Regenerate and Rejuvenate

The idea behind a pilgrimage walk is to get in touch with oneself and leave the troubles of the world behind for a short while. The pilgrimage gives you time to decide what is important and what is not. Getting one’s priorities in the right order.

Yet amongst all this self reflection there is also the opportunity to discover new interests, places, knowledge and friendships. I tend to get so bogged down in the day to day activities and the roller coaster of life, that I forget to appreciate the amazingness of nature. Being away from home, although always good to be home, sometimes I need to leave to give myself space to just be. Having a few days in which to be ‘irresponsible’ and not having to think or make decisions is truly good for the soul, heart and emotions.

I recently took part in my second Sungazer Trail along the Historic Route. It’s one of the shorter trails, but incredibly interesting. The first day gave me a chance to really unwind. 22 kms of gravel road, with incredible Eastern Free State scenery. Arriving at Holhoek it was liberating to take off my hiking boots, have a hot shower and put my feet up. A communal braai and home made Gluwein rounded off an incredible day.

A Free State breakfast, of a gastronomic nature, started the day off before we left to explore the dinosaur footprints and eggs. I cannot begin to explain the awe that I felt being in a place where millions of years ago the giants of the world roamed. To be able to be right up close to all this evidence was a treat. To tread where this mighty giants roamed was humbling. I want to know more, I want to be part of this excavation. I want to be part of this amazing discovery. We even came across a wonderful Bushman Painting.

Getting back to Holhoek, we finished off a second round of breakfast, thanks to generous catering. We then set off to our next destination at Uniondale. Uniondale was like landing in heaven, with soft beds, hot baths and showers and catering to absolutely die for. Do not expect to loose weight when on a Sungazer Trail. That aint ever gonna happen. Ending a short pilgrimage in a place like this was so special and the kindness of the staff was wonderful.

Where is my next adventure? Who knows? I take them as they come. Hopefully I will post more often as I really would like to keep a diary of my journeys that I am blessed to be able to participate in.

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Business Plan vs sport training

Writing a business plan and training for sport require very much the same actions. Both require planning, time lines, visions and goals. Without these your business plan nor your training plan will work.

Karkloof Valley

Today I went out on a Trail Walk (I don’t run) and my plan did not work. I had not done enough preparation to achieve my goal of completing 10 kms in under 3 hours. I was not fit enough, as I had not done enough of the correct training. I had not researched the terrain sufficiently to understand the physical and mental energy required. I had my goal – to finish the course. I had my mission – another trail walk to add to my list of events done. BUT I had not planned nor had the correct foresight.

However I did enjoy the trail walk. I met some amazing people on the way who taught me lessons and enabled me to think differently. All of this is very similar to planning and setting up a business plan. Next weekend my plan may be different as the terrain will be different, the weather will be different. Not unlike a business plan where the economy changes or the market changes.

What did I learn? Both in business and in physical activity it is not good enough to have a vision and a mission. There is planning (short, medium and long term) that needs to be done and there has to be flexibility to change.

Bring on the next event.