Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 108, July 2018 | страница 19

PJ’S PIECE
By PJ Moses
CELEBRATE THEIR FAILURES ON
THE ROAD TO THEIR SUCCESSES
M
y eldest son Safwaan’s
name means little rock in
Arabic, but ever since he
entered my life, his presence has
been anything but little. He is the
rock that I used as an anchor to
keep my life from drifting back to the
dark place it was in before. I haven’t
always been the best Dad, but I have
loved this now teenaged human
since the day I saw him take his first
breath.
Dawie during the run
leg at Ironman SA
but everything went smoothly on race day, except for a scare during the swim
leg. “The ICD has an alarm if a magnet comes too close, as that switches it
off. About 2km into the swim I heard an alarm and thought it was the ICD, so I
stopped to check, but I think it may have been somebody’s watch alarm going
off nearby. I just had to put it out of my mind and try going on. Annalita and I
swam together, then split up later and she finished in 13:11, while I did 13:57.
It was pure enjoyment, just being able to participate, but there were a few
emotional moments for me along the way. Now we’re already booked to go
back in 2019, and we’re going to do the Ironman 70.3 in East London as well.”
Since I started running, I’ve tried to
foster a love of it in him, and it has
brought me great joy to see him
embrace it, too. His love of running is
different, though. He has this internal
drive to be the best at every sport, a
drive that I never had and will never
have. I wish that he would expand the same level of focus to his academic self
and find a good balance, but he just does not roll that way, and I’m fine with that…
Einstein didn’t even like school, so who really knows what the future holds in store?
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Dawie and Annalita’s most recent adventure saw them take on the three-day
AfricanX Trailrun, where he unfortunately rolled his ankle during the first stage
and had to sit out day two before strapping it up and getting through day three.
“It healed up OK, but I had to cancel my Comrades trip. It would have been my
ninth, so my plans for my Green Number have been postponed by one year.”
Now that my boy is at high school, he seems to have stepped up to the plate of
personal growth – and he is swinging for the fences. He started the year with a
bang, making it all the way to the Provincial High School Athletics Championships.
Finally, he is willing to knuckle down and put in the work that is needed for him to
grow the potential that lies within.
One thing that has always been a problem has
been teaching him that to be successful, you
must first experience the pain of failure. Accept
defeat and move on from it. Do not be a sore
loser and do not fear the future losses you will
endure. Get up, dust off, shake your opponent’s
hand and smile. You learn more about
appreciating the win from failing on occasion,
than winning all the time.
These days, Dawie says his heart still sends him a warning now and again. Early
in June he was out training when his heart jumped over 200, but the ICD picked
it up and paced him out.
“Annalita always runs
with me, either waiting
for me or doubling back
to come back to me, and
it gave her a massive
scare, too, because she
turned and saw me lie
down on the pavement!
That was the first attack
since my last op, so
I’ve been struggling a
bit psychologically with
my running the last few
weeks… but I’m not
going to let it stop me.
I get my energy from
sport, and if not for sport,
I would have ended up
sitting at home waiting for
it all to end.”
When things don’t go as planned I will be there to
comfort an