A Final Warning

Kenya 2012 update 2

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Pole Pole (pol-lay pol-lay):  slow

On Sunday I went to get a massage from a local massage therapist. I was warned that it was  going to be deep and painful however I was not prepared for what actually went down. Once inside Kanda stripped down to his shorts and got the olive oil out. He started with my calf and I was already yelling, squirming, holding my breath and sweating. Paul was trying to film this
but the lighting was too dark so he just got some audio. I’m not sure he’ll be able to use much if he wants to keep the documentary PG.  I then had off my shirt so I could have something to bite.  For my hamstrings Kanda got to his knees on the table and then to his feet to strip my IT band.  If Kanda didn’t work on many of the top Kenyans I wouldn’t have put trust in what he was doing but when in Rome…

After the torture session I drank a litre of water and turned my 10km run to 6km and went pole pole,  which was a good idea because the next morning I was planning my first tempo run.

Arne Gabius warned me that Monday morning tempos start fast from the gun, but once again I was not prepared for what actually went down.  In anticipation of a fast start I did a 7 minute slow jog to the meeting point which I normally walk to because it’s pretty dark at 6am.

The group consisted of Arne, myself and about 50 Kenyans. When the group started to move towards the path Arne got in good position and I lackadaisically wandered in the direction and then all of a sudden it was on like Donkey Kong! My first 4.3km I averaged 3:12/km and was well behind the leaders but caught most of the group who got a jump on me. After 4.3km we hit some serious hills and I started to take splits to map the change in pace. On one steep 730 metre hill I was passing a couple of Kenyans and killing myself only to average 4:57/km. After 12km I was about to stop the suffering and jog it in but I think I stuck it out to prove my worth to the Kenyans.

When we came back to the start I had run 18.25km in 1:05:56  (3:36/km).  At sea level on a flat course I suspect that effort would have translated to 21.5 km in the same time. I probably went a little too hard this early in my training camp but the experience was well worth it (I suppose I could of got the same experience next monday) and in the end I did surpise many of the Kenyans that a mzungu kept up as well as I did.

I was pretty much useless the rest of the morning. I dipped my legs in the pool (which is quite cold first thing in the morning), ate some breakfast and then lied in bed for an hour and a half.

People often ask if Kenyans run three times per day? From what I gathered last year most run twice per day but this year I started to ask guys about this.  Duncan (who is visiting from Ngong and trains with Patrick Makau) told me that some guys just starting out will run 3 times a day if they need to lose weight. The established runners typically do most of their running in the morning and then an easy 10km every afternoon and many Kenyans take Sunday off.