Comrades Training Plans

Comrades 2023 Finishers Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

The finishers programme is a unique programme and offering for runners who have literally taken up running so that they can finish the Comrades in 2023. For that reason, the programme starts at a very basic level and builds up to a later qualifier than the other plans in 2023.

Our goals for 2023 are 3-fold: 1) to build you up, injury free and health work 2) Make you confident that you too can be a runner 3) to finish a half marathon or 2 in 2022.

In building this plan I have considered the finisher stats kindly provided to me by The Comrades Marathon Association to plan the programmes as follows:

66.9% of H Batch starters (sub 4hr50 Marathon) finish under the official 12hr finish time, while 84.4% of G Batch (Sub 4:40 Marathon) starters receive a Finishers Medal. The degree of difficulty increases because G Batchers take on average 5:15 to cross the start line and H batchers take 5:35 – these are to date the highest finisher % from these 2 groups.

From these stats, a sub 4:50 qualifier does not guarantee a finish. Meticulous preparation and pacing on race day are key. What is of great importance is that the majority did finish and so it IS POSSIBLE.

You are at greater risk of not finishing if qualifying was:
• Achieved at Sea Level (4:45)
• Achieved on a downhill course (4:45)
• Achieved in temperatures lower than 19 degrees Celsius (4:45)
• You do not follow a very strict, conservative race plan (4:45)
• It is compounded by combing 2 or more of these factors (4:40)
(In brackets, I have put down what I believe to be more appropriate times in these conditions)

The programme for the rest of 2022 will be based around developing consistency as this will be the most crucial factor in determining your 2023 Comrades race day success. Secondly, it is very important to take note of how hard the down run is on your legs. The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the sooner you will be used to the added work and the lower the impact will be on your programme. My suggestion is to do your strength training on 2 of your 3 rest days in the week, leaving at least 1 full day between each gym session.

Who should follow this programme?

• Anyone who wants to start running

If you are an experienced runner, but your Half Marathon time is slower than 2:15 or you have completed Comrades, you can follow the Bronze programme. It is however important to follow the pacing guidelines in this programme. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured. Place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to be capable of running a sub 4:50 marathon before Comrades. However, we will not look to finish a Marathon this year and attempt to qualify in early 2023 once you have a little more training in the bag.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 6:56-7:25/km
Long (L): 7:00-7:41/km
Recovery (rec): 7:30-8:05/km

These paces area guide for someone who is training for a 4hr30 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Contact me:
Coach.parry@gmail.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.facebook/ComradesCoach

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

October 2022:

November 2022:

December 2022:

Comrades 2023 Bronze Medal Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

This year we will be doing things just a little bit differently, the changes in the programme are due to us having 8 months to prep for 2023. The major change will be doing our Qualifier in late Feb/early March to allow for full recovery from 2022 and preparing well for 2023.

Our goals for 2022 are 3-fold: 1) to continue to improve your consistency and capacity to do work 2) Make you a stronger and faster runner 3) to qualify with a sub 4:25 Marathon.

On the way to achieving the sub 4:25 Marathon we will look to break the following times:
5km: 27:00
8km: 44:45
10km: 56:15
15km: 1:27:15
21.1km: 2:05:30
20 Miles/32km: 3:17:30

In putting this plan together, I have also considered the 2022 stats, kindly provided to me by The Comrades Marathon Association as follows:

24% of E (Green Number) Batch Starters finish the race under 11:00 hours, while 42.2% of F (sub 4:20) Batch starters receive a Bill Rowan Medal. The degree of difficulty increases because E Batchers take on average 3:35 to cross the start line and F batchers take 4:20.

Training for a Bronze and getting a Sub 4:25 Marathon are therefore no Guarantee for achieving a bronze finish. Based on my experience and discussions with runners who were not successful, this year and in past years, I have come up with a few possible reasons for this.

Your Bronze is at risk if your Sub 4:25 was:
• Achieved at Sea Level (4:17)
• Achieved on a downhill course (4:17)
• Achieved in temperatures lower than 19 degrees Celsius (4:20)
• You do not follow a very strict, conservative race plan (4:20)
• It is compounded by combing 2 or more of these factors (4:12)
(In brackets, I have put down what I believe to be more appropriate times in these conditions)

Who should follow this programme?

• Comrades finishers who have run sub 11hrs
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 2hr10
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 4hrs30 for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read through the introduction to the other programme options to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programmes also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of training.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

If you did not run Comrades and have been training consistently for several weeks already, you can adapt this programme to focus on races in October and November.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

In closing, the down run offers a unique challenge in terms of the eccentric load (Pounding). It is therefore highly recommended that you start following a strength programme now to ensure your legs are very strong come June 2023.

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 6:20-6:45/km
Long (L): 6:25-7:00/km
Recovery (rec): 6:50-7:20/km
Hills: 5:25-5:30/km
800m:
RP: 6:23/km

These paces area guide for someone who is training for a 4hr25 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Contact me:
Coach.parry@gmail.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.facebook/ComradesCoach

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

October 2022:

November 2022:

December 2022:

Comrades 2023 Robert Mtshali Program by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

This year we will be doing things just a little bit differently, the changes in the programme are due to us having 8 months to prep for 2023. The major change will be doing our Qualifier in late Feb/early March to allow for full recovery from 2022 and preparing well for 2023.

Our goals for 2023 are 3-fold: 1) to continue to improve your consistency and capacity to do work 2) Make you a stronger and faster runner 3) to qualify with a sub 3:30 Marathon.

On the way to achieving the sub 4:00 Marathon we will look to break the following times:
5km: 25:15
8km: 41:20
10km: 52:25
15km: 1:20:45
21.1km: 1:56:00

In putting this plan together, I have also considered the 2022 stats, kindly provided to me by The Comrades Marathon Association as follows:

32.5% of D (sub 4hrs) Batch Starters finish the race under 10:00 hours. The degree of difficulty increases because D Batchers take on average 2:26.

Therefor training for a Robert Mtshali and getting a Sub 4:00 Marathon are by no means a Guarantee for achieving a RM finish. Based on my experience and discussions with runners who were not successful, this year and in past years, I have produced a few possible reasons for this.

Your Bill Rowan is at risk if your Sub 4:00 is borderline and:
• Achieved at Sea Level (3:53)
• Achieved on a downhill course (3:55)
• Achieved in temperatures lower than 19 degrees Celsius (3:57)
• You do not follow a strict, conservative race plan (3:53)
• It is compounded by combing two or more of these factors (3:50)
(In brackets, I have put down what I believe to be more appropriate times in these conditions)

Who should follow this programme?

• Comrades finishers who have run sub 10hr30
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 2hr
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 4hr10 for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read the introduction to the other programme options to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of training.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

If you did not run Comrades and have been training consistently for several weeks already, you can adapt this programme to focus on races in October and November.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

In closing, the down run offers a unique challenge in terms of the eccentric load (Pounding). It is therefore highly recommended that you start following a strength programme now to ensure your legs are strong come June 20123.

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 5:40-6:15/km
Long (L): 5:45-6:30/km
Recovery (rec): 6:20-6:45/km
Hills: 5:06-5:13/km
800m: 4:30-4:45/km
400m: 4:15-4:30/km
RP: 5:41/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 3hr30 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Contact me:
Coach.parry@gmail.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.facebook/ComradesCoach

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

October 2022:

November 2022:

December 2022:

Comrades 2023 Bill Rowan Program by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

This year we will be doing things just a little bit differently, the changes in the programme are due to us having 8 months to prep for 2023. The major change will be doing our Qualifier in late Feb/early March to allow for full recovery from 2022 and preparing well for 2023.

Our goals for 2023 are 3-fold: 1) to continue to improve your consistency and capacity to do work 2) Make you a stronger and faster runner 3) to qualify with a sub 3:30 Marathon.

On the way to achieving the sub 3:30 Marathon we will look to break the following times:
5km: 21:30
8km: 35:35
10km: 44:30
15km: 1:09:00
21.1km: 1:39:00
20 Miles/32km: 2:36:30

In putting this plan together, I have also considered the 2022 stats, kindly provided to me by The Comrades Marathon Association as follows:

64.3% of B Batch Starters finish the race under 9:00 with 5.5% of these achieving Silver. 26.9% of C Batch starters receive a Bill Rowan Medal.

Therefor training for a Bill Rowan and getting a Sub 3:30 Marathon are by no means a Guarantee for achieving a BR finish. Based on my experience and discussions with runners who were not successful, this year and in past years, I have come up with a few possible reasons for this.

Your Bill Rowan is at risk if your Sub 3:30 is borderline and:
• Achieved at Sea Level (3:23)
• Achieved on a downhill course (3:23)
• Achieved in temperatures lower than 19 degrees Celsius (3:25)
• You do not follow a very strict, conservative race plan (3:25)
• It is compounded by combing 2 or more of these factors (3:20)
(In brackets, I have put down what I believe to be more appropriate times in these conditions)

Who should follow this programme?

• Comrades finishers who have run sub 9hrs30
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 1hr45
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 3hrs40 for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read through the introduction to the other programme options to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of training.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

If you did not run Comrades and have been training consistently for several weeks already, you can adapt this programme to focus on races in October and November.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

In closing, the down run offers a unique challenge in terms of the eccentric load (Pounding). It is therefore highly recommended that you start following a strength programme now to ensure your legs are very strong come 10 June 20123.

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 5:00-5:30/km
Long (L): 5:05-5:50/km
Recovery (rec): 5:40-6:05/km
2min Hills: 4:25-4:30/km
1min Hills: 4:09-4:15/km
400m: 1:32-1:36/km
RP: 5:55/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 3hr30 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Contact me:
Coach.parry@gmail.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.facebook/ComradesCoach

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

October 2022:

November 2022:

December 2022:

Comrades 2023 Silver and Isaval Roche-Kelly Medal Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

This year we will be doing things just a little bit differently, the changes in the programme are due to us having 8 months to prep for 2023. The major change will be doing our Qualifier in late Feb/early March to allow for full recovery from 2022 and preparing well for 2023.

Our goals for 2022 are 3-fold: 1) to continue to improve your consistency and capacity to do work 2) Make you a stronger and faster runner 3) to qualify with a sub-3-hour Marathon.

On the way to achieving the sub 3 hour we will look to break the following times:
5km: 18:25
8km: 30:15
10km: 38:00
15km: 59:00
21.1km: 1:25:00
20 Miles/32km: 2:14:00

In putting this plan together, I have also considered the 2022 stats, kindly provided to me by The Comrades Marathon Association as follows:

40.7% of A Batch Starters finish the race under 7:30, while 5.5% of B batch starters finish under 7:30.

Training for a sub 7:30 and getting an A seed are by no means a Guarantee for achieving a sub 7:30 finish. Based on my experience and discussions with runners who were not successful, this year and in past years, I have come up with a few possible reasons for this.

Your Silver is at risk if your Sub 3 is borderline and:
• Achieved at Sea Level (2:54)
• Achieved on a downhill course (2:54)
• Achieved in temperatures lower than 19 degrees Celsius (2:57)
• You do not follow a very strict, conservative race plan (2:55)
• It is compounded by combing 2 or more of these factors (2:50)
(In brackets, I have put down what I believe to be more appropriate times in these conditions)

Who should follow the silver programme?

• Comrades finishers who have run sub 8hrs
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 90min
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 3hrs for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read through the introduction to the other programme options to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of every day’s training.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.
For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

In closing, the down run offers a unique challenge in terms of the eccentric load (Pounding). It is therefore highly recommended that you start following a strength programme now to ensure your legs are very strong come 10 June 2023.

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 4:25-5:00/km
Long (L): 4:30-5:10/km
Recovery (rec): 5:00-5:25/km
Hills: 3:48-3:56/km
1minhills/1km: 3:33-3:41/km
400m: 80-82sec
RP: 4:15/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 3hr Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Contact me:
Coach.parry@gmail.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.facebook/ComradesCoach

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

October 2022:

November 2022:

December 2022:

Comrades 2023 Finishers Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

Part 2 of your Comrades Journey starts now. Some of you may have been ready to run a marathon between October and December 2022, while many of you are still needing to qualify. The principles of this programme remain the same, to finish Comrades you must build up slowly, become consistent and remain healthy/injury free.

The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run. Strength training is important for both directions, but I feel non-negotiable for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the sooner you will be used to the added work and the lower the impact will be on your programme. My suggestion is to do your strength training on 2 of your 3 rest days in the week, leaving at least 1 full day between each gym session. If you have not yet started strength training and have 30min 1-2 times per week then start NOW

Who should follow this programme?
• Comrades finishers
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in close to 2hrs30
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 5hrs for a Marathon

DO NOT follow other programmes for faster medals thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured. Place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery, so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to run a sub 4:50 marathon before Comrades. We will aim to qualify in February/March, however you will have until April to do so, so do not panic if it does not work out at the first attempt.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

The programme is written for a late February to early March marathon. If this does not fit into the available marathons in your area and you cannot travel to a marathon, you can shift the marathon a week or 2 earlier or later as required.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Contact me:
Lindsey@coachparry.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.coachparry.com

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 7:00-7:30/km
Long (L): 7:10-7:40/km
Recovery (rec): 7:30-8:00/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 4:50 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

January 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

February 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

March 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

April 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

May 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

June 2023:

Continue to walk when necessary

Comrades 2023 Bronze Medal Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

Part 2 of your Comrades Journey starts now. Most of you would have been ready to run a Marathon between October and December 2022, while some of you are still needing to qualify. The principles of this programme remain the same, to finish Comrades under 11 hours you must build up slowly, become consistent and remain healthy/injury free. You will be expected to do a bit more work than the finishers programme but you should not be broken/exhausted all the time

The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run. In fact strength training is important for both directions, but I feel non-negotiable for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the sooner you will get used to the added work and the lower the impact will be on your programme. Do your strength training on 2 of your 3 rest days in the week, leaving 1 full day between each gym session. If you have not yet started strength training and have 30min 1-2 times per week then start NOW

Who should follow this programme?
• Comrades finishers who have run sub 11hrs20
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 2hr05
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 4hrs30 for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories then read through the introduction to the Finishers programme to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to be capable of running a sub 4:30 marathon before Comrades.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

You will be required to run 2 Marathons and an Ultra Marathon AS TRAINING RUNS, note that a minimum of 3 weeks should pass between marathons or between marathons and ultras.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Contact me:
lindsey@coachparry.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.coachparry.com

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 6:20-6:50/km
Long (L): 6:30-7:00/km
Recovery (rec): 6:50-7:20/km
Hills: 5:25-5:30/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 4hr30 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

January 2023:

Walk when needed on long runs

February 2023:

Walk when needed on long runs

March 2023:

Walk when needed on long runs

April 2023:

Walk when needed on long runs

May 2023:

Walk when needed on long runs

June 2023:

Comrades 2023 Robert Mtshali by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

Part 2 of your Comrades Journey starts now. Some of you would have been ready to run a Marathon between October and December 2022, while some of you are still needing to qualify. The principles of this programme remain the same, to finish Comrades in under 10hrs you must be consistent and remain healthy/injury free. You will be expected to do a lot more work than the bronze programme but you should not be broken/exhausted all the time

The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run. Strength training is important for both directions, but I feel non-negotiable for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the better your adaptation and lower the impact on how tired you feel when running. My suggestion is to do your strength training on 1 of your 2 rest days in the week, and on a shorter day, leaving at least 1 full day between each gym session. If you have not yet started strength training and have 30min 1-2 times per week, then start NOW

Who should follow this programme?

• Comrades finishers who have run sub 10hrs30
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 1hr55
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 4hrs for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read through the introduction to the Bronze programme to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured and/or sick, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery, so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to be capable of running a sub 4:00 marathon before Comrades.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

You will be required to run 2 Marathons and an Ultra Marathon AS TRAINING RUNS, note that a minimum of 3 weeks should pass between marathons or between marathons and ultras.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Contact me:
Lindsey@coachparry.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.coachparry.com

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 5:40-6:15/km
Long (L): 5:45-6:30/km
Recovery (rec): 6:20-6:45/km
Hills: 5:06-5:13/km
800m: 4:30-4:45/km
400m: 4:15-4:30/km
RP: 5:41/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 4hr Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the training plan

January 2023:

February 2023:

March 2023:

April 2023:

May 2023:

June 2023:

Comrades 2023 Bill Rowan Program by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

Part 2 of your Comrades Journey starts now. Some of you would have been ready to run a Marathon Between October and December 2022, while some of you are still needing to qualify. The principles of this programme remain the same, to finish Comrades in under 9hrs you must be consistent and remain healthy/injury free. You will be expected to do a lot more work than the bronze programme but you should not be broken/exhausted all the time

The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run. Strength training is important for both directions, but I feel non-negotiable for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the better your adaptation and lower the impact on how tired you feel when running. My suggestion is to do your strength training on 1 of your 2 rest days in the week, and on a shorter day, leaving at least 1 full day between each gym session. If you have not yet started strength training and have 30min 1-2 times per week, then start NOW

Who should follow this programme?
• Comrades finishers who have run sub 9hr30
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 1hr45
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 3hrs40 for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories, then read through the introduction to the Robert Mitshali programme to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured and/or sick, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run easy on the easy days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, easy days are there to ensure full recovery, so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to be capable of running a sub 3:30 marathon before Comrades.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

You will be required to run 2 Marathons and an Ultra Marathon AS TRAINING RUNS, note that a minimum of 3 weeks should pass between marathons or between marathons and ultras.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Contact me:
Lindsey@coachparry.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.coachparry.com

Training Paces:

Easy (E): 5:10-5:40/km
Long (L): 5:20-5:50/km
Recovery (rec): 5:50-6:10/km
Firm: 4:40-4:50/km
Hills: 4:40-4:45/km
1km: 4:10-4:15/km
400m: 3:55-4:00/km

These paces are a guide for someone who is training for a 3hr30 Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the plan

January 2023:

February 2023:

March 2023:

April 2023:

May 2023:

June 2023:

Comrades 2023 Silver Medal Programme by Lindsey Parry – Official coach of the Comrades Marathon Association:

Part 2 of your Comrades Journey starts now. Most of you SHOULD have been ready to run a Marathon in November or December 2022, while some of you are still needing to qualify. The principles of this programme remain the same, to finish Comrades in under 7hrs30 you must be consistent and remain healthy/injury free. You will be expected to do a lot more work than the Bill Rowan programme, but you should not be broken/exhausted all the time

The eccentric load (pounding) on your legs is extremely high, to help prepare for this, strength training is highly recommended for the down run. Strength training is important for both directions, but I feel non-negotiable for the down run.

The earlier you start with your strength programme, the sooner you will be used to the added work and the lower the impact will be on your programme. My suggestion is to do your strength training on 2 of your easier running days, leaving at least 1 full day between each gym session. If you have not yet started strength training and have 30min 1-2 times per week then start NOW

Who should follow this programme?
• Comrades finishers who have run sub 8hrs
• Comrades Novices who can run a half Marathon in sub 85min
• Comrades Novices who have come close to/or have broken 3hrs for a Marathon

If you do not fall into these categories then read through the introduction to the other programme options to select the appropriate programme. DO NOT follow this programme thinking that the extra mileage will guarantee a finish. The biggest single threat to you finishing Comrades is getting injured, place a premium on recovery and ensuring this through following the appropriately designed programme for you.

This programme is time based so people of more experience and greater running ability will get relatively more out of the programme and progress faster. Time based programs also prevent you from settling on a route that you need to run faster every time you do it. It is easier to maintain discipline and run E on the E days. I must again emphasise here that being injury free and consistent in your training is the key to a successful race, E days are there to ensure full recovery, so you can get the most out of every days training.

The aim is to be capable of running a sub 3:00 marathon before Comrades.

There are recovery weeks built into the programme every 4 weeks, do not be tempted to do more as this will only compromise you later in the programme, leading to injury, illness and under performance in goal races.

Training days are interchangeable, if your club has Time Trials (TT) on a Tuesday or Wednesday you can swap Thursday with one of these days.

You will be required to run 2 Marathons and 2 Ultra Marathons AS TRAINING RUNS, note that a minimum of 3 weeks should pass between marathons or between marathons and ultras.

For the dates of races in your area you can go to www.runnersguide.co.za for a full fixture list.

Contact me:
Lindsey@coachparry.com
@LindseyParryZA
@AskCoachParry
www.coachparry.com

Training Paces:

E (E): 4:35-5:10/km
Long (L): 4:45-5:15/km
Recovery (rec): 5:00-5:30/km
Firm: 4:10-4:20/km
Hills: 4:05-4:13/km
1km: 3:34-3:43/km
400m: 80-83sec

These paces area guide for someone who is training for a 3hr Marathon, aim to run at or around these paces taking note of how easily you recover.

Enjoy the training!

Click HERE to download the plan

January 2023:

February 2023:

March 2023:

April 2023:

May 2023:

June 2023: