The Value of Manual Labour

After reading Phil Maffetone’s great piece, aptly entitled Slow Weights, I was reminded of the value and sheer enjoyment of various outdoor jobs I had in my teens and early twenties.

Photo courtesy: Phil Maffetone

In my early high school years, newspaper rounds were a popular way for several of schoolmates to earn a substantial amount of pocket money. The Cape Times and Cape Argus would have specific residential addresses in the southern suburbs where an allocated number of newspapers for local subscribers would be dropped off. Neatly stacked in a bounded pile, a list of addresses printed out on old “computer paper” would be attached to the hessian holding the two dozen or so newspapers together. Bicycle deliveries were the norm back then, with the early morning Cape Times shift paying a better wage than the afternoon round.

After finishing matric, I worked the entire two month holiday over December and January at my father’s petrol station as a car wash attendant. The hours were long and often included working Saturday and Sunday, but I was content seeing how the real world worked outside the bubble of high school. Added to this was the notion that my athletic performance was improving, especially after reading a back issue of Triathlete magazine profiling Mike Pigg. The article detailed how Pigg combined his budding pro-career with an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic, cleaning engines and floors with a high-pressure hose. If it was good enough for Pigg, then it was surely good enough for me, what with the high-pressure hoses in the car wash.

This became a recurring topic of discussion between myself and buddy Mike Gibson as we trained for the Western Province Triathlon Champs, which were held at the end of January. On my days off from the car wash, we would ride the Cape Peninsula flat in our quest to have the races of our lives, all the while chatting about our imminent tertiary education and that Pigg article.

The long days on my feet washing two dozen or so cars certainly enhanced my overall fitness, strength and well being in a way that could not be achieved in a gym. And any puppy fat of my late teens quickly wilted away and I was as lean as I had ever been.

I would continue to work on and off at the garage throughout my student years but that particular summer holiday post-matric stands out in my mind as simple, yet extremely happy period of my life. The daily cocktail of physical work, eating and training with friends was something that I soon forgot once entering the work place upon completing my studies. A desk job, car and apathy replaced the simple existence of only a few years prior.

Fast forward a few years and I was working as an assistant/driver/laborer/messenger for a landscaper friend in the leafy and affluent suburbs of Constantia and Bishopscourt. I was between jobs at that stage, and embarked on a three month sabbatical of sorts filling in as a jack of all trades in the landscaping industry. My days were now filled with moving rocks, driving to and from the dump, digging holes, carrying poles and sweating profusely amongst other laborious activities. I was back in my element and suddenly realized how much I had missed this sort of daily activity. It was around that period that I resolved to embrace physical work at home – from tending the garden to painting the roof slats – in some form on a regular basis when I eventually resumed my various desk jobs. This has been a mantra of mine ever since those swashbuckling three months of “working in the fields with the 'ouens'”.

It is perhaps interesting to note that many top athletes are or have been partial to extended periods of manual labor or some kind of menial yet physical work.

When I interviewed Conrad Stoltz in Stellenbosch in early 2010, he was as immersed in his housing renovations as he was in his pre-season base training. Upon my inquiring what his plans were for following day – a Saturday – his deadpan reply was “building. And run and swim later in the afternoon.” He then proceeded to crush the field in the Cape Argus MTB race that Sunday.

http://www.conradstoltz.com/index.php/the-caveman-discovers-the-tractor/

Here is the Caveman himself training at night at home in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga after a day of laying cement and ploughing the fields of his family farm. Outdoor work probably has had a part to play in Conrad’s athletic longevity; he is still at the top of the Xterra tree pushing thirty-nine years of age.

Photo courtesy: Conrad Stoltz

Then there is Steve Tilford, former professional road cyclist and MTBer who still rides at an elite level in the USA. Steve has one of the best cycling blogs around, giving great insights into the cycling world on a daily basis. He also always seems to have some kind of building project on the go in conjunction with his racing schedule, the mainstay seeming to be fence-building. His posts are all the more interesting given his blue collar view on life, which is refreshing considering how glamorous the sport of professional cycling is portrayed in the media.

Closer to home, the annual Wines2Whales MTB stage race took place this past weekend. With my being there seconding a group of friends, I was fortunate enough to do a long 2 hour run around the beautiful Oak Valley Estate where the race is based for two nights. Running through the apple orchards gave me an up close view of the legions of farm workers earning their daily bread working in the fields. Granted that many of these workers are grossly exploited financially and emotionally, I could not help but wonder how naturally fit these people are as opposed to the scores of “gym-bunnies” in the city.

Later on, the leaders of the race finished in the lush amphitheater of towering oak trees. Amongst the top finishers was Nico Pfitzenmaier, recently returned to SA from a stint competing in South America. Catching up with him after the stage, he said he has had a great year sports-wise, even with his sustaining a knee injury at the ABSA Cape Epic. He also said that it was time for a complete break from sport for a month or so; the guy certainly understands the term “balance” better than most. Without further ado, Nico went off to find his tent and then on to perform massage treatments on his fellow competitors!

In 2007, it was time for another break from the real world and I traveled up to Uniondale in the Eastern Cape to work on an organic farm above the tiny hamlet of Harlem. Part of the WWOOF organization, my hosts Anton and Lorraine run a self-sustaining farm in the mountains, basically living off the land and hosting foreign students or travelers in return for their working on their property. My daily schedule looked something like this:

7am breakfast followed by a 30 minute drive to the Harlem Co-op, exchange car for 1975 Landrover and drive up a 6km “road” to their giant plot overlooking a massive dam. We would work the whole day digging trenches and filling sandbags with earth to build a bathroom, breaking for lunch and tea in their caravan. Pack up time was around 4:30pm whereupon I would cycle the long route back to Uniondale including a detour over the Prince Alfred’s Pass, racing the sunset back for dinner. Needless to say that this simple week-long existence was just what I needed at that stage of my life, not to mention the physical benefits.

Working outside is a privilege and should be embraced rather than avoided. Apart from the obvious physical benefits, it certainly improves a person's state of mind and sense of purpose. That said, I am looking forward to the onset of December and my imminent painting and cleaning work planned for my flat. Bring on the rollers and ladder.