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!

No comments: