Last week I went to a talk by Tim Noakes. It was pretty interesting but I don’t think he covered the topic that he was supposed to. He was supposed to talk about the importance of instilling good habits with regards to nutrition and exercise in children.
He spoke more the high protein, high fat diet he is advocating at present and briefly touched on sports and its benefits. I have just recently read his book “Challenging Beliefs” and most of what he said was covered in it. There were quite a few things of interest though and the Q&A session at the end provided a lot of clarity into what he was advocating. If you just listened to the speech you would have walked away with the wrong impression.
However, one thing he said in his speech was that some people like pain. Not the “Owww I am injured” pain. But more then let me go for a run pain. Some people just like a bit of adversity, whether it be distance or hills or whatever. I am one of those people. I realised this again this weekend.
There was another trail run through Baaken’s Valley in Sunday. It was supposed to be 18km but because of the rain in the previous week they had to cut it short for safety reasons. We were warned that it would be wet and muddy, that the river would be up to our knees and that they would have Coastal Rescue Services on standby to assist at some of the river crossings. When they said muddy though, I was not quite prepared…. At one stage I lost my leg right up to my knee in squelching mud and when I tried to get my foot out I could feel my shoe coming off. At this stage I started to laugh. That kind of mildly hysterical laughter where you can just picture running the next 7km in only one shoe. Thankfully I managed to get my foot and shoe out, and then had a repeat performance with the other foot. As I ran along wishing the next river crossing would come soon so I could wash the mud boots of my feet and I continued laughing, no longer the hysterical type, now just the “I am happy” type.
And its true – I feel happy when I run. If it is a longer run I feel happier… Yes, I know – odd. By the time I have finished 20km I am smiling quite broadly. (Although it might be because I think I then deserve an extra large chocolate….)
So – with that in mind there is a half marathon this weekend called Heartbreak Hill. How is that for a name with adversity. I will let you know whether by the end I am smiling happily or crying with a broken heart.
My Happy Pace! 