ASICS FrontRunner Admire Muzopambwa put his road shoes away and laced up the FujiTrabuco PROs for the iconic Magaliesberg Trail Challenge.
And, it wasn’t a day without its challenges.
These are his words:
I was very positive and motivated on the start and throughout the first half. That is, until myself and the leader got lost!
Everything changed right there. The mind, the focus… The positivity evaporated and there were times when I thought - ‘no, I can’t do this.’
It was one of those moments (lasted quite a while actually) where you start thinking about your sponsors and your supporters and, how you’ve failed them…A proper mental test.
I felt that I had failed them because I didn’t focus enough on the markers and the route but just followed the leader. My mind was on him and not on the path.
Having to turn around and retrace steps back to the turn where we went wrong was agonising. I walked the whole way. Even paused my watch, so I couldn’t see how long it took me to walk back to the point where I had to turn. I nearly gave up, but once I re-found the route I started running again.
I pushed hard there, but not too hard. I kept asking all the spectators how far ahead the front runner was, but no-one could give me accurate splits, until I came to a photographer who showed me (by the time-stamp on her photos) that the leader had passed her 20 minutes earlier.
I was still at the top of the mountain and knew that 20 minutes was a lot of time to make up on a trail, in the bushes when you can’t see the other runner.
Not long after that the guy who I was lost with initially caught up to me and said, ‘buddy, everything happens for a reason, let’s go!’ I needed that. Really did. That gave me the motivation I needed to push on, which I did.
On a long downhill I realised my back was wet, it wasn’t from sweat or rain (very dry there at the moment) and I knew my hydration bladder must be leaking.
Sure enough, stopping at the next water point revealed that the bladder was leaking, so I drank seven cups of water and threw a further seven over my body to aid cooling.
The next water point was about 5kms away, here I once again asked for a time check to the leaders. They told me the fourth runner had passed five minutes before, while the leader about 15.
I was now chasing and chasing, it was super tough running that stretch without water. I did find a small stream where I managed to cool down fortunately.
At the final water point I again asked for a situation update, they informed me that the fourth runner was just ahead and then two chasers behind the leader.
I realised I had closed the gap and very quickly after that passed the fourth-placed runner. Not long after that I moved into third, which is where I finished. If it wasn’t for that little motivational pep-talk I couldn’t have done it, especially without water.
The lesson learnt: Running isn’t always just about food, water and the gear you’re wearing. Running is about your mind. Your mindset is crucial to reach your goals
