Enjoy every moment

I thought it would be a great idea to join the other runners from Johannesburg to Marakele Marathon (2^nd March 2013) in Limpopo Province, sometime away from the kids. Besides I started this year with a bang when it comes to running and going to the races. I joined a running club so that I will have an Athlete South Africa (ASA) license and save on temporal licenses that I buy for each and every race by the way I did that for the whole of 2012 and it’s time to be financially smarter Boss. The journey to Marakele National Park started on Friday right after work. I did not go back home because I packed everything the night before and yes I was going with my husband. We drove to Centurion where we were going to meet with other running club members to take a shuttle. We were on time, because I am good with time management (blowing my own horn) and had to wait for everyone  else “you know African time hey”, after three hours of waiting at last we drove off to Marakele.



Kumba Iron Ore Runners Club

  On the way it was really nice and I was guzzling on coke, I really like it but looks like it does not like me because it makes me feel guilty afterwards hahahaa. We arrive at our destination at around past ten at night and our food was prepared already, it was a braai style. I ate beef, mutton and sausage accompanied by some salads. I was so full, and the meat is very heavy in my stomach. It was time to sleep and our sleeping time was really limited as we had to wake up at 04:00am to prepare ourselves for the race. When I wake up in the morning my stomach was still bloated and full. I tried to go to the restroom to relieve myself, ouch there was nothing. Usually when I  run 21KM I eat something light like oat meal  but there was no way I could eat. I was still full from the braai, I had to go with my big stomach and told myself that I would just do the best that I can do with this situation. People were very few in this Marakele race with me being used to crowds and crowds of people for a race, you know in Johannesburg some people just come to the race to walk and chat nothing serious just enjoying the environment. I was going to run the 21km; I reckon there were serious runners here not the amateurs like me. None the less that did not discourage me, I prepared myself for 21KM and I am going to do it and not the 10KM that’s it. I have planned to do it less than three hours no matter how bad my situation. The race started at exactly six o’clock in the morning on the unpaved road with gravel, sand and stones. Things are just getting worse and worse for me.  When the race started I was tempted to run as fast as everyone else but I told myself I am the one who knows my situation and if I want to finish this race I should be just steady and constant. It looks like that worked for me until I saw myself alone in the forest; I do not know whether to say forest or jungle because I felt like I was in a jungle.

Nice vista at Marakele National Park

I looked at the back there was no one and I looked in front of me there was no one either. I started to panic a little bit and I had to sort of follow the water plastics that the runners throw on the road that we get at water zones to affirm myself that I was still on the right trek. I told myself to enjoy the environment by the way I always carry my camera, if I see something interesting I will take photos but have to finish under three hours.

The sun rise at Marakele National Park

After a while I noticed some other ladies as well in front of me and realised ohh they were also tempted to gallop like the professional athletes at least now there was hope for my situation. As I am passing them I was supporting them with some remarks of hope just to hold on and keep up, something like “that’s a good pace you are having there hey”. As I was cruising now I saw the rhino poo but did not see the rhino and sometimes very far away I saw a baboon. I think is good I did not see the rhino “alone’?! No it was good, I cannot really imagine what I would have done mhm. I was starting to forget now my heavy stomach as I was enjoying my running, no, let’s say cruising, running I do not think will be perfect for this moment.

When I was one km away from 10.5KM mark, I saw more of the people that we started together the race coming back, it was a lap race and I thought to myself, I was not really bad as I supposed. I took them photos as they were running passing me and they also cheered me that I was doing well. I was the heaviest in that group hey; I mean my club group that did 21KM race dah. In the race I always get people I call race friends, those that either we have the same problem or they motivate me to be better. My first race friend for the Marakele Marathon was a white lady, wow! The woman was beautiful, the body was perfect for a fifty year old, yes I asked her how old she was. There was no way she could not answer me because I just could not stop showering her with praises and I mean genuine praises, from woman to woman. I am telling you, you could take her and a 21 year old and cut them both their heads off and ask a person who is older will say is the twenty-one year old. Definitely I asked for her secrete for looking so divine. She blamed it on genes, but inside I was like but you are in the race meaning you are the woman who really takes care of herself. As usually after that brief conversation she left and ran, could not see her, vanish in the forest, story of my life. I am used to that by now hahahaaa, oh my word, my my, my. I continued with my race, yes it’s mine, I have started it and I am going to finish it.

Here is my race friend number two a white male, looked younger than me and I did not ask him how old he is, I know, do not ask how, just know hahahaaa. I am never wrong with my race friends hey, you know that awkward moment of trying to talk to someone and you can see that you are annoying them and sheepishly go away, has not happened with me yet. I cannot remember my opening line with this one; I just knew we were in the same boat rocking it. At this moment my knees were painful I felt like a pressurised can as if I will open the knee and release the pressure. This young guy was experiencing the same thing as me and was also his first 21KM. He was a perfect race friend for me because now I could share my race experiences with someone you know who does not know much about the race and feel like a know it all athlete, you know what I mean. We ran together and supported each other  that even though there is a pressure in our  knees when we run; we must not give up and just walk but we must keep on trying and testing if we can run again sometimes some other things in the race they do not last is just for that moment. Moments like these I call them the devil moments, those moments that want you to feel like you are defeated when you are actually a winner. In life we must keep on hoping and trying things out, just because there is a stumbling block in front of you today does not mean tomorrow the block will still be there just keep pressing on. You will be surprised to find the door that was closed yesterday today is opened and realised that you have missed out on a great opportunity if you have not gone back and check. Hope is what keeps us determined for the best in everything. We started planning together our finishing with this young guy and said we should plan to finish this race with charisma and energy therefore we should estimate a good distance that we can sprint to the finish line and we must not finish it limping, we do not want people to feel sorry for us. Wow! Me and this guy we are just perfect, I thought he will find it ridiculous but he did not and we made a joke that when we get there to the finish line we should tell the marshals that we were actually doing 42KM when they point us to the 21KM medals tables.




Finishing it with style


And yes we did finish it less than three hours, I enjoyed myself that I forgot to check my finishing time and remembered after a while and realised was around thirteen minutes before three hours so maybe I finished around twenty minutes before three hours I am not sure I was carried away by the moment.

In this race I have learnt that is not good to eat lots of red meat before a race for me from 15KM and above the red meat is no, no. I was still traumatised you know by red meat so much that today is my 20^th day without red meat in my mouth and I used to eat it at least three to four times a week. And I also know that in this life whatever you are going through there is always someone in the same situation as you are, you just need to be strong and keep on. Now I understand why there is alcoholics anonymous, is people with the same challenges fighting them together for united we are strong divided we are weak. I love the human kind.

I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writting it.

HAPPINESS IT’S A CHOICE

How difficult it is when you wake up in the morning and already you are feeling grumpy, tired and annoyed. You feel like covering yourself with blankets and just go back to sleep. Unfortunately you have to go to work or maybe do the job because you still need to eat and have shelter over your head. I say do not allow that, think of all the positive things that are happening in your life, count your blessings; hit the gym; jump; run whatever that makes you happy without hurting anyone and do not forget to wear your smile. I love life.

The feel good drug of choice

The feel good drug of choice

The thought of waking up early in the morning paralyses me. I think I am not an early person because I cannot even talk and I like to use my early morning sign language. The thought of having the feel good drug strike my mind, the feeling of even taking it makes me feel like phew. I beg myself and suddenly get out of bed, brush my teeth, splash some cold water on my face and put on my jogging gear, yes my jogging gear. The moment I do that there is no turning back, not even the weather can stop me. Why? I am just tired of being fat, demotivated and feeling sorry for myself and sometimes hypnotise people to feeling sorry for me by saying “I have been a chubby child all my childhood”, ok, then does that mean I have to be unfit as well, No! My aim is not to be super skinny but to be able to do the physical things that people of my age can do. My weakness is the love for nice food, and I tend to eat like as if there is no tomorrow hahahaa. See me eating especially meat; you will think I am in a war. I do not use any cutlery but my hands, if I am in a restaurant you will hear me bragging about being an African therefore eating with my hands. No! Its meat that’s all, just come close to me and whisper “the meat does not have legs will not run”. I am not sure if one day someone can come to me and say that what I would do, most probably will burst in laughter.

That was not a joke but now I have changed to a lady, who knows when she had enough to eat and very generous with my food so that I eat as small as possible. As I have confessed that I am meat lover, but tend to sacrifice some other things when eating the meat such as carbohydrates that came with determination to look good and feel good about my body. I have notice that the meat is filling quickly when I eat it without carbohydrates. The feel good drug for me is jogging and food but I had to choose so that I can live a healthy life style. I could not choose but instead I get a good dose of the jogging drug and then a moderate amount of all the food I like. 1Timothy 4:8, for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Our bodies are a temple of God, we need to take care of them just like Jesus Christ did, and he walked most of the time to where ever He went. He liked to pray on the mountain meaning he was hiking to the mountain. Healthy body with a fit mind will help us to be like Jesus in thinking and actions. A tired mind cannot think let alone acting on its thinking even praying needs, a body, a mind and the spirit that is in good “shape”.

The road running race of life

The road running race of life

The first time I ran a race was on the 25^th March 2012, where I was participating on the Jackie Gibson half marathon. When I was preparing for the race I was only running 5KM maximum and I was not very serious about it because I knew I was going to do it just under three hours. I am not exactly sure why I was so sure about that, I can say it was self-confidence at play there. I did not pre-register for the race therefore had to register on the day and I was in the very last line. The race started and I was not sure because I did not hear anything I just saw people in front moving so I did “moving with the flow”. I saw few people starting to run, I followed suit. I started to see more old women there and I mean very old, I thought to myself wow they have lots of time and they are just here to kill time even if it takes them many hours they do not mind.

I have this particular old lady in my mind as I write who was very tall and wrinkled everywhere and moving in a very funny way. I thought, definitely here I am not going to be the last one the very old people will be last, it’s a pity I cannot differentiate between a marathon runner and half marathon runner and I think I was assuming they were all doing half marathon as long as I thought they were very old for the race. Bear in mind this is my first race and did not have a clue what it was. While running having all these conversations to myself I was very fast and sort of had a strategy that when running down the steep would just let go of my body and be fast and as running up the hill will be slow. When I was only left with 5KM my body started aching. I could not run and now I was walking very slowly I felt like asking for a lift ha-ha and I thought you know what if one car can drive by and jokingly ask me to get in, I would just get in without giving her /him a chance to say that they were joking.

To my surprise all the very old people that I left behind long time ago and even undermined them, they all passed me in the same speed they were when I passed them. The old lady I was talking about passed me and I watch her as she disappeared on the road and never saw her. I think I have anniversary with Jackie Gibson Marathon and would participate even this year (2013) and hope to see that lady and talk to her and I will tell you about my conversation with her guys.I did finish the race and yes under three hours, my time was 2hrs44 minutes. I was very proud of myself and I got addicted to road running races. 

Doing the race has thought me many lessons about life and this came some months after I have done the race, every time I think about it I saw the resemblance of the life we live. Some people in life they start the race of life at a very high speed and all those that are left behind they feel like they are not doing enough when in actual fact they are, is just that they are in the warm up phase. While in the warm up stage do not allow the devil to take your hope away from you. And there are those who are moderate and steady in their running and seem all the time to pass the ones that started in a very high speed as they approach the finish line. A verse come to my mind as I am writing that says the first would be last and the last would be first; Matthew 20:16. Also there are those who start very late and very fast and pass everyone else and finish in time. Now I enjoy my race either the one of life or the road running they are so similar to each other that I learn something from the road running race marathon that I can apply to my race of life. Never ever give up on the race of life, do not lose hope your turn is coming, it’s so big and real it overwhelms you because you are what God says you are. Just enjoy the ride.

See you soon and I hope you enjoyed this read if you did Google+ please. You can leave a comment here or in your heart. I love the world.

Giving And Receiving

     

 Everyone has a Gift to Give no matter how small



A gift from Nature to me

I believe giving is the gift and it does not matter whether you are poor or rich. I noticed that when I was waiting on the pavement for my husband who went in the shops while looking after our sleeping son. I saw this woman who was selling sweets and cigarettes on the pavement with an infant boy. Looking at them I could sense that they were hungry and the boy was breastfeeding on his mother. While looking at this, a guy selling mangos pass by and I could see they knew each other. She bought one mango and asked the guy to cut it in half, she took the unpeeled half and she ate it. She asks the guy to cut and peel the other half into two pieces and she gave one to her son. I was amazed when one guy appeared I do not know where and looked like they really knew each other and she gave him the other piece of mango without even complaining. I sat there thinking “phew” this woman is a giver not just a giver but with love. I imagined if it was me in this situation I was going to come up with all sorts of excuses such as “I am breastfeeding therefore I must be full to feed my child and by the way this mango is not enough blah-blah-blah” depending on how much you are begging me, and choose the smallest piece and give you while mumbling. How many of us who do not use the opportunity to give when it avails itself? Out of this encounter I have learnt that actually anyone has an ability to give, is really up to you to use it. What a nice feeling when you give out of passion, when giving is part of you and just follow your heart that as much as I enjoy receiving a gift the other person does too. The devil has filled our hearts with things such as “they do not want to work, they want to live on hand-outs and so on and so forth” while stealing our blessings from giving, right in front of us. I am just going to follow what God tells me to do with the situation at hand and if it’s time to give I am going to just reach for my pocket, basket, heart, mind and give. Here is the article for reads that I think is great about GIVING. http://powertochange.com/experience/family/giftofgiving/

The Journey and Gratitude over Challenges

I have started this Blog with enthusiasm and immediately I was overwhelmed with what am I going to write about because many topics came flooding in my mind and did not know where to start, until the word gratitude came to my mind.  I thought this is an opportunity to be grateful for the little things I have. I looked back on life as the little girl and was filled with gratitude. Growing up as girl in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Sterkspruit and being taken care of by my grand-mother who sold umqombothi “African beer” to ensure that we had food in our stomachs, propelled me.

My parents were in eRhawutini (Johannesburg) to look for jobs. When I was twelve years old I started to live with my mother. Living with my mother was nice, even though life was not easy but being with my mom made me happy. I’m thankful for happiness in my life that still flourishes to this day; I find delight in very small things you will see as we go along. I refuse to be unhappy.When I was in Ebenezer S.S.S  my mother started a business of selling tribe and I was actively involved, I should be honest I have never liked it because I was given nasty names but I could not refuse to help her because I understood we had to eat and go to school. All this moulded me to be a strong woman that I am. In the midst of all I passed my matric (grade twelve) and I was sure I am going to tertiary to my surprise there was no money (another story for another day).

I was never ever so heart broken in my life, I was crying each and every night for five months. The strong woman that I am continued with selling tribe and my mother had to go back to eRhawutini to look for a job to be a domestic worker. It was so hurting when people were asking me why I am sitting on the town street pavement selling tribe and not in university. It was so difficult to answer that question that I would just sob. My throat would feel like there is something in it that strangles me and will gasp for air.Finally the first semester was gone and yep enrolled at Vaal University of Technology with the little I have saved to be exact R5000 and told my mother that the moment I get a bursary I want her to go back home, and I did get the bursary and I graduated with cum laude in Analytical Chemistry and promised my mother a house and  van (small truck) when I am working.

I think gratefulness made me who I am today

Through this journey I have learnt that having gratitude kills the thoughts of self-pity. I seldom feel jealousy for the success of other people but instead my hope is raised and get so excited like as if the success is mine. I do not feel ashamed of what happened, because today I have something to be grateful for. I dismiss the negative thoughts by giving thanks for any challenge, for in Christ Jesus the son of the living God nothing is impossible. I am grateful for better life and it’s still going on, who knowsJ

                                   It’s a bad behaviour not to keep promises hey, here is the house to my beloved mother.

I hope you will enjoy this Blog and comments are all welcomed, I can only learn from them. Love you all.