Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 98, September 2017 | Page 38

Ma My Story
Feelin g Inspi r ed
Fallon Finlayson is a 31-year-old graphic designer now based in Somerset West
in the Cape, who lives by two motivational sayings: My only fear is not trying, and
if your goals don’t scare you, they’re not big enough... which is why she went
from the couch to the IRONMAN 70.3, and intends going still further…
T
riathlon and fitness is an absolute passion of
mine, but it has not always been this way.
Growing up in Zimbabwe, my absolute worst
nightmare was having to attend sports days at school.
I literally hated it. The only thing I enjoyed was
swimming, and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t
just swim? This running thing was not for me, in any
way! During compulsory cross country, I would sit
under a tree and only do one lap of the two-lap route,
and catch up with everyone on their second lap. I
was also quite an unhealthy eater and loved all the
junk food. All in all, I was quite an unfit, unhealthy
and overweight teenager – and I just accepted it and
carried on with my life.
Finishing school and moving to South Africa to study,
I lived the typical student life. Lectures, parties, late
night garage pies, student burger specials, and a bit of
studying. A healthy life was the last thing on my mind!
However, once I started working in Johannesburg –
some would say grew up – I decided it was time to
get healthier, and so I did the normal thing and joined
a gym. I attended classes about five times
a week, but the real turning point was
the day my sister phoned me and
invited me to swim the Midmar
Mile with her company team.
Having been
such a keen swimmer a few years earlier, I agreed
immediately.
I got into the pool that evening to start training… and
battled to swim even two lengths of a 25-metre pool!
I was out of breath and my chest was on fire. “How
am I battling to swim?” I asked myself, but the answer
to that question was obvious, after not swimming for
about five years and not worrying about a healthy life.
But I was committed to swimming Midmar, and after a
few weeks of training, I was comfortable in the water
again. Slow, but comfortable, and it felt good.
The Running Bug Bites
I completed Midmar and absolutely loved it. I also
lost about 5kg during all the training, and after the
event, I remember thinking, “Now what?” I loved the
transformation, getting fitter, completing an event
and the bonus of the weight-loss, so I decided to
try running, as I knew I would definitely lose more
weight. Let’s just say that my first attempt at running
is a day I will never forget. I could barely jog 200
metres, I was so out of breath, and I’m sure
my heart rate was well over 200! I felt
nauseous and wanted to throw up,
but I persisted as I jogged
and walked around
the block. It
was mentally and physically very challenging for me,
but again, I decided not to give up.
Another day I’ll never forget is when I jogged around
that same block without stopping, a huge achievement
in its own right. That is where my passion for running
began, leading to 5km races, then to 10km and from
there to my first half marathon. I had absolutely
fallen in love with running. By this time, I was also a
healthier eater and had lost another 8kg. I felt totally
energised with life.
Then came the devastating day. After a few weeks
of hip pain followed by a few physio’s, an incredible
chiropractor, a podiatrist, gait analysis, and a sports
doctor, I was told I had a badly misaligned pelvis,
which would take anything between eight months and
a year to realign and get my piriformis muscle to settle
down. The news of no running for eight months or
more came down like a ton of bricks. I was crushed.
I carried on attending my aerobic classes with my
favourite instructor and kept all movements low-
impact, but I was not getting the satisfaction that
running gave me. That’s when I decided to buy a road
bike and I entered the 94.7 Cycle Challenge. I was
craving some sort of physical endurance challenge,
so training began, and six months later I completed
the race. Another thing I never thought I’d ever be…
a cyclist.
Getting Going Again
I basically had no triathlete friends in Johannesburg,
and I had no idea what was in store for me. No idea!
But I did some research on the Internet about training
for beginner triathletes and then I ‘just winged it.’
Typically, I went on to do the 11Global with a few
pulled tendons on the top of my foot from the increase
in training. Even so, I had an incredible time, and as
I finished, I remember thinking, “I loved that, so I’m
definitely going to do another one.”
I have never looked back. Being a triathlete makes
me feel so alive. Pushing my body, testing my limits
and what I am really capable of doing, achieving
what a few years ago I would have called absolutely
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ISSUE 98 SEPTEMBER 2017 / www.modernathlete.co.za
By that time, eight months of no running had passed
and I was given the go-head to attempt a jog. Happily, it
was pain-free, but I was still told by the specialists that it
was highly unlikely I’d ever be able to run long distances
again… and I almost accepted that. But I didn’t, and
after six months of running again, I had a bit of a light
bulb moment: “Hey, I can do a triathlon now!” Some
quick research showed that the next big triathlon event
was four months away, the 11Global in Sun City, so I
immediately entered… and then thought, “Eek!”