About Bo

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

A surprise visit

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Bo

It was an unexpected Facebook message which read, “Hello! Hope all is as well as can be. I am going to be in South Africa from 4th to 8th August (work-related) and I will be in JHB on 4th and 5th August near Melrose Arch. If you can spare a coffee or quick meal, I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you both!” OMG! One of my best friends from high school was coming from Portugal to SA!

From left to right: Vicky, Me, Monica (who moved to Portugal) and Karen

The last time I saw Vicky was when my parents bought me a plane ticket to Portugal for my 21^st birthday 18 years ago. Our only contact since then had been via Facebook. So I was incredibly nervous as my other best friend from high school and I sat on the couch waiting for her to come down and meet us in the hotel reception. What would we say? How would it all go down?

As I saw her, I could not control my tears! And in those first few minutes, all we did was stare at one another and hug and stare and giggle. It was so surreal. We had aged but still felt like teenagers looking into each other’s eyes.

Later, as we sat around baskets of dim sum, the emotions flicked between moments of uncontrollable laughter to those of intense sadness. The storytelling went from exotic travel destinations, new inventions on to tales of separation and death.

It’s weird. It felt like yesterday that we were strolling around the school corridors but here, 18 years later, each one of us had or is living through some of the toughest times of our lives. Comforting one another seemed natural and instinctive.

A lot happens in 18 years. We grew up. I never would’ve thought that I’d be sitting around a table chatting to my best friends from school about what I had planned for my 40^th birthday. Crazy!

Pals, thanks for a wonderful evening of reminding me what great friendship is all about. You guys are awesome! X

Running through my weeks…

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Bo

1. Annie & Emma passed out on the bed having a Sunday snooze. 2. MTB’ing out in The Cradle on a crisp Saturday morning. 3. The first sighting of jasmine on my TT route signalling Spring is on its way. 4. A loom bracelet made for me by my niece. 5. Feeding the birds in the garden. 6. Old Eds post road race glowing faces.

You never regret it.

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Bo

I’ll be honest with you, I did not want to get out of bed this morning to go running. I know I need to put some extra training in because of all the 10km races coming up soon but that didn’t stop me from having that mental negotiation with myself as I lay snuggled up in bed.

My head told me:

The cold front has arrived. You know you don’t like to run in the cold. I hate it!
The wind is blowing. You hate the wind and this wind is icy. My worst!
It’s Sunday. It’s the day of rest so turn over and go sleep. It sounded so good!

Somehow, I reasoned with myself that it was much warmer heading off to gym than it was being out on the roads, so off I went.

An hour later, driving home, I had the biggest smile on my face. Here’s what my heart told me:

You did good. Sometimes I find myself training harder on the treadmill than what I do out on the road. And funny enough, I am able to run in under 8 mins /km on that “deathmill”
The woman running on the treadmill next to me had a prosthetic leg. Nothing says be grateful you can run than seeing that
Your body thanks you! I had that awesome red glowing face. I love that look!

I need to remind myself regularly that not once have I ever regretted running.

Earlier this week, I happened to find jasmine on my time trial route. What an awesome smell which always alerts me that Spring is finally on its way.

Thank goodness for changing seasons! Running is not for sissies (unless there’s a cold front, right?). Have a wonderful week!

A morning out on my MTB

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Bo

I tagged along with KK and DSM on Saturday morning as they headed out to do some cycling training at The Cradle. Luckily for me, I’m not training for anything specific so while they sped off, I used the time to ‘dilly-dally’ out on the road all by myself with no time or distance pressures.

I stopped quite a few times on the road to take some pics with my phone and was struck by the beauty of my surroundings. The air was crisp when we arrived but soon the sun started to warm my back and as I stood next to my bike, all alone, I was taken aback by the silence that engulfed me.

It’s funny, as I runner, I don’t seem to take time to look around me and take it all in. I’m quite focused on the road ahead, my time and my pace. But cycling is different. Unless you’re racing, you do get to do a lot more sight seeing and observing. It was such a stunning morning. I’m so glad I went!