Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 36

ROAD RUNNING
Nolene wins the
NutriBullet Bay
to Bay 15km at
the beginning of
the year, in her
first outing in her
new Murray &
Roberts colours
Slaying the
Dragon
On top of the world one minute, rock bottom the next. How quickly
things can change in sport! 2018 was the best year of my running
career, I was making steady gains and achieved big personal bests.
I was on track to achieve my dream of racing the marathon at the
Olympic Games in 2020... until it all came crashing down. As much
as sport can add joy and fulfilment to one’s life, it can be really
brutal when suffering from a series of chronic injuries that leave
you feeling weak, alone and totally out of sync with your body.
O
ver my 17-year running career, I have had
to deal with many injuries, including stress
fractures in my lower limbs, calf strains, hip
ligament detachment, and lower back injuries. These
were serious injuries with a recovery time of two to six
months, but what makes this current setback worse
is that it was a series of three injuries, one occurring
directly after the other, extending the lay-off time.
Training
on the
Coetzenberg
track in
Stellenbosch
36
As a result, over the last six months I have known
endless doses of Ibrufen, mounting medical bills
and the agony of relapse. Out of desperation, I tried
everything to get back to running: Four doctors, an
orthopaedic specialist, a hip specialist, three physios,
two chiropractors, one biokenetisist, a therapist, a
kinesiologist, one X-ray, three MRIs, two cortisone
injections, two PRP injections. That’s over R100,000
spent on trying to diagnosis and treat my injuries! The
lesson I learnt was that it’s important to work with a
small team of dedicated professionals who know your
history, and whom you trust, because when injured,
you become vulnerable and desperate. Everyone
gives you advice, telling you to try this, or see that
person, but if you listen to everyone you will soon find
yourself overwhelmed, and deep in debt.
ISSUE 121 AUGUST 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Being unable to run drove me crazy, I was losing
my mind, and my emotions were taking over – fear,
anxiety, anger – to the point where I would get jealous
seeing people running, or sad when I scrolled through
social media and saw people enjoying their races
and workouts. I am the type of person that does not
like asking for help, not because I am too proud, but
because of my background. I learnt to stand on my
own feet when I was 16 years old and running helped
me become self-reliant, so reaching out for help was
not easy. However, I realised that I could not do it
alone. I had to allow the people who cared for me to
help me, and I had to put all my trust in God.
Freak Accident
It was 20th January 2019, the day I was due to
fly out to Osaka, Japan. At 6:30am, I laced up my
running shoes and took off for my 10km morning
run. I remember it clearly, a beautiful morning in
Stellenbosch, and I was in high spirits, as I was super
fit and looking forward to my marathon in Japan. I
decided to take a different route on the way back
home. As I approached the last corner, I stepped on
a stone the size of a golf ball, resulting in my ankle
twisting in both directions. I tried to continue running,
– BY NOLENE CONRAD