Bazza: The first challenge

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little, but that woman has rocks in her head... Not only has she challenged me, she has agreed to do the challenge with me. With me and 10,000 other idiots...

Now running has never been my thing - I think the last time I ran was in the days before cellular telephones, and when the land line rang, you knew you had only 20 seconds to get there. Those were the days... Anyways, back to running, Emma has challenged me to run a 10km (yes, 10,000m) mini marathon...

I know for seasoned runners, that is a warm up, but again, YIKES!!! I was at a client the other day, and they were on the third floor of a building without a lift. I had to stand outside their office for about 5 minutes to catch my breath, before walking into the client, beads of sweat on my brow, still tight-chested, and they said "B, you look like you have just run a marathon...". I could think of no feasible excuse for struggling up 3 flights of stairs, so I said that it was mighty hot today...

Before I could spend any more time coming up with a viable excuse to get myself out of doing the race, I had Emma on my back, asking for my ID Number, medical aid number, shirt size, next of kin and several other questions which I answered... Blip blip went my blackberry not 30 seconds later... "Congratulations, full payment has been received and your entry has been successful.". Uh Oh...

So driving home from work, after having come to terms with the fact that the Bazza project had been fast tracked and I had accepted my first challenge, I starting thinking that this was possibly not so bad - I walked 600m to the shops the other day - yes my heart was pounding a bit, but I made it. And blip blip my blackberry went again, and it was Emma, asking me what shoes I run in...

Eish... Um, Er, Hiking Boots? Thinking of my somewhat spartan shoe cupboard, I have my business shoes, my sketchers, my suede loafers, a pair of sandals, and hiking BOOTS, Polocrosse BOOTS, fishing BOOTS, offroad biking BOOTS, and yes that pair of BOOTS I wore to the halloween party last year...

Guess I will be hitting the shops (oh the joys, how I do love shopping (NOT)) on the weekend. I can just imagine the shoe salesperson, "so what is your running style", to which I will respond "slow, very slow". Wish me luck I will let you know how that goes...

When Emma challenged me to the run, "a little 10km night race", that is what I was expecting - I have just hopped onto the race website, and have copied the following extract:

"
RUN FREE. RUN JOZI.
Nike has inspired runners all over the world to run their cities. Now the time has come to Run Jozi:
a 10km night race through the streets of Johannesburg. Be one of the 10 000 runners to make history by taking part in the most epic race this country has ever seen.

TAKE BACK THE STREETS. RUN JOZI.
The race will take place on 21 March, Human Rights day, due to the significance this day holds. Runners can celebrate their heritage, their freedom and take back the streets.
" (end quote.).

YIIIKES!!! (yes again!) - what have I gotten myself into? Not only have I accepted a challenge of "entering a little night race", I have entered THE 10,000 strong, "most epic race this country has seen", to celebrate my heritage... My surviving the 10,000 grueling meters to the finish, without being trampled to a pulp as I drag myself along the tarmac in front of however many thousand stark raving, healthy lunatics will be a celebration in its own right - I have not been to a race of this magnitude before, but I am sure hoping that there is a well stocked beer-tent waiting at the end of it...

When "Bazza and Friends" was conceptualised, I had a long-standing friend, Adrien, aka "The Duke" who has agreed to join me on some of the more wacky adventures that we are planning. Now Adrien is one of those "stark raving, healthy lunatics" that I referred to in the last paragraph - he is super fit, and finds time to do the necessary training. He is training for the upcoming Comrades Marathon in June, and attends many races. He has asked me to join him several times for a run, but I have opted out every time, remembering him bounding up the last mountain we trekked, whilst I was almost on my hands and knees, averaging one step per minute...

I texted The Duke, and told him that I have accepted a Bazza challenge, and that I must have rocks in my head. I told him I am doing the "RUN. JOZI", and that I am expected to run 10,000 meters. His response was along the lines of "Hey Cool, I have also entered, but it is a breeze - nothing like the 89,000 meters Comrades Marathon". Yes yes, I will probably want to slap him if he comes and starts dancing or singing songs of encouragement as I crawl across the finish line, on my hands and knees, but I am pretty sure he will be quite safe, as I will most likely not have the strength left in me, to raise my hand...

I am going to have to put together a training program now, which means I may have to dust off the Nintendo Wii, and hopefully find a fitness CD that my daughter has not used to play baby-frisbee with the dog, and do some training. And yes, I may have to do 300m at the shops, choosing running shoes - based purely on looks, as I know THAT much about running shoes.