Taking my slippers off

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Bo

To say that I am feeling miserable is putting it lightly. I’m in a dip, a low point…

I woke up on Sunday morning to the tweets of fellow runners who had just completed the Pirates 10km running race. I remember the race from last year when a great running tweetup had been organised. This year, I lay in bed sleeping, feeling sorry for myself. Worse is that I had promised a fellow tweep that I’d run with her and seeing her joy as she finished her first 10km race really made me feel crap.

The fact is that I haven’t run for ages. My last race was the RAC 10km in June. Firstly, I’m not the biggest winter runner. I hate getting cold. (My ears ache). Secondly, like most people, I was hit with flu which set my training, both running and gym, back for a couple of weeks. Thirdly, I hate my body at the moment. I’m overweight and I feel heavy, irritated and downright miserable.

It’s a vicious cycle. The less I run, the worse I feel. If I don’t get to gym, I feel guilty (and then I eat). It’s a bad place to be. So, Monday is always a good time to make a change, which I did. I got to gym lekker early and decided to do a ‘light’ run before the spinning class started.

To my surprise I managed to run 2kms around the running track without stopping. I was hot, drenched in sweat, aching, out of breath. OMG! It felt fantastic!

Yeah, so it’s only 2kms. But it’s exactly what I needed to do! It’s as if I needed to flick that switch in my head.

I may not be the best runner in the world. I know that I don’t run very far compared to most other runners. I know for a fact that I may even be the slowest runner I know. But I’ve come to realise that running makes me feel good. It makes me feel fit. It makes my body work and my mind work even harder. And that’s what matters.

In life, if you find something that motivates you, pushes you and makes you get off that couch and work towards a goal, don’t ever stop. It doesn’t have to be running. Just as long as it’s a passion that lifts you out of that dip and keeps you going.

If the (running) shoe fits…

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Bo

If you follow my blog / tweets / moans in the office, you will know that I have been struggling with pains in my left foot for a while now. Podiatrists and biokinetists have diagnosed a combo of plantar fasciitis as well as morton’s neuroma.

Two different treatments have been recommended. The podiatrist made me orthotics for my running shoe and sent me on my way. The biokinetist has been giving me exercises to strengthen my feet and has shown me different massage techniques to do. She also recommended a change in running shoe style and size.

I’ve been reluctant to say anything ‘until it worked’, being the sceptic that I am. But so far… so good. I switched from the Asics 1170’s to Asics Gel Nimbus, which is more of a neutral shoe. The other major change is that I went from wearing a size 6 to wearing a 7 1/2! I know! I feel like I have giant feet but Craig at Dunkeld Sweatshop (this dude is good!) ensures me that this size is right for my feet.

So? Is it working?

I ran the 15km Colgate race in May as well as the RAC 10km two weeks ago. During both races, my foot ached like hell, especially the section where the neuroma sits. But the plantar fasciitis is 90% gone. (As my biokinetist put it, it will take time for the heel to heal.)

I walk around at work some days and actually find myself wondering where the heel pain is. But it’s gone. It feels wonderful!

I’ve got a long way to go with the www.lynosport.co.za treatments but I can definitely feel that my feet are getting stronger. I just need to be good and carry on doing my exercises.

Now just to tackle that neuroma…

My dad runs. #fact

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Bo

It hit me the other day when I saw a photograph of my dad that there’s a part of his life that I know nothing about. To get you up to speed: my dad is a fireman by day/night and in his free time, he builds houses, landscapes gardens, feeds the birds and has an enormous love for wildlife.

He’s also a runner. I’ve known this for all my life and in fact, just recently he ran the 2009 Two Oceans Half Marathon. But it’s the running stories from 20 years ago which are a complete blank to me.

It’s Comrades week and as many of my close friends prepare to run the biggest race on South Africa’s race calendar, I suddenly remembered that my dad has run Comrades. He has also completed Iron Man. Twice. This was many years ago. But still.

(I’ve promised myself to do a separate blog post on his achievements and I’ve already tasked my mom to pull out any photos of my dad.)

I’ve never shared stories with him. I don’t know what he went through, his experiences, his running trials and tribulations. In fact, since I’ve started to run, I mainly get my running tips and motivation from KK and other running buddies. Yet, I’m sure my dad has lots to share.

I know that at the time when he was running, I was young, in primary school and perhaps didn’t take much interest then. I wish I had. I wish I thought about running then like I do now. I wish I had paid more attention.

I’m going to stop telling people that I am a newbie runner and instead announce: “the running gene runs in my family”. Because it does.

Running, like life, comes with many up hills

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Bo

A friend asked me the other day what race I would recommend she should attempt to run as her first road race. She made the comment, “I want a nice easy race. No hills, nothing too tough. It must be as flat as possible.”

The ironic thing is that with running, the flat races are sometimes the most boring. They might appear easy but in the long run, they don’t provide much of a challenge. All you’ve got is the road ahead of you where your pace is unlikely to change much and your body is kept at a consistent level of exertion.

You see, the races that come with rolling hills are tough, but when you push yourself up the hills, the joy of reaching the top and the feeling of speeding up and letting yourself go on the downhills is fantastic. The mental negotiation you have between your mind and your body as you fight the urge to stop running and the freedom you feel when you reach the top and cruise downhill is victorius. You learn so much about yourself when you force your body to go beyond its limits and to succeed.

I guess most of us wish for those flat races, those times when everything runs smoothly, calmly and there are no bumps in the road to upset our plans. However, life is never that easy. It’s only by dealing with the up hills and overcoming the stresses of those difficult times in our lives that we learn to appreciate things more and learn more about ourselves.

Today’s rat race, with all its stresses and problems, is not easy, no matter what type of runner (or walker) you are. But often, it’s worth welcoming the up hills in our lives because once we push through, the rewards are worth it.