Not running in winter did me some good

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Bo

I hate running during the winter months. There, I said it. I always promise myself that I’m going to try keep up my training and run through until summer, but it never happens. My last race is usually the RAC 10km in June and after that, it’s downhill. As it gets darker, the excuses flow and the motivation wanes.

But it’s not all bad. This year, I have discovered some good that has come out of it.

I’ve rested my feet. All through 2011 and up until June this year, I have been battling with plantar fasciitis as well as Morton’s Neuroma in my left foot. I have bought every gadget I could find to massage my feet. I have been to Lyno sports massage. I have tried all the stretching exercises I could find on Google and Runners World. But not running for two months and resting my feet has done wonders. I know when (wise) people tell you to stop running and rest when you get injured, most runners go into shock and refuse to listen. But it works. My plantar fasciitis was healed with Lyno but the neuroma has definitely lessened and cannot be felt on most days. My feet feel strong and rested.

I’ve rested my body. I don’t normally catch colds or flu during winter. In fact, KK and I do not even have a house doctor and usually self-medicate with med-lemon and honey. But this year, we were both hit badly and it set us back for weeks. First him, then me. I had to stop all activity and was even bedridden for a week. No gym, no running. It can make you feel pretty miserable. But knowing that it’s winter made it okay. If it were summer, I’d be panicked that I was missing all the cool races. But the race calendar only really kicks into gear once spring comes along so I could safely use this time to rest as much as I could and recover properly. My body has rested.

I’ve rested my mind. Running can sometimes be all consuming. It gets to a point, especially before the big races such as Two Oceans, that that’s all everyone talks about. I get a bit obsessed about my running pace. I get upset about my race times. I get all worked up in good and bad ways after reading tweets, blogs and articles talking about running. But the less races I’ve run, the less running has been an issue. I’ve also been able to blog about other things that have been keeping me busy and so there have been some weeks where running has not even featured. It’s good to rest your mind.

Yet, I must admit that I even though I have rested my feet, my body and my mind, enough is enough. I am feeling niggly. My feet are starting to itch. My body is feeling heavy. My mind is starting to think about all things running.

The resting is over. I can feel spring is on it’s way…

Sick as a pig

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Bo

As I write this post, I feel like death warmed up. Never in my life have I felt so sick. It started on Sunday afternoon and instead of me resting, I simply thought a couple of medi-keels and throat spray would sort it out. I went to work on Monday because I had “so much to do” – sound familiar?

As I got home on Monday night, I jumped straight into bed, thinking I could ‘sleep’ the flu away. Tuesday was spent entirely in bed, no TV, no mags, no blogging. But when I woke up on Wednesday, it was worse. I realised I would need to get to the doctor. But as per usual, I thought I would get as much done before going to the doctor so I quickly scooted off to my dietitian appointment at 7am and into the office to sort out some emails.

When I finally got to the doctor, she was horrified. I have blisters all down the back of my throat and my muscles ache so bad, I groaned when she touched my legs and my ribs. I am sore, there’s no doubt about it. Very sore. It’s only when she said she needed to do a throat swab to rule out swine flu that I suddenly stopped and started to take notice. Swine flu? She reassured me that it was just the strain going around and I had the same symptoms but nothing to worry about. But it’s still not the words I wanted to hear.

I’m at home, in bed, feeling very sorry for myself. But I’ve learnt some hard lessons from it all:

Nothing else is as important as my health. When my body speaks to me and tells me there’s something wrong, I need to listen. AND obey.
Work can wait. In fact, the share price doesn’t drop if I am not there. Work carries on without me.
My colleagues are supportive. The power of the pig is strong. I mentioned the words swine flu and boy did they kick me out the building! I guess it’s not fair to go to work sick but how many of us do?
I usually take my chances and go running when I feel a cold coming on. I ran on Sunday morning and I wonder if it wasn’t all too much for my body to handle? Did I ignore the signs? In a way I am so desperate to get back into running. Wits and Old Ed’s is coming up soon and I want to run.
I need to look after myself all over. Sticking with the pig theme, even my dietitian told me I must stop eating like a pig (my interpretation).

The test results for my throat swab come out on Friday but I have been booked off from work regardless. Even if it’s not pig, it’s still flu. As frustrating as this is for someone like me who never takes sick leave, I have no choice.

On the topic of pigs, one of my Twitter BFFs @lucypeta has a pig as a pet. His name is Merlin. Here he is, giving me a smooch hello! *love him* Isn’t he just gorgeous!

Finding inspiration when and where I least expected it

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Bo

I had good intentions of going for a run yesterday. First, I left my running kit at home, so I landed up missing time trial. Then I got home early enough but blamed the chilliness of the afternoon and not knowing what to wear. Then my iPod was flat. I casually tweeted about it (as one does) and received this reply:So I went to gym and came home smiling. Not because I felt great having run 5kms like I wanted to. Not because I got home all sweaty and red in the face (which I love). Not because I scored an extra point with Vitality. But because of these reasons:

The thin woman with the prosthetic leg was on the stretching mat. At first glance you don’t notice it but look long enough and you see the metal linking the shoe to the shorts. She reminded me to be grateful that I have both my legs and can run. No excuses.

Crazy face (that’s what I call her) was on the bike as she is every evening. Dressed in an over-sized T-shirt with hair tied back and an alice band, she pushes herself on the bike for a full hour until she is dripping in sweat. Eyes closed, her body bobs to her own rhythm on the bike.

John Coffey waved me hello. If you’ve seen ‘The Green Mile’ you will know that I am referring to a huge black man who is so big but has a heart of gold. My Coffey is usually on the treadmill walking on a level 5. It’s slow but it doesn’t matter. He’s still doing more than most.

It wasn’t the skinny chicks checking out their hair in the mirror or the muscled okes hoping you’d see them lifting weights. It was those three unlikely characters that left me quite inspired. It’s as if they were placed there on purpose for me last night to remind me that there are no excuses to skip gym.

I’m glad I went.

Taking my slippers off

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Bo

To say that I am feeling miserable is putting it lightly. I’m in a dip, a low point…

I woke up on Sunday morning to the tweets of fellow runners who had just completed the Pirates 10km running race. I remember the race from last year when a great running tweetup had been organised. This year, I lay in bed sleeping, feeling sorry for myself. Worse is that I had promised a fellow tweep that I’d run with her and seeing her joy as she finished her first 10km race really made me feel crap.

The fact is that I haven’t run for ages. My last race was the RAC 10km in June. Firstly, I’m not the biggest winter runner. I hate getting cold. (My ears ache). Secondly, like most people, I was hit with flu which set my training, both running and gym, back for a couple of weeks. Thirdly, I hate my body at the moment. I’m overweight and I feel heavy, irritated and downright miserable.

It’s a vicious cycle. The less I run, the worse I feel. If I don’t get to gym, I feel guilty (and then I eat). It’s a bad place to be. So, Monday is always a good time to make a change, which I did. I got to gym lekker early and decided to do a ‘light’ run before the spinning class started.

To my surprise I managed to run 2kms around the running track without stopping. I was hot, drenched in sweat, aching, out of breath. OMG! It felt fantastic!

Yeah, so it’s only 2kms. But it’s exactly what I needed to do! It’s as if I needed to flick that switch in my head.

I may not be the best runner in the world. I know that I don’t run very far compared to most other runners. I know for a fact that I may even be the slowest runner I know. But I’ve come to realise that running makes me feel good. It makes me feel fit. It makes my body work and my mind work even harder. And that’s what matters.

In life, if you find something that motivates you, pushes you and makes you get off that couch and work towards a goal, don’t ever stop. It doesn’t have to be running. Just as long as it’s a passion that lifts you out of that dip and keeps you going.