FINAL WEEK: PART I It’s 2.53 am and I’ve only managed three hours’ solid sleep. There’s a light rain falling outside and the wind is gusting somewhat – not the ideal conditions for our first Two Oceans. I groan and try hide away from my clanging nerves by burrowing deeper into my warm bed and [...]
About Carla Calitz
Carla Calitz is SHAPE’s features editor and has signed up for the Optifit 21.1km training programme with the Sports Science Institute. This programme is preparing her for her very first half marathon, the Two Oceans, on 7 April 2012. Follow this aspiring mountain goat’s trails, trials and tribulations.
EPIC DREAMS
WEEK SEVEN: PART I – YOU ALWAYS TAKE THE WEATHER WITH YOU (well, I do) It’s our last full week of the Optifit programme – we’re starting to taper now in preparation for the Two Oceans and enjoy the last few hours of camaraderie together. Monday kicks off with our health assessment – all of [...]
THE WEARY LIMB AND THE INDOMITABLE “SPIGOT”
WEEK SIX: PART I – TLC So it would appear I’m doing a stellar job at accruing running’s “Big Five”: I’ve secured the beginnings of Achilles tendonitis and now I have Runner’s Knee (aka Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome). But I’ll be damned if plantar fasciitis, ITB friction syndrome and shin splints are next on my list! [...]
TWO STEPS FORWARD, THREE STEPS BACK?
WEEK FIVE: PART 1 – THE RACE OF HOBBLE I was incredibly excited when my alarm woke me at 4.15 on the morning of the Constantia Village 15km race. I gobbled down my Future Life and coffee, dressed in record time, ensured the wedges/inserts were placed correctly in my shoes and then sped through the [...]
A VERY HAPPIE CHAPPIE
WEEK FOUR: PART I – “C” FOR C-RIOUS! It’s been a(nother) tough week of training – we’re upping our mileage and pushing ourselves a LOT harder… pressure, what pressure?! Of course red-zoning it (and trying, but failing dismally to rein in my Gollum Brain) at my first time trial added to me feeling a bit [...]
THE WOBBLE, THE HEROES AND THE GOLLUM BRAIN
WEEK THREE: PART I I seem to be accruing nicknames at a speedy pace – Bobble has now dubbed me “Wobble” thanks to the achy effects of the additional glute and calf exercises I’m tackling to right my abnormal gait. It didn’t help either that we had to attempt our first indoor strength training session [...]
A FAREWELL, A HELLO AND HILLS
WEEK TWO: PART I Our OptiFit training is being taken up a notch or seven now and the legs are starting to feel it with three hard running sessions a week. But there was no way I was going to miss out on my farewell trail run with Karen (the best running partner ever!) [...]
“TREND ON THE BERG”
WEEK ONE: PART II – “TREND ON THE BERG” It’s Friday afternoon and I’m gutted after my appointment with SSI podiatrist Chris Delpierre (as part of the OptiFit programme, you can either opt for a session with the dietitian or the podiatrist). Initially our appointment was going rather well. While I ran on the treadmill [...]
MY GEEKY BEGINNINGS (bear with me, please!)
I’ve never considered myself an athlete – I was the geeky kid who’d escape into her books while her siblings and peers were out tearing up the neighbourhood on their bikes. And while my Dad always insisted I was a natural sprinter, he also accused me of being lazy – and he had a very [...]
