34
The race tracks are a lot like life. Very far from something mundane. I took up outdoor running as a fitness routine towards the end of 2014. 1) Because I needed the motivation that came from being around people with Similar goals 2) because gym membership in Lagos is not pocket friendly at all.
Anyway to the point. When you first start out, you feel like a complete slob. You discover that after one lap you're panting like your life about to be over. It's can be embarrassing. You may feel the need to impress sometimes. Now this is the worst. You're just on your own lazily doing your laps when one of these show offs will just sprint past you and you start to regret all the akpu you have been eating but not one to be defeated you try to run up and over take him/her, use up all your energy for that and yes you may be successful but then that's as far as you will go. After a few mins you find out you can't go on and that person will catch up to you and overtake you again. This is so much like life, the competition, sometimes I can't deal with it.
Healthy competition is good, it pushes you to challenge yourself, increase your speed and strength but all at your own pace, the pace you can handle. If you focus too much on beating the competition, you will burn out eventually. Because you have worked against what your mind and body can handle.
These days I realise that I'm able to run longer, my endurance level is wayyy up and sometimes I meet people on the tracks who feel like I'm showing off so they want to race with me and I just smile. You don't know where I'm coming from. I was able to do this my running at my pace for a considerable amount of time, getting bored with my speed and pushing myself further. You don't know about my slob days, the days when I could only do 10 sit-ups, when I couldn't touch my toes and when I believed people that did 500 crunches were gods.
I didn't get stronger because I wanted to be like someone else so bad. No the motivation came from within me. I'm definitely not where I will like to be yet but I know it's possible if I stay on course.
That's the lesson in all of this. There used to be a time when I would say avoid competition totally but I do realise a healthy dose is helpful every now and again but never put it above staying on your own course.
These photos were taken when I styled and co-ordinated EL RUNWAY on Ebony Life tv Ch 165. Seeing My company name on the end credits, definitely a high point of 2014. That I even have a company. It humbles me.
Sometimes I look back at myself and remember how I started out for a career in Fashion. I remember it like yesterday. The struggles of internship, lugging sample pieces all over the place, going to the designer showrooms, the long hours in buses and taxis. I'm just a girl doing what I love that I get paid for it, is just God. I hope to post more this year and to push myself harder.
I wish you a splendid 2015
Tunji Rhobes
Bibire
Models in the line up for Shakara Couture
Backstage model right in Belois
The Line up at Belois
Designer Remi Owadokun of buttons couture taking her final work with the model in her signature piece for the show.
Backstage with models.
The line up for Jason Porshe. Style tip. If you can't find a skinny enough male model in a menswear show, use a girl. They look good in anything.
That's all. Be sure to catch up on the show. ch 165 Ebony Life tv
