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INSPIRATION running career was to stay true to what worked for me. I wasn’ t into chasing PBs; I’ ve always just wanted to be consistent in my running, so I’ ve always aimed for a sub-6 at Two Oceans, because that’ s what works for me.”
When it comes to her personal reasons for running, Louise says it helps that it’ s a great way to purge her body of stress and very good for mental health.“ Plus, I’ m a bit of a foodie. I run so that I can enjoy my chocolate, my wine, and butter-infused French-style dishes. I also run to help my future self … so that I can play on the trampoline with any kids I may have in future, and set an active lifestyle example for them.”
“ There’ s the philosophical benefit of running as well. It helps you break down a challenge that may seem utterly overwhelming, into bite-sized chunks. It allows you to focus on the smaller wins in life – just like on the road, where you might focus on just getting to the next lamppost or tree. It’ s an effective strategy.”
Two Oceans Strategy
When it comes to tackling the TTOM Ultra, Louise says she has worked out what pacing strategy works for her.“ A lot of people forget that that the music, dancing and singing and the overall hype at the start, builds quite a lot of adrenalin. And if you’ re not careful, you can set off at record pace and completely blow by the 10km mark. You need to Run with your head and keep a mental eye on your pacing chart, with a very clear idea of where you need to be at certain points.”
“ You also need to be able to sensibly modify your strategy. For example, if you’ re sticking to a one-minute walk, three-minute run strategy, you may not necessarily be able to maintain that if you’ re going uphill. Be logical about things like that, because you won’ t always be able to stick to a pacing strategy to the millisecond.”
Similarly, if you miss or forego a water station early on, holding off on a gel until you can wash it down with water, will prevent self-inflicted stomach distress such as nausea, bloating, cramping and dehydration. Staying rational under pressure prevents small mistakes from snowballing into setbacks that could severely compromise how you fare in a race, says Louise.
She adds that she has seen runners make the same mistake on the route through the years, and that is why one needs patience when running the TTOM Ultra.“ As we’ ve touched on before, it’ s really tempting to go all out in that opening fast and flat 28km in an attempt to‘ bank time’ for the climbs that await you later, but in the process, runners who push themselves quite hard in the first half, often expend so much energy, that Constantia Nek ends up being much more brutal than it needs to be. Usually, they would have‘ saved’ far more time by just running at a reasonable pace and leaving enough in the tank for the challenging second half of the race.”
Fuelling the Engine
In an era saturated with what can sometimes seem like a new dietary trend every other week, Louise takes a pragmatic, science-informed, yet deliciously simple approach to fuelling for the run.“ I eat articles on nutrition for breakfast,” she chuckles, while admitting that she considers herself a bit of a‘ nutrition nerd.’
“ The science behind a lot of these things is intriguing. My approach is that you need to take advice from the experts, but you also need to figure out what works for you. If all the leading doctors in the world are recommending some kind of superfood, but it just does not work with your system, then it’ s just not for you … and you shouldn’ t force it. Protein maxing, for example, is very trendy right now. Personally, I try not to eat too much protein the night before a race, as it makes me feel heavy and bloated. That’ s one of the things I found out with trial and error.”
So, what does she eat the night before a race?“ I guess you could say we are old-school people, because Dad and I are still running on pasta, such as spaghetti bolognaise or lasagna the night before. It works for us. I try to cut back on meat the night before, because it’ s very heavy, and on the morning of a race, I’ ll usually just have a cup of coffee when I’ m in the starting pen, some good jelly sweets and a stroopwafel.”
Going back to expert advice, Louise says that there’ s good reason for all the leading coaches telling runners to figure out their fuelling strategy during a training run, and not on the day of a race!“ Take the texture of certain gels, for example. How will you feel by the time you’ ve had your sixth or seventh gel? This is something you should figure out on your training runs, because it can have big consequences on race day. And if you do deviate from what you normally do, do it sensibly. This year, walking up Constantia Nek, I took an ice lolly, and it was the best thing I’ ve had in my life! Yes, I gave myself some room to experiment, but I also knew it was basically just cool water, not some wild nutritional experiment in the middle of a race.”
Having run her fist Ultra at 20, Louise has proven that young women can handle ultra distances
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