42 mins Tempo

Yesterday I got my Wish and today went for a tempo run as scheduled. Here is Vivian Cheruiyot after beating Meseret Defar in womens 5000m at the African Athletic Championships in Nyayo Stadium.

Easy Day

Didn't sleep well. Woke up with aching legs, low energy levels, foul mood and laziness. So I made it easy. I went further and decided I will be having easy days on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Tempo days on Tuesdays and Fridays.
This is Britains MoFarah. 

Getting Better

It was chilly today. I reminded myself that I need to constantly work, not run or jog (which can be done passively and on autopilot) but work. Work Work work. So I pushed pushed and pushed until I got scared because after 21 minutes I had gone way past where I normally turn so I turned back.
At any rate, it was good to realize I am getting faster. I still have a long way to go as far as speed is concerned. So I will continue working tomorrow. Meanwhile I cant wait to see who will win between Rudisha (below), Kaki and Mlauduzi in 800m and between Dibaba and Masai in the women's 500m

Cheers

Weight from Hell

I have some 3 Kilos that have jumped on me the last 7 days and I cannot, for the sake of me, determine where they came from. At any rate, I ran today. I have improved but I am heavy.
Now that the fear is gone, I want to take myself through hell to get better.
Tadese Wins Easily
IAAF writes: Palermo, Italy - Three years ago at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Zersenay Tadese was able to force  Kenenisa Bekele out of gear and stop his dream to win a sixth consecutive title. Yesterday (26) something similar occurred in Castelbuono, where Olympic Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru, a pre-race favourite, was forced to stop early in the race by the Eritrean's strong pace.

Competing for the first time in Sicily, Tadese, winner of the last four IAAF World Half Marathon titles and the World record holder over the distance at 58:23, took the honours at the 85th Giro di Castelbuono, one of the oldest road races in Europe. It's a very challenging race, given the hilly course of ten 1.13km loops. Just after the start of every lap the runners actually have to climb a very though uphill.

Tadese ran briskly from the start. By the end of the first lap he had already created a gap on pursuers Abraham Cherkos and Vincent Kipruto. At that point Wanjiru was far behind and during the third lap he dropped out, claiming a problem in his chest.

113 mins LSR - The Fear is Gone!

Did I mention that Ndakaini half Marathon is on Sept 18th? Having that date motivates me and makes my goal sharper and more focused. I went for my LSR on Sunday. It was to be 110 Mins run. I decised to push the pace a little, my confidence having been built by the 100 mins run I had the previous week. And so I pushed the pace and attacked the hills! I ran faster and let myself go. There was a runner I struggled with on the hill 2 weeks ago and this time I just ran past him and after 3 minutes, I couldnt see him.
I went thro the bypass to uhuru gardens, past carnivore, down langatta road, past wison airport to TMall, up mbagathi way to highrise, to ngong road, past city mortuary, uchumi ngong hyper, past Nakumatt Ngong and made a U turn near yaya then climbed back. It was 90% tarmac but my legs handled it.
Next time I may just decide to run to Ogutu's house. It was about 18Kms. Next week I upgrade to 120 mins and keep it there and concentrate on widening the distance within that 120 mins.

So I have improved. Evidence all over. But I also added weight last week! I simply dont get it at all. Is it the sumptuous lunches? I don't know. What I know is that I have to cut that weight. And I will.
Today I have rested. Tomorrow I resume 40 mins. I will upgrade it to 42 mins.
Below is Tadese. A running god really. IAAF say that The world’s fastest and most successful Half Marathon runner, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea, will lead the field at the 2010 Bogota International Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on 1 August in Bogota, Colombia.

39 Minutes - Improvemento!

I was up kinda late. Oh by the way, I woke up to Blackbox instrumental Box. It was 5:45am by my watch so when I was leaving at about 5:55, it was almost daylight. That guaranteed me two things:
a) I would not get an injury - from stepping on a stone or a hole
b) I would be late for work.
My legs were still feeling stiff and I didn't know how the run would turn up. All I knew is that I needed to push myself. I got some lanky fellow ho pulled me uphill. I pushed and was faster and even covered a loner distance today. Then I negative splitted with some interval runs. Hence 39 minutes. I am normally exhausted and just want to cruise after 7Kms but today I pushed. That, my dear friends, is an improvement.
Meanwhile, Ndakaini Marathon is on September 18th. What that means is that I have to start getting more serious and cutting serious weight.
And oh, by the way, I got a Gem. A thorough Gem. And it is Irving Chernev's book,  Logical chess Move by Move. Now I shall surely kick Kip's ass. I am just through two games and I have beaten a certain "Marie" who is rated 1658 and who gave me problems the whole week.

 

Miguu Imekataaa!

Today was kinda funny. First of all I think I had just about had enough sleep and my eyes slid open and took in my surrounding as I gathered my bearings.
I noticed there was some light coming from outside. Was that daylight? It looks like it. Someone slammed a car door outside. Mmmmmh...how come the alarm didn't go off? Didn't I set it properly? I bloody hell did. My legs feel stiff anyway, let me rest today. I thought. Or do I go out now and run a little? Noo. Since its already daylight, it maybe too late to go for a run. What time is it? The watch is too far away. What about the wallclock? I craned my neck and squinted in the dark.Its too dark I can't see. What the hell. Let me rest today...Okay but when do I know when to wake up? Uh...When there is more daylight.
So I snuggled up closer to my sweetheart and allowed my eyes to close...
Then the alarm went off. Its sound shattered the darkness. My abs crunched and my torso was off the bed. Today I was gonna have to run after all. I threw the covers aside and scrambled towards it on the dressing table.

It was 5:45am.


Then I realized I have no legs. Where have they gone? I realized they must have gone to hell. I went to the toilet but nothing splashworthy came out. I stretched, wore my tights, tshirt, sweatshirt, trucks, socks, Timer, shoes and gloves then stretched. My legs were still dead and stiff.

So I set out. Easily at first to give them time to warm up.  After 1.2Kms I attacked a hill. My legs were still dead. So I made it a slow run and did some intervals in between. I even met Gacho, a colleague. I need to look for a warm truck to keep these legs warm. And stretch more.

As Sikuku would put it, miguu imekataa kabisa!

39 mins

It turned out to be 39 mins because I did a negative split. I started easy, careful to improve my time of the first 1.2Kms. I am careful to start speeding up after 500metres, hoping my body is warmed up. Today I hardly met many runners: about four and they were going in opposite directions so nobody "pushed" or "pulled" me. Yesterday, some kid pulled me and some guy pushed me when I was finishing.
Today I decided to let it rip and I attacked the hill. I pushed and managed to do better than yesterday - by myself!
So on returning, I incorporated fartleks and even started accelerating on the downhills! And I ended up negative splitting the run! I then stretched thoroughly, did heel-toe walks and lunges. Then did leg extensions, pushups and crunches.

No plateau for me man. Too much room for improvement. Here is Odean Skeen. The mean face makes him worthy of some attention.

40 mins tempo n fartleks

I am at a stage where I feel I have kinda hit a plateau so I need ideas for rumping it up before I become a zombie. I started with 60% effort then took it to 70% and 75% effort. When I turned back, I did 60% effort on the tarmac then moved to fartleks of 80% and recovery of 50%.
I need speed Gaddemit!

Here is Bernad Lagat in a 1500m win in Tangiers. Lalang also won his heat. I believe they will meet Asbel in the finals.

100mins LSR

I took a different route for my LSR on Sunday thinking it had hills. The hills it had were gentle. But it went well and I was quite strong. The route was good because it had trails but because of lack of hills, I will alternate it with the Highrise one which has hills but to much tarmac.
Next week I will go for a 110 minutes LSR.

Ana 40 mins

I wasnt as tired today as yesterday and so I ran for 21mins and turned back and did negative spit through some good comfortable fartleks. Phew! tomorrow I take a break.

Semenya is back and she is a woman.

Another Run. Am tiring

I was up kinda tired and was thinking of doing a sort of recovery run. After about 500 metres, I was joined by another runner and we changed my normal route and did an uphill run. On coming back I did some fartleks. I feel tired. I am struggling.

45 Minutes and a Fall!

I was up kinda late today and my energy levels felt kinda low so I was struggling. This probably set me up for what was to happen 17 minutes after I started running. There were a few runners I met. I passed some and others we met while going on opposite directions.

Anyway, when I was approaching my turning point, my right foot hit a stone sticking out of the ground.

This stone must have waited for years for everything to line up for it so that it can pick an overzealous runner like me on an early morning, take out his footing and watch him crash to the dirt nearby like a giant. And man, crash I did. I lost my footing, and for a spit second, while airborne, I thought I could have a decent fall with my hands touching the ground swiftly before me and pushing myself back up. Like a cat.

That didn't happen. From the way my body was flying in the air, and the angle my hips were twisted in, and the surprise of it, I accepted that I was gonna fall. And fall headlong in a heap like a goddamned sack of potatoes. I accepted that since there were all indications it was inevitable: the gravity, the speed, the angle, the air resistance and my weight - all the variables fit in and a quick calculation showed that my ass was grass and my body and the earth were gonna do a number today. What goes up must come down. Basic Physics, easy as pie. And what goes up fast must come down fast and hard. And so I just put out my right hand to save my head from slamming on the footpath, and I relaxed my body, closed my eyes to protect them from any shrapnel arising from the impact of the crash and I let momentum and gravity do the rest. So I fell really good and my body even travelled on the ground some distance before It ground to a halt gathering all the nearby dirt.

Instead of lying there and processing what just happened to me, and probably making an accusing look at the stone that did it all, I quickly examined my palm as I gathered my floored body and stood up. Thankfully I had no cuts on my palm. And my I am so glad I was wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt because the skin of my elbows could have been scrapped off clean. My right hip had hit the ground but there was no problem there.

Bloody hell. I thought and reflexes kicked in and I picked myself up and ambled on. No need to extend an embarrassing moment.

It knocked the wind out of me and that is why I ran for 45 instead of 40 minutes. I can't remember the last time I fell so hard, so completely and so helplessly. I must have been a kid then.
But other runners have fallen too as you can see from the photos. Like Fedor said, it is he who falls that can rise up.

When I told my wife that I fell today, she examined my clothes to confirm it and when she saw the dirt on me, and instead of holding my hand and telling me sorry and asking whether I am okay, she threw her head back and laughed really hard.
The curse of being a runner.

42 Mins Tempo

Did a tempo run today. Fighting all the way. I ate something bad yesterday so my stomach didnt feel too well and I felt heavy and ponderous but I did it. Tomorrow I push again. Today for eye candy I give you Chris Solinsky, the fat mans runner.
Cheers.

91 Mins LSR - The Fight Begins

Yesterday I went for a 90 mins LSR. I met many runners and even saw the Kenyan team taking a break on the Southern Bypass at Langatta road - I believe they are preparing for the Africa Athletic Championships next month.
Anyways, I changed my course and used a hilly one. The highrise hill is quite a good one and combined with the gentle Langatta one, this should be a good course to prepare for what I have lined up like Ndakaini. I did 80% of the route on tarmac and I am glad my knees are not yelling. My speed is not good. My weight has dropped and I feel and look better. But I noticed that since I am training alone, there is nobody to push me.
Now that my legs are good (strong quads protect knees and my shins are okay thanks to heel-toe walks), I want to start fighting with myself and fighting with the distance. I want to push myself and break myself down and start reaching new frontiers.
Last week I almost broke my leg when I stepped on a stone so I sorta need to get up slightly later so I reduce the amount of time I run in the dark. But the Idea is to start focusing on speed and pushing myself harder. I want to ran faster. Faster faster.
Meanwhile Rudisha came close to breaking WIlson Kipketer's 13 year old 800m record. David Rudisha ran an astonishing 800m on Saturday night at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder. He became the second fastest man in history at the 800m when he crossed the line in a phenomenal 1:41.51, an African record and the fastest time in the world since Wilson Kipketer broke the World record (1:41.11) at two occasions  in 1997.

I am back. Ankle Healed.

Yesterday I took the day off after limping on Wednesday. I knew by the end of yesterday that I would be able to run today. And so I did. Its about 91.56% good, which is equivalent to 100% good. I started busy and fought through each Kilometer. I want to focus on getting faster and stronger now that I have a fairly decent base. Its time to start fighting.
I want to fight and break my barriers. First I have to get back to where I was then seek to surpass that.
Today, I met many runners, about 8 of them. Serious runners.
On my way back, at about the 4.5 Km mark, I noticed someone in black shuffling in the middle of the road. I was on the left. I later noticed he was running since I had not passed him. I sought a level running ground and when I found one and glanced at him, he was ahead of me. I crossed the road and joined him at the trail. I sized him up.
He wore something that looked like an oversized black sweater that went down to his knees. He had some black pants. He wore shoes that looked a shark had chewed on and spat out and he picked them lying on a beach.Was this a homeless madman running at 6am?
Sniff. Sniff.
He didnt stink so bad but there was some smell I couldnt place. A homeless guy ought to smell worse. I figured. He kicked a stone and stumbled forward but regained his footing and ambled on.
Whatever the case, he wasnt dressed the part and he had no business running in front of me. So instead of running myself out just to prove I am better than him, I increased my stride and bounced forward easily like a gazelle. I glided past him. He hung back there. I could hear his labored breathing over my shoulder.
I increased my stride and widened the gap. He hung on, breathing heavily. He hung on for about 400 metres and we were now battling uphill. I was beginning to strain. I wasn't gonna kill myself to beat some faceless stranger.
I let him pass. He was too good. I struggled uphill and watched him widen the gap. This wasnt a homeless mad man after all. Probably some high school or university Kid who cant get decent running gear. Or who simply has no clue. I did fartleks for the remaining Kilometres.
I need to lose 3Kilos.

Twisted my Ankle, Ouch!

I am in pain. I was up at 5:40 and left by 5:56. I started off pretty fast, determined to better my performance yesterday. I was out of the gate in two minutes and ran into the unlit bypass road. 500m into the road, I stepped onto a stone and twisted my ankle seriously. Some really unnatural angle. I had twisted my ankle this way and that while stretching just before I left the house and I decided that stretching must count for something. So instead of stopping and baring my teeth in pain, I twisted the ankle this way and that and gritted my teeth and soldiered on. I was actually faster than yesterday and added about 400m in the distance I covered.
I stretched, did the exercises and showered. And now I am limping in pain.
I dont know if I can run with the bad ankle tomorrow but I may just try. Damn! Damn! Damn! I was doing so well....

40 mins Tempo

I did 40 mins tempo. I went kinda hard and it went pretty well considering I covered a considerable amount of tarmac. I am faster, better and stronger but I clearly have a long way to go before I can come near 40Mins 10k. I will go hard again tomorrow. No sign of any injuries. I stretch thoroughly and do pushups, lunges, leg extensions, heel-toe walks and crunches.
Cheers.

76mins LSR - Lesnar Chokes out Carwin

 

Brock Lesnar (pictured) snatched a victory from Carwin in UFC 116 after Carwin dominated the first round and gassed himself out. I am yet to see the fight.

I went for a 76 mins LSR. It went well. I added more than a Km into the distance and on Sunday I am going for 86 or 90 mins. My weight is dropping well. I have added lunges to my exercise routune for my quads and glutes. This week I am moving to 40mins per day and I want to push harder and move faster with fartleks and tempo runs. Lets see what the week brings. 

This week I want to clear the 1600 ELO class of Grandmaster chess.

Cheers.

Lunges Hurt Butt

I decided to do fartleks today and so I went hard. My aching shins have somewhat abated. Tomorrow I rest then do 70 minutes on Sunday.
Cheers