It’s Sunday afternoon. My kids are in the pool and I’m on the patio with a cup of coffee and my laptop. My butt is so sore it hurts to stand up and my legs are so tired I want to lie down. But….
I feel flipping fantastic!
It finally feels like I’m getting my running mojo back and in the process I figured out what has been missing from my runs all along!
My running buddies!
Nicole is my week day running buddy. She’s an amazing natural runner and can power up a hill like you’ve never seen before. I often feel like I’m holding her back because even at my fittest and fastest, I was still quite substantially slower than her. But she’s so good for my pace work. Especially when I’m fit as I find myself needing to push harder and harder to match her pace. Even though I never actually can, running with Nic has been excellent for me in terms of pushing my pace.
And then there’s Bronwynne and she’s my perfect Sunday running bestie. Bronwynne and I run at a very similar pace and we enjoy going out and doing long, slow, distance runs on a Sunday.
I’ve realized I suck at running alone.
It’s just to easy to cut the run short or to walk more without someone by my side. I really struggle to train alone, I get bored. I miss the companionship. I miss the encouragement and motivation that comes along with running with a friend.
I realized that I just need to run for the love of it. I don’t want to run a PB, I don’t need to run every half marathon that comes along, or push myself to do a full marathon. I don’t need to compete with anyone except myself. And honest, every time I put on my running shoes and leave the house, I’m already besting the old me, the 118kg me who didn’t ever get off the couch unless she had to.
I beat me!
Somehow during the course of healing from injury last year, I forgot all of this. I forgot about the importance of just beating me, of just doing it, of the companionship and camaraderie that comes with running with my running buds. I forgot how good it feels to get home at 6am and know that I’ve already done one good thing for my body that day. I forgot the sense of peace and the high that comes from running with my friends. I forgot how beautiful Jozi is in the cool, dim mornings when it’s silent and I’m out running.
This really spoke to me ….. So true, I choose to beat the old me this year!
Well done Sharon Van Wyk
Kirsten Du Plessis Grace