Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 61, August 2014 | Page 30

Ma my story

Back in

Balance

I was once a very competitive
athlete, but all I did was running – I
never trained any other muscles.
The result of just running plus some
injuries caused a complete muscle
imbalance and eventually my body
just gave in, from top to bottom.
Fortunately I have now sorted out
the problem and am finally on the
move again. – BY THALITA AURET

F

rom a young age I was a keen and
competitive runner – I still hold the SA under-13
half marathon record of 84:39, which I set when
I won the Ohlssons Half Marathon in Virginia
in the Free State in 1985. Running was my

Thalita (right) made her comeback in the IMPI
Challenge Gauteng obstacle race last year.

Images: Courtesy Thalita Auret.

OUT OF BALANCE

From no sport to helping others in the Impi!

life. Then, at the age of 28, living in Pretoria, I
started feeling pain in my knees when I ran, so
I took up cycling to alleviate the pressure on my
joints and muscles. This helped for a while, but
at 38 I tore a muscle in my hip, which took eight
months to heal, and because I didn’t seek proper
physiotherapy to help with the recovery, I could
no longer do long distance running.
So I took up triathlon to fill the gap that running
had left, but that also led to further pain, so
finally, at the age of 41, my active lifestyle came
to a grinding halt. My knees hurt too much to
cycle, my hamstrings hurt too much to run, and
my arms hurt too much to swim. My hips were
very stiff and prevented me from walking with
ease, and my back and neck hurt so much that I
needed a special pillow to sleep at night. I felt like
a 41-year-old in a 90-year-old’s body!

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A trip to the physiotherapist revealed that I
had a complete muscle imbalance and that my
muscles were incredibly weak. Even a simple
push-up or squat was impossible. I also had
severe calcification in my shoulder and was
only able to use 40% of that arm. Now when
a runner doesn’t strengthen their other body
parts, it can cause the muscles that aren’t
being exercised to become weak, causing an
imbalance; and because your muscles protect
your bones, they too are at risk for injury. So
the prognosis wasn’t good, and it meant a lot
of rehabilitation and strength development
as well as no sport for an entire year. As an
athlete, this was like the ‘kiss of death’ for
me. And how could someone who was a
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