Health and Fitness, my personal journey: Good, better, best...

It has been a while since I have written a "fitness" posting.

I suppose that the reason being that I have been focussed on travel stories

as well as the fact that the new teaching year has started,

and I an faced with a class filled with fresh faces eager to learn...I hope.

This quote was used on a regular basis by my primary school principal,

and I felt that is was most apt for SG and its cause.

We all want to be better, healthier and fitter.

I though that I would share with the group a recent trip that I did to the Seychelles.

Why?

To show that perseverance and dedication DO pay off...

The question on Facebook was;

"I am looking for a Blogger that can run a half marathon"...

A year ago, I would have fulfilled the first part of that brief but certainly not the latter.

But thanks to encouragement from my daughter, my wife

and the SG community as a whole, I had started running again in the latter part of 2016.

A couple of emails were exchanged, tickets and an itinerary were supplied,

and it was goodbye to the rain in Johannesburg as I jetted of to represent South African journalists

in my 6th half marathon since my return to running in October.

This is what I was hoping for...

NO RAIN, clear skies and a flat course that wound along the beach that surround Mahe.

I took this picture on Saturday morning, the race was being run on Sunday.

I was driven around the course, but from the passenger seat it did not seem so tough.

I was to be proved so wrong the next day...

This is what we ACTUALLY got to run in...

Torrential rain at the start and for the first 1-2km of the race.

And then the rain stopped, and the humidity kicked in!

80-85% and the temperature was only 25 degrees C.

But I had a plan, which almost worked.

Thanks to SG, I have been trying to eat clean,

and more often than not I can accomplish that.

But pre-race night dinner, for me anyway, is ALWAYS pasta and carbs.

I was offered sushi, but I was uncertain what that would do to my stomach during the run.

If in doubt...

ALWAYS BE BATMAN!

A few months ago, I was not able to fit into this shirt comfortably,

let alone wear it out in public!

But here I am in my hotel room.

All kitted up and ready face the rain...and the course.

Done and dusted!

And more importantly, being Batman...

When I first started running, back in the mid '80's,

Don Oliver who was a mentor at the club I used to run at

always told us to foget about our watches and focus on looking good for the photographers.

I wish I had taken his advice!

And after the fact!

It turned out that the course was NOT flat at all.

In fact there were probably more hills packed into those 21,1km that I have ever run before.

But did I give up?

NEVER...

As you can see from the stats, the course only climbed 465m,

but it did so VERY quickly.

And this was what is was all about.

A t-shirt, a medal and a certificate.

But these represented more that just this race.

They affirmed that I have reclaimed my health

as well as my passion for running.

Was it tough? HELL YES!

Would I do it again? HELL YES!

In fact I am already in discussions with the Seychelles Tourism Board

to go back next year to better my time.

A post race change meeting at a local restaurant...

On my left is the man responsible for instituting the race 10 years ago,
Mr Dong Chang Jeong.
The Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles.
On my right is Julie Kim,
who is the regional manager for the Seychelles tourism office, Japan & Korea