In 1975, women were finally allowed to run the Comrades Marathon and we’ve seen many female greats at The Ultimate Human Race since then, in ever increasing numbers. Now, in a bid to grow participation of women at Comrades still further, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) and Vital Health Foods teamed up to bring women across SA a seminar that provided essential advice needed in their Comrades preparation. These seminars were aimed at arming sisters with the psychological and technical information they need to help them fuel their drive for road running and achieve their Comrades goal.
KEEPING HEALTHY
The great thing about the seminars were the various Q&A panels, where the ladies could ask the various experts and Comrades veterans about their concerns to the lead-up to one of the world’s most gruelling races. “These essentially revolved around the menstrual cycle and some complications around that for specific individuals,” says Comrades Coach Lindsey Parry, “as well as bathroom usage on the move, bra recommendations and possible supplementation around iron and bone density loss.”
Vital Health Foods dietician Andrea Du Plessis also outlined some nutrition tips for women in training, and dealt with questions around hydration and the energy supplements runners use during the run. Some of Andrea’s top nutrition tips included:
- Sustained energy: For long distances, a low-GI breakfast option such as Vital Original Muesli is ideal, as it ensures sustained energy release.
- Recovery nutrition: Within the first 30 to 60 minutes after a long or intense run, try to ingest a combination of fruit juice or fruit and milk or yoghurt, as this provides the carbohydrates, fluid, electrolytes and amino acids your muscles need to recover best.
- Oil those joints: To support joint mobility and to help in the nutrition management of inflammation, take 1000mg Omega 3 per day. Vital Arthrit Ease is another product that can help with joint mobility, a safe alternative to the anti-inflammatory medicines that one cannot take during an ultra-endurance event.
Vital and the CMA say they are determined to make women’s running more comfortable, and make it that much easier and accessible for women to reach their running goals, and these seminars have gone a long to do just that.