For the past three years, I’ve helped my youngest daughter’s drama teacher write speeches for her students as the new school year approaches. Last year, we worked on eighteen! It’s something I genuinely enjoy. It challenges me not only because I have to come up with debatable arguments from the topics we’re given, but also because I often have to write from a perspective I don’t personally agree with or know much about. ...
I don’t like wearing my glasses when I run. But I also can’t see without them, and I’ve never been able to get contact lenses into my eyes—so it is what it is, a necessary evil. In winter, it’s even more horrible. And right now, it’s the middle of winter here in South Africa. My glasses fog up in the cold morning air, especially when running track. It’s a constant dance of wiping, adjusting, and squinting through the mist. I keep joking, “Can’t see with them, can’t see without them,” or “I’m going to run into a goalpost soon,” just to keep the annoyance light. But it is an annoyance. One of those problems I can’t fix, but I manage as best I can. ...
The other day, I wasn’t quite sure how to make sense of the box of goodies that had been left behind at the 30km mark—the first table we supported at during Comrades. We had sport gels, empty packets, running kit—some clean, some very much not—that needed to be sorted and cleaned. These items might only make their way back to their owners in a week or two, and I certainly didn’t want anyone receiving two-week-old sweaty clothes. ...
My newsletters have transitioned to a new provider, and I’m delighted to share the new subscription link.
The past two weeks have been rough. I’m not even going to dress it up. My sleep, or the lack of it, has pushed me to the edge. (Stupid perimenopause, well, that is what I think it is.) I’ve tried everything. The first round of prescription meds I got earlier this year didn’t work. The second left me feeling drugged and groggy, even more tired than before. A third script followed, but I decided not to fill it right away. I’d rather face my bad sleep head-on than risk going through that again. I am tired of experimenting on top of being physically exhausted. ...
I’ve done enough 10km time trials by now to know my typical reactions: either I dread them, feeling unprepared, annoyed, and not in the mood, or I go in too confident, sure I’ll crush it… only to be disappointed. That disappointment has started to weigh on me more than I realised. It lingers. I work so hard, consistently, and still, the outcomes sometimes—uhm, often—don’t reflect the effort I’ve put in. Over time, something in me has quietly shifted. I’ve started not wanting to try—not because I don’t care, but because I care so much. I hate the hurt that comes with feeling like I’ve fallen short. ...
I baked some resurrection rolls the other day for our Easter Sunday service. It was my first time making them. I’m fairly confident in baking, but I don’t usually bake bread, and this recipe was particularly odd. Somehow, I forgot that I was supposed to halve the marshmallows, and well… my rolls looked less like an empty tomb and more like an explosion from within one. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but they didn’t look quite how they were supposed to. ...
And just like that, some good things — and things I wasn’t looking forward to — ended. The school holidays disappeared in a flash. Why only a week? My husband and son’s trip to the South African National Track Cycling Champs in Cape Town is now behind us. I’m so proud of my eldest, Erik, who brought home two silver medals and a bronze — such a big moment for him. ...
Yesterday we received new family photos, and I could not be happier with them. Here is a look back at our pictures over the years. Jackie from adore’ photography captured all of these photos.
Anyone who has spent time with me on the road this year—or in the comments on Strava—has probably heard me curse this ridiculous distance goal of mine. My coach, Michelle, has probably rolled her eyes at me for complaining about it more than once. In 2024, I ran 2,500 km. My goal was 2,400 km, but I managed it well and exceeded it by 100 km. When Michelle and I had our recap and planning meeting at the end of last year, we decided to aim for 2,600 km in 2025. Even then, it felt like a heavy goal—something I told Michelle right from day one. ...