About Bo

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

A day off..

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Bo

When a public holiday falls on a Monday, there’s nothing better than enjoying a looooong weekend. Believe it or not, I did plan my day. My plan was to do as little as possible and I stuck to my word.

I slept lekker late…

and spent the entire day with my feet up…

keeping an eye on my bird feeder, watching the birds nattering away…

taking time to admire the flowers in my garden in the warm Jozi sun…

starving myself for that afternoon braai…

and ending off snuggling on the couch in front of Grey’s Anatomy.

10 / 10 for a perfect day!

Going into running hibernation

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Bo

The Comrades marathon always signals the “year end” of my running year. As winter arrives and with it, dark evenings and chilly mornings, my running mileage takes a dive as I slow down and find ~~excuses~~ reasons not to run. During this time of year, there are very few races on the race calendar, it’s a ghost town at time trial and you find a couple of brave runners venturing into trail running. (I’m considering that idea myself.)

As I look back and take stock of the races I’ve run in the year under review, I must admit that this year has been one of my favourites. I had minimal injuries compared to last year’s plantar fasciitis pain and even though I entered fewer races than previous years, the ones I did run stand out for me for different reasons.

I started 2013 with the Johnson Crane & Pick ‘n Pay half marathons – two of my favourite 21km races. It was after seeing the smiles of joy on runner’s faces at the finish line of the Johnson Crane that made me ask myself, “Who cares how long it takes me to run 21kms! I want to be as happy as these runners!” It set the tone for the rest of the year.

I absolutely loved the KFC Valentines night race. Loved! This was my very first race I ran years ago, so going back and running it again was just magical! I also returned to conquer the Deloitte half marathon! After coming dead last (I kid you not) in 2009 and vowing never to run it again, I did it!

A race I did expect to come last in (but didn’t) was the Springs Striders 15km race because there were so few runners participating. But it turned out to be so memorable especially running in the mist which was so eerily quiet and beautiful! Running at my pace had its advantages as I missed the Pick ‘n Pay shootout during the RAC 10km race!

But ironically, it wasn’t just these races that stood out for me. I must confess that I enjoyed my running mainly because of the shorter unplanned distances too. Getting home after work and heading out into the hot afternoon, watching the sun setting, chatting to my running partner (@terencetobin) was what made the difference for me.

I didn’t over-analyse every run like I normally do but just enjoyed each run for what it was. Just me. Out on the road. Running.

My story about the Concorde

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Bo

It was during a marathon long study session with my 11 year old niece on the weekend that memories of my own childhood school years reared its head. How funny it is to think back at some of the preconceived ideas I had as a child and the ridiculous conclusions I came up with. One of those was that because of my upbringing, I would never know about certain things. Crazy, right?.

I can still remember sitting in class in primary school and listening to the other kids discussing something known as Concorde (the now retired supersonic airplane). I had never heard about such a plane and could not really participate in the conversation. The way they spoke about it had me on the edge of my seat. Why had I not heard of this marvelous thing? How come I was the only one that didn’t know what it was? What was wrong with me?

I remember being a bit irritated at my parents for not having told me about it. But my anger was geared more towards the fact that I didn’t know. I felt so stupid. I still to this day remember thinking that I can’t blame my parents for not telling me. When the hell would they have found the time?

My parents were divorced and my mom worked a lot of overtime to make extra money so we hardly saw her. On the weekends when we saw my dad, we never engaged in such deep conversations. I just concluded that kids like me were never meant to know stuff like that. It wasn’t part of my world. I mean think about it. A fancy, super fast plane that traveled to places such as New York and Paris. The furthest we had ever been was the Kruger Park with the caravan. In fact my dad had never even been in a plane before in his life (still hasn’t to this day!).

I hope the message I conveyed to my niece on the weekend is a very different one. I hope as she writes her exams, she remembers all the wonderful facts we chatted about. All the amazing topics we discussed. I hope she remembers the awesome pictures we found on Google of the Augrabies Falls and of the Drakensberg mountains and the Zulu huts and the insects…

But above all, I hope she remains curious and eager to never stop asking questions. Because in today’s world, knowledge is free to everyone!

Lessons from a dog called Emma

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Bo

My dog Emma is a beautiful and gentle animal. The only thing she stresses about are bees and if her supper is late. I’m a stressor. I pretty much stress about everything. But here’s what Emma has taught me about life:

1. There will be times in your life when you let yourself go and put on weight. It’s okay because you can always lose the weight. It’s about making that change and doing something different. Emma put on so much weight that she could hardly run up the stairs. But she’s managed to lose the weight and has dropped from 7.9kgs in 2012, to 5.1kgs!

2. Always make time to sleep! Always! Emma loves to sleep. In fact she gets edgy at night if we stay up too late and slowly makes her way to her bed without even being asked. Getting a good night’s rest is priority for Emma and should be for me!

3. Everyone has a bad hair day sometimes. Don’t stress – it’s what makes you unique! Emma has a lot of hair! It’s in her food, in her eyes, in her mouth. We try trim it as much as we can but it grows so quickly. We’ve decided to leave it because, well, that’s who she is. Love the way you look. Don’t always try and change who you are!

4. In life, we can’t choose our family. No matter what, have their backs. If you don’t, nobody else will. Even though she is the baby, Emma looks after her bigger sister Annie.

5. Be fabulous! Even if it means adding some colour, a bit of lighting and special effects to your life! Emma was so patient when I took this photo. I was playing around with apps to post to Instagram. The photo came out beautifully! It’s one of my favs!I love you Emma! XXX