Author: Modern Athlete

His remarkable achievements include completing the Seven Summits Challenge (climbing the highest peak on each continent, including two Everest summits), Trekking to both Poles, 20 Kilimanjaro summits and many other peaks, seven Comrades finishes, three finishes in the Two Oceans Ultra, and now Sibusiso Vilane is adding cycling achievements as well. We went behind the helmet to find out what motivates this incredible adventurer. – BY BRENDON LOWSON

MA: You are known as Sibusiso ‘The Lion’ Vilane. Where did the nickname come from?
SV: I was given this name by my teammates from Mexico while climbing Mount Everest in 2003. It all started when Ibegan startling them with my game-ranging stories and having to guide people where there were lions.

MA: What motivates you to take on all these challenges?
SV: Realising that there is so much to do yet so little time… I am also blessed with this amazing natural physical body, and all my motivation comes from that.

MA: When did you learn to ride a bicycle?
SV: Not a great start when you are over thirty! In 2006, while training for our Antarctic South Pole expedition, Alex Harries decided we should cross-train, and suggested we buy bikes, and before I knew it I had fallen more than a dozen times in the streets of Johannesburg. It wasn’ t inspiring, but I kept on until I could ride a few hundred metres without falling!

MA: What made you decide to take on the ABSA Cape Epic?
SV: It was one of those ‘ over a couple of drinks’ commitments! Just joking… I had always followed the Epic, but never thought I could commit to it, judging by my dismal riding skills. However, a couple of years ago I met my Epic partner-to-be, Justin Pearse, and after a casual chat I committed to riding the Epic this year. It was that chance opportunity of meeting someone who wanted to do the same thing, and I felt I could take it on.

MA: You didn’t have much time to get to know Justin before the race. Did that affect your team dynamic?
SV: We worked brilliantly well together overall, but we did not share the strategy as to how we were going to tackle each day, a result which led to me not finishing stage one. I learnt that it is important for teammates to complement each other and be adaptable when needs be! That’ s critical for an event like the Epic!

MA: After not making that Stage One cut-off and having your number board cut off, what motivated you to keep riding, eventually finishing in spite of not getting an official result?
SV: I looked at it in two ways, either be upset, pack my bags and go home, having wasted five months with nothing to show for it, or take the blue number board as an unofficial rider, get the experience, and go home with my pride, character and honour! I opted for the latter because these mean more to me than a medal! I am very proud of that decision. When I finished I had grown up a lot… no medal will equal that.

MA: We believe you recently rode the Old Mutual Joberg2c for the second time, to raise funds for the education of Lelethu Zulu, daughter of the late Gugu Zulu?
SV: My relationship with the Zulus stems from the fact that I led Gugu up the mountain that he unfortunately did not come back from. When I met his family, his mother said that at her age she was not going to be able to fully provide for both Lelethu and Letshego (Gugu’ s wife), so she said, “If there is anything you can do to help, please help.” Those words still echo in my ears today.
The emotion of riding for Lelethu kept Alec Riddle and myself going when days were really tough. Knowing that with every pedal stroke a needy child might get a chance in life made the suffering for nine days worth it. I am disappointed that we did not raise more, but I am happy that we at least tried, and I am very thankful to those who donated to the appeal. I am not done with that yet, and I will be taking on another mountain climbing adventure aligned with the same initiative now in June.

MA: Any items still on your cycling bucket list?
SV: Alec and I would like to return to Wine2Whales to ride it properly, because three years ago we had a dismal show! Ha, ha, ha, ha, he fell more than I did, so he was not impressed!

MA: You said a while back you wanted to learn to swim and then take on triathlons. How is that journeyprogressing?
SV: Triathlon is still top of the list, and my swimming is a work in progress. It is the only skill I need to work on, and then I will announce my year of tackling a triathlon event.

MA: After all your adventures, is there anything that ‘The Lion’ is afraid of?
SV: The one thing I am afraid of is the thought of saying “I wish I did that.”

I was over the moon when the doctor gave me the green light to start training again, having not been able to run for almost a year because of my hip surgery and then pregnancy. What I missed most during my pregnancy was… well, you guessed it…. running! Even more than I missed sushi, or a glass of wine. And I really love my sushi and wine! – BY RENÉ KALMER

At the time of writing, I have been training for three weeks, and that is all thanks to my friend Karen. A month ago she sent me the following message: “Time to get fit again! When are we jogging?” I ignored her at first, but a week later she sent me another message: “Are you up for a jog or two this week, my friend? No pressure, though!” I realised this was the perfect way to start getting back into a routine and make a comeback, as having a training buddy is a great form of motivation. It is much harder to skip a workout when you know you have a ‘ date.’

Luckily, Andre is more than happy to baby-sit at 5:30 in the morning, as he went into early hibernation after he “forgot” to train for Comrades this year. Most mornings father and daughter are still fast asleep when I get back from my run, with Karli’ s bottle still on the bedside table.

Mixing it Up
Even though Karen and I are highly motivated, we don’ t want to overdo it and risk injury. We jog every second day, and in between we mix up our training with sessions on the ElliptiGO, Wattbike or in the pool. This way the training stays fun and interesting. We are also very cautious not to increase pace and distance dramatically, and this is where a training logbook comes in handy. Keeping a journal/logbook of your runs is a great training tool. That way, whenever your motivation is a bit down, you can look back and be encouraged by how far you’ve come.

I’ m relieved that there is no big event on the near horizon, like an Olympic Games, that I need to rush my comeback for. Instead I can do it on my own terms… or Karli’ s terms. If she keeps us awake at night, I will reschedule my run, while grandma is babysitting. I always wondered who trains at midday, but now I know. And if I feel a niggle, I cut my workout short and walk back home. Even though this is frustrating, there is no use running through a niggle and potentially making it worse. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way with my hip.

Going for Goals
Whatever your fitness level, setting a realistic goal is useful to stay motivated. At the recent launch of the Pretoria leg of the Spar Ladies’ Series, I committed myself to be in shape to race competitively again, which gives me three months to get rid of the preggy-belly and into my racing shoes again. So bring on the 5th of August!

For now, it is just really great being back on the road again, and sometimes you just have to stop for a minute and appreciate the small things that you have accomplished in your training. My small victories for now are being back on the road, and earning Vitality Active Rewards again, so I don’ t have to pay for my Kauai smoothies! And even though it is winter, I really look forward to the next steps of my journey back to competitive running. The struggle is real, but it hurts so good!

63 years after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, Nike rolled out its Breaking 2 Hours attempt to show that it is possible to run the marathon distance in less than two hours. I believe they succeeded in proving that it’s humanly possible, even though the attempt failed in definitive terms, as Kenyan Olympic Marathon Champion Eluid Kipchoge clocked 2:00:23. It was, however, an amazingly rhythmical and consistent effort that has many features that provides instant ‘take home’ messages and applications for every runner.

Analysis has shown that the massive clock tower on the lead car provided the greatest assistance as the runners were ‘guided’ by laser beamed lights into the draft zone behind the vehicle. Analysis of Kipchoge’s assumed power output and saving behind the car accounts for virtually all but a second of the increase in time. The rate at which Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese dropped back having exited the ‘safe zone’ was visual evidence of the energy-saving effect: they were either within two metres, or way out the back!

A point few have picked up on is the benefit of the course layout, which saw the 100% accuracy between the measured and run lines. This is due to the actual line being consistently in the middle of the track allowing the runner to be directly on top of the line for the whole test. This is normally not available to athletes in a race and the tighter corners and high curbs will often see runners going further around bends. Add in trips to refreshment tables and juggling around the bunch and it is not unreasonable that this alone saves 80 to 150 metres, which is in effect 12 to 23 seconds.

After these two items are taken into account the effect of the products, compression tights, strap blades (likeHermes wings) on legs, and shoes have minimal effect, although their contribution to maintaining the runners’homeostasis may come out of data. That, in turn, would contribute to the duration of the high intensity effort, and more importantly, the mental control shown by the Olympic Champion.

Brain versus Braun
For me this test of human performance was living proof that it is not the physiology that limits us – it is the mind. If it was physiology, then how could Kipchoge have picked up the pace over the final few hundred metres? Whatfueled this sprint? Certainly not the sports drink. If he was physically unable to continue, how was he able to walk for perhaps 20 or 30 metres after finishing, then jog to greet and hug a friend? If the physiological limit had been reached he would have collapsed over the line.

This supports, and to my knowledge is the first monitored endurance demonstration of, the Central Governor Theory evolved by Professor Tim Noakes in 2005. My favourite simile for this relates to engineering: The body has a factor of safety on the effort level that the mind (CPU in computer term) allows the body to do. As the intensity increases, the body sends signals (of fatigue) to the m ind to warn that high intensity level has been reached. The mind then tells the body to ease of, as a protection. The limiting intensity level is determined by past experience and also chemical action, such as lactate, which is brought in to protect the muscle but creates a different feeling in the body, which is then recognised as a signal not to sustain this level.

The monitoring of Kipchoge’s effort before and in recovery will hopefully allow the identification of the changes that prompted the moderation of effort, and if these can be trained then we can learn to physically improve the limiting level. Physical training can also change our perception of a limiting level. This is a direct benefit of time trials, intervals and hard workouts that convince us we are fitter, and therefore we ‘believe’ we can push harder in the next race. The mind then accepts a greater intensity, and of course physiological signs are less due to betterfitness for the task.

Mind Over Matter
But it has been shown in emotionally-driven explosive tasks, where time is too short to think, that the body can override and accomplish phenomenal action. It is desire and self-preservation that fuels these actions, blockingthe mind’s normal action. These actions can result in soft tissue damage, but the mind ‘allowed’ both because there was insufficient time to rationalise the action, and because it was lifesaving.

The problem with long duration tasks, such as distance running, is that we have too long to debate with the mind as to whether or not there is sufficient need to go beyond the normal limits. Most runners have experienced the doubts that can occur at the start of a race, and how we find potential excuses for holding back when we want to race, such as a bad night’s sleep, poor training, or a glass of wine the night before. However, once into the rhythm of the race, these often melt away as the mind is content with the level of effort. The questioning only returns in the last section of the race, where the level of desire is again tested and the winner is frequently the person who ‘wants it most.’ This cliché highlights that there is little to choose between the physiology, whereas the ability to override the ‘thermostat’ determines the winner.

Engineering’s fail-safe concept has also been experienced in long distance running. Quite simply, the mind will not let the body kill itself, so the normal protection is simply to get the body to lie down, as is frequently seen in both dehydrated or energy-depleted runners. Once on the ground, runners regain homeostasis, and may even get up and continue, the classic example being Johnny Halberstadt in the 1979 Comrades: He collapsed to the road, was fed a litre of Coke (sugar), and recovered to finish second.

Bigger Things to Come Clearly there was no lack of fluid or energy in Nike’s Breaking 2 Hours attempt, as both aspects were catered for. Kipchoge demonstrated that it was mental and perception-limitation only, and his final sprint showed that barriers can fall in the future. Importantly, the time of 2:00:23 will change perceptions of what can be achieved, notably with the marathon World Record. A World Record takes the performance beyond what the mind has been told is a limit. Conversely, these are not true limits, but barriers created by the mind. No matter what standard of runner we are, Nike’s inadvertent demonstration of the Governor Concept offers the potential of a whole new level of achievement for each and everyone of us, so turn up your thermostat!

About the Author
Norrie represented Scotland and Great Britain in numerous ultra-distance events, then emigrated and represented South Africa in triathlon. He is an IAAF-accredited coach and course measurer and is the official Old Mutual Virtual Coach. He has authored two books (Everyman’s Guide to Distance Running and Every Beginner’s Guide to Walking & Running), and counts 21 Comrades medals amongst his more than 150 ultra-marathon medals. More info at www.coachnorrie.co.za