Dear 14-year-old me

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Bo

Dear 14-year-old me…

Today I bron-high-school felt it necessary to write you this letter. It’s a combination of a message from my BFF about her dying mom as well as regular updates of another friend’s cancer that I felt it necessary to “talk” to you.

At the age of 41, you will have realized that you have potentially missed your calling of being a wonderful teacher. Yes, Librarian was close but after spending weekends helping your niece study for her exams, you will feel that the goals you aim for at work pale in comparison to the joy and happiness you experience when helping her out. It’s your happy place and you’re actually quite good at it. You unfortunately will allow your Matric grades to hold you back. Don’t let them!

Ironically, people will assume you ~~dislike~~ hate children because you choose to not have any of your own. We’re living in times of self-driving cars, robots and women who run for president, but you will still feel judged and be told you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life. The biggest blessing is that mom has never ever questioned your choices and is your biggest fan.

Bron, by this time, you’ve landed up building a career in the corporate world. If I could alert you of one thing it’s this: the corporate world is a tough and cruel place. It will break you if you allow it to. It is only by becoming strong that you will survive. And you do become strong. You’re afraid of pretty much everything right now, but wait, you will surprise yourself with what you’re capable of achieving! Be patient and believe in yourself.

You will meet some of the most amazing people at work, possibly the best thing to come from being a working adult. You will meet people like Conrad. These angels will teach you to love people who are different to you, to accept that people have different opinions and the courage to stand up for yourself.

Nobody ever notices your knocked knees. In fact, this imaginary issue will not stop you from running and you will go on to run many half marathons. It’s true! Screw being reserve goal keeper for the B team! What PE teachers neglect to tell you now at the age of 14 is that running is one of the best metaphors of life: What you put in, you get out.

Oh and you know that beautiful blonde hair? You eventually tint it dark chocolate brown! You even go as far as tinting your eyebrows. It’s called growing old but I’ll leave that for another letter.

For now, please give Karen a hug each and every day!

Love Me

XXX

The obligatory Two Oceans half marathon blog post

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Bo

A couple of hours after running the Two Oceans half marathon race, I posted this update on Facebook.

I guess I’ve come to realize that these are the things which matter when it comes to running this race.

I was one of the lucky ones who got an entry. I managed to make it down to Cape Town. I survived the 27 000 crowds and still made it over that finish line before the dreaded cutoff gun. For most people, this in itself is a dream come true.

These people don’t care about their finishing time. They don’t moan about the goodey bag or the t-shirts. They soak up that incredible vibe of the national anthem at the starting line, the cannon, the supporters and the cheers from the stadium as they run over the finish line. I witnessed so many runners experiencing the race like this and felt so grateful to be running among them.

Look, besides trying to be all positive, I will admit that it’s never going to be my favourite race for a number of reasons. It still stresses me out. I still carry the baggage of a DNF (did not finish) and I still don’t believe it’s the ‘most beautiful race in the world’ for the 21km’ers. In fact the half has become way too big in my opinion.

But if KK comes down to run the Ultra, I might as well run. Notice, I didn’t say race. You can’t race every race and with the masses in category E, it’s not easy to get going. (Yeah, I’m still dumped in seeding E while majority of my friends, even novices, got bumped up to D. Two Oceans hates me.) But give it another five runs and I’ll have my Blue number which will mean a C seeding and quicker less congested start.

Each year comes with different challenges which teaches me something different about my running and how I approach situations.

This year the rain proved to be a huge struggle for me at that starting line. I had stated the entire week that I would not run in the wind or the rain and on the day, there was both!

Previously I would never have run if it was raining. I’m glad I did. I don’t know how, but I did. It’s made me mentally stronger. I started the race and I finished it. That’s what counts. So, thanks Two Oceans for the medal and the memories.

(Images: Google)

Winter is coming…

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Bo

After a few years of running, my schedule starts to look quite similar at this time of year. Tapering down for Two Oceans is high on the agenda and everyone I speak to seems to ask if I’m running. Yeah, I am. I was fortunate enough to get an entry along with 16 000 other runners!

I’ve been keeping an eye on Cape Town’s weather. Easter is early this year which means that hopefully we still get some sunny days on the beach when we head down there for the race.

But there is a definite chill in the air in Jozi. The mornings are dark. The leaves are falling. Even my hair is dry and static.

I know that by the time we get back from running Two Oceans down in Cape Town, we’ll arrive home ready to face Winter.

Running with headlamps strapped to our foreheads. Running gloves. Long sleeve tops. Ice cold mornings at track. Grass all over my car mats.

The sun is setting earlier these days. Soon we’ll need the flood lights.

I’m not ready!

I switched off

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Bo

I switched off on purpose this week and didn’t feel like doing much. Tomorrow is already Friday.

It started on Monday when Annie was diagnosed with a tumour on her adrenal gland. Right now we’re waiting for the vet to let us know what the best treatment will be to prepare her for surgery.

Grizzly bear Then KK came down with manful. He was planning on running his Two Oceans qualifying marathon on Sunday so this has really put a damper on things.

My training suffered the most. I didn’t run. I skipped track. I didn’t feel like gym. Or spinning.

I headed straight home from work, made supper, packed lunches and got both KK and Annie into bed as early as I could.

I’ve watched stupid afternoon shows on TV. I’ve caught 10 minute kitty naps while supper cooked. I started reading a new book.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve loved it. I haven’t felt guilty at all. I think we all get “those” days. Days when we just want a break from it all. A brain break. A body break. A training break. Just time to let go…Time to breathe.

They’re always saying that it’s easy to find time to train, to go to gym, to do a hobby. But this means for most evenings, I’m only getting home after 7pm. I never find time in the week to just veg.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking (especially my running friends). And yes, I can feel my body is getting edgy and I need to get back into my routine. I’ll snap out of it soon, I will.

But for now… couch time.

(Image source: http://www.greatbigcanvas.com/ via Pinterest)