Author: Modern Athlete

Eating fruit not only provides you with nutrients needed for health, the repairing of your body and a reduced risk of some chronic diseases, but fruits can also benefit your running. – By Esmé Maré (Registered Dietitian) at Christine Peters & Associates

Athletes have higher rates of energy metabolism and higher muscular and skeletal stresses than non-athletes, and therefore have a higher need for vitamins and minerals. And one of the best sources is fruits. These vitamins and minerals are essential for metabolising energy substrates, assisting in tissue building, for maintaining the fluid balance in the intercellular and extracellular environments, for carrying oxygen and other elements needed for metabolic work, and for removal of metabolic by-products from working tissues. The vitamins and minerals found in fruits also play a role in reducing the exercise-induced oxidative stress experienced by athletes.

Best Fruit Forward
Although all fruits are healthy, there are particular fruits which may provide exceptional benefits to athletes:

1 Bananas: A great source of carbohydrates, which makes them a powerhouse of fuel for your body and muscles. Choose ripe bananas, which naturally have a higher sugar content. Bananas are also great sources of potassium and manganese, which help to replenish electrolytes lost during physical exertion, help to prevent muscle cramps, help wound healing, increase bone strength and endurance, and may help to maintain a healthy blood pressure by maintaining the water balance in your body. Bananas are also an excellent source of vitamin B6, which provides anti-inflammatory benefits and may help to prevent cardiovascular disease.

2 Cherries: One of the most antioxidant-rich fruits and provides athletes with plenty of health, performance and recovery benefits. Cherries may help to calm your nervous system, which is great if you have pre-race jitters, while the natural anti-inflammatory properties offer post-exercise relief to sore muscles, may lower the risk of heart disease, and may ease the pain of arthritis and gout.

3 Blueberries: Rich in antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids, which provide your body with several ant-inflammatory benefits and protect your heart. Blueberries are a great source of fibre, vitamin K and vitamin C, and can boost cognitive function.

4 Tomatoes: High in vitamin C, potassium, fibre and the best source of lycopene, a potent anti-oxidant that may reduce cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of macular degeneration and certain cancers. An excellent source of vitamins and minerals for maintaining overall health, specifically a healthy heart, and can be enjoyed as a healthy post-workout snack. Also high in vitamin E, reducing free-radicals, and may improve stamina during exercise.

5 Citrus: Great sources of fibre, calcium, potassium, folate and vitamin B, oranges also contain a big, healthy dose of vitamin C. It helps to maintain great skin and vision and to keep the body’s immune system functioning by supporting white blood cell production. Oranges also contain hesperidin, a phytochemical that may lower triglyceride and blood cholesterol levels.

6 Kiwi: Contains vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, fibre and antioxidants, which help to relieve muscle soreness and increase bone mass. Magnesium and potassium are important for energy production, muscle contraction and relaxation, muscle strength and healthy nerve function.

7 Apples: May help your body to develop resistance against infections, which could be beneficial when you are training hard, or in extreme conditions, and are more prone to infections.

Fruity Tips
• Keep a bowl of fruit visible on a table or counter as a reminder.
• Cut up fruit and refrigerate at eye-level for easy reach.
• Buy fruits in season when they are at their best flavour (and cheaper).
• Buy fruits that are dried, frozen and canned (in 100% natural juice) as well as fresh, so that you always have a supply on hand.
• Add fruits to green salads, for example grapes or orange segments.
• Incorporate fruits in desserts, such as a fruit salad or baked apples.
• Add fruit to meat dishes, e.g. apricots and roast chicken, raisins and mince meat, or pineapple on meat kebabs.
• Add fruit to your breakfast, such as a topping on cereal or pancakes, or with plain low-fat yoghurt.

Aim for two to three portions of fruit per day, such as:
• 1 medium fruit: Apple, banana, orange or pear
• 2 small fruits: Apricots, kiwi’s or plums
• 1 cup diced or canned fruit
• ½ cup fruit juice
• 30g dried fruit

Once a goal has been set, the training and preparation needs to be holistic and realistic, because an athlete who is correctly prepared will often outperform a more talented athlete.

It is my belief that in every sport there are five areas of preparation: Physical, Skills/technique, Nutritional, Logistics and Psychological. The tendency is to place most, if not all of the emphasis on the physical, but truth be told, the importance of this diminishes with the distance of the race.

For example, Eleanor Adams, a British teammate of mine from the 1990s and a world-class six-day, 48-hour and 24-hour runner, often said she ‘de-trained’ for the longer events, rather than go in at her peak. This is totally logical: Trying to start a 1000km race at peak fitness often leads to overtraining and injury! However, Eleanor never started a race without logistic, nutritional or psychological preparation.

The Key Factors
Leaving aside the physical training, what are some of the key aspects to be considered? Firstly, nutrition is not generally about race day but rather about a lifestyle. The objective of training is to inflict minor damage to soft tissue and then to get the best recovery, which will improve future performance. Only in events longer than two hours is race nutrition really a consideration, but of course breakfast and post-race meals are important to speed of recovery, etc.

Skill and technique are more important than initially considered: The assumption that everyone knows how to run is flawed, and not assisted by the incorrect choice of shoes that impact on running style. The loss of basic PE classes at school has further impacted on technique. Learning to run with good posture, ‘natural’ landing on the ball of the foot and driving backwards, will continually improve running efficiency and performance, and this is probably the most overlooked aspect of preparation for road runners.

Logistics are critical and often these are handled or influenced by others, particularly at provincial, national or international level. An excellent example was last month’s World 100km Championships, where the South African team faced 22 hours of travel to Spain and arrived just 30 hours before the start. With minimal additional investment, they could have been given an extra three nights’ recovery in basic accommodation, but the potential benefit to the performance can make the difference when it comes to medals, records and good times. (For the 1984 Olympics, Britain’s Sebastian Coe took six weeks to travel from the UK to Los Angeles, in order to minimise the blood gas level changes, because the Gold medal in the 800m and 1500m races could be won by 0.1seconds. Everything counts.)

On the topic of logistics, simple things such as entries still require attention: The SA 100km team were entered for the main event, but not initially entered for the concurrent World Masters Championships, and without those entries Gift Kelehe and David Getebe would not have earned their age group Gold and Bronze medals. Food, seconding, pacing, medical support, time of rise and arrival at start, as well as preparation for weather and training on courses as close to race day conditions, are a sample of the myriad of logistics that prepare an athlete, give peace of mind, and improve performance levels.

Finally Psychological considerations: It is vital that the athlete enters the race with a confident, positive and determined mindset. Ironically, the more attention given to the other four preparation aspects, the greater the chance of entering the race with a positive psychological approach, because all other concerns will have been addressed. That said, the mindset for running laps differs from a point to point race. Also, athletes have the option of standing nervously or excited at the start line: The body reacts in the same heart-pumping, sweaty fashion, but one is dreading the gun, the other is excitedly awaiting the gun…

Getting the Mix Right
As in theatre, the performance is on the stage, but that performance is only as good as the co-ordination of lighting, make up, scenery, music and stage management, none of which is up-front and most remains unseen and unsung. The same is true of great athletes such as Carl Lewis – and the same applies to Usain Bolt – whose coach remained in the background and was not one of the ‘me-me’ coaches that Lewis has said are destroying the sport by taking front stage. Certainly, the coach frequently drives and stage manages the preparation of the team, and the athlete is the vehicle that turns preparation into reality, but what many do not understand is that it’s not the coach and not the athlete that is the star, but it’s the performance that determines the success of preparation.

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.

She may have only taken up running late in life, but Deidre Larkin has certainly made her mark on the SA running scene, setting several world records or bests, regularly finishing on the podium at races, and inspiring many a younger runner with her attitude – and at 85 she shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. – BY RACHEL PIENAAR & SEAN FALCONER

Deirdre Larkin remembers the first time she ever ventured out for a run in late 2009. It was early morning as the 78-year-old put on her brand new running shoes and hit the road, employing an interesting regime of run three steps, walk three steps, because that was all she could manage. She had been diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2001, and the doctors had put her on medication to combat the deterioration in strength of her bones, but the medication made her ill. “I was going to doctors to be cured of what other doctors gave me,” she says, adding that a dietician also advised her to cut all sugar, salt, white flour and caffeine from her diet, while a biokineticist designed a strengthening programme that included yoga, Pilates and fitness classes. “But then one day I saw my youngest son running and I thought, now that is something I should try! I was looking for an exercise to do because of my osteoporosis, so I decided to try running.”

After just over one month of training, Deirdre was ready for her first race, the Randburg Harriers Valentine’s 10km, and she finished it in one hour 25 minutes. The racing bug had bitten, and that year she went on to complete 36 races. The following year, having set her sights on collecting as many medals as she could, she completed 58 races! By 2012 she was winning the great grandmaster age category regularly, and in 2013 she was selected to run for Central Gauteng in the SA 10km Championships in Durban. There she clocked 54:17 to break the SA 10km Record for women over 70 years of age, and smashed the World Record for women over 80, taking two and a half minutes off the previous mark. She also won the great grandmaster category in the Spar Womens’ Challenge Grand Prix that year.

In 2015 she once again claimed the SA 10km title in her age category, and towards the end of that year she posted a 1:01:31 finishing time in the Kolonade 10km in Pretoria to set a new world single-age record for an 84-year-old woman, to go with the records she already holds for 81 and 82 years of age. Now 85, Deirdre is still a regular at the races in Gauteng, averaging 60 races a year and running an event most weekends, sometimes even two, mostly over 10km but with at least one half marathon included per month. Just recently she won the 80+ age category at the Old Mutual Soweto Half Marathon, and within two weeks she was back in action at the notoriously tough Tom Jenkins race in Pretoria. There’s no holding this grand dame of road running back!

Musical Talent
Born in England, Deirdre came out to South Africa in 1970 with her late husband, John, and their four children, settling in Randburg. John, who compiled crosswords for The Star newspaper for 20 years, passed away several years ago, but the children and grandchildren all live in close proximity. Deirdre started playing the piano at age five and went on to become a concert pianist and teacher. “I played for the Rosebank Choir for 12 years before teaching piano at Kingsmead College in Rosebank for 19 years.” Today she still teaches the piano, and when asked how she manages to balance teaching with her training, she simply says, “I don’t, it is just chaos! But music and running have so much in common… both require discipline and perseverance, and both provide enormous self-satisfaction.”

Ironically, Deirdre says the word exercise did not even feature in her vocabulary for most of her life. “That was mainly due to the fact that I was born with a missing vertebrae and believed that I had to keep as still as possible. At the age of 38, after having my four children, I underwent a back operation, following which I battled even to lift a teacup while recovering. I eventually got stronger, but always stayed careful of my back.” Then in her seventies she heard she had osteoporosis and everything changed. Now exercise is part of her daily routine, in spite of her busy schedule.

Keeping it Regular
For many years Deirdre has risen early to get her run in, and she says her usual routine is 7km a day at 5:30am, four days a week, with some fitness classes thrown in for cross-training, and a rest day the day before a race, as well as one the day after. “Considering my age, I think two days’ rest is best. I enjoy my rest days, but on other days I don’t just want to lie in bed. There are things to be done!”

Deirdre firmly believes the older you get the more exercise you need, and not the other way around! “I played music at old age homes and retirement villages and some of the people there just went to sleep while we were playing. The only thing that sometimes kept them awake was the cake! People think when they hit 60 they just have to sit and that they are too old to start exercising. I think they should all start with gentle walking and then even some running, but if running is too much they can stick to walking. As long as they do something!”

In terms of running and racing, Deirdre says she really enjoys the camaraderie of the running community. “I once read a letter of a woman saying she is so lonely over weekends. Then I thought of how exciting weekends are for me. I get to go to races and meet so many different people. I am in a happy atmosphere on weekends. People are so encouraging, and when they see me run, they always tell me to keep going.”

Healthy Outlook
Deirdre is a strong believer in healthy eating habits and makes sure her diet is balanced. Breakfast includes ground nuts, seeds and mixed berries with soya milk, while lunch is always a peanut butter or cheese sandwich, and she makes sure dinner includes two vegetables. Her one indulgence is decaffeinated cappuccinos. “I mark my races in a logbook with an A for good and a B for not so good, and those races where decaf cappuccinos are sold immediately get an A, no matter how difficult the route was!”

She reckons her running ability is partly down to good genes and partly her diet and exercise regime, and it is all paying dividend for her health, helping to counter her osteoporosis. Unsurprisingly, she says she would like to keep running for as long as she can, because “I don’t feel my age and I would like to inspire other older people to run. Every morning I get up and feel my legs, say ‘Well, I still have them,’ and then I go run.”