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Janet Steer

@janetsteer

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55+ & Curious: Running far, Adventuring, Learning always, Figuring it out, and Telling stories ⛰️ Love plants 🥦🥕🍎

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MDS Legendary 2026
That’s a wrap!
An adventure quite like no other.
#mdslegendary #marathondessables #sahara taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @janetsteer

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6 months ago

Someone asked me recently what I am running away from. After this weekend, it became so clear what I’ve been running towards.

I am overwhelmed by the journey, the support, the community and the love that I experienced. There are too many people to thank. But each smile and hug is deeply entrenched.

This was the most nervous I have ever been before any event. I didn’t know if I was capable. But amongst all the doubt, there was a fizz of possibility.

I’ve been talking to the mountains for a while now. Telling them I’m coming. Asking them to protect and guide me. They were brutal in their offering, but how beautiful they were.

Thank you to @coachgids of @horizenza who has helped me this year with my strength and mobility. My feet and ankles are a hot mess, but my legs still feel strong. I know I’d be in a heap today if it weren’t for him.

@brendan_lombard of @flatrockendurance who put his reputation on the line when I sprang this miler upon him. He adapted the training program to what little time we had left - but most importantly - he believed in me.
#juggernaut ❤️

My two pacers @chiingledew and @themartyguy It still amazes me how running connects people. Thanks for bossing me and keeping me safe.

My husband and sister who didn’t sleep this weekend - following me meticulously and setting up camp at every station. Love beyond.

My boys - who have watched me train; seen me miss a few sports matches; been so accepting and independent at times. I am so proud of them - and I could see that they were proud of me.

Friends, Maidens and more family who continued to pop up along the way. Thank you.

This race was never about finishing. It was about getting as far as I possibly could, knowing that I could do no more. It was an adventure that I couldn’t wait to start.

I encourage everyone to just TRY. Something. It doesn’t have to be a miler. But anything that scares you. It’s finding that something, the dream of which, makes you feel alive.

I am grateful for this experience and all the incredible people I have met along the way.

Thank you @utct
But I’m not sure I’ll be back.

My cup is full.

UTCT 162 km 43hrs 19min taken in RMB Ultra-trail Cape Town by @janetsteer

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2 years ago

I’ve done a lot of solo things. But this is one thing I’d never have wanted to do alone. I couldn’t have done it alone. Thank you to my family for agreeing to come along (I promise this is the last), to @zafstours, Mussa, Gabriel and Ezekiel. And every single Kili Fighter. You were all invaluable. What a T E A M.

#kilimanjaro #kili #zafsexperience #wet #roofofafrica #tanzania #moshi #polopolo #soundmindsoundbody #adventure #hiking #climbeverymountain #africashighestpoint #teamwork #teamworkmakesthedreamwork taken in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania by @janetsteer

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2 years ago

You’d swear I’d never run an ultra before. Forever a beginner.

#ultrarunninglife #skyrun2026 #midlifejourney #trailrunning by @janetsteer

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a day ago

19 today. My firstborn. ❤️

Occasionally my biggest critic, often my voice of reason. Takes no nonsense, has the biggest heart, and somehow always makes things happen.

Always doing life his own way. And what a privilege it is to watch.

Love you endlessly, my boy. ❤️ taken in Camps Bay by @janetsteer

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5 days ago

I’ve spent years learning about food, yet somehow I’ve found myself questioning whether the simplest things are enough.

I think I’ve become so distracted by all the noise about what we should and shouldn’t be doing that I’ve lost sight of what I already know.

So, time to stop overthinking and start doing.

Back to samp and beans for me 😂 With an abundance of fruit and vegetables thrown in.

I’m not dismissing all the other stuff. I just want to get the basics right before worrying about the finer details.

And I suspect this goes beyond food, too.

Anyone else feel like we’ve made looking after ourselves far more complicated than it needs to be?

#backtobasics #wholefoods #simplenutrition #healthyover50 #midlifewellness by @janetsteer

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7 days ago

September felt like a slog.

Not just with running. With everything. Motivation was lacking. Direction non-existent.

BUT there was one part of my life I didn’t have to think about.

I didn’t have to decide how much to run, when to run, how hard, or what I should be doing next. It was just quietly ticking along in the background.

Honestly, if I hadn’t been told what to do, I think I would have done nothing. As I’ve done so in some other aspects of my life.

I won my entry to SkyRun 100, and part of that prize was coaching from @the.flying.runner in the lead-up to the race.

And this past month, that has been exactly what I needed.

Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.

But what I’ve most loved is that it has always been in the spirit of do what you can. Somehow that has kept me going.

And now SkyRun is next month 😬

For a while there I was wondering how on earth I was going to get myself ready for it. But I’m starting to feel stronger. A little more focused. And a little more like I can take ownership again.

So, a quiet thank you to Pierre for taking one thing off my mental load when I really needed it.

For telling me what to do.

And also reminding me that sometimes, doing what you can is enough. by @janetsteer

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11 days ago

There is so much negative noise around menopause and ageing – and once you click on it, the algorithm simply feeds you more.

I’ve found that whenever something about myself is bothering me, the minute I start doing something positive about it, it begins to lose its power to upset or deplete me.

The step doesn’t have to be huge, and the thing itself doesn’t have to be fixed or perfect. Just knowing I’m working on it stops it from taking up so much space.

So choose one small thing you can do today – and put your energy there.

#WomenOver50 #PositiveAgeing #MidlifeWomen #ActiveAgeing #menopause by @janetsteer

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a month ago

Pressing this SHARE button is way harder for me than pressing any ENTER button. And note that all the things I do are just ADVENTURES… never a race!

#try #dontgiveafuck taken in Kloof Corner - Table Mountain by @janetsteer

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a month ago

I’ve been on Instagram for 10 years. And I’m still figuring out what I’m doing here!
(➡️ Each picture has a different caption.)

I joined reluctantly. For a while, I mostly watched other people – and, if I’m honest, judged them too.
Eventually, I decided to post.

My first post ⬆️

At first, it was really just a family photo album… First days of school. Family holidays. Parties and gatherings.
And a few classics… like this one of my three boys standing at a urinal.

Looking back through it all has reminded me of things I’d completely forgotten. An invaluable diary.

It has also quietened that voice that asks:
Could I have done more?
Could I have done better?
Because actually – we have done a lot.

Our first family adventure was cycling through France with our youngest in a chariot.

In the Cape Town Cycle Tour, we watched the boys progress from riding on a tandem, to cycling alongside us, to riding on their own

We went looking for adventures and challenges – and somehow, we kept finding them.

Then, in 2019, something shifted. I promised myself I would plunge into the cold Atlantic every day for 30 days – and post it here.

It was partly about accountability.
But it was also an experiment in being seen.

That little experiment led me to a Wim Hof challenge in Iceland. I was hopelessly unprepared.

But in February 2020, I got on a plane and went anyway.

Instagram had shown me that there was a much bigger world out there. We really are all connected in this global village – and someone out there had been looking for someone exactly like me as a potential client. They found me.

Since then, one discovery and one adventure has led to another:
Cold water
13 Peaks
The Camino
The Gobi March
Kilimanjaro and Elbrus
Ultra running
Drawing with Procreate
Marathon des Sables
And more

Instagram didn’t make these things happen. But often, it showed me – or introduced me to – what was possible and what was actually out there.

I had no idea.

I have become braver here – but not as brave as I’d like to be.

I still hold back.
I still worry about what people will think.
I still avoid sharing photographs where I think I look terrible, or talking about certain things for fear of by @janetsteer

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a month ago

I’m ready to rumble. 😂

Funny thing is, at the start of a race, I really am.

But I wish I could bottle some of that certainty for the rest of my life.

I’m 56. Surely this can be one of the best stages of our lives? We’ve lived a bit. We know ourselves better. I want to build or create something. I want to feel useful and purposeful.

I just can’t seem to work out what that looks like yet.

Maybe I don’t know where I’m headed. I just have to believe I’m headed somewhere.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this? 😂

#midlifejourney #over50andfabulous by @janetsteer

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2 months ago

Here’s why you won’t catch me without a buff – usually covering a large portion of my face (absolute minimum: my neck):

• My ears ALWAYS need to be protected. They’re my weak spot. The slightest breeze and they’re covered.

• Talking about breeze (and where I live, it gets breezy)… hoist the buff over the top of my cap and no gust is taking that cap anywhere.

• I’m not supposed to be in the sun this week because I had some sun spots burnt off last week – so the buff is doing its best to “keep me out of the sun”.

• And burnt or not burnt, it protects. I’ve had years of sun damage. I’m just trying not to add any more.

• I’m playing around with breathing through my nose more on easy runs, so sometimes I pull it over my mouth as a reminder.

• A buff is ridiculously versatile. It can double as almost anything – and I’ve used one for many a random thing over the years.

• And sometimes I just want to run incognito. 🥷

So yes. I’d like to be glamorous.

But you’ll see me coming. 😂

#buff #glamorous taken in Camps Bay, Western Cape, South Africa by @janetsteer

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2 months ago