Autumn

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Bo

I’m quite schizophrenic when it comes to Autumn. On the one hand, I hate the cold nights, the dry skin, the static hair and not knowing what to wear because it’s not yet Winter. Running becomes difficult and excuses not to run become easier to find. But on the other hand, there’s nothing more majestic than driving through Jo’burg and seeing the beautiful colours of Autumn as the leaves start falling.

My Autumn has arrived with many highs as well as lows…

KK’s business trip away confirmed… going to my first Jewish wedding… a new bird feeder… my mom’s birthday… Mother’s Day… a fun evening out with work colleagues… a day off doing absolutely nothing… a sick (and overweight) dog… a stressed out family member… a best friend who continues to avoid me… a giggle about Julia Roberts… a foot massage that made me cry… a suicide of a stranger… lunch in the park with the girls… flowers blooming in my garden… the passing away of a tweep… plantar fasciitis which is healing slowly… and a 15km running race which made me realise my running mojo is returning.

Yes. Autumn has definitely arrived and as much as I think it will remain sunny forever, it won’t. Things change, whether I like it or not. Seasons change. There’s no stopping it and Winter is on its way.

Running, like life, comes with many up hills

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Bo

A friend asked me the other day what race I would recommend she should attempt to run as her first road race. She made the comment, “I want a nice easy race. No hills, nothing too tough. It must be as flat as possible.”

The ironic thing is that with running, the flat races are sometimes the most boring. They might appear easy but in the long run, they don’t provide much of a challenge. All you’ve got is the road ahead of you where your pace is unlikely to change much and your body is kept at a consistent level of exertion.

You see, the races that come with rolling hills are tough, but when you push yourself up the hills, the joy of reaching the top and the feeling of speeding up and letting yourself go on the downhills is fantastic. The mental negotiation you have between your mind and your body as you fight the urge to stop running and the freedom you feel when you reach the top and cruise downhill is victorius. You learn so much about yourself when you force your body to go beyond its limits and to succeed.

I guess most of us wish for those flat races, those times when everything runs smoothly, calmly and there are no bumps in the road to upset our plans. However, life is never that easy. It’s only by dealing with the up hills and overcoming the stresses of those difficult times in our lives that we learn to appreciate things more and learn more about ourselves.

Today’s rat race, with all its stresses and problems, is not easy, no matter what type of runner (or walker) you are. But often, it’s worth welcoming the up hills in our lives because once we push through, the rewards are worth it.

I’m getting old. #fact

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Bo

I turned 37 years old in April. *OMW* This means I have officially moved closer to my forties. My age never used to bother me, but suddenly, it does. It’s as if I woke up one morning and realised that I was no longer in my 20’s or early 30’s.

So why now? Why am I feeling like this all of a sudden? What’s different? I sat down and wrote a couple of things down…

My parents are moving in to a Retirement Home.
I’ve had to book my regular hair appointment from every 6 weeks to 5 weeks as my greys are showing through quicker.
In December, I will be going to my 20 year High School Reunion.
If I go watch a movie on a Friday evening, I fall asleep. In fact, Friday evenings I’m in bed before 9pm.
I recently chose to go home and snuggle in front of TV with hubby instead of heading off to a night club with my friends.
The beautiful model Tanya Fourie, who I adored as a teenager and who is featured in the May edition of Fair Lady, has wrinkles.
My age category when I enter running races is listed as Sub-veteren. *ouch*

I guess I can’t stop the clock… I’m getting older, I just need to start accepting it. But it has made me stop and ask myself, am I growing old the way I want to? Are there things I still want to do?

But while I do this, can everyone and everything around me please slow down a bit?

My left foot

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Bo

I’ve recently been part of a team interviewing potential candidates for a position in the department. Scanning through CV’s and watching how different people use different skills to ‘sell’ themselves has been quite interesting to observe.

Some people pride themselves on their qualifications. Others attempt to impress with future plans of obtaining MBAs. But then there are those that have caught my attention just because they are so down to earth and ‘real’ that its easy to see how they have gotten to where they have, simply by having the right attitude.

I know everyone has heard the lessons about having the right attitude. But it’s when I came across some old photographs of my High School netball courts that some valuable lessons were remembered.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t exactly the strongest or best player in the team. I think for the majority of my high school years, I was the reserve for the B-side! But hey, I never gave up. I landed up playing quite a few games and that’s all that mattered.

We once played an away game at another school and I went with as reserve and landed up being asked to play. When we were changing in the locker rooms, I realised that although I had packed in my takkies, I had accidentally packed in two left shoes (yes, I had two pairs of takkies that looked similar).

My heart sank!

There was no going back and I had to play. The only person I told was my best friend and she giggled herself silly throughout the game as I ran around trying not to look like a total spaz with my two left feet. Nobody noticed (or if they did, no one said anything) and we went on to win the match.

In my humble opinion, sometimes the degrees and certificates you have are great. But often, it’s your attitude that determines how you approach life and see the world. It’s your attitude that makes you a winner.