Author: Modern Athlete

We flew into O.R. Tambo Airport
around 5pm on the Wednesday with about five hours to go before our flight to
Perth, but when we arrived at check-in, we were told that we couldn’t board due
to some totally unforeseen problems with Alexis’ passport. The SAA staff were
extremely helpful and courteous, but alas, nothing could be done, so we
resigned ourselves to several drinks and a missed opportunity… However, with
the help of everyone involved, we formulated a plan of action and we awoke with
renewed vigour to get the paperwork in place for us to make the next flight
that evening, and thanks to the incredible heroics of Jenny Kearney of Modern Athlete, as well as SAA and
Quantas, we were able to head ‘Down Under.’

 

THE BIG DAY

Having
arrived in Sydney, we woke up mega-early in anticipation of our trip to the
race. We stayed in a beautiful area called Manly Beach, which north of Sydney, across
the river and along the coast. The race organisers anticipated runners relying
on public transport to travel to and from the race, so our race entries
included multiple day-passes for the bus, ferry and train – all we had to do
was show our race bibs to the drivers. It was incredibly well organised, and we
also knew exactly which buses to catch because we met a bunch of Aussie runners
huddled under the bus stop, chatting excitedly about the race.

 

They
were so excited that we had won a trip to Australia, and that the focal point
of the prize was the race! We were introduced to everyone as “the South
Africans who came to run the race,” and everyone wanted a photograph with us! Interestingly,
it does not matter where you go, runners talk about the same things: Training
stories, previous times, predicted times, diet the night before, diet on the
day, stretching, clothing, hydration, and so forth. It sounded just like the
typical pre-race banter in South Africa.

 

We arrived at the start with thousands of runners
streaming in. The sun had started to rise over the city and the view was
absolutely spectacular from under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the Opera
House and end point of the half marathon clearly visible across the river. We
were ready to run!

 

ALICIA: GREAT RUN!

On
our way to the start, we met up with a young student who had entered the Sydney
Half Marathon as her first half. She and I were starting in the same pen and we
decided to run together, because she also wanted to run a sub-2:00 time. The
climb at the beginning was quick and easy – all I could think about was how
most South Africans would laugh at that ‘hill,’ because if you have run
Southern Cross, or ‘Moerse Bult’ at Niel Joubert, then you would hop and skip
over this – and suddenly we were on the bridge. They had closed the bridge for
us, and it was quite an experience to run under the steel lattice with the
river beneath you. This was what
running was about!

 

We
ran through a number of districts, and at one of the hairpin turns, the winner
came flying past us like a bat out of hell, but much more
graceful. I saw Alexis twice during the race. The first time, he looked quite
cheerful, and he smiled while he waved at me. But the second time, he did not
look pleased, and he waved his hand like a guillotine across his neck,
indicating that he was kaput.

 

There
were so many supporters lining the final stretch along the waterfront and I
heard someone yell, “Go Celtics,” but judging by their accent, I suspect that
they thought I was running for some Irish club. Then came the memorable finish
at the foot of the Opera House steps, across the river from the Harbour Bridge,
which we had crossed only two hours earlier, and next to the Opera House sprawled
the Royal Botanical Gardens, where our medals were handed out. Running this
race was definitely the best way to tour the city!

 

ALEXIS: TOUGH DAY

I
started off running at a relaxed pace, enjoying the sunrise over Sydney Harbour,
listening to the runners breathing heavily around me as we went over the first
hill and headed for the Harbour Bridge section. I felt the jetlag setting in
and immediately knew that it was going to be a long morning (and mourning) for
my legs. Soon, we had crossed the bridge and were heading down the highway
towards the city. Beautiful skyscrapers all around us provided some much-needed
shelter from the sun, which had begun to bake.

 

As
we made our way through the Financial District, the wheels came off and as much
as I struggled, I just couldn’t find a rhythm. I resigned myself to
power-walking and taking as many photos as my battery would allow while
chatting to the other ‘stragglers’ around me, but as we entered the final 2km,
my spirits were lifted and I started to make a run for the finish. With the
Opera House in sight and the hordes of supporters cheering us on, it was
impossible to not feel a sense of elation.

 

As
we were making our way along the promenade, my calf decided it was time to spaz
out and I was forced to stop and stretch it out every few metres. A mere 400m
from the finish the other calf joined the party, and I was in pretty bad shape.
With thousands of onlookers and a pained grimace on my face, I tried to get my
mutinous calves to play along. I started walking to test them out and as I
broke into a run, the crowd of supporters in the coffee shops and cafes of the
waterfront cheered. I felt like Rocky Balboa at the end of a movie montage –
nothing was going to stop me now! My calves cramped all the way to the finish,
but what an incredible ending to an incredible race.

 

TOURIST MODE

Sydney’s
beautiful skyscrapers intermingle gracefully with centurion buildings, heritage
sites and parks – imagine New York City mixed with Cape Town, but minus the
rubbish and car guards – and the people are so friendly. During our stay, it
seemed like the city never really slept. Whether we were wandering around at
10am in the morning or 10pm at night, there were always hordes of people moving
through the streets, and it was interesting to experience the multi-cultural
mix of English, Japanese, Korean, Tamil and many other languages.

 

We
crammed in as many tourist activities as we could, but there is so much to do
in Sydney! We visited the museums, Opera House, parks, markets and aquarium,
and we even managed to slip away to the beautiful Blue Mountain Reserve for a
day. It was an exciting journey to a beautiful city. Thank you so much, Modern Athlete, for affording us this
opportunity of a lifetime!

Since launching the Academy two months ago, our numbers
have grown to 35 registered athletes. The academy, which was launched after our
highly successful inaugural Dare to Tri programme last year, now enables more
triathletes to finish one of the world’s most magnificent triathlons, as our athletes
not only receive a weekly training programme, but they can also attend weekly
coached sessions.

 

Coach Derick Marcisz says he is happy with the academy
members’ progress and is now moving the training into the 10-week main
progressive fitness part of the programme, where your fitness will be taken up
a level by progressively adding sessions and distance. The basic Dare to Tri
rules of triathlon still apply and are the cornerstones for any programme to
succeed: Consistency, specific training, and enough rest and recovery.

 

THE PLAN FOR NOVEMBER

During September you hopefully managed a consistent
six sessions a week and ended that training with a triathlon race, so you
should have a good idea of where your strengths and weaknesses are. Each athlete is different, so you need
to work on your weaknesses, but never neglect your strengths!

 

The plan over the next five weeks, phase one of the Progressive Fitness Training section,
is to add one session each week till you get to a peak week of nine sessions.
We then take a recovery week before another build-up phase. The training for
each sport will be as follows:

?        
RUNNING: The longest run so far has been
15km and we will build this to 20km. The pace should be easy and relaxed. The
second run of 10km should alternate between including hills (for strength) and
faster running (for speed). Any other running you do should be short and very
easy.

?        
BIKING: The longest ride you would have
done is 70km and we now build this up to 90km. These rides should be at a relaxed pace, with you getting used to
spinning a fairly high cadence of around 90 revolutions per minute. The second
ride should be on the road and include some hills. Any other rides/spinning sessions should be short and at an easy
pace.

?        
SWIMMING: The swim distance to
date is around 1.5km and we will now take this up to 2km. One open water swim per week is essential, doing a 2km straight
swim in a dam or in the sea. Always swim in open water with other triathletes
and use these sessions to practise sighting the swim buoys as well as swimming
in a group. Other pool sessions should focus on good technique. Remember,
triathletes get their cardio fitness from running and cycling – use the swim
sessions to perfect your technique.

?        
BRICK SESSIONS: You can now start to
add ‘brick sessions’ to your training – both swim-to-bike and bike-to-run. Swim-to-bike
bricks can be done indoors: Swim a continuous 1km in the pool, then immediately
do 30min fast on a stationary bike. Bike-to-run bricks can be included after
any of your bike rides, either the shorter midweek rides or the longer weekend
rides. Keep the runs short (3-8km), and work on running form/cadence and
adapting to the heavy leg feeling you have after riding. Experiment with the
pace of the runs, from easy to including some faster surges.

 

TRIATHLON EVENTS

There are many events on the calendar during November,
such as the 94.7 Cycle Challenge, several triathlon events, and a multitude of
running races. Do not try and do all
these events! I know it is tempting, but be selective about the events you
do and make sure you rest before and recover after these events. I personally
believe that if you do too many events, you lose that special feeling of going
to do a ‘race’. My advice is save the ‘racing’ for the events you want to do
well in or where you want to push yourself.

DARE TO SWIM

Brought to you by TOTAL IMMERSION

Swim Smarter, Not
Harder

 

We’ve all heard the smarter, not harder saying before, usually to do
with work, but nothing could be more true for swimming, especially for
triathletes.

 

If you are new to triathlon or ramping up your
training for the coming season, you may be feeling tired and even a little
overwhelmed right now, because juggling three disciplines at once will
certainly add to your stress. One of the biggest mistakes at this stage will be
to try to push on harder and fit in more just to make the weekly mileage or
tick off your programme requirements. Whilst this may benefit your run and bike,
it certainly won’t have much effect on your swimming – and could even make you
worse, because you may just get good at struggling!

 

Here are a few tips for when the going gets tough:

?        
Sometimes it’s more
beneficial to skip an early morning session if you haven’t had a good sleep.
Rather squeeze in a 30min session at lunch time and get a few hours extra
sleep.

?        
If you go to the pool
and find your mind wandering and you just can’t keep your mind on the job,
rather quit the session. It’s pointless to practise swimming unless you are
focussed.

?        
If your body is tired
from a long bike and/or run session at the weekend, rather use your swim
session as active recovery. Do a nice long leisurely swim and focus on strokes
per length rather than time. This way you work on technique but give your body
a rest.

?        
Think of your swim
session as practice rather than training. You’ll get fitness through your
practice as well as your bike and run sessions.

?        
Set the primarily
goal of your swim sessions to extend your ability to focus on your form the
whole time, and not on fitness. Practising extending your focus in the pool
will make the open water race experience easy, because there will be no room
for outside elements like crowds and rough water.

?        
Spend a whole session
just doing drills and no swimming, but be sure to know why you are doing the
drills, otherwise it’s pointless.

 

In short, you can use your swim practice to give your body a rest and
get your brain to do the work.

MEET THE CREW

 

Each month Modern Athlete
will feature some of our Dare to Tri Academy members here. This month we chat
to two of our novices, Jean Louw,
who with wife Lara is one of three
husband and wife teams registered at the Academy.

 

A couple of years ago I watched a triathlon sprint
series event on TV and thought that it looked like a lot of fun and a good,
healthy lifestyle that we could do as a family. I am an entrepreneur and
believe anything you can perceive and really believe can be achieved. I also
enjoy aiming for the highest possible goals and therefore I made it my goal to
one day complete Ironman. So the Modern Athlete Dare to Try Academy seemed like
the perfect vehicle to help Lara and I get fit by
following a specific programme with other novices, serving as a motivation that
we are not alone.

 

Starting the training was initially difficult. My wife
and I haven’t exercised for years and I have never trained for anything to a
point of being fit. Being part of the Dare to Tri Academy is my chance to be
fit and push myself to the limit. My wife comes from a sporting family, but she
suffered an injury back in primary school that prevented her from continuing
with her sport.

 

We have just completed our second BSG triathlon and
feel that we are now starting to get more confidence and feel more comfortable
in each discipline. There is some competitiveness between Lara and I. She finished
four minutes ahead of me at our first triathlon and I had to dig deep in our
second event to beat her by two minutes! It’s great fun that we are more or
less on the same fitness level.

 

We really enjoy the BSG sprint triathlons and would
like to keep doing them. Olympic distance is our next longer distance goal
before we tackle the 70.3. Then one of our dreams is to travel abroad and do
triathlons in different countries with our kids.

 

 

DARE TO TRI PARTNERS

Total Immersion South Africa – Respected swim coach and Total Immersion SA founder Georgie Thomas has
completed many triathlons, including three full Ironmans here in SA, as well
competing in the 70.3 Half Ironman World Champs and World Long Distance
Triathlon Champs. More info at www.totalimmersionsa.co.za.

DNALYSIS Biotechnology – Founded to bring state-of-the-art molecular
technologies to the South African health and wellness markets, DNAlysis has
developed a range of genetic tests that allow for the personalisation of diet,
exercise and nutrition advice according to an athlete’s unique genetic make-up.
More info at www.dnalysis.co.za.

 

Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa – Presented by World Endurance South Africa (in
collaboration with World Triathlon Corporation), the specialist triathlon event
organiser responsible for the highly successful Spec-Savers Ironman SA and
other triathlon and endurance events around South Africa. More info at
www.ironmansouthafrica.com

 

Modern Athlete magazine – South
Africa’s biggest monthly publication for everyday people who embrace the modern
approach to health and fitness, covering road running, trail running and
multi-sport as well as cycling, swimming and adventure racing. More info at
www.modernathlete.co.za

There were plenty of “Ooohs” and “aaahs” from the audience at the
annual FEAT (Fascinating Expedition & Adventure Talks) event early in
October in Johannesburg, as the panel of guest speakers took turns to present truly
inspiring seven-minute talks on their adventures:

?        
Ed February: With 30 years’ climbing experience on more than 200
routes, Ed spoke about mountaineering back in the day without today’s technologically
advanced equipment.

?        
Elizabeth de Speville: In 2011 Liz read
about the Camino
de Santiago walk in Spain online, started walking regularly for training, and
is now a firm believer that the only way to see a place is to walk it!

?        
Elsie Bezuidenhout: Her mountain journey started with Kilimanjaro,
then she climbed Aconcagua and Erebus, which motivated her to climb the highest
peak on each continent and join the Seven Summits club. Only Everest remains…

?        
James Lea: Together with his friend Mark Yetman, James went
on what became known as the ‘Big Ride Africa,’ taking in 19 countries and
clocking 15 458km over six months.

?        
James Pitman: He was one member of the three-person team to
fly their South African designed and built light aircraft, Sling 4, around the
world, including a 30-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

?        
Keith Jones: The amusing adventure of a yacht master managing
a dismasting in the Caribbean, blowing his engine in Patagonia and again in the
Falklands, and recording probably the slowest crossing of the Southern Ocean.

?        
Martin Dreyer: After discovering there is more
to life while working on a commercial fishing boat in the icy Pacific Ocean, he
not only won numerous Duzi Canoe Marathons and the Land Rover G4 Challenge, but
also established the Change a Life Academy.

?        
Rob Thomas: Having grown up on the slopes of Table Mountain and Devil’s
Peak in Cape Town, Rob has many stories to share about the adventures of being
a mountain rescuer.

?        
Christo Smeda: After winning the sponsored
adventure prize at FEAT 2011, Christo took his friends Regardt Botes and Flip
du Plessis and circumnavigated the island of Zanzibar on Stand Up Paddle (SUP)
boards.

 

AMAZON
ADVENTURER

FEAT organiser Lisa de Spellville then announced a surprise bonus speaker,
solo adventurer Davey Du Plessis, in his first public appearance since his traumatic
near-death ordeal on the Amazon River in South America. Davey had set out to cycle
from Arequippa to Chivay in Peru (145km, mostly uphill), followed by a five-day
hike to the source of the Amazon on Mount Misimi, then cycle 465km to Crusco
and finish off the adventure by paddling 4 500km to the mouth of the Amazon.

 

With the gruelling bike legs behind him, Davey gave his bike away and
set out on the paddling leg. However, the rapids were far
bigger than he had expected and his kayak was too fragile, so he stopped at Quillabamba
and purchased a tractor tyre as replacement! More worrying was the fact that
there had recently been 30 kidnappings in that area, allegedly by a drug cartel
operating in the area. Davey had seen local people by the river, who seemed intrigued
by his appearance but never posed a threat, until he came across some kids that
initially also seemed harmless. Suddenly he heard gunshots and felt numbness in
the back of his neck, then fell into the water. “My arms felt like they were no
longer part of my body, and it was almost a peaceful feeling drifting
underneath the water with my eyes open,” he says.

 

Once he
regained his senses, he managed to get his head above the water, where the
shots were still coming, then clawed his way onto the riverbank. “I was waiting
for what I thought was death,” he says. Then instinct kicked in, making Davey
get to his feet and run for help. When he saw locals after about 5km, he tried
to call for help, but with a bullet lodged in his throat, no sound came out. Then
they wanted money in return for helping him, but Davey had no money left…

 

After
being left to lie in a boat for four hours, Davey started coughing blood, which
fortunately sparked some urgency amongst the locals, and he was passed from one
tribe to the next until he reached a hospital in Pucallapa, where X-rays showed
that he had been shot in the head, neck and chest, with bullet fragments lodged
in his lungs and heart. Davey underwent successful surgery to remove the bullets,
but the shrapnel in his heart will need to be closely monitored for the rest of
his life. “The greatest message to have come out of this whole
incident was seeing how people from all over the world managed to connect and
offer assistance that ensured my wellbeing,” says Davey.”

MA: The financial situation at ASA has been described as very serious
and CEO Frik Vermaak was recently fired following an enquiry into financial
mismanagement. What exactly is the situation and does the sport have any money?

JE: Things are tight and will be for
a few months, but we are working on recovering our financial strength. Since
2009 there have been constraints and by the end of last year we had stabilised
the ship. This year required financial prudence in everything we did. That did
not happen and we now need to watch every cent that is spent. This may involve
some structural changes and changes in the way we do things, but we will make
sure that we get everything back to normal as soon as possible.

MA: Several sponsors have withdrawn from the sport in recent years, or
look set to withdraw, including Engen, Old Mutual, Nedbank and Yellow Pages, sparking
fears that nobody wants to invest in the sport. Is this the case?

 

JE: Sometimes a sponsor does not
renew due to strategic decisions, other times because they are unhappy, but unfortunately,
when a sponsor does not renew a sponsorship everyone just says they pulled out.
For example, Yellow Pages’ contract ended at the end of the last season, and for
some reason people are saying they pulled out. Whether they enter into a new
contract or not depends on further discussions.

 

There is interest in the sport from sponsors. The
challenge is to meet both parties’ expectations before we finalise anything. In
some cases (thankfully only a few), sponsors believe they are buying the sport,
but the relationship is far more complicated. The sponsor is, usually, buying
the branding rights to a product the sport is offering. If the product is weak,
the sponsor will get less coverage and could spend their money better
elsewhere. If it is strong, the challenge is to correctly evaluate the price
for selling the rights. That is what we are busy with – determining what our
strongest products are and how we can strengthen them to be more attractive,
while also evaluating their worth correctly. That way we give more value to the
potential sponsors we are talking to while also ensuring that we get the
revenue we need to run the sport. The initial results will be seen soon, but if
we get the exercise right, then we will reap the benefits in a year or two’s
time.

MA: Controversy accompanied the final team selection for track &
field for the London Olympics, with some athletes going that had not met the
full selection criteria, while others in a similar situation were left at home.
How did this come about?

 

JE: The final team selection was done
by SASCOC. We presented the names of athletes and they made the final choice.
The one athlete who did not meet the requirement of two A-standard performances
did meet the exception made for 2016-potential. He made the World Indoor Champs
final in 2012 and is the African Champion, so he was hardly a surprise or
high-risk choice. He made the Olympic final and recently broke the SA record,
so it was clearly a good selection. We still feel that other names we put
forward should have been selected, but SASCOC obviously had their reasons for
disagreeing.

 

MA: Our athletes seem to be having an up and down time of things on the
world stage, so do you think we’re moving in the right direction in terms of
development of talent and coaching?

 

JE: In South Africa we have an
unrealistic idea of what constitutes success. We contested nine track &
field events at the Olympics and had six finalists. Hardly a failure! Then at
the World Half Marathon Champs, Stephen Mokoka came eighth, behind some greats
of the sport. In general, over the last two years we have been competitive. Having
said that, it is because our athletes are good, not the systems. We are busy
working with the IAAF to introduce their coaching qualification system here,
because coaching is an area where South Africa has fallen too far behind. In
fact, this has happened at all training levels – in technical officials and
administration as well.

 

We also need to look at our competition structure,
because I am not convinced it is contributing to improving the depth of our top
performers. Just take road running, for example: How many courses do we have that
are conducive to fast times? Probably a handful in the entire country. We also
have major prize money in minor races which are not well organised or on
difficult courses, which entice the top athletes to run them instead of
focusing on a few quick and slick events. It is great that our mass
participation model is strong, but our model at elite level is non-existent.

Also, the disjuncture between the schools programme
and the national federation is a major source of concern. Unfortunately, the
schools body has stated that they will not work together with us on a national
junior championships again. The only losers are the athletes. Government also
seems to be confused as to what its role is in this mess. Sorting it out has to
be one of our priorities if we want success in 2016 and beyond.

 

MA: Your leadership style has sometimes been described as autocratic,
and some people say you are unapproachable. How do you respond to that?

 

JE: There seems to be a misconception on the part of some
people as to how the system works. From the first day I was elected, I got
bombarded with people who wanted to meet with me about a range of issues, from
producing a TV magazine show to saying that they wanted to contribute if we
needed them. All of this was (and is) appreciated, but it is wrongly directed
to the guy at the top. On a good day I get about 20 phone calls and 30 e-mails;
on a bad one it can be as many as 100 calls and 250 e-mails. It is not possible
to deal with all of them. Most should be going to the person’s club or province
to deal with. Others need to be dealt with by our office.

 

The Board of ASA is not there to deal with matters on
the ground around the country – that is why we have clubs and provinces. Our
obligations are to give guidance and assistance to the provinces and to deal
with national and international issues. Also, the Board has to focus on longer
term strategic planning. Where people are playing obstructive political games,
they have to be left behind. If they then cry that what they call autocratic
decisions are being made, the answer has to be to ask whether they took the
opportunity presented to them to make their contribution when it was asked for.
We do not have the luxury of waiting for them anymore.

 

MA: Do you think the various players in athletics are pulling in the
same direction to rebuild the sport?

 

JE: It was inevitable that after many years of a strong
leader such as Leonard, there would be a jostling for positions when he left.
It was one of the unfortunate consequences of how the matter was handled that a
vacuum was created which led to people rushing for the top positions. It may
have seemed destructive, but at the same time it was natural and permitted the
sport to regain its shape. We have had three sets of elections in the past two
years and the competition for positions has become less and less during that
time, indicating a realignment and also a level of maturity entering the
equation. So, after two years of lots of different camps vying for positions,
the Board is pretty unified at the moment. The building can now start.

 

However, I have to add the caution that people
everywhere must also contribute to the fight to clean up the sport and not just
sit back and say that ASA must come and clean things up for them. That happened
earlier this year in KwaZulu-Natal. I was bombarded with complaints and was
called all sorts of things when I did not publicly intervene. We continued our
efforts out of the public eye to get KZN Athletics to address the concerns
being raised, but ultimately the clubs in KZN woke up to the fact that they had
to solve the problem themselves. They did and there is now a new administration
there. (Although it will be interesting to know if they have taken the steps
they wanted ASA to take.)

 

MA: What does ASA have in the pipeline in terms of plans and goals?

 

JE: It’s too early to disclose all the plans for the
future, but we already have a platform from which to grow. Few other sports are
practised in so many schools or have as many participants on a regular basis.
We just need to translate that into elite performances and we will be in the
top 10 athletics countries in the world.

 

TRAIL TO COME

Due to space constraints, we have left out the
question put to James on the formalisation of trail running, but we will cover that
in an upcoming edition when we speak to Altus Schreuder, the convenor of the
ASA sub-committee on trail running, which is currently working towards
establishing a national plan for trail running, with input from trail running
athletes, organisers and partners.