I have one word for you...

Shin splints (ok that's two words, but it's one condition and one major pain in the butt too)!!

Will be doing my first run in 2 weeks after having rested the shins.. All I'll say is that the fortune I have spent on the chiro and physio better be worth it when I run around like a gazelle tonight! Well, a girl can dream can't she?

Run Forrest Run...

I felt a lot like Forrest Gump this morning. You remember the scene when he is running in the early early morning, he is running alongside a lake with the beautiful mountain above it, reflected in its still waters?

Well I wasn't Forrest (I don't run half as fast!) and my lake was Rynfield Dam within the borders of the golf estate I currently reside in... But the point is, the setting was similar - dawn was breaking, I was the only one on the winding path, utter silence around me except for the sounds of nature waking up around me, and the dam was as flat as glass with the houses and sky perfectly reflected in the water.

I had to stop and take it all in. I took in the silence, the beauty and I also gave myself a little pat on the back for waking up early and putting one foot in front of the other... Running in a beautiful place or even in a place that makes you feel beautiful, helps make the run so much easier don't you think?

And for once, I listened without speaking...

A certain someone (you'll know who you are..) bravely took up the task of becoming my "trainer and personal motivator" a few months ago. It's been working pretty well so far, until yesterday that is!

Still with training for my first 21.1km race in mid-November as my goal and with having done a longish run on Saturday already, I woke up on Sunday superbly NOT-lus to run again!...

My trainer and I, had all good intentions of hitting the tar at the crack of dawn, so we could get back in time to watch the Bokke match! But sunrise came and went and no tar-hitting was done! A subsequent deal was brokered to move the run till sunset...

As 6pm approached I tried to think of every single reason under the sun NOT to run... "but it's Sunday", "I had a glass of wine earlier", "but it's Sunday", "I am sick", "I am tired," oh and did I mention the "but it's Sunday" one?... Having none of it, my patient trainer dragged me out the house literally kicking and screaming!

I blamed him for ruining my Sunday and splurted out other selfish, child-like, blaming sentences through my heavy breathing... And then, quite suddenly at around 2km, my trainer stopped and said "Imogen, stop if you want to stop. I don't care!"... I was horrified, he was supposed to be my rock, my positive influence and now he was saying this! How could he give me that as an alternative, I didn't even think "stop" was part of his vocabulary? How could he not care?

He could see the utter devastation in my face... He kindly carried on, "but please believe me when I tell you, that you are nearly at the top of the most awesome mountain of your life.. the running mountain, and when you get to the top of it, it will be the most beautiful feeling you will ever experience!"

Intrigued I asked him to explain, it was a long explanation and one that took many twists and turns to tell... And for once, I listened without speaking, as we physically twisted and turned on our route... He related getting running fit to climbing a mountain, it's a sure-fire, son-of-a-bitch of a struggle on the way up! You want to give up, you question your intentions at every step, you stop, you start... But if you could just persevere, get to the top of that mountain, get to that point of being running fit, of being a true runner, then the sight is the most exquisite.. The feeling is the most awesome and the rewards, most immeasurable.... And after that, the descent, the road after that, is easy!

And so, dear reader, after that story was finished, my trainer and I didn't speak much... Anything I had to say seemed trivial after that... But I thought long and hard about what he had said, and I decided to believe him. I decided to choose to get up at a time when many others are still sleeping, to choose to run when I most certainly don't friggin feel like it, to choose to pack my running shoes wherever I go - all in order to one day get to the top of my mountain and see my most beautiful sight ever! Maybe, just maybe

I am going to set myself a little "music" challenge for this weekend's runs.

I have to do two 1.5hour runs this weekend, one on Sat and one on Sun... I have two playlists on my IPOD - Upside and Downside (inspired by a Pearl Jam double sided CD set of a few years ago)... So on my Saturday run I shall blast the Downside melancholic melodies and on Sunday I will rock the Upside beats...

Let's see which run goes best shall we? Any opinions?

It never ceases to amaze me how one day a run can feel so effortless and then next so catastrophic!

I ran the Rockies Johannesburg Zoo 10km race yesterday (and besides the devastatingly poor organisation of the race) it was not a bad route. Up and down all the way, but very beautiful along tree-lined streets and under sunny skies.

I just couldn't find my mojo. I think it may have started with this incredibly rude women who butted in front of me at the entry table totally dismissing the patient queue waiting behind me.

She totally disregarded my venom-laden comment, "there is a queue you know!" and thereafter, no amount of eye-balling deterred her. She was a running "she-devil" with no conscience.

Couple that with a stitch at 1km, a sore hamstring, and an aching achilles - it just wasn't cricket!

But thanks to my trusty running buddy, Catherine, and some determination not to stop, I finished it. It seems my goal of completing my first half marathon in November is a possibility after all.

I just have to keep up with one foot in front of the other.....

A year ago I put my beloved blog, "One Foot in Front of the Other", on hold. Why you ask? I don't actually know, is the short and honest answer...

Dunno about you but I think it's about time to get it going again... The inspiration is returning... Watch this space!