Run With Coach Parry

Welcome to another Ask Coach Parry episode. Today’s question comes from Dave Wood and it is something we have chatted about quite a few times here on the podcast. As we in the southern hemisphere head towards summer, the northern hemisphere heads towards winter. Dave says he lives in the UK where it is generally cool and he runs a marathon between 3.25 and 3.35. he ran the Bagan Temple marathon in Burma and really struggled with the heat at 32°C and 70% humidity. He finished in 4.18. How do conditions for the Comrades Marathon compare, and should he be adjusting his goals for a bronze medal from his previous plan of going for a Bill Rowan? Lindsey Parry: Hi Dave. A lot of guys from the UK and cooler climates do struggle. We generally don’t tend to have temperatures of 32°C on the day of the Comrades Marathon – although we have had them. We also tend not to have quite as high humidity at 70%, because we are then in winter. If we raced the Comrades Marathon in summer it would be further north of 32°C and fu

Today on Ask Coach Parry we have a Comrades Marathon novice question. It comes from David Armstrong, who says he has registered as a first time runner for the Comrades Marathon 2015. He was hesitant at first thinking he would rather take 2 years to prepare for the Comrades Marathon, but since running in a club environment, it seems that he is relatively blessed as far as running ability goes. He is 51years old, 69kg’s, 5”11 and fairly fit and active overall. He has been consistently running since September 2014 and is now running about 50 – 60km per week 6 to sub 6 minutes per km. He also cycles 40 – 50 km’s. He missed his planned Monday run this week, had a bad mindset. Also doing club runs on Tuesday’s at 5pm and as a result of missing Monday, he forced himself to run on Tuesday morning, despite his planned 5pm club run as well. The result of these two runs was am 11.42km morning run and a 10.14 evening run. The morning run went exceptionally well. The evening run was also good, no real exertion and gre

This is another episode of Ask Coach Parry. With the festive season approaching it is easy to go off the rails. Particularly if you don’t have that structure of having to go to work. Obviously we are eating and drinking a lot more than normal. What advice would you give to Comrades Marathon runners to stay on the straight and narrow to make sure that they get to January not 10k’s heavier than when they went into December, and that their training is on track? Lindsey Parry: It is quite difficult for most people to go through December and not put on some weight. You also get the opposite that is true though – you get people that because it is December and they have a lot more free time that they go completely overboard in their training and they end up being way too fit at the start of the year. They then put themselves into a position, even if they don’t get injured they are probably going to get to the Comrades Marathon very tired. December training is all about being sensible and not skipping too many ses

Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry and today we answer Steve’s question. Steve says his biggest struggle on long runs – longer than a half marathon – is fuelling his body correctly. He wants to know is there a hard and fast rule regarding the amount of calories or carbs one should be replacing on a long run and in say a marathon. For example, how many calories per 8km’s? Lindsey Parry: There are never hard and fast rules for running, but there certainly are some reasonable guidelines that you can stick to. When you are doing long distance running – I guess anything over a half marathon we would consider a really long distance – you want to look to be fueling your body with roughly 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Today on Ask Coach Parry we have a Comrades Marathon question submitted by Gustav Roos. He says that he has been running sub 3 marathons for 4 years now, with a pb of 2:47. He has however not been able to run a silver at the Comrades Marathon, he wants to know what is he doing wrong? Lindsey Parry: Giving a pb is very limiting. Because we don’t know what sort of mileage he’s running those pb’s off, what sort of mileage he is doing for the Comrades Marathon, is he following the Comrades Marathon silver programme, etc. Assuming that he is getting things right in training, that he is not starting the race from doing too much mileage, that he is not starting the race with an injury – then I can only look at race day strategy. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to another edition of Ask Coach Parry. Paul Derbyshire submitted his question today and he gives quite a bit of background. He says during his last 3 Comrades Marathon he became extremely nauseous. It happened at the 40km mark in 2014, the 52km mark in 2013 and the 64km mark in 2012. In other words, it seems to be happening earlier in each run. He has been hydrating adequately, but has noticed that the water seems to sit in his stomach and doesn’t get absorbed into his body. When he does start throwing up, there is a lot of water. This said, he is generally dehydrated at the end as he usually only goes to the loo and has a wee once during the race and then 10 or so hours after the race. He did not take any anti-inflammatories in the 2014 run. He finished all the runs in around 11:45 and always got to the half way mark in around 5 hours. He runs a marathon in 4 hours. He generally takes 32GI, gels and eats bananas, sandwiches and Christmas cake and potatoes on the run. Read More · Training Pr

This is Ask Coach Parry, and today we have a short, sweet and simple question in from Alex Flemming. He says he is tired after his speed session, he can’t run properly for the rest of the week. Please can you help? Lindsey Parry: That is a very basic question with very basic information. But it does lead me to believe he is running his speed session way too fast. We know that we recover much slower from high intensity sessions than we do to running easy. But even really long easy runs which do take their toll, take less out of you than a really hard high intensity session. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and today we answer Colin’s 2 questions. He says he is a runner with a pb of 38 minutes for 10km’s, and 85 for a half marathon and 3:11 for a marathon. His times don’t relate to his performances at the last 2 Comrades Marathon’s. His best is a 9:52 Comrades Marathon finish in the 2013 up run. He wants to know how can he improve his Comrades Marathon time? His aim for 2015 is Bill Rowan. Secondly, in his build up to the Comrades Marathon he normally does 2 big races: the Cosmos 3-in-1 in early March (10km, 21km and 42km in one day. A total of 73km in one day), and then also the Loskop Ultra Marathon is mid April. Is it safe to do both or should he skip one of those big races? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Today we answer a Comrades Marathon training question submitted to Ask Coach Parry by Rowan Demmer. He says “Hi Coach. 2015 will be my first Comrades Marathon, I have been training since June this year giving myself a year to train. I have been following the Bill Rowan training program but running at an average pace of 6:40 odd per km. I'm doing roughly 50km a week in Musgrave area in Durban so there are some serious hills that I use to train on the normal weekend runs. I have done a 10km in July (55min), a Half Marathon in September (1h59min), and finally my Qualifier marathon last month October (4h52min). I was wondering how do I adjust my Comrades Marathon training program now that I have already run my marathon a month earlier than the schedule says? I took a week off and then ran for an hour and legs were still tired even now 2 weeks after the Marathon, it feels as though I am starting to train all over again, feel a bit demotivated, is this normal? Thanks for the great info that you guys share.” Rea

Welcome to another edition of Ask Coach Parry. Our question today was submitted by Stuart Miles. This is what he said, “I ran Two Oceans in under 6 hours in 2013 but was plagued with hamstring injuries during the training and injured myself (foot tendon) shortly after, and could not run the Comrades Marathon - probably due to having increased mileage too fast. I have not run much this year (10-20k's per week max.) but have been building up leg strength and fitness through spinning/cycling and rode the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge 2014. My question is whether and how I can now build up my running training towards the Comrades Marathon 2015. Obviously my main concern is to avoid injury and build up mileage as slow as possible. I have run 4 marathons now with a PB of 3h50 for reference.” Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and today we hear from Andre Gouws. He says he desperately wants to run the Comrades Marathon in 2015 in a sub 10 hours. He ran 2013 on about 400km’s and finished in 11h55. In 2014 he did about 800km’s and finished in 10h46. His pb for a 10km is 53minutes and half marathon is a 1h55. His marathon pb is a 4h02. He finished Kaapsehoop just a couple of weeks ago on a 100km’s of training due to work pressure. He finished in a 4h08, which is pretty decent. Should he still be following the Comrades Marathon bronze training programme just on the faster end of the spectrum? What is your advice? Lindsey Parry: Your times indicate you should be running close to a sub 10 hour, so yes I would say he must follow the Comrades Marathon bronze training programme. I would say you must be in the faster 15 - 20% of the times is what I would be aiming to do the training at. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to Ask Coach Parry today and we have a Comrades Marathon training programme jargon question today from Werner Weber. He says, “I'm doing the Comrades Marathon Bill Rowan programme and just want to understand exactly what "15min E; 10x3min, 3min rec; Easy 20min" means. I'm fine with the 15 min E and Easy 20min, but what does the "10x3min, 3min rec" mean?” Lindsey Parry: The 10x3min’s are hard efforts. On the Comrades Marathon training programme there should be a guide which tells you the specific pace on the specific medals, in this case it's Bill Rowan. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

The next question on Ask Coach Parry today comes in from Marie. Marie says that she entered the Comrades Marathon 2014, but could not compete due to the fact that she did not qualify. She wants to know how she improve her time to be able to qualify for the Comrades Marathon 2015 which she has entered. She is currently running a marathon in about 5h20. She keeps a good pace up until 30m, and then she struggles to keep a good pace to the finish. What can Marie do to help her situation? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Today on Ask Coach Parry we chat about the Comrades Marathon Silver medal run/walk strategy. Over the last 3 days we spoke about run/walk strategies for the Comrades Marathon Vic Clapham, Bronze and Bill Rowan medals. Most people are think that if you are going for a silver Comrades Marathon medal you don’t need walking, but it is one of those things that you probably do need. How should one implement a run/walk strategy if they are aiming for a sub 7 ½ hours Comrades Marathon finish? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry. Over the last 2 days we have looked at run/walk strategies for the 2 medals most people get at the Comrades Marathon; the Vic Clapham and the Bronze medals. Today we will look at the Comrades Marathon Bill Rowan medal – a sub 9 hour finish. These guys are generally better athletes, most of them better athletes than the Vic Clapham finishers. But walking is just as important. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

On Ask Coach Parry today we follow on from yesterday’s episode. Today we will deal with how to adopt the run/walk strategy for the bronze medal finish at the Comrades Marathon. What is the best way to go about this is you are looking to go under 11 hours at the Comrades Marathon? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and in this episode we are going to start with the first of a series of episodes dealing with a run/walk strategy for the Comrades Marathon. We will break it down as we did in previous episodes of how fast you need to run for which medals. Today we will start with the Comrades Marathon finishers medal, the 11 - 12 hour finish – the Vic Clapham. What is your advice to someone who wants to take this approach to finishing the Comrades Marathon? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to another edition of Ask Coach Parry. Today we have an anonymous question from someone who wants to run Two Oceans Ultra next year 2015. She says she is a 33 year old female, she’s been running on and off for the last 5 years. She is 1.65m tall and currently weighs 62kg. Her current 5km pb is just under 33 min and her pb for 10km is just under 72. She tries to run 3 to 4 times a week with one 10km thrown in there as her long run. She also spins 3 times a week and tries to swim twice a week. She is working hard on her 5km time trial session to improve her speed as you suggest in the podcasts that we have done. What she wants to know is how much should she be running now and when should she start upping the training? Do you have a Two Oceans programme she can follow or can she modify one of the Comrades Marathon training programme, and if so how can she go about doing that? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

This is Ask Coach Parry and today we have another Comrades Marathon question. We’ve been asked the question about hill training quite often, particularly from people who live in areas that are very, very flat, and they were asking how to go about doing hill training for a race like the Comrades Marathon. We’ve got a question in from Brett Fouche today, which is the complete opposite. Brett says he lives in an area that has a lot of hills, so much so that he doesn’t have one flat training route in any of his training runs. There are tons of hills in all of his training. Is it necessary for him to do the specified hill training that you put in your training programs? Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com

Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry. Today’s question is from someone who’s considering running the Comrades Marathon next year for the first time. Glen popped his question through on our website. Glen’s saying he’s a novice runner. He’s been running casually for the past few years, distances between 5 to 10km two to three times a week. In June this year he started training for his first half-marathon off an app that he got in the app store. He ran his first half-marathon just a couple of weeks ago, in 2:08. He wants to train towards next year’s Comrades Marathon using one of your training programs. He would like to do the Bronze Program, but he would like to know what you suggest. Read More · Training Programs · www.CoachParry.com