Inspired by a recent enthusiasm for running, 10km is next challenge

TOMORROW I’m going to run 10 kilometres. Had you told me this time last year… or even earlier this year… that I’d be tackling a 10km run to round off 2018, I’d have questioned your sanity.

For as long as I can remember, running has been something I’ve considered myself incapable of doing. At primary school – where there were so few pupils, most of us were included in the athletics team

– I even volunteered to learn the technicalities of the Fosbury flop, so that I could do high jump instead of middle-distance running.

However, I was set on a path to change my attitude to running when, on June 12, I received an email from a long-time contact. “Chantel, what sort of running aspirations do you have… a 10km, a half-marathon, etc?” she asked.

My answer? “I don’t have any as such… but for the past year I’ve been challenging myself. Let’s chat more about this when I see you.”

With that, my journey with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa’s OptiFit 10km programme began.

Although so much has happened since the introductory workshop and health assessment in September, I can vividly recall the first few sessions at Westerford High’s upper sports fields. First, a brisk 15-minute walk around the field, followed by three rounds of three minutes of running and two minutes of walking. As the weeks went by, we progressed from the field to the road and spent more time running than walking.

Yet when I reflect on the past 12 weeks, it’s been about so much more than running. It’s been about building confidence, friendships, camaraderie, getting stronger and learning to trust our legs.

I’ve also spent far more time out in nature than I have in a long time. One of our group runs took us to Constantia Nek, where we ran nine kilometres from the Nek to Kirstenbosch and back. It was a route I used to walk with my family regularly when I was a child and those memories came flooding back as we jogged along the mountain paths.

Despite the fear instilled in me by reports of ongoing mountain muggings, I was overcome by the beauty of the surroundings when we ran through Newlands Forest recently. I breathed in the fresh mountain air after the recent rains, listened to the birds, the rustle of the wind through the trees and felt the earth beneath my feet.

A major contributor to one’s overall health is mental and spiritual well-being and I truly felt that my soul was getting a workout during those forest runs.

I stress this because I know there are lots of people out there who are working out – hard – and training their bodies mercilessly in pursuit of their idea of physical perfection, but I’d like to plant the seed that for training to be sustainable, fruitful and healthy, you absolutely have to enjoy it – because having a perfectly toned body isn’t worth it if you’re miserable.

As you read this, I’ll be having a rest day because tomorrow is our OptiFit group’s “graduation race” – the RCS Gugs Run for Unity. It is what we’ve been working towards for the past 12 weeks and we’ll be taking to the road for personal reasons, and with our goals in mind.

While I have a secret target that I set for myself for race day, I acknowledge I have already smashed the limitations I had previously placed on myself. No matter what happens, no matter how fast or slowly I run, my main aim is to fulfil the wish of someone very special to me who has asked that all I do is cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

Follow @editedeating and #roadtogugs to check my progress on race day.