About Bo

Dog lover. Runner. Although very slowly. Keeping up with the stresses of running and life...

My Johnson Crane journey

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Bo

Johnson Crane was the very first half marathon I attempted in 2009. I figured it was a flat route, so should be pretty easy. I was wrong. Inexperienced and a total newbie to running 21.1 kms, I hit the wall at around 17kms on that slow pull up to the finish. Johnson Crane taught me a lot. How to start a race, overcome the challenges and finish. I’ve gone back every year since then to run it. But I think after today, I’ve run my last Johnson Crane.

Early morning sunrise as we parked the car and prepared for the race

My race review of today’s run isn’t great. It wasn’t my day. I used a 4min run, 30 second walk strategy (something I’m trialling and will share in another blog post). I cruised through 5kms in under 38 mins. My next 5kms a tad slower but by the time I hit 15kms I had really started to slow down dramatically. The next 6kms were hell and with the flat roads, there was no relief on my legs. I have the sunburn to prove just how hard today was.

Got the t-shirt & the medal

Jo’burg runners are spoilt. We are presented with the opportunity to run a race every Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and now even Fridays with the introduction of fitCal. And so we do. We enter every race we can. But in the last year or so, I’ve started to know which races I enjoy and which ones I hate. Flat races are definitely not my favorite!

The amount of work that you need to put in is exhausting. I can’t seem to get going! It was like that at Vaal last year and even with the new Johnson Crane route, I felt the same. I hated the run. And in those last few kms I kept thinking to myself, “well if you hate it, then why run it?”

I suspect I’ll have runners amnesia by January next year and enter it again. Maybe. Meh, I’ll see.

I switched off

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Bo

I switched off on purpose this week and didn’t feel like doing much. Tomorrow is already Friday.

It started on Monday when Annie was diagnosed with a tumour on her adrenal gland. Right now we’re waiting for the vet to let us know what the best treatment will be to prepare her for surgery.

Grizzly bear Then KK came down with manful. He was planning on running his Two Oceans qualifying marathon on Sunday so this has really put a damper on things.

My training suffered the most. I didn’t run. I skipped track. I didn’t feel like gym. Or spinning.

I headed straight home from work, made supper, packed lunches and got both KK and Annie into bed as early as I could.

I’ve watched stupid afternoon shows on TV. I’ve caught 10 minute kitty naps while supper cooked. I started reading a new book.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve loved it. I haven’t felt guilty at all. I think we all get “those” days. Days when we just want a break from it all. A brain break. A body break. A training break. Just time to let go…Time to breathe.

They’re always saying that it’s easy to find time to train, to go to gym, to do a hobby. But this means for most evenings, I’m only getting home after 7pm. I never find time in the week to just veg.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking (especially my running friends). And yes, I can feel my body is getting edgy and I need to get back into my routine. I’ll snap out of it soon, I will.

But for now… couch time.

(Image source: http://www.greatbigcanvas.com/ via Pinterest)

The brief said hot!

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Bo

It was ironic that during the hottest month in Jo’burg, the theme of my camera club during the month of December was ‘HOT’. One would’ve thought that made it easier to find great photo opportunities, but it didn’t. In fact it was hard!

The typical images of flickering flames on the summer evening braai came to mind. So did chillies, steaming bowls of curries and ice cold cocktails. But every time I’d take these types of pictures, they shouted out everything but hot.

I ended up with two pics that I took while lazing on the lounger next to the pool, working on my tan. It worked. Here are my two submissions for January:

I took this pic lying down and staring up into the sky

Looking down this time at my feet suntanning next to the pool

We’re headed on our first excursion in February and I’m quite excited! It’ll be an evening outing and taking photos of the setting sun. I’m both excited and nervous at the same time.

I’m going to give a proper grown-ups camera a try and not use my iPhone. I’ll keep you posted.

Running through my weeks…

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Bo

Running Moments

1. Running with Denise, tongues synchronized 2. Motivational quotes 3. Watching the beautiful sunrise before the race starts 4. Running ‘Slow Poke’ buddies 5. Running Junkies at track 6. Sorting out my running clothes 7. Photo shoot for my new blog header 8. Running funnies 9. Cooling my feet off after the run