Tag Archives: running

6 months of magic

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When I was out running this morning, I noticed that the air was quite fresh and rather nippy. It’s the first time I’ve actually sensed that autumn is in full swing. Wow, already! Where have the months gone?

I realized as I looked back that so much has happened since last year, both with my work as well as my running.

Six months ago, I was offered a secondment to a whole different team, in a new building out of town, with a bunch of new challenges. I jumped at it! I’ve learnt so much about the world of digital – a world which never sleeps! I’ve worked harder than I’ve ever worked before in my life. Best of all is that I leave with so many lessons learnt.

The most memorable part was being given the opportunity to manage 3 unique and highly-skilled individuals. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and awesome team. They made me realize that I’m not such a bad manager after all and that I truly can inspire a team.

My goal was to be the glue that held the team together, but in the end, they were the glue that stopped me from falling and helped me grow each and every day.

Six months ago, KK decided to run Comrades and with that has come the most rewarding couple of months of training, not only for him but for me. I have run more half marathons than previous years. I’ve managed to reach PB’s in a few of my running goals.

I’ve also finally acknowledged that I need to stop being so obsessed with my pace but rather focus on how I feel during my races. For the first time ever, a 21.1km race doesn’t scare me like it used to. I know I can finish.

Looking back

I’m not a big fan of winter, but as KK says, “The quicker winter comes around, the quicker summer does too.” I’m excited to see what the next 6 months brings with it. More magic I hope!

It’s been a good run so far…

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Regular readers of my blog know that as much as I enjoy running, I tend to moan and complain about it way too often which is evident by a couple of ‘pity me’ posts. But having run x4 half marathons, x2 10kms and one 5km race since January, I must admit, I’ve fallen in love with my running again.

Here’s why:

  • There’s no pressure. With KK & DSM focusing on their Two Oceans & Comrades training this year, all the attention and focus has shifted to their running schedules. Their half marathons have turned into full marathons which they run in 4 hours or less. So for a change, I wait for them to finish a race, compared to them waiting for me to come in. It allows me to stroll back to the car after my race, get cleaned up & relax in the sun without feeling like everyone is sitting around waiting for me to finish.
  • I haven’t stopped. I try run often, even if it’s a 5km run on the treadmill at gym. I make sure that I make the time to run.
  • I run far. I’ve pushed myself this year to run as many half marathons as I can. The first one I ran was Johnson Crane which hurt like hell. I even popped two myprodols after the race because my body ached so badly and I wobbled around for the next two days. But two weeks later, I ran another half. I’ve kept at it. The wobbling has stopped.
  • I’ve stopped over-analysing what time I finish a race. I realised that this was making me miserable. The fact that I run races surrounded by walkers and those considered “slow” is not what matters. We all cross that finish line and we all get a medal for the same distance. If I have a good day and do well, great. But sometimes it’s okay if I feel like doing a slow run too. I remind myself of this fact often.

Dead last

  • I celebrate small victories. I managed to run a 10km race in 74 minutes. I was over the moon! I also managed to run the dreaded Deloitte half marathon in under 3 hours. Yay! And more recently, I ran Sarens half in 2:54. Go me!

It’s only a few more months until KK takes on Comrades and I’m sure a lot more races ahead. I’m looking forward to them and might even consider running through Winter. OMG! What am I saying? Let me not run ahead of myself! *you see what I did there* 🙂

A street pole strategy

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I put off blogging about my recent races because I was unsure if the results were real or just lucky. Three races down and I’m amazed that it has taken me four years to realise that tackling my runs the same way I tackle life would be the winning formula which would help me not only run faster, but stronger. Wait, let me try explain myself…

But first, let me take you back to this year’s Pick ‘n Pay half marathon. I happen to notice around the 10km mark that two runners were running according to a walk/run strategy. As much as I tried to keep up with them, I was not fit enough. But two weeks later, I happen to see them again at the Deloitte half marathon and pushed to keep up. The strategy is simple: run two sometimes three street poles, then walk for one.

I’ve always walked during races. But usually because I’m so tired and can’t get going again. This is different. This is planned and structured.

Having run Deloitte in under 3 hours using this strategy, I decided to try it during the Vaal 10km run. Success! I ran in 74 minutes! In fact, I managed to run each and every kilometre under 8 minutes a kilometre. I tried it again at the Saren’s half marathon too. My time: 2:54. This is working for me!

You see, I like structure, planning and preparation. I’ve always gone into races just hoping to get to that finish line before the 3 hour mark but with very little planning. But with this street pole strategy, I feel very much in control. It’s like my running friend Kerry, who has pulled me through both Deloitte & Sarens said, ‘It’s as if the street poles were made just for us runners.” I like that.

Key

It’s the same as in life, without a strategy which works for you, you’ll only be drifting. And I guess every runner needs to find that certain technique that works for them. We’re all different and even though we run the same race, (just like life) we all need to run our different ways in order to finish. I’m glad I’ve found mine and something that finally, after 4 years of struggling, happens to work for me.

What’s your strategy?

If you need me, I’ll be at home

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I’m pretty old school when it comes to my job. I believe in arriving at work before 8am, I’ll eat my lunch at my desk and if I have to, I’ll work late to ensure a project or deadline gets met. But there’s loads of new thinking around ‘where’ you work and corporate jargon such as mobile workers and hot-desking are becoming more and more popular. In addition, this concept of ‘working from home’ has been encouraged.

So on Tuesday, I managed to get out of cancel a workshop and alerted my team that I would work from home. It was all very new for me and I didn’t really think I would manage to get much done. Boy was I wrong. Here’s what happened…

I’m usually sitting in traffic from 6:20 until I get to the office at 7:15 (or sometimes later). But having no need to drive into the office it occurred to me that I had the extra time to either sleep in or even go for a run or get to gym. If I went for my usual 5km run at 6:30, I would get back home at the same time it would’ve taken me to get to work. Get outta here!

I didn’t go for my run or to gym but actually got started on work just after 7am. The house was dead quiet. There were no phones ringing, no loud colleagues, no disturbances. Just the laptop and me and yet I was always connected to my team as we emailed & Lync’ed one another all day long.

In between working through millions of emails, I occasionally walked outside to look at my garden and refresh my head. I might have stopped for a few minutes to check my Facebook feed and the news which I don’t get time to do during a ‘normal’ day. I even had time to stop and cuddle my dogs which I personally feel are all activities that are good for the soul. They loved it too!

When it got to 15h45, my laptop reminded me to leave work to get to the running club in time for time trial. Most afternoons, I feel so guilty when I leave but if I don’t, I can’t get to running or gym on time. On this day, with nowhere to drive to, I still managed to do an extra 90 minutes of work before I shut my laptop and went for a run. Yip, still managed to get out there. The amazing thing is that I got so much work done!

It has truly changed my mind about time management and working from home and I will definitely look for opportunities to do it more often. This WILL be my year of less stress, of giving back to my body, my mind and myself. In a smart way, of course!

(Image: Google)