‘What now?’ asks many a runner just days after Comrades… After months of hard training and the massive toll 87km will take on your body, it’s time to plot those running goals for the second half of the year, but do it wisely!

Your past three months would have consisted of many long runs, anything from 20km and up, all run at a slow, Comrades race pace. These runs are called LSD or Long Slow Distance runs. The point of LSD is to train the body to: (1) withstand the pounding of running from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, (2) become efficient at using fat as an energy source in order go the full distance, and (3) become biomechanically efficient at the slower Comrades race pace and therefore train the muscles to run for hours on end at that pace.

However, the problem with running LSD almost every weekend for the last three months is that you have trained the body to run slowly. If you’re hoping to run a few PB’s in the second half of the year, there are a number of things you’ll need to address.

1 Don’t Hibernate
Recovering from a massive undertaking like Comrades is extremely important, but avoid falling into the trap of going into hibernation for months. From a physiological perspective, the body only maintains what it feels it needs to survive. This means that we quickly begin to lose muscular endurance and strength when we stop exercising completely. Studies have shown that we lose about 10% of our strength and about 30 to 40% of our muscular endurance within eight weeks of no training.
Therefore, give your body enough recovery time to repair the muscle fibre damage caused by Comrades, but then get going again. Take 10 to 14 days full rest and then gradually start to introduce cross-training and a few easy runs. If you still have an ache in your legs, then hit the pool.

2 Need For Speed
With recovery done and dusted, set yourself a few goals for the second half of the year. It’s difficult to get up in the cold mornings if you don’t have a purpose for doing so, and setting goals gives you something to work toward. Post-Comrades is the ideal time to take your training to a new level. For months you’ve essentially been doing a few thousand kilometres of base training. If you stay off the road until September, you’ll have a lot of work to do before you’re back to the level you are now. Instead, focus on the shorter distances and gradually build speed. Improving your times over 5km or 10km has a knock-on effect for your marathons and ultras. This will take your training to a new level and put you on the front foot for your goals in 2016.

3 What weaknesses?
There’s a good chance that as your weekly mileage increased in the build-up to Comrades, so you started to experience a number of niggles, or even full-blown injuries. Every year, a large number of runners, against better judgement, will arrive at the start line and attempt to complete Comrades while nursing an injury. Often it’s these runners who risk their lives by taking anti-inflammatory drugs during the race. If you need a drug in order to finish a race, then you should not even consider starting! These great races are not going anywhere.

Niggles and injuries are a result of muscle imbalances or specific muscle weaknesses. These are exploited through repetitive motion (lots of LSD). The increase in mileage pre-Comrades places such a big energy demand on the body that one cannot focus on endurance, strength and speed training at the same time. It’s a recipe for disaster. This means that pre-Comrades training should have a main focus of endurance. Now, with Comrades behind you, the second half of the year is an ideal time to identify your imbalances and weaknesses and to work on improving them.

The bottom line is that there is life after Comrades, and these guidelines will give you some direction.

Para-athlete Dylan Da Silva was born with the physical disability Phocomelia, the malformation of his arms, but he has not let that hold him back from becoming a talented young athlete who is now ready to take the triathlon world by storm.

When Dylan was three years old and got his first bike, he immediately asked his father to take the training wheels off. “He refused, so I took them off myself and was riding on my own that very day. No-one taught me to ride a bike, or to drive a car, and I live like an ‘abled’ person,” says the 20-year-old from Johannesburg, who has always been an avid swimmer and cyclist, and then took to running as well when he challenged himself to do a triathlon in 2014.

His transition to triathlon was smooth after amazing performances in 2012 and 2013 as a para-cyclist in the C4 category, winning countless gold medals in time trials and with national records on the track under his belt. On the triathlon scene, he soon scored a Gauteng Champs win in the PT3 category, then added the SA title and the All Africa Champs title as well. “I was dependent on my swimming and cycling then, but a lot of people don’t realise that the running action requires a lot of work, so as I progress, I figure out what works,” he says.

Waves of Wins
In between the triathlon titles he also picked up the SA and Gauteng Championship para-cycling titles, but his multisport achievements had gotten him noticed and he was selected for the South African Para-triathlon team for last year’s ITU World Triathlon Grand Finale in Edmonton, Canada, where he finished 10th in his category. “Before the start, I sat by the water and looked either side of me and knew that it was a dream I wanted to work on,” says Dylan. Last year’s form as well as a win at the Buffalo City ATU Paratriathlon African Championships in the beginning of 2014 gave him the push to train harder.

His start to 2015 saw his performances get still better as he picked up a win at the Buffalo City ITU World Para-triathlon event in March. Then came what he considers his best performance as he won at the WTS Discovery World Triathlon in Cape Town in April, edging out fierce competitor and friend Stan Andrews, as well as blind para-triathlete Hein Wagner. “I work hard, training twice a day, because there is more competition and that just motivates me,” says Dylan.

Will For More
With the ever-present support of parents Melissa and Manny as well as long-time girlfriend Micaela, plus help from biokineticist Justin Jefferey and sponsor Biogen, Dylan reckons he is on the brink of still better results. He has been picked for the South African para-cycling team to participate at the World Cup in September, and he says he is hoping to find sponsors to help him continue to compete at the highest level. “Sport is my avenue as an ADHD child, and I know my family has gone through a lot, but I want to do well, get points for the World Tri Champs, and go get a podium there, and show the world that disability is nothing,” he says.

The Da Silva family would like to thank everyone who has supported Dylan in his nine years in sport, and ask that any potential new sponsors who would like to support him should please contact [email protected]

With the Comrades Marathon just around the corner, it’s a good time to take a look at some of the common mistakes runners make when it comes to tapering in the final weeks before a big race.

So you’ve done the mileage, put in the hours on the legs, and gotten your muscles ready for that long target race, and now you’re following the training programme instructions to taper down your training so as to arrive at the start line feeling fresh. However, this is a time when many runners make costly mistakes, whether it is doing too little running, deviating from a normal routine, or getting too worked up. It’s easy to ruin months of hard work during what should be a relatively easy few weeks of training.

1. Resting Too Much
Over-tapering is the single most common mistake made, which can lead to feeling flat on race day and also increases the chance that you’ll get sick, as your metabolism and immune system can be thrown out of sync due to the sudden change in activity and decreased demands on the body. So, instead of suddenly feeling fresh as a daisy when you reduce mileage, some runners actually don’t feel that good after a few easier days.

THE SOLUTION: Most runners will find that reducing weekly mileage to 80% of maximum will provide a sufficient respite from the training load without leaving them feeling flat or sluggish, but the secret is to maintain some intensity throughout the week and not just do easy runs. Yes, your hardest workouts are now behind you, but it’s important not to lose all your momentum, so you still need some quality work, like an interval sessions, or better yet, a 10km tempo run where you do the first 5km at race pace, then the second 5km as fast as you can, to give your legs a good workout. This firstly allows you to practise race pace for the big day, but also boosts your confidence with a strong, fast finish.

2. The Wrong Workouts
The next common mistake many runners make is to change their entire programme from long slower mileage designed to prepare for a long race, to just doing shorter speedwork in order to feel faster, or because they are scared of doing any more long workouts and arriving at the start tired. The problem with this is that your muscles will not be used to all the shorter, faster running and will fatigue quickly, and you will not be practising your race pace for the big day. The taper period is an ideal opportunity to get in this vital practice, especially for the start of the big race, and you’ll get crucial pacing feedback from your body to prepare you for the race.

THE SOLUTION: Do two workouts per week, one of them a longer, race pace run, the second a shorter run broken up into race pace segments with up to three-minute easy rest segments in between. This will help you maintain your race pace preparation while the rest intervals will ensure that the workout is not too hard.

3. Weight-gain Worries
In the last week of the taper, the most difficult aspect is usually the mental perspective. No matter how hard you’ve trained, chances are you’re going to worry about not having done enough in order to finish the big race. (Bruce Fordyce always tells runners that it is better to arrive at the race slightly under-trained than over-trained and tired.) Then there is the fear of putting on weight during the final week of tapering, due to running less and eating more to carbo-load for race day, where the increased calorie intake is bound to pack on some extra weight that must then be carried through the race. Typically, the desire to avoid weight-gain wins the battle and glycogen stores don’t get built to the max.

THE SOLUTION: First, remember that a little weight-gain is OK, since you’re storing extra fluids. A full gas tank is much more important than a wee bit extra weight on race day. Therefore, the experts recommend that you augment your normal eating habits with regular ‘grazing’ on healthy, energy-filled snacks in between your main but small meals, so that you avoid that stuffed feeling.

Hop on to your search engine, type in the phrase ‘training programme’ and you’ll find dozens of helpful yet overwhelming results, so make sure you understand and can keep going with your chosen programme for the best results.

Planning your training for a big race can be daunting. How long should your long runs be? What type of speed should you be doing and when? How many hill repeat sessions do you need? So you download one of the thousands of options glaring at you in your browser and now you’re ready to roll. It’s a better option than blindly trying to figure your way through what you think you should be doing for the next 100 days of training, but you still need to customise, adapt and tweak to suit your own needs. These generic training programmes are designed to be suitable for the masses and will never be an exact match for you. If you’re looking for a specific training programme for you, then you need to go to a coach, but now that you have your downloaded programme, here’s what you need to do.

1 Listen to your body

Unless the coach who developed the training programme has a crystal ball, there is no possible way to know anything at all about you – apart from the fact that you’re a runner and that you’re planning on completing an event. Only you know when your body begins to ache or when you’re waking up tired and fatigued. You know when you’re getting sick or when you’re heading for an injury. You know when your body is not handling both the training load and other outside stressors. You know all these things because your body tells you, so learn to listen to your body.

2 Make it your own

Unless the programme already comes in an editable spreadsheet format, start by opening a blank spreadsheet and retyping the programme. Next, insert your planned long runs and races – most programmes for the ultras will have suggested time frames for a qualifying marathon – and adjust the training in the weeks leading up to and following these long runs and races. With just these few adjustments you’re individualising the programme to your own needs.

3 Rest and Recover

This leads on from point 1: You know your body. Determine if the rest and recovery scheduled in the programme is adequate. If not, adjust by adding additional recovery days where you feel you may need them. You can also move rest and recovery days around, but always remember that a hard day should be followed by a recovery or rest day. Allow for some flexibility in each week’s training so that you can listen to your body when it’s calling for additional rest.

4 Keep it up!

Following a programme often keeps us motivated and helps us to listen to the body and overcome the mind. The mind says things like, “It’s too hot! Maybe I should rather just run tomorrow.” All you have to do is stick to the programme.

Good luck in the coming months and may you achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Traditionally, tight forwards in rugby – props, hookers and locks – were renowned for being big and heavy, built for scrumming and mauling, and didn’t like to run that much, but in the modern game, forwards have to be fitter, faster and more mobile. One of these modern locks was former Springbok Selborne Boome, and this has helped him become quite the trail runner since retiring from rugby.

Last year’s Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 36km trail run in Stellenbosch was brutal. Low-lying cloud, heavy rain and strong winds sent the temperature plunging and many runners found the going extremely hard, but one runner who loved every minute of it was former rugby star Selborne Boome. “Conditions went downhill fast that day, but I am far better when it is cold than when hot, so I absolutely loved it,” says the 39-year-old fruit farmer from Elgin, who has also run the Wild Coast Wild Run with his wife Catherine, and just recently braved the wind in East London to complete his first 70.3 Half Ironman. “The 70.3 was tough, because my six-foot-six frame on a bike into the wind is not the most aerodynamic… but I enjoyed the challenge and plan to do more.”

When it comes to running, Selborne says his weight is more of a factor than his height. “I’m a largish unit at over 100kg, so for me to get going in a trail run is all about momentum. Funnily enough, I’m better going uphill than downhill, but I’m never going to win anything,” he jokingly says. “I actually played loose forward through school and varsity, and later shifted back to flank when playing oversees. I even played Sevens Rugby for South Africa, so I reckon I was far more mobile than I should have been as a lock.” As a result, Selborne says the transition to running after rugby was that much easier. “I was looking for something to keep fit, and trail running is better for my knees and back than running on the roads. There are plenty of trails right here in Elgin to run, so I don’t have to drive anywhere.”

Rugby Talent

Selborne (39) was born in Somerset West and also excelled in cricket, swimming and tennis, but rugby proved to be his best sport. He made his provincial debut in 1997 and helped Western Province win the Currie Cup that year, and from 1999 to 2000 he played for the Stormers franchise in Super Rugby. In 1999 he made his Springbok debut against Italy, and says being picked for the Boks for the first time was the highlight of his career. “My call-up was unexpected because I was still a young guy who had just played my first season of Super Rugby, and the Stormers didn’t have a fantastic season that year, but I got in as back-up to the older, more experienced guys.”

Despite missing the 1999 World Cup due to injury, Selborne became a fixture in the Bok team from 1999 to 2003, playing 20 tests and scoring two tries, and was part of the team that made it to the quarter-finals at the 2003 World Cup. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2002 he played in France with Montferrand before returning to the Stormers in 2003, then joined the Northampton Saints in England in 2004 before returning to SA in 2007 for a swansong season with the Blue Bulls. Having retired seven years ago after more than a decade of playing top level rugby, Selborne admits that he still misses some aspects of the game. “I especially miss the competitive nature of sport, the camaraderie and the team environment, but I don’t miss the travelling and all the hotels and airports!”

Fruitful Endeavours

Since retiring he has worked in the Western Cape fruit industry and took over running his father’s fruit farm in Elgin in September 2013. “I really enjoy the challenge. We grow apples and pears and I am out in the orchards all the time. I even work with the picking teams, because I believe it is important to understand the whole operation and what it takes.” When asked if fitting running into his demanding schedule is hard, he says he has the answer. “I get up fairly early each day, before 5am, so that I can run. If I really have to, I will run after work, but that cuts into my family time with my wife and two daughters, who are now eight and six, so I prefer the mornings. And I want to fit in more races if I can.”

The longer the race, the stronger the finish… if you’re a female endurance athlete. That’s what the scientific research studies keep showing! 

In the last stretch of the 2014 Comrades Marathon, eventual women’s champion Eleanor Greenwood looked like she had strapped on an imaginary jetpack! She was running at 3:59min/km, clocking 27 minutes and 50 seconds for the last 7km. This was not only her fastest segment of the race, it was just about the overall fastest time of the day for those last 7km – race winner Bongmusa Mthembu was three seconds slower, and the only athlete to go faster over that stretch was sixth-placed man Mncedisi Mkhize, who clocked 26:56. What this proved, yet again, is that female athletes can rev their proverbial engine a bit more in the latter stages of an endurance race.

NO SLOWING DOWN

In a recent study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers at Marquette University in Milwaukee in the US gathered information about finishers at 14 marathon events. With over 90,000 participants’ data and finishing times, the researchers compared each runner’s time at halfway with one at the finish line to determine pace. The results showed that men slowed down more than women, covering the second half of their journey around 16% on average slower than their first half. Women averaged 12% slower in the second half of their marathon. Going further into the data, the scientists also looked specifically at runners who slowed considerably in their second half by 30% or more, and found that more men (14%) fell into this category, compared to just 5% of women.

An earlier study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research also looked at how men and women who broke five hours in the 2007 and 2009 Chicago Marathons paced themselves, and found that more women were able to stick to their average pace without slowing down markedly between the 30km and 40km markers. Taking the weather conditions of these two races into consideration, the evidence points to the fact that women can maintain their speed better than men, and the study concluded that it comes down to how our bodies work, with women burning a higher percentage of fat the longer the run goes on, while men turn to burning more carbohydrates for fuel. And when men run low on carbs, that’s when they tend to hit the dreaded wall… and slow down markedly. Researchers also suggest that women tend to have a larger surface area-to-mass ratio than men, allowing heat to leave the body more rapidly, which can lend itself to better endurance and a faster finish.

MEN ARE FROM MARS…

Whether it really is how we’re built, or purely psychological, there are clearly several factors at play here. While the boys can usually trump the girls with speed – that’s just genetics – the girls can outwit by holding back to avoid the zombie shuffle over the finish line. One might argue that men tend to go all-out early in a race because of their naturally more competitive wiring, whereas women may start a bit more conservatively, but whatever the reasons, the results show that women tend to finish long runs stronger and faster.

When Hanneké Dannhauser entered her first obstacle course race last March, she put herself on a startlingly fast track to the World Champs of obstacle racing just seven months later, despite breaking her ankle along the way. No wonder she’s earned the nickname GI Jane!
– BY SEAN FALCONER

Having heard about the Jeep Warrior Series in February 2014, Hanneké just knew that obstacle course racing was meant for her. The 26-year-old from Bloemfontein was working part-time as a personal trainer and had spent a lot of time in the gym herself, and the challenge appealed to her – but not some entry-level starter course… No, she entered the Black Ops elite race at Warrior #2 in Midrand on 2 March! “I come from the farm, so I went straight for the hardest option,” she says with a little giggle – and she proceeded to finish third in the women’s field, but realised where she could improve in order to be more competitive.

“In February I was running over seven minutes a kay, so I started training athletics with coach Rufus Botha, who has coached many top runners, including Zola Pieterse, and now I am running four minutes a kay,” says Hanneké, who used her steadily improving pace and stamina to win the next Warrior event in Irene. Then she also won in Hartbeespoort (May) and Ballito (July), but in September the Tarzan Swing obstacle at Warrior #6 in Hartbeespoort took its toll, and after numerous attempts at swinging across, an exhausted Hanneke fell and fractured her ankle. Undaunted, she carried on trying until she made it through the obstacle, then limped home in third position.

That saw her miss the Stellenbosch leg of the Warrior series in early October, but she had enough points in the bag to be selected to go to the OCR World Champs in Cincinatti, USA, in late October, and just eight weeks after her injury, she finished fifth out of 70 elite women. “The World Champs was a bit intimidating, especially since I had recently been out injured, but I really enjoyed the event,” says Hanneké. “The obstacles were not as tough as in SA, but there was a lot of up and down in the running. Overall, I think our SA obstacle racers are right up there with the best in the world – so I think we should invite them to come compete here in our races!”

Brutal conditions
A few weeks after the World Champs, Hanneké was back in action at the Warrior Nationals in Gauteng, looking for another win and the points to clinch the 2014 series win. She led for much of the race, but on a brutally cold and wet day, she couldn’t match Dominique D’Oliveira’s strength towards the end of the course and had to settle for second place on the day and in the series. The decisive moment came on the third-last obstacle, appropriately named Breaking Point, a tough combination of ropes, rings, chains and monkey bars.

“It was terrible out there for all of us, with many athletes unable to finish the course. We were so cold that they eventually gave us space blankets to wrap around ourselves while we were waiting at some of the obstacles,” recalls Hanneké. “Dom was breathing down my neck all race, but I thought I was going to win it, so I went into that obstacle without resting. I’ve learnt this year to do races at my own pace, and I made the mistake of pushing too hard at that point. So it was really hard to watch Dom get through it before me and disappear up the trail, but we have really bonded this year and have a wonderful friendly rivalry going. The best athlete on the day won – I gave it my all and was happy with second.”

I want more!
Unsurprisingly, Hanneké is now raring to go with the 2015 season, with all the Warrior, Impi, Gladiator and Spartan events pencilled in on her calendar. “Obstacle course racing has become my passion, and I feel I have always had the talent, but am only just discovering how good I can be. I also love that I can see my success and my healthy lifestyle inspiring others, especially younger girls. As I always say, look up, get up and never give up – because that’s where success comes from.”

Running about 10km at almost full speed for a minimum of 70 minutes while focusing on skillfully handling a ball with a stick, that is the game of hockey in a nutshell – which is why South African national team defender Dylan Swanepoel never questions why running gets so much attention in training.  – BY EUNICE VISAGIE

He may prefer running in matches and technical training sessions to just running for fitness, but hockey star Dylan Swanepoel knows he needs to run. “Running is extremely important to a hockey player, but I think what’s more important is the type of running you do, and when you do it,” says the 21-year-old defender. “You need to be quick and explosive while having the endurance and strength to get through 70 minutes, so the timing of your training in relation to the season and matches is also very important, especially when it comes to training for your specific position, be it defender, midfielder or forward.”

“In pre-season we do a lot of running that is focused on building our base for the season, so it will include a lot of longer distances and endurance training, which we will do three to four times a week, depending on our progress. As we get closer to the season and in season, a lot of our running is done during training sessions where we are playing,” says Dylan. “Extra running after training will consist of more power and explosive running. This will include short and long sprints, ladder drills and change of direction. In-season running is used to maintain our fitness and keep us sharp as we do so much running during training and matches.”

Defensive Rock

Dylan captained the SA Under-21 team in the 2013 Junior World Cup, and made his debut for the senior side that same year in the African Cup, a qualifying tournament for the 2014 Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands, where he was the youngest member of the SA squad. “The World Cup was an unforgettable experience. The tournament was of such a great standard that I don’t think there will ever be another one like it, and to have been part of it, no words can describe it,” says Dylan, who at the time of writing had played 22 games for his country.

A natural leader, Dylan is already being touted as a future captain of the senior men’s team, and he is known for the way he keeps things simple at the back, playing effective hockey without being flashy, but he also has the skills to play the ball out of defence or do something special when the team needs it. However, for now he is just focused on cementing his place in the senior national team while also working towards finishing his B.Com Management Science degree at Stellenbosch University, where he is in his third year and is one of the key players in the varsity team. After getting his degree, Dylan has set his sights on playing club hockey in Europe and going to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

GOING LONG

Getting back to running, the longest distance Dylan has run on the road is 10km, and being an international hockey player, he says he prefers to run events just for fun, but it does not always work out that way. “I don’t start the race very seriously or to be competitive, but a few of the runs I’ve done with friends have ended up getting a bit competitive!” he jokes. “That said, in matches we can end up running anywhere between 8km and 10km, if not more, so hockey matches tend to turn into 10km races every now and then!”

For that reason, Dylan says he makes himself enjoy running, even when not with stick in hand. “I prefer the running that we have to do during training and matches. The fitness sessions I don’t enjoy as much, but I know how important it is if you want to be a successful player, so I try take as much out of them as possible.”

You’ve been running for a number of years and PB’s seem to be a thing of the past, so you tell yourself that “Age is catching up with me,” but a simple change to your training pace can set you back on the road to new PB’s. 

– BY RAY ORCHISON

When we first start running, we normally notice huge improvements in performance quite quickly, and with minimal effort, but as we age in running terms, and become stronger, faster and more experienced, most runners begin to find that improvements become smaller, and a much greater effort is required to better previous times. In most cases this is not because our training deteriorates, but rather because as we improve, we move closer and closer to our own personal maximum performance level.

The question then is what do we need to do to push new levels of performance once we reach this stage of our running career? The answer may lie in polarised training, which means to train at either a low or a high intensity, with very little training time spent in-between. This is by no means a new concept, but one that is often ignored by veteran runners, because as we become more experienced, we often fall into the trap of thinking that to get faster we need to train faster… all the time. While the first part of that statement is true, the second part, “all the time,” is not.

When the gap between our easy run pace and our fast interval or race pace is small, we find ourselves in no-man’s land, where we don’t run slowly and we don’t run fast, and end up with poor, sub-potential performances. The way to correct this is with polarised training: On easy days you run slower and on quality days you run faster. In other words, you need to get slower (on easy days) in order to get faster during your race.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

The easiest way to ensure that you don’t get stuck in no-man’s land is to train with a heart rate monitor to keep your training primarily in two zones. Zone 1 is the easy zone, where you should do the bulk of your training, somewhere between 70-80% of your weekly mileage at between 60-70% of max heart rate. The second is zone 3, somewhere between 15-20% of your weekly mileage at between 80-100% of heart rate. Zone 2 is no-man’s land, which is run between 5-15% of your weekly total and at a heart rate between 70-80%. (If you don’t use a heart rate monitor, run on perceived effort. Easy runs should feel easy and you should be able to have a conversation, while zone 3 is the anaerobic zone and should feel very hard. Interval sessions on the track or time trials would fall into this zone.)

If you’ve never done hard, fast sessions, then gradually start by introducing one session per week into your training schedule. I suggest that you start with four to eight short, fast hill repeats. These will push you into zone 3, but are not as hard on the body as a fast track session. Hill repeats are an introduction to track work and help strengthen your body to better handle the stress of a track session. Once you’re stronger, then gradually introduce a track session, like 4x200m at 3km race pace with a 200m slow recovery jog between repeats. As you get stronger and faster, start to increase the number of repetitions and pace. With more time spent in zones 1 and 3, and less time spent in zone 2, you should start to see some improvement in your performance.

Too often, female runners ignore strength work that could complement a running programme and reduce the risk of stress fractures that may otherwise be caused by muscle weakness. To avoid brittle bones, it’s important to give your body the calcium it needs as well as do sufficient strength work to protect them. – BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

A common injury complaint amongst female runners is shin splints, especially as they build up their mileage or pick up speed to chase a PB or attempt a new, longer distance – and the cause of this pain is all too often attributed to a decrease in bone density. However, Dr Lisa Micklesfield, senior researcher at the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine in Cape Town, says that this is due to a common misconception: “Women runners don’t lose bone density any faster than women who don’t run, unless they have reduced energy availability – a symptom of which is menstrual irregularity, which may be due to reduced energy intake or excessive energy expenditure. Shin pain, for example, is the response of the muscle and bone of the lower leg to an increase in weight-bearing exercise, but with constant monitoring and adaptation to one’s training programme, and the correct footwear, this type of injury shouldn’t become problematic.”

WEIGHT UP
Many women focus on cardiovascular instead of strength work in training, focusing on weight-loss instead of increasing muscle mass – especially when they hit the gym. Quite simply, to keep your structure sturdy, it’s important to introduce sessions that focus on building muscle in your legs and core to minimise the strain of your body hitting the ground when running. “Muscle mass is directly proportional to bone mass, largely due to the pull of the muscle on the bone” says Lisa, who therefore recommends strength training, but points out that it is just one of a number of factors associated with stress injuries in women runners. Training surface (tarmac versus gravel), biomechanics and possibly incorrect footwear should also be taken into account, if necessary.

Regular weight-bearing like walking, hiking, dancing, stair climbing, weight-lifting and racquet sports can all build the muscle you need, while swimming and cycling can improve your endurance, but they’re not the ideal sports to improve bone mass density.

BEING A WOMAN
As women, we also have to consider the impact pregnancy and breastfeeding has on the body. In the latter stages of pregnancy, maternal bone loss may occur, as this is the time when the fetal skeleton is being rapidly mineralised, but this bone-loss is temporary and is recovered after the birth and lactation, says Lisa. “While breastfeeding does decrease bone density, as the calcium is mobilised from the maternal skeleton for breast milk, the 3% to 7% lost is rapidly regained after weaning,” explains Lisa,
“and breastfeeding is not associated with
an increased risk of osteoporosis, either.”

Whether they run or not, women should be getting around 1000mg of calcium on a daily basis, and during pregnancy, Lisa recommends an extra 200mg of calcium on top of the 1000mg. “It all depends on how long the
woman breast feeds and how long amenorrhea – loss of menses – continues for. Evidence does suggest that it recovers fully even with short-spaced pregnancies.”

All in all, women runners need to stick to a lifestyle that includes sufficient calcium intake, whether pregnant or not, as well as introducing strength training in their weekly training programme – one to two sessions a week as a base. Naturally, we all lose bone mass as we age, but a healthy mix of physical activity and a nutritious diet can help you beat brittle bones – and avoid shin splints!