Running ‘Om die Dam’

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Bo

There’s nothing better than using the excuse of running to go away for a long weekend and that’s exactly what we did to go run the ‘Om die Dam’ race this passed weekend.

It’s one of my favourite races on the race calendar – run from the Hartebeespoort Highschool it is well-organised, with quite challenging routes and there’s a fantastic vibe at the start of the race. Yes, I’m talking about the sound of the fish eagle that gets played followed by chariots of fire.

This year, I decided to run the 10km. I started with KK and the gang of other 21.1km runners but we split at the 4km mark. What followed was a relentless 4km uphill stretch which forced many runners to walk. Ironically, I got stuck with a Walker from Irene Running Club. I gave mini bursts of running but when I stopped to walk, she would catch up to me and pass me. I’d sprint off again, passing her, but knew that at the next walk break, she’d catch me. So she did and laughed saying, “Kom meisie kind! Moenie laat ek jou stop nie!” When it got to the last 500m, I was shagged and she beat me.

Thank-goodness the weather was cool for the run but it turned into a scorcher of a weekend which was great! If we thought Winter had arrived, we were wrong and we spent the the rest of Saturday and Sunday re-charging our tired legs at the Caribbean Beach Resort near Harties.

It was an awesome weekend of going for lazy walks, long afternoon snoozes, snacking on sinful food, braaing while the sun set and just chillaxing…

A corporate challenge doesn’t necessarily need to be a challenge

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Bo

It was in November last year that I approached management with the idea of entering a small team of runners from our department to partake in the J P Morgan Corporate Challenge.

An email was sent out late one afternoon to gauge the appetite for it and by 8am the next morning, 70 people had put up their hands, eager to participate. To be honest, I was quite surprised as this was an evening event which involved physical activity.

I immediately realised that I could in fact make this into something more than just a 5.6km race and potentially use it to bring the team together. Well, that was my plan anyhow…

So here’s what I did:

I sent weekly emails with running, exercise and healthy-eating related information to the team. You’ll be surprised how people soak up information when it concerns their weight and general well-being (especially us women!).
I made as if we were all training for our first marathon and distributed training schedules. Experienced runners among the group scoffed because to some of them, 5.6kms was a mere warm up. However, majority of the team had never run that distance before and were genuinely nervous.
I slipped mini facts in to each email about different team members to allow people to get to know one another. So-and-so does aqua aerobics at the gym after work. So-and-so completed Half Ironman so speak to her about training. People were in awe once they started to learn more about their colleagues.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the emails, but people started to talk back. They started to share their stories with me. They’d pop past my desk to chat about running. They’d confess their sins if they had bought take-out on the weekends. They would report back if they managed to take the stairs instead of the lifts. I started to see shifts in behaviour and excitment for the race growing. Even I got nervous!

After 3 months of building up to the race it turned out to be a stunning evening! Together with 530 other runners from Standard Bank, we were proudly announced the 2nd largest entry!

If I look back, I realise that I personally gained so much out of the experience. I took a chance. I exposed myself to a bunch of people without knowing what their reaction would be to my constant communication. I discovered that a simple email, which honestly did not take more than 10 minutes to write, could contain so much influence and motivation behind it.

But I guess the biggest lesson for me is that team building doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, we under-estimate people’s willingness to just get involved and have a bit of fun.

Lessons about donkeys…

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Bo

Ever heard the fable about the donkey?

Lunching with a friend recently, I was expressing a concern about worrying what others might think of decisions I had made with regards to my running. She stopped me and proceeded to tell me a story about a donkey which I’ve never heard before but one which I’ll never forget.

It turns out that it’s one of Aesop’s fables and goes like this:

A Man and his son were walking with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.” So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”

Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your son?”

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.

“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them: “Please all, and you will please none.”

A tale of two coaches

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Bo

Whilst enjoying a breakfast with my girlfriends, I was listening how one of them explained how she goes about managing her team at work. She told us that she manages all of them very differently. Some thrive on praise, whilst others need to be pushed and challenged. She concluded that it’s about finding that ‘something’ that motivates them because not all of them respond in the same way. *good manager Mich*

The same can be said about the training techniques of running coaches. Lately, I’ve been exposed to two very different training techniques. The one coach drives me harder than I’ve ever been pushed in my life and has me setting goals that give me serious goosies. The other expresses concern about my love of running and tells me to slow down.

The training methods of these two trainers are so extreme that what it has taught me is that as in life, with running, there needs to be a balance.

You see, while I “get” what each of them is teaching me, I have settled for the middle ground. I’ve decided that while I like to be pushed hard and be motivated to believe that I am capable of so much more, I do understand that there is a time and place for everything.

Yes, so I do need to push myself and reach those running goals, but at the same time, if it causes me to stop enjoying running, those goals are empty. Pointless.

Thanks coach! Both of you….