Hi, I’m Gabi Vermaak, the main writer behind Top Running Tips. That’s me over there >>> holding the first medal I ever won!
In 2007 I was an unhealthy 29 year old; I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, living an unhealthy and mostly sedentary life – my health or the fact that I could lose it never crossed my mind.
Then I was diagnosed with Cancer.
I knew then that my life had to change. I realised that I was miserable living my life the way I had been and so began my journey of change, and I never dreamed it would bring me this far.
In 2008 I got married to my best friend and my biggest fan – Jac– he’s the best thing that ever happened to me and I wouldn’t have survived my treatment if it wasn’t for him!
Although what brought me to running is largely spiritual this blog focuses mainly on running, the reason for that is; the essence of running is spiritual but the experience is different for everyone.
Running will lead you on a spiritual path, I’m just here to share what I’ve learned about running that keeps me on track. I don’t have all the answers and I don’t trust anyone who says they do, but here I will share with you what helps me grow and evolve as a runner and what I think will help others out there too.
I went from an unhealthy, miserable, physically ill 29 year old to a physically fit and healthy, emotionally happy 33 year old, living a life of PURPOSE and it is my transformation through running that allows me to believe that ANYBODY can do the same.
Rocky is the name of my Border Collie – she’s a girl and the wisest person dog on four legs! I love any kind of rock music; alternative, funk, old skool, hard rock – whatever. And I absolutely love beer!
You can read more about my story by visiting the Go Bananas page.
About Top Running Tips
The aim of this blog is to inspire and motivate you to be the best runner you can be. I know what it’s like;
You start and then you stop.
You start and then you stop.
Always struggling to stay motivated enough but as soon as your running seems to be taking off it all comes to a grinding halt.
What you’ll find here are resources to motivation, injury prevention and treatment, training ideas and tips, advice about gear and now and again product reviews. You’ll also find posts about my wacky experiments into different ways of improving my running, life, health and diet.
Believe me; Running is for everyone, given the chance; running will work its magic in your life and you will be left profoundly changed.
Even if you haven’t run a single step in 30 years, I hope you will join me on this journey to discover the runner in you…
Thank you!
-Gabi