It’s triathlon season again, whoohooo! And what better way to kick it off than with the 5150 Bela Bela race. An Olympic distance triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km cycle & 10km run) in the heart of the bushveld. It may be … Continue reading
I’ve been really slack at posting my progress. There is about to be a deluge of race sharing. My apologies. I suppose all you really need to know is that I have managed to honor my “complete 1 race a month” to date this year. And, with the assistance of my new coach, Helen from Exercise Solutions, I’m managing to improve on my times. Slowly but surely, I’m logging up hours in the pool, on the bike & pounding the road.
The other day at gym, I’d just finished a swim session & was getting ready to run when I noticed another lady in the change room. “Beautiful body!” I thought to myself as I saw her slim frame complete with tiny waist and toned legs. She hopped on the scale then disappeared & came back some minutes later. She sat for a couple of minutes before hoping on the scale again and disappearing into, I realised, the steam bath.
At this point, I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the mirror. My tummy not nearly as toned, my thighs nowhere near as skinny. “But,” I thought to myself “I am strong. I am fit. I am healthy. I am fierce!” And I am thankful for the body and mind I have been blessed with and what it allows me to do.
To swim, ride, run.
To love.
To teach.
To live life.
So as I continue my journey this year to complete a race a month, I can think of no more fitting way to celebrate my birthday than by running a 10km road race. So if you’re looking for some fun at 28 June, come & join me celebrating my 37th year at the Northgate 5km or 10km race. I dare you!
What? It’s February? Already? Yip, indeedy. And I managed to complete 2 races in the 1st month of 2015.
Ok, the 1st was a bit of an “ease into the new year” cheat. Myself & 2 friends did a olympic triathlon as a team. Tina smashed the swim, Julie dominated her new bike & I, well yes I, got stuck with the 10km run in sweltering heat which I completed just outside my PB. But we did it! Not too shabby considering we were 11 days into the new year following a very relaxed & very merry festive season.
Then last weekend, I completed my first cycle race. I was quite nervous (read really nervous!) With one friend having suffered a severe concussion the weekend before & another in the elite start, it meant I was flying solo at 7h52 in the starting chute. Nobody to put on my usual brave face for & help settle their nerves as a distraction for mine. I hadn’t trained enough. I hadn’t gotten in enough saddle time. But I was committed & embarked on the 55km Berg en Dale Classic cycle race.
The first 6km were pure uphill into the Joburg’s wildest west, Krugersdorp. I knew once I made up there & winded my way through the ‘burbs I’d be back in my home training ground, the Cradle of Humankind. After some ser-i-ous uphill climbs & some “oh my gosh are those your brake pads or mine burning?” downhills I completed my first cycle race.
So there you have it, 2 races in one month. And next? Well then our eldest son happened to turn 5 the next day, complete with a Batman themed birthday party with about 50-odd guests (which in my mind, counts at least as a half marathon? Does that make it 3 races for January?)
Tomorrow, I tackle the Buffelspoort sprint triathlon. Note 1 to self: always check the distance to your event before booking. A 2hr drive means a 4am wake up time in order to make registration & bike check in. And did I mention how stiff I am from Friday’s Get Fit session? 2nd note to self: don’t do a hectic class 2 days before your tri having been off for 2 weeks. The name “Surrender class” should give you an indication.
But here we go. Bike in car. Kit packed. Let’s do this!
Instead of setting a new years resolution, I’ve decided to continue on my personal evolution. Last year I made huge advances in my fitness goals. I started running again, completed 4 Get Fit Challenges, completed my first half marathon and … Continue reading
I have spent hours of my life searching for hair bobbles. Hunting through drawers. Scratching under beds. Digging through the deepest recesses of handbag pockets. But never before have I trained for 2 hr a day, 5 days a week … Continue reading
This week, Danny entered the age of “When I grow up.” It’s the most amazing thing to watch your little boy start dreaming of his future. Nothing is impossible, all is quite achievable & can change in a heartbeat.
So this week’s chosen career paths have been:
1. A police man. This may have been spurred on by the addition of our 2 gorgeous Border Collies to our family because Danny quickly announced that he would not be joining the force alone, but with his trusty K9 companion, Scooby. And now that he can sit on command (Scooby that is) he is apparently a “very, very clever dog Mom!”
2. a Mountainer . Armed with dressing gown belts tethered around his waist, he has been towing younger brother Jonah everywhere he goes. Complete with his additional camping gear accessories, he has sent the last 2 nights camping in the lounge.
It started me reminiscing about what I dreamed of becoming when I was younger: there was the missionary in her yellow Suzuki jeep, the archeologist & let’s not forget the Broadway star. Amazing how varied & different your choices can be. And how life leads you through different chapters in your life & different callings. Right now, I’m thrilled to be a wife, mom, want-to-be-triathlete & music teacher.
Danny, when you grow up, I hope you become whatever makes you happy.
Over a year ago, our then 2yr old asked me on a Saturday morning, “Mommy, are we late?” I knew then that our life had to change.
Having an incredible fast paced career in marketing & advertising, it took a long time & an amazing family holiday to sink in. A whole load of courage & support from my amazing husband & friends, here I now sit, three-quarters of the way through the next year.
Happy.
Content.
At peace.
Able to focus on those who mean the most in my world and able to peruse dreams that I thought would remain only that, dreams, I write this from our tranquil courtyard on a peaceful evening as a wife, mother, music teacher, a want-to-be-triathlete.
After an amazing December holiday I came back to work & as the only female director in an advertising agency, handed in my resignation. It was the most terrifying & liberating moment of my life.
I had come so far, learnt so much in my career. Been mentored every step along the way. And yet, my heart yearned to be with my family.
When you make a decision you don’t know how it will turn out. You don’t know if it’s for the better or worse.
But I do not regret for a second the moments I am able to help my children with their drawings, or push them on the swing. Able to spend an evening chatting to my husband over a bottle of wine. Or the extra training time I put in for my next race.
I am a woman.
I am a wife.
I am a mother
I am the happiest I have ever been.
As the birds come home to roost, the acacia canopies are alive with a symphony of squawks. The elephant herd pauses at the waterhole, each taking their turn to drink, quench their autumn day thirst.
Pause.
Stop.
Listen.
To the order & peace that exists.
In the world.
In you.
Bad hair day, need I say more? Found the solution. Nothing simpler & quicker than a side chignon with a good dosage of hair spray to try & tame the fly aways in this rainy weather.
This could be the future of autumn & winter feet. Aroma Soothz booties. Don’t knock them until you’ve tried them!
“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” – Audrey Hepburn
Only Princess In The Castle 