The right treatment

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Bo

As I walked out of the physiotherapist’s office, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Having suffered (I know I sound like a drama queen) for almost three weeks solid, I finally found relief for the pain that was killing my side. One of my intercostal muscles (the ones near the ribs) was bruised, locked in a tight spasm causing me pain. With a fair amount of pressure and what felt like ‘magic hands’ the pain started to release.

I’m one of those that thinks they’re doing the right thing, but isn’t. In order to heal, I thought resting my body from all forms of gym and running was the way to go. I figured it would eventually heal itself. But it didn’t and required the help of a trained specialist who knew exactly what to do.

After four years, I’ve realized I’ve made the same mistake with my running. I’ve bought all the best selling books for runners, I’ve followed all the great running blogs, I follow a bunch of really cool runners on Twitter and every so often, I’ll try do some speed work when I go to gym. But none of this is actually making me run faster now is it? No, I need help. Professional help. I kinda need the physiotherapist but for running. I need a proper coach.

So I’ve found one. After emailing him my sob story of ‘I’m a slow runner blah blah‘, he told me to come along to one of his training sessions to meet him and give it a try. So I did … and I won’t look back.

My side is finally healing because I’ve received the proper treatment. It’s about time I gave my running that chance as well. Here’s to a new challenge and new goals!

Miss Diagnosis

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Bo

They warn you about Googling your symptoms, but when an aching pain on the side of my body did not want to go away, I became desperate. Having suffered from Ulcerative Colitis (wiki link if you’re keen to know what this is) since 1998 and lately Enteropathic Arthritis (another wiki link), I feared the worst! All the search results pointed to an enlarged spleen or some form of liver cancer. Eeeek!

So I headed off to my Gastroenterologist who immediately did a battery of tests, trying to figure out what this odd pain was. I know a couple of people on my Twitter timeline and Facebook pages suffering from severe illnesses and as I sat waiting for my test results, I wondered how I was ever going to face another complication from my bowel disease.

A pulled stomach muscle? Huh? When the test results came back, and my Doc did one last check, he concluded that yes, I am having another inflammation attack but it wasn’t anything serious. Somehow I’d managed to pull a muscle on my lower left side just under my ribs and that’s what was causing the pain. How the hell?

Relief…

It’s every runner’s nightmare to be told to rest but that’s pretty much what I’ve been forced to do. The whole week, no gym, no running, not even a walk around the block. Unable to take any anti-inflammatories or pain killers, I’ve pretty much relied on a hot water bottle and panados to ease the pain. It’s still niggling and I’m wondering if I should take another week off? I’ll see…

Trying again. On my own terms.

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Bo

I was giving a good friend of mine some advice the other day. I told her, “Pal, you’ve done everything you can do. You’ve given it all you’ve got. There’s nothing more you can do now. It is what it is…” Days later, as I contemplate whether or not to run the Two Oceans half marathon, I started to give myself some of my own advice.

Family and friends know that I hate this race. It overwhelms me. It’s congested, it’s over-hyped, it’s rated by so many runners as “The ultimate race”. But I hate it. It could be largely due to the baggage I carry of not making the 3 hour cut-off a couple of years ago. Even though I came back and ran a PB on this course the next year. But the pressure is intense and I allow it to control me.

But when I think of the advice I gave my friend, the words seem quite appropriate for me too especially when I look at the facts.

I’ve trained hard this year.
I’ve run five half marathons since January with ease.
In between regular interval training at gym, I’ve run on weekends too.
I’m 10kgs lighter having changed to a Banting way of eating.
I’m more comfortable with my running than I’ve ever been.

Am I still slow? Yeah, but it’s not important to me anymore. That’s my pace, deal with it. I have.

The main thing is that I’ve done all I can do in preparation for the race. There’s nothing more I can do. “It is what it is.”

If the congestion with 16k runners causes me to lose precious time, nothing I can do. If this means missing cut-off, so be it. I have to accept that if it takes me longer to run the first km and I lose time, it is what it is.
If it’s windy or it rains, nothing I can do. That’s just Cape Town weather.
A lot of factors are out of my hands but at least I’ve done everything I could possibly do in the build-up to this race. The rest I can’t control.

So ya, let’s see how it goes. Right now my nerves are killing me!

Reviewing my year…

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Bo

Self-doubt has been a recurring theme of my blog. I have found that in my life it has affected how I respond to other people, my confidence within the work place but also my running ability. In writing my ‘Review of 2013′ blog post, I would have to say that the last 3 months have taught me more about myself than I’ve ever known; it’s been a time of incredibly uncertainty; a period of my life where self-doubt could have easily engulfed me … But that never happened.

If there is one word which describes it all, I would say vulnerability.

Deciding to head down a new path for my career, moving to a new department, being seconded to head up a team for 6 months in a field I had no previous experience in was incredibly overwhelming. The initial few days I feared that I would be exposed and make a mistake. That I would fail…

Instead of allowing self-doubt to take the lead, I used my vulnerability to accept that things were new, every day had its own share of unknowns, that the work was tough and complex and that I was either going to sink or swim. Instead of being in control, I let go and let each day take care of itself. And I was rewarded each and every day. Not only by small successes around me, but on a personal level too.

I’ve learnt that I actually know stuff. Stuff that has been built up in files in my head for years and years, waiting to be released. I realize that I can make a difference and sometimes it doesn’t have to be a big one. I’ve learnt that I can and I do add value – best feeling in the world.

But I guess the biggest surprise is that I’m no longer afraid to let people around me see this part of me. The more passionate I get, the bolder I feel and the more I love what I do. 2013 will definitely go down as the year I found my voice.

Thank you Dipesh for believing in me and making me believe in myself.