About Bo

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

Switching off

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Bo

When KK and I were down in Durban for the Comrades, we took the time to relax and enjoy being away from all the mad rush of Jo’burg and work. On the first evening we went for supper, my phone was flat and so I left it in the hotel room to charge. I felt lost for the first hour or so but once we started to eat and wind down, I realized that I wasn’t going to die! *dramatic, I know*

The morning afterwards, I left it in the hotel room again. It wasn’t planned or even discussed, but I started to leave my phone in the room every time we’d go have a meal. After the first day, KK did the same.

There was never a flood of urgent messages when we returned to the room. Nobody phoned us and we never needed to return any calls. Conversations on social media platforms carried on without us regardless.

What we did notice is that we became a lot more conscious of everything around us, the people, the food, the music. We spoke more, we connected. And it just got better at each and every meal. We did more ‘people watching’ and giggling at private jokes. We ate slower and took time to sit for longer at the dinner table. Long moments of sighing and smiling and letting go…

Sunset photo (yaken before we went for supper)

A photo of the beautiful setting sun I took before we walked down for supper without our phones, hence the reason why I don’t have any photos of us actually at the restaurant.

It was the feeling of freedom and escapism that I reveled in the most. For 6 days, I was able to walk away from the madness living in my phone, the opinions, the stories and all the noise. I allowed myself to shut off.

I’d love to say I was able to do so after the trip but that never happened. But what I have done is made sure that I pack my phone away in my bag when we go out to eat. I consciously try & make that effort. (after I’ve taken my Instagram and Zomato pic, of course). You should try it!

Focus. It’s on my list. #microblogmondays

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Bo

Focus.

I’ve started my week off with a new plan. A new strategy. And it’s all about focus. I find that I am easily distracted by everything else but ‘proper’ work all day long.

I spend way too much time and energy on stuff like emails and trying to clear my inbox. I waste more time doing too many little things than focusing on what matters. And do I even know how to sift through all the noise and know what this is?

I need to start doing work that adds real value.

My first ‘back to basic’ action item was to get into the office this morning and make a list of everything I need to do this week.

First task – Done. *tick*

Focus.

I also need to find more time to blog instead of letting all the thoughts swim around in my head. I’m drowning. So here goes. Focus.

See it to believe it!

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Bo

Trying to decide which medals to hang up on my medal hanger was difficult! I was amazed at the number of medals that I had accumulated since I started running. After every race, I chuck them into a shoe box and kinda forget about it. But sorting through the medals made me realize a few things.

I’ve run ~~a shitload~~ loads of races
Some races mean a lot to me and I treasure those memories more than others
I’ve come along way as a runner

My medal hanger from some of my favourite races

My medals from some of my favourite races!

We get so caught up in the goals, so focused on what’s next and the training that we forget the journey we’ve been on. Every runner started as a beginner. For majority of us, 5km was a huge milestone. Now, we push on to get PB’s for half marathons, 42kms and even ultra’s.

I hung up my favourite medals with a huge sense of pride and became quite nostalgic about certain favourite (and not so favourite) races. I remember the races where I rejoiced and felt good and those which made me cry and hate running.

I recall my first 10km race where I managed to come in under 80 minutes and the Johnson Crane half marathon where I hit my first (and hopefully last) wall. The races I’ve hated and then fallen in love with again, such as the dreadful (but now my favourite) Deloitte, and Two Oceans – my schizo’ mix of fun runs and serious 21.1kms. When the selected medals were all hung up, I felt really good, incredibly proud of myself. We don’t get many opportunities in life to feel that way lately.

My friend Pamela custom makes these medal hangers with whatever quote or title you want. I wish she could make me one with the title “Bron’s life” and I could see everything displayed up on the wall. All my goals accomplished, the lessons in life that I’ve learnt, the different experiences which have made me grow and become the person I am today. Oh wait… actually, nothing does that better than running and I’ve got the medals to prove it.

Sometimes in life, you need to see it to believe it!

In case you want your own hanger, go check out these links:

SA Medal Hangers on Facebook

SA Medal Hangers website

Me? Run Comrades? Are you mad? I know I’m not. (Maybe)

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Bo

In the days leading up to and after Comrades, quite a few people asked me if I was going to ever run the ultimate race. As all runners do, I’d politely reply ‘yeah, I’d love to!’ But if I had more time, I’d give them my real answer because trust me, I’ve thought about it long and hard.

Here’s how I’ve broken it down:

I’m a slow runner. Fact! My training with Coach Dave has helped me slice quite a bit of time off my running pace but I’m still averaging 7:44 on my runs. This is me, giving it all I’ve got. To run Comrades, I’d need to run a hell of a lot faster so that when I take on my walk breaks, I’d still be able to average just over 8 mins/km. To slice off another minute and a half off my current pace is a massive task!
I’ve never run a marathon before. This would then need to be another goal to achieve. And to qualify for Comrades I need to run it in under 5 hours which means I need to average 7mins/km. I’m nowhere near this kinda pace now. I’m struggling to get down to even 7:30! Another goal.
To accomplish these goals is a massive task which would most probably take a a few years I’m guessing. Do I honestly want to commit that amount of effort and dedication into my running at this stage of my life?

So yes, it’ll always remain a dream. But for now, it’s baby steps. My running form is wrong, I still slouch too much, my core needs strengthening. This is what I’m focused on for now. Getting the basics right and focussing on smaller achievable goals.

So the question again, am I ever going to run Comrades? Highly unlikely. But then again, you never know.

The entire bit above was written with my head. But here’s what my heart wants to scream out: