A few of my favourite things... part 3

First off, let me say Happy Happy Happy New Year dear reader...  I wish love, luck, life and lots of living of it to you and yours this year.  Don't forget to travel, try new things, stop being grumpy and as Goldie Hawn's always says "Why Not!!!" - so just do it!

This is the last installment in my favourite things series - I have really enjoyed putting it together.  Next year will be bigger and better I promise.  My last favourite thing for 2015 is courtesy of Woolworths in the form of the biggest, brightest and most fun calender/day planner I could find..  I love a good fridge calendar and usually I go with the free options from some or other magazine.  This year I decided to buy one and found my match whilst grocery shopping last week.  

It's bright and cheerful and takes centre stage on my fridge.  Large enough to have space to write birthdays, reminders, to-do's and more with a notes section to the left for anything you might need to remember.

This will be the last blog on this site and as from my next post, One Foot in Front of the Other will be at it's new home at Wordpress - keep an eye out for it.

#onefootonfrontoftheotherblog #someofmyfavouritethings @woolworths_sa

A few of my favourite things... part 2

So thanks to my good friend, Michele May, I was introduced to a little delicious gem of a shooter this Christmas..  I am not really a shooter kind of girl but this one is yummy, easy-drinking, sweet and delicious, and not too strong - so just perfect really.

My sister, Yvonne, made it on Christmas Day as well and it was a huge hit!  The recipe is as follows and she has named it The Milk Tart:

In a jug mix:
300ml Vodka
1 tin of condensed milk
1 tin (big one) of evaporated milk

Pour out into shooter glasses and top each one with a sprinkle of cinnamon!  Amazing.

#onefootinfrontoftheotherblog #someofmyfavouritethings #decemberholidays2015 @imorossam

These are a few of my favourite things...

My Mr and I have spent the December Holidays at home, in Jo'Burg this year (much to his disgust I might add).  I decided to make the most of it and find happiness in the little things.  So I have been compiling a list of a few of my favourite things that I've bought, been given, tasted and discovered this 2015 festive season.  I will be blogging about them in batches over the next few days..

First off, these delightful coasters - which I think, might be calling out to become wall art at some point!  I won them at my families annual Bad Secret Santa gift game on Christmas Day.  Candice had unwrapped them first, and I immediately fell in love!  When it came my turn to steal a gift, I immediately took them from her.  Luckily no one ever stole them back from me.  They have cute sayings on which make me smile and as I adore the colours.  You can buy them at the ever resourceful, Mr Price Home, in the region of R50.  A fabulous gift for a friend who loves a toot or two, or even just to brighten up your outdoor patio or bar area.

One more thing, One Foot in Front of the Other is moving home in 2016!  I am working on a new look and feel and will be migrating to a new domain in 2016.

Watch this space for more Favourite Things of mine, and for the new blog coming soon.

@imorossam  #onefootinfrontoftheotherblog #mrpricehome #favouritethings @candylooloo

Eliminate, reduce and embrace! 35 here I come...

I turn 35 in a few months - 35!....  What dawned on me the other day is that I have spent the better part of those years repeating the same thing over and over again - and by that I mean yo-yo dieting!  What sparked the thought was that I found a whole bunch of diaries that I have started and never finished, all of them beginning somehow with how miserably unhappy I am with my body and how "this time I have to change".. I write for a few months, and maybe even loose weight, but inevitably the writing stops and so does the weight-loss.

So without boring you with the details of my flawed psychology.. I have decided to take a new approach by actually addressing my relationship with food thanks to some amazing help.  But daily, I have decided to approach weight-loss differently too - Instead of saying NO this and NONE of that, I am choosing to eliminate, reduce and embrace rather.  This experience needs to be positive and empowering instead of restrictive and punishing..  It's going to be a bit of clean living for me for a while.  Here is the inspiration I wrote on my bedroom cupboard to wake up to every morning

May I just add.. The inspiration for this change is two fold.  Simply put, having a baby.  We have been struggling with infertility and are getting help from the kindest and most specialized people we can.  It's been a very very difficult year with some bad news along the way.  My response to this has been to punish myself emotionally and as a result I am at the heaviest I have ever been.  This of course is not helping my body cope or perform as it should, I am sure.  It's time to stop, to get off the emotional roller-coaster and be as healthy and as loving to my body as I can, so that it can respond in kind to me.  Plus, my good friend, Abbi, has inspired my by losing over 30kgs recently and she is looking and feeling fabulous! She started her journey, finished it, and got the t-shirt.  She didn't fart-arse around for the better part of 35 years starting and never finishing.

So this is it, here I am.. rolls and all...  Send me your stories, would love to hear them...

World, meet Nelson

It's official, we've adopted!  He is a black kitty-cat, with piercing green eyes and a feisty personality called Nelson!

I have to admit something - slightly ashamedly I might add - that I've become one of those people who refer to their pets as 'furbabies' or 'furkids'!  I can't help it dammit!  When talking to Nelson (because he can understand me after all..) I might even go as far as to refer to hubby as Dad...  Or say something utterly dorky like"come here and give mommy a cuddle"..

It's embarrassing I know, but I really can't help it.  In the short three weeks he has been in our lives, I can't tell you have much fun and laughter he has brought to our little home.  Not to mention multiple hand scratches, 3am-purring-in-your-ear sessions, and the hugest, stinkiest poops I have ever seen.

Also, I didn't think my hubby could get more gorgeous, until I saw him with Nelson..Playing, laughing, cuddling .. I can watch them together for hours..

After all though, who could resist this little face?... And who wouldn't want him to be your baby?

My own Kilimanjaro...

Today, I have post-achievement blues!  I ran my first 21.1km race on Saturday and I friggin nailed it! To be expected now today, I am a little blue, longing for the adrenalin and euphoria that came along with Saturdays run.

Running a race isn't the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things, considering some of the devastating atrocities going on in our country, and in our world.  I haven't created a cure for anything, or saved anyone's life.  However, in my little world, Saturday's race felt like the biggest achievement of my life!  It felt like I conquered my own Kilimanjaro.

You see, I have wanted to run a half marathon probably for the better part of 4 years now.  Sadly though, there have always been reasons for not making it to the start line - injury, other commitments, laziness and did I mention injury?  This time it was different though!  I made a commitment to myself that nothing was going to stop me.  I entered, I put together the training plan, I ran, I ran some more, I stayed on course and I never faulted.  Considering that the hugest personality flaw I have is starting something and never finishing it, this achievement is huge!  I started something and I friggin finished it!.  I proved to myself and to my loved ones, that no matter what else is going on in your life, you can do anything if you put your mind to it!  I never understood the power of the mind, quite like I do now!

As I stood on that start line just after dawn on Saturday, I couldn't stop smiling, I was so excited to begin the adventure!  And I didn't stop smiling for the entire 2hrs and 40mins it took me to finish it!

The best part?  Standing on the start line with my husband and one of my best friends along side me, both of them feeling the exact same way as I did...  We were ready to tackle the mountain, ready to achieve our goals.  And the second best part, sharing the coldest, biggest, beer with them at the end!  All of us, still smiling xxx

A sad day for democracy....

To quote Radio 702 this morning, it truly is a sad day for democracy.  Besides the circus that was the evicting and walking out of opposition parties, besides the refusal of our publicly-elected leaders to answer simple questions, besides the contravening of our Constitution by allowing SAPS members into parliament, besides the fact that our clown of a president pronounces the word 'fatal' as 'futtal' (just to name one of many grammatical errors he made last night), besides alllll of this, the scariest and most infuriating part was the ANC's attempt to stop freedom of speech!

The jamming of cellphone signals in parliament was a blatant attempt at shutting down the public and the world's right to know! How dare they try and silence the media who are the the eyes and ears of the public!  What are you trying to hide?  Not to mention the ONE camera in the house which did not move off the Madam Speakers to show us the violations going on around her.  What are you trying to do Zuma - create a 'Mugabe' state where the public will be forced to where blindfolds and our journalists' lips will be sealed?  I am the biggest advocate for this beautiful land of ours, but dammit this ANC government is making it harder and harder to advocate for!  I, for one, will not allow them to rape our freedoms and silence our journalists.  I will not allow President Zuma, and his ineffective cronies, to take this beautiful country down with them!

I thought of our beloved Madiba.   What would he have thought?  I secretly hoped he was in heaven playing chess with Gandhi, having a cup of tea together.  However, I know he was watching.  He saw the blatant severing of our democracy, the democracy he suffered so much for and worked so hard to  create.  And, with his head in his hands, he must have shed a tear and cried out, "what a sad day for democracy."

I am not a religious person, I don't favour one church over another.  But today, as I ran in my church of nature, I looked up at the sunrise and I prayed.  I prayed for salvation for our little country, I prayed for help for our leaders, and I prayed for some kind of positive light to shine brightly at the end of our seemingly far away, dark tunnel.

Announcing: a little bit of change...

Here we are, already on the sixth day of 2015, and an hour ago I sat down to write my next blog post.  I have been pondering for the better part of that hour, what the hell do I have to say about running right now?  It suddenly dawned on me that pigeon-holing this blog as a 'running only' one is, well, dumb!  It's creatively limiting and to be honest I have so much I want to say and share about many other things in life, which of course include running, that perhaps opening it up a little might be quite a lot of fun.

So hence forth, as patron of this blog, I now pronounce it to be all encompassing!  **que trumpets roaring, cheers cheering and confetti exploding  - all only in my head right! **

But seriously, I do hope to fill it with experiences, insights and other stuff that this (my) life is filled with...  I hope you continue to join me on the ride...

Allow me to start off by sharing an annual tradition that myself and a few people dear to me practice each year.  On or around the 31st December we make a decision as to what the year ahead is going to be...  We set the intention for what The Year is... Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't, but for the most part the point is to declare what you want YOUR year to be.  My cousin Candice and I agreed to declare this year to be The Year Of Adventure!   I went a little further and added that I want to say YES to more things instead of always instinctively saying NO - out of fear, anxiety or just plain grumpiness I dunno, but I really want to encourage more positivity in my life by swapping my No's for Yes's!

I made a wall of inspiring quotes at my office, to remind me of this intention...  Have a look;

'Turning ordeals in adventures' and reminding myself that 'spontaneity is a good thing' are going to be really hard concepts for me to master.  Seeking out adventures, no matter how big or small, will hopefully prove inspiring for me.  And taking leaps of faith and remaining positive are going to hopefully be the wings on which I soar this year.

Any intentions of your own, dear readers?  Any barriers, benchmarks, walls or mountains you are intending to overcome?  What is 2015 your Year Of?

That's why I run....

The challenge was accepted for the Spar Ladies 10 km race by my intrepid running sisters, Cath, Cand and Karen..  What fun we had!  But can I tell you my favourite part of the whole thing??  I ran it all alone....  We each did....  Now that might sound strange, "why was running all by yourself the best part?"...  The answer is because I got to spend an 1hour 11mins on that chilly Sunday morning with just myself, only me!  I got to encourage myself up the hills, tell myself I could do it and then prove myself right...  I got to breathe the cool morning air deep into my lungs on each breath and be so grateful for it...  I got to celebrate all the training I had done and realise that it had paid off because I didn't feel tired once during the race.. And most importantly, I got to witness wonderfully amazing strangers doing exactly what I was doing, without saying a word..

That's why I run...  To celebrate myself - to know that if I put the effort in, it will pay off...  To celebrate others - to wait at the finish line for my sisters, who cross it with the same red face, weary legs and BEEEG smile and know that they feel exactly the same way I do in that moment...

That's why I run...  That's why I will keep on putting one foot in front of the other...

Are you up for the challenge?

Today marked the 4th week since saying bye-bye to my appendix... It also marked the 1st week of saying hello to training again... With slight trepidation, and a real urge to rather have a glass of wine on the patio, I went for a jog and was so super excited to enjoy it!  Starting off slow my chest burned, my knees ached, my boobs bounced (well they always bloody do that actually!) but despite all this uncomfortableness, I found myself grinning from ear to ear the whole way.  It felt so good to exercise again, sun on my face, wind in my hair etc etc - the normal clichés blah blah blah, but seriously I really enjoyed it.  I really do count myself lucky to enjoy running!

So, putting syrupy sweet cliches aside, armed with a training programme from Runner's World online (fabulous site, all the info you can think of www.runnersworld.co.za) my first goal is to get 5km fit in 5 weeks..  And then a 10km in October! My running soul sister, Catherine Momberg, and I are going to enter the Spar Ladies Race at Wanderers we think...  And so I thought of challenging you my lovely readers (all three of you hehehehe)... Who will pledge to do it with me and Cath on the 12th of October? Let's celebrate the fact that we CAN run, and have some fun together doing it??  It can be the 5km race or the 10km... Any takers??

The lining around my appendix has been silver..

Only a week after starting up my lil'ol blog again, I have experienced a little snag in the running, and thus writing, works...  The snag being a silly little organ called an appendix - which has no use to us now but which my google-loving husband tells me was once used to help us digest tree bark we ate many many millennia ago. It reared its tiny head and decided to get a bit agitated! Long story short, it had to come out!  So, one appedisectomy later, I am now a little immobile and unable to run for approximately three whole weeks, yikes!

This weeks blog was going to be about how deeply grateful I am that I love to run - I might not be good at it, or fast at it, or graceful at it AT ALL but man I do enjoy it!  Take for example last week, before the weekend appendix episode, I did a couple of late afternoon runs. I remember smelling the Jasmine that's blooming which means spring is around the corner, I said hello to people in their gardens and out walking which means the winter hibernation is nearly over, and I felt the sun against my skin because my arms and legs weren't hidden under layers of winter clothes... This is what running means to me, its about getting out into the fresh air and using all the senses at one time. And now that I have been told I cannot do that for three weeks, I am even more grateful because I know how much I am going to miss it - it's been the silver lining around my eina operation!

Its all coming out a bit mushy and sickeningly Hollywood like - I'll blame the Stilpane tablets for that...  But seriously I think some other runners might agree with me yes?  Anyway,  watch this space in a few weeks time, because I'll have to start from scratch again fitness wise and I might need all of your support to do it.. And it might not be all jasmine and spring-time then when I'm just trying to make it round the block hey!

Hi, I'm Imogen and it's been three years since my last Blog...

With blushing cheeks and tail between legs, I sheepishly am starting up my beloved blog once again.. A lot has happened since we last saw each other  - I married the kindest, most amazing man I could ever have imagined and thankfully he is an exercise-fan.  Life is generally excellent with many ups and downs just to keep it interesting.

Running has remained a constant albeit frustrating friend throughout the last three years..  Kind of like that running buddy who doesn't stop talking the whole run, they friggin irritate the life out of you but you love them so much that you make a plan to go for a jog with them the next day! I seriously injured my hip this time last year but through rest and a lot of frustratingly poor advice and then some fantastically great help, I am now finally back to running 4 times a week with no pain!  Goal set for 2015 - my first half marathon!

So here goes the blog again... I hope to make it a blog that will make you laugh, think, cry and maybe want to be like me and try and find some balance, meditation, and answer to some of my worries by simply putting one foot in front of the other..

Toodles,
Imogen

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!

The re-ignition – I hope!

I won’t lie, last week I completely lost my mojo! I didn’t run at all. Let’s just say Tuesdays excuse had to do with a “witch” at gym who stole my parking – the red mist descended, I lost my cool, she ignored me – and I left the gym completely deflated, ready to kill. And by the time I got home it was too dark to run… So I had a glass of wine instead…

Thursdays excuse was, well there wasn’t one. I just didn’t feel like it.

But these things happen. And then you go on a run that ignites the flame again and reminds you why you run in the first place. I ran the 10km Totalsports Womens Day race around Emmarentia yesterday. I wasn’t in a mood to be social yesterday morning (come to think of it I never am when running). And even though I started with Catherine, Lesley and Oliver, all I felt like doing was putting my iPod in and going. It seems we all had the same idea because we all ran alone.

It was a tough race but it was brilliant for my soul, I did a lot of reflecting on what’s been going on in my life of late - who, why, what and all that. It always amazes me that even though you might be running with 4000 other people around you and its tough, you’re tired, your feet are hurting, and the looming hill up ahead looks impossible – somehow your mind is crystal clear. It's in these times that I feel as if my soul is speaking to me, and not the other way around. Everything else is stripped down and I know exactly what I have to do.. Of course doing it is a completely different story!

But at least I think, I think, I hope.. I may have got my mojo back...

Needles, physio.... oh and did I mention needles?

Why is it always the third day or third week in any plan or diet or routine you might be following, that seems to jump right up and bite you in the ass? Week 1 is pukka, perfect, couldn’t be better, you feel on top of the world, stronger than ever. Week 2 is even better, you’re getting into this now and really felling focused. Then Week 3 roles round and hits you with something resembling the sentence “oh is it?”…

To elaborate, my Tuesday night run was superb. It was a comfortable 5kms, keeping my pace steady at 6.2mins/km, had Florence & the Machine blaring away in my iPod... Happy Days! But on Wednesday morning the suffering started! You see long story short, I suffer from really tight and painful shin splints. Last year my uber-fantastic physio discovered that my problem was coming from knots in my calves the size of melons plus my short Achilles tendons, all devilishly combining together to give me moer-of-a-sore shins! So on Wednesday I realized that it’s time to visit aforementioned physio for what seems - to me anyway - like minor surgery.

Imagine if you will, the most painful massage you’ve ever ever had, throw in about 6 acupuncture needles in each leg, ultra-sound and that ‘pins and needles’ machine, and that sums up my visit to uber-fantastic physio who now is not so uber cuase she made me cry!

Needless to say I didn’t run on Thursday (oh the pain!) nor did I run on the weekend, turning Week 3 into pretty much a sucky running week.

Good news is, week 4 has rolled around and my shins feel like new! I am going to give them a test run tonight with a 5kms Then just to make sure my focus doesn’t dwindle any more, I am diligently attending a talk in Edenvale tonight by apparent legendary Comrades Coach, John Hamlett..... Hmmm, I wonder if there'll be any red wine?