Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Runner's World South Africa

The Incomplete Book of Running / By Peter Sagal The host of the TV show Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! (and Runner’s World contributor) muses about the many kays he’s logged over four decades, making you wish he was your long-run buddy. takealot.com Running is My Therapy / By Scott Douglas The Runner’s World contributor details his lifelong battle with depression, then dives into the scientific research that explains why running has helped save him. takealot.com Summits of My Life / By Kilian Jornet The world’s best ultrarunner provides an inside look at one of his greatest career achievements – setting the fastest known ascent and descent records on seven of the most famous peaks on Earth (including Everest). exclusivebooksco.za…

The Receiver “If you’re full of nerves at the start, and hyper-focused on the race, a greeting might be the distraction you need to get out of your own head. It breaks the anxiety and tension and reminds you of the human connection in a very solo sport.” The Giver “The person who’s calm and just a genuinely nice person truly wants the runner next to him to do well. His thought process is, If my competitor has a good race, I’ll have a good race. The positivity elevates the competition.” The Jerk “Some athletes want to give the illusion of confidence. They might wish their opponent well and hope that breaks them down. But if you need to rely on mind tricks, you’re probably making up for a lack…

JORDAN SMITH EDITOR // DOG LOVER. WILL RUN FOR DOUGHNUTS 1 / Prescription Sunglasses I hate wasting a pair of contacts on a single run, so on days when I wear glasses, I swap in my prescription sunglasses. After years of sweating in them, they still offer great sun protection and don’t bounce around. 2 / Socks I wear Fits for my runs and recovery. I like the running sock’s light compression feel throughout my foot, and I’ll slide on a pair of the compression socks post-run. Well-cushioned and comfortable, they’re just tight enough to avoid sliding down. I also love them for travel – my ankles swell when I’m sitting all day, and these little guys keep them from ballooning. 3 / Shoes I’ve been a loyal Brooks wearer…

IT’S CHILLY at the startline of the marathon, and the start chutes are packed with runners bobbing up and down as the anthem plays. One of them, Gary Collina, stares straight ahead and reminds himself why he’s running today. He turns to a woman standing next to him, offers a fist bump, wishes her luck. Then turns to another runner, repeats the gesture. Earlier, he’d compared goal times and race strategies with an older man with tree-trunk legs. The man, nearly three decades Gary’s senior, had said he hoped to run a 3:22. “Fast,” Gary had said. “You’ve got it, man.” They shook hands. Gary is that runner – the one at every race who you don’t know, but who slaps your back and wishes you luck. The one who…

I HAVE BEEN A physiotherapist for 25 years and have treated all types of runners. In my experience, most injury and performance issues are down to your running motion. Just like the mechanics of a golf swing, if you understand it, you can work to make yourself a more efficient runner – and by doing so, improve your speed and endurance, and reduce your injury risk. In this series, I’ll try to help you understand and improve your biomechanics using a variety of simple tests and drills. This month, I’m going to focus on using tiptoe (or calf) raises to assess running motion. They test the strength of the calf and foot-stabilising muscles – both of which are important for an efficient running gait and greater resistance to injury. THE…

NO.1 Under Armour JBL Headphones / Like most runners, I view strength-training at the gym as an unnecessary evil. These headphones help; they have a clean, tight and punchy sound that proved a welcome distraction. That said, they didn’t distract me too much from my workout. I found the volume and noise cancellation easy to adjust, thanks to the large, sweat-proof buttons on the side. Even more impressive was the fact that they stayed put even when I did a few burpees! (R2 999, Dion Wired, Musica, Incredible Connection) – Lisa Abdellah, Gear Editor No.2 Maurten Gel 100 / The game-changing fuel used by elite athletes in their attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier has been launched in South Africa. The Swedish start-up claims their gel allows athletes to…

Bradley Diamond and Bronwyn Erwee Insta Name: @it_takes_two_feet Age: Brad – 32. Bron - 27 Hometown: Johannesburg North Occupation: Bradley’s an architect, and Bronwyn’s a teacher. What phone do you use to take your Instagrams? Samsung Galaxy S7/8, and occasionally a Nikon D5300. Where’s your favourite place to run? When we have the opportunity to run the streets of Joburg CBD, we jump at the chance to see our beautiful city at a slower pace. But the best way to get our fix is always a trail. Anywhere we can get our shoes dirty and see something unusual. Tell us about your Insta name. ‘It Takes Two Feet’ was started as a social media method to document all the places we ran, and help us remember these places. Through running,…

Go Flat “Pacing a flat race is a lot easier than a hilly race. You can work in a more even split, and account for some fade at the end. Hilly races like the Two Oceans are tricky, because of the course. You need to work around your base pace.” – Murphy Plan The Fade “The experts will tell you that the best pacesetting strategy is to run a negative split. But it’s unrealistic for most, so you have to plan for fade in the second half – particularly in long races like marathons and beyond.” – Murphy Get Experience “I travel around to races all over South Africa, and always paceset when I run. It adds to your experience, and running in different provinces gives you exposure to different…

a. 3D-printed cartilage The same characteristic of cartilage that makes it slow to repair itself – a paucity of blood vessels – makes it relatively easy to 3D print. The first clinical applications are only a few years off. b. Repairing ACLs Replacing a torn anterior cruciate ligament with a graft has been the orthopaedic standard for decades. But a new procedure that uses a blood-soaked bridge to promote healing may soon make repair a better option than replacement. c. Autologous stem cell therapy Research suggests injections of your own stem cells are effective in treating degenerative shoulder problems such as osteoarthritis and rotator cuff tears. d. Total hip replacement By minimising damage to muscles, the increasingly popular anterior-entry technique has reduced recovery time for a total hip replacement from…

1 APPLE WATCH SERIES 4 // Quick take: The best smartwatch gets even better, with great new features for runners. Price: From R7 999, myistore.co.za Why we like it: Just like the previous-generation Apple Watch, Series 4 lets you leave your phone at home but still be connected to the outside world (if you opt for the GPS+Cellular version). While the watch looks almost identical to AW3, the new model boasts 30 per cent more space on the screen, so everything is easier to see – and easier to tap, like when you’re launching an app. Apple have also increased battery life by an hour, extending up to six hours when doing an outdoor run. Exciting new health features include the ability to detect falls – and call emergency services…

It was five in the morning, and the starting line felt like a nightclub. Runners gathered behind a traditional Chinese gate doing jumping jacks and toe touches, syncing their stretches to thumping bass music. An instructor covered in spandex led the calisthenics, shouting through a headset. Smoke machines exploded in rhythm with the music, and floodlights lit up a banner hung from the gate: Gaoligong by UTMB. A Chinese runner nodded to me in approval. “Not bad at all, the vibe here.” EDM pulsed for the next half hour, until Li Zhaohui, the event’s emcee and broadcaster at the Beijing Olympics’ track-and-field events, took the stage. That morning, he donned a vintage American Air Force flight jacket, embroidered with the emblem of the Flying Tigers, the U.S. squadron that fought…

…you’re taking running (and yourself) far too seriously when you’re on your run-commute and all those people at the bus stop are deliberately standing in your way. …how your run is going when you are effortlessly passed by someone who has an Ironman tattoo on their calf and you think: a. Impressive! or b. Tool! or c. Impressive – for a tool! …you really don’t want to go for that run in the cold when you spend 10 minutes in the mirror trying to arrange your Buff so you look like a sexy – but still dangerous – pirate. And then you go looking for some giant hoop earrings……

THE QUESTION What advice would you give to new runners starting out? It takes time to build endurance and speed. Don’t rush it! Also, when you feel like you can’t give any more... push yourself for 1 more minute! – Becky Davis Correct diet. Double up on socks/buy seamless socks. Don’t run dehydrated. Rest days are good: muscle repair. Boost protein intake. Focus on other things than the distance you have left to run. Music helps on the treadmill – on roads, be careful. – Melani Alpaugh Go to a running speciality shop and get fitted for shoes. Do a proper warm-up, stick with intervals in the beginning and make it fun. Never trust the first kilometre. – Tiffany Burley It’s simple. Get a plan (there are many). Then just…

WHEN YOU’RE FEELING frazzled, our best advice is to just go for a run – hello, endorphins! – but we realise an injury, nasty weather, or a busy schedule can keep you from lacing up. So we asked a group of experts for simple, easy strategies that can instantly give you some zen. Steal these tips the next time you feel stress sneaking up on you. Take a Deep Breath / There’s a reason this advice is given so often: it works. Conscious, deep breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn slows your heart rate, according to Dr Henry Emmons, author of The Chemistry of Calm. To make it most effective, exhale twice as long as you inhale. Eat Some Protein / When your blood sugar gets low,…

IMAGINE A TRAINING TOOL that helps you race faster, build endurance and develop mental grit – all without adding another workout to your week. That secret weapon is the cool-down.”It’s time to change the way we think of the cool-down,” says exercise physiologist Steve Magness, author of The Science of Running (Origin Press). “If people realised it can actually increase fitness, they’d be more likely to push through it.” Continuing to exercise while fatigued forces the body to recruit muscle fibres it wouldn’t tap when fresh, and can boost its fuel efficiency, he says. Finish with a few more kays After a race-pace workout, or a tune-up 5K or 10K on the way to a half or full marathon, run for an additional 30 minutes. Don’t worry about pace –…

THERE’S AN OLD SAYING: ‘You can’t truly appreciate the top if you’ve never hit rock bottom.’ Annie Bothma has experienced not one but two major setbacks in her 23 short years. The first was when she stopped growing – at the age of 11. The athlete from Stellenbosch spent the next eight years of her life going from one doctor to the next, none of whom could identify the root cause of her condition. People can be cruel. A rumour that Bothma had an eating disorder spread like wildfire among her fellow students at Bloemhof High School. “RUNNING MADE ME FEEL STRONG AND CAPABLE, AND IT GAVE ME SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO...” Bothma remembers the day her relationship with running began: it was on the beachfront, during the December…

THE WAKE-UP I‘d been overweight for as long as I could remember. When I was growing up, I did very little physical activity, and I was a shy, self-conscious girl who ate food to make herself feel better. It wasn’t uncommon for me to have potatoes and rice in the same meal. I have a friend who’s a stereotypical ‘fat guy’: always happy, eating, and he wears a button-down shirt pulled tightly over his beer belly. I was horrified when I found out he weighed only 2kg more than me. I had always known I was big; but the thought of looking like him was enough to make me realise I needed to change. “WE ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER AND CELEBRATE EVERY ACHIEVEMENT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL.” THE SHAKE-UP My biggest…

Tune in “Try to be better at listening to your body as you get older, and take a flexible approach to your schedule. Make sensible decisions regarding your training on a day-to-day basis according to how your body feels, and whether you have any niggles. If necessary, give yourself a day or two longer than planned to recover after a hard session.” Tread softly “Run on softer surfaces whenever possible, to reduce the impact through your joints.” Support yourself “Invest in massages to work on tight areas, and be more diligent with your stretching. Keep a check on your core-stability work, and do gentle strength and conditioning work to help reduce age-related loss of muscle mass.” Stay positive “Keep a positive mindset, and be happy about getting older. As you…

I’VE RUN A LOT of trail races and ultramarathons, like the Leadville Trail 100. But this year’s New York City Marathon was my first road marathon. Earlier in 2018, on 12 March, my wife, Marya, gave birth to our son, Wyatt. He was born with Down Syndrome. I wanted a way to honour him and everyone else affected by the syndrome. So I decided to run New York and raise funds for others in the same circumstance. This year has been hard. After Wyatt was born premature, we spent 67 days with him in the neonatal ICU. He left the hospital on a feeding tube, and we fight every day to keep him from having to go back on one. There’s so much involved with keeping him healthy – early…