Category: Features

When it comes to breaking off a piece of chocolate, you might have that feeling of guilt that it will put a dampener on your training and runner’s lifestyle, but don’t fret, because it actually relieves the stress put on your body after the hard miles. Just remember, it’s all about moderation… – BY ESMÉ MARÉ, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

Running helps to build strong bones, strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness, burn energy and help maintain a healthy weight, but it can also place stress on your body. Some runners therefore turn to certain foods to help reduce the stress placed on their body and to help improve performance and recovery, and thus both dark chocolate and chocolate milk have become very popular amongst runners.

Come to the Dark Side
Chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavanols, which may reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress. Studies have shown that consuming moderate amounts of chocolate can boost heart health, while lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Other research suggests that these flavanols can ease inflammation and lower the risk of potential blood clots. However, not just any chocolate will do!

The darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant content and more heart-healthy benefits. Dark chocolate has a lower glycaemic index, which means that eating dark chocolate won’t make your blood sugar levels peak. Choose a dark chocolate 70% or higher, which will help keep your blood sugar levels stable. Just remember to take note of the calories, as chocolate is high in fat, contains sugar, and it’s very easy to over-indulge.

Drink Up!
Chocolate milk may help give you more power and help you run longer if you drink it before your workout. It can also improve recovery if you take it after your workout. The chocolate milk helps replace fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise and contains calcium and vitamin D, which will help in strengthening bones. Chocolate milk also contains the perfect ratio of carbohydrates to protein to improve recovery after exercise. The carbohydrates will replenish the depleted glycogen stores and the protein will help rebuild muscle.

It is worth mentioning that the benefits from chocolate milk are from the milk and not from the chocolate. The chocolate only adds to the flavour of the milk and the amount of cocoa in the flavouring does not contain sufficient amounts of antioxidants to be of benefit to the athlete. Therefore, any flavour of milk can be used.

Moderation Reminder
Even though chocolate can help your running performance, you still need to consume it in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet, because chocolate and chocolate milk are high in sugar, fat and energy, and excess consumption can still lead to weight-gain. To put this in perspective consider that four Lindt 70% dark chocolate squares equal one slice of bread and two heaped tablespoons of peanut butter, or 250 calories. To burn that many calories, you would need to do one of the following sets of exercise:
• 69 minutes of walking
• 29 minutes of jogging
• 21 minutes of swimming
• 38 minutes of cycling

Image: Fotolia

As Gerda Steyn pulled up next to Polish race leader Dominika Stelmach-Stawczyk around the 45km mark of the 2018 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, she did something that had many a pundit thinking back to the days of Bruce Fordyce in his prime. She turned to her opponent and congratulated her on a good run, then went past her and never looked back. Not once! – BY SEAN FALCONER

The famous story of the Fordyce Handshake has become part of South African racing folklore. In the 1980s, the nine-time winner of the Comrades Marathon would pull up alongside the leader of the race, give him a solid clap on the back, congratulate him on a great run and tell him he looked great, crunch his hand in a strong handshake, and then rapidly pull away. The idea was to psychologically tell the now former leader, you may be strong, but I’m stronger, and I’m going to win. And that’s what it looked like Gerda had done to the Pole, but she just laughs when asked if that was her plan. “I actually didn’t shake her hand, because I was worried that she could still catch me again in the last 10km!” explains Gerda.

“Coming down Chappies, I heard she was 800m ahead, and as we got into Hout Bay and hit the marathon mark, I could see her just ahead of me. I kept gaining on her up the Constantia Nek climb and caught her just before the top, and that’s when I said a few words to her, and congratulated her on a great run. She asked me where the other women were, which I couldn’t make out at first, but she repeated, ‘How far behind?’ I told her to relax, she still had a big gap, but that’s when I knew I could win it. Still, I thought she would be chasing me, because she still looked good, so I never turned around again and just ran for my life. I decided I’m going to give it my all, and if she still catches me, she deserves the win. The last five kays were especially hard, and I was not feeling the love in my legs, but that’s how I planned it. The Two Oceans is back-loaded in terms of the hills, so I knew it would be hard and I felt destroyed by the end.”

However, that couldn’t stop a massive smile appearing as Gerda came hurtling down the home straight at UCT, waving to the crowd and punching the air in delight as she broke the tape in 3:39:31. “I was so tired at the end, but that crowd gave me new energy and it felt like I was doing a 100m sprint. Finishing fourth at Comrades last year was incredible, but this is by far the highlight of my running career so far. Actually, of my life!” Remarkably, her winning time not only beat her own previous best for the race by more than 36 minutes, it was also the third-fastest ever by a South African woman at Two Oceans – only Frith van der Merwe’s race record 3:30:36 from 1989 (on the old, faster course) and Azwindini (Gladys) Lukhwareni’s 3:38:56 in 2004 were faster.

RAPID PROGRESS
It’s been a positively meteoric rise to ultra-stardom for 28-year-old Gerda. Born and raised in the Free State, she had always loved sport at school, trying everything, but had never been a runner. Then at university she took up recreational running with a friend for general fitness, and even did a few half marathons, but nothing serious. Having qualified as a quantity surveyor, she moved to Dubai for work in 2014, and it was there that she began to take running a bit more seriously.

“After two months in Dubai I decided to join a running club to make friends and stay healthy. The first time I joined the Desert Road Runners, I met a large group of South African Expats who regularly come back to SA to run the Comrades. They invited me to join them and I said maybe one day, because I had watched the race on TV with my mom when I was young, but just seven months later I was on a plane to SA to attempt my first Comrades. Around the same time I met my fiancé, Duncan Ross, who works for Emirates Airline and is also a Comrades runner.

It was at that 2015 Comrades that her life began to change, when she met Nedbank Running Club manager Nick Bester two days before the race at a pre-race function. “We chatted when I asked him for his autograph and he told me to go enjoy the Comrades, but afterwards I should train specifically for a marathon, and if I can run sub-3:00, he will train me and help me, and even consider adding me to the Nedbank Development Team.” Having run an impressive 8:19:08 to finish 56th in that first Comrades, Gerda then headed to France a few months later for the Nice Marathon and posted a 2:59:54.

“That was the moment that my running career really began. I mailed Nick that same week, then came to see him in December and he signed me on. Initially he coached me online, sending me programmes via mail, but I was back in SA so often that I could train with the local runners – Duncan works for Emirates Airlines, so it was easy to get flights home – and I was already thinking that if it went well I would quit my job to pursue running.

A NEW CAREER
The focused approach to training saw Gerda post eye-catching times in 2016. She finished 13th in the Dublin Marathon with a 2:51:31, was 14th at Two Oceans in 4:15:44, and then took 14th position at Comrades in 7:08:23. In 2017 she won the mass race at the Great North Run Half Marathon in the UK in 1:17:47 and shot up to fourth at Comrades in 6:45:45, and that led her to decide to go all-in with her running. “I had never known I had a talent for running, because I was never exposed to endurance training, but with the success I was enjoying, I decided to resign my job and see where running could take me. I felt I had nothing to lose, because I can always go back to my job.”

That saw her blitz a 2:37:22 PB to finish 12th at the Valencia Marathon in Spain late last year, and this year, prior to her Oceans win, she won the Standard Chartered Dubai 10km in a huge PB of 34:35, and with Oceans now behind her, the focus has shifted back to Comrades. “It’s a huge dream of mine to win Comrades, but I can’t say for sure now if I can do it this year. If not this year, then next year, or the year after that… I will keep on trying, but will have to see how I recover from Two Oceans first, because it’s a dangerous trap to fall into pushing too hard, too quickly. Luckily we have 10 weeks between the two big races this year, so there is enough time for recovery and no need to rush back into training.

Another factor counting in Gerda’s favour is her balanced approach to training. She doesn’t believe in just doing high mileage, preferring to run a steady, manageable amount of kays and supplementing that with cross-training in the form of cycling, swimming, walking and hiking. “I still run six days a week, but the cross-training helps me to save my legs. It works for me, so I’m sticking to that plan for Comrades. I also incorporate a lot of trail running in my programme, especially when I’m recovering, because the impact is less, and I use steep trails for strength work. I think that should be an important part of any runner’s routine, even if you’re training for a flat marathon.”

MAKING PLANS
Looking ahead, Gerda says she is planning a big announcement soon about her plans for later this year – it sounds like a ‘Big City Marathon’ is on the cards, and she says she is equally excited about pursuing the marathon as she is about ultras, thanks to that 2:37 in Spain. “I went into ultras immediately when I discovered I could run, and while I do believe that ultras can kill your speed for marathons, I also believe it comes down to your training, and how you manage your body. Some women could maintain speed for the shorter distances even though they ran ultras, like Frith, and given my training methodology, I think I can too, so I am certainly looking forward to my next marathon.”

Gerda and Duncan are currently living in SA for a while, but will be moving to France in June, after the Comrades. They have been renovating a house in Sainte Foy, in the French Alps region, so she will have plenty of mountain trails to run, hike and mountain bike on. “I enjoy the mountains and I spend as much time outdoors as I can. I don’t like sitting around. In Dubai, there are mountains about one and a half hours’ drive from the city, where it looks like a Mars landscape. We did our best to escape the city often for camping weekends away, but in summer it is impossible to go outside, let alone train, so I am actually fortunate now to escape that heat and am looking forward to training in the Alps… But first I am focusing on the Comrades. Really looking forward to the race.”

Images: Jetline Action Photo, Shaun Roy/ImageSA & Roger Sedres/ImageSA

In between studies, looking after stray animals, avoiding rhinos and promoting women’s safety while out running, Naomi Brand is carving a name for herself on the global stage of ultra trail running. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Muddy… That sums up the conditions during the Addo Elephant 76km Ultra in the Eastern Cape earlier this year, which made it that much harder for the athletes trying to place in the top three in order to win selection for the SA team for the World Ultra Trail Champs in Valencia, Spain on 12 May. ASA had decided that the leading women needed a sub-8:00 in order to be considered for selection, but the conditions soon made that unlikely, says 29-year-old Pretoria-based ultra runner Naomi Brand, who finished second woman and third overall.

“The roads were like rivers, and we were knee-deep in mud at times. Under the circumstances, the race director wrote to ASA and convinced them to extend the qualifying time by 35 minutes, so three women qualified, but even with the extended time, the men still had to run under seven hours, hence only one qualified,” she says. “As a result, I had to wait a month to find out if I had been selected, and in the meantime I had been invited to run the Madeira Island Ultra Trail 100km on 28 April, but when I heard I was in the World Champs team, I knew immediately I couldn’t do both. So I downgraded to the marathon in Madeira and will use it as a warm-up for World Champs, then stay in Spain for two weeks to acclimatise.”

“The World Champs will be 85km long, and the whole race is basically uphill, but I am so excited about going, because it will be my first time representing SA. I’ve been so close before, and unlucky at other times, like in 2016 when I qualified for the SA B Team at the SA Champs run with the Hout Bay Trail Challenge in Cape Town, only for ASA to cancel our trip to the Grand Trail des Templiers Ultra in France. I am therefore going to make the most of this opportunity!”

RUNNING PEDIGREE
Naomi has been running since her primary school days and says it is part of her lifestyle, not just a sport she takes part in. She has run at provincial and national level in cross country and road running, won the Maties Best Cross Country AthIete award while at university, and was identified as one of the top 10 upcoming female athletes that took part in the Comrades Marathon in 2015. However, her focus is currently on ultra trail running. “I am ranked the third-best long distance and ultra distance female trail runner in SA at the moment by ITRA, and I work and train hard to achieve my goals. I also love to share my running experiences with the friends I’ve made through races and training around the world,” says Naomi.

Naomi’s selection for World Champs is richly deserved. She had a solid 2017, winning the Addo Elephant 100 Miler in a time that took five hours off the course record, and she also won the Chokka Ultra Trail 70km and Karkloof 100 Miler races. Towards the end of the year she added a third position in the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km, which she says was particularly satisfying. “I had done about 800km of racing in the build-up to UTCT, so was a bit tired. The medics wanted to pull me off the course a few times, because I was so pale, but I have been anaemic for years, hence often collapsing at the finish of races. After Addo I saw a sport physician who diagnosed haemostatic hypertension, which is common in athletes, and suggested I wear compression socks. I think I now know what the problem is and am better equipped to handle it.”

Of course, this condition has not been helped by ultra training done on top of the long hours that Naomi puts in doing practical work at Onderspoort Animal Hospital in Pretoria for her veterinary studies. She first studied animal science at Stellenbosch University, then did an honours in wildlife science at Kovsies in Bloemfontein, worked as a field guide for a year, and then started at Onderstepoort. She is now in her final year of studies, which will be followed by a compulsory service year. “I applied to be placed at the Animal Rescue Unit in Phillipi, Cape Town next year, which will mean I can be close to my family again. But I actually want to work with wildlife, specifically elephants.

BIG ON ANIMALS
Naomi’s passion for animals stems from her days growing up on the family farm near Velddrif, on the West Coast. She says the family did a count recently and worked out that they had 68 different pets or animals that they cared for through the years, including a caracal kitten and penguin chick, so no surprise that her oldest sister Adri is also a vet, while middle sister Alae (also a very talented runner and triathlete) is a doctor. She even had a little hedgehog until recently, but it had a tumor and unfortunately didn’t make it, so now she just has her cat and dog.

Of course, wild animals are unpredictable, and this saw Naomi endure a frightening encounter with a black rhino a few years back while running in the reserve where she worked. “I was actually very lucky, because they don’t see well and can’t gauge distance, but their sense of smell is very good, and when they can’t figure out what something is, they tend to charge. That rhino was extra aggressive and chased me for 2km, which is far for a rhino to run. I only managed to get away when I turned off the trail and he couldn’t see me any more. Then I just collapsed next to the thorn tree I was about to climb in desperation – somehow, when you need a tree to climb, there are only thorn trees around!

Fortunately, Naomi is able to stay calm when in danger, thanks largely to a terrible experience she had just after finishing her Matric exams. She was walking across one of the school’s sport grounds in Stellenbosch, on her way to gym, when she was accosted by a homeless man who wanted money. “When I said no, he pulled out a knife and pushed me down towards the river, where he strangled me, hit me in the face and broke my nose, and told me he was going to rape me and then kill me. I was really lucky that two boys happened to cycle past and saw my stuff on the river bank, then heard the commotion. The guy got a fright when they asked what he was doing, and I managed to run away, half naked and with my eyes swollen shut.”

“The guy was arrested and put in prison, but only for three years, so I always worried that I could run into him again, or that he would hurt someone else. It took me a long time to get over it, and it still makes it hard to head out alone for a run today, even though I carry pepper spray. On the other hand, it was an important event in my life, and where my drive today comes from. I kept thinking this might be the end, and that changes your perspective on how you live your life. I think it changed me in a good way, and it’s also why I am very outspoken about women’s safety, but I decided it wasn’t going to stop me running!”

Images: Xavier Briel

Dumisile Mthalane transformed her body and her life when she discovered triathlon, and after her recent successful outing at the Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town in February, she reckons everybody should start preparing now to be part of the event next year!

Looking at the harbour sea water as she prepared to dive into the swim leg of the Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town, Dumisile Mthalane admits she was panicking a bit. “Everyone had told us that the water in Cape Town is freezing. I come from Durban, where we swim in water of 20 to 21 degrees, so when I heard the water in Cape Town was only about 14 degrees, I started to panic, because I had never swum in water that cold before, but I actually found it OK,” she says.

“In the end the swim was lovely, especially since the water in the harbour is nice and flat, with no waves. After that the bike leg had amazing views, plus we had a bit of wind to cool us and sometimes push us from behind. Then the 10km run was also great, all run in the Green Point precinct, with lots of spectators and more than enough nutrition on the route. I never once felt dehydrated.”

Unsurprisingly, after enjoying such a great day out, Dumi says she can’t recommend this event highly enough. “It was very well organised, all the way from registration to the finish line, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the great atmosphere, with all the spectators shouting your name, and I also love that the event caters for everybody, whether you’re just starting out with triathlons and want to try a sprint distance, or doing the longer standard distance, for those of us who want to push it up a bit or improve our times. It’s a great event, and I hope to see even more people joining us at the start next year.”

Getting into Triathlon
Dumisile’s adventure began when her weight really started to hold her back in 2014. “I felt heavy, and would huff and puff from climbing just one flight of stairs,” says the 35-year-old project manager. At this point she weighed 82kg, with a body fat percentage of 36.9 and cholesterol of 6.9 mmol/l, and says that her weight had gradually crept up over the years. “It started when I moved to varsity in Joburg. I stayed in residence, where the food was not the healthiest, and because I didn’t exercise at all, I gained a lot of weight.”

Having decided enough was enough, Dumi started running in order to lose weight. “I love to be outdoors and I have the beautiful Durban Promenade on my doorstep, so it made sense, but I didn’t enjoy running, so I moved to cycling,” she says. “However, my diet was still not great, so I wasn’t seeing results. Even when I added trail running to my exercise programme, the weight-loss wasn’t happening. Frustrated, I visited a dietician and went from eating three meals a day to eating five, with adjusted portion sizes. That’s when I started seeing my weight drop at last,” she says.

“Then in June 2015 I volunteered at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Durban, and was so impressed by the athletes. I thought I would also like to see if my body can go the distance in a triathlon. Because I couldn’t swim well, I started lessons with stroke correction a few months later, and I set a lofty goal for the year of my 35th birthday: To do the Ironman Durban 70.3.” And so in August 2016, she took on her first multisport event, at the 5150 Bela Bela Triathlon in Warmbaths, and she says it was a nerve-wracking experience at first.

“I was so scared I would be cut off during the swim leg, because I had no confidence in the open water, even though I had done a few sessions in the sea. Fear of being in the middle of the water surrounded by lots of people swimming faster and better than me, and not being able to touch the ground or a wall, terrified me. But I made it, and I was incredibly proud to win my first triathlon medal! Then I entered my first Ironman 70.3 event in Durban, taking place in June 2017, and having entered, there was no turning back! I enjoyed the training and became far more confident when swimming in the ocean, and I completed that 70.3 in a time of 7 hours, 58 minutes and 38 seconds.”

Change of Focus
These days Dumi says her focus has shifted completely. “My training is no longer about weight-loss, because I found something I love doing, and activities that make me happy. Training for races and collecting medals are much more exciting goals.” Nevertheless, nutrition remains a major part of Dumi’s regime. “I eat healthily because I need to fuel my body with good, nutritious food to perform well in training and races,” she says.

“I used to eat three meals a day, but often I would get so hungry I would buy junk food to fill me up until I got home for supper. Now I eat five smaller meals, so there’s no need to find unhealthy fillers, and I prepare my meals based on my training demand for the next day. I also cut out juice and fizzy drinks, and I drink a lot of water now. I train too hard to be on a bad diet, as poor food affects my energy levels.”

To those who also dream of accomplishing a sporting goal, Dumi says: “Have a plan and stick to it. Remove ‘I can’t’ and ‘I don’t have time’ from your vocabulary. I also find having a buddy or training with a group makes you disciplined, even on days when you don’t feel like training. You become accountable to your training partner, you motivate each other, and it becomes more fun. Do something that you love and enjoy, and I promise you, you will meet your goals. You will see results.”

Make it Fun
She adds that you need to focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle every day, but you should still make it enjoyable. “If it’s fun, you are more likely to continue with it, and Discovery Vitality has made this healthy lifestyle more fun. I have Vitality Active Rewards and this pushes me to train in order to meet my weekly targets. My team members and I check up on each other achieving our targets, so it goes back to the idea of accountability – you’re in it for the team.”

“I'm a Discovery Vitality member on Diamond status, so the rewards help a lot in that you get cash back and discounts on many of the items that you need to achieve your goals, such as training gear, fitness devices, healthy food, travel discounts, gym memberships and so on. Added to this, the annual health screening tests make you aware of your health status and if you’re not within healthy ranges for things like cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, you get a wake-up call to change your unhealthy habits.”

Since starting training, Dumi says she is more energetic and more focused. “I now look after my health, as I know the consequences if I don’t. I'm doing things that I never thought I was capable of. I am trail running in breathtaking places that I never knew existed; I have met incredible like-minded individuals and made valuable friendships. I feel so much more confident, and it’s amazing to focus on something, see great results, and as a bonus, have fun doing it!”

Ready for the Next Challenge
Besides the Cape Town event, Dumi has also done her first international event this year, at the Ironman 70.3 Dubai. “It was also an amazing experience, with the race village full of athletes from all over the world. The organisers really went all out. The best part for me was getting through the swim, because the water was very choppy and a lot of swimmers pulled out, but I told myself I am going to keep going. I decided that they can cut me off if I don’t make it in time, but I won’t give up, because if I keep pulling out of races when the going gets rough, I will never know if I am winning or losing.”

In spite of swallowing a fair amount of salt water and feeling a bit sick when she came out of the water, Dumi powered through the bike and run legs to add yet another tri medal to her growing collection, as she continues to smash old boundaries and new goals for herself, which include the Ironman 70.3 Turkey this coming October. She now sports a leaner frame at 69kg, and dramatically lower cholesterol levels, and says her achievements have attracted the support of friends, colleagues and family. “They are thrilled that in the process of pushing my body to new limits, I have found new happiness and joy.”

You can’t lose 100 kilograms if you don’t start by losing one… that’s the mantra that 46-year-old Capetonian HR and Training consultant Carl Potgieter adopted in September 2016 when he decided it was time to lose some weight. And then he started walking. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Even though his blood pressure, sugar levels and cholesterol were all still OK, Carl knew he couldn’t carry on like that much longer. “I weighed in at 240 kilograms, and while everything was still working, except for my knees being a bit tender, the doctors were warning me it was likely to go pear-shaped sooner or later. Then again, you tend to avoid doctors when you’re that weight…”

That saw Carl set himself the challenge of losing 100kg, which he openly admits looked insurmountable at first. “When you weigh 240kg, you need to lose 40kg before anybody even notices! But no challenge is ever achieved by starting tomorrow; you need to get out there today, and see it through,” he says. “I posted nothing on social media until I had lost 80kg, and when I got to 100kg lost, I added #halfthesizetwicetheman, in reference to my new goal of getting from 240kg to 120kg – I last weighed that during National Service! Some people say that last 20kg is going to be really hard, but I don’t think so, because exercising is now easier, and if I get to 120, I might go still further.”

Walking it Off
Carl says the biggest factor in his massive weight-loss has been walking. “I live 500 metres from a shopping centre, but I used to drive there if we needed bread and milk. Now I walk. Similarly, the school is just 500m in the other direction, and if I have a meeting there, I walk instead of driving. I initially set myself a goal of walking 3000 steps a day, but now I’m on 9000 steps a day.”

“These days I walk four nights a week, doing 6km quite comfortably, and where my goal used to be to break nine minutes a kay, it became 8:45, and is now 8:30. I’ve been asked if I will take up running, and quite honestly, I can see myself running in the future. I’m not going to run a marathon with my knees, but I love the parkrun concept. A mate of mine is a trail runner and has been trying to get me running, while another mate from school days has also lost a lot of weight and is a regular parkrunner, so I definitely want to get into that.”

Of course, Carl also had to make major changes to his diet, which required huge self-discipline. “Every time you drive past restaurants and fast-food joints, you have to remind yourself of your goal, and I haven’t had a double chilly-cheese burger in 14 months! People think I am banting, because I am following similar principles, but the biggest thing is eating less, eating better, and walking more. I don’t eat when I’m not hungry, I stop when I am full, I don’t just automatically go for seconds, and another trick is to dish up on a side plate.”

The Real Inspiration
When told that his story is inspirational, Carl is quick to say that the real inspiration in his family is his wife, Lesley. “She was born with cerebral palsy, so she has no vision on the right and limited control of her right leg and arm. She was bullied in high school because she couldn’t do normal things, but she never let that stop her, and after school she qualified as a primary school teacher.”

“We married in 1999 and had two boys, Josh and Adam, but in 2009 she had a stroke, which impacted her left side, making it super-sensitive to touch, smell or taste. And in spite of that, she started a cerebral palsy awareness programme, works for reading enrichment projects in Gugulethu and Mitchells Plein, and also does reading enrichment for deaf kids. I drive her where she needs to go, and the boys often go with as well. She is simply unbelievable, and my goal now is to find a parkrun route that is wheelchair-friendly, so that I can take her with me when I walk.”

Meanwhile, he is using his weight-loss for good, in conjunction with his passion for golf. “In December, Four of us from the Nomads Golf Club will do the ‘15 Rounds on 15 Courses in 5 Days Challenge,’ to raise funds for CHOC. We’ll play three rounds on three different courses each day, and we have to walk 36 holes, and con only drive 18. It’ll be a form of speed golf, and we’ll have to push the pace, starting at 5:30am and finishing around 7:30pm – at 240kg that would never have been an option for me! But one thing I’ve learnt on this journey is that everyone faces challenges, not just me with my weight, and that helps me get out there and persevere.”

Discussions with runners normally focus on a specific ‘D word,’ as in “What Distance did you do this week?” But while there is no question that successful running is all about D-words, that particular D is the last in a long line of D’s that should dominate your planning and implementation. – BY NORRIE WILLIAMSON

Successful runners will frequently commence with Dreams, which are the seeds of goals, and goals give Direction, Desire and Determination. Dreaming about breaking 60 minutes for 10km, or three hours for a marathon; securing a Sainsbury Medal at Two Oceans, or a Bill Rowan in the Comrades; representing your province, competing in the World Masters, making the Commonwealth Games team, or going to the Tokyo Olympics… no matter the level, each goal commences as a dream.

That said, dreams tend to be a stretch above your current ability, but the mind is incapable of differentiating between vision and reality, and with sufficient vision comes the ability to change the vision into a goal, and then into reality. Dreaming is therefore the first in a litany of D’s that push and pull us to new performance:
• Dreams become Desires – these provide the craving that will see us search, investigate and learn more about how to achieve that goal.
• That gives us Direction, along with Determination, which are the catalysts for belief that we can achieve the goal, and keep us focused on the Dream.
• The greater the Determination and Desire, the greater we realise the need for Discipline, even when things don’t go to plan, because getting side-tracked to different, possibly easier options, is the biggest destroyer of Dreams.

When multiple World and Olympic Champion, Usain Bolt, was in Johannesburg in January, he was asked what it would take to repeat or exceed his records. Without hesitating, he answered that it would revolve around staying focused on the singular goal, even when things go wrong, having a strong supportive back-up team, and consistency and commitment. He could just as easily have summed it up with Direction, Desire, Dedication and Discipline. These are the founding attributes of achieving any Dream.

Spelling it Out
Now consider where that quintet of D’s originate: They are not found in the weight, height, stride, lung capacity, flexibility, strength or natural speed of a runner, they are born and cultivated in the mind! Running success is not born in the body, it is born and sustained in the mind – and the longer the race, the greater the impact of mental determination. Sprinting involves overcoming extremely intense pain, primarily in the chest, but the race is only nine to 43 seconds at elite level. There isn’t that much time to think! However, as the distance increases, so the pain intensity reduces, but the time available to talk yourself ‘out of the pain’ increases.

From the very first steps of long races, we will frequently find ourselves making excuses as to why we cannot be expected to run to our best. This happens because we have not worked hard enough on our Desire and Determination in the build-up to starting the race. When Desire, Determination and Discipline (in pacing) dominate, the questions are usually easily answered and short-lived.

Even if we commence without that doubt, around two-thirds of the way in any distance we usually start to question our ability to continue. This is why the third lap of a mile is the slowest, or the wall comes at 30 to 35km in a marathon. While it can be perceived as negative, it is also a positive sign. It’s a clear indication that we are pushing our body towards a limit, and a sign that something special is possible. It is easy to quit, but Desire and Determination are the most powerful antidotes to that negative questioning.

The longer the event, the longer we tussle with the option of success and failure: Those debilitating “wall” kilometres in a marathon tease the mind, tearing it between the need to stop the pain, and the need to succeed. In Two Oceans, it’s on the slow poison climb of Constantia Nek. In the Comrades Down run, it’s on the M13 from the Bottom of Cowies Hill to the crowd-encrusted crest of 45th Cutting. These are the kays where we ask ourselves, why am I doing this? This has nothing to do with the amount of distance covered in training. The outcome of the questioning in all these scenarios, from 800m to 100 miles, is down to the D’s underpinning your running: The Dream, Desire, Determination, and Deep-seated Desire to Dominate!

Go Forth and Conquer
As we enter SA’s traditional “ultra season,” do not get caught up solely in Distance. That’s only one small portion of your potential success. The real Determinate of your success lies in the Dreams in your mind, and your mind has to accept the reality of your ability before it becomes physically possible. Work on the Dreams, Desire, Direction, Determination and Discipline, go steady with the Distance, and avoid Distraction – you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

When the surgeon says you shouldn’t be alive, you know you’ve had a narrow escape, says Wendy Seller, and when he adds that it’s probably only the fact that you run that you survived, you find extra motivation to keep running! – BY SEAN FALCONER

It was two weeks after her first 42km at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon last September, and Wendy Seller’s thoughts were already on her next race. Her goal was to fit in five more half marathons by November in order to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her first 21km by running her 21st half at Soweto, and she had several pre-entries lined up for the various races she intended running… but something was not quite right.

The 39-year-old Johannesburg-based graphic designer and mother of two young boys, Diego (10) and Rocco (5), had struggled with various injury niggles all along her right side for several months before the marathon. “I think I picked up the injury at the MTN Half Marathon in June, and that led to a never-ending battle, because the injury kept moving up and down my left side. Then I woke up one morning and my left side felt lame. The chiro realigned my hips, and like a typical stubborn runner, I said I was doing that marathon, whether I run it or crawl it on my eyelashes!” says Wendy.

She ended up running the marathon with her whole side taped up under her running kit, but says she still managed to dance at all the water tables and have a real ‘jol’ the whole way. “I ran it solidly, and did much less walking than I expected, but hyperventilated at the finish. At the time I thought it was due to the excitement of finishing my first marathon, but it turns out it was actually due to too little oxygen.” And things were about to get a lot worse.

Mystery Symptoms
Two weeks after the marathon, she woke one Sunday with a sore neck and shoulder on the left side, which she put down to having slept badly. “I also had a headache and was off-colour, but didn’t think too much of it,” she says. “On the Monday it was still there, so I decided not to run; Tuesday there was no change, and there was now a constant headache behind my right eye. On the Wednesday I played golf with the kids, who were on holiday, and on the way home I stopped at the chemist for an anti-inflammatory. That afternoon I started to swell, getting puffy around the jaw and collar bone, which I thought was just a side-effect of the anti-inflammatory.”

The following morning she took her car in for a service, then Ubered home, where she saw herself in the mirror and realised she was now so swollen that she couldn’t make out her jaw line or shoulder, due to a massive fluid build-up, so she decided it was time to see a doctor. All the tests seemed normal, and the X-ray just showed fluid, so the doctor couldn’t pinpoint the problem and scheduled Wendy for a sonar at 2pm that afternoon. “I phoned my mom to fetch me, as my car was at the mechanic, and we drove there in heavy rain that afternoon.”

“They did a quick scan of both sides, and I then had to wait an hour for the results, but eventually they gave me a little brown envelope and said I must go straight to my doctor immediately. As my mom reversed out of the parking lot, my doctor phoned to say it was an emergency and that I must get to Sunninghill Hospital urgently, because the surgeon was waiting for me. My 70-year-old mom grabbed the envelope, then took off. I’ve never seen her drive like that – she even ramped pavements, which the kids thought was very funny! Meanwhile, I googled a deep vein thrombosis in the carotid artery… It said survival prospects were 0%.”

Trying to Stay Calm
When they arrived at the hospital, Wendy told her mom to take the kids home while trying not to panic in front of them, and called her friend Sandy to come help her. “She filled in the forms as they put sensors all over me and took 26 blood samples to test every marker in my body! At 5pm the surgeon came to see me and spotted that I had no vision in my right eye, which he said was due to the limited supply of oxygen my brain was receiving. I hadn’t even noticed – instead, typical runner, I actually asked when I would be able to run again. He just laughed, and said he should have known I would ask that, since he was also a runner, then said, ‘You will run again, but first we need to save your life.’”

Wendy was told she would go into surgery on Friday afternoon and was put on blood thinners, endured numerous injections in the stomach and made to drink a lot of water. Unsurprisingly, she barely slept that night. The next morning, the anaesthetist came to check on her prior to the operation, saying she was third in line and scheduled to go in at 1pm, but she says he kept looking at the monitors. “Fifteen minutes later I was in theatre. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had spotted my oxygen levels dropping at a rapid rate. I was literally dying in front of him!”

The surgeon did an angioplasty through her arm in an operation that lasted three and a half hours, and when she came round again, he came to see her. “He told me only God knows how I was still alive, because the blockages appeared to have been there before the marathon. It turns out I was born with some veins and arteries in the wrong place, between my ribs and collar bone, so every time I moved my arm I would pinch them. However, the body adapts, so I had grown many smaller capillary veins to compensate. He said that probably would have given me problems later in life anyway, but the real problem now was the birth control pill I was on to maintain a normal cycle. It had caused microscopic blood clots, which had built up and begun blocking these tiny capillaries, so I had no bloodflow and oxygen on my left side from my throat to my elbow. He said he didn’t know how I had survived, let alone run a marathon, but that my running fitness had probably saved my life!”

Back on the Road
Thanks to that fitness, Wendy bounced back from the operation quickly. By the following Tuesday she was already driving her kids to school, and the next day did her first walk, but to her great regret, she had to ask her running friends to sell all her half marathon pre-entries lined up for the next few months. Another operation followed 20 days later, to remove the rib that was pinching her vein, and she says that actually knocked her more than the first operation. Still, she was walking again soon after the second op, and walked her first parkrun 5km four weeks later.

She then ran the Pirates Hat Race in Joburg, followed by the Gansbaai 10km down in the Cape while on holiday, but says it was an interesting experience. “I actually managed to run most of it, but with a different posture. I had been hunched and slouched, due to not getting enough oxygen, and that had led to the injuries, because I was dragging my legs.” She then did the Dis-Chem 5km Dash in Joburg, the Randburg Valentines 10km and the new Hot Legs 15km race as she steadily built back up to fitness. “I can run fairly hard again, but have to run consistently so as not to spike my heart rate. I’m just enjoying the time on my legs, and finishing races with a smile on my face.”

Doing Things Differently
These days Wendy wears an ICE band on her wrist with her brother’s contact details, in case anything happens while she is out running, and she says she has been amazed by the phenomenal support her running family gives her. “We have a WhatsApp group where I let them know when I am going running, and they check my Strava results, and encourage me. Also, thanks to social media, my running club and running friends, I can’t go anywhere without people hugging me and saying welcome back, and how surprised they are to see me running again so soon.”

“I’m actually more determined than ever to run… it is hard to accept eight minutes per kay when I can remember flying at 5:45 per kay, but I’m getting there bit by bit. Fortunately, I’m off the blood-thinners now, which had side-effects that included low energy, fluid retention, and sore bones in my feet, and my blood tests show that the markers for blood clots are gone. Added to that, I am watching my diet carefully and trying to get more sleep.”

Unsurprisingly, this frightening near-death experience has made Wendy rethink a lot of things about her life and attitude, and she says she is doing things differently now. “I could have gotten out of bed one morning, dislodged a clot, and died on the spot, or during a race. It made me realise that my life had been passing me by, and that life is there to be lived, so whether you choose to climb a mountain or take up painting, or run marathons, you should just go for it.”

“It’s given me a new lease on life, and I’m now doing much more with my boys, going on new adventures, and giving them more time. I’m also encouraging them to run, and we do parkruns together as well as the Zoo Trot events each month. Overall, I’m no longer focused on having the right house, a pool or car, but on quality of life and relationships. And if my story and my new attitude can inspire one other person to get off the couch to take up running, then I will be happy.”

Trust the process, always bring the fire… that’s the attitude of two young distance running friends and rivals from Cape Town, Ashley Smith and Timmy Timoteus, who have both overcome difficult upbringings to chase success in running. – BY PJ MOSES

The action on the track has really hotted up in Cape Town in recent months, thanks in part to the efforts and attitude of two young guns of running. Ashley Smith posted the third-fastest time over 5000m in SA in 2017 with a blistering 13:55 personal best, while Anthony ‘Timmy’ Timoteus started this year with a sub-30-minute 10,000m on a windy day in the Mother City. Sometimes running against each other, sometimes helping each other push for faster times, these two young athletes bring a healthy friendship and rivalry to the track, to go with their incredibly positive outlooks.

Bring the fire
When he was younger, Ashley wanted to be a soccer player, so he enrolled at the Western Cape School of Sport, but says the coaches didn’t see any footballing talent in him. “They told me the soccer teams were full, so I tried out for running instead. I have no regrets about that now.” That saw him competing in distances from 1500m to 5000m as well as the steeplechase, and says, “I had a successful high school career, making the provincial teams every year, and that’s where I met Timmy and many of the other guys who are currently making their mark on the Cape running scene.”

His performances led to the offer of a scholarship to study at California Baptist University in the USA. “It was an amazing chance, and I’m glad I took it, but after one semester I knew that it was not for me. I decided to come back and rather focus on building a career and a life here, where my heart is. I felt I need to be an example and give back to my community, by showing them that even though life is not easy, success will come if you are prepared to put in the work. Before I left for America, people saw me running around Mitchells Plain and thought I was a bit nuts. Now they see me differently, and have become more supportive, and even cheer me on.”

Coached by Duane Fortuin, Ashley is aiming to qualify for some European races this year, and with the backing of Endurocad and mentors like Nolene Conrad and Elana Meyer, he says he is not putting limits on his dreams. “I am making a lot of sacrifices to reach my goals. I’ve always been very involved in the Cape Minstrel culture, which is an important part of who I am, but athletics has a limited lifespan and I need to put everything into it now. I take running personally, and the losses hit me hard, but also motivate me. Like American running legend, Steve Prefontaine, I am committed to pace, and there is a fast group of young guys in Cape Town now, so I believe that if we bring the fire, then the running world will burn.”

Trust the process
Bellville South is a hard place to grow up, and many kids from this area grow up without much hope of an escape to a better future. In contrast, Timmy always saw sport as his ticket out, and not just for himself, but his family as well. “It was never easy, but I kept going, because I knew this is the path that is right for me,” says Timmy.

“My first coach, Elton Esterhuizen, believed in me, after a lot of nagging on my part for him to become my coach, and he allowed me to express myself as a 13-year-old. I won all my cross-country and track races that year, and then I was offered a scholarship from two high schools, but I chose Bellville South High. I wanted to make a difference within my community, to inspire others and show them that nothing was impossible. You need to work hard to be rewarded, and I even ran from my house in Bellville South to UWC for training. People thought I was crazy, but I was just a kid working toward his dream.”

Timmy has had to overcome some hurdles along the way, notably when he was 17. “I made my first WP team that year, but it was also the year that my father passed away. I felt like all my dreams were coming to an end, but I was blessed with a second father figure and a new coach, Glenn Bentley. He kept me on the right path, and with his help and guidance, I am now a fourth-year student at UWC, something I never thought possible, and this year has started well.”

“I broke 30 minutes in the 10,000m at Green Point, with Ashley’s help, and I have been selected to go to Switzerland with the SA University Team later this year. Trust the process is my motto, because I have faced setbacks, but I always remember that your current situation is not your destination. This talent that I have been blessed with won’t be realised if I am not willing to work hard and sacrifice for it.”

IMAGES: Roger Sedres/ImageSA

We had always wanted to visit Siem Reap in Cambodia, with its amazing temples like Angkor Wat and Angkor Bayon, so when we came across the Angkor Ultra Trail website by chance, we just had to adjust our trip to fit in with the race. – BY LIONEL & MARIE HILL

Scrolling through information regarding a vacation in Cambodia, our eyes fell on an item about the Angkor Ultra Trail, to be run for the third time in January. We had never done an international race on our previous travels, but here was an opportunity to combine travel with participation in a unique race right near the Angkor World Heritage Site that we wanted to visit. The friendly website made the entry process easy – the only stipulation was that entries must be accompanied by a medical clearance – and everything was put in motion to make this a reality.

The site said, “Runners will cross several exceptional sites dominated by mountains and temples, evolving through impressive landscapes over a vast area, where rice fields, forests and villages offer panoramas of surprising diversity,” and offered five distances, the Ultra Trail Angkor 128km, Bayon Trail Angkor 64km, Marathon Trail Angkor 42km, Jungle Trail Angkor 32km and Temple Run Angkor 16km.” With our age and fitness level in mind – I’m 76, Marie is 72 – and even though we still run races up to 21km most weekends, we still wanted to be capable of enjoying the holiday, so we opted for the 16km race.

Historical Site
Angkor Wat, or Capital Temple, is the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally constructed by the Khmer Empire in the early 12th century as a Hindu temple, but by the end of that century had transformed into a Buddhist temple. Since then it has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on the national flag, and is the country's prime tourist attraction. Today it forms part of the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Angkor Thom, the inner royal city, and a number of other temples, including Angkor Bayon.

We arrived in Siem Reap a week before the race, allowing us plenty of time for sightseeing and getting acclimatised. We did a lot of travelling, walking and climbing to see all the temples, then took a day off to rest and prepare for the race. Registration was in the Angkor Paradise Hotel, and it was no problem organising a tuk-tuk to this venue. Finally, race day arrived, and once again we took a tuk-tuk in the dark to the start point at Elephant Terrace, in front of the ruins of the Royal Palace. The venue was a hive of activity, with various briefings for just over 700 athletes from 40 countries doing the various distances, and soon we were on the bus to the 16km start.

Although the humidity was high, forcing us to walk much of the way, it was bearable, and the terrain was mainly shaded footpaths through the dense forests, past majestic temples, as well as dirt roads through rural villages. However, at one stage we had to cross a river, with water about knee-high. (Guess who had to carry who?) The refreshment tables were stocked with drinks, chocolates and fruit, so no chance of getting hungry here, and very interesting was seeing the Tourism Police as marshals on the route.

While running amongst so many nationalities made it hard to communicate at times, we runners are a friendly lot, so we managed, especially when the fitter, younger athletes participating in the longer events wanted to pass us. Marie and I took our time, stopping to take countless photos, but finally after just over three hours, we ran past Angkor Wat and arrived back at the Elephant Terrace to enjoy the aftermath of the race and the company of our fellow athletes. All participants also received a Participation Pass which allows one to stroll through the Conservation Area and temples on the day. What an experience!

You’ll find more info on the race at www.ultratrail-angkor.com

IMAGES: www.photos.sdpo.com & courtesy www.gde-fon.com

The immune system is the body’s defence against illness and infection, and it is boosted by regular, moderate exercise. On the flip side, intense training may cause immuno-suppression in athletes, so to minimise the risk of infection and improve recovery, remember these nutritional tips. – BY ESMÉ MARÉ, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

When you’re training hard, especially in the build-up to a target race, it is often the combination of intense training and inadequate nutrition that decreases your athletic performance, and this will also create a higher risk of illness. Therefore, take some of this advice into consideration in the next few months, especially as the flu season hits the country just as you may be preparing for a big race.

Health Checklist
Start by keeping a simple health check-list for yourself, and make sure you meet all these requirements:
• Get enough rest: Incorporate sufficient rest days in your training programme and ensure adequate sleep for at least seven hours per night.
• Avoid crash-dieting and rapid weight-loss: Chronically undersupplying energy, often done by athletes, compromises the immune cell activity, so it is important to time meals to meet your requirements. Even a subtle delay in food consumption after training may have negative effects. For example, to prevent the degradation of the immune system, ensure that within an hour after strenuous training there is a sufficient intake of energy (carbohydrate and protein) to avoid hypoglycaemia.
• Plan your meals: Organising your daily food intake is of great importance to ensure that the correct foods are consumed in order to meet the nutritional goals for optimal training, recovery and competition.
• Get the essentials: Having an adequate dietary intake of protein and specific micronutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, B6 and B12 along with iron, zinc, copper and selenium, are all critical for the maintenance of optimum immune function. Probiotics also play an important role in enhancing gut and immune function, minimising the risk of illness. The important question for athletes is whether or not supplemental form or mega doses of these nutrients are beneficial. Athletes should rather invest in nutrient-rich foods and fluids that are critical for maintaining immune system health, which will provide them with sufficient energy, vitamins, minerals and other important chemicals found naturally in food.

Healthy Tips
So that’s the theory… here are a few examples of putting it into practice:
• Include high-fibre carbohydrates such as whole-wheat, multi-grain or low-GI seeded breads, fibre-rich cereals (or add oat bran to meals), brown-rice or whole-wheat pasta in your diet.
• Select a variety of fruits and vegetables that are packed with nutrients, and keep your plate colourful – the more colour, the better! Fresh fruit makes a good snack between training sessions, and include the peels and skins of the fruit and vegetables to increase your fibre intake.
• Include dairy such as milk, cheese and yoghurt that contains probiotics.
• Consume whole-foods instead of processed foods.

These nutritional tips cannot guarantee that you will not catch a cold or the flu as your training peaks, but by eating healthier you will give yourself a much better chance of staying on the road instead of staying in bed!