Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 100, November 2017 | Page 13

KALMER’S
CORNER
Our Modern Athlete Brand Ambassador’s Blog
By Rene Kalmer
CHASING PBs AGAIN
Our family of three was recently in the Cape to be part of the historic Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, the first IAAF Gold
Label Marathon ever to be hosted on African soil, and it was a jam-packed weekend in Cape Town as I really got back into
racing mode.
T
he weekend in Cape Town started with
me having the great honour to assist
with the Trail Run prize-giving on the
Saturday morning, and it was great to meet so
many of my Facebook friends there, too. I have
huge respect for trail runners – as a road junkie,
I envy their amazing views and adventures, but
I realised a few years back while on a training
camp in Ethiopia that trail running is not for me.
That became clear when a four-year-old girl
running in a dress and slops passed me on the
trails. I was in total shock and stumbled over a
tree root, to the amusement of the whole village.
On the Saturday afternoon it was time to dress
up and leave the running shoes behind for a
High Tea at the Cullinan Hotel, hosted by Elana
Meyer. We laughed and cried together as we
listened to the inspirational life stories of Nolene
Conrad and Deshun Deysel. Nolene shared how
she overcame life-threatening asthma as a child
to become one of South Africa’s most versatile
distance runners, representing South Africa in
road running, cross country, and track and field.
Meanwhile, Deshun is one of South Africa’s
leading female mountaineers and a prominent
businesswomen, and she made history when
she was part of the first South African expedition
to summit Mount Everest in 1996. The new flag
of South Africa was planted on top of the world.
RACING SHOES ON
After a very windy start to the weekend, Cape
crossed the finish line in 8th position with a time
of 37:26min, but I was a bit disappointed that I did
not have an official Post-Pregnancy Personal Best
(PPPB), and I also feel for the runners that went to
Cape Town to attempt a Personal Best time.
BACK TO JOBURG
Town showed off with a beautiful day on the
Sunday. Unfortunately, I was not fit (or brave)
enough to attempt the full marathon after
the birth of my first child, so I opted for the
10km. As I mentioned in my previous blog, my
postpartum goal was to run a sub-40, and when
race day arrived, I woke up with butterflies in
my stomach and having to go to the loo every
10minutes! But it felt just like the old days when
Christine and I went for a warm-up on the Sea
Point Promenade, and I even sneaked in a few
strides before the race.
A week later it was time for the FNB Joburg
10K CITYRUN here in our ‘backyard.’ I had a
little injury scare with a twitching groin muscle
after my 38ish 10km in Cape Town the week
before, so it was time to listen to my body
and back down a bit, but I didn’t want to miss
this fabulous 10km in the heart of Joburg, so
I decided it is time for Karli’s first 10km in her
Thule stroller.
We had a fabulous time running amongst the
sea of runners all wearing their blue FNB race
T-shirts, and there was even time to stop on
the Nelson Mandela Bridge for a famous selfie.
However, Andre was not impressed when I had
the urge to dice a fellow pram runner in the
home straight, to the amusement of the crowd
and fellow runners. (For the record, Karli and I
won the sprint!)
The excitement on the start line was electrifying as
we sang the National Anthem before the gun went
off. My race plan was to go out at 3:50min/km, as
we were running at sea level, which projected to
a 38:20min finish, and I w as spot on pace with a
few seconds in the bag. However, I realised while
running the beautiful route on the Promenade that
my focus has definitely changed... I was spotting
all the babies en route, and guessing their age!
Also, it was heart-warming to see how many
dads where babysitting so mommy could enjoy a
beautiful 10km.
Unfortunately, the leading vehicle took a wrong
turn in the last kilometre and the 10km turned
out to be a 9.8km. I was over the moon when I
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