Marathon for the first time this year or want to dust off your running shoes after a long retirement, this is the training programme for you. Not only will it help you earn that special medal, you will also finish this race alongside an icon. Not many people can say they finished Comrades alongside someone who has done 40 in a row! In celebration of Barry’s great achievement, Modern Athlete has decided to honour this Comrades legend by giving you the chance to follow his training programme and hop into his Sub-10:30 bus come 3 June.
In this month’s edition we are featuring Barry’s full programme. As we all know life sometimes interferes with our running – and reading – and by publishing the full programme you can plan your races and long runs in advance. On top of this, we will publish monthly training tips from the legend himself.
For the full programme click here.
BARRY’S WORDS OF ADVICE
It is important to remember that January to May spells a long and hard five months of training. Our programme eases you into this incredible journey. Don’t try to do too much too soon. If you follow the programme you will steadily become stronger and by April you will be knocking off 45km runs quite comfortably.
SLOWLY CATCH THE MONKEY
The dangers of doing too much or trying to go beyond the programme are twofold. Firstly, you run the risk of injury, which will set your training back. You must listen to your body and it will tell you when enough is enough. Training for Comrades is all about the old adage of ‘Slowly, slowly catch the monkey.’
Secondly, you don’t want to get stale in your training. The road must not become the enemy. Here we cannot emphasise enough that rest days in a training programme are as important as quality days. The rest is what allows you to stay fresh and focused on your training. Enjoying your training is absolutely essential.
With Christmas behind us, it’s time to get serious about training for the greatest road race in the world. We will be with you all the way!