Oh no! This can’t be happening already!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Bo

I didn’t want to say anything but I feel this blog is all about my running ~~life~~ stress so I might as well share what happened. I had my first nightmare about next year’s Two Oceans Half Marathon last week. There, I said it. Insane, I know.

Entries opened and within the first two hours, KK had successfully entered me. My heart still froze when I received the email confirmation. I’m in. My name is entered. No going back now. The countdown has begun. The following day, I commented on a running ~~coach~~ buddy’s blog about the confusion around cut-off times. Was it still 3 hours? Or did they cut it down by 10 minutes? This niggled me for a while and stressed me out. I don’t have any spare minutes to waste… 8 minutes per km Bron! What to do?

So of course, with it being on my mind and stupid me stressing about it, I had such a bad dream on Thursday evening and woke up sweating. In my dream, I was running the race. It was raining. I was doing fine. I got to the top of Southern Cross but made a wrong turn. I got lost. I couldn’t find anyone. I eventually ran into some arb person’s house to ask for help. But by this time, the clock was ticking and I knew in my heart, I was never going to make it. That’s where my dream ended and I woke up feeling very stressed out and upset.

What is it about this race that stresses me out so much? I can’t explain it! I’ve run so many half marathons before, but this race just gets to me. The fear is just too great!

This is not the best start to my countdown to Oceans. If you’ve followed my blog, you’ve heard me say this over and over again: The race is in my head. It really is.

I need to get my thoughts under control and start telling myself that it will be okay. Because to suffer through another 5 months of this anxiety is not going to be fun.

What happened in the week of April 11th?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Bo

I was born during the month of April. The 11^th of April to be exact. A couple of years ago, I noticed that ‘things’ happened on or around my birthday. Things that I would later in life remember about my birthday week. These are some that I remember most…

The assassination of Chris Hani – 10^th April 1993: I was at the Rand Easter Show with friends the day before my birthday. Two of my friends were soldiers on a break from the army and were called to come back to service that day when the shocking news of Chris Hani’s assassination broke. The next day, my birthday was spent indoors listening to the news.

Hansie Cronje lied – 11^th April 2000: On this day, Hansie Cronje was sacked as SA’s national cricket captain after confessing that he had not been “entirely honest” about match fixing. Hansie was my hero and my heart was broken! Watching him during the King Commission was even more difficult. I have never really enjoyed cricket since then and was saddened by his death two years later.

Ellis Park Stadium disaster – 11^th April 2001: KK and I had just returned home from a birthday supper and I happened to switch on the TV. What I saw was ghastly as dead bodies were being laid out on the grass of the Ellis Park Stadium after a local soccer match between Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. 43 supporters were crushed to death that day.

But it hasn’t always been bad memories….

My first Two Oceans Half Marathon – 11^th April 2009: Such a special memory that is carved in my heart! The organizers made me feel extra special by surprising me with a Puma rucksack when I collected my race pack as well as printing my name in the Two Oceans magazine. But what made this race even more memorable is that after a break of 20 years, my dad ran the race too! I was so proud!

Can you remember anything special or memorable that happened on your birthday?

Analyzing a race, slice by slice

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Bo

It was the Saturday evening after the Two Oceans race and KK and I were enjoying a celebratory supper at Col’cacchio’s overlooking Camps Bay. All around us sat other runners, glaringly obvious by the fact that they were wearing their running shoes adorned with race chip, warm K-Way running tops over their Two Oceans t-shirts, but mostly by their conversation. The restaurant was a buzz of nattering about the race. Both the half as well as the ultra marathon.

As they devoured their pizza’s, runners were recalling the start where E-seeded runners managed to slip into C-seeded pens; they were giving their in-depth analysis of the new route and whether or not it was easier than the old route; some were recalling the drummers up Southern Cross Drive, while others were gasping at how the 56km runners had survived 6 hours in the rain.

It was a minute by minute, km by km, pizza slice by pizza slice analysis of each step of the race, where they had gone wrong and what they would’ve done differently. And trust me, they talked for hours, sometimes going over the same topic repeatedly as if they couldn’t talk about it enough.

If only life was like that. If only we had more time to stop and analyze what was going on in our lives, the up hills, the down hills, the times we got things right but also the times when things seemed too tough to carry on. What pulled us through? What were the highlights? The lowlights? How did we tackle issues in our lives? I don’t think we do that often enough (or even at all?)

If only we were able to analyze our lives more regularly, the way runners do after each and every race, maybe we’d be able to stop ourselves from making mistakes, from getting hurt, we could make the necessary changes. But we’d also stop more often to enjoy the good times while we were able to and celebrate our victories. We don’t do that often enough. Runners do.

Two days, Two Oceans, two races, this is how I experienced it…

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Bo

So even though I decided not to run the Two Oceans Half Marathon, it was a spur of the moment decision to partake in the 5km race, held on the Friday before the big races. The weather in Cape Town had started to turn and so, instead of heading down to the beach, we went through to UCT.

At 14:30 in the afternoon, the race started and approximately 3 000 runners / joggers / walkers / prams (and a Bokkie) ran out of the beautiful UCT grounds and down University Drive on what was aptly named the Two Oceans Fun Run. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect! The vibe electrifying. The laughter contagious. What a fantastic afternoon and run! I had so much fun! My time: 39 minutes. I’m thrilled.

Turn the clocks a mere 19 hours forward and as majority of the field were approaching the half way mark of the 21.1km race, sheets of rain, mixed with nasty winds, started to pour down!

I sat on the grandstand, waiting with clean, dry towels for KK and the rest of the running gang to come in. But as the rain came down harder, and the spectators scurried for shelter, I somehow missed KK’s finish and spent the next 45 minutes trying to find him. Drenched and freezing, when we did find one another, he proudly announced that he had managed to run a PB! 1:49 … Awesome babes!

I guess this year’s Two Oceans was one of those that runners will never forget. One that is so gruelling and tough for some (who really feel that they earned that medal) and yet refreshing and invigorating for others who sailed through and achieved fantastic results.

But between you and me, as we drove home in the rain, passing the unlucky few that had missed the 3 hour cut-off, in my heart I was somehow relieved that I did not run. My heart broke for those who did not make it as I’ve experienced that disappointment before. But I knew, with all that congestion in the E-batch, the rain and the lack of mental mojo, I would not have gotten over that finish line in time.

I was thankful for the fact that I ran my 5kms, I enjoyed it. And I’m learning that with my runs, that’s what matters most.

But I will be back. I know I will…