Thoughts on a run

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Bo

There are some really great 10km races in Jo’burg at the end of every year. Starting with Pirates, Old Ed’s and this morning’s Wanderers 10km road race. Well-supported and filled with awesome vibe, the races wind through some of the most beautiful tree-lined suburbs Jo’burg has to offer. I was really pleased when my running coach agreed to me running the Wanderers 10km race because it’s one of my favourites. It’s also quite apt that a race called ‘Wanderers’ is also what my mind did as I meandered through the beautiful streets.

Here’s what went through my mind:

I forgot to drink water before the race. Crap. I was so happy to get to that first water stop.
Even though I was freezing at 6am, 10 minutes into my race, I warmed up. Next time, remember to ditch the gloves.
Run your own race. Yeah yeah… I repeat this to myself every time but keep watching how older, larger, taller, shorter, younger runners run past me with no effort. It’s my race that I need to focus on. Not theirs.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Just stop it!
I ran today. A lot. Most races, I walk quite a bit but what I tried to do today was run more than walk. No more street pole strategy. If this is running, I need to do just that.
I’ve only been to x4 training sessions with my coach and as desperate as I am to see results, I need to be patient. It’ll happen. It will. But not now. The focus for now is consistency and stability.
I need to run more. Confession: I haven’t been very consistent on my Tuesdays and Thursday.
10km at 8 mins per km is still 10km. Well done! And three out of the 10kms were run at 7:28mins per km.
Watching other runners finish their races after me is a good way to prove to myself that I am not in fact the slowest runner in the field. KK taught me this. There are loads of people behind me. And they come in smiling.
A good cheese griller sausage after the race goes down really well! 🙂

Here’s to a great week, full of tough challenges and awesome running days!

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!

Pain in the um, er…side.

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Bo

Boy am I miserable. After a check-up at the doc last week, I was instructed to rest and give my torn intercostal muscle time to heal. It’s meant no gym, no spinning and no running (not even at my slow pace which some might consider a stroll in the park).

I’m trying to be patient. I know that running the Old Eds 10km race two weeks ago was most probably not the wisest of moves and potentially made my condition worse. If only I had listened to my body, I might have started to heal much quicker.

To make things worse, everywhere I look, people are running. Scrolling through my Twitter timeline and running mates are gearing up for Soweto marathon. Others are kick-starting their half marathon training schedules into gear. KK is waiting to see whether or not City 2 City will go ahead. Me? Well I’ve been resting. Lying on the bed after work, glugging down glasses of glutamine and rubbing arnica oil on my side.

I’ve never been the most patient person. I confess that I wake up each and every morning hoping this irritating side stitch will go away. But it lingers…

In a way, it’s been a blessing in disguise. The ‘time off’ has allowed me to check in with my goals. I’ve realised what matters to me the most. I now know what I want to achieve with my running. I know what I want! In my head, I’ve decided on my new challenge. My new goal. My new training regime. But physically, not yet ready to launch… Come on body!

Running away from insecure me

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Bo

Interaction with a new colleague of mine has left me pretty frustrated and exhausted recently. In my eyes, he’s good at what he does. He’s on the ball and uber-efficient. But he doesn’t see it. He hides behind his computer, he lacks confidence and when I rave about his work, he refuses to acknowledge it. He’ll make excuses and shrug off every compliment he receives.

In a way, he reminds me of a lot of myself whenever I mention my running. I must be the most insecure runner I know. I keep making excuses for my pace. I tell people I’m more of a ‘jogger’ but in my head, I know I’m running as best I can. When people ask me what distance I ran, I’ll say “Agh, only the 21km race”. Only?

Just recently, I was chatting to a newbie runner who was complaining about her slow pace and I said, “You can’t possibly run slower than I do!” When she said she ran 1 km in just over 7 minutes, I said, “well, it take me over 8 minutes.” It was a lie.

Yes, so my pace is often 8 minutes but that’s over 21.1 kms. In shorter distances I can manage to keep up a faster pace. So why do I do that? Why do I constantly run myself down? Lately, I keep thinking that other runners I’ve met avoid me. That they dread running with me. I’m even too scared to ask to run with them.

So when my colleague goes on and on, I tell him I don’t want to hear his negative talk. I tell him he’s talking nonsense and try make him see just how great he is and to stop comparing himself to others and think he’s not good enough. Because he is. So what’s wrong with me?

*Images: Google