Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 20

“The way
they looked
after me was
incredible. One of
my coaches screamed
at me in training like an army
drill sergeant –he told me I would
thank him later – and then they stood there
on the day, one of them talking to me at all times to motivate me,” says Johan
but with far more lean muscle. Thanks to the research, I also now understood how
important core strength is, and that helped me keep my form throughout the record
attempt... My arms never dropped once, I had no neck problems as in previous
runs, and it also meant I felt fine after 12 hours of hard running – I was absolutely
fine when I had to get up for work the next morning!”
MENTAL CHALLENGE
“All three put in so much work to help me prepare for the run. They are all MMA
fighters, so they actually took every copy of Modern Athlete I had and poured through
them to glean every bit of advice they could to come up with my race-day strategy.
That included a detox for five days, which they read about in an article in a 2011
edition, and they found articles on avoiding over-stretching, how to lace shoes better
to avoid feet swelling, which pants would be the best and whether to wear underpants
or tights to avoid chafe, and more. All of it came out of the Modern Athlete mags!” As anybody who has tried doing long training runs on a treadmill will know, it takes
mental stamina to stay focused for a long period of time on a treadmill – and it is all
too easy to trip or stumble in a momentary lapse of concentration. However, Johan
says he is able to “go into the zone” for long periods “You see people around you,
even talking to you, but your mind is on one thing, putting one foot ahead of the
other. I just watch the screen, put in earphones to cut out the music and talking
around me, and even start talking to myself... because when you hit that bad
patch – and it will come sooner or later – it doesn’t matter who is around you, you
need to get over your head and the messages from your body. As long as you can
overcome the negative thoughts, you can avoid crashing.”
Johan also had to adapt his diet, doubling his food intake to support his training
for the attempt. “I actually got so gatvol of eating all the time, but eventually my
body began craving it. I found that what works best for me during the run is steak
and alcohol-free Castle Lager beer, along with water and Energade. In the end I
downed 16 litres of water, used six sachets of Vooma, drank one and a half 330ml
beers, and ate 1.5kg of steak. And I never cramped once. I did have some sugar
lows, but overall I felt good enough to keep going strong.” Another mental stimulus Johan had for his record attempt was competition. In the
build-up to the run, he was challenged to a simultaneous record attempt by the
Aussie record-holder, and they were linked via Skype so that they could watch
each other’s progress. “As the day went on, my crew kept telling me he was ahead
of me, even though I couldn’t see him on the tablet anymore, so I pushed harder,
and at one stage the doctor suggested I stand under a cold shower for a while, as I
was overheating, but after that I continued pressing to try catch the Aussie.”
“Most surprising was the amount of weight I put on in the build-up. I normally
weigh 55kg at Comrades, but thanks to all the work in the gym, I got up to 71kg, In total Johan took six short breaks of between five and 10 minutes, to change into
PACING MOTIVATION
J
ohan has run as a Comrades Pacesetter most years since 2003, and that came about
thanks to two promises he made. It started on his 16 th birthday, when his terminally ill
grandfather asked him to someday run the Comrades in his memory. He passed away a
week later. “in 2001, at the age of 24, I remembered that I had made that promise, and so I did
my first Comrades,” says Johan.
Then in 2003 he ran as a Comrades Pacesetter for the first time, helping Graham Bentz to
bring the sub-9:00 bus home in 8:53. They successfully brought the bus home again in the
next two editions of the race, and more pacing success followed in 2007 and 2008.
However, later in 2008, Johan’s first son was born with a heart defect and had to undergo
heart surgery. “The Wednesday he had the operation and the Friday morning we got a call
from the hospital that said we must come immediately, as they didn’t think Etienne would make it. As
I walked into the ICU, I saw him lying there, just five weeks old, and I took his small hands and prayed. I made a promise to God that if he helped me, I would always
try to help others, including running the Comrades to help other people reach their goals. At 12 o’clock that afternoon, when I walked back into the ICU, my boy was
breathing on his own.”
Since then Johan has carried the sub-9:00 flag in nearly every Comrades, and while there have been a few years where the wheels came off a bit, overall he has built a
reputation as one of the most consistent and reliable Comrades Pacesetters, helping many appreciative runners to achieve the coveted Bill Rowan medal.
“My son is now 10 years old and all that he kept from that operation is the scar on his chest. He is my biggest hero, and the inspiration for me to continue helping my
fellow runners. That is why I love my pacesetting so much, because seeing people reach their goals reminds me of my healthy son.”
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ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za