In this episode of Ask Coach Parry we touch on a topic that was mentioned in our first Comrades Marathon webinar for the 2015 Comrades Marathon (The can register for the next one here). It is quite interesting and it deals with Comrades Marathon training and Comrades Marathon coaches.

Obviously in the build up to the Comrades Marathon, you want to find a coach training philosophies you can work with and fit to your style of running and what you’re looking to get out of the Comrades Marathon. But then you need to stick that coach’s advice, and that includes using that coach’s Comrades Marathon pacing charts on race day.

We used a football example in the webinar.  It’s like Sir Alex Ferguson coaching Manchester United all season, but then on match day they listen to Joe Soap for the match tactics.  It’s not going work and they’re not going win.  It is pretty much the same with the Comrades Marathon.

There’s lots of Comrades Marathon pacing charts around and online.  There are lots of Comrades Marathon training programmes around and online.  What advice could you give to someone in the build up to the Comrades Marathon, training a specific way and then using a different pacing chart on, on race day?

LINDSEY PARRY:  Look, obviously it’s same as when it comes to actual coaching methodologies. Different coaches are going to differ in their opinion on how to run on Comrades Marathon race day.

But I do find that a little crazy, when somebody invests so much time and energy in a particular person or coach, often invests money in that coach, and then decides to use their own pacing strategy or someone else’s pacing strategy because they don’t buy into what the coach is saying.

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