Verona Banda
Thursday, August 25, 2016
On who you are…
I am an introverted Art Director and closet singer of Zambian and South African descent. I am a sneaker lover and scarf collector with aspirations of learning how to speak Chichewa. I loves dogs because I don’t like cats.
On running…
On your First Run...
I can’t really remember my first run, I’d have to search my emails for this one. I do however believe that I had more than one first runs. The year that me and my friends decided to become official road runners, we registered for every single race that was not too far from where we lived and we ran all of them. Because we were “first time” runners, every run came with a very painful but appreciated lesson (Still does but we’re “experienced” now.). We couldn’t believe how much support you get from strangers while running and that for me is the beauty of this culture.
On Street culture…
Street culture is a beautiful language that everyone understands (Well at least everyone I know), whether spoken or unspoken, it’s a culture that anyone can be a part of. What makes it so interesting is that it consists of so many different characters but there’s always that one thing that connects everyone. It’s a very beautiful and colourful culture!
On running culture…
This is a beautiful culture that we see grow bigger every single day. My mom always laughs at me when I tell her that I wish I could drive around with a louder because the feeling I get every time I see someone running on the road is so overwhelming. I feel like a mother watching her child run towards the finish line and I just want to shout “Keep going! Don’t give up! You’re almost there!”
On gadgets…
I’m not big on gadgets, I guess it’s because I’m not big on spending. Gadgets are expensive! The only two gadgets I need in my life are my laptop for work and my phone for communicating and for running and training.
On injury…
I haven’t experienced a serious running injury or any injury that has prevented me from running or training. I’ve seen people stay away for as long as a year from pulling something while running so I always try and listen to what my body communicates.
On achievements…
There’s no greater feeling than when you open your running app to read notifications and you hear “You just ran your fastest 5km at a pace of…” To think that at some point in my life, I couldn’t even imagine running 5km in 30min or less is unbelievable. This is still by far the greatest running achievement for.
On future goals…
21km in 1H30? Absolutely! I cannot wait for that day! A lot of people always ask whether I see myself running a full marathon and my answer is always No! I’m not there yet, let me run fastest 21km first then we’ll start talking about running 42km.
On your social media…
Its crazy how a simple post about how hectic or how great your running or training session was, inspires and motivates so many people. I use my social media for general things; selfies, family, friends, events and every once in a while I post about my running and training sessions. Lately, every picture I post about running or training leads to a few private messages of people asking me how they can join me or even a few tips of how they can squeeze in exercise sessions at home after a long day at work. That, for me, is way better than any number of like!
On Pink…
The singer, any day! The colour, no thank you! I’m yet to find the perfect explanation of why this colour is associated with women.
“The pink is the colour of universal love of oneself and of others. Pink represents friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace and approachability.” Does this not sound like someone whispering sweet nothings in your ear to get you to fall in love with them?
On Pain…
I used to hate the saying; “No pain, no gain” until I started running. Only after you’ve ran a race that has a steep that has made you feel every single muscle in your legs, will you start appreciating the hectic hill training sessions that you get at run club. Pain is temporary; it’s what comes after that makes it all worth it!
On women’s running…
For kick ass legs, an amazing booty and killer abs! The one thing that women really appreciate in their lives is having a community that loves and supports us in everything that we do. Through running, I’ve experienced everything of that and more!
On the Past you…
Why did you stop? What were you doing? No answer will ever be good enough! Look at us now gurl!
When I die…
I will have lived my life in full and fulfilled my purpose!
#RunRevolution
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