Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 131, June 2020 June 2020 | Page 43

TRAIL RUNNING
Descent into
Dehydration, Cape
Town PEACE Trail
disappointed that I did not crack a sub-four-hour, for a
race that is considered an ‘easy’ 42km.
Look, I don’t think that it is the worst idea to do
back-to-back days of long runs, but when racing, you
naturally push yourself. In running consecutive days,
you don’t allow your body the chance to recover, yet
you push it anyway. It was indeed a great challenge,
but it was not good for my body. I felt the fatigue
in every one of those races, in pretty much every
kilometre, to the point that I really was not enjoying
myself. I could have still improved my personal bests
if I had been fair to my body, and given it the rest it
deserved.
Platteklip Gorge with
Matty and Jess
On a personal note, this run was a tribute to my
Gigi dog, who I lost in a tragic accident last year.
She was my best friend for almost 15 years.
Despite very heavy legs and dehydration, I felt
her run this race with me, pushing me all the
way to a Top 20 finish and an improvement of
20 minutes on my previous time for this race.
Lesson #9: It is a bad idea to
run back-to-back races
The Cape Town Marathon happened to be the
following day, so obviously I had to run that
race, too. I had not been doing many long runs on
the road, as I was spending most of my time in the
mountains. And having pushed myself in the trail race
the day before, climbing out of bed alone on race day
#2 felt like climbing Skeleton’s Gorge with a small, but
heavy child on my back.
Motivated to get moving by my impatient bladder,
my bones clicked and cricked as I staggered through
my pre-race routine to get to the start line. Within
the first 8km, I composed creative varieties of curse
phrases, and questioned why I do these things.
I found a bit of momentum at the halfway mark,
and after Sean handed me a Red Bull around the
30km mark, I floundered to the finish. It was by the
grace of God that I was still able to stand, but I also
managed to improve my marathon PB by 10 minutes,
finishing in four hours and five minutes. Yet, I still felt
Tired legs after a
marathon effort
I’m still not entirely sure what led me to this idea of
back-to-back races. I guess there are thousands of
people who run these individual races, many running
them much faster than I do, with less training… and
less associated suffering. I guess I just want to be
extraordinary! I have this unshakeable need to push
my personal limits, with a burning desire to inspire
others in the process. I don’t feel pressure from
anyone but myself. I know that I do not have anything
to prove, to anyone, but I am also aware that I am
my biggest critic and my own worst enemy. That is
something I am still trying to work through.
Lesson #10: If it doesn’t kill you, it
will scare the shit out of you
Having a physical job and trying to maintain running
fitness is physically, mentally and emotionally
demanding. I am intensely goal-driven and annoyingly
passionate about both my career and fitness, so I can
be quite hard on myself. But I finally got a few days
off work! So, instead of sleeping in, I saw the perfect
opportunity to wake up before the sun and take
visiting friends from Rhodes University, Matty Hunter
(who has become a running machine) and his better
half, Dr Jess Comley, on a six-hour run up, along and
down Table Mountain.
The following day, we experienced an intense heat
wave, so I thought a swim may be nice. A training
swim, though, because who swims for fun? I ran on
a short, sneaky single-track along the mountain to
get to Silvermine Dam, and once I was sufficiently
cooled off by a 2km swim, I shuffled back along the
same single-track, trying to warm my frozen joints.
Despite having done some really complex, technical
trail running over the previous few months, I managed
to fall, tripping over a small rock (basically a stone), on
flat, sandy trail, twisting my ankle horribly.
A few curse words helped in holding the tears back,
followed by a quick apology prayer and gentle ask
Lion’s Head, Cape
Town PEACE Trail
for assistance, while the pain gradually subsided.
I figured I’d be okay to hobble back to my car,
around 2km away, so I limped on for a bit as the pain
continued to dissipate. (Prayer is a powerful weapon,
and adrenaline a wonderful secretion.) Before I knew
it, I could run again (sort of), but not more than a
minute later, a bush rustled next to me, and there was
a ‘thump’ on the sand behind me. A puff adder was
pretty unhappy with my activities, and successfully
chased me out of his territory.
With soiled underwear, the final 1km to the car felt
like 100km, where every bush seemed to contain
a venomous snake, and every rock was intent on
sending me tumbling. Once safely back at my car, and
with a quick sigh (and long cry) of relief, I drove home
to deplete a six-pack of lemon-flavoured beer, in the
bath. My ankle looked like a rugby ball the following
day, so I was forced to take part in this thing called
‘rest.’ Reflection took place, too, as did the gathering
of perspective and appreciation. That night, I nearly
stood on a highly venomous scorpion on my way to
bed, but I woke up with mountains of gratitude for
my life.
Luna wearing
my medals
better than I do
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