Mbuthuma sidelined by stress fracture

Nedbank Running Club Green Dream Team member Fikile Mbuthuma has been sidelined from action for 6 weeks. The athlete who hails from Durban confirmed this over the weekend.

Mbuthuma was diagnosed over the weekend with a stress fracture on the ankle and is now in a moonboot. After her long run of 30km followed by speed the next day, Mbuthuma felt discomfort and sharp pain in her ankle and an MRI scan confirmed the fracture.

“It’s always hard to deal with injuries mentally, but I like to think of this as a new beginning,” Mbuthuma said. “I will not be resting completely as I will still be cross training and doing core exercises so that I return stronger.”

Mbuthuma who recently represented the Country in the World 100km championships and a former Comrades Marathon gold medalist still has time to be in tip top shape come 9 June as she aims for yet another Comrades gold medal.

This was the 2nd blow to the Nedbank Green Dream team after Annie Bothma was injured in a freak accident whilst training. “I was doing my tempo run and was going at a fast pace when all of a sudden an Uber opened its door which hit me on my chest and pushed me into the ground,” Bothma recalled the incident. “It happened so quickly and I immediately got up to see the extent of injuries and as that happened, the driver just drove away.”

This has put a damper on Bothma’s preparations where she was to make her marathon debut. Since the incident Bothma has been struggling with her back, so much so that she will be operated on. “It’s unfortunate as in America I was in 2 bad accidents and ever since returning home I’ve been on an upward curve only for this to now happen.” Being positive is something that Bothma has learnt to deal with. “I will do a lot of rehab and I know I will be back stronger.”

From the track to Comrades

Standing on the start line of the 1500m final of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, little did people know that South African track sensation Juan Van Deventer was already dreaming of the Comrades Marathon, a far step up in distance, approximately 87 500m of distance!
“I grew up watching Comrades and it’s a race that played a role in me wanting to run as a child,” says Van Deventer. “It’s been a long term goal of mine, I’ve always wanted to run it competitively and believe I can use the experience that I developed on the track to run Comrades at a competitive level.
It would however take a number of years for Van Deventer to realize this dream though due to a freak accident in training where he was knocked over by a car.

“The Accident came at the worse time as a professional track athlete, I was running at my best and unfortunately it’s taken a long time to fully recover. I had set some ambitious goals that I was not able to achieve that included running competitively over the Marathon distance. The recovery process has included five operations and a lot of time spent on rehab.”
Van Deventer has managed to put behind him the ordeal and this past weekend ran his longest race to date, finishing 3rd in the Johnson Crane Marathon in 2:26, qualifying for Comrades in the process.
Coached by Gerrie Coetzee, who also coached Van Deventer to his Olympic Games final and has run Comrades numerous times himself, Van Deventer feels they are doing the necessary work that is needed to take on the Worlds most competitive ultra marathon.

“We plan on doing an ultra in March but everything we do will be geared to running at my best in June.”
When asked what he is expecting in his first Comrades, Van Deventer shows the confidence of an experienced ultra marathon runner.
 “I’m expecting the race to be physically and mentally challenging. I understand the lack of experience will count against me, but I believe that I have the ability, support and desire to be right in the mix and challenging for the win.”

As the year gets into swing

NRC weekend roundup As the year gets into swing, some notable performances are already being taken notice of, as is the case especially with some of the top Comrades athletes who over the past weekend ran the Johnson Crane Marathon.

Nedbank Running Club Green Dream team member Juan Van Deventer ran his longest race to date taking 3rd in the marathon in a time of 2:26:33 to qualify for Comrades.

Also qualifying were our Green Dream Team ladies Carla Molinaro and Deanne Horn who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, both under 3 hours. “God always surprises me, what a perfect day for a marathon and an awesome training run with lots of support,” said Horn after her 2:58:00 clocking.

In Port Elizabeth, Ntombesintu Mfunzi sharpened up her speed with a 57:22 victory over 15km ahead of her first serious attempt at Comrades this year.

Van Zyl enters the year with course record

Irvette Van Zyl has entered 2019 just as she left 2018… on top! This was clearly evident after Van Zyl stormed to a new course record in the undulating Dischem Half Marathon.

Finishing an impressive 10th overall in the field, Van Zyl won in a time of 1:14:51. “Today was a good day and I’m happy with how strong I finished,” said Van Zyl afterwards which saw her cover the final km in a scintillating 2:59.

“I’m a bit sleep deprived at the moment trying to juggle 2 kids, but motherhood has definitely made me a lot stronger.”

CARBS VS. KETO: THE DEBATE OF CARBOHYDRATES IN SPORTS

If I had to choose one word to start a conversation amongst a room of shy athletes it would be none other than ‘carbohydrates’. Majority of the people would probably tell you it’s all about timing, type and specific amounts of carbohydrates you consume. On the other hand, a few others may mention their new low carbohydrate, high fat, adequate protein diet. Why is the idea of your body running on other fuel sources such as fats instead carbohydrates becoming so popular and is there any science backed evidence behind this? Let’s investigate this further.

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Entries for 2019 Forever Loskop Marathon Series are now open!