Long Run : New P.R. – 34kms!

30^th March, 2014: After a devastating run on the previous Sunday in which I only managed a paltry 18km and picked an ankle injury in the process, I decided to take it easy as much as it was supposed to be my 90km week.

I decided to take long walks while monitoring my ankle. By Wednesday 26^th, I decided to do an evening run just to ascertain or assess how far off my foot is from normalcy. I started out slow and gained momentum as I progressed. Evening runs are kinda draining but I pulled through with a 100mins in 22kms – 13.06kms/hr. My ankle was burning and I had to cool it real quick.

Moving forward, I set my eyes on 36kms long run (sub 4’30” average pace) and based on that notion I decided to take a break till Sunday for the long run. And boy that day was came – I dreaded it!

I left the house at exactly 6am and started with 2 laps around Inner core and with a steady pace of sub 4’30”. By the time I joined Manyanja road with 8kms tucked in (34.47mins) while quietly telling myself ‘today my legs are gonna get it’.  

Start feeling the effects upon reaching City Stadium – 15kms. Get some obstruction from zombified walkers at Muthurwa who just don’t get out of the way as much as they see me coming so I run through two guys on separate occasions and mess my tempo in the process but I gradually recover.

I reach the Upper Hill climb at the 19^th kilometer, a hard climb it is but pull a 5’20” nonetheless. The sun comes out at the 22^nd km and the air suddenly goes dry. Restrain myself from bursting downhill and cleaning my tank a little too early. Maintain focus all the way to Lunga lunga and that’s where the real workout began. Attain 27kms in sub 2hrs, it seems 28kms will still need a bit of work but I have my eyes set on it this coming month – April.

Hit 30kms in 2:13 and my throat becomes more dry and my legs more heavy. This is where mental toughness comes into play. I ignore my crying feet and burning throat and forge ahead, vow to get close to home as much as possible before I stop coz I know that once I stop then there will be no more running. I could barely lift my feet off the ground but kept going until I joined Manyanja road. The Outer ring/Manynja junction is a mess with Kayole buses jamming the place – its smoky and dusty. Try to get a way through but cant, all avenues are clogged by the church goers or so they seem (mostly women) who feel they are so well dressed and have a right of way. At this point I decide to just stop and let them pass through and that’s how my run ended – 34.19kms! I curse myself for starting the run late; I should’ve started the run a little earlier – maybe quarter to 6am things would’ve been different.

Walk the remaining two kilometers, I can’t even run walk. The moment I attempt, my feet literally scream and that’s when I realized, I am spent. My ankle injury must have retreated in some corner somewhere coz I just couldn’t feel it!

Running is hard - Hard labour, pure and simple and that's what makes it great! 

The run ended abruptly and I failed to get to my target but I achieved a new P.R. nonetheless – 34kms in 2:32, that’s the longest run I’ve ever had!

Kilometer	Time	Avg Pace
1	4:26	4'26"/km
2	8:45	4'19"/km
3	13:04	4'19"/km
4	17:24	4'20"/km
5	21:43	4'19"/km
6	25:58:00	4'15"/km
7	30:23:00	4'25"/km
8	34:47:00	4'24"/km
9	39:14:00	4'27"/km
10	43:44:00	4'30"/km
11	48:12:00	4'28"/km
12	52:34:00	4'22"/km
13	56:55:00	4'21"/km
14	1:01:24	4'29"/km
15	1:05:51	4'27"/km
16	1:10:17	4'26"/km
17	1:15:00	4'43"/km
18	1:19:29	4'29"/km
19	1:24:49	5'20"/km
20	1:29:33	4'44"/km
21	1:33:56	4'23"/km
22	1:37:59	4'03"/km
23	1:42:14	4'15"/km
24	1:46:39	4'25"/km
25	1:51:01	4'22"/km
26	1:55:30	4'29"/km
27	1:59:54	4'24"/km
28	2:04:19	4'25"/km
29	2:08:48	4'29"/km
30	2:13:28	4'40"/km
31	2:18:08	4'40"/km
32	2:22:51	4'43"/km
33	2:27:42	4'51"/km
34	2:32:36	4'54"/km

This has been a good month since it has yielded some good results - Final tally is a cumulative total of 302.20kms in 22hrs 51mins and 48sec at an average pace of 4mins 32secs per kilometer - 12runs with an average of 25.1kms in each run. Thats a record I am looking forward to revise soon but first lets get back to the process!

EAT | SLEEP | CONQUER | REPEAT

100km week and No Legs!!!

This week I have managed to pile the most kilometers within 7days – 100kms to be exact. This was accomplished as follows:-

22^nd March, 2014: 23kms on Kangundo road in 1:44.28 – 13.21km/hr

20^th March, 2014: 22kms from Kindaruma road (office) to the house in 1:37:50 – 13.46km/hr

18^th March, 2014: 22kms from Kindaruma road (office) to the house in 1:40:22 – 13.14km/hr

16^th March, 2014: 33kms – Innercore to City Mortuary route in 2:24:29 – 13.68km/hr

The Kangundo rolling hills really game my legs a resounding beating, I did struggle in the last two kilometers. After the run I even wondered whether I would be able to do a simple jog the following day. Walking was such an activity, running was unthinkable...it would be an event!

I tried to rest my legs most of the day on Saturday 22nd but failed to go to bed as early as I had anticipated. 

23rd March, 2014: I woke up at 5:30am deprived of sleep. Simply putting my feet on the floor is a struggle. My feet don’t feel alive as they always feel. Walk on my toes; do some simple warm-up but nothing changes. I decide to hit the road and hope that to complete my much anticipated 26kms.

The speed is slower than ever and Upper Hill doesn’t hold back on me (5’44”!) – It gives my legs quite a stretch. I can’t properly pace up and after Nyayo Stadium into Industrial Area; I begin losing control of my legs. After the 15^th km, I am losing my rhythm and I can’t maintain the same tempo even on an even surface. My feet keep knocking each other on the inner ankle and I try to toughen up to no avail and I know if I keep up with this I might fall.

My stomach is burning, I am so thirsty yet the weather is perfect for a PR…a little cold with a welcoming breeze. On the 18^th kilometer, I found myself immobile and bereft of energy. I am staggering in my walk coz I can’t properly co-ordinate my legs. I stop at about a kilometer to Likoni road - a total of about 7kms to my house….damn, that’s a long way home. I cover the distance between Likoni road to Mareba (Lunga Lunga) in about half an hour (2kms) and all the while my eyes kept squinting into any stall hoping to see a soft drinks, water or any consumable vendor, I was desperate!. I check my watch and it 8:34am with 5kms to go and just right ahead I see a kiosk opposite the NHIF building. I gather all the energy left and make a mad rush towards it.

I buy a sold which I gulp so quickly and I only pause after chocking and coughing. I get some energy back and I try to run walk but my legs can’t have it any longer. I flag down an oncoming matatu without second thoughts because I knew there was no point hanging on the road if I can barely walk. While in the car I get some time off to clear my head and reflect on what the elite runners must have gone through to get to where they are…boy, I really took a hard road this time round and hard is what makes it interesting. What is life without a good challenge anyway?!

Some inner voice told me that "at any moment, you have the POWER to say - This is NOT how my story is going to END"

I alight at Donholm and drain the last drops of my drink…I seemed to have even forgotten I had it coz I was lost in thoughts while I was in the matatu. The remaining two kilometers to the house equally seemed longer than I had anticipated. I know I am on the right road because it’s tough, the easy routes always lead to nowhere so I will stick to this hard road while it still lasts and make it my entertainment spot.

I ran a measly 18.8km and yet this is a 90km week – this is gonna be a hard, tough and long week. Welcome to the grind!

New Boundaries - 33kms and 78kms week!

16^th 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 13^th – 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 11^th – 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 9^th: 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 18^th 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.

Almost out of breathe at the 21^st km (91 mins 19 secs – new P.R. – previously 91mins 56 secs) slow down in the 22^nd km to get my energy back so as to re-channel it again properly and focus. Chasing another P.R. in 26kms which I attain in 1:53:05 (previously 1:53:47) but realize I couldn’t make the 28^th km within 2hrs so I decide to go along with how my body feels. I realize my P.R. of 30kms in 2:12 has been sitting pretty comfortable since September 2013, the time to change that is now! The new P.R. in 30km now stands at 2:10:46 (previously 2:12:30) and push a new P.R. in 32kms from 2:24:28 to 2:19:53 and also extend my longest run from 32kms to 33kms. My leg muscles are really burning yet I am not that tired. I could’ve managed another kilometer or so - that means I will need to pile more kilometers in a week to increase my mileage in the long runs. I cleared 33kms in 2:24:27 – average speed 13.68km/hr, average pace – 4’22’ per kilometer (best 21kms in 1:30:58). Here is how I rolled…

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

Distance Running...

9^th March, 2013: I had only one run during the week since I wasn’t just feeling like running at all. The one run I had was a test of my patience and consistency but it turned out fine. That was on 5^th Wednesday – 21kms in 96 mins – the public service vehicles had gone on strike and so I had no choice but to run back home from work.

I have been unable to pull some serious PR for a whole three months now – even doing 14kms in an hour during my runs has been a pipe dream. Its time I change my running…increase my mileage!

Focus on distance and shelve speed for now – I need to find a formula of strengthening my legs. After some good three days’ rest, I feel ready for 32kms which has been elusive since January. 

Go through inner core – the first 4kms in 17:36 and then join Manyanja road and clear 5kms in 22:05. Join Jogoo Road and maintain the tempo – the temperature is pretty good for a long run despite the disorderly wind.  On point at 7kms in a flat 31 mins – Bus station crowded as always but sail through without a hitch. Decide not to punish myself with that hill after the Country Bus fly over and save myself for Upper Hill.

The 14^th km is on in 62mins and do my best run on Upper Hill – 1km in 5’14” that’s coz I did some self preservation – I could’ve made it better. Pass Jack on the Mbagathi descent – seems like he is doing a recovery run or just taking it easy.

On reaching Nyayo stadium, I decide to divert to Bunyala Road instead of Likoni Road just to increase my mileage. My half marathon is 93mins – do 26kms in 1:55 and 27km in a 2hrs. Then the real workout began with my thigh muscles burning and my feet heavy…

The 28^th kilometer falls in fairly quickly but the 29^th becomes a major drag coz of the wind and the hill when approaching Donholm roundabout. I must've looked at my garmin a few times just wondering and asking myself “are we at the 30^th km mark yet?”.

I was about to stop at 30km but then I asked myself, “is that all you have left?” and I am like “hell no, let’s dance”. I proceed to push all the way to the starting point and clear 32kms. When I stopped, I couldn’t walk properly and that’s when I realized that I had a better run than most of the other days. I was compelled to stand a bit to stabilize my footing and avoid staggering - 32kms in 2:24:56 which is an average speed of 13.24kms/hr - average pace of 4'31" per kilometer.

Kilometer	Time	Avg Pace
1	4:23	4'23"/km
2	8:41	4'18"/km
3	13:10	4'29"/km
4	17:36	4'26"/km
5	22:05	4'29"/km
6	26:27:00	4'22"/km
7	31:00:00	4'33"/km
8	35:25:00	4'25"/km
9	39:51:00	4'26"/km
10	44:16:00	4'25"/km
11	48:47:00	4'31"/km
12	53:14:00	4'27"/km
13	57:52:00	4'38"/km
14	1:02:18	4'26"/km
15	1:07:32	5'14"/km
16	1:12:16	4'44"/km
17	1:16:40	4'24"/km
*Fastest	1:20:28	3'48"/km
19	1:24:35	4'07"/km
20	1:29:05	4'30"/km
21	1:33:34	4'29"/km
22	1:38:07	4'33"/km
23	1:42:32	4'25"/km
24	1:46:57	4'25"/km
25	1:51:25	4'28"/km
26	1:55:58	4'33"/km
27	2:00:34	4'36"/km
28	2:05:15	4'41"/km
29	2:10:02	4'47"/km
30	2:14:55	4'53"/km
31	2:19:45	4'50"/km
32	2:24:33	4'48"/km

It is great to have such a long run, slow or fast but the ultimate challenge and the resultant effect on your body and mind is heavenly. For once I briefly dozed off after the run – a good indication that I finally did something. Can’t wait for another long run!
I am looking forward to an average pace of sub 4'30' per km in the next long run.

Eat | Sleep | Conquer | Repeat