There are various Comrades Marathon training programmes to choose from but the million dollar question is how do you choose the right one for you?

A lot of runners tend to follow a faster Comrades Marathon training programme almost as a safety net for them, to ensure they finish within their time goal.

For example, someone thinking that they will aim for a Comrades Marathon finishers or Vic Clapham medal but to really make sure that they do finish, they follow the bronze medal Comrades Marathon training programme.

Similarly someone may follow the Bill Rowan Comrades Marathon training programme when they are hoping to run a sub 11 hour Comrades Marathon and should be on the bronze programme.

Today’s big question on the Ask Coach Parry Podcast is how does one go about choosing the right Comrades Marathon training programme?

Brad Brown: There are various Comrades Marathon training programmes to choose from but the million dollar question is how do you choose the right one for you?

A lot of runners tend to follow a faster Comrades Marathon training programme almost as a safety net for them, to ensure they finish within their time goal.

For example, someone thinking that they will aim for a Comrades Marathon finishers or Vic Clapham medal but to really make sure that they do finish, they follow the bronze medal Comrades Marathon training programme.

Similarly someone may follow the Bill Rowan Comrades Marathon training programme when they are hoping to run a sub 11 hour Comrades Marathon and should be on the bronze programme.

Today’s big question on the Ask Coach Parry Podcast is how does one go about choosing the right Comrades Marathon training programme?

What Comrades Marathon training programme should you be on?

Lindsey Parry: That is a very dangerous way of doing it, because those Comrades Marathon training programmes are designed with the person’s ability in mind. (You can get your Comrades Marathon training programmes here)

So if you are for example a 4:50 marathon, and you decide that – just to be safe – you’re going to train on the sub 11 programme. That, quite often, proves to be too much. You may therefore get injured, and then you do even less training than what is prescribed on the finishers programme, and you start to jeopardise your chance of finishing.

I always try to encourage people to train on the programme that best suits their ability. Having said that though, there is quite a wide gap, for example, in your sub 11 programme that encompasses everybody from 9 hours to 11 hours. The sub 12 encompasses everybody from 11 hours to 12 hours.

If you are in a scenario where you are slightly borderline, let’s say 11hour to say 11:15 / 11:20 at a push, then it’s possible and probably ok to train on the sub 11 programme but use the sub 12 training paces.

So you’ll do a little bit more training but you should be doing them at a slightly slower rate so that you do allow your body to adapt. You will get in a little bit more training, and with that you probably will improve your time over the shorter distances and then it may be possible to migrate fully onto that programme.

In saying that, you need to be sensible about choosing the right programme for you. I get people who are hoping to finish in under 11 hours but they are training on Comrades Marathon silver medal programme. That is completely unrealistic unsustainable and will see you getting injured.

Following on from this podcast, we also look at what pace your Comrades Marathon training runs should be run at.