Author: Modern Athlete

I would like run a sub-1:40 half marathon. I am 59 years old, have been running for 31 years, retired from Comrades after 20 finishes, and have a half marathon PB of 1:14:35. My best time in the last five years was 1:49. My current training is three days a week, doing one 10km fartlek session, one 13km and one 20km. Is age a major cause of slowing down? Also, how can I overcome an injury i.e. spinal bilharzia, which I contracted while paddling five Duzis five years ago. It took two years to start running again and I have battled to get my speed and strength back. How can I change my training to improve speed without breaking down? – LES BRUYNS, PIETERMARITZBURG

ANSWER
They say that old age is not for sissies and I really relate, as I’m now 57. There is no doubt that advancing years rob us of our speed and getting it back is quite a challenge. Your 21km PB is really impressive, so rest easy that you have the genes, but now we need to turn back the clock.

Your current programme is, I believe, lacking in strength and speed work. As you will know from the past, if you want to race fast, you have to train fast, but should also balance the strength and speed work with easy days. At our age more rest and greater recovery time are as important as quality sessions. Err on the conservative side and take a day off if you are feeling tired. The benefit of rest outweighs the benefit of sessions you miss.

My medical knowledge is limited so I would not be able to comment on the effects of spinal bilharzia. Suffice it to say that I know it leaves you with no energy, so I’m sure it has
been a long way to get back up.

Head for your sub-1:40 with some caution, understanding that after 31 years on the road, your body will be tired. You have the class – no one can ever take that away. Your speed will come back and you will be able to convert it into decent racing times – but only if you are fresh and not over-trained. For us old timers, less is often more.

Barry Holland Coach
	Running coach with 33 years’ experience. Member of Jeppe Quondam, has run 37 consecutive Comrades Marathons. His PBs include 1:17:21 (21km), 2:39:30 (42km) and 6:29:22 (Comrades).

Some diets and eating programmes recommend an eating ‘day off’ in which you can literally eat what you want. Why is this and is it benefi cial? – ELIZABETH

ANSWER
This is done more for psychological reasons than for physiological ones. Many people fi nd strict diets overwhelming and off-putting, especially when they think they have to keep it up for weeks, months or even a lifetime. With very stringent diets, people often give up before even trying or, if they do go slightly wrong, they are very quick to ’throw in the towel’. Going off and on diets can often be more detrimental to your weight and health.

Mentally knowing you only have to keep something up for six days and then looking forward to one day of relaxing, helps you maintain a diet. Dieting this way is often more successful because people are able to manage the diet, say for about 90% of the time as opposed to about 40% of the time when they keep going off and on it. A diet with one ‘cheat day’ a week may take a little longer to show results than one that is strictly adhered to seven days a week, but the long-term maintenance is more successful.

My opinion is that this type of diet can be beneficial, however the ’day off‘ should only comprise of one unhealthy meal/snack, and should not encompass the entire day! I personally try and teach people to eat healthily on a meal plan, taking the emphasis away from a ’diet‘. By doing this, people learn they can eat unhealthy foods whenever they feel like it, but always within reason and in balance. That way we avoid the ’all-or-nothing‘ attitude often associated with diets and binging.

Christine Peters Dietician
	Dietician at Sunninghill Medical Centre, Johannesburg. Member of Morningside Country Club with eight years running experience, including two finishes in the Two Oceans Marathon.

I have been seeing a physiotherapist for muscle spasms in my right shoulder. It seems to be much better after each visit, though the spasms persist. My physiotherapist keeps on telling me to come back for more sessions. I have already been for six treatments. It is quite an expensive exercise and sometimes it feels as if I’m paying money but not seeing the results. After how many physiotherapy sessions should one feel better? And how does one know where to draw the line and when to seek a second opinion? – KIM BRADFORD, HILLCREST

ANSWER
A muscle spasm is the body’s way of protecting itself against further injury. Spasms in the shoulder usually occur due to overuse or weakness of the muscle. Also, if you overstretch or have poor posture in the offi ce, muscle spasms can occur. Repetitive contractions of the muscle during stress or improper training methods can also lead to spasms.

Usually if it is not a complex problem, the muscle spasm should be relieved after the first three physiotherapy sessions. It all depends on the severity of the spasm. It is important that the underlying causes of the problem are treated because if they are not, the spasms will return very quickly, leading to more visits to your physiotherapist.

I usually give lots of advice with regards to ergonomics in the workplace and home, sleeping positions, pillow height and positioning, sporting technique and training methods. These could all be causes of your shoulder spasms.

A proper home stretching and strengthening programme is paramount in relieving the symptoms and sorting out the problem faster. I recommend six treatments to my patients and if there is absolutely no change in their symptoms, I reassess and then refer them to a specialist for further tests. I must  emphasise that you and your physiotherapist need to work together to solve the problem, thus it is vital for you to follow the advice and exercises given in order to get optimum results.

David van Wyk Physio
	Sport physiotherapist with private sport and orthopaedic practices in Elarduspark and Faerie Glen, Pretoria. Member of AS Eagles Running Club, sub-45min 10km runner.

Should you wear racing shoes, or racing flats as they’re known, when you want to go for faster times in races? Here are some guidelines to help you decide.

You’re lined up at a race when you notice that one of your shoelaces has come untied, so you kneel to retie the bow. While you’re down there, you look at the other running shoes around you and notice that some runners are wearing sleek, lightweight racing shoes, whereas you’re in the bigger, heavier running shoes that you usually train in.

Now you start wondering if you should get a pair of racing shoes as well, because they look so aerodynamic, so built for racing and faster times, but you’re not sure if they will really make that much difference. After all, you’re not exactly an elite runner… Here’s what you should know.

Race faster: Research in the USA has shown that most runners go about one-second-perkay faster for every 30 grams that they shave off their running shoes. So if you go from a 320-gram training shoe to a 200-gram racing flat, that’s four seconds per kay, which means 40 seconds saved in a 10km race, or nearly five minutes in a marathon. Granted, it isn’t that much, but for some runners that could mean finally setting that elusive new PB.

Feel faster: When you line up to go after a fast time, you want to feel ready to race. You eat more carefully, make sure you have everything you need, then warm up extra specially, so go the whole hog and add racing shoes as well, even if it just makes you feel faster.

Less cushioning: The midsoles of racing flats are thinner than training shoes, so they provide about 20% less cushioning. If you are a bigger, heavier runner that needs the extra cushioning, rather stick with your trainers.

Less support and stability: The reason racing flats are so light is that they are relatively simple shoes, not offering much in terms of stability, support or motion-control features. If you need these, you probably shouldn’t wear racing shoes.

Lightweights versus flats: Lightweight trainers are designed for fast training and long-distance racing, making them the perfect compromise for most racing distances and runners. They usually weigh about 250 grams, which is midway between a training shoe and a racing flat, so still provide good cushioning and support.

When in pain: Conventional wisdom is that you shouldn’t race when your muscles are tired and sore, but many of us line up for races a bit sore anyway. If so, more cushioned training shoes are better as they minimise further muscle damage.

Go short in flats: A good suggestion is to wear racing shoes for 10km races, then switch to lightweight trainers or normal training shoes for longer races. The theory is that you won’t do that much damage to your muscles in the shorter races if you do need more cushioning.

Our bodies are constantly subjected to different stresses. Long working hours, too many late nights and hard training sessions place high demands on our bodies. Often the stress becomes stored in our physical structure, causing ailments such as muscle spasms, headaches and lower back pain. All of these things ultimately affect our sporting performance. Having this body stress released can enhance your quality of life – and benefit your running.

Body stress occurs when the body fails to adapt to an overload of stress, and tension becomes stored in physical structures causing pain and discomfort. This stored tension has an impact on the nervous system and undermines the body’s natural ability to co-ordinate its functions and heal and maintain itself.

“Many people have more stress in their bodies than what they are aware of. Tension and stress don’t always manifest as pain. Not being in pain is not a defi nition of health. Complete health comes from functioning 100% mentally, emotionally and physically,” says Rory Litchfi eld, a Body Stress Release (BSR) practitioner in Greenside, Johannesburg. Rory, who has treated many top athletes, has been a practitioner for five years and became involved in BSR after experiencing the benefits of it himself.

He describes BSR as a complementary health technique based on helping people deal with the physical effects of stress. It helps the body heal itself by releasing stored tension. This technique was the brainchild of Ewald and Gail Meggersee, two South African chiropractors who researched stress extensively. Though the technique has been around since 1981, most people still don’t know enough about it, says Rory.

STRESS IN SPORT
Our bodies are wonderfully-made machines with miraculous self-healing abilities. Think of cutting  yourself; you stick a plaster on it, but ultimately it is the body that heals the cut. Our bodies can perform optimally if we respect them. When doing sport, we need to listen closely to our bodies as they are constantly subjected to different kinds of stresses:

• MECHANICAL OR PHYSICAL STRESS: Everyone has different points of stress overload and when that point is reached, the body will automatically start to protect itself by tightening the muscles over the area of stress, effectively splinting the involved joint. In this way stress can become stored in the physical structure. Take overtraining as an example, explains Rory’s colleague, Brent Garvie. It may often result in more stress than the body can adapt to and this stress may then become stored in the body. Brent says that most injuries are not the result of sudden catastrophes, but occur because of what is popularly known as ’overuse’, which means that a key part of the body simply can’t stand up to the pressures of training and competition without breaking down.


• EMOTIONAL OR MENTAL STRESS: Competitive sport can lead to emotional or mental stress, often induced by competitiveness and the pressure to perform or win at all costs.


• CHEMICAL STRESS: Chemical stress can be caused by dehydration and over-hydration, as well as environmental pollutants such as car fumes.

HOW CAN BSR COUNTERACT THESE STRESSES?

• A BSR practitioner can help anyone, from babies to office workers, and can help athletes perform optimally. A release of stressed muscles provides new energy.


• When muscles are protectively splinted over an area of lockedin stress, it takes tremendous energy from the body to keep those muscles in their protective state, energy that should be
  available to help improve performance.


• BSR leads to improved fl exibility. Brent tells of a fellow BSR practitioner who had a client complaining of tight hamstrings. He did repeated toe-touching exercises to stretch his tight
  hamstrings. But those exercises were stressing his lower back even further, causing irritation to the nerves flowing from his lower back into his legs. After a BSR session and stopping all toe-touching exercises, he was back on the road with no fl exibility problems.

HOW DOES BSR DIFFER FROM OTHER TREATMENTS?
Physiotherapists are effective at treating torn or strained muscles while chiropractors manipulate the skeletal system. “Body Stress Release Practitioners are trained to specifi cally locate sites of stress and release the stress in order to help prevent injuries. It is thus corrective and preventative in nature.” Rory emphasises that BSR is not a medical treatment or an alternative therapy. “We do not diagnose anyone. It is a 100% complementary therapy and preventative in nature.”

THE MODERN ATHLETE EXPERIENCE
I went to Rory for two sessions to experience BSR. I have no running injuries, only a persistent shoulder muscle spasm I have learnt to live with. The first session lasted about 25 minutes. You stay fully clothed while lying on a specially designed bed that looks like the bed chiropractors use. You stand against it
and are lowered onto it.

Rory located the exact areas where my body was exhibiting signs of stress by using my body as a biofeedback mechanism monitor. He applied light but defi nite pressure to the sites of body stress, thereby activating the body to release the stress. He kept checking my feet and marking certain spots on my back, explaining that he uses the feet as a biofeedback monitor.

He explained that applying light pressure to certain muscle groups close to the spine creates a temporary nervous system irritation, which creates a temporary leg reflex response. “When I test for a site of stress, your one leg will temporarily shorten in relation to the other. That is a muscular response and it shows
me in which direction the muscles are pulling and where the stress is located. I use light pressure in a specific direction on those muscles. That pressure encourages the muscle to release stress layer by layer, creating an unmasking effect. Because I am stimulating the muscle to relax, it almost peels the layers of tension off.”

The pressure along my spine, legs, neck, head, buttocks and shoulders was very light, so when Rory
warned me that I might be sore the next day, I had my doubts. But by that afternoon I was indeed sore; my muscles felt like they would after a hard gym workout. By the next morning I was fine and my muscle
spasm felt much better, especially while running. My second session followed the same process. In the days following, though the spasm was not completely gone, it felt much better during training.

LIFESTYLE
It differs with each person as to how long it will take to release the tension and how long it will last, depending on your lifestyle, explains Rory. Generally you should start feeling better after three sessions over a ten-day to twoweek period. It is recommended that you go for follow-up sessions. “Remember, you personally have to take responsibility for your lifestyle and make certain changes,” says Rory.

Between stressful jobs and trying to spend quality time with the family, exercise is often the fi rst thing that falls to the bottom of our list. In a series of features on how to balance a busy career with running, Modern Athlete speaks to various high-powered professionals to fi nd out how they manage to fit
sport into their hectic schedules. This month we chat to Cheryl de la Rey, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at the University of Pretoria.

What is your background and how did you get involved in education?

I assumed my position as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Tuks at the beginning of November last year. Before this I was the CEO of the Council on Higher Education after having been Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town for six years.

What is the most exciting thing about your job?

Interacting with people – students, staff and all our stakeholders  – and being in a learning environment. Each day is different and exciting.

How long have you been running?

For about 20 years! I recently joined Irene Road Running Club in Pretoria.

What motivated you to start running and what was your very first run like?

My husband influenced me. He was a runner at the time. My first run was the 10km Ladies Race in Durban. My only preparation was three 3km runs coached by my husband. On the day of the race, he stood at the 5km mark to check whether I needed to quit. I continued and finished the race in 62 minutes. I felt as if I had won the race! I have been hooked ever since.

How many hours a week do you spend on the road?

Since my new position at Tuks I have become more of a jogger than a runner! With the change in my job, I need to re-organise my training. But, no matter how busy I am, I run about 10km every Saturday. In the past few years I have had to limit my running due to a persistent knee problem. I have recently discovered the problem is actually due to the mobility of my right foot. I am now receiving professional help.

What do you see as the biggest obstacle to your running?

Finding time to train and managing the effects of overused joints.

Has running influenced your career and work ethic?

Running is a great stress reliever and I use my running time to think about work-related challenges. Training for marathons and long distances has given me an enhanced sense of the importance of discipline and focus. After I completed my first Two Oceans 56km many years ago, my confidence to tackle a range of new challenges was boosted. I felt that if I could do that, then there were many other challenges that I could take on.

What is the best advice you have been given with regards to running?

Forget about the finishing time, just enjoy it.

And the worst advice?

Buying expensive shoes that turned out to be wrong for me.

Proudest moment in running and in business?

In running it has to be completing my first Two Oceans ultra, and in business being appointed the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.

Most embarrassing moment in running and in business?

In running, using the bushes en route… and in business, not getting the name of a VIP correct on an important occasion.

The thing I love most about running is…

The feeling I get after a run. Running is also an excellent way to get to know one’s neighbourhood. I have moved cities several times. Running is a good way of getting to know a new place and its people.

After a run the first thing I like to do is…

Sit on the patio with a cup of coffee after a morning run or something cold after an evening run.

My greatest ambition is to complete…

One of the world’s great city marathons (outside of South Africa).

I don’t enjoy being beaten by…

I don’t enjoy not being able to beat my own previous times.

I enjoy training most with…

On my own and with friends.

Who are your running role models?

Working mothers who still find time to train for long distance events.

What is your favourite meal after a big race?

Definitely a braai with a glass or two of good wine.

I could not go running without my…

Peak cap. It keeps both sun and rain out of my eyes.

What do you think about when you run?

I usually think about work-related issues but I also like looking at the gardens and houses.

What would you say to someone who says that they don’t have the time to start running?

You have time, reprioritise!

My favourite race is…

Two Oceans – both the ultra and half marathon.

Favourite Quote

Gary Player’s “The harder I practice, the luckier I get” and the ad slogan “Just Do It.”

What is your favourite place to run?

I step out of my front door and start running – my neighbourhood and on the Tukkies campus.

Life motto?

You won’t know if you don’t try.