…and he’s out.

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Bo

It’s been 4 weeks since KK injured himself. His injury came at the worst time possible – key training weeks before Two Oceans and Comrades.

As a typical runner, he’s been through all the emotions. It started with denial of the injury, thinking it would go away. Then came acceptance and regular visits to the physio, followed by daily rehabilitation exercises trying to strengthen the area.

But it’s this last phase that has been the worst. Acceptance that he is not going to be able to run Two Oceans and realisation that there isn’t much time to train before Comrades.

I keep telling him to rest, to take it easy and not worry about the races. But as any runner knows, that’s easier said than done. Especially since his Comrades would see him getting a back to back medal for his second consecutive race. There’s still time, I tell him. But he’s frustrated.

I’ve realised how easily we take for granted that we’re fit to run. I’ve realised that our bodies don’t give us much warning when we’re about to get injured. It just happens.

But the greatest lesson an injury teaches us is patience. Runners are the worst when it comes to being patient. Hang in there KK!

Okay Two Oceans, clean slate, here I come!

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Bo

If you’ve been following my blog for a few years now, you may recall that the Two Oceans half marathon is not one of my favourite running races (understatement). I find the anxiety of the congested start, the hype around the race, and making the race cut-off all contributing to it being a very stressful run. I’ve even documented my feelings in various blog posts throughout the years:

How I started this blog in 2011 with Two Oceans in mind
My excitement in 2011 when I signed up to run the race after missing cut-off in 2011 which devastated me
I’ve analysed the race like a slice of pizza, slice by slice
I blogged about my feelings when I pulled out of because of injury in 2012 and then for being overwhelmed by stress
I recall blogging about nightmares I’ve had just thinking about the race
I wrote a “Dear John” type letter to the race, officially splitting up (hysterical!)
My Two Oceans fun runs have also been documented the year it rained and 2013’s 8km run
Conquering my fear of Two Oceans in 2014 was my last post.

Yowzer! I’ve realized I’m clearly obsessed with the race and focus on pretty much all the negative things about it. So I decided to look at the positive side this year. Instead of analyzing all the negative things that stress me out about the race, I’m going down to Cape Town focusing on the positives.

I am one of the lucky ones who managed to get an entry.
An Easter holiday down in the fairest, most beautiful Cape. I can’t wait.
I am blessed to report that I am fit and healthy while there are others, such as KK, injured and having had to pull out of the race. Sorry KK.
My Dad will be running the race too! This might be the most special thing about that day and I’m going to try and run at least some of the way with him.
There are so many of my friends and Running Junkie training friends who will be competing. It’s been an honor training with them and I can’t wait to see them reach their goals.
I have trained hard. I have covered the distances and done the work I need to do.
My Championchip times show that I am able to run a 21.1km race in under ~~3:00~~ 2:50 minutes. I no longer need to stress about that 3 hour axe cut-off over my head.
I am able to run a distance that majority of people have never even tried to run. I am a runner. I can run 21.1kms! Me!

The Two Oceans countdowns posted on social media still take my breath away and give me serious *goosies*! It’s going to be fab! It’s going to be epic! Two Oceans, here I come!

Are you also running? How are you feeling about the race?

Sundays are my Fundays!

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Bo

During our December break last year, we managed to spend quite a few arb weekends lazing around the pool the entire day doing nothing; and I mean absolutely nothing! It was glorious! I recall telling KK that I would really miss it when we went back to work and normality kicked into gear from January. But he challenged me saying, well, why must things change? We can still make time for lazy weekends next to the pool during the year can’t we?

So it’s not exactly a New Year’s Resolution, but a promise I made to myself that I would try as often as I could to ensure that we still spend those lazy Sundays at the pool, lying in the sun, braai’ing, listening to music and truly enjoying the weekend. I’m proud to say we’ve stuck to it. As Autumn creeps into our lives, I know that the weekends are limited in terms of sunning ourselves for hours outside. But I’m glad we did. I’m even prouder to admit that I swam. Often!

Oh look, it’s Friday again. Hello weekend! Hello pool! Hello sun! Hello fun!

Happy weekend everyone!

ps: okay Autumn, we’re ready for you.

Losing focus in order to refocus

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Bo

On the eve of the Sarens half marathon, I lay wide awake in bed knowing something was gnawing at me inside with regards to my running but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I was unsure if I was over-training, if I was mentally or physically drained but something wasn’t right. After an hour of ~~over –~~ analysis, it suddenly dawned on me what was wrong. Here’s what I realised:

I keep comparing myself to other runners I follow on social media instead of focussing on my own running journey. In my mind, everyone seems to be running faster times and improving a hell of a lot quicker than me. (Really?)
I’ve constantly been improving my PB, yet after 7 months with Coach Dave, I am still slower than some of the familiar faces I see at the races. I can’t keep up with runners that I used to. Why not? This bugs me.
I am trying to keep up with my Running Junkie Two friends and frustrated that I can’t.
Once again, I am caught up in that mad whirlwind they call “Two Oceans” and desperately wanting to run a good time down in Cape Town in a race I really hate.

You see, it isn’t just one thing. It is a few things that added up to one major issue: I have lost sight of my goals. I have started to look around at everything else except at my own running journey and the progress I have made since August last year.

But it’s even more than that. Lying in bed at 00h35, I knew that I wanted to run Sarens faster than 2:46 but I had no race plan. No strategy. I didn’t even know what my average pace should be. How crazy that after so many months of running, I had not worked this out in my head!

Surely no runner should go into any race so unprepared. Surely it’s the same with life? With no plan, no vision, do we really know how to reach our goals and how to measure success? set goals

I need to go back to the drawing board. I need to reset some of my goals because the goal posts have shifted. And they should shift as I improve, right?

Sarens was a great race, by the way. I ran it in 2:44.