About Bo

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

Tasting a bit of whisky

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Bo

When the invite for the #whiskysister evening arrived in my mailbox, my immediate reaction was, “You’ve got the wrong girl.” I’m not a big drinker. In fact, I hardly drink at all. The most I have is a wine spritzer at a braai on a Sunday afternoon which completely throws me off balance (read: tipsy). Most of my friends know that mixing my wine with diet Sprite or Coke is really the only way I enjoy it. Yeah, go ahead and judge me all you wine connoisseurs.

So whisky? At the age of 39, I had never even tasted it. But hey, there’s a first time for everything, right? So off I went.

In between plates of sushi and fresh segments of fruit and cheese slices, we were entertained/infotained by the Macallan whisky brand ambassador as to the history of whisky and the making of it which I must admit, I found quite fascinating. We finally moved on to the tasting. I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t hit me in my chest as I suspected. It was actually even smoother when drops of water were added to each one.

As we sniffed and sipped and shared our experiences, it was interesting to hear that there is a growing trend among women who have started drinking whisky. Will I be among this growing number of women? Um… perhaps. Although I did hear that some women are choosing to mix their whisky with Appletizer. (secretly thinking that might be me.)

I’m glad to say that I can finally tick whisky tasting off my list and in fact, whisky has definitely been added to my list of great gift ideas for family & friends. I urge you to take a visit to the Whisky Brother shop in Hyde Park*, even if it’s to marvel at the beautiful bottles. And be sure to keep an eye out for more #whiskysister events!

Slainte. Here’s tae ye!

*unsponsored*

Smelling the roses on the run

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Bo

I’ve always had such a complex about my running pace. (I mean, just look at the name of my blog!). So as I stood at the starting line of Sunday’s race, I was terrified. A running friend asked if I’d like to run a race with her and I jumped at the opportunity. No one had ever asked me to run with them before! I was overcome with my usual insecurities; would I be able to keep up? Would I cramp? Would I slow her down?

At about the 4km mark, we slowed down quite a bit as she started to take strain. She had been struggling with a nasty flu bug from the week before and had misjudged how weak she still was. It had knocked her hard and she was not herself on the day. It happens and so we ended up just taking it easy.

Unbeknownst to her, I was tackling a lot of my own demons. It was only the second race that I was running since starting my running training with Coach Dave so I had no idea what my pace would be. But I felt super strong and confident. This is new.

This is what really mattered on the day:

I’m able to run without having to stop and walk every 500m.
I am definitely getting stronger.
I don’t have to be terrified anymore.
A day came when I was the strong one for a change.
I don’t care what the finishing time was. To me, what mattered was running with my friend.
Runners are a different breed. Why was I worried that she would leave me out on the course? Because I would never have done that to her.

My running priorities have definitely changed over the weeks since I’ve been attending track training. I signed up to run faster but as the weeks go by, things that I never thought of before make sense to me now. Such as managing to run and not walk as much as I used to. Such as finishing a race feeling strong. And knowing that some days it’s not about the time on my watch that defines what a great race is all about. Sometimes, it’s all about the company and facing those demons head on. Thanks Denise!

It’s serious now.

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Bo

I finally have one! A training programme from my running coach for the month of October. It feels like I’ve entered the big league now as I arrive at the running track checking out what my (I) pace or my (T) pace is for the session along with all the other runners. This is new for me because I’ve always been the kind of runner that just goes out and runs. (and then gets home disappointed at my pace).

But after almost two months of structured training, it’s finally sunk in. In my pre-Coach Dave days, every time I ran, I never had a plan as to how fast or slow I was going to run. My pace was either slightly faster that 8 mins/km or much slower than 8 mins/km. A structured programme cuts it up differently. There’s Easy, Threshold, Interval and Race pace and details as to when to run which pace on which days.

There is a sense of relief having a programme too. Not only does it give me set distances to stick to each week, but for a change I know the difference between a quality track session and an easy Sunday run. Because there is a difference.

The track work forces me to give 110% effort and learn to run at the required training paces. I’m improving my aerobic capacity, conditioning my body for longer runs and increasing my overall performance without risking injury. An easy run is to get precious time on my feet but resisting the urge to run faster than I should.

The tricky part is getting my body to be familiar with the different paces – am I running too fast? Am I going too slowly? Because right now, without looking at my Garmin, I don’t know. Baby steps, right? Ha, and I thought running was just running! Silly me!

(Image credit: http://www.runningonthewall.com)

Running through my weekend

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Bo

1. Track running at 6am on Saturday & an awesome easy Sunday 11km run. 2. Post Twisted Whiskers Summer cut. Happy smiles! 3. Afternoon naps on the bed with mommy. 4. Small bites for me zucchini & squid heads 5. …and small bites for KK at Il’ Locolina, Hobart Square. 6. Sushi platters for Supper. 7. Sunday afternoon blogging. 8. LCHF Almond seed crackers baked & ready. 9. Sunday roast with a wine spritzer. Why not?