Yearly Archives: 2012

Talking to a non-tweeter about tweeps

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I bumped in to an old friend at a function this afternoon. Whenever I see her, I am always reminded that there are in fact some people ‘out there’ who simply do not understand the meaning and purpose behind Twitter. As much as you try and explain it to them, unless they give it a try, they will never really ‘get it’.

You see, unless you’re familiar with it, the world of Twitter is a strange and sometimes confusing, sometimes euphoric place to be. It is filled with times of ups and downs. Times when you get bored with it, and other times when you can’t get enough. I would have to say that the best thing about it is the making of new friends and being among the first ones to know about breaking news. (If you’re not convinced, check out @mandywiener’s running commentary of the Donovan Moodley court case!)

It did occur to me the other day that as a tweep, I’ve grown up quite a lot since I started tweeting. I have come through the addiction phase without getting divorced, I have survived nasty remarks from strangers on Twitter and realised how easy it is to brush them off and I’m no longer constantly worried about what people think of my tweets or if they’ll be offended. There’s only so much you can explain in a toneless environment.

I’ve learnt to realise that my Twitter friends are really genuine and have made a real effort in the real world. I’ve become close to so many people that I’ve met on Twitter.

I have learnt that people on Twitter can be really cruel to one another and that while they tend to mock Lamebook Facebook, my “friends” on Facebook are a lot more patient and understanding. They also have more time for me on the rare occasion that I visit them online.

Twitter is about communities. The breakfast (now supper) gang really has fun. The Friday burgers ‘n beers crew is a great way to end my week. But it’s the running community that not only inspires me but makes me realise that I am not alone in my running trials and tribulations. The minute I have a bad running day, I am bombed with messages of support.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that even if I am interacting 24/7 with so many people, those closest to me and in my life (especially those not on Twitter) have ‘lost’ a bit of me.

They don’t get to speak to me all day. They don’t get to hear my chirps and my jokes. They don’t know if I’ve had a bad day or get to share in something awesome I’ve just heard. They lose out on a running commentary of my thoughts. Complete strangers that follow me now have that privilege.

This is something I’m working on…even if it means using the phone to talk and not to tweet! Weird.

Sadness. Disappointment. Please can today be over?

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Marla passed away at 7am this morning. The question I wanted to desperately to ask her in October last year has been answered. It took 4 months for the brain tumour to take her from us. Good bye Marla. I’m heartbroken.

My running coach emailed me to say he is very disappointed in my results. After 4 weeks of intense training, I am still slow and have not improved. I am so upset. I hate my running so much right now. I’m shattered.

I just wanna crawl into a ball and cry and cry and cry.

I’d much rather forget about those first days back at school, thanks.

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I can still remember the smell of the pencil shavings. The smell of my school bag and freshly polished school shoes. I remember setting out all my school clothes the night before and the excitement of the first day of school. Yet, if I have to be totally honest, excitement is not exactly the word I’d use to describe my feelings of going back to school…

You see, the first day back at school was never pleasant for me. Not only was I a very shy, reserved child, but I have some pretty awful memories which make me shudder every time I think of them.

Three in particular that I recall…

The first was when all the Grade 2’s were waiting for their names to be called out by their new teachers. Someone insisted they heard my name, and so I excitedly followed my new teacher to my class only to find that my name was not on her list. I frantically raced back to the other children, but they had all left. I was stranded and had no clue where to go.

The second memory was Std 2 when the teachers were calling out the names of the kids for their new classes and instead of calling Bronwynne Loots (my maiden name), my teacher called Bronwynne Boots. Laughter ensued and I was mocked for many years to come by all the cruel boys (and girls).

My third memory is Std 3 when a good family friend who was in Std 5, dared me to run across the athletic field and if I did so, he would give me R5 (trust me, in 1985 this was a hell of a lot of money!) So I did. I ran and ran and ran! As I got halfway across the field, I heard the school bell ring for the start of class. But this didn’t stop me. Unfortunately, as I got to the other side and turned around, I saw that everyone was gone. GONE, including Roger and that when I finished my run and got to my class, I got detention. Roger still owes me R5!

Oh how I sometimes wish I could go back to school with what I know now! The first thing I would tell myself is that silly little events like these don’t matter. That in life, there are much bigger things to worry about. In fact, it’s the attitude and coping when things don’t go the right way that has made me the person I am today!

Good luck boys and girls!

I didn’t listen. I thought I knew better. But I don’t.

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One of the first instructions my running coach gave me was that I should not run any races until he tells me to. But as any runner will know, this is torture, especially when everyone around you is entering all of their favourite races.

So instead of listening to him, I entered and ran the Dischem 5km race in Bedfordview on Sunday morning. I thought, hey, it’s just a quick fun run. Surely it’s okay?

I expected to do brilliantly. I expected to shave minutes off my previous time. But I didn’t. In fact, as we drove home, I was hit by immense disappointment and irritation with myself. I had managed to run without stopping once. This was great. But I was slow and still running at 8 mins/km.So I phoned my coach, sheepishly apologising that I had “skelmpies” run a race behind his back, but also begging him for answers as to why I was not yet running faster. After he gave me a firm lecture, I finally understood exactly why he had given that instruction.

You see, running by myself on a quiet Sunday morning around my neighbourhood is a very different experience to running a race. Even if I try fool myself in to believing that it’s a “fun” run, it isn’t. And it wasn’t on Sunday.

In fact, I was pumped. I was nervous. My adrenaline was flowing. I was tense, anxious and excited. As the race started, I was already thinking I was going to do brilliantly. Thanks to a great new friend (Craig aka @biggestbossfan) who ensured I did not walk once, I landed up completing the race in 40 mins. Yip, 8 minutes per km!

I was gutted! All I could think of was what about all my speed work? What about all the extra effort of 3 weeks of training? I felt miserable and disappointed. I took my eye off the end goal and landed up feeling highly demotivated.

My coach was right. It’s a massive psychological knock which I took and doesn’t help my training much. All I could focus on after the race is that my training wasn’t helping and that I was always going to be a slow runner jogger and yet, this is so not true.

I guess the biggest lesson I’m learning from my coach is patience. I’m realising that the end goal is not Two Oceans (a race with so much hype it stresses me out tremendously).

The end goal is in fact listening to my body. Believing in my abilities and having the patience to believe that it will happen. Eventually. Because it will.

So I have my 2012 ASA number ready to be sewn on to my running kit and while I wait patiently for my first official run of the year, I will carry on training. I suspect that compared to last year, running in 2012 is going to be filled with many challenges and unexpected surprises of its own.