Autumn arrives

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Bo

And just like that, Autumn is officially here. Last week I was still wearing sandals and strappy dresses to work but on my run on Sunday morning, I could definitely feel that fresh chill in the air.

In my mind, the only positive aspect that comes with a change in season, is well… change itself. It’s a time of reflection. A time to make decisions and do things differently in my life.

So three things come to mind:

I’ve relooked my eating plan and made a few adjustments. Smaller portions, more veggies and perhaps less wine on the weekends (for now).
I’m starting off the month of May with a number of work responsibilities having moved out of my control to another team. That’s brought about huge changes to my day and a readjustment of priorities. Time to refocus on new projects.
I’ve also been doing some assessments of my running and redefining my running goals now that Two Oceans has come & gone. If I’m enjoying the casual run, what am I still training for?

I’m not a cold weather person. The dry skin, the static hair, the layers of clothing all irritate me.

But the colder weather brings with it fleecy blankets in front of movies and soups with piping hot bread smothered in melting butter. (Oops, about that eating plan!)
Mmm, something I can definitely look forward to!

The finish line. Are we there yet?

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Bo

KK has run his last race for the year and instructions from his coach are that he needs to take a three week mandatory rest period before Comrades training starts in January 2017. Three weeks? He’ll never last!

His last race for the year was the 35km Ultra Trail Cape Town. It was a technical and nasty course with lots of tough uphill climbing, hikes and steep rocky downhills.

There are just so many thoughts that go through my head while waiting (im)patiently for KK to finish the race. His time 7:17!

When he woke up on the morning after the race, he had a stiff body with sore bruised feet and toes and vowed never to run #UTCT2016 again. *famous last words* As for me, I managed to get horribly sunburnt with ugly patches of red all over my body.

I was wearing sandals so my sunburn is all patterned. Bloody marvelous!

The race day summed up 2016 for me. An entire year dedicated to early mornings, heavy training sessions, races, track sessions, eating healthily, sore muscles, strength training and mild injuries. Only runners can relate to the amount of sacrifices made. And then it was all over leaving us both battered and bruised.

There were some good races and then some you know you never want to enter again because you hated the experience so much. That was 2016…

One of my Pinterest boards showing photos of the medals from all our races this year.

We lost some running friends along the way. Those that chose to move away to start exciting new adventures, and others who decided to focus on other sporting events. We miss them.

When people say, ‘running mirrors life’, I found the balance between work life and home life may not have been as “balanced” as I would’ve wanted. I sacrificed too many afternoon runs in favour of meetings at work. I skipped loads of track sessions when I claimed that “urgent” emails needed to be answered immediately. What rubbish! What I regret the most was allowing work stress to get the better of my eating program. I will enter 2017 heavier than I’ve been in 4 years.

Was it worth it? Some days, most definitely. But in the long run, I’m at the end of 2016 exhausted, demotivated and unsure of what 2017 holds. Does anyone know?

A good friend of mine Whatsapped me with this quote: “Keep the positive attitude and stay motivated. Remember, Donald Trump is fucking president! The whole world has gone mad!”

My running goals are clear! Shorter distances and an increased focus on strength training. If I allowed 2016 runs to take a back seat, that won’t happen next year. The balance (although only mentally for now) has shifted. Even if it’s only 3kms on a lovely afternoon when the sun is setting, I must commit!

Here’s to a fantastic, rewarding and exhilarating 2017! You never know quite what to expect but at least line up at that starting line.

Losing focus in order to refocus

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Bo

On the eve of the Sarens half marathon, I lay wide awake in bed knowing something was gnawing at me inside with regards to my running but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I was unsure if I was over-training, if I was mentally or physically drained but something wasn’t right. After an hour of ~~over –~~ analysis, it suddenly dawned on me what was wrong. Here’s what I realised:

I keep comparing myself to other runners I follow on social media instead of focussing on my own running journey. In my mind, everyone seems to be running faster times and improving a hell of a lot quicker than me. (Really?)
I’ve constantly been improving my PB, yet after 7 months with Coach Dave, I am still slower than some of the familiar faces I see at the races. I can’t keep up with runners that I used to. Why not? This bugs me.
I am trying to keep up with my Running Junkie Two friends and frustrated that I can’t.
Once again, I am caught up in that mad whirlwind they call “Two Oceans” and desperately wanting to run a good time down in Cape Town in a race I really hate.

You see, it isn’t just one thing. It is a few things that added up to one major issue: I have lost sight of my goals. I have started to look around at everything else except at my own running journey and the progress I have made since August last year.

But it’s even more than that. Lying in bed at 00h35, I knew that I wanted to run Sarens faster than 2:46 but I had no race plan. No strategy. I didn’t even know what my average pace should be. How crazy that after so many months of running, I had not worked this out in my head!

Surely no runner should go into any race so unprepared. Surely it’s the same with life? With no plan, no vision, do we really know how to reach our goals and how to measure success? set goals

I need to go back to the drawing board. I need to reset some of my goals because the goal posts have shifted. And they should shift as I improve, right?

Sarens was a great race, by the way. I ran it in 2:44.

Afraid to set a goal

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Bo

At the beginning of the year, my 12 year old niece signed a contract with my sister that states that if she successfully receives good marks for her exams, she will be allowed to attend all the school disco’s. It came as no surprise recently that she was not allowed to attend the latest disco due to low marks because her goals were a tad unrealistic to begin with. Dom goals

But I do feel her pain. Setting my own running goals lately is a challenge. I’m committed to my training and at this stage, my coach has made me run each and every day to build up consistency and a good foundation. But in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking about my goals and more specifically, the pace I would like to run.

I signed up with Coach Dave to run faster than my current 8 minutes per km. But what is my specific goal? What pace am I working towards? Can I run at 7 minutes per km? Or should I be brave and set a goal of 6 minutes per km?

You see, this frightens me because I don’t know. I have no idea what I am capable of? I’m worried that I set a goal that is unreachable and unrealistic. I set a 5km PB (personal best) time on Saturday, but then the next day ran a race at 7:49 mins/km. Huh?So I went back to one of my favourite blog posts about setting goals posted by Mark Wolff. Bottom line: My goals need to be realistic. Also, to ensure that I don’t get injured and disappointed, I need to accept that reaching my goals will take time, patience and discipline.

So for now, I’m committing to 3 (attainable) goals:

Don’t skip Monday, Wednesday & Saturday training sessions & give it 110% at every session. Push hard.
Run every day (except Friday). As Coach Dave says: Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Keep a log book & focus on learning how my body responds to training sessions. It’s like Mark points out, “Remember to aim that arrow well, don’t just look at the target but assess the wind direction and speed, stay steady in the pull and release with intended purpose.”

This is all I’m committing to until I feel a bit more confident to set more specific goals.

I’ll also be chatting to my niece about her goals and suggesting she might want to re-submit a revised contract if she has any intentions of attending more disco’s. It’s the smaller goals which are achievable that matter more and build up your confidence to set higher goals than having to deal with failures which set you back.