Q. Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do for a living?

I am 24 year old girl born and raised in JHB. I studied in CT for 4 years, and am now working at a digital marketing agency in JHB.

Q. How do you balance your exercise regime and your professional life?

I try to run 3-4 times a week. During the week I keep an hour open during any day for my runs. Normally I will run in the afternoon, but if work keeps me late I will make time and wake up and hour earlier to run sometime the next morning. 

Q. When and why did you start running?

I started running in 2010. I was in my first year at varsity and a friend of mine asked me to join her one evening and I thought why not. To be honest, I didn’t last 9 minutes. I was finished. Out of embarrassment of my lack of fitness I started making music-running goals. One run I would say “right, I’m running for 4 songs… then 6 songs…then 12 songs.” Eventually I was running without even counting the songs because the music just carried me.

Q. What motivates you to go out there, when you do not feel like it?

There are 2 things that motivate me. 1st, is the feeling after a run. That ‘post-run-high’ is a feeling like no other. The heart rate, the sweat and the oxygen all rushing through your body at once is incredible. 2nd, is my music. When I run to my music I go into another world full of adrenaline and endorphins. If I am grumpy, sad or stressed, a dose of running endorphins and music will bring me back to life. I think its important to have more than 1 motivation to run, simply because if you lose motivation of one thing, you have the motivation of the other to fall back on. 

Q. What is the longest distance you have ran?

23km.

Q. What gives you the confidence to run in the streets?

To be honest, I’ve never felt afraid of them.

Q. What do you think about the lack of exercise among the youth?

I think it is so sad. I don’t think children (or their parents) embrace their bodies’ capabilities and energy enough. 

Q. What was your best running experience?

One of my top moments was during a Night Race in Soweto in 2014. Towards the end of the run was a small road going downhill that was lit by 2 flickering street lamps. This road was surrounded by people’s homes. What I noticed as I ran downhill, was that each house had different colored curtains, that from the lighting inside the house, reflected different colors onto the road in front of me. What I saw and felt during those few minutes was something out of a movie. It was absolutely amazing. I was alone, with my music, running from color to color on the tar road. 

Q. What was your worst running experience?

During one of my long training runs for a half marathon, at the halfway mark going down a rock and gravel trail path at quite a pace, I fell. And I fell hard. My right food caught a tree root and I managed to cut both of my legs badly, and sprain my hand. The actual fall was not so bad, but running the rest of the route back home with blood and pain rushing to the cuts on my legs was horrendous. 

Q. How do you push through the pain?

This is such a good question. Because I actually don’t know.. I just do. This doesn’t mean I don’t listen to my body. If something is absolutely unbearable to run through, then I wont. But more often than not I will run through it. I will focus on my breathing, my strides, my foot landing... and adjust it accordingly to feel more comfortable. 

Q. What advice can you give somebody who wants to start running?

The amount of times I have heard people say “I want to start running”… and when I say, “So then start. Run with me?” They then say, “I’m not a runner though.” You don’t have to be a ‘born runner’ to start running. I certainly wasn’t. You just have to want it enough and believe in yourself enough to start. And when you do start, start slowly. Do routes, speeds, distances you are comfortable with, and slowly start pushing yourself further as you get stronger, because you will get stronger. 

Q. Which Social media sites are you on and how can one follow you?

You can follow my fitness & running journey on Instagram: @Beatsandbbg 

You can follow my workout/running playlists on 8tracks: JHBeats (8tracks/jhbeats.com)

My best running shoes is … Nike Lunarlon 6 

I love running because … with my music, it’s a space I get completely lost in.

Injury is… the most annoying handbrake on training/running.

My body is … a lot stronger than I give it credit for.

My running playlist has … EDM, Rave, House, Electro, Dubstep, Trap, Progressive house, Bigroom House, Vocal Trance on it..

I hate running when … there is a lightning storm in the distance.

Pain is … something you have to learn to both deal with and listen to.

The road … to a runner is like a blank canvas to an artist. 

Sweat is … something to be embraced. It’s your body’s way of saying “You are killing it! Keep going!”. Don’t ever be embarrassed to sweat.

In future, I would like to run … The Comrades. Just to know in my heart that I can.

Indie means … independence. I’ve always has this image of being free when I think of the word Indie. 

I do not like runners who … sprint in the beginning of a race, or sprint past your during a race, only to find them exhausted and walking shortly ahead of you. #SoUnnecessary #StopBeingThatKidWhoThinksPEisTheOlympics.

#RunRevolution