Innholdsfortegnelse for Mar/Apr 2022 i Runner's World South Africa

MENTAL STRENGTH is a slippery subject, but one study that’s caught our attention suggests fish oil could tip the scales by helping to unlock your inner endurance warrior. Researchers at Kobe University in Japan found study participants who were given a dose of the supplement were able to handle pain for longer and with less discomfort than the control group. The scientists believe the DHA fatty acids in fish oil can amplify the effects of endorphins, which help you cope with the stress of physical exertion, suppressing pain and boosting your mood. By assisting these feel-good neurotransmitters, DHA increases your pain threshold. If you’re usually floundering halfway through a 5K, this should keep you more in tuna. You might even find the strength for a turbot-charged finish. And that’s enough…

DUTCH RUNNER SIFAN Hassan wowed the world at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she attempted an unprecedented distance triple, competing in the 1 500m, 5 000m and 10 000m races. Between heats and finals, Hassan would cover 24 500 metres in barely an eight-day span, with as little as 12 hours between races. It was June when she proposed the idea to her coach, Tim Rowberry. He was speechless at first, but soon they began making a plan to help Hassan compete at her highest level in such a short span of time. The feat didn’t have a true road map, though Rowberry knew it would require a careful balance between speed and endurance, along with several swift recoveries. And it worked: Hassan pulled it off – winning two gold…

TWO-TIME OLYMPIAN AND 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden drinks three to four cups of coffee each day. “I’m a huge coffee fan,” Linden says (which should come as no surprise, since she and her husband own a coffee company: Linden x Two). “I have two cups first thing in the morning, and it’s beneficial in getting all systems – mind and body – up and running before I head out the door for my first run,” she adds. Many of us (elite and non-elite) use caffeine to our benefit, as research has shown that in addition to perking you up, it can also make you faster and help you focus during your workouts. But as with any other performance food or drink, education is key to achieving maximum benefits;…

FORMING NEW RUNNING HABITS doesn’t have to mean starting all over again. There’s potential in hitting the reset button on your fitness, training and routine. In 2018, I couldn’t run for three months after I suffered stress fractures while in marathon training. The disruption was difficult, but when I came back, it felt like ‘dating running’ again – no high expectations, no pressure of a commitment, just healthy standards. A reset is your chance to ‘date run’ again, too. When you reset, be gentle with your physical and mental health. Physically, you need a firm foundation for strong running, and mentally, you need enthusiasm for low-bar wins. In 2018, my first goal was to be outside for 15 minutes, and I wrote positive mantras in my calendar to recultivate my…

WHEN YOU spot a fellow runner pounding along with their mouth clamped shut, hoovering oxygen through their nose, or even holding their breath for strides at a time, you may be catching a fascinating glimpse into the slightly weird world of breath optimisation. With solid science replacing airy claims of efficacy, breath work is floating out of the yoga studio; and the latest techniques promise to do more than soothe your mind after a tense Teams call. Change the way you breathe, so the theory goes, and you can optimise your fitness by improving your oxygen efficiency, boosting circulation and delaying muscle fatigue. While techniques such as nasal breathing and hypoxic (altitude) training have been around for decades, they’ve largely been the preserve of elite athletes. But a growing body…

Salomon Speedbob Hat R699 What began as a request from some of Salomon’s sponsored athletes has now become a best-seller to beat the heat. The technology in this hat captures and releases moisture vapour, enabling you to maintain an ideal core temperature – not just to protect against heat, but in the wind and rain too. salomonsports.co.za Beeswax Sunscreen With Fynbos Propolis Sunblock R217 Natural sunscreen filled with the goodness of honey and fynbos propolis; but it’s as much about what this lotion doesn’t have as what it does. It’s free of synthetic colourants, sulphates, chemicals, palm oils and parabens. Your skin gets the benefit of protection without being exposed to unnatural substances. simplybee.co.za New Balance Running Stash Cap R400 Five panels, lightweight, and with a zipper pocket for the…

Conquer your first marathon with ease with our newly-developed 16-week marathon plan, designed by qualified biokineticist, personal trainer and endurance coach Richard Woolrich. The programme consists of targeted strength and cardio workouts that use a gradual build-up to get you fit – and get you safely across that 42.2km finish line. Plus, you’ll get all the tips and tricks you need to finish strong, and in the best possible time. WHAT YOU’LL GET: • Expert 16-week workout plan• Gym-free strength workouts• Easy-to-follow instructions• Online support and motivation The plan is suitable for men and women of all ages and body types, and you can start it at any time. START TODAY Don’t miss out! Visit full-marathon.runnersworld.co.za and sign up now!…

BEST TIME TO RUN Autumn. Lesotho can be brutally hot in summer and freezing in winter. Finding just the right time between the extremes is key. TERRAIN Varies from high-altitude mountain trails with rocky, grassy tracks on the escarpment, to open farm roads on the west side of this hilly country. CONFIGURATION Circular, 1 100km. THE RUN Starting from the Tele Bridge border post in the south-western corner of Lesotho follow the contour of the border for its entire circumference. HOW TO GET THERE Fly in to Bloemfontein and then drive to the Tele Bridge border post via Lady Grey. THE EXPERIENCE Ryan Sandes and partner Ryno Griesel recce’d their proposed Lesotho loop earlier this year, with a plan to run the course for real in April. Together with SkyRun…

1 Set the Right Goal Almost half the job is ensuring you set the correct target to train for. This should be based on something you’ve achieved in the recent past – be it a 5km parkrun, or a 10K, a 15, a half marathon or a marathon. If you set the right target, you keep the training stimulus manageable, minimise injury risk, and – most importantly – give yourself every chance to improve over the six to eight weeks. Check out Prof Ross Tucker’s pace calculator at runnersworld.co.za/pacecalculator to get a better idea of what your expectations should be. It’s critical that you’re clear about your expected race pace, since the entire training plan is based on that pace. 2 Train at the Right Pace Whether it’s an interval session like…

Why Runners Should Wear Wool AROUND 80 PER CENT of our heat dissipation while exercising comes not from sweating, but from sweat evaporating off the skin. Clothing, especially thicker layering, is a barrier that traps heat, air, and moisture, creating what textile researchers call a ‘microclimate’ between the skin and the inner face of the fabric. As heat and moisture build, humidity rises, hindering evaporation, and therefore the skin’s ability to cool the body. One functional fabric works with the body’s efforts to thermoregulate in the cold – and yes, also in the heat: wool. Research in performance apparel has shown that wool fibres pull moisture from that microclimate. This lowers humidity, allows sweat to evaporate faster, and cools skin temperature – which is what we sense when we’re feeling…

MIGHTY MEG With a big move to the capital of trail in Europe, and a shift in focus to longer races, SA trail star Meg Mackenzie is changing things up to take on the best in the world. Meg Mackenzie’s entire family loves running, so it’s been a way of life for her since junior school. It all started with cross-country, from when she was really young until the end of high school. She pressed the pause button briefly during her university years; but since then Mackenzie’s been one of South Africa’s top women in trail running, with a focus on distances up to the marathon. In 2019 she claimed an impressive third place on the podium at the tremendously tough Pikes Peak Marathon (Colorado, USA), and last year placed…

THE SPORTS SCIENTIST TRAINING WITH THE FACTS How should you tackle a technical trail run? Do you go easy on the uphills and fly downhill? Or do you work extra hard on the hills, and try to recover on the descents? What if it’s steep and technical – should you change how you run then? A 2021 study aimed to answer these questions. Researchers from France kitted out 28 runners with three sensors – the trusty heart-rate monitor, a GPS watch (now becoming ubiquitous among runners), and a more novel form of tech that’s worn on the shoe and measures a type of power output and various stride parameters, such as ground contact time, leg stiffness and vertical oscillation. Using this combination, the researchers were able to get a much…

Dom Scott is no stranger to the pain cave. She famously collapsed during the World Cross-Country Championships a few years ago, and has been competing in the cauldron of Olympic and world-class 10 000m events for years. But few would have predicted how well she would do in only her second half marathon. On a chilly Houston morning in January, Scott-Efurd ran an incredible 67 minutes 32 seconds on her way to third place at the Houston Half Marathon. Only Elana Meyer has ever run faster, with her 66:44 from 1999. But how did she manage to pull off such a great result, in only her second competitive 21.1km? FOCUS IS EVERYTHING “When I ran my first half marathon at the Great North Run, it was at the end of…

"For all the millions of playlists and earphones; for all the thousands of bands, choirs and thumping PA systems that urge the millions of runners through the streets of the marathons around the world, we’ve never had our own running music… until now. "Rick Pearson and his band, appropriately named The Hamstrings, have created the world’s first album about the marathon, Revolution Of The Feet. Catchy, witty, at times soulful and always runnable (and danceable), the music captures our fascinating – but tricky to confirm – ancient history (The History Of The Marathon). The Wall is about more than the marathon wall; it’s about lost love, bad luck and bad decisions that get us in dark places: ‘Have I travelled all this way to come up one mile short?’ And…