Last night was FABZ!

Last night was the inaugural Modern Athlete Club Seminar, out at the Gooderson Fabz Hotel, in Lonehill. #RunTalk was all about just that … running. For the first event it was extremely well attended by a wonderful active crowd of runners both novices and those with loads more experience.

The host for the evening was the Modern Athlete Magazine editor @Sean_Falconer. He did a superb job as host, his passion for the sport was evidently clear throughout the evening. If you’ve ever been to a race that he has been the MC, I am sure you will agree that he is quite the character and adds so much humour and colour to the event! Last night was just that, an informative evening that was also relaxing and fun!

We were in for a treat, we had Ray Orchison, Bennie Roux, Justin Strout and Rene Kalmer all ready to share their experience with us. They certainly did a great job of keeping our attention throughout the evening.

Ray Orchison is the Modern Athlete’s club coach and known for coaching athletes wanting to run marathons. He touched on various points during his “20 minute” talk. For me these were the main take outs from his chat, that we should be focusing on our weak areas during the winter months. Concentrate on 3 main areas, Endurance, Strength and Speed. At least 3 times a week if you’re able to focus on these three areas, For endurance use a slow pace, that isn’t walking by the way, it’s at a pace that you’re able to have a decent conversation with your running mate and hear their responses. To improve on your speed, you need to grow your strength and endurance ..simple as that! Train your core with those plank exercises at gym so as to develop your strength. Lastly, he pointed out that in the event of an injury make sure that you address the cause and not just the symptom. You want to get rid of the problem and not have it continue to persist to a point you give up running for a while or altogether! Remember that when training to always select a programme that fits your level of fitness and the distance you intend running…

“Dreams don’t work unless you do – Ray shared”

Bennie Roux (@bennieroux) was next, man he was a character of note and so freaking awesome to listen to! He is an Ultra Runner mastering both the road and the trails. I have personally attempted Trail running via the local Parkruns, and I think until last night parked the whole idea of ever attempting another. I think after listening to him and how passionate he is about trail running .. he MIGHT have excited me enough to attempt it just one more … 🙂

One of the slides he shared with us, was about the differences between Road and Trail runners. I laughed … Roadies are similar to models with all their branded clothing, while Trail runners look like “homeless” individuals! There was no malice intended I assure you or intend to insult.

If you’re planning on attempting Trail running, he recommends you start off with short distances and build it up slowly. Don’t go investing in expensive gear until you’re sure it’s a discipline you are keen on pursuing. Shoes by the way should be at the bottom of your list of items to buy, assuming you already have your road running shoes of course. Those will do to begin with. Start off with a hydration carry pack and as you increase your distances, you will eventually get to the point where you will have a medical kit, running food, mobile phone, eyewear and a form of GPS watch to assist you while running around the serene forests filled with the singing of the birds and rustling sounds of the trees. He too encouraged all to strengthen our core, glutes with various forms of exercises.

“If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen – Bennie shared”

Enjoy this clip shared by Bennie on how to become an Ultra Runner …

At the end of the next speaker’s session, Justin Strout, I won this book “The Barry Holland Story” and breakfast at the City Lodge Group of Hotels for two I believe .. must confirm. Justin is the Owner of Healthy Brands trading as Atkins SA.

He chatted to us about nutrition if you haven’t guessed, yet. Primarily about their product the Atkins Low-Carb diet, understanding the benefits of a low-carb lifestyle and healthy snacking.

I like that he mentioned that it can take between 2 – 4 weeks for your body to adapt and transition from using carbs to fat for fuel. We don’t get rid of carbs altogether though, we just reduce the quantity we consume to no more than 50g per day. WOW!

Along with the carbs goes the sugar too… you didn’t think you could keep that now did you?!

If you’re keen to learn more ..visit their website here.

Finally, the finale … the show stopper for the evening .. the moment we’d all been waiting for, Sean welcomed Rene Kalmer to the floor!

Such an amazing person! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her. Learning about her journey to date and her aspirations in life. Last night though, was all about her Road to Rio – #myjourney – her hashtag on the subject.

Rene is currently one out of five female marathon runners training hard for 3 positions in the South African Athletics team traveling to Rio next year! Yep only 3 vacant posts… talk about pressure!

She’s currently nursing a hip injury, and we wish her speedy recoveries in time to run the required sub 2h30 marathon in order to make it to the Olympics in Rio.

A little bit of trivia on Rene I learnt last night. She is a qualified teacher .. did you know that :-), enjoys reading autobiographies and is currently sponsored by the Modern Athlete and Adidas.

“Turn a setback into a comeback – shared Rene”

Just like that our evening came to an end!

It was a fantastic evening, well worth it. Sean was a fantastic host, and the speakers he shared with us were amazing and super inspiring for me. I’ll be reading the Modern Athlete in anticipation of the next #RunTalk!

Thank you Sean!

HKL