Category: Features

For most runners, the starting gun means start the watch and get to the finish line as quickly as possible, but for others it means start the conversation and make the run-chat last as long as possible. That’s how Michelle Cupido runs all her races… unless the music gets turned up! Then even talking joins running fast as a secondary priority! – BY KYLE DEELEY

Michelle Cupido is a regular at the back of the pack at many races in the Cape, and in spite of being quite short and thus difficult to spot in a crowd, it isn’t hard to find the 49-year-old Pinelands AC runner, thanks to her loud jokes, infectious laughter, sometimes outrageous running outfits, and quite often, rather eye-catching dance moves. Whether it’s before, during or after a race, Michelle simply cannot resist the music, and she just has to dance if she hears a tune she loves. She is thus often up on stage at the big races, busting out moves that pro dancers would be proud of. “I am an entertainer, and I just love having fun, so I just let the music take me,” says the dancing runner.

CARING TOUCH
A Capetonian all her life, Michelle grew up in Kensington before moving with her family to Mitchells Plain, and after school she went to study at the Otto du Plessis Nursing College, then landed her first job. “I started working as a part-time staff nurse at Somerset Hospital, and then went full-time a year after that. A few years later I got married and we had two wonderful kids, a son and a daughter, but two years after getting married I started going through a painful divorce, and that changed me,” says Michelle.

“I started looking for something to take me out of my comfort zone, I wanted to try something I had never done before, and eventually I thought running would be a good idea. I didn’t take part in any sport at school, and figured that it would be a nice change, so I did my first race, the 1999 Big Walk 36km from Simon’s Town to Cape Town, and from that moment on my life was never the same. I finished in a shocking time of 6 hours and 5 minutes, and to be honest it wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought it would be, but the bug had bitten, and soon I had entered my second event, a running race.”

THE BUG BITES
Running soon became a healthy addiction, because Michelle says she felt that if she didn’t run, she was miserable for the day, and that a part of her life felt missing. She began racing regularly, and in 2000 completed her first Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon, in a time of 2:27:55. However, the following year she missed the then stricter Two Oceans Half cut-off of 2:30, coming home in 2:43:04, but the following year, with the cut-off now extended, another 2:43 saw her claim a second medal. Today she has 11 Two Oceans Half medals and her Light Blue Permanent Number, but she says she has never quite reached the heights of that 2:27 again.

“I have completed hundreds of races, and even won an award one year for doing 84 races in a year, but none of them were near the times they could be. I just don’t like competing with the faster runners, and pushing hard in running is not for me. Instead, I remain one of the runners at the back of the pack, talking and encouraging and pushing those who need the help. I know I have the ability to finish and I make it my goal to help others to do so, too, because I know that running as a whole is just a life-changer,” says Michelle.

CONTINUED GROWTH
Another result of her divorce saw Michelle pursue her goal of becoming a registered nurse. She had left Somerset Hospital to work at the Life Health Care Hospital while doing the bridging course, but that didn’t work out and she moved on to the Groote Schuur Hospital, where she eventually achieved her goal in 2014. “It took me two tough years of studying and it required a lot of effort and sacrifice, but I learnt a lot and it was another life-changing experience.”

Besides time with her kids, the other thing that Michelle would not sacrifice during her studies was her running. “I still made time to get out on the road, because I just love talking to all my fellow runners, at training runs or races… but I really go crazy when I hear music, and that’s my biggest distraction when it comes to a race. Music transforms me and sends me to a different planet, and then I just have to dance!”

If you followed triathlon in South Africa in the 90s and into the 2000s, you definitely would have spotted Dominique Donner-Rodd. Not only was she was one of the leading female triathletes in the country, but her stunning looks also saw her grace many magazine covers. Today she is retired from competitive triathlon, but is still involved in sport as a swimming coach as well as Project Manager for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in South Africa, which will see her taking on another big swimming challenge this February. – BY RACHEL PIENAAR

Last year at the a’Quelle Midmar Mile event in KwaZulu-Natal, a group of 20 swimmers pledged to swim eight miles each to raise awareness and funds for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Created by former South African Olympic swimmer and now Princess, Charlene Wittstock, the Foundation works to promote water safety and drowning-prevention education for children and their families, because drowning is a leading cause of unnatural deaths in children. One of the swimmers in the group was former SA triathlon champion Dominique Donner-Rodd, who has been friends with the Princess since 1996 and now heads up the South African chapter of her foundation, based in Ballito in KZN.

As a former competitive swimmer, a swim coach and a mother, Dominique is passionate about this cause, and says “I will be swimming eight miles again this year, along with 27 other amazing swimmers who will each be raising funds for the Foundation to continue its mission of promoting and providing water safety education and learn-to-swim opportunities for the children of South Africa. The Foundation is honoured and privileged to be a beneficiary of the 2017 a’Quelle Midmar 8 Mile Charity Club once again, and the money raised will be used to fund our ongoing learn-to-swim programmes. I’m really looking forward to the challenge, which I have trained hard for.”

SPORTING STAR
Growing up in Cape Town, Dominique showed great sporting ability from a young age. While at school she earned provincial colours in swimming, biathlon, life-saving, netball and squash, and went on to earn national junior colours in biathlon and swimming. Having already been introduced to multisport through biathlon, her next step was into the world of triathlon, but it was not the most auspicious start. “My triathlon career started in 1989 at the Constantia Health and Racquet Club with a sprint distance race consisting of a 100m pool swim, 20km bike and 5km run, and I was racing on a borrowed bike. I didn’t have a clue how the gears worked, and as a result had to walk up all the hills! I finished fourth-last overall, but I was hooked. My first inter-provincials were in Port Elizabeth in 1990 and I won the South African Junior title, then earned my first Protea colours for triathlon in 1992.”

That same year saw South African athletes allowed to compete on the world stage again following the end of the Apartheid era and removal of the sporting embargo against the country, and Dominique was selected as part of South Africa’s first team to go to the Triathlon World Champs, held in Canada. “It was my first taste of international competition and I was totally overwhelmed! I exited the swim in the top three, but was only 20th on the bike after transition! I was more like a spectator, in awe of the other athletes, and I finished 50th that day!”

Over the next years Dominique was a regular on the podium in local races while also pursuing modelling work, which saw her appear on many magazine covers and in TV commercials, which raised her profile, helped her attract sponsorships and then turn pro. She won a number of national titles as well as numerous provincial titles, and in 2000 was part of the preliminary Olympic squad for the Games in Sydney, along with Lizel Moore and Kim Carter, but did not get to go. “Lizel had the best ranking by two or so places, even though I beat her at the World Champs that year, and she was the only woman selected. Kim and I were bitterly disappointed as we watched the race on TV.”

On a positive note, that disappointment spurred Dom on to greater heights, and she won the 5FM/Energade series in both 2000 and 2001, and was crowned SA Sprint Champ, African Champ and SA Half Ironman Champ in 2001, while also racing some of the World Cup series events and climbing to 13th on the world rankings. In 2002 she tackled the longer distances and finished 16th at the ITU World Tri Champs in Nice, France. “That was the most memorable race of my triathlon career. The sheer beauty and severe difficulty of the course made it an experience I will never forget.”

WINDING DOWN
Dominique moved to Durban in 2003 and gave birth to son Luc in April 2004, and that saw her retire as a pro triathlete, although she still won the KZN Tri Champs three times and the Duathlon Champs twice. She also finished on the podium at SA and African Champs in 2005, and finished seventh professional in the SA Ironman competition in 2006, before taking a break from all sport in 2007 and getting married to former South African National Bodybuilding Champion Michael Rodd, with daughter Rachel joining the family later.

It was only in 2010 that she competed again, taking on the 70.3 Ironman. “I finished 10th Pro, but also realised that trying to come back into the sport at an elite level at 39 years of age is not an easy task!” says Dom. Nevertheless, she won the 2010 KZN Provincial Triathlon and Duathlon Champs titles, as well as the overall amateur competition at the 2010 African Triathlon Champs, but had to miss the Ironman in PE due to falling ill with mumps. Instead, she entered Ironman France, a bucket list event, and finished a creditable 11th Pro. After that, however, her focus moved solely to her coaching and learn-to-swim work, which she had first started doing in 1990 in Cape Town under then coach Tom Fraenkel, in his Frankie Frog Swimming Programme.

She took over from Tom in 1994 as Head Swimming Coach at the Constantia Health & Racquet and her training squad saw more than 70 athletes receiving provincial colours, of which 16 went on to earn national colours, including Paralympic gold medallist Natalie Du Toit. Today she is still coaching competitive youngsters as well as doing the important learn-to-swim work with the Foundation since 2012, and she says, “Champions come and go, but to me the real judge of my success will be the opportunities I have to be a role model and ambassador for sport, to encourage others and to be the best they can. I have been involved in coaching swimming, biathlon and triathlon for nearly 20 years now, and I remain passionate about coaching children to realise their sporting dreams, because sport has been my greatest teacher in life.”

(Footnote)
For further information regarding the work of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in South Africa and how to receive tax benefits for company donations, please mail [email protected].

Not so long ago it appeared that long jumper Luvo Manyonga’s athletics career was over, but after turning his life around and completing a remarkable comeback, he won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, and now he is aiming for still more honours. – BY KYLE DEELEY & SEAN FALCONER

A top level athletic career is usually only a few years long, and it can take an athlete a number of years, including those all-important formative years in the junior ranks, to work up to the level needed to compete at Olympic, World Champs and Diamond League level. Many athletes then only stay at that level for a short period of time, so they have to make the most of their peak athletic years, and thus losing a few years for a positive drugs test can spell the end of an athlete’s career, because coming back to top level competition can be even harder than getting there in the first place.

That said, long jumper Luvo Manyonga didn’t just come back to compete again. He went all the way to the Rio Olympics last August and brought home a silver medal thanks to his soaring 8.37m leap. “The Olympics for me was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. I had an incredible few days and I knew it was my time to reach for the stars. I knew I had what it took and I made sure I did what needed to be done,” says Luvo, typically humble about what is one of the ultimate comeback stories!

Jumping to Stardom
Luvo’s athletic talent was spotted when he was attending Desmond Tutu High School in the Mbekweni township on the outskirts of Paarl, in the Boland area. At the 2009 Boland regional track and field champs, he was closely watched by the late Mario Smith, then one of the coaches at the University of Stellenbosch. “Mario noticed my talent after watching me jump, and told me I had the most perfect technique he had ever seen, and that I had serious potential,” says Luvo.

That saw the youngster start training with Mario at Maties, and his first international success soon followed at the 2009 African Junior Champs in Bambous, Mauritius, where he jumped 7.49m for the bronze medal. He ended the year with a new best of 7.65m, then broke through the eight-metre barrier in 2010 with a massive 8.19m jump in Germany, which is still the African and South African Junior Record, and followed that with a 7.99m jump to win the gold medal at the 2010 Junior World Champs in Moncton, Canada.

With a bright career seemingly ahead of him, Luvo turned professional in 2011, and describes it as a major milestone: “Competing as a professional was incredible. I met new people and had to compete against some of the best in the world, and this for me was an amazing achievement.” In July that year he jumped 8.26m in Finland, climbing to second on the all-time SA list, then finished fifth with an 8.21m jump in the final of his first Senior World Champs in Daegu, South Korea. Just two weeks later he was in action again at the All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, winning the gold medal thanks to an 8.02m jump, and he says “This was possibly the greatest experience of my life to that point. I had won my first real gold medal.”

From Hero to Villain
But then it all went horribly wrong. In March 2012, following drug testing at a national meet, it was announced that he had tested positive for a banned substance. However, instead of it being for one of the usual performance-enhancing substances, it turned out to be the recreational drug ‘TIK,’ a local variant of Crystal Methamphetamine, which nevertheless can still give an athlete an unfair advantage over ‘clean’ athletes.

The story began to emerge of a troubled soul, struggling to balance the life of an international sporting star with his difficult poverty-stricken upbringing in the township. Family and friends had quickly come to rely on him financially as he met with success, and that, combined with his recreational use of TIK since 2011, quickly saw him descend into deep debt. That prompted Mario to start supporting Luvo’s family at his own expense, so that his jumper could focus on training, but by then the drug addiction was taking over.

“All of a sudden I felt this massive burden, because supporting both my friends and family financially was overwhelming for me, and being a regular user of TIK did not help. It is terribly hard to stop the addiction, and the more I tried to overcome it, the more it took over my life,” says Luvo. “I was actually incredibly lucky to have placed fifth in the World Champs in 2011, and it came as a huge surprise, due to the fact I had struggled to train for the competition, as I was sidetracked by my friends and the underworld of the Mbekweni Township.”

Having tested positive, Luvo admitted to an addiction and agreed to drug rehabilitation, and at his doping hearing, Mario’s compelling mitigating argument that Luvo’s poor family situation had contributed largely to his drug-use, instead of a deliberate attempt to enhance his performance, saw the tribunal set a slightly reduced 18-month suspension as punishment, instead of the normal 24 months. “There can be no disputing that the Athlete is at fault… but the exceptional social circumstances that many black athletes encounter in South Africa cannot be ignored,” read the tribunal summation.

Tragedy to Triumph
In 2014, just as Luvo was starting to make his comeback, tragedy struck when Mario was killed in a car accident while driving to Paarl to visit his athlete, and Luvo’s life once again spiralled out of control. Fortunately, national Olympic body (SASCOC) president Gideon Sam visited Luvo’s home and was shocked by the situation, so arranged for Luvo to move to the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre. “This was a life-changing move for me. I received accommodation, meals, sport science, medical assistance and coaching, and along the way made a number of friends. Being in an environment with a bunch of elite athletes that train together is motivating and inspirational,” says Luvo. “The temptations that go with staying in Mbekweni were the contributing factor. I needed to be taken out of the township’s environment in order to focus on getting better and overcome my addiction.”

By mid-2015 Luvo was back in full training, and in 2016 he returned to official competition for the first time in some four years, having set himself the goal of trying to qualify for Rio. Remarkably, in March he jumped a then world-leading 8.30m in Pretoria, went over eight metres again in his first Diamond League meet, then took the silver medal behind SA team mate Rushwahl Samaai at the African Champs in Durban. Having qualified for Rio, he managed to put his chequered past behind him as he posted that majestic 8.37 silver-medal PB jump, but now he is already looking ahead to the next challenge: “Rio was great and I was stoked with my performance – to date it was my most memorable event – but with that now behind me, I am focused on 2017, and taking gold at the IAAF World Champs.”

As most people know, we need to consume a balanced diet consisting of carbohydrate, protein and good fats in order to fuel our bodies and remain healthy, and this becomes even more important when we are athletes, as our muscles burn more energy, both when we are active and when resting. Therefore, many athletes focus on carbohydrate intake, or carbo-loading, as it provides the fuel that your muscles run on, but protein is just as important, because it is essential in both the muscle-building process and the recovery process.

 

During your run or training in the gym, more muscle protein is being broken down than added to the muscle. Therefore, taking in protein immediately after exercise is essential to help reverse the impact of exercise on your muscles. Now, while many athletes turn to meat – we all know how much South Africans love their meat done on a braai – as well as dairy products and eggs for their protein needs, one of the best protein sources available is soy protein, to be found in many products from soups, breads and breakfast cereals to dairy and meat alternatives. Some people still look down on these soy alternatives, saying they prefer the real thing, but there are big benefits to be found in soy products:

 

?         Low in cholesterol and saturated fat, which reduces risk of heart disease.

?         Low GI – Sustains energy levels and keeps you fuller for longer, which is ideal if you want to watch your weight.

?         Contains essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins – great for kids.

?         Preserves lean muscle mass.

?         Helps stimulate superior recovery time and makes athletes less injury-prone.

 

BRING ON THE SOY

Another big bonus of soy protein is that when combined with casein and whey (two protein types commonly found in dairy products), you get a triple blend of protein types that are digested by your body at different rates, thus creating a timed release that prolongs your ‘anabolic window,’ the amount of time after exercise it takes to build muscle. Whey is a ‘fast protein’ because it is absorbed very quickly, while soy protein is absorbed at an intermediate rate. Casein is a ‘slow protein’ and takes several hours to be digested. This means the blend can carry your repair and growth process, and the soy bridges the gap between other protein types.

 

“Within the first hour after your exercise, 20 to 25 grams of high quality protein should be consumed. This will drive rates of muscle protein synthesis above muscle breakdown,” explains Dr Greg Paul, Global Director for Sports Nutrition at Solae, one of the world’s leading soy-producing companies. He adds that the triple blend is a much better option for athletes: “Single proteins are fine for normal growth and development, but for athletes looking to pack on muscle or runners logging 10 to 20km a day and hoping to set a new PB in a marathon, the blend is essential. They get an edge.”

 

The blend then extends the release of essential amino acids to the muscles, and because of the natural antioxidants found in soy protein, you can also reduce the oxidative stress of exercise on the body. In other words, you can recover quicker after a long run. “It takes at least 24 to 48 hours for your muscles to recover,” explains Greg, “and the blend provides amino acids for up to five hours. So if you have a shake with these proteins in it for example, it will last you until your next meal.”

Andrew Hagen spends a lot of time in the mountains and on trails, because when he’s not running, he is often ‘on the line’ with his fellow volunteer fire-fighters as more and more wild fires rampage through the Cape region. – BY RACHEL PIENAAR

In the last few years news reports in the summer months have been dominated by runaway wild fires in the Cape, with the combination of hot, dry and windy conditions turning the Western Cape into a tinderbox. This has seen fire-fighting services stretched to breaking point, including the Volunteer Wildfire Service (VWS) fire-fighters. These unpaid men and women put their lives on hold when a fire breaks out, don their protective gear and head up mountains and ravines to fight the fires, and amongst them is Andrew Hagen, a 33-year-old Stellenbosch-based photographer and technician. He’s also an elite-level trail runner when not working or fighting fires, and thrives on tough mountainous courses.

Amongst Andrew’s running accolades are four wins in the Three Peaks Challenge in Cape Town, which summits Devils Peak, Table Mountain and Lions Head. He first won it in 2007, then again in 2009, and set a new course record as he claimed a third win in 2010. His record has since fallen, but in 2016 he posted an unprecedented fourth win. In between that he also won the 2013 Lesotho Ultra Trail Run, and placed second in the 2014 Ultra Trail Cape Town, which in turn saw him selected for the SA team for the 2015 Ultra Trail World Champs in France. “I’ve always run. At school I was never good at the shorter distances, but I took part in quite a few cross country events,” says Andrew. “It was the numerous hikes up Table Mountain that took me down the path of trail running, and I feel at home amongst the mountains.”

HEAT OF THE MOMENT
It was a close encounter with a forest fire seven years ago that led to Andrew volunteering his services as a fire-fighter. “The 2009 Jonkershoek fires burnt right to the walls of the place where we lived, and did tremendous damage while burning across the mountains for a month. My wife to be at the time, Hayley, founded the Jonkershoek Station of VWS and I was one of the first to sign up. We not only fight to protect lives, homes, trees and pretty flowers, but we’re fighting against the degradation of our mountain water catchments by repeated burning of unnatural causes.”

As a VWS crew leader, Andrew and his team are often exposed to extreme heat, steep and rugged terrain, smoke inhalation, and back-breaking work, but he says trail running has primed him for the challenge. “The mountain environment with its steep gradients and uneven terrain is already a comfort zone, my cardio fitness is better than average, and being self-sufficient is already a habit. It’s just the act of having to beat flames, dig out coals or cut a fire break all day that can sometimes wear your upper body out,” he says.

FIRE SEASON
During the winter months the VWS recruits are put through a thorough training programme, learning the tools for fire-fighting as well as a good working knowledge of the warning signs of trouble and the behaviour of wild fires. When ‘Fire Season’ starts, the volunteers go on high alert. “There is a large fire-fighting community which includes municipal fire departments, conservation professionals, contract fire-fighting crews, Working on Fire crews and pilots, and other smaller volunteer groups, all putting in long hours to see the fires brought under control.”

As volunteers, the VWS fire-fighters take turns to be on standby on the weekends, and this past January they were once again called into emergency action as fires swept through the Grabouw and Helderberg areas. “We had to dispatch 18 crews of volunteers in less than two weeks!” says Andrew, who adds that fortunately there are more and more volunteers signing up each year. “The other great thing is the public support that VWS receives. In the time I’ve been involved, I don’t remember ever having as much public support as we do now, and it makes a big difference.”

Even when not on the line, Andrew and Hayley continue to work to promote and grow the VWS Boland branch. “We both want to make a meaningful difference in the preservation of our environment, which directly affects our water supply. We hope to create greater awareness of fire risks, and ultimately, we’d really like to see fewer fires,” says Andrew. Meanwhile, he still has running goals in mind as well: “I’d like to do some of the iconic 100 mile races overseas, such as the UTMB or Hardrock, but the major goal is to just to keep enjoying it as a healthy part of my life for years to come.”

For more info on the VWS, go to www.vws.org.za.

Sugar has always been a controversial issue with most health-conscious athletes. We are constantly bombarded with info about how sugar can cause holes in our teeth, affect our mood and energy levels, make us fat and cause illnesses such as diabetes and cancer. But let’s face it, sugar is a key nutrient in sport and without it our diets would be very bland. Nutritionists agree that sugar has a place in a healthy diet, as long as it is balanced in amount, type and timing. – BY CHRISTINE PETERS

SUGAR: A CARBOHYDRATE
There are three so-called macronutrients in our diets: proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates and fats supply the body with the energy vital for existence. Sugars, along with starches and dietary fibres, fall into the carbohydrate group. Plant foods, such as cereals and grains (maize, wheat, rice) and fruits and vegetables, are the primary sources of carbohydrates in the diet. Plant carbohydrates vary widely in sweetness, texture, rate of digestion, and degree to which they are absorbed in the body.
 
Carbohydrates can be categorised as:
• Monosaccharides (glucose, fructose and galactose)
• Disaccharides and oligosaccharides (sucrose such as table sugar, lactose or milk sugar, and maltose)
• Polysaccharides (starch and fibres)
 The prefix ‘mono’ refers to one sugar, ‘di’ indicates that two sugars are combined, and ‘poly’ indicates the combination of many sugars.

All carbohydrates are eventually broken down into the simple sugars (mono and disaccharides) and absorbed into the bloodstream. Because glucose, fructose and galactose are absorbed at different rates and have different metabolic pathways, the type of carbohydrate influences the effect it has on the blood sugar levels. Simple carbs can occur naturally within a food e.g. fructose in fruit, or they can be added to a food (added sugars).

Because processed foods containing added sugars are replacing other foods in the South African diet, simple carbs have increased significantly as compared to more complex starches or fibres. It is these added sugars that are to blame for the increase in obesity.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
When eaten, sugar is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, causing a surge in the hormone insulin. Insulin clears sugar and fat from the bloodstream, and enables them to be stored in tissue for future use. Go overboard with added sugar and eventually your body’s insulin system will stop working, leaving you with high blood sugar and eventually, diabetes and other illnesses. The World  Health Organization recommends limiting your sugar intake to 10% of your total daily calories. So if you eat 2 500 calories, 250 of them can be from added sugar. One of the biggest mistakes we make is overloading our bodies with sugar during an event. This leads to a slower digestive system and your blunted insulin levels during exercise, which means that we can process only so much food and pull only so much glucose into our cells.

During exercise the body can process 30-60 grams of carbs per hour. Consume too much energy and you’ll not only take in too many calories, you are also likely to suffer from gastrointestinal disturbances. Use the following guidelines to ensure you take in the correct amount of sugar:
• For activities less than 60min a day, you can get away with avoiding simple carbs (bars, gels, sports drinks) and focusing more on adding complex carbs to your normal diet.
• If you train more than 90min a day, you will need to replenish your muscles during and after an event. The general rule is 30-60g of carbs per 45-60min or 8-10km, whichever comes first.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR SUGAR
Sugars in energy products come in different forms: glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltodextrin. For the best performance benefits, use products with a blend of sugars. Various studies have found that when trained athletes consume drinks with mixed sugars, they are able to process, digest and absorb considerably more carbs per minute than when they drink single-sugar energy drinks.

It comes down to what you like and what your body can tolerate while you run. Genetically, we all have different abilities to digest and absorb various carbohydrates. Digestion becomes slower the faster you go. Play around with different products and figure out what works for you. Don’t overdo it on the sugar. All the carbs in the world will do you no good if you can’t get them out of your gut and into your legs.

The following table details exactly how much sugar is in the typical foods we eat, and which healthy alternatives we can substitute them with.

Example of high sugar food Healthier alternative
Milk chocolate bar 22g sugar; Cereal bar  14g sugar; 9g sugar Cooked oats (3/4 cup);  0.4g sugar Commercial large muffin; 36g sugar Oat bran muffin (homestyle); 14g sugar Coke (one cup); 27g sugar Low fat milk (one cup); 14g sugar Low fat fruit yoghurt (one cup); 46g sugar Low fat plain yoghurt (one cup).

Note: 15g of sugar or carbohydrate is equivalent to one slice of bread in terms of portion size.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SUGAR
• ‘Low sugar’ is supposed to mean less than 5g of sugar per 100g of food.
• Often fat free products have more added sugar to make up for taste and to act as a filler.
• Honey is very similar in terms of calories/energy to table sugar, but does have other health benefits if not used in excess.
• Xylitol is a great alternative to sugar for those trying to lose weight, have diabetes or are prone to dental problems.

Most of know that we should be eating two to three fruit portions per day, but there remains confusion of how to tally up portions, and what exactly counts as a fruit. – BY CHRISTINE PETERS, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

The Department of Health bases its recommendation about fruit and vegetable consumption on a 1990 report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), looking at the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten in regions like Italy and Greece, where high intakes of fruit and vegetables are linked to low rates of chronic disease and some cancers. The WHO thus recommends that 400g of fruit and vegetables should be consumed per day, and to make it easier, health experts have divided that 400g into five 80g portions, two to three of them coming from fruit.

There are several reasons that fruits are so important:
• They’re rich in fibre, important in healthy digestion, and help prevent certain conditions such as constipation and bowel cancer.
• They’re packed with antioxidants that stop free-radicals attacking and damaging our cells, helping prevent health problems like heart disease, strokes and cancer.
• They contain vital vitamins and minerals, like vitamin C, potassium, folate and beta-carotene.
• They’re low in fat and calories, yet fill us up, so they help with appetite and weight control.

WHAT COUNTS AS A PORTION?
Each different fruit contains various combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, so to get the best benefit, eat a variety of fruit daily, especially differently coloured fruits. Most fruit-containing foods can count towards your three fruit servings per day, but there is a limit to how many portions they provide, regardless of the amount. For example:
• Fresh fruit: 80g of fresh fruit equals one fruit portion, e.g. 1 medium apple, 3 apricots, 4 heaped tablespoons of blueberries.
• Dried fruit: 30g dried fruit equals one fruit portion, e.g. 2 figs or 1 heaped tablespoon of raisins.
• Tinned fruit: 80g tinned fruit equals one fruit portion, e.g. 2 pear halves or 2 pineapple rings
• Fruit juice: A small glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice counts as one fruit serving, but you can only count one serving of fruit juice towards your three fruit servings per day. This is because unlike fresh fruit, the juicing process squeezes out natural sugar that is normally found between the cells of fruit, which is harmful to your teeth.

WEIGHT-GAIN WORRIES?
Many people make the mistake of thinking fruit is sugar and will cause you to gain weight. The truth is, fruit is made up of various types of sugars, but the main type is fructose, which has a different metabolic pathway and a lower glycaemic (blood sugar) response compared to glucose, which is found in candy and sweet, refined carbs. Fruit also contains fibre, which lowers the glycaemic response even further. Thus if you eat a lot of fruit at one time, the sugar load in the blood can rise unfavourably, but not if you eat one to two portions at a time. The key is to have a variety of fruits and spread them out throughout the day.

Having dominated the Collegiate track and cross country circuits while studying in the USA and qualified for her first Olympics, Dominique Scott-Efurd is now looking forward to life as a professional athlete, and aiming for more outings in the Green and Gold of South Africa. – BY SEAN FALCONER

When Dominique won a full athletics scholarship in 2011 to go study marketing at the University of Arkansas in the USA, she left Cape Town as a young athlete with three junior SA titles on the track, a lot of raw potential, and a big dream of one day running for her country at the Olympics. However, she is the first to admit that she wasn’t sure if she would reach that level, but decided to give it everything and see how far she could go. “I knew I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, even though I went there knowing I wasn’t the best athlete on the team – not even the best Freshman, for that matter. But somehow Coach Lance Harter and I found what I initially lacked in strength and speed, and we were able to get the best out of me over five years,” says Dominique.

That’s putting it mildly… Dom ended up winning five national NCAA collegiate titles and helped the Arkansas Razorbacks win their first ever indoor and outdoor national team titles, was awarded prestigious All American honours seven times, set multiple records along the way, and enjoyed superstar status on campus. That in turn was all a build-up to her making the final selection for Team SA for the Rio Olympics, where she ran a PB 31:51:47 in the women’s 10,000m to become the second-fastest South African woman of all time at that distance.

She says the Olympic race was insanely fast, nothing like what she had expected. “My coach and my strength trainer, who ran at the Olympics himself, said it was likely going to be tactical, as the big races nearly always are at championships. So they said just be brave and hang in there till halfway, and then see what happens, but it was the total opposite. It was the fastest women’s 10,000m in history – within the first 200m we were already running single file, and I was on my PB pace right from the gun – and even though I got lapped a couple of times, it was still amazing to be part of it.”

In the past year, Dom also got married to college ‘sweetheart’ Cameron Efurd at the end of 2015, and as soon as she graduated from College in mid-2016, she signed a long-term sponsorship deal with adidas, so now the 24-year-old is focused on making her mark as a professional athlete. “It really has just been like a dream come true. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into those five years, but it was definitely worth it!” she says. “Now I feel so blessed, because I know that only a few people get to become professional athletes, and I am also blessed to be with a company that takes care of me so well. I’m truly living my dream.”

Showing Fine Form
In late December, Dom and Cam visited SA for three weeks to visit her family in Cape Town, and in between family get-togethers, sightseeing and tanning – it was snowing back ‘home’ in Arkansas when they left – Dom made the most of the glorious summer weather to put in some serious training ahead of her indoor track season starting in January. She also put her fitness and speed to the test and managed to break the women’s course record at the Constantia parkrun, then shattered the women’s 15km course record at the NutriBullet Bay to Bay race, clocking 53:59 to take just under five minutes off the previous record!

She was often asked for autographs and pictures when she ventured out to running events, and for much of her time in SA she had journalists and photographers hovering nearby – a far cry from two years ago when she actively went looking for coverage in the South African press in order to remind ASA that she was still in the mix for selection for Rio. Of course, having been selected for Rio and worn the Green and Gold at senior level for the first time, but now being married to an American and living there, the question often comes up where she now considers home, and what her plans for the future are.

“That’s a hard question, because I was born in SA and it will always be my home, but I have bought a house in the States with my husband and feel settled there. Also, when I graduated, I was no longer allowed to stay in the USA on a student visa, but when Cameron and I got married last December I was automatically allowed to get my Green Card, which allows me to live in the States and earn money – and pay taxes – but I am still a South African national, and I want to keep representing SA. But both countries are now home,” says Dom.

“Even if I wanted to run for America I can’t, because you have to have a US passport and be a permanent citizen… but it‘s not what I want to do anyway, I want to keep running for South Africa. I moved overseas to study and happened to find a husband there, so now I live and train over there, but I do not want to turn my back on SA. I worked hard to get into the South African team and had a great experience in Rio, and now I want more of that. Cam and I have discussed our plans, including when to start a family, and he understands that my focus will be on my running at least until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and possibly even up to the 2024 Games. I’m only 24 now, so we still have plenty of time for kids down the line.”

Things Working Out Nicely
Another reason Dom is so happy with life in Arkansas is that her successful partnership with Coach Harter is set to continue, even though she has now finished college and is no longer running for the Razorbacks. “He is still my coach, and they are allowing me to train with the squad and use the facilities. They’ve even given me a faculty parking pass, and still allow me to eat in the student athlete cafeteria. They say it improves the level of their athletes by allowing top athletic alumni to continue training there, and that also means I get to give back to the programme as well, so everybody is happy.”

Looking ahead, Dom says she reckons the 10,000m is her best event right now, but she still wants to race the shorter middle distance events on the track. “I only just missed out on the Rio qualifier for the 5000 by 1.1 seconds – and that was in my first race of the outdoor season, before I peaked – so this year I am hoping to qualify for both the 5000 and 10,000 at the World Champs in London. I believe I can run the ‘Double,’ because they’re a week apart on the programme, so there’s enough time to recuperate. Also, I’ve run good mile and 3000 times on the indoor track recently, so I think I do have the speed to run the 5000.”

Her competitive plans for 2017 will start with the indoor track season from January to March, followed by the outdoor season from April through till about September, and in between she says she may fit in a few road races as well. “I love running on the road, because I grew up at the road races in Cape Town that my mom ran. There’s not much cross country in the professional athletics world and I want to stay on the track for at least a couple more years before I make the step to the road, but I will still do some road events.”

Sounding a Bit Dodgy
Of course, the one less than fortunate side-effect of Dom’s journey is the way five years in America has affected her accent, which now has an unmistakable American tone. “I get teased about it here in SA, but then we go back to the States and Cam gets asked where he’s from, because he picks up some of the things I say. Sometimes it switches on and off, so we’re both now multi-cultural, but we just laugh off the teasing, because we’re just enjoying life.”

Caffeine is the best known member of a family of naturally occurring stimulants found in leaves, nuts and seeds in over 60 plants. Dietary sources include tea, coffee, chocolate, soft drinks and energy drinks – typically these provide 20 to 200mg of caffeine per serving. Coffee and tea are the main sources of caffeine for adults, while soft drinks are the main sources for children. Caffeine is also found in your sports drink: guarana added to sports gels/drinks/ supplements is the main source for athletes.

It's well-known that caffeine makes us more alert and delays sleep. It's also popular among athletes, since it can improve performance in some sports. However, people often wonder whether caffeine is safe. Right now, it appears that a moderate caffeine intake does not increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis or cancer. And contrary to popular opinion, caffeinated drinks do not dehydrate us, especially if we are used to caffeine.

HOW MUCH CAFFEINE IS SAFE?
Many different foods, beverages and medicines contain varying amounts of caffeine.
• It is recommended that adults limit their caffeine intake to no more than 400 to 450mg per day. This is about the amount found in three 250ml cups of regular coffee.
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women should limit their intake to no more than 300mg/day (two cups of coffee or six cups of tea). Caffeine can be passed to an infant in breast milk, which may result in irritability and sleeplessness.
• Recommended limits for children are even lower (45mg/day for children four to six years, 62.5mg/day for seven to nine, and 85mg/day for children 10-12 years). It doesn’t take much for children to reach these limits; a can of cola contains about 45mg of caffeine, an energy drink has about 80mg and a solid milk chocolate bar contains about 10mg.

CAN IT IMPROVE MY PERFORMANCE?
Caffeine has a complex range of actions on the body which have been extensively researched. It has several effects on skeletal muscle, and through some of these actions, caffeine may stimulate fat metabolism during aerobic exercise, ‘sparing’ glycogen stores and thus delaying fatigue. However, other studies have found this theory to be short-lived and confined to certain individuals only.

Caffeine has also been found to have other effects on the body that may influence athletic performance. It may affect the central nervous system, such as reduced perception of effort and enhanced recruitment of motor units, which may give athletes a ‘buzz’ and mask fatigue.

It is important to remember that caffeine-loading is not good for all athletes. Like any drug, caffeine affects everyone differently. Some athletes will respond and receive a pronounced performance boost, whereas some athletes are non-responders or may even experience disadvantageous side-effects.

CAFFEINE DOSE
Obviously it’s in an athlete’s interest to find the dose of caffeine that elicits the greatest benefit to their performance, but with the least level of increased risk or side-effect. Unfortunately, it’s been very difficult to conclude studies done on the effect of varying caffeine doses on performance, because of different body sizes of subjects and the use of absolute doses verses relative doses of caffeine. However, it does seem that beneficial effects from caffeine occur at very modest levels of intakes (1 to 3mg/kg body mass or 70 to 150mg caffeine), when it is taken prior to or during exercise.

It’s important to note that it seems that increased doses do not appear to improve performance further and may in fact be detrimental (tremors, increased heart rate, headaches and impaired sleep).

THE RIGHT TIMING
Caffeine is rapidly absorbed, reaching peak concentrations in the blood within an hour after ingestion. New studies are showing that divided doses of caffeine (smaller amounts taken in throughout exercise) are beneficial for performance, rather than one larger dose one hour prior to a bout of exercise.

More studies need to be done, but it’s thought that as an athlete fatigues during exercise, they become more sensitive to small doses of caffeine.

SOURCE OF CAFFEINE
Unfortunately, coffee as a source of caffeine for an athlete is not the ideal source because of the variability of caffeine content (one cup of coffee can contain anywhere between 25 and 214mg caffeine) and the possible presence of chemicals in coffee that impair exercise performance.

Furthermore, there is a lack of investigations of the effects of available caffeine sources, such as cola drinks and caffeinated sports drinks, compared to those of pure caffeine used in studies. Therefore, the athlete may find it difficult to apply the beneficial effects of caffeine to their ‘real-world’ scenarios.

The most important thing to remember is everything in moderation! For the average healthy adult, moderate caffeine intakes pose no health risk, especially if we eat a balanced diet and enjoy regular physical activity.

While attending the 2016 Comrades Marathon, Old Mutual’s Head of Brand of Emerging Markets, Karen Thomas, was invited on a journey that would test her and humble her, and just like the 90km journey from Maritzburg to Durban, it would change her. Here’s her story of conquering Mount Kilimanjaro. – BY ROXANNE MARTIN

Karen has a busy life. She works from early morning to late evening and travels at least once a week for business, some of which is centred on Old Mutual’s title sponsorship of several of the biggest events on the SA running calendar, while balancing the task of being a loving wife to husband Glen and mother to daughter Andrea. So when she was challenged to climb Mount Kilimanjaro towards the end of 2016, just four months later, many would have forgiven her for saying her schedule was just too full, but Karen’s commitment to a managed lifestyle, of balancing it all, allowed her to find the time to train and get herself ready to climb the highest peak in Africa.

Boot Camp Diaries
Following a strict routine of attending Adventure Boot Camp for Women three days a week, Karen‘s training encompassed an all-body regime that builds core, legs, cardio and overall strength, as well as some running, as she knew she had to up the ante to get ready for the climb on a tight four-month timeline. “I believe that the Adventure Boot Camp built all the strength I needed to do the climb,” says Karen, adding that she spent every available opportunity to climb Table Mountain. “What was so awesome was discovering parts of Table Mountain that I didn’t know. That was absolutely brilliant. Also, you meet incredible people up there, and I am a bit of a chatterbox, so I would chat to people and get to know them.”

Karen says the biggest lesson she learnt on her various climbs on the mountain was simple: “What goes up, must come down!” That’s why in all her climbs, Karen never took the easy way down with the cable car, instead going down as she had gone up, on her own two feet. “What people don’t realise is the coming down is harder, so you need to make sure you build the strength to get down, too, if you want to take on the high mountains.”

The Importance of Altitude
In the final stages of her preparation, Karen spent a weekend in the Drakensberg while attending the Wild Series Mont-Aux-Sources Challenge, another event sponsored by Old Mutual, where she spent three days climbing. “It gave me some altitude training, which I needed with only three weeks to go,” says Karen. At that point she says she felt ready for the challenge ahead, not just physically, but also mentally: “One of the biggest lessons was preparation and training, because you need to make sure you are physically strong and fit, which means then you only have the ‘kop stuff’ to worry about,” explains Karen.

This ‘kop stuff’ she speaks of was the mental strength to push beyond her perceived boundaries and get the job done. “There was no ways that I wasn’t going to make it,” says Karen determinedly, but she is quick to add that she also made sure she gave herself the best opportunity to successfully crest the mountain. “I can’t stress enough the importance of having the right equipment and using it in your training before you attempt the main climb. You need to have good, waterproof boots!”

Things Get Real
During the climb the team found themselves faced with a day of constant rain and below zero temperatures. “It rained so hard that day, then it starting sleeting because it was so cold,” says Karen. Incredibly thankful for her waterproof boots and dry feet, it was still a tough, taxing day, pushing the whole party further than they thought the journey would. It was here that Karen says the support she had received all through her journey to the climb really madea difference. “I just drew on the strength of all the supporters that were backing me to finish this journey. In the toughest moments, it was simply the thought of those back home who were cheering me on that kept me going.”

The effects of altitude also proved a problem for many in the climbing party, with some of Karen’s fellow climbers needing oxygen as they bean hallucinating, but Karen seemed to take everything in her stride. “I think I have the constitution for altitude. I did the Inca Trail about six years ago, and was fine then – I didn’t have headaches or any symptoms,” says Karen. Her tent mate was not so lucky, getting sick after the party had summitted and being placed on a drip. Luckily she had Karen to help her pack her stuff and make sure she had everything she needed.

Know Your Limits
The experience of watching her fellow climbers succumb to the many challenges that the mountain puts in front of you, gave Karen an insight into what her family feared most, that she would push past the point where she should stop. “You have to know when you can’t do it, when you must stop,” says Karen, explaining again how important it is to listen to those around you to know when you need to stop. But overcoming the altitude was actually not Karen’s biggest problem during the climb… “I am quite tall, and your gear is heavy, so I would need someone to help me get out of the tent everyday!” jokes Karen.

Also, the ablutions facilities on route were a serious challenge, but luckily for the girls they had a portable mini-loo with them. Washing and staying fresh was also a challenge, says Karen. “We took plenty of wet-wipes, and it didn’t matter how cold it was, I used them. I also took a little bottle of lavender oil that I could spray on, and people remarked how nice I smelt, which made me feel better,” she laughs.

Summiting
“The Summit was the toughest,” says Karen. “We began the final climb to the top at night, which I believe they do so you can’t see how tough it is! The last 200m to Stella point was really hard, and I think if people could have seen how hectic it was, they wouldn’t do it. I remember looking up and asking someone if that was a star or a head lamp, because you go so high,” says Karen. Getting up to the summit and back down to their final campsight took them a full 16 hours, but Karen says it was all made worthwhile when you got to the top with the sun rising and saw the whole world in front of you. “it was just amazing,” she says.

Asked if she would do it again, Karen’s answer is an emphatic no. “There are other challenges out there that are left for me to take on and experience.” She adds that climbing Kili has given her a new perspective on the bigger picture, and shown her that there is more to life than just what you do every day, that amazing experiences and amazing friendships are what takes one forward… to the next big challenge.