Friday, August 30, 2013

2013 Ndakaini Half marathon Logistics - Race Day Prep and Recovery Arrangements

I will be driving to Ndakaini. So, for those that will want us to travel together in my car, I want to make the experience good. The first time we went to Ndakaini, we just went with empty heads, amateur spunk, cluelessness and general disorganization. After the race, we were hungry and thirsty and transportless. The route and the hills hammered us, destroyed our spirits and left us empty shells. Dazed and still like stagnant water. There was only one thing we wanted: to die.
We ended up eating biscuits being sold by the villagers and other crap. And of course our shins and quads sang circumcision songs. To make the experience good this time, we need to ensure we have everything in place for refueling, rehydrating and generally eating well as we drive back to Nai and do a post-moterm of the race. So for those that we will travel together, you can send me a K that will cover the stuff listed below so that you only avail yourself at Kenya Cinema at 6am sharp with a light bag and truckloads of confidence and warrior spirit.

Four oranges each______________________100/=
Yogurt 500ml__________________________100/=
2 Bananas_____________________________20/=
2 apples______________________________60/-
Fuel_________________________________300
Water (1.5litre Dasani) __________________250/-
Whole meal breads (two can share one)______150/-
Small cutting knife______________________30/-
Total_______________________________1010/-
A Note on Hydrating and Fueling
I will bring along serviettes and will buy the stuff and pack it in the car. Last year, the race started at 8:00am sharp as scheduled (unlike 2008 when they started at 10:30). So we should expect the same this year. To avoid having to stop for a pee in the middle of the race like Mark, hydrate like a man possessed by 6am sharp and spend the next 1hr 45mins peeing and not sipping any more water.
Complete the eating - serious eating (so-called carbo-loading) - by 4am. Anything past 4am should be light carbs like bread, uji and maybe tea.

Those interested, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the wrap-up exercises and tapering.

And oh, you may need some toilet paper brah!
Cheers!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

2000m x 6

My body is sore. Its been quite a while since my body got sore from a hard workout. So this feels really great.
I went for a speed run yesterday. It went pretty well.
Compared to my July 18, 2000mX5 workout, this one was faster.
So I warmed up for 1K and warmed down for 1K and after the 2000m runs, I did random speed runs maxing at 22.7Km/hr.

This is how it went:
2000m(3:57,3:59) - 7:56
2000m(3:50,3:56) - 7:53
2000m(4:05,4:12) - 8:17
2000m(3:43,3:53) - 7:36 some footballer pushed me.
2000m(4:04,4:11) - 8:15
2000m(4:15,4:35) - 8:50

In Jul 28th I had:
8:10
7:57
7:55
8:06
8:27

So I am both faster and stronger. I hit a max pace of 2:23, which translates to 25.17Km/hr (my last fast one was 2:29 on 8th August but I didn't use the right pace converter). I want to have two more speed workouts like these before Ndakaini marathon. Mark gave me a nice little tip on weight loss that I tried yesterday that seems to be already working:
Eat very little dinner - especially after an evening workout. It seems I will hit 70Kgs before Ndakaini after all.
Keep rolling folks.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Sorting Holiday Mess and Moving On

Operation Lose 6Kgs in 20 Days is Mutha**kin On!
So I am 76Kgs. Yeah, yeah, all those cakes, sugars, food and more foor and lots of rest had to have some effect.
My payload is about 2.5Kgs (by payload, I mean, how much energy I use for a 24K run) and I used to weigh in at 70-71Kgs after a run. So that is an addition of about 3.5 Kgs on top of my payload. Operation lose 6Kgs in 20days is on! Sugar and Blueband and jam are out! So is white bread. I started with 202 seconds planks, and other exercises to jump-start my metabolism. I must be 71Kgs by 11th Sept 2013. 70Kgs will be better.
A kilo every three or four days should be doable. Plus, if I put it on quickly, I should also be able to offload it quickly. No?
Whats also encouraging is that my waistline has just about remained the same.
This means:
25Jul____75Kgs
28th Jul__74Kgs
31st Jul__73Kgs
4th Sept__72Kgs
7th Sept__71Kgs
11th Sept_70Kgs
Keep running!




Monday, August 19, 2013

Running in Humid Atmosphere and Losing Control of Diet

So I have been in Mombasa for a week now. I have had fun with my wife and son and its been a blast. Apartments in Beach hotels are a great idea and its better to go for a holiday off season. We visited the beach.
We also Swam:
Of course, the food was presented from all directions in huge quantities and mouthwatering presentations. So I dug the ef in. Like an idiot.
Back to running:
One thing I have learnt from being two weeks away from my desk is that the Public Service field has been the cause of my injuries - both groin and illiopsoas and the injury has improved tremendously. Sirudi huko tena! Its sort of square instead of being round at the corners and the sharp corners have fucked up my hip, groin, illiopsoas and back! Shit!
Last week, after the Group Route run, this is how it went:
Sat 24K
Sunday 25K Easy
Tuesday 21K (Mombasa - humidity) - fartleks
Friday 24K (Mombasa - humidity) - on looking back, that was a 70K week. Good!
Monday (today) (25K - Humidity) - hard
The humidity has been a real challenge and I had to read this to understand how humid air reduces the proportion of available oxygen. Even today, I woke up early and ran the early segment of my run in darkness in a bid to escape the effects of humidity but they were there. I just vowed to give it 100% and let the chips fall where they will and I did exactly that and I am happy.
Showing off my reflective gear after a morning run in Nai. The mud all over my hind-quarters are not visible but they were the point of the photo.

Since I have been living in hotels and visiting in-laws, I have been bombed by food from every direction and my, my, with my running, my appetite is huge so I have kinda responded in kind. And I have thrown long runs to counter the calories I am taking in. I hope its working.
But today and tomorrow, I am alone and away from so much food so I should be fine.
I saw the following yesterday as I was preparing for today's run and it got me pumped up:
So I woke up early and went for a 25K, basically saying fuck humidity. I pushed really hard. Hard as I could. The splits werent that fast. Suffice it to say I did the 25K in 2:06.
Like they say, what matters is not the results, what matters is your LEVEL of EFFORT.
I plan to do some speed runs on Wednesday then I rest and wait for Saturday.
Keep running!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Pounce! 24K in 1:52:48 - Almost!

I missed Mark's route record by 14 seconds.
I was strong and fast and I finished strong (4:20). The speed runs I did on Thursday kept me fast. The overeating I did during the week kept me strong. I was able to hammer some interesting times and I will sit and analyze the run later in the week.
I used to think being fast is great. It is but if you are not efficient, it doesn't mean shit.
Then I thought being efficient was good.
I now think being strong is the best. And being strong means being able to recover past the hills, past surges.
I was able to do that today I will load the times later.
Since I misbehaved this week dietwise, I can see I have a kilo or so added and besides my groin and thigh muscle aching, I don't feel like I got cleaned out by the run so I will go for an easy run on the same route tomorrow to strengthen/stress my legs and burn some calories. Gotta get ready for Ndakaini.
I have done the analysis. Below are the times I ran on Sunday (left) and the times Mark ran on May 26th - I was with Mark for the first 10K after which I faded and Mark went on to set a course record. I use Mark's times because so far, they are the benchmark I have on how best to tackle that route. The way he ran it was superb so the first thing I want for me is to run like that. On THAT route. I was faster in eleven of the 24 Kms. The splits where I was faster are in blue below. Mark is very strong on the hills. I need to improve on the Muthurwa hill and the Upper Hill and Langatta road hills. But it wont also hurt for me to get FASTER!
If we were running side by side, Mark would have passed me past the  13th Km but I would be able to see him 200m or so ahead.
Km MyTime Mark's Time
1    04:48.2    4'41"/km
2    04:30.9    4'34"/km
3    04:08.6    4'11"/km

4    04:07.2    4'03"/km
5    04:19.0    4'24"/km
6    04:15.4    4'25"/km
7    04:12.4    4'21"/km
8    04:22.4    4'26"/km

9    04:28.5    4'27"/km
10    04:37.9    4'32"/km
11    04:26.7    4'33"/km
12    04:56.8    4'46"/km
13    04:37.5    4'40"/km
14    05:23.0    4'55"/km
15    05:32.6    5'20"/km
16    04:48.3    4'41"/km
17    04:21.8    4'24"/km
18    04:25.3    4'10"/km
19    05:14.5    4'53"/km
20    04:56.5    4'36"/km
21    05:19.4    5'00"/km
22    05:37.4    7'01"/km
23    04:58.4    5'13"/km

24    04:20.4    4'18"/km

Keep running fellas!