The final countdown...

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Its a few days before the Soweto Nedbank 10km Challenge and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, thinking of all the times I had to eat a healthy alternative instead of chips, of all the times I didn't feel like going to gym and but actually went, but most of all, the difference between this attempt to lose weight and my last one, was all the words of encouragement and advice I've received. Thank you to all of you who were part of this challenge in some way or the other.

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My last race was the Spar Ladies' Challenge, and as you all know by now, Faizel has always been by my side at each and every race, except for this one (for obvious reasons).

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I wasn't alone though (amongst the 7000+ ladies), my sister and niece had taken part in this race too. In an attempt to make Faizel proud of me, I decided that I was gonna put in 110% into this race. My race started well, as I broke away from my sister and niece and created a nice little lead. I was proud of myself, listening to the thumping music on my mp3 player and running with purpose! Then I made a"blapsie"! I was following the runners in the 5km race and not the 10km :( As soon as I realised this, a wave of panic hit me and thought about just continuing with the 5km runners, my conscience didn't allow me to follow through with that plan, so I turned around, and like a fish swimming upstream, had to run back the way I came.

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When I reached the correct 10km route, I couldn't help feeling so stupid for making such a silly mistake. And then, in the distance, I saw my sister and niece again! I've never been as happy on a race as I was on that day, and I pushed myself a little bit harder to catch up with them. When I eventually caught up with them and told them what I'd done, we all had a good laugh and decided to run together (at least until we reached the sportsclub where we made a dash for it to claim winner status). Another awesome feeling is having fellow runners, wait for you at the finish line and spurring you on, thanks Martha!

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Just goes to show, that I really do need Faizel around at my races. Over and above being my motivation, my pace setter, my paparazzi, he's my guide too!

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W

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PS: This is my penultimate update, next week I will write about my attempt to break the 1h30 mark!