Training With A Purpose

The Rift Valley has produced some of the best marathoners in the world. But it is one simple lifestyle inclusion that makes them fitter and healthier than most people.

- Shayamal Vallabhjee

WITH THE IPL behind us, I finally got time off to fly back home to Durban, South Africa. A city where fitness is taken pretty seriously, Durban hosts the Comrades Marathon, which is in its 93rd running.

It was over 10 years ago that I set out to attempt my first ultra-marathon run—the Comrades Marathon, an 89.9-km race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. I still remember that run like it was yesterday. My preparation for this race was nothing short of spectacular (or so I thought at the time). I was averaging between 100 and 120 km a week in training, most of those miles at midday, in the midst of the sweltering Durban heat, all in an effort to acclimatise to the conditions.

Unfortunately, it is only hindsight that has made me realise I had made the mistake almost all novice runners make—we measure our training by the number of miles we run, rather than by the quality of those miles. Simply put, we very often tend to train without a purpose.

Have you ever asked a runner what they were hoping to accomplish on a given run? Chances are, they would just stare back at you blankly (or ask you to clarify what you mean). The truth is: if you don’t know what you’re training towards, how can you possibly infuse quality into your training?