When do you stop keeping up and just move forward?

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Bo

I received notification that my blog has turned 4 years old. Wow! 4 wonderful years of sharing my running ups and downs, my race stories, my work stresses, the joys of my weekends and sometimes, my inner most thoughts.

Reading my very first blog post made me quite teary-eyed. I started a blog to share my frustrations with being such a slow runner. The more I hated my slow pace, the more I loved blogging about it. With each and every race, I was learning more and more about myself. My running forced me to step back and look at what it all meant to me and what was important in life.

But looking back and reminiscing about some of my favourite blog posts, something has started to niggle me…

This was me crossing the finish line at the 2008 Two Oceans 8km fun run.

During the 4 years of blogging so much has changed, not only in my life but with my running too. In fact, my running has improved. Dramatically.

What started out as being a frustration and the source of many (many, many) blog posts, I’m not that slow runner anymore. I can confidentially say that I can now run a half marathon in under 3 hours. Comfortably. In fact, my next goal is to run it in under 2:40.

Running with Comrades green number runner Tanya Kovarsky at this year’s Sarens half marathon. My time: 2:44

So then what’s been niggling at me you ask? Well, it’s what I say about my running. It’s how I talk about my blog. And it’s how I introduce myself on the various social media profiles.

I use words like “slow” and “trying to run faster than 8 minutes per km”. I keep saying I’m a 3 hour half marathon runner. Really? I keep holding onto something that I’ve grown out of and it’s holding me back. “I am what I speak” and I need to stop harping on about my so-called slow pace. I need to change the way I speak, because I’m most certainly not acting like that anymore. And if I’m going to achieve my next goal, I need to speak it into being.

I need to start telling people that I’m —“this close”— to running a half marathon in under 2:40. Because I am. I can feel it, it will happen. Soon!

I will never move forward and reach my goals if I continue to hang out in my past with all my failures.

I love the name of my blog and won’t change it. Keeping up with the Walkers and managing the stresses of life is still very much part of me. And no matter what my pace is, running continues to teach me so much about just that! But I need to listen to my gut and start being proud of my achievements. I am a great runner and yes, I can run in under 8 mins/km!

I haven’t updated any bio’s just yet. Watch this space.

To be honest, not every long run is long

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Bo

I’ve been slacking. I’ve been slacking on my training schedule and on Sunday, I felt it. It hurt.

According to my training schedule from my Coach, my Sunday long runs need to be between 15kms and 18kms. But I’ve only been running a maximum of 10kms on Sundays. In my head, I’ve been telling myself that 10kms is still pretty good. I mean, it’s Winter and I’m out there, running, way more than I typically run during Winter. I was doing good, right?

There are a couple of half marathon races coming up in August so I decided to do a proper long run on Sunday. The plan was 15kms. Off I trekked with the Randburg Harriers Sunday running group, route map in hand, fresh legs, big smile. It went well until we hit the 13kms mark. Then it started to hurt. Big time!

Regardless of the weekday track sessions and Thursday 8km time trials, I knew in my head that I had not run that far in ages. And I felt it. I dawned on me that I had not been following my training schedule properly and that even though 10kms was a great distance, it wasn’t helping my goals of running my 21km races any faster. I was so not prepared for the distance.

My legs felt tired for the rest of the day (such an awesome feeling though) and I could feel the run had been some good training on my whole body. But no more short runs. I need to get back into it and be more disciplined. Spring is coming! Thank goodness too because things are so much easier in the Summer. Especially running.

Mid-year life appraisals

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Bo

Mid-year appraisals are under way at work. Amid all the stress and deadlines and noise, it affords you the opportunity to stop, to breathe and re-assess where you’re at with your goals and projects.

It’s a case of looking at what you committed to do, your progress, feedback from stakeholders and sometimes a re-negotiation of the goals and deadlines.

It’s a good idea to do a similar review of your personal life too which is what I’ve started to do. Here’s a brief assessment of two things which have stood out for me:

Home: Work life balance is nowadays easier for me to get right than KK. He has started working Saturdays and will bring work home to do almost every evening. I get it, I do. So what we’ve done is committed to having ‘date nights’ and spending quality Sundays together. Even if this means chilling at home and taking long naps after a braai on the couch. It’s ‘us’ time and a compromise. As long as we find the time to connect, that’s what matters.

Sunday braai’ing with KK and the girls

Running: Everyone knows that I hibernate during Winter and don’t run. But this year has been different. I’ve surprised myself with my discipline in getting to track during the week and forcing myself to wake up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to train. It’s been hard and I’ve hated some days! But so far, so good! You know that cheesy saying that Summer bikini bodies are formed in the Winter. This better ring true for running bodies!

Random pics snapped by Graham Block at the Sunday Harriers long runs – Thanks Sharon and Tamryn for the company!

It’s almost Spring and one of my good Twitter friends, Lucy, has posted a photograph of jasmine flowering in her garden in Knysna! I love jasmine. It signals a turn in the seasons for me. This gives me goosies! Things are always different when Summer arrives. They are! And so far, I’m on track with all my goals to deliver some great results!

Me? Run Comrades? Are you mad? I know I’m not. (Maybe)

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Bo

In the days leading up to and after Comrades, quite a few people asked me if I was going to ever run the ultimate race. As all runners do, I’d politely reply ‘yeah, I’d love to!’ But if I had more time, I’d give them my real answer because trust me, I’ve thought about it long and hard.

Here’s how I’ve broken it down:

I’m a slow runner. Fact! My training with Coach Dave has helped me slice quite a bit of time off my running pace but I’m still averaging 7:44 on my runs. This is me, giving it all I’ve got. To run Comrades, I’d need to run a hell of a lot faster so that when I take on my walk breaks, I’d still be able to average just over 8 mins/km. To slice off another minute and a half off my current pace is a massive task!
I’ve never run a marathon before. This would then need to be another goal to achieve. And to qualify for Comrades I need to run it in under 5 hours which means I need to average 7mins/km. I’m nowhere near this kinda pace now. I’m struggling to get down to even 7:30! Another goal.
To accomplish these goals is a massive task which would most probably take a a few years I’m guessing. Do I honestly want to commit that amount of effort and dedication into my running at this stage of my life?

So yes, it’ll always remain a dream. But for now, it’s baby steps. My running form is wrong, I still slouch too much, my core needs strengthening. This is what I’m focused on for now. Getting the basics right and focussing on smaller achievable goals.

So the question again, am I ever going to run Comrades? Highly unlikely. But then again, you never know.

The entire bit above was written with my head. But here’s what my heart wants to scream out: