TRAIL Mail #13: Friday 01 July 2022
Sent to 9,731 readers

Faster fitness with the 80/20 rule.
Win Black Diamond's Spot 400-R.
Run for Sentinel Ocean Alliance.
Better food for your baby.

1. TRAIL TALK

No Masks.

At least not for those who feel there's no need for them anymore. My hand is up!

And can we all please celebrate seeing less and less of them in our streets, gutters, stormwater drains, and trails once we've hunted down the last of them? Litter, grrrrr.

I hope you enjoy this mask-free edition.

Get TRAIL back issues on Zinio
If you want to dive into the world of trail running from 2011 to present, check out all 42 issues of the mag on Zinio.

Hooray sponsors

Huge thanks to Ultra-Trail Drakensberg, Black Diamond and Bridgedale for sponsoring this week's newsletter.

Enjoy the rest of the read. Happy trails!

Deon Braun
TRAIL founder

2. YOUR ADVENTURES

Your #TrailTrophies photos.

(Above) Rihaart Syms has a knack for finding and documenting caves in the Peninsula. He got this striking view from Woody Buttress on Table Mountain with Zahir Kalam soaking it in and completing the human element.

It's a shot that shows how much trail runners enjoy stopping to take in nature and be in the moment.

Check out other reader photos below and in this week's Facebook post and add your own favourite pic from the month of June.

Bridgedale is the sponsor of Trail Trophies this week. They only knit socks. That's all they do. See the range in SA on the Cape Union Mart site.

Your #TrailTrophies photos Part Two.

Thanks to everyone who contributed this week. Some of the standouts are below.

Chandre Boshoff sent in this pic of them at the top of the Bonecrusher and Skyline segments in the Outeniqua mountain range. "It was taken at approximately 6.45am on Sunday 26 June by Terance Winson. We were joined by Sonja Bland Sulene, Sulene's dog Archie, and Gaby.

"We sat down afterwards relishing our coffee and rusks and basked in the rising summer sun.

"The position of our arms mimic the flowers all over the mountain, they grow and are shaped in very similar formations - see flowers to the right of us."

Zahir Kalam had fun chasing waterfalls at Paradyskloof in Stellenbosch. "Come rain or sunshine, these are the crazy things we do for fun!" Photo Laila Barthus

Thabo N Manyane enjoyed the Wolwespruit trails on one of his Thaboyourfitnesscoach monthly hikes.

Terance Winson witnessed this sunrise over the Skyline ridge with George to the right and the Karoo to the left. "Sunday morning enjoyment. Stefan, Chandre, Sonja, Sulene, Gaby, Archie and I soaked up the rays."

3. GEAR

Black Diamond Spot 400-R headlight R1,299

Top adventure brand Black Diamond has released their new range of utility headlamps and all of them are rechargeable.

You can win the Spot 400-R (which retails for R1,299). It is a solid choice for adventurers who value all-around performance and features in a small package.

Other models include the Astro 300-R (R899), Cosmo 350-R (R1,049), and the Storm 500-R (R1,499). Links to these on the competition page.

Colours: Black/Azul, Black/Graphite, Black/Pink, Blue Grid.

4. RACES

View the events for the month ahead on our website now. 
Is yours missing? Click the button below to have it added for free.

5. NEWS

When they're gone, it's for good...
Shoe brand SCARPA is participating in the Gone4Good fundraiser organised by their friends at Gone. Outdoor this July.

Gone4Good is raising funds for the Sentinel Ocean Alliance, which creates ocean-based opportunities and provides environmental education for the youth of South Africa’s coastal communities.

It's a 21km route that starts and finishes at Gone. Outdoor Supply Co. In Constantia, Cape Town.
 
There are two ways to support:
Raise funds by running and fundraising
Donate to the fundraiser

PS – Look out for the SCARPA Golden Gate Kima shoe giveaway that will follow the Black Diamond competition that starts today.

Stu McConnachie at Western States 2022
Stuart is one of the stalwarts of the Cape Town trail scene, and a co-founder of Ultra-trail Cape Town.

He finished his first Western States 100 on the weekend. It was quite the journey, as expected.

"I wanted this, I’ve always wanted this. This race, like so many of us, spoke to me years ago. Perhaps it’s the history, the legacy of outstanding achievements and failures across these storied trails.

"My day started at 5am with a long slow hike (800m) up to the escarpment at 2,600m. On my way up I was nervous, pushing a little harder than I’d have liked. I noticed a guy with racing kit on and asked if he’d done this before. He replied quietly, 'Yes, last year I came ninth in 18-odd hours'.

"He knew what was going through my mind and calmly said, 'Don’t worry, they’ll come back to you', and there and then my day was set. I calmed into the process, set out my stall and began to work my way to Auburn."

Read how Stu's day turned out on his Insta post, and his appreciation for assistance from Jack and Michelle Davis.

Finish line photo and many other inspiring WS100 pics by Tony DiPasquale.

Also read our 2019 interview with him in TRAIL 33, when he appeared on the cover.

My real name is...
I got one detail about the film Gijima in TRAILMAIL issue 11 wrong: Sinovuyo Ngcobo’s coach's name is Phakamani Madlala (not Dlala).

6. HEALTH

Nutrition for your baby's first 1,000 days

"You get more instructions on your IKEA bookshelf than you get on nutrition when you’re pregnant, or when you go to the appointments for your doctor, around six months, to get a guide on how to feed your child. Everyone is left alone. And when you’re left alone, and you have no idea what’s happening in your body, in the world around you, you’re so anxious, you find bits of knowledge that you grab onto," says Jaclyn Schnau, founder of Pumpkin Organics.

"There’s a chemical reaction in the body, in the brain, and when you put pureed fruit and sweetness: the brain craves more of it and rejects the bitter or the sour aspects of food."

She believes "It is necessary to develop the taste palate from an early age. Eighty per cent of the brain is formed in the first 1,000 days. By giving a baby fruit or bland flavouring food you are not providing proper nutrition and, at the same time, you are giving too much sugar into these tiny bodies and training on unhealthy eating habits that the child will then develop further and further."

Listen to the full interview.

7. TRAINING

Training for runs over one hour

"The most important advice that we can adhere to as runners competing in events exceeding an hour, is to follow the 80/20 rule", says Sean Tait of Off the Mark Training.

"If we divide our training intensities into three parts; namely easy, moderate and hard. We should spend 80% of our training time at easy intensities and 20% at hard intensities. This is known as a polarised method of training.

"What about moderate intensities? There are exceptions to this rule, as always, but generally moderate intensity training is not necessary and can be counter-productive to our recovery."

Sean suggests reading this Ready.Set.Marathon article. And also re-read coach Neville Beeton's in-depth article The Beauty of Slow in your copy of TRAIL 37.

8. COMPETITIONS

#1: Black Diamond Spot 400-R
You don’t know how valuable a good headlight is until you try one for the first time. Or don’t have your favourite light with you during a night adventure...

The Black Diamond Spot 400-R is a high quality rechargeable choice for adventurers who value all-around performance and features in a small package.

Win one, valued at R1,299. Enter now.

#2: Bridgedale Trail Run Socks
If you missed this week's Bridgedale giveaway on Facebook, be sure to enter the next one on Monday 25 July. You could be running in four pairs of Bridgedale worth R1,000 or more.

Tune into TRAILza on Facebook every Monday for the latest Trail Trophies adventures from South Africa's runners.

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THAT'S IT FOR NOW. HAPPY WEEKEND!

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