Zamandulo Mayekiso
Monday, August 17, 2015
Many moons ago I had the oppurtunity to feature Yongama. He went from zero to marathons in a matter of months. We have seen witnessed his transformation those of us who run with him.
I had to ask his woman to be part of this project and if you had a crappy monday sit back and read this. I promise you will finish it with a smile on your face and be ready for the week ahead.
On who you are…
My name is Zamandulo Nangamso Mayekiso, I go by a “few” Nicknames that my family and friends have chosen over the years i.e. (Zama, Soso, Mso) and these are taken from my Names.
Born in the Eastern Cape, I am the second from 3 children my momma gave birth to….but trust me I don’t have the middle child issues.
I am a not so young village girl (definitely young at heart), who is constantly trying to find herself or rather discovering herself every day.
I am work in progress but I can safely say I am falling in love who I am becoming and it is very interesting and liberating every day.
Its not all rosy but hey, it’s interesting…. And like I said. I am work in progress.
On running…
Funny, this question makes it sound like im a star…..lol. Really I still cant believe I am into this running thing….. I wake up early mornings to go chase the pavements….but hey, here I am. This is nothing I ever dreamed of, it was never part of my plan, but now I cant see myself living with out running…… interesting.
I started running after I was getting attacked by allergies, left right and centre. I would wake up with swollen lips, some days I would feel the reaction happening and the lips while chatting with friends and family and I consulted a few Drs with no luck and finally saw a nutritionist who suggested that I do some blood tests to determine what exactly I react to……and one of the issues was my weight.
So the results came with a list of foods I react to which also helped in cleaning my grocery cupboards and as we mostly know that running is known to help in ones weight loss journey especially when coupled up with clean eating.
It was not easy, trust me it was hella difficult but I learned to love it as I saw the results and decided to also do some races……and the rest is history.
On your First Run...
Hahahaa this is a funny one, my first run was actually way back, before I could even think I will ever be a “Runner”. Way back in 2010 a friend told us about a “Fun Run/Walk” that will be taking place in Pretoria. When we heard the starting times (6:30am), we thought it was probably not going to be that serious….who on earth would wake up that early to start a fun run/walk from 6:30am? And we probably left home the following morning around 7:00am and when we got there the race had long started, and we were told which direction everyone had gone to. Now I started sensing that this could be serious.
We all had planned to do a 5km, we chased, and me being Ms serious, I left my friends behind and started chasing, they apparently decided….it wasn’t worth it and they started shopping while waiting for me. And I on the other hand got lost on the way and followed the 10km route…… I thought I was getting lost in Pretoria because I was probably the last person to finish the race and unfortunately couldn’t get a medal because we never registered.
I have never been as tired as I was that weekend and the week following. I told myself that never again will I torture myself like that.
On Street culture…
I am a village girl……. no streets over there tltltltltl
On running culture …
Running culture is one awesome thing that makes me appreciate myself for choosing running. I have met so many amazing people through running, always willing to help, uncourageous, selfless e.t.c Much as I started running on my own, I don’t know if I would still be running or referring to myself as a runner if it weren’t for the amazing culture.
On gadgets…
I'm not very big on gadgets, when I started training for races I used to go on google maps and put all the streets I will be running on and get the distance.
And then came these applications I started by downloading “Runtastic” to measure the distance whilst running…… then as time goes I learned than there was a nike running app which had even more awesome features.
To makes things even better I got a Nike running watch. Best gift ever which I still appreciate to date.
Trust me right now I am on some “I need another watch with a longer lasting battery”.
Gadgets are definitely becoming my friends…… well they have proved to be necessary as they help with keeping, maintaining and improving your pace and time while running.
On injury…
Sore point of my running life, I do not wish it upon anybody.
I got a knee injury whilst doing Soweto Marathon in Nov 2014, the problem is that I wasn’t aware what had gone wrong and I thought it was just a cramp.
Since then I have been training and doing long distance races unaware that I am not helping it but rather damaging it further. Just before the 2015 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon I saw a Physio and a Biokinetics and they gave me exercises to do….but I wasn’t really faithful…..it came out that I had to rest because my knees were not able to can. And again I got strapped and pushed the #OMTOM2015 (Damaging it further).
I had to rest after that ultra, but not much as I had planned to do my first Comrades….. It was really becoming harder and harder, I was struggling to run longer distances. Last straw was struggling to finish a 10km a week before the Comrades
Don’t do what I did; listen to your body, act responsible if you still want to be a runner in future.
It’s almost 3 months since I last ran (unfinished Comrades), I have seen a Biokinetics again, and this time it is upon me to follow the rehab programme and see if I will be back in the game before the end of the year.
On achievements…
Look, each longer distance and quicker times I clock are achievements I am forever excited about. And it’s what keeps me going back onto the road. I just can’t wait to recover fully so I can start training for Comrades marathon. Finishing that race will be my biggest achievement.
And of course losing the excess weight and losing allergies are also my biggest achievements and I am proud of myself for those.
On future goals…
I would definitely love to go around the world and do some awesome marathons. And experience the atmosphere of running in other countries and experience their running cultures.
Stay learn and healthy.
Go up Kilimanjaro
On your social media…
If there's one thing I love about sharing my running stories on the social media is that I share them immediately as they have just happened and so I paint the picture very well and even if one day I don’t remember, the captions will still remind me. The images will still remind me. The excitement will still show, even if I were to lose my pictures but the ones on social media will still remain.
I've also had a few people who told me that I inspired them, which makes me happy also.
On Pink…
What about Pink??? Tltltltltl
On Pain…
As much as running maybe painful, it is one of the most effective tools I have used to deal with pain (Not physical of coz)
On women’s running (why women should run)…
Health is wealth, chasing pavements is not only for men…… diseases attack everyone out there, running can help reduce chances of unnecessary sicknesses. Ladies, get up and chase pavements.
Look weight gain contributes on a number of sicknesses which can be controlled and reduced through running.
On the Past you (what would you tell your non-running past self)…
If only you can start chasing pavements your life would change for the better.
Running changed my life.
When I die…
They better have good tracks, running clubs and best races ever in heaven.
I’d rather make a healthy copse, than die an unnecessary death because I have not looked after myself well.
#RunRevolution
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