Run With Coach Parry

This is Ask Coach Parry and we answer the Comrades Marathon question of Adriaan Venter. He says he had a fall this last Sunday and he has injured his ankle. The doctor has said that he reckons it is a grade 2 sprain. He is off training for 4 weeks and he has been referred to a physio. In general he is quite fit and he trains all year round and he did the ironman 70.3 in Buffalo City, East London in January. He has completed a number of runs between 20 and 26km's between September and February. There is approximately 12 weeks to go till the Comrades Marathon after his break - will that be enough time or should he give up and focus on something else? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

You are on Ask Coach Parry and today the question comes all the way from Switzerland. Chris Wood got in touch. He says he is planning on doing the ironman 70.3 in his build up to the Comrades Marathon this year. He finds the five to six hour endurance help him build core and stamina without the wear and tear of running. He would appreciate your thoughts, especially as it would be his last big push before tapering. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to Ask Coach Parry once again. Thabogo got a question in today. The question reads as follows: "I am currently training for Two Oceans and the Comrades Marathon and I am following your programme for a bronze medal. I have run five of each. I have already qualified sub 4'20 in your March programme. I live in a hilly suburb. What route must I chose during training with regards to hills or do I still need to do a hill set on the training programme as hill repeats?" So basically if someone lives in a hilly suburb do they still need to do hill training? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry, and once again we have a question to answer about a glute injury affecting Comrades Marathon training. Jonathan send his question in and he says he has been running for a few years, he has run about 12 marathons and five Two Oceans ultra's. He tore is gluteas maximus at bay-to-bay but still finished in 3.30. He kept training but has discomfort on all his long runs. He had to bail at the peninsula marathon at 30km's. The last qualifier is Kango. Please can you advise, should he give up training for the Comrades Marathon or should he train through the pain? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to Ask Coach Parry. Today we chat more about changing shoes before the Comrades Marathon. The question today is from someone who has just run a qualifier for the Comrades Marathon in their current pair of shoes and they think they may need to get a new pair. When would be the best time to do this? When is too close to the Comrades Marathon, when is too late? What is the best way to go about it? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

On Ask Coach Parry today we have a question submitted by Angie. And it deals with injury and the Comrades Marathon. It says: “I battle now and then with shin splints and I think with my increased training, it has affected them now again. I am worried now that taking a few days to rest will affect my mileage and training for the Comrades Marathon. It’s too early to pull out now? I'm averaging between 40 and 60km’s per week at the moment with lots of cross training in between such as strength training, lots of surfing, yoga and pilates.” It is her first Comrades Marathon, she has been running for years though. More seriously tough in the past 3 years. She is following the finishers programme and has a pb of 23’15 for 5km. Her best half marathon is a 2”01 dead. In her mind she is confident that she can finish and be strong. She is worried about taking a rest and messing up the training. Help and assistance will be appreciated. Her physio of course says rest, but you know that is the last thing a runner wants

Another episode of Ask Coach Parry. Our question today comes from Antoinette and I think this is a question that a lot of runners toy with at this time of year. She says she is planning on running the Two Oceans, however hasn’t qualified yet. She has been running about 40km’s a week for the last 4 weeks with one half marathon thrown in there. Should she run the Pick n Pay marathon or should she wait for the Vaal marathon? This is her concern: should she not qualify at the Vaal, it is the last Two Oceans qualifier. What should she do? When in doubt... Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to Ask Coach Parry. The question today comes from Lindsey Evart. Lindsey says: “ My pre-Comrades Marathon training was interrupted in December because of a glute tear and calcification in the glute. Post 6 weeks rest and rehab, hopefully I can start a walking/running programme in 2 weeks. How do I get back onto the Comrades Marathon bus? I am a regular marathon and ultra runner and a Bronze Comrades Marathon finisher.” Where to start Lindsey Parry: As soon as you are capable of sitting on a bike and doing some stationary cycling do that so that we can take care of your cardio vascular fitness. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and today we have quite a detailed question with a lot of info in. It comes from Peter. He says he is relatively new to running and he is doing his Comrades Marathon qualifier at the Pietermaritzburg marathon on the 22nd of February. He used last year to develop a running base and now he is following your Bill Rowan training programme and is comfortable with the paces. His recent times were as follows; he ran a sub 21 on a flat 5km route, sub 36 on a hilly 8km route, his 15km time is 1’14. His half marathon time is 1’47 at the Kearsney race which is very very hilly. For the slightly longer runs he feels that he is running within himself and could have gone faster, and he has also done slightly longer training runs at lower intensity. He feels that he is in pretty good shape for his qualifier. With your training programme, it says that you should be able to run a 3’30 marathon. His question is should he aim to run a 3’30 in February or should he take it a bit more comfortable and run

Today’s question on Ask Coach Parry is another injury related question submitted by Tracey. She says she is planning to run the Pietermaritzburg Marathon. Training is going well but she is prone to injury, so just doing 4 runs a week and trying to do just one long run on a weekend rather than back to back long runs. She has done a few 24 / 25km long runs and planning on doing a 32km next week. Her weekly mileage is between 50 and 60km’s. Is that long enough for the final long run or should she try and get a longer run in before she starts tapering? She is aiming between 4 and 4’20 for that marathon. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome back to Ask Coach Parry. The question today is injury related and comes from Anzonia. She says that she developed a piriformis muscle injury. She started to train but had to stop because running is painful. Her January consisted of bay-to-bay and Redhill where she suffered. Do you think she can still train for her first Comrades Marathon? She intends to start training again slowly from the beginning of February. Currently she is doing strength training the core and aqua jogging as well. What is the best advice? The left side is always a problem on that piriformis. Getting it treated Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Today’s question on Ask Coach Parry was submitted by Hein Gerike. He says he is a first time Comrades Marathon runner in 2015 and would like some advice on snacks and eats on race day. He is not a big fan of gels, he therefore prefers water and coke for his liquid intake. During marathons ener-jelly sweets and small potatoes. As the Comrades Marathon is not doable with limited food intake, he needs some advice and ideas on what he needs to practice on his long runs. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Today we answer a question from Cecelia Kazsk. She says she completed the Comrades Marathon last year comfortably in a time of 11.33. She probably could have done better but had an issue with missing her second along the route. Regardless, there were no major injuries or stresses during training or in the race. Since then she has moved to New Zealand and she is still hoping to come back for the 2015 Comrades Marathon. There is a new policy, and with this new policy you have to qualify in a marathon between Comrades Marathon races. Your Comrades Marathon does not count as your qualifier anymore, which means she has to run a marathon in New Zealand. There aren’t too many marathons to chose from but she is looking at one called The Baileys Mountain to Surf. The only problem is that it is a net downhill marathon, with a 460 meters descending in total. Only 2 nasty short hills at the end. Researching the race indicates that majority of people get pb’s on the route because of that gradient. Considering that the

Today on Ask Coach Parry we talk more Comrades Marathon. The question was submitted by Jock Ferguson and it says: " Hi coach Parry. I have achieved a qualification time of 3.24 and I am following the Bill Rowan training programme. My question is at what pace should I be running the marathons in the training programme? www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and today we answer the question from Clive Johnson. He has a fabulous question. He says “Do you know how to get rid of a belly?” He is a regular runner, has run Two Oceans as well as other marathons as well. But somehow can’t get rid of the small noticeable belly. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome back to Ask Coach Parry, today we talk Comrades Marathon. We are combining 2 very similar questions from Johan Nel, and also from Peter de Wit who is coming out from Australia to run the Comrades Marathon this year. Peter has a slight difference in his question though. Johan wanted to know what types of food and drinks as well as energy gels are available at the water stations and should he carry with him? Peter wanted to know is it possible to find out where all the refreshment stops are along the route? And what is provided at each stop? Peter also wanted to know, he is aiming for a silver medal by implementing a run/walk strategy. Basically splitting the race up into 9 10km segments and taking a wee break after each 10km. Is that the right approach? Both asking about the water stations and what is available at each. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry. Our question today comes all the way from New Zealand. It is from Sebina. A while ago we spoke about Phindile who wants to run the Comrades Marathon again a couple of years after giving birth. Sebina has a 6 month old son and wants to start back with a 10km race in 2 months time, she is planning on taking the pram with in the race. Currently she can run 7km’s in 60 min with a pram. She can run for 10 but with no time on that. She wants to know if she should train on a beginners schedule or can she start adding some interval, fast paced training? She only manages to run 2 – 3 times a week because she works full time as well. Lindsey Parry: She is well outside of the window where she has to worry about prolactin and those type of hormones interfering with joint stability. The one thing she doesn’t say in here is whether she breastfeeds or not. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

You are back with Ask Coach Parry. The questions today was submitted by Steve. Steven said he has heard that shoes have a limited amount of time in them before they cause injuries and reach their peak at a certain point. When would be the best time to buy shoes that we plan to run the Comrades Marathon in, and how can we transition into the new shoes without causing injury? Lindsey Parry: I'm going to give you a rule of thumb here. Because there are fairly marked differences between individuals. I ran with a guy on Sunday, he weighs 63kg’s and he was onto 3000km’s in his current pair of shoes. He was looking to buy a new pair – not because he felt like he needed them (in fact he still quite liked them)but because the glue on the sole of his shoe was coming off. So the shoe was coming apart. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome back to another Ask Coach Parry episode. Today we have a question from Lauren Pretorius. It is not a Comrades Marathon related question, but interesting none-the-less. Lauren says she is on a 10 week training programme for a half marathon that will take place in February. Relatively new to running, but would like to know if a weekend hike, which is approximately 45km’s over 3 days at altitude, would that count for a 13km long run. Does she a) compensate for it by adding distance to her shorter runs during the week before the hike, b) try and replace one of her shorter runs with distance a day before the hike or c) try and replace one of her shorter runs with distance the day after the hike, or d) does she just write off the run completely, carry on and just follow the schedule? She knows that usually it would be best to write the entire week off and repeat it the week after the hike, but this is not an option as she is aiming to run a specific race. What would your advice be? Read More · Tra

You are on Ask Coach Parry. The question today was submitted by Werner Libbe. He says 2015 will be his 2nd Comrades Marathon. In 2014 he finished in 10.52 but he picked up an ITB injury. He has been injury free since July last year and can do a marathon in 4 hours. He ran the Dischem half marathon a couple of weeks ago in a comfortable sub 2 hours. His 4km time trial time is 17’40. He is also cycling and is planning on doing the Cape Town Cycle Tour in March. His aim for the Comrades Marathon is 10 hours. He is currently following your Bill Rowan Programme, but he is adapting it to enable I'm to cycle the Argus. He has 2 questions. The first one is how does he adapt and allow for cycling in that programme? The second question is, you refer to a 3.30 marathon in the programme which relates to a sub 5 minute pace, yet nowhere in the training do they ever get close to that pace except for time trials and some hill repeats. How does he get used to running that fast if he never gets used to running at that pac