Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Runner's World South Africa

The Wake-Up I was neither a fat nor a skinny kid – sometimes I was heavy for no apparent reason, but I also went through periods of my life where I was slimmer, because I had to walk or run long distances to farm schools. When I became an adult, I started a job, got married and had kids. Life became comfortable, and I indulged in and enjoyed unhealthy food and takeaways. I visited the doctor with a minor ailment, but after checking my vitals he told me my blood pressure was dangerously high. The doctor recommended I reduce my salt and red meat intake, and introduce healthier alternatives like veggies and fruit. He also advised me to start exercising. The Shake-Up I had just moved jobs, which didn’t make…

RUNNING IS GOOD FOR US, we know that; but it’s also good for our four-legged friends. The best way to stay motivated is to have someone reliable to run with – so why not your dog? They’re always happy to see you, they get really, really excited to head out the door, and they won’t let you down like a training partner might on a cold winter’s morning. You get your fix, and your pooch gets some exercise at the same time. No, not all dogs are built for running; but most healthy dogs love it, even if it’s only for a couple of kilometres. Still, whether you’re a parkrun newbie or a committed marathoner, there are a few things you need to think about first. 1. Make sure your…

Running gear has evolved and diversified: style has become more scientific, and sport-specific hijabs have caused a stir. But ask any runner what their most important item of kit is, and the answer will always be the same: shoes. A Runner’s World survey in which 500 readers took part revealed we don’t all treat our running shoes the same – and most of us don’t own a walk-in closet packed to the rafters with colour-coordinated pairs. 1-3 THE NUMBER OF PAIRS OF RUNNING SHOES 336 READERS SAY THEY OWN. Thirteen of our readers own seven to 10 pairs. 62% OF OUR READERS ARE BRAND-LOYAL. 21 Readers clean their shoes after every run. 103 Readers either don’t or aren’t able to rotate their shoes. 162 Readers clean their shoes…

When you need two numerals instead of one to log how far you’ve run in a single outing, you’ve hit a major milestone: many recreational runners never make it that far. The reason you should bother striving for more than 10 – beyond the bragging rights – is that going long, no matter how slowly you’re moving, is the best way to increase endurance. More endurance often means faster race finishes. And long, aerobic efforts can help you lose weight and keep it off. Trouble is, if you go too far, too soon, too fast, you could end up injured. Here’s how to join the 10-Plus Club without getting hurt. Jeff Galloway is a 10 000-metre Olympian and well-known coach who promotes the run-walk method. 1. Build wisely. Plan on…

Elite athletes run at a cadence of over 180bpm, and it’s common practice to try to emulate what they do. There is theoretical evidence that running at higher cadence leads to athletes keeping their position better over their centre of mass, because they’ve shortened their stride. But to truly benefit from increased cadence, you should also maintain a longer stride, which increases biomechanical stress. If you can master increased stride frequency, while maintaining stride length and moving over your centre of mass, you’ll reduce the load on your joints and some muscles. But there’s also evidence to show this increases load to the soleus (calf) and achilles. Therefore, any changes must be made with caution. Try shortening and increasing cadence, both up and down hills. This helps to reduce force…

KEY EASY Keep the pace conversational. HILLS + STRIDES Log the distance on a hilly course, or do repeats – maintaining a comfortable effort – between 2km of warm-up and cool-down. Finish with six approximately 100-metre pick-ups (strides), gradually accelerating to about 5-K effort, holding it for five to 10 seconds, and gradually decelerating. Recover fully (walking) between each. XT Easy-effort, low-impact cardio workouts like swimming, cycling, or pool running – just enough to get blood circulating (30 to 60 minutes). Totally optional. LONG Maintain a conversational pace. STRAIGHTS/CURVES + DRILLS Warm up with 3km of jogging to a track, followed by dynamic stretches: leg swings (side to side and front to back), walking lunges, high knees, and butt-kicks – 10 reps of each on each side. Then do four…

1. Experience is everything. The more you experience ultra events, the more confident you’ll feel about what your body can handle, and the more in tune you’ll become with what works for you in terms of nutrition, pacing and gear. Practise in training. 2. Manage yourself. Understand what works for you, but be flexible – have a plan A, B and C, in case circumstances change. 3. Set small goals. Break your race down into manageable sections, and focus on being in the moment. 4. Monitor your pace. The key with any ultra distance is not to go out too hard, or you’ll blow halfway through the race. Munnik’s top tip: run 20-25% slower in the first third of your race. 5. Don’t throw your supporters in at the deep…

TRAIL RUNNING Saturday 23 September Trappers Bloemfontein 4 Peaks Mountain Challenge Reverse Moolmanshoek Game Reserve, Maloti Route, Eastern Free State; 24km: 6am Michael de Haast 072 078 5278 michael@pureadventures.co.za One of the most infamous mountain races on the SA trail-running calendar is just around the corner. Arguably, it’s also one of the toughest 24km races. A relatively new tradition is to run the route in the opposite direction each year; this one will be run in reverse. Participants run along the edge of the beautiful Maloti River, which is inside the reserve. SEARCH THE COMPLETE LIST OF RACES IN SOUTH AFRICA: RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA / RACE-CALENDAR GAUTENG Sunday 24 September FNB Joburg 10K CITYRUN 3 First Place, Pritchard and Simmonds Street, Bank City, Johannesburg; 10km: 8am Entries…

“Ostriches on Naval Hill in Bloemfontein.” – Karen Bente Holmgaard “A guy who was running next to the main road in a small Kalahari town, at 5pm. He was wearing a diving mask and a snorkel!” – Eugene Luck “At a parkrun there was a guy running with a small child under one arm and a dog under the other. It looked funny from behind. I’m guessing both the child and the dog were too tired to run, and that was his only option.” – Melanie Elsworth “A traffic cop informed me I was running at exactly 9.2km per hour.” – Caroline Busby Alleson “A Toyota Quantum full of sangomas, on the R40 between Nelspruit and Barberton. They stopped to ask me for directions to Badplaas. Strange they didn’t just…

“It’s our run… we can do whatever we like.” “WHILE THE PREDOMINANT VALUE OF EXISTENTIALIST THOUGHT IS COMMONLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE FREEDOM, ITS PRIMARY VIRTUE IS AUTHENTICITY.”- WIKIPEDIA LET’S DO LUNCH. We can meet in the square, and head out on that 5.5km route that takes us through the Waterfront. We’ll love it. We’ll need to make sure we get the timing right on actual lunch, though. If we eat too early, we’ll be starving by 3pm; but if we eat too close to run time, we’ll be fighting digestion as well as heavy legs. So I guess we’ll have a mid-morning snack, and then hold out for a proper meal until after our workout. OK, so we’ll be outside the building, ready to run, at 12.30pm? That’s great,…

You already know that strong abs, hips, and back muscles help you run more efficiently with less risk of injury. But time can be tight – especially if you’re ramping up mileage – and when it feels like something has to give, strength-training is often the first to go. Instead of scrolling through Facebook or Instagram post-run, wind down with this eight-pose, eight- to 10-minute core routine, which targets all the layers of your abdominal muscles, back extensors, and glutes. Slotted in along the way are some stretches to give you a break and improve range of motion in your hips. The moves take only a short time, but they’ll help you log hours of injury-free running. Sage Rountree (sagerountree.com) is a running coach, yoga teacher, and author of The…

New Balance Sonic Fuel Core R2 200 It’s an all-new design and look from New Balance. Most notably, the new BOA fit system takes the place of traditional lacing, much like the Puma Disc system we saw re-introduced in 2016. Tightening and adjusting the system for a specific fit happens with a few clicking rotations to lock the foot down securely and comfortably, via an overlay strap. (The two release mechanisms, at 180° departures from each other, were a little less user-friendly.) The rest of the shoe’s impressive performance is reminiscent of the NB Vazee Pace; so fans of that shoe will definitely enjoy this new option, which is also good for performance training over all distances. WEIGHT: 243g Skechers GOmeb Speed 4 R1 849 Firm and fast, the GOmeb…

EVERY RUNNING MANUAL has a chapter devoted to speedwork. The back of the pack take about as much notice of that as a gourmand does a sugar-free, dairy-free ‘health café’ that he passes on his way to the artisanal ice-cream parlour. Why? Because running manuals were written with fast runners in mind. A new coach had joined our athletics club – a Frenchman. He invited the members in the ‘top category’ to a speedwork session, on the local soccer field, every Thursday. Unbeknown to the Frenchman, he had also invited Fats van Vuuren. When it came to prowess, Fats had delusions of grandeur. What’s all this got to do with the back of the pack? I hear you ask. Let me explain. Of the three certainties in life – death,…

“Epic Skukuza sunrise trot this morning #skukuza #running #lovetorun!” – @bridgie_tlttc “We came, we saw, we conquered! #spurtrailseries done and dusted. Smiles and medals all round! And guys, we even ran/climbed through an old mineshaft! #howdamncool” – @razmatazzio “A cold, chilly #parkrun this morning at #rietvlei with the sister @linellemuller1. Shoes are taking some serious hits going off-road.” – @yolindidewet INSTA OF THE MONTH “IT’S LIKE TRAVELLING BETWEEN WORLDS IN JUST ONE RUN. FROM JURASSIC PARK-LIKE LUSH FOREST, TO CRACKING GLACIERS AND ICY SNOW. PARADISE! #MONTBLANC” – @MEGMACKENZIE1 Runner’s World reserves the right to edit readers’ submissions. All readers’ submissions become the sole property of Runner’s World and may be published in any medium and for any use worldwide. s winning a pair By DJ Earbuds, valued…

Shelley Bolle doesn’t let anything hold her back: not even crutches. Back in 2007, she ditched a pair to ‘run’ her first half marathon. Eight years later, Shelley was inspired by a blog written by trail legend Ryan Sandes, in which he described what it was like to run across the Atacama Desert. At the time, she was knee-deep in parenting her two kids (then aged two and four), had just started a new job, and considered herself an average runner. How on earth could she just up sticks to run across the world’s driest desert? Besides, she would need thousands of dollars just to travel to South America! But the same can-do attitude that had prompted her to cast aside her crutches and run 21km made this hare-brained idea…

A comfortable fit is vital. Attend a demo-run event, where you can test various models. Personally, I look for flexibility – shoes that move and adjust their shape as my feet move over technical terrain. With all the lightweight materials on the market these days, it’s easy to find a nimble pair. Another thing to consider is the ‘drop’, which is the difference in height between the heel and toe. If you’ve been training injury-free in your road-running shoes, then it makes sense to find a pair of trail-running shoes with a similar drop. A 7mm or 8mm drop works best for me. The midsole needs to be responsive, in order for you to receive feedback from the trail. So the shoe should be neither too hard nor too soft…

DO Find enough friends. If you’re assembling a group, enlist at least three running buddies, says Kelly Maurer, director of training for Charm City Run – that way, you’ll have at least one person to run with if the snooze button or a sick kid sidelines part of your group. Or you can join an existing run in your area to ensure you’re never flying solo. “Being in the company of fellow runners makes it easier to manage the inevitable mental and physical fatigue that accompanies a long run,” says running coach Matthew Forsman. Find a group through a local running club or sports shop, or via Facebook. DO Rotate leadership. Forsman suggests naming two or three ‘captains’ who rotate planning and organising duties between them, from one week to…

TRAINING Are both warm-upsand cooldowns necessary for easy runs? Warming up is always a good idea – you’ll run more efficiently, with less injury risk, if you prime your muscles and joints with pre-run movement. Start with five minutes of mobility drills: the lunge matrix, in which you lunge forward, to the side, and backward with each leg, plus front-to-back and side-to-side leg swings. Then ease into your run with 10 minutes of slow jogging. Cooling down isn’t as critical, as long as you follow your run with simple strength exercises (such as planks, push-ups, and single-leg squats) that can build more resilient muscles, meaning they’ll feel stronger during your workouts – and less sore after them. – Jay Johnson, coach of university, professional, and adult runners RACING Do I…

The intersex-athlete issue is one of the most controversial in sport, and South African Caster Semenya has been at the forefront of it since she won the women’s 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships. The bungling of her case – first by Athletics South Africa, and then the IAAF – exposed us to the idea that a person can be genetically male or female, but for reasons that usually relate to how the body produces and uses hormones, they develop as the opposite sex. Made Male The problem for sport is that this person may be ‘partly androgenised’ – androgenisation being the biological term for ‘made male’. That’s what testosterone gives to boys at puberty: deepening of the voice, hair growth, a different shape of the skeleton, increased muscle…

The secrets to a breakthrough race may lie in unexpected places. Sure, most runners dissect their long runs, interval workouts, and nutrition; but the best runners look beyond those metrics to reach their full potential. That was the key takeaway from researching and reporting our new book, Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success. Although one of us (Steve) coaches pro athletes and the other (Brad) writes about sports science, we discovered novel ways to optimise athletic performance by interviewing world-class artists, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and musicians. By looking outside of running – and studying not only physiology but also psychology, sociology, and even philosophy – we uncovered powerful strategies that can help all athletes succeed. While we learned far more than can…

1. Hardrock 100 (160km), Silverton, Colorado. “Colorado is the number-one place I’d like to run in the US. Climbing is my strong point, and this race has 10 000m of it. Traditionally, participants kiss a rock when they cross the finish line.” 2. UTMB (170km) (again), Chamonix, France. “It’s an iconic race, dubbed ‘the holy grail of 100-milers’ by the international trail-running community.” 3. Cederberg Traverse (100km), Cederberg. “It’s popular among local endurance athletes, because the valleys and kloofs are so remote that few have ever seen them. With the right marketing and logistics, I believe this event could attract an international field in the future.” 4. The Grand Raid de la Réunion (162km), Réunion Island. “A properly wild race. I like the idea of summiting 3 000m, surrounded by…