Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i Runner's World South Africa

The New York Times reports that while in high school, White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller allegedly jumped into a girls’ track race, to show supremacy over the opposite sex. A wardrobe malfunction plagues Jozef Urban in the final stretch of the Košice Peace Marathon, exposing his genitals (and yielding internet fame). The ballsy performance earns the Slovakian a time of 2:21:51. After discovering course-cutting, the Mexico City Marathon disqualifies 5 806 people. Runners say they cheated for medals, social-media acclaim, or call it a training run. Louis Vuitton launches its first full-knit running shoe, featuring a hand-painted sole. Each shoe takes about three hours to make. A grumpy pony in western British Columbia harasses a group of runners, and bites a police officer and a construction worker. It takes…

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE RUNS have been during the dead of winter, guided by the glittering city lights. I love the way the cool breeze feels on my face, how the crisp air makes my skin tingle, how the chill gets me moving just to warm up. I like the sort of thinking I can do on quiet, empty streets. Plus there’s nothing quite like finishing a hard, cold run, walking into a warm house, and reaching for my favourite hot chocolate. But the struggle to catch your breath when you get out there is real. Every year I hear about coughing fits and burning throats from runners trying to survive their first real winter, and even vets who’ve run through 20 seasons of sub-zero temps. Unless you live in…

Elite athletes train hard, but their gut bacteria may also give them an edge, scientists believe. Right now they’re trying to reproduce the properties of the pros’ microbiomes, so the rest of us may benefit. Researchers at Harvard Medical School analysed faecal samples from Boston Marathoners and found a post-race spike of a particular bacteria that’s involved in the breakdown of lactic acid, which may help fight muscle fatigue and soreness. “If we’re able to isolate this bacteria and give it to athletes before exercise, maybe we can prime them to be more fit in some way – to have better endurance, or less inflammation,” says Jonathan Scheiman, PhD. The end goal: to create a probiotic supplement that mirrors elites’ gut bacteria, and potentially allow amateur…

CHAU SMITH HAS RUN A MARATHON ON EIGHT CONTINENTS. Well, sort of. It depends on how you define the land mass. The eighth continent, Zealandia, was confirmed (but not recognised) in 2017. That discovery came two weeks and a day after Smith had run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents to complete the 2017 Triple 7 Quest. Smith knew what had to be done. “I’m intrigued by challenges,” she said. “Now I get to do it again – with one more marathon.” The Triple 8 Quest was on; which, daunting as it may sound, didn’t phase this septuagenerian marathoner. When Smith completed her journey last year, she had downtime on the way back from Antarctica, and ran an eighth marathon in Chile just for fun. That experience guided…

NAME: Charissa Jansen INSTA NAME: @charis_mlle AGE: 23 HOMETOWN: Pretoria OCCUPATION: Final-year medical student at the University of Pretoria What phone do you use to take your Instagrams? My faithful iPhone 7, and an LG v30+. Where’s your favourite place to run? Fort Klapperkop is my favourite, and it’s dominated by runners and cyclists on Sunday mornings. It’s a challenging route with a few climbs, but with those skyline views and a grazing zebra around every corner, you’re forced to forget about your legs and take it all in! Tell us about your Insta name. ‘Charis’ is my nickname, and ‘mlle’ is the abbreviation for ‘Mademoiselle’, which is French for ‘Miss’. What’s the story behind your top-three most-liked pics? Where did you take them, and why? Instagram 1: This was…

1 WALK AROUND It may sound simple, but it’s important. Shake the cobwebs off and really let your nerves and muscles switch on, says Olzinski. 2 PRIME THE CALVES While Olzinski sips coffee, he’ll bounce on his toes and do calf raises to wake up stiff ankles and the Achilles. 3 LUNGE Roche says a lunge matrix is one of the best things you can do before heading out the door. It activates your glutes, quads and hamstrings, provides a dynamic stretch, and if you do it consistently, it will build strength. Stand upright, and lunge forward 10 times, alternating legs. Repeat, this time performing a trunk twist. Go again, and lean side-to-side, arms in goalpost position. Finally, do 10 backward lunges, alternating legs. (Note: return to a standing position…

EYEWEAR adidas Sport eyewear Tempest Crystal R2 217 (RRSP) The Tempest features the same lens technology as the PACYR, but this style is women-specific. The glasses stay put thanks to non-slip temples and Double-Snap Nose Pads, which you can adjust to fit your face; particularly useful if you’re an urban runner who darts around tight street corners, or if you like going at a faster pace. adidas Sport eyewear by Moscon Optics 011 483 8001 adidas Sport eyewear PACYR Black R2 017 (RRSP) adidas are better known for their shoes and apparel. But these retro-style glasses are an exciting departure from what we’ve come to expect from the brand; they look good, and they perform well. The lenses feature Light-Stabilising Technology, which improves your colour perception and clarity when you’re…

Love or hate it, treadmill running is a superb winter workout. Slap in some earbuds, focus your eyes to the front, and play with the speed button for maximum enjoyment. Some are better than others at running on treadmills; I am the others. To me, twenty minutes on the treadmill feels like hours on the road. Maybe it’s the constant movement – the inability to cruise, or take a mini-break. But it’s sweaty and exhilarating, all at the same time. It’s like a sweatbox for runners. Being connected sometimes means you need to be disconnected. Disconnected from devices and heart-rate monitors and Strava and measurement… and all the things that sometimes clutter the simple act of running. In the ‘The Sensory Run’ (p22) we get down to basics: the sights,…

A burning sensation isn’t actually from freezing air, but dry air. Breathe in, and your nasal cavity and windpipe instantly work to warm up cold air to your body’s temperature. The heat exchange happens so quickly that cold air never actually reaches your lungs. Dry air has to be humidified, so your nose and throat donate moisture, leaving them feeling scratchy and irritated (hence the burning). And this process happens in overdrive when you breathe faster and deeper while running.…

GIVE YOURSELF TIME Some runners can wake up and head straight out the door. That’s not most of us. Creating an energising pre-run routine that you don’t have to rocket through could make the difference in successfully building a habit. When Brogan Graham was leading the November Project’s Boston tribe, as a rule he would be drinking coffee in his kitchen 90 minutes before the start of the workout. LAY OUT YOUR CLOTHES It’s the oldest trick in the book – and it works. Small decisions, like choosing what to wear, can lead to decision fatigue. (Just ask Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, or any number of top performers who wear the same thing daily.) Laying out clothes saves you that mental taxation. Plus, it allows you to get warm asap.…

This year marked the 32nd annual Barkley Marathons, the USA’s most notoriously brutal running race; and the 2018 ultra marathon was quintessential – rain, sleet, and snow pounded participants as temperatures hovered in the low single figures Celcius, a dense fog permeated the peaks and valleys of the unmarked course, and 40km/h winds whipped through the shelter-less Tennessee back country. No runner finished the race – or even came close. To understand how anyone could possibly conquer this 160km-plus gauntlet, it’s best to flash back one year to the 2017 Barkleys: the last time a runner completed the prescribed number of loops to drag his body, bruised and beaten, back to the infamous yellow gates.…

APPS Studio US$14.99 (R185) for month-to-month membership (includes one-week free trial), or $99.99 (R1 245) for one year (R105 per month, includes two-week free trial). Available for iOS in the App Store. studio.live for more information. Zwift Run free, available for iOS, Mac, Apple TV, and PC. zwift.com for more information. MACHINES Peloton Tread $3 995 (R49 750) plus shipping and $39 (R485) per month for unlimited live classes. Available spring 2018.onepeloton.com/tread for more information. NordicTrack X22i Incline Trainer $2 999 (R37 350) plus shipping and assembly, and $39 (R485) per month after the first year for iFit subscription. Available now. nordictrack.com for more information…

Always warm up and focus on the posterior chain (calves, hammies, glutes), which is activated more on the sand, Sperl says. Go slowly. Sand is harder to run on, so Binnie suggests giving your body two weeks to adjust before increasing time and intensity. Aim for time, not distance, Tehrany says. That way, you’ll net a more challenging workout in the same number of minutes you would cover on pavement. Focus on your form. Sperl points out that the instability of sand will force you to shift forward naturally.…

EXERCISE HAS ENDLESS BENEFITS FOR THE BODY, BUT IT CAN also be a major gut stressor: anyone who’s had to cut a training session short or sprint to the porta-loo mid-run knows that running can cause gastrointestinal distress, especially for people with sensitive stomachs or chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. Experts say that sloshing in the stomach (looking at you, mid-run fuel!), decreased blood to the GI tract, and a weakened barrier between the intestines and the bloodstream (also known as ‘leaky gut’) can all be to blame. What you put on your plate can do a lot to improve your gut microbiome. Research suggests that regularly consuming probiotics – the good bacteria that occur naturally in fermented foods – may strengthen the gut’s lining and lower inflammation…

On average, 23 South Africans commit suicide every day; which means that among your work colleagues, friends, and even your immediate family, there could be someone who’s feeling depressed enough to take their own life. The chances may be slim, but they’re not impossible. Zanele Hlatshwayo was at her grandmother’s house when she found out her father was dead. Even more shocking was the news that he had taken his own life. He had always given her the impression he was a proud man, a pillar of his community, a strong father – and the last person she would have expected to suffer from depression. He was her hero. And Hlatshwayo couldn’t understand why her father had left her behind – along with her brother and sister, who at the…

“I think I have [a Midnight Runners T-shirt] for every day of the week. Everyone in the crew wears these. I designed the logo and the monogram on the sleeve.” “My Reebok Floatrides are my favourite long-distance shoe – I like the sock-like feel and cushioned sole. I did the paint splat on the front. I once got a big paint splatter from a studio accident on an old pair, and now I try to replicate that. It gives shoes personality.” “My hair doesn’t go down – it goes up and out, so I wear it in a bun. Once, my hair just exploded out of it. I looked like an absolute crazed man. Now I always have hair bands on my wrist. They’re, like, industrial-strength; and I still pop…

REWARD YOURSELF Treating yourself to something you enjoy after the run – like the day’s first scroll through Instagram, your favourite podcast, or a delicious breakfast – will actually develop neurological pathways that associate the early-morning run with said reward. Soon, those same Pavlovian pathways activate whether you give yourself the reward or not. It’s like your brain learning to subconsciously motivate itself. LET YOURSELF GO SLOWLY For those used to running in the afternoon or evening, the body’s early sluggishness might be disheartening at first. “My one piece of advice,” says coach John Honerkamp, “is focus on effort, not pace. The body is slow-moving in the morning, and it needs to get used to it.” The surest way to abandon your new morning routine is trying to PB every…