I am a creature of habit. A being of routine. This makes being a doctor difficult. Because we arrange overtime from month to month, I can never be certain of what time I have free for a period of longer than four weeks. When I started out as a hospital-based practitioner, this was a huge adjustment to make. For someone that functions on planning up front and enjoys routine in their daily life, it was my greatest challenge yet to learn to live without the certainty of a repetitive structure to my weeks. But one does eventually adapt and now, two years down the line, I've learned to accept what structure I have to my life and to be at peace with what I cannot control. What helps, I've found, is to decide where you want your life to head, what free time you want, how you want your life to be structured and to accpet where you are in life at the time and simply direct yourself towards what you are trying to create for yourself further down the line. I guess what I'm saying is, pick your heading and enjoy the ride...
Enjoying the ride was exactly what I did last weekend. My fiancee and I took a trip further inland from the coastline where we live to the majestic Drakensberg mountain range. For those of you that have never been, you are missing out! One often spends so much time looking outside of one's own country for a new place to see that one overlooks places like the Drakensberg and ends up not doing justice to the natural beauty of such places by affording them one's attention and appreciation.
The free weekend (a precious commodity as a doctor) afforded me as much time as I wanted to pull on my shoes and head out the door for a run. I've just come off of a long, structured running program while training for the Cape Town Marathon so having the freedom to decide what I want to do on a daily basis has been an unanticipated pleasure. I often struggle with motivation without a definite goal set for myself so I was surprised to find how motivated I felt to train. I think a lot of it has to do with the liberation of knowing that you are on the road because you choose to be there and not because you have to log a day that has been set out for you. There is also much satisfaction to be found in the off season when one can run steady and easy without guilt knowing the value of base training before the season kicks off again in January.
When I spoke at the ASICS FrontRunner conference in Cape Town, I explained to people that they needed to be aware of how subtle influences can affect the experience of physical exertion. One of the specific aspects I spoke about was the motivation that comes from running in appealing surroundings. And in the region of Sani Pass and Himeville, I found myself thinking a lot on this. I can honestly say that this region was one of the most stunning locations I've ever visited in South Africa. Much of the run reminded me of the deep green flatlands and mountains of the south of France where I spent some time cycling as a student when I led a bunch of tourists along some of the great climbs of the Tour de France. The air was still, the colours were vibrant, the lakes were calm and I often thought, "I get to be here.".
The main route I ran took me up along a largely deserted dirt Jeep track towards the South Africa/Lesotho border. There was solace in being out in nature where nobody was asking me for anything, nobody was holding any expectations of me and I didn't need to be anywhere else. One learns so much about oneself as one progresses through life and I think what this run showed me is that I deepy value sport because of the obligation-free time that it offers me each time I step out the door. It's the satisfaction that training is something that I choose to do for myself and no-one else that keeps me active. Running (as well as cycling and swimming) is my gift to myself. And it's a gift that keeps on giving.
When you are not fortunate enough to have every weekend off without consideration, you learn to really appreciate what time you get off. As hard as my training as a doctor has been (oh my word, has it been hard!), I suppose this is one of the great positives I've gained from it: to live in black and white; to be at work when you're at work and to be free when you're free. To live in the moment and be grateful for the good times while you are in them.
