Author: Modern Athlete

My long journey to becoming a triathlete has been an awesome, life-changing experience that I can recommend to any person. You will never know until you try a triathlon! – BY MORNE HEYSTEK

My journey started in September 2013 when my family went on holiday to Port Edward with my friend Peter Clark and his family, and they asked me if I had a mountain bike to bring with. I replied that I did, but that it had been locked in my garage for three years and needed some cleaning from all the dust… meanwhile, I was thinking, “Who wants to exercise on holiday? They must be crazy.” That first 4km ride was brutal and I kept checking my pulse to make sure I was still alive, but two or three days later I went for a 10km ride and actually started enjoying this cycling thing. The bug had bitten, and when I came home I continued cycling. Rides became longer and easier as Peter introduced me to road cycling, and soon I was entering races.

TAKING THE PLUNGE
Both our kids were swimming open water events and Peter suggested that we join them. I thought, “You must be joking! Swimming? No thank you, not for me.” Then in August 2014 he did the Bela Bela 5150 on his birthday and I went along to support. I was immediately caught up in this thing called triathlon, and by the end of that day I said, “Next year this time I’m doing this.” So I entered a sprint distance event at Germiston and thought if I can cycle and run/walk, I can probably swim. Biggest mistake of my life! Fifty metres into that swim I was basically drowning, but I prayed, doggy-paddled, and kept myself going with the thought, “If I can get through this, I can cycle, and that’s what I love.” I duly walked the 5km run and finished my first triathlon.

Back to the drawing board: I had to learn how to swim and run, so it was swimming five days a week and running on the treadmill for 20 minutes three days a week. Then I entered numerous open water events and 5km and 10km running races, supported by Peter and our wives, and in August 2015 I was standing at Bela Bela, ready for my first 5150 event. I survived the swim, loved the bike and ran/walked the 10km. Nerves got the better of me that day and I battled the whole day with a tummy bug, but I finished – and I loved it.

So what next? Peter suggest the 70.3 Half Ironman distance. “No ways! I will never be able to run 21km. How do people even do that?” I answered… but after completing a number of sprint and 5150 events in 2015, I pushed up the training and entered my first 70.3 distance event in February 2016, as well as the 70.3 Ironman in Durban later in 2016. That’s when s**t got real! I did numerous 21km road races, and got a Watt Bike, and as both my running and swimming got stronger, so my biking was also getting stronger. Loads of early morning runs and bike rides as well as swimming became a daily thing, and I went on to complete both 70.3 events in 2016.

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
And then the question became: “How is it even possible to do a full Ironman distance 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run? No way I can do that!” But my training was on track – running had become bearable and I was hovering at a 6:30/km average, my swimming was good and my bike was strong – so in December 2016 I looked at the three big races on the 2017 calendar and entered the lot: 70.3 East London, Ironman Port Elizabeth, 70.3 Durban! I pushed my training up to 14 hours a week and eventually it was the ultimate challenge on 2 April. I finished in 14 hours 31 minutes, and the best feeling ever was running down the red carpet to cross the finish line and hearing “You are an Ironman!” I’ve got goose bumps just writing about it.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if I had to do it on my own. Firstly, I need to thank Peter for all the encouragement and pushing me beyond my boundaries, and secondly, people sometimes forget the huge role an ‘Ironman wife’ plays – there is no way I could have done all this if it was not for Jacqui putting up with me during the months of training. That said, becoming a triathlete has brought huge bonuses: I have lost 32kg and five pants sizes, and where three years ago my cholesterol level was 6.3, now it is 3.1. I feel great, and long gone are the days where I was out of breath pushing a trolley in Pick n Pay. I always tell people you either love tri or you hate it, but you will never know if you don’t tri, so get off that couch!

Each year when the school holidays start, the South African news services provide a daily update on the number of deaths on our roads. Most of these deaths are a result of tired or drunk drivers losing control of their vehicles, or speeding and reckless driving, as well as pedestrians run over by vehicles. The rest of the year, that daily counter does not feature in the news, and ‘only’ the particularly gruesome or unusual accidents make the headlines. Unfortunately, when a runner is killed by a car, it makes the news, and tragically, there have been too many such headlines of late. – BY SEAN FALCONER

In the past two months alone, three well-known runners were killed in hit-and-run incidents, once again shaking the running community to its core. On the 6th of June, 42-year-old Nezaam Isaacs of the Lion of Africa Itheko Running Club was killed in a hit-and-run in Claremont, Cape Town. He had weighed 110kg when he took up running a decade earlier to improve his health, and had inspired many with his incredible transformation into a veteran of 17 ultra-marathons. Due to the Muslim Fast of Ramadan, he had taken to training earlier than normal to allow himself time to have breakfast before sunrise. His GPS device showed that he had covered 2.2km in 14 minutes and 18 seconds when he was struck down.

Just four days later, blind runner Malose Richard Monisi (48) died in a hit-and-run accident in Johannesburg. He was walking to the shops, not out running, but his death at the hands of a driver nevertheless rocked the running world, given how famous he had become for his exploits at the Comrades Marathon and other big races, often completing races alone, using his white stick as guide, when running guides could not keep up with him. Just a week before his death, he had run a brilliant 8:38 in the 2017 Comrades, guided successfully by first time ‘pilot,’ Andrew Hall of Celtic Harriers in Cape Town. Richard was a veteran of 13 Comrades runs, and was a former recipient of the Spirit of Comrades Award for his incredible courage and attitude towards running the race.

As if that were not enough, on 4 July news broke that Midrand Striders Men’s Club Captain Leon Baker was struck by a taxi during his morning run in Johannesburg, in yet another hit-and-run incident. He was a talented runner, capable of regularly earning Comrades silver medals and posting sub-40-minute times for 10km, but was better known for the selfless way he would go out of his way to help fellow runners. He had also inspired many with the story of how he took up running in 2004 when his broker told him he would have to pay more for insurance due to being 30kg overweight.

Rising Death Toll
A quick online search for reports about runners killed on SA roads shows that these recent deaths were by no means isolated incidents. What remains one of the most shocking accidents occurred in October 2011 in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, when six runners training for the Soweto Marathon were mowed down by a drunk driver. Geo Tlale, Moroese Mokoatsi, Reneilwe Lesenyeho, Given Mills and Nomvula Dumako were all killed, while Khanyisa Stengile was seriously injured. The runners were members of the Vodacom Striders, Midrand Striders and Goldfields Athletics Clubs. The Midrand Striders still hold an annual memorial run to the site of the accident to commemorate their fallen comrades, which is also attended by Khanyisa, who only returned to running after a lengthy recovery period for both physical and emotional injuries.

In February 2013, 60-year-old Neil Robinson was literally cut in half by a speeding driver that lost control of his vehicle in Pietermaritzburg, and worse, it happened right in front of his partner, Lynn-Rae van den Berg, as they were out training for the upcoming Maritzburg Half Marathon. The driver had lost concentration and drifted into oncoming traffic, then over-corrected and ploughed into Neil on the shoulder of the road.

In another horrific accident in February 2016 in Wartburg, near to Pietermaritzburg, 27-year-old Sithabile Mkhasibe and her boyfriend Xolani Nxele were killed when they were struck by a drunk driver during a Friday evening jog. Both runners’ bodies were picked up and carried further by the car, but while Xolani’s lifeless body eventually slid off the bonnet, Sithabile’s body was pinned against the windscreen and the driver kept going, later dumping her body in a sugarcane field near Dalton. Tragically, she had recently given up a high-paying engineering job in the Eastern Cape to move closer to her family in KwaZulu-Natal. Even though the driver was identified and arrested, her body was only found four days after the accident, because he had been too drunk to remember where he left her!

Also in 2016, top Cape Town veteran Sheryl De Lange (47) of the FNB Multisport Club was killed on 9 September when hit by a car during an early morning training run in Durbanville. She was a top performer for more than 20 years, winning a number of Western Province titles in road running and cross country as well as representing the province at national championships on many occasions. She was actually due to run the South African Cross Country Champs in Middelburg the same week she was killed, having finished second in her age category at the SA 10km Champs earlier in the year.

Run Defensively!
What these tragic deaths show is that the roads in South Africa are not safe for runners, and it is imperative that athletes do their utmost to promote their own safety when out running. While nothing can guarantee your safety, there are some basic tips that may help keep you safer:
1. Always run facing oncoming traffic, so that you can see approaching vehicles.
2. Avoid running with music, or wear just one ear-piece and listen at low volume, so that you can hear approaching vehicles.
3. Wear bright colours, reflective gear or flashing lights when running in low-light conditions. In fact, wear all three!
4. Signal your intentions to change direction or cross a road, much like cyclists use hand signals to notify other road users of their intentions.
5. Try to avoid running on roads that do not have a pavement or shoulder area, which force you to run in the road.
6. When running around a blind corner or rise, assume that a car could be coming and rather be safe by taking the long way round. Better yet, avoid running on roads with these features.
7. Try to make eye contact with drivers, so you know they have seen you. If you don’t see eyes, assume the driver has not seen you.
8. When crossing a road, rather wait till you know it is safe, especially if you are coming up suddenly on cars whose drivers may not have seen you.
9. Watch for danger points, such as entrances to parking lots and entry or exit points to busy highways, where drivers often drive faster or take gaps.
10. Beware high-risk drivers who may be driving under the influence, or may be tired in the early hours of the morning or after a long work day.
11. Assume that every driver of every vehicle is a bad driver, has bad eyesight, is texting on their phone while driving, and has not seen you.
12. Lastly, be courteous on the roads – wave thank you to drivers who see you running and wait for you. That will make them more likely to be aware of other runners going forward.

When you’re 34 years old, in peak shape and competing on the world stage as one of South Africa’s leading trail runners, the last thing you’d expect is to suffer a stroke. After all, normally it is much older people that suffer strokes. But as AJ Calitz found out in April, even a young, fit athlete is not immune. – BY SEAN FALCONER

This wasn’t supposed to happen to AJ Calitz… In February, the current SA Ultra Distance Trail Champion won the three-day Tankwa Trail event, and then in March he teamed up with fellow K-Way athlete Nicolette Griffioen to win the mixed category of the three-day Cell C AfricanX Trailrun, to go with three wins in the men’s category in previous years. Just after that he set the fastest lap time in the Platteklip Charity Challenge on Table Mountain, even though he was taking it relatively easy in the event where he set a World Record of 15 ascents totalling 10,250m in 12 hours a few years ago. Then on 8 April he lined up for the Impi Challenge obstacle race near Stellenbosch, determined to use his running fitness to full advantage on the demanding course that snakes around various wine farms.

He went on to cross the finish line first, thinking he had won the race, but it turned out that a navigational error had seen him miss one of the obstacles, and thus he was not given the win. Disappointed but still having enjoyed the challenge, AJ headed home to be with his family for his daughter Emilie’s birthday party that afternoon. “I felt tired after the Impi, which was not unusual, but that afternoon I climbed on the trampoline to jump with my daughter, and suddenly I blacked out,” says AJ. “When I came to, it felt like my one eye had gone sideways, but my wife said both my eyes had actually split apart. I told Paulette I was not feeling well and went to lie down, but when I woke up I was still not feeling right. She was getting worried and phoned friends for advice, and they all said go to hospital. I was booked into the neurology section, and they told Paulette I had just suffered a full stroke!”

The doctors came to the conclusion that during the Impi, when AJ was carrying various heavy objects on his shoulders, the strain on his neck caused a tear in an artery that feeds into the thalamus in the centre of the brain. The thalamus controls sensory input and motor skills, as well as the regulation of consciousness and sleep. When you tear a vein or artery, a blood clot forms, and jumping on the trampoline that afternoon dislodged the clot, which then got stuck in AJ’s thalamus, causing the stroke. “It turns out that carrying a brick on your head, a 50kg bag of sand, and then jumping on a trampoline is not good for you… who would have thought?”

BOUNCING BACK QUICKLY
AJ spent three days in ICU, and at first he was not allowed to walk much, as he still had crossed eyes. “My perception was my eyes were fine, but they were actually pointing outwards, and that affected my coordination badly. When I did start walking again, I had to do it with a pram for the first week, and soon I was going crazy. I was so fit, and building up to my overseas racing season, and as I told my coach and physio, Christoff Smit, I felt like a penned down race horse! He told me to try running slowly, making sure my heart rate did not exceed 100 or 110, but just putting on my shoes and standing up put me over the limit at first!” The neurologist also grudgingly gave AJ the all-clear to start running again slowly, but warned that the long-term loss of co-ordination, peripheral vision and short-term memory will stay with him, because 1.5cm of his thalamus is now dead.

Another reason AJ was raring to get back into action was that he had qualified for the international finals in Germany of the global Fisherman’s Friend Strongman Run obstacle race series. In September 2016 he had won the inaugural South African leg in Paarl, organised by well-known television personality Ferdinand Rabie, but the finals in Nuremburg were scheduled just six weeks after his stroke. “I felt OK after a few good training sessions, and the trip was already paid for, so even though the neurologist said he was not keen, he said OK, go and take part, but don’t race. They had already said it was safe for me to fly, as they had done three scans with iodine to check if the tear in the artery had healed, but it was mostly due to the amazing support of my wife, and sponsors really going out of their way to make sure I was OK, that I was able to go.”

AJ lined up intending to just enjoy the experience at the world’s biggest obstacle race event, but when he found himself in the lead group and with a relatively low heart rate, he decided to stick with the leaders and see what would happen on the two-lap course. “I didn’t actually know how to do some of the obstacles, so I stuck with the leaders for the first lap, but early in the second lap we hit a swimming obstacle, and being an ex-triathlete, I just jumped in and took the lead.”

“There were 15,000 entrants, so it was hard getting through the backmarkers on that second lap, and at one stage I was running with another leader, but somewhere I lost him in the crowd and when I crossed the finish line I did not know if I had won. In fact, the organisers and media were just as stumped – they weren’t even ready for me to come in, but my timing chip proved I had done the whole route, so I was asked to run the last 200m again for the cameras, and then I was swamped by the media. I’ve never had so much media attention!”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
Incredibly, just three weeks later, AJ took on the incredibly tough Fish River Canyon Ultra Trail Run, where he set the course record in 2016, clocking 6:39:52 for the 100km route. “I’ve always loved this race and the amazing vibe that goes with it, and since it has become one of my regular races, I know the route well – and it’s tough as nails! The previous two years I ran the race chasing the Fastest Known Time (FKT), but this year I just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery, and I still won by nearly two hours, but I think that’s because I know the course so well.”

Now, about four months after the stroke, AJ says he is still suffering side-effects, but he’s not letting that stop him doing the things that he loves. “I can see it in the way my body reacts to sensory inputs, like seeing a rock when running. I used to just run over it, but now I have to think harder about it, and often end up hitting the rock instead. It used to be second nature, now it is something I have to relearn, but my running days are not over and I’m slowly getting back to full strength. It’s just another obstacle to overcome, and the neurologist assures me I will get back to normal, so I’m not wallowing in sorrow.”

Looking ahead, AJ says he hasn’t mapped out the second half of the year yet, and is just focusing on spending time with Paulette and Emilie. “I tend not to plan too far ahead, and have always done it that way. If something interesting comes my way, I will go for it… but I won’t be doing any more obstacle races where you have to carry heavy objects. I love the Impi and other events like that, and I didn’t do any obstacles that day that I hadn’t done before, but I’m made for running across mountains, not for picking up heavy bags of sand.”

SECOND CHANCE
Unsurprisingly, AJ’s thoughts these days include his own mortality and limitations, but he says he tries to put this out of mind, especially when he is running. “To be honest, I don’t like talking about the stroke, because it normally happens to much older people and was not supposed to happen to me. After all, to be a top runner and conquer mountains, you need to convince yourself that you’re invincible… The doctors say I was lucky that I was young and fit, and that the stroke was exercise-induced, instead of being caused by something like cholesterol.”

“Sometimes I lie in bed wondering why this happened to me, but I’m not dwelling on that. You don’t often get a second chance in life, so when God gives it to you, you have to grab it. Luckily I am surrounded by family, friends and sponsors that care, and they’ve all said I must take as much time as I need. That makes it easier, and I see every day as a blessing. It’s a thrill now just to put my running shoes on and head off to the mountains, and I believe that if you don’t fall at least once in every run, you’re not trying hard enough. I’m obviously trying very hard these days!”

“What makes your heart sing?” That is a line I read in a book, and it made me ask myself many questions. Have you ever wanted to do something completely out of your comfort zone? Ever had the urge to try something new? Have you ever been motivated by someone else doing something spectacular? And have you then done any of those things? Over the last few years I answered yes to all of those questions. – BY CARLA FARINA

We grow up in an environment where we are constantly told who we should be and what we should do. We are very often placed into boxes and the second we deviate from those boxes, we are seen as breaking the rules. I am a tennis player. I am a tennis coach. I am fast, agile, light on my feet, and good at ball sports. Growing up I was told to stick to ball sports, not to do endurance anything. “You are not built for long distance,” they said. Meanwhile, I was in the first teams and got colours for all my respective ball sports, and to this day I’m a high-performance tennis player and coach competing at a relatively high level. These sports always came naturally to me. The training was easy and I enjoyed it.

I was 25 years old when I decided I was going to do my first Half Ironman. It was something that I’d had in the back of my head for years, but it took me another year before I bit the bullet and entered. I was signed up for the Durban 70.3, and suddenly the reality hit: I had no idea whatsoever about Ironman or the training involved. It was something so completely different to anything I had done before.

Suddenly I found myself waking up at 4:30am to be in the pool by 5am, and doing hours of riding in the Cradle, and learning to run long distances. Although it was an incredible challenge, I was really enjoying the process – I was completely out of my comfort zone and found myself challenged in ways I never thought possible, but it was a challenge. And oh how I do love challenges.

Plans Derailed
All of a sudden I was a week away from my first ever Half Ironman, and then disaster – I was put on crutches for a dislocated knee! The doctors said I was not going to be able to race. They even told me, yet again, to stop endurance sport… but I would have none of it. I went down to Durban anyway to support my best friend, who was also doing the race, and at registration I politely asked whether I could maybe just do the swim. (I am, as I have been told, completely bonkers, after all). I was told a firm no, and at race briefing I was even given a special mention: “Please note, the girl on crutches may not do the swim!”

With hindsight, I am quite glad I didn’t do that swim, because it looked horrifying. Instead, I had a wonderful holiday in Durban with friends, and the second entries opened for the following year’s Durban 70.3, I sent in my entry. Training commenced and this time around I focused far more on strengthening my legs and being injury-free. I was going to do the 70.3 come hell or high water! I also picked up a speed trainer to ensure my tennis didn’t go out the window…

A few months down the line I entered the 94.7 Cycle Tour as a training race, and again, disaster: 30km into the race I fell off my bike and broke my scaphoid in my wrist! What did I do? Obviously, I got back on my bike, carried on and finished the race, then did a 1km swim event, and only after that I was put into plaster for 12 weeks… which did neither my training nor my bonkers, adventurous personality any good. I just carried on with what I could, including some running in the Eastern Cape and loads of spinning classes. Then in June 2016 I did it, I completed my first Half Iron. I was so proud of what I had overcome, and what it had taken to get there… but now it was done… and I needed a new, exciting challenge.

In the Deep End
Trail running. I wanted to do trail running. So what did I do? No, I didn’t enter a little starter 10km, I entered the Three Cranes Challenge in February this year, a three-day stage trail run with the daily distances of 28km, 41km and 22km! And why did I enter that? Because I needed accommodation for a wedding in that area on the middle day of the race! Crazy, I know, but that was the weekend I got bitten by the trail running bug.

The weekend was amazing. On the Saturday I did 63,000 steps as I completed 41km, then went to a wedding, had two hours of sleep, and ran the next day. Added to that, the final day was cold, wet and miserable, and my knee was in excruciating pain, but was I going to quit? No! Was I going to bail on the last day? Absolutely not. I just walked day three. I was slow, I was sore, I was grumpy, and I looked as though I had run the entire way on my face, but I finished. And I recovered.

The point is that had I listened to everyone telling me what I couldn’t do, I would never had experienced these things. I would never have learnt what it’s like to cross the finish line of an Ironman, I would never have known how much I love trail running, and I would never have known what I was really capable of. The point is that if you want something in this world, it’s up to you to go and get it. No-one can stop you, just as no-one can do it for you. You have to make it happen, and while you’re doing it, you may as well “go big or go home.”

Life Lesson Learnt
I am still looking forward to many more exciting adventures out there, and making friends along the way. I often sit back and think of what I would have missed out on had I not followed my heart and done all of these exciting things. Sure, it comes with ups and downs, and the road is never smooth, but you have to trust that the highs will outweigh the lows.

I’ve had my fair share of highs and lows over the past two years: I was on crutches three times, I had a broken arm, I had fallings out with friends, I had family troubles, I faced huge obstacles at work and I had financial instability, but on the other hand I had adventure, I learnt new skills, I learnt about myself, I learnt to appreciate those who love and support me unconditionally, and I learnt that you can do anything if you put your whole heart into it.

So what makes my heart sing? Tennis is my first love, but I am so much more than that. I love adventure, challenges, being active and pushing my boundaries, and I will continue to do these things, whether people think I can or not, because at the end of the day we have to find the things we love and we have to do them. So who knows what else lies out there for me. Maybe I’ll see you all at the Dusi…