A couple of things

From Lisa's Blog: adventurelisa.blogspot.com

Playing catchers with running loops

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 11:59 AM PDT

About 11 years ago I had a running buddy who was faster than me; lots faster. We had a few running 'games'. In the first, we'd battle with each others' pace for the first part. I'd then turn around while he ran a distance further. My objective was to get back to the start before getting caught. The second game was when we'd run routes that linked up at a mid-point; my route was a bit shorter. The first part of the challenge would be to get to the mid-point before the other; and then the race was on to get to the finish before the other.

The fun of these games is that you can run with someone else without running with them, if you follow.

My mom, Liz, is preparing for her first walking adventure in September. She's doing El Camino in Spain; all 790km. She got her backpack last week and so she's been walking with it most nights. Sometimes I walk with her but as her walking pace is far slower than mine, I often find it frustrating and unless I load on layers of clothes, I get really cold because the walk doesn't warm me enough.

I do enjoy going out with her and together we motivate each other, especially on evenings like tonight where the cold front and icy wind from the snow-covered Drakensberg has settled on Jo'burg.

Sometimes we play 'the loop game' where I run bigger loops, meeting her at various points along the way. This evening we had our best loop game yet. Liz's walking distance has increased beautifully as she is steadily getting walking fit - plus backpack conditioned. On today's loop run I got in 11.2km; she did 6.9km. There were three meeting points, plus finish. For me the fun is catching her before she gets to the meeting point - she nearly got me on one of them!

So, if someone slower than you wants you to get out on the road with them (support, encouragement, company), go for it. But suggest this loop game, which is fun for both of you.

I'm the pink track; Liz is the green track. Stars are meeting points.
When we meet up I sometimes walk with her for a bit before splitting off again.

Try something new for 30 days

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 03:03 PM PDT

Great TED Talk by Matt Cutts (only 3:27 - nice and short). In this Matt suggests trying things you've always wanted to do for 30 days. This resonates with my '35 Days of Running' in May/June; it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

The 30 day activity could be additive or subtractive.

Additive activities may be to ride to work; to take a photo of something specific (yourself, partner, child, growing flowers, buildings) or just a photo; to cook a different dish for dinner; to draw a picture; to write five pages of that novel that has been burning in your heart... every day for 30 days.

Subtractive activities could be things like cutting out sugar or chocolates or coffee or tv for a month.

The best part of this concept is that one month you may want to cut out sugar and the next month you want to run every day. No activity is a life sentence - it's just a month.

I've got lots of things to put on a 30 day list... what to attempt first?

Packing for Spain

Because I will be carrying all my stuff on my back for 7 weeks, I have become incredibly conscious of how much things weigh. When I am looking for T shirts I get quite annoyed when the label doesn't tell me what the weight of the garment is. I have managed to replace my daily vitamin pill intake with one pill a day that offers what the current 2 do. Tiny saving I know….it all counts. My back pack weighs 1.73 kg and I think I can go to a max of 6 kg for the rest of my stuff.

Every time I think of the weight issue I am reminded of how I actually got to this point – Walking the Spanish Camino!

In early March this year I was watching one of Lisa’s FEAT (Cape Town show) presenters on uTube. Allyson is a young woman who set off to climb the highest volcano in the Atacama Desert – I think her journey to get there and back was about 7,000 kilometers on a bike. I was incredibly impressed with her. I liked her talk but mostly, she just inspired me. When I had finished watching her I said to Lisa “I can do that”. But here’s the thing – I just knew there and then that I could do an adventure – not necessarily the exact same thing Allyson had done, but an adventure none the less. And 48 hours later I had my very own one…..

There was something that Allyson said though, that has stuck with me – I find it so funny that every time I think about it I laugh, chuckle and chortle. But: it is also a big fat wake up call and kick in the ‘you know what’. I think of her words almost daily. Allyson said something along the lines of: “I had to get my life in order. I started going to gym and lost a great deal of weight – 80kgs of which was my husband”.

De-cluttering is not just about cleaning out the cupboards and giving the extra cups to charity. It is about getting rid of the dreadful boss, the unhappy and unsatisfying relationship, and the toxic people who sap our energy and strength; the people in our lives who make us feel kak (good Afrikaans word!) and don’t treat us how we deserve to be treated (and loved) You also have to get rid of the heavy memories – pack them away where they aren't constantly bringing you down and inhibiting your happiness. Memories are of things that have happened – and there is not too much you can do about it now – except of course, if you keep repeating the same behavior, same kak relationships and so on… the best thing you can do in this case is go see a counselor.

We all learn, I hope, as we go along on our adventures….and perhaps the biggest lesson is to keep it light.

The link to Allyson’s talk is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbKB507UwTo

Too much noise

I have been following the court case (not 100% conscientiously) about Jub Jub and the other fellow who were speeding / racing down the road and ploughed onto 6 schools kids; 4 kids died at the scene and the other 2 have been left mentally and physically handicapped.

Jub Jub and friend were dicing down the road in broad daylight and they were apparently also drunk and on heroin or cocaine. The thing that has kept me listening to this on the radio is that these guys have showed no remorse whatsoever and appear to feel quite hard done by. In fact, the case they have put forward is that they weren't driving fast and that they weren't drunk or drugged. Their attorney kept the police, who took the alcohol and drug tests, in the witness box for about 3 days and tried to discredit everything they said. They also tried to discredit the cell phone video clip of the race down the road and the collision. I listened to what the medical pathologists said about the death causing injuries and I would not have liked to be a parent in that court room…and the expert conclusion was that these injuries could only have been caused as a result of a collision at very high speed.

There is so much noise about the drugs, drink and speed and not enough about the fact that they were driving the cars that ploughed into 6 kids, killing 4 of them. There is no getting away from the fact that the cars belonged to them and they climbed out of them after the accident.

And here's the thing. These guys are guilty of killing the kids. Instead of trying to discredit the evidence, police, witnesses and experts surely there comes a time when the right thing to do is to just admit you did wrong; to take responsibility and be accountable for your actions. Surely there comes a time when they have to stop ducking and diving and making excuses for their actions. They chose to race their cars at high speed down the road; they chose to drink and take drugs. Someone needs to tell them to fall on their swords.

The Journey

I might not have the saying quite right but it goes something like: It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

I know deep down that you do have to do ‘the work’…that everything can’t just land on your plate; that there might just be a bit of pain along the way but the destination will be all that much sweeter when you arrive. I must confess that I chuckle darkly at this and mutter to myself that whilst these journey issues might build strength and character….who needs character anyway?

But seriously though, my little journey towards my departure date for Spain and my big walk, is becoming quite sweet in itself, with a few character building moments.

I take to the streets just about every evening and am walking greater distances and really enjoying that ‘fit and healthy’ feeling. In fact I am becoming an exercise geek….I decided to do a quick walk the other day on my return from the Cape but then commented to Lisa that “I cant just walk that little way, I will do this longer route (always good to tell someone where you are going). I have also shed a lot of weight….and still been able to eat the occasional chocolate and ice cream….and fish and chips – yum. My clothes are too big for me now and my jeans are held up with a grotty old canvas belt. My smart trousers don’t fit at all. Sweet.

My flight is booked and visa application is in. I had a stressful, gripping moment a week or so ago when the Visa people asked for a whole lot of additional information. I hate the fact that to get the visa you have to buy the air ticket….I mean what happens if they turn you down….so I fretted and stressed (still fretting and stressing) about this and was madly trying to think of alternative places to go….but here’s the thing – I want to do Camino – and that’s that. So, as I write I am still waiting to hear from the Embassy and I am trying to be very positive about it….hmmm - this is where the charcter bit comes in I think...

On the subject of Camino, I hear about lots of people who have done it…I have been told about friends of friends, family of friends, numerous film stars and other famous people who have done Camino. I get really excited, well maybe not about the film stars so much but certainly about the friends of friends only to hear that they did one or two weeks….a hundred or so kilometres and I am doing all 790 kilometres of it; how does this make me feel? Well sometimes I feel as if I might have a screw loose and I begin to question my sanity. But sane or insane I am going to Spain and am now so excited about this that I wish the destination, that is: arrival in Spain was not 2 months away….I wish I was leaving now and could start Camino.

And guess what: I picked up the BA inflight magazine on my way back from Cape Town this week – it was all about fabulous, famous walks all over the world - I am already planning my next one.