TRAIL RUNNING
The race swag in 2022 was a nice surprise , too !
Unfortunately , no amount of humour could distract me from Bernard ’ s description of the Swartberg Pass , where the first stage would begin the following morning , as I knew my heart rate was likely going to spike to well over 200bpm within the first kay . I was still feeling quite rough , and my heart rate was still quite high at 150bpm , so I made the tough decision to withdraw from the race , but as things turned out , I did still get to do some more running that weekend . More about that later .
What the Health Just Happened ?
My journey to the Dryland had started at the Tankwa Trail Run in April 2022 , also presented by Dryland Events , in the Koue Bokkeveld region near Ceres . My partner , Modern Athlete Ed Sean Falconer , was on commentary duty at this event for the first time , so I went along for the weekend , and having just completed my first half marathon at Two Oceans at the beginning of that month , I felt ready to tackle my first stage race .
The Tankwa offers a fantastic , relatively ‘ beginnerfriendly ’ introduction to multi-day racing , as it ’ s a three-day event comprised of a 5.3km ‘ prologue ’
The author ( right ) at the Tankwa Trail last April , with running mate Lexi Olds
Climbing the Swartberg Pass is guaranteed to get your heart rate up !
night run , followed by not too technical or hilly 21.7km and 17.9km stages , running through a breathtakingly beautiful landscape . I loved every second of the event – even that steep drop down a dam wall that forced many of us to slide down on our bums ! ( You can read about the Tankwa Trail experience here .)
In July , I ran the Blouberg Half Marathon in Cape Town . I had returned from a work trip to Johannesburg the day before , and did feel a little out of sorts , with a slightly scratchy throat and fatigue , but I put this down to recycled air on the plane and a lack of sleep . However , around the 16km mark , I began to struggle with extreme fatigue , where my entire body felt like lead , I struggled to take a deep breath , and my body was aching quite severely . To say that I dragged myself to the finish would be an understatement .
Two days later , I was really ill , with what I still thought was just bad flu , until I lost my sense of smell and taste , and also realised that my heart rate was going crazy . My resting heart rate , normally around 60bpm , was now 90bpm , and the simple act of walking up the stairs was causing it to spike to 180bpm ! Yup , it was COVID , and I therefore self-isolated , got the necessary medication and rested as much as I could . I was unfortunately part of an online conference that week , where I was presenting and also working as a moderator , so it was a rough week .
Coming Back … Slowly
Even when I was over the flu-like COVID symptoms , the ongoing heart rate issue meant that my running took a sharp nosedive , and in all honesty , I was afraid to hit the trails again , given what a short flight of stairs was doing to me . However , as Sean says ( with love , of course ), I ’ m stubborn and hard-headed – I prefer goal-oriented – so I kept at it for the next few months , as best I could . I openly admit that at times during my journey back to health and fitness , I sometimes bit off more than I could chew , even needing to be ‘ rescued ’ at the 16km mark of one particularly hilly 24km trail race , and walking most of another 10km trail race .
One cannot help falling in love with the Dryland Traverse
46 ISSUE 156 | www . modernathlete . co . za