11. Nurture your relationships with family, friends and community; maintain your obligations at home, work. Sacrifice less important things.