Beginning of 50min runs

I started 50 mins runs today. I found a field near the hotel we are staying. Apparently, Mombasa has a problem with homeless families who have turned part of the field into a toilet, bedroom, bathroom, dining table and playing field. And what that means is that approaching that part of the field incurred one with a nauseating smell. Its a smell of the mixture of recycled human sweat, spiced grime, dust and unwashed human dead cells, human faeces and the smell of unwashed clothes that has gathered food particles and human waste.
What that meant was that I restricted myself to one end of the field.
That is done anyways. Gotta keep it up now.

24K Run

I did a 24K run on Sunday on hills. I was faster and I felt strong throughout even though I took about 2:22. Today I have rested coz that tarmac is killing me and my shins were painful and there is a gnawing ache in my knee which is a signal that I should ensure my quads are stronger. Tomorrow I resume. I am in Mombasa but I have carefully strolled about the place looking for a soft landing and I saw a small field I can use. I was lucky enough to have errands to run and walk around so tomorrow I expect to wake up with my legs feeling much much better. No matter, this week, no more frenzied speed runs on tarmac. I start 50mins runs tomorrow. I intend to shed more weight, faster and much more steadily.
Rampage beat Hamill to a decision in UFC 130.

Cheers

43 mins

Did that. On the field. It went well. I want to concentrate on Volume for the month of June. Volume Volume, Volume. Speed will do about 5-10% of my workouts.
I will start waking up at 4:30 and bringing in 12K per day by end of June. Its time to get insane.
Tomorrow, I want to strap my legs on the bike and ride it until I burst into flames. Then Sunday, 26K.
Looking forward to UFC 130 tomorrow. Rampage vs Hamill.

Changing the Training Approach

I think I am too focused on speed and I have ended up suffering and not getting faster as I desire. Its because I am impatient, I have no base, I am lazy and I am looking for a shortcut. I need to focus on mileage first then speed can come later when I can rake 70Kms per week.
So the first thing is, no more weekly speed/tempo runs. I will do speed only during the last 10 mins of my runs. And all these runs will be on the field, not on tarmac or concrete.
I will bike on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Biking will be for anaerobic/speed purposes.
I will start 50 mins running per day next week. Then one hour the week after that.
I will continue adding mileage in my long runs until the 30Kms mark.
I am buying a garmin (see below). This should help me lots. In more ways than you can imagine.
I will only taste the tarmacs on Sundays.
I ran today for 43 mins. My shins are aching. Damn. Its yesterdays speed run on tarmac.
This is a Garmin Forerunner 310XT.

They say that this baby can do the following:

• Waterproof to a depth of 50 meters, so you can wear it in the pool or the lake to time your swim
• Tracks bike and run data and sends it wirelessly to your computer
• Track your position, distance, pace, heart rate (with bundled monitor), add accessories to measure power data and more
• 20 hours of battery life
• One-year limited warranty

Cheers.
A

Tempo Run

I did a 40 mins tempo run today. Not much seems to have changed speedwise. My weight has upped a little.
Yesterday I discovered someone who is 47 and having the same goals as me: to become the fastest I can be before I grow old.
Swamped with work.
Cheers.
A

22K LSR

I did a 22K LSR today, crossing the 20K barrier for the first time this year. I intend to keep it that way for the rest of the year most sundays if not all.

My shins feel better. I did a 40mins run today. I would like to drop to 84Kgs by the end of this week.

Speed runs and mo miles, here I come.

I got a stationery bike yesterday so there is no stopping now. My baby at 21 weeks and the mother, my sweet wife.

 

Ana 40 mins - Tired

I did ana 40 mins then iced my feet. Yes, the dirt is good for my legs. I am tired and it has "overtraining" written all over it.

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40 Mins Easy - on Pitch

On Sunday, having cleaned my clock, GK remarked that the dusty patch of earth near where I live is ideal for running because it is, well, dusty and therefore cushioning for the feet. He said he wished he had something like that near where he stays.

Today I decided to divert from my normal route and try that dusty patch that is normally packed with dozens of kids playing football every evening. Its normally a frenzy of dusty, sweat streaked football activities. About four matches at a time spanning various age groups. But the fields are not connected and have stones and gulleys between them so I picked the widest and the most even one.

At 5:30 am the lights from Kibera and nearby buildings are like moonlight on that patch and so I started running round it with that not-so-good visibility. By about 5:40am a footballer arrived and was doing some exercises in the middle of the field. I ran on as he busied himself with his ball.

I ran for 40 mins and it was good. Even my feet felt happy to take a break away from the concrete and tarmac. This is probably my ticket out of the quagmire of the splintered shins that has been killing me every fuckin day.

Of course, the thing about it is that its a relatively flat surface and also because its not that well lit so I cant risk running too fast. What I can do is  take the next two weeks as healing weeks and just run and see how my shins handle it.

I am starting to run 5X a week this week and I plan to buy a stationery bike over the weekend for cross training. If my shins heal I will be doing speed-work twice a week: once on the field and once on the hill and then on Sunday, Long Distance Runs.

It is time to add mileage and to grow faster and stronger and leaner. I am all over this shit. Believe me when I tell ya. War on the guys that handed me my ass on a platter.
Todays eye candy is a moment during this year's Boston Marathon.

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40 Mins Tempo Intervals

It was supposed to be a run with 5mins tempo intervals but I was going too fast and ended up doing 3mins ones. Which is not very helpful.
 At any rate, I will be focusing on speed and mileage in the next several months. And yes, weight loss.
RIP Samuel Wanjiru.

Handed my Ass

Those who didn't turn up, I am happy for you because it was a fast, gruelling race. I don't know how you would have fared but considering I was back-pedalling in the 15k run in order not to leave the team too far behind, it would have been something akin to gazelles running with Buffaloes. At any rate, my weaknesses showed and I didn't fare very well even though that is the best run I have had this year because it pushed me. I was tested immediately the run started. And before halfway, it was clear I had fallen short of the glory I thought I deserved.

Gachanja was at the assembly area early, kitu 5:30am. GK arrived at about 5:50am. We stretched and chatted a little. Gachanja was saying we shouldn't leave him behind because he has not been training for a while and I was thinking baby-sitting is not what we want to do today but I told him he is the one who will probably leave us behind. Of course I didnt mean this. This was my route. I had ran that distance twice. I owned this route.

At any rate, at about 6am, we were off. We hung on together for about 800 metres then GK started floating away with his feather touch gait that I usually see in elite runners. I didn't want to push too hard, lest poor Gacho gasses out so we stuck together behind GK and let him be the pacemaker. I sped up a little and Gach hang on with me. By 2.5K it was clear GK was not going to babysit us and Gach could hold his own quite well. So I sped up and Gach sped up. The gloves were off and GK was within sight but going and going and not looking back to check on how his babies were faring. Between 4 and 6Kms, we sped up and kept GK within sight. I tried using a fast tempo and couldn't shake Gach off so I used surges. I was not closing the distance between GK and myself and Gach was now ahead. I had been systematically dragged out from my comfort zone and now I was in a strange territory and I didn't know what would happened next. Would my lungs and throat overheat? Would lactic acid accumulate in my muscles faster than my body could clear them?

And I was clearly running faster than I have ever run this year. Much much faster. I watched the trees and buildings rush past. I let my feet go.

Yet Gach was ahead and GK was disappearing from sight. Is this for real?

But then I thought, well, slow down. This is 19K, not 10K and not 15K. We still have a distance to battle it out. So I relaxed and these guys slowly drifted out of sight and I ran after them. I sped up after TMall and by the time I reached HighRise, we were 10 mins faster than we were at the speed we did the 15K run. I took the High Rise hill slowly and just after I had cleared it, while approaching the Mbagathi junction flyover, I saw GK and Gach at the opposite side of the road coming back!

And I was like 1Kms from the turning point!

Okay, so then it dawned on me that I was the underdog and these guys were handing me my ass. Royally and without ceremony. On a bright Sunday morning. Clear as daylight. And there was no card I could pull from any hat to alter this outcome.
So I slowed down and adopted my slow pace. I reached the turning point at the bridge in Ngumo at 55 mins, which is ten mins faster than my training pace.

I wished I had a stitch or an injury to use as an excuse for being outclassed. No. In fact, I was feeling strong. I was just a slow runner. And, yes, heavy. And Gachanja had successfully pulled what Nderitu tried to pull on me and Sikuku in 2007. Nderitu of course, failed. In retrospect, when Gach said he had been off training for a while, he probably meant off for two days.

Gachanja's tank was empty after about 15Kms but I was too far behind to catch up so, even though he walked and I didn't, he still cleared 10 mins ahead. So GK cleared in 1:37, Gach in 1:45 and I in 1:55.
And that was that. We stretched, swapped stories, did a post-moterm of the race and had breakfast.

That was a fabulous run and it has made me a better runner. I consider myself tested. I am more motivated to work harder and to improve my speed. I learnt quite a bit from GK. Thanks Gach and GK. Now we need to plan for the next run. 12th June 2011. Any proposals for other routes? Joram? Gachanja? Sikuku unahama ama auhami?
Cheers.
A

Ana 48 mins run

Yesterday and today I also ran. I dont know whether its because I am wearing sports shoes the whole day but the tarmac seems to be kinder to my legs. Shins still ache but its manageable. Today I went back to the Tuesday hill after doing a not-that-hilly route yesterday. And Rwanda is kind to me. Yesterday and today, it started raining just after I had come from my run.
At any rate, I am faster, stronger and better. my position has improved. Lets see how today rolls. Cheers.

46Mins on Hilly town

I went for an easy run today. Easy because this place, Kigali, is concrete on the pavement and I dont want to kill my feet. But man, oh man, hills! There are hills here. I have not been disciplined dietwise in the past 2 days but from kesho I need to watch it. Below, I am taking it easy. As much as a guy in a shirt and shoes can. Cheers.

19K LSR

I went for a 19K LSR on Sunday. I made it faster than last weeks LSR. It has been raining so I didnt run in the dirt paths as much as I would have liked to but oh well, runners find ways. Right? So I did. Man, cant wait to see the 3mins long highrise hill kill my running buddies. It took me 2:06mins.
It went well. I am learning to touch the ground swiftly and softly with my feet and also learning to concentrate on faster strides, quicker steps as opposed to longer strides for speed.
The position of my shins is ambiguous but I think it is better. I just hope it heals by end of May coz I am raring to speed up.
I am in Rwanda now and tomorrow I will go for a morning run. Hilly place here. I just measured my resting heart rate It is 58 bpm and topend spots rates this as the heart rate found in athletes. Great!

40 mins Hard - better

Today I woke up with my mind in mint condition. Instead of attacking the first hills with blind fury and fighting through the first 1.8K and getting gassed out early, I decided to be tentative and tactful. So I started slowly and picked the pace after about 600m. And I concentrated on leg turnover as opposed to stride length.
At any rate, I was faster and I am now approaching 8K for 40mins. So my position has improved.
 As I build my mileage, cut weight and improve technique, I know I will get faster. I am traveling to Rwanda next week. While there, I will ease up on speed a little and concentrate on mileage. Then after 16th May, I revert to working on speed. Here is US sprinter Alyson Felix.

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Easy 40 Mins

Yeah. Tadey. Shins aching so al prolly rest tomorrow.

2:04 Mins LSR

I did a 18K LSR on hills on Sunday. It went quite well and I took about two hours, two mins. I avoided the tarmac as much as I could and added another tough hill on my path. I decided to take it slow and easy since I was doing that route for the first time. It went quite well and today I returned with a hard 40 mins. My speed has improved and I will keep pushing.
Is my position worse or improved? My position is improved because my shins are aching less and I am increasing my mileage.
Here is Mark Hominick's face afterv the fight with Jose Aldo in UFC 129 on Saturday.

 For the record, I haven't seen anything YET to convince me Osama is dead.
Cheers.
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