Pushing through the storms

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bo

Living in Jo’burg, one of the things I absolutely love are the awesome Highveld storms! I love the build-up…the dark clouds, that booming thunder and the lightening across the dark purple skies. There’s nothing more spectacular!

However, with a detailed running training schedule to follow since I started with my running coach, I’ve become really niggly with all the rain that has hit Jo’burg in the last few weeks.

You see, I have totally changed my training regime since January. Whereas before I trained mostly indoors, with a personal trainer at the gym at 6am on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, I am now only focussed on running every afternoon, as per my new running schedule, out on the open roads.

Let me stop for a minute and be completely honest with you: The last 3 weeks have been difficult. I have run every day (except Saturdays). It’s not as if I am clocking up major kms. Somedays I’ll only run 3kms, but the discipline to run and to push myself, especially with the required speed work is out of my comfort zone. It’s hard work. It’s not something I’ve done before. My entire body screams ‘stop’!

The humidity that comes with the afternoon rains hasn’t helped. It feels as if I am suffocating. I cannot breathe. I am often gasping for air and the sweat just runs down my face. Wednesday’s run was particularly difficult and it took all my energy and strength not to walk. I failed. Most of the route I landed up walking instead of running. I felt pap! But I’ve stuck to the schedule and have pushed as hard as I can.

I then came across a @runnersworldza tweet that not only made me smile but made me realise a few things…

I realised that it’s been 3 weeks. Already! Yes, 3 difficult weeks but I have not quit. My legs have not given up on me. My body is getting stronger and stronger. I’ve realised that I am in fact doing more training than I did last year. This is awesome! This is what counts!

I need to stop complaining and enjoy my training! Let it rain!

Dave is not always going to be there…

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Bo

You see this photo below? I’m the girl with the red top and blue cap. The big guy next to me is Dave. He was the pace setter that got me over the 2009 Two Oceans half marathon finish line. This photo was taken of the 3 hour bus coming up to UCT.

I can still remember that day clearly. The relief when I finally caught Dave at the 16km mark. I immediately felt safe. I immediately knew I was going to make it. I knew I’d finish strong. With singing and words of encouragement, Dave got me (and a lot of other runners) to that finish line with 5 minutes to spare and for which I will be forever grateful.

Unfortunately, 2010 was a very different experience. I arrived at the start of the race to find that Dave was nowhere to be seen. In fact, there was no 3 hour pace setter. This immediately set me back mentally as I was planning on running with the 3 hour bus and realised I would need to run the entire race by myself.

So with no Dave to carry me, my race was a struggle. I did not finish in the required 3 hours. I missed cut-off by 6 minutes. There was no t-shirt or certificate to say that I had completed the race. Nothing. I was devastated. I felt like a complete failure. In fact, I was filled with so much anger that there wasn’t a “Dave” to carry me home.

But it wasn’t Dave’s fault. I realise that now.

I came back in 2011 to get my medal. But this time, I was a bit wiser. I knew in my mind that if I was to finish in time, I had to rely on nobody but myself. I needed to ensure that the training I did was enough. I needed to ensure my legs were strong enough. More importantly, I needed to know that my mind was in the right place.

I guess in life, we often rely on others and when those people are not there anymore, we crumble. We fail and then we blame others.

I’ve come to realise that in life, I never quite know if there will always be someone to rely on or not. Chances are, there won’t always be a “Dave” by my side to carry me through so I need to be prepared for whatever surprises come my way. Just like my races, I need to know how to rely on my own strength to get me across that finish line.

Believing in myself will be my greatest challenge in 2012

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Bo

Compared to most December holidays, I had quite a lot of spare time to catch up on my reading and DVD watching these past few weeks. An inspirational book by Tim Noakes and watching one of my all-time favourite DVDs documenting the Apollo 13 rescue left me with lots of food for thought as I enter into a new year, filled with many unknowns and challenges.

I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions. However, a very clear message kept coming through when I read Noake’s book and which was confirmed when watching ‘The Race to the Moon: Failure is not an option’ DVD. The message of believing in myself. The message of accomplishing what my mind tells me is impossible.

Self-belief will be my 2012 New Year’s resolution.

In Noake’s book, called “Challenging Beliefs”, he says, “…it is our minds, and especially our perception of what can be, rather than our physical capabilities which ultimately determine the extend to which we succeed.”

It’s four years since I started running but I aim to make 2012 the year that counts. No more doubting that running is too difficult. No more worrying that everyone else is faster than me. No more putting myself down. This will be the year that I have complete confidence in myself when I line up at the start of the Two Oceans half marathon. This will be the year that I am not overwhelmed with fears of not making the 3 hour cut-off gun. This is the year that I dash pass all those ‘walkers’ and come home with a medal I am proud of.

The Gene Kranz documentary “Failure is not an option” revolves around the team of very young engineers who ran the Mission Control centre in the 60’s and recounts their story of America’s space flight and man’s landing on the moon. But it’s the captivating story of the unexpected disaster that left the Apollo 13 crew lost in space which leaves me breathless. Faced with the unknown and a problem which at first seemed impossible to fix, the team at mission control managed to use their unique expertise and with the knowledge that “failure was not an option” pulled off an amazing rescue.

With the same spirit of those young NASA engineers, 2012 will be the year I rock at my job. I aim to make it known exactly just how skilled I am in my field instead of hiding in the shadows due to lack of confidence. I believe that I am capable of so much more. No more excuses! This is my year to take on new challenges and to shine!

Bring it!

An engineer tells it like it is, even in running

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Bo

Running with KK is quite a stressful run. Not only do we not run at the same pace, but I am constantly feeling anxious, which is not how I should feel when I run.

Today I figured out why.

We had set out to run a nice, slow, relaxing Sunday run. KK planned to do 12kms while I settled for the 9km route. As we got to the split where he would run off to do the extended stretch, we stopped to catch our breath and for KK to give me a heads up on the route I was taking as I was not that familiar with it.

He said, “Right, you go up this road and you will encounter two hills. The first one is very steep, then the road dips, then you go up again for the next hill. I’m going straight so that I can get some water at the Caltex garage. I’ll catch up with you. K, go! And remember, two hills. First one up, then a dip, then another hill.” And off he ran.

I must admit… all I heard was hill, then another one. And repeat, one hill, followed by another one. By the time I started to run again, mentally it felt like there was a mountain ahead of me and I dreaded it.

The thing with KK is that as an engineer, it’s all about fact. No beating around the bush. In his mind, he was giving me an exact, detailed description of what lay ahead. He won’t sugar-coat it either. You know exactly what’s ahead of you.

When we did finally meet up again, I told him that perhaps next time he needs to kindly put more emphasis on the down hills ahead and help motivate me more in climbing those hills.

But as I was saying it, I could see the confused look on his face. Nope. He’s an engineer. It’s either black or white and in his mind, it’s the same with running. I guess that’s just how he conquers those up hills too – knowing exactly what’s ahead and planning for it.

I think next time we go for a run, I’m not going to ask what’s ahead. I know he’ll tell me!