Even a little is still better
Kenya Blog #4
I can’t believe it’s already been another week… This was a good week for running as I got in two workouts and a long run. The first workout I purposely took easy on my foot so I ran my tempo all uphill (110 meter rise) into the wind. Needless to say the pace was slow but the effort was there and I was working hard to keep the pace under 3:40/km. On my second workout I teamed up with Lee Merrien for 40 minutes of tempo around a 4km loop. I managed to average 3:23/km trying to keep up with Lee and I was very satisfied considering this was my second running workout in the past 8 weeks. Larry and I met up with a Kenyan, Rogers, who showed us a great run through the forest on the other side of Iten which was super hilly. I ended up running 25km which finally feels like a ‘long run’ again.
My foot is getting better even as I add on the kilometers. Each evening I’ve been going over to Jan Fitshen’s (2006 Euro 10 000m champ) room to use his therapeutic laser. He was out for over a year with plantar fasciitis and tried everything and finally saw some results with the laser so I might as well try it out. I’ve actually noticed a bigger jump in improvement since using it.
When you run around Iten it’s easy to get lost but it’s also easy to find your way home. That’s because there is only one paved road for miles and miles around and the one side of Iten is bordered by the Rift Valley (huge drop off). If you ever get lost just ask someone to point to the paved road. Once you get there is rises towards Iten, so just run uphill on the path adjacent to the road and you’ll get back.
I didn’t do much this week other than train. Some ping pong, Hearts, hand laundry, reading, Iten market, watching the Kenyans workout on Tuesday and a quick trip to see some giraffes.
This group of marathoners did 12 X 1000m. I timed their last 5 and they averaged 2:55 off about 2 minutes rest (remember: dirt track at 8000 feet)
The steeple pit at Kamariny track.
On the outskirts of Eldoret on the way to Iten.
Trackbacks
Comments are closed.
FLOAT ON 
The Destroyer going for it.
“The 26-year-old Gotcher, paced by his friend and Flagstaff, Ariz., training teammate, Nick Arciniaga, said he began “to feel it in my legs at 16 miles.” No wonder. The lead pack of six ran a 4:29 split for the 14th mile and, after slowing for the 15th, reeled off a 4:38, a 4:38 and a 4:34 in succession, at which point Gotcher admitted: “(My) wheels started to come off, and it got pretty ugly.”
Congrats to all the Speed River guys and thanks for the inspiration.
Love this stuff Man. Keep it coming, thanks.
(PS: Um…..self treatment with a laser…..I dunno…..can’t do any harm, eh?)
Canada needs more butchery/hotel combos.
Hey Reid, Glad your training is going well and good pics too, I think I hardly took any! There is a link from Lee’s blog to here.
Helen
Did you go to the Kingston Pub? Looks sweet.