Blog

These past two weeks have been challenging. First, I did something strange to my knee during my track session on the morning my last newsletter went out. That forced me to take a few days off running—not ideal, but necessary. My knee is improving, though it’s still not 100%. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, my sleep took a turn for the worse. For some reason, I’ve been sleeping restlessly and waking up exhausted, despite getting more than eight hours of sleep every night. ...

The other day, a WhatsApp conversation with a friend made me stop and think again about why I do what I do. We were chatting about her Comrades plans, and she asked about my running goals for the year. “I’ll probably keep supporting at Comrades until, someday, I’m strong and fast enough to run it myself. If that ever happens.” “2027 would be a good year to run it,” she replied. ...

With Valentine’s Day that has just passed, love is in the air—but what about self-love? It’s easy to focus on showing care for others while neglecting ourselves. Loving yourself means being kind to yourself even when you have low motivation. We all get there, and it’s a tough feeling to sit with—that sense of “what’s the point of continuing?” or “I might as well stop trying.” Lately, I’ve been feeling like that again. And I’m not sure why—sometimes motivating myself is difficult! ...

These past two weeks a friend who had lost 80kg via bariatric surgery within the space of 2024 alone, made me again ask myself the question “Am I the fool for having done things the way that I did it?” My husband says it must feel to me like saving up to buy an expensive car for three years, and then having the car go on sale for a third of the price the day after I had finally bought it. That’s not a bad analogy. But it’s not the most accurate analogy either. Every journey and what’s gained or lost during each is different. ...

At the start of this year, I chose my word for the year: Lemon. Or rather, Lemon chose me. It happened during my New Year’s Day run when I picked up a lemon along the route. I don’t believe in coincidences, so I looked into the spiritual meaning of lemons and found themes of cleansing, protection, transformation, clarity, and focus. Those last two—clarity and focus—struck a chord. They seemed exactly what I needed for a year that already felt murky and directionless. ...

With the start of 2025 and a flurry of New Year’s resolutions, I wondered why we often wait for a Monday, the 1st of the month, or a new year to start something. Is it because we crave structure, the promise of a clean slate, or simply because everyone else is doing the same? Yet starting on a random Friday or the 14th of the month doesn’t seem to carry the same weight. Do you also reckon so? ...

These past two weeks have tested me more than I expected. Not long after I told my coach how blessed I’d been to avoid injuries that sidelined me from running this year, everything seemed to unravel. I probably jinxed it! It started with a spider bite that turned into an infection so bad I needed surgery to drain it. The wound had to stay open, so running was out of the question. Just as I started easing back into it, I had an allergic reaction to the plaster covering the still-healing wound. I ended up running with the wound uncovered, which made me nervous and extra cautious. ...

If I had known on the 5th of December 2021 that it would take me three years—almost to the day—to improve the 10km time I ran that day, I’m not sure I would have laced up my shoes at all. This past weekend, I finally broke that 10km personal best—three years of trying, failing, and trying again. For most of this year, I’d been actively chasing this goal, coming so close—just seconds away—on several occasions. But no matter how hard I tried, it refused to fall. Until this weekend… ...

I am so surprised by how much better I feel after my marathon this year, which was only a month ago, compared to how I felt after the previous two marathons I ran. I reckon I’ve recovered well and am back to running strongly. Mentally, I also feel far less lost than before. I thought that because I hadn’t already entered next year’s edition of the Cape Town Marathon, I would feel aimless, but I don’t. Instead, I feel like there’s much less pressure on me. I haven’t set any new goals for next year yet either, and that’s also not bothering me. ...

I recently attended a talk by Mark Sham titled Happiness Isn’t What You Think. During the presentation, he guided us through an exercise on gratitude: Think of someone you’re grateful for. Meditate on why you’re grateful to have this person in your life. Write down these reasons in a letter. When the opportunity arises, read this letter to that person. I feel incredibly fortunate to have many people in my life to be grateful for, but for this exercise, the first person who came to mind was my husband. Reflecting on why I am so thankful to have him in my life made me feel deeply emotional, and I’d like to share those reasons. ...