16th March, 2014: Having a running stomach because of eating bad food at work...free meals, my momma should’ve taught me better than that. If I had ran on Saturday, my tummy would’ve cleared and I could’ve attained my new mileage PR of 100km in 7days. Too bad it rained the whole night on Friday till Saturday morning. I had planned on running on Kangundo road the remaining 22km to reach my 100km target but that was not meant to be. The whole day, I remained feeling mean from discomfort but then again I realized tomorrow I will get the chance to recoup my run that was forfeited.
During
the week I had the following runs:-
Thursday
13th – evening run from the office, go hard against the relentless strong
wind, traffic, smoke and pedestrians and pull a 1:39 in 22kms – 13.21kms/hr
Tuesday
11th – morning run to Kangundo road – a very relaxed run – 24kms in
1:52 – 12.81kms/hr, the rolling hills really give me the much needed push.
Sunday
9th: 32kms in 2:24 – 13.24kms/hr which was a good long run.
Back
to my uncomfortable self, woke up at 5:20am relieved on realizing that it’s a very
good weather. I thoroughly drench myself (hydrate) because I knew I had to do
something new in terms of either pace or distance or both. The sky is clear and
the moon visible but I had to stay a little bit longer clearing my bowels.
Leave the house at about 5mins past 6am. My garmin links to the satellite in no
time and off we go!
Restrain
myself in the beginning phase so as not to burn out sooner than planned. I had
planned to have a PR but I hadn’t zeroed in on which one. Clear Innercore in 17’15”
(4kms) and 7kms in 30’24” – a very
conservative run with moderate speed. My legs are still fine and pace up a little
bit – the Muthurwa climb doesn’t give much of a challenge and clear 10kms in 43’16”
– still cautious. Upon reaching the Uhuru highway roundabout, I saw Jack easing
off to Upper Hill with also another runner waiting to cross Uhuru highway into the
Upper hill climb.
I
fly past the dazed runner past the traffic and he didn’t hesitate to give
chase. I trust the process we had started of piling miles in a week so I believe I can chase despite having ran 14kms already. I also proceed to give chase with the other runner on my tail. With Jack
having run the previous day, I knew he would be doing an easy run so I will
just pass him midway way before we get to the road going to Kenyatta Hospital
or even earlier. The moment I started inching closer, Jack pulls a surprise on
me…he was actually speeding up that hill, wow! I give chase like never before
with the other runner hot on my heels. The runner passes me as we get to the
second climb heading to City Mortuary. He is relentless but I play cool to see
whether he can last, so I slowed down to get some air and also give him a good
feeling. I hang on him for about a minute and then cruise past him once we near
the City Mortuary roundabout. He looked at me with mouth agape thinking that we
will be stopping at that roundabout…shell shocked!
Get
into Mbagathi descent with Jack running as if he is just starting the run. Now
looking back, I doubt if I could’ve ever caught up with him if it wasn’t for
his shoe laces that had loosened up. I pass him tying them up but before long I
hear his footsteps right behind me. This guy is unbelievable and he passes me
again while going down the steep Mbagathi descent despite my pace of 3’48” in
the 18th km. He waves and diverts to the route back to his house. I
have to recollect myself and focus on the remaining distance. Realize I am at
18kms in 1:18:39 and start pushing hard for a PR in half marathon.
| Kilometer | Time | Avg Pace |
| 1 | 4:23 | 4'23"/km |
| 2 | 8:36 | 4'13"/km |
| 3 | 12:52 | 4'16"/km |
| 4 | 17:15 | 4'23"/km |
| 5 | 21:37 | 4'22"/km |
| 6 | 25:55:00 | 4'18"/km |
| 7 | 30:24:00 | 4'29"/km |
| 8 | 34:40:00 | 4'16"/km |
| 9 | 38:55:00 | 4'15"/km |
| 10 | 43:16:00 | 4'21"/km |
| 11 | 47:40:00 | 4'24"/km |
| 12 | 52:00:00 | 4'20"/km |
| 13 | 56:37:00 | 4'37"/km |
| 14 | 1:00:59 | 4'22"/km |
| 15 | 1:06:02 | 5'03"/km |
| 16 | 1:10:38 | 4'36"/km |
| 17 | 1:14:51 | 4'13"/km |
| *Fastest | 1:18:39 | 3'48"/km |
| 19 | 1:22:45 | 4'06"/km |
| 20 | 1:27:00 | 4'15"/km |
| 21 | 1:31:19 | 4'19"/km |
| 22 | 1:35:45 | 4'26"/km |
| 23 | 1:40:04 | 4'19"/km |
| 24 | 1:44:20 | 4'16"/km |
| 25 | 1:48:44 | 4'24"/km |
| 26 | 1:53:05 | 4'21"/km |
| 27 | 1:57:25 | 4'20"/km |
| 28 | 2:01:46 | 4'21"/km |
| 29 | 2:06:14 | 4'28"/km |
| 30 | 2:10:46 | 4'32"/km |
| 31 | 2:15:21 | 4'35"/km |
| 32 | 2:19:53 | 4'32"/km |
| 33 | 2:24:27 | 4'34"/km |
I
stretch and settle down to watch the 2013 ING New York Marathon with Jeptoo and
Mutai damaging the other contestants, very refreshing!
To focus on another 2 weeks of 90km plus before doing a repeat of the same route.
Eat | Sleep | Repeat | Conquer
