37km in Iten
Kenya update #3
Still posting pics at reidcoolsaet.tumblr.com (for some reason with the slow internet it’s the only place I can post pics)
On Thursday I did a fartlek session of 25 X 1′ with over 200 Kenyans. It was just plain crazy and I could write a ton about it but Paul was there filming (the footage is amazing) so I’ll just save those details for the documentary. For those of you not aware of the documentary it’s about my training for the Olympics and should come out sometime in July. Paul has also been on the other side of the camera http://youtu.be/3Khd7sAYrh4
I’ve been eating my meals with Paul, three Slovenians and Toby Tanser. Every night at dinner I’m absolutely fascinated by the stories Toby has of Kenya. He’s been coming here for a long time and knows so many runners here.
This morning I showed up at 6:10 for a 35km run with 200 shillings in my pocket for some drinks along the way.
RK “We’re going for 38km”
Me “I may need to stop and buy some drinks at 30km”
RK “You cannot stop, you will be left behind. But don’t worry, we are running slow”
With that news I felt confident I could handle the run just fine. There were about 15 runners who started off, by 25km there were only 8 of us left. Around 28km I started to hurt but I never looked at my watch because I feared we were running faster than I planned and at that point I had to stick with the group to make sure I found my home. At 30km a car who had picked up a couple of stragglers pulled up beside me and gave me a water bottle, I was hoping for some sort of energy drink but was fortunate enough to get a couple swigs of water. At 33km I was 300m off the pack of 6 and slowing down, I decided to look at my watch, I had averaged 3:54/km for those 33km. By then I knew where I was again and I ran it in at my own pace. I took a little short-cut because I got back in 37km having averaged 3:56/km. The front guys must of run about 3:50/km, which I wouldn’t consider a “slow” run, haha.
I have two recovery days before I hit the track on Tuesday morning. Once again it should be a good session and Paul will film it before he flies out that evening.
I’ll spend the rest of the day recovering and then getting some updates from the US trials. I’m also looking forward to following Bairu’s race in Houston, coverage by Canadian Running Magazine.
A Final Warning
Kenya 2012 update 2
Pics at http://reidcoolsaet.tumblr.com/
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.
FLOAT ON 