Based on training schedules of the late Don Oliver, Comrades Coach. Adapted and edited by Tom Cottrell.

By now you should be finding yourself and where you fit into the scheme of things. Hopefully by now you have joined a club. It seems to be made up of very fast lean serious runners, fatter slower ones who support the bar, some who are friendly and others who seem to run in a world of their own. Some are really competitive and ask your times and tell you they beat you in the race on Sunday. They are all good people – road runners.

During this period we are beginning to prepare ourselves for some fairly serious training over the next couple of months. The kilometers will go up and the objectives will become slightly harder, but still really quite easy. At this point we didn’t realize training for Comrades was going to be this easy. Well, wait for June and July, and then speak to me.

Just a reminder – the idea of achieving an objective and moving on to the next slightly harder one we call “biteable bits and chewable chunks”. That way you will get used to being an achiever.

By now the second rest day has long disappeared. You will need to get used to six day a week running from February. If you go on holiday over Easter, don’t do more than the programme. But also don’t do nothing for the month. Road runners never have a holiday from running. They would miss it too much.