When I went out the door for my run last evening I told myself, I'll start to enjoy it halfway through, a reminder of what had transpired during an earlier run when I was feeling like sh*t and yet went out anyway. During that run I started awful. Just moments before I'd had doubts swarming... Continue Reading →
Trust the process
Left foot; right foot; left; right... remember to breathe. Three counts in; two counts out... The running felt labored. Maybe insufficient sleep; maybe too big a meal. Whatever the case, I was feeling more penguin than gazelle. ...how many more kilometres do I have to run? I really want to stop... left foot; right foot;... Continue Reading →
Who’s going to know?
"From Monday to Friday," I tell the wife, "I'll be doing 100 push-ups. And Tuesday, Thursday, and I think Saturday, 100 squats. Oh, and I'll be aiming to run 20km per week." She looks at me like I'm mad. "What for? What'd you pushing yourself so hard for?" "I gained three kilos since the lockdown,"... Continue Reading →
Good plan, poor execution
As some of you may know, I'm into the second year in a row of marathon training. During these two years, especially during the long runs, I've had many epiphanies: a-ha! moments and stories that I'm always eager to share with my readers when I get back. Problem is that after long runs, if you're... Continue Reading →
Calendarising
6:20m: "Have to bring home work tonight," I said to my wife, "maybe I'll run tomorrow." Not the best of starts to my "starting serious training" regime, and frankly quite frustrating. But I'm a professional, and I suck it up. 6:30pm: Maybe, I thought, if I finish early I might still go. 7:30pm: Dinner. "I... Continue Reading →
Not ready, but I’m doing it anyway
50 metres from the fork in the road I had to decide, "where do I want to go from here?" To the left was a detour of about 7 kilometres; on the right, a more direct route that would have taken me home in about 3. It was an exceptionally warm day; I hadn't ran... Continue Reading →
Training for a Marathon
For the past half a year I've been in the midst of training for a marathon. The decision to participate this year came after incessant badgering by a colleague. As I remember, when I finally agreed it came when my defences were low following a particularly stressful period at work, during which I couldn't think... Continue Reading →
The absurdity of running
I've clocked 80.76km so far in runs this month. That's almost 80.76km more than what I ran last month. The reason, I tell myself, that I have run so much is because there's quite a bit of a competition in the office. We've signed up for a marathon; we're tracking our runs; and being competitive... Continue Reading →
0445club
Read Tim Ferriss' Tool of Titans on the train yesterday evening on Jocko Willink. There was this thing about the #0445club, which after a late night of drinks seemed to me like an incredible idea I had to try. So this morning... #0445club A pity about the rain though. Had gotten my gear all readied... Continue Reading →
The Run
We act very much as if we were on a voyage. What can I do? I can choose out the helmsman, the sailors, the day, the moment. Then a storm arises. What do I care? I have fulfilled my task: another has now to act, the helmsman. If the weather is bad for sailing, we... Continue Reading →
Donn, fragments 