10k easy

I had to eat lunch at 4:30 pm so by the time I went for my run at 5pm, the stitch I got after 700m told me to kiss speed goodbye. So I did an easy 10K. Here is the story as told by the garmin:

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15K run and Bike

I did a 15K run on wednesday and biked yesterday. I will see if I get some time today and run.
I am contemplating the possibility of doing a 100Km week next week....
Too busy with baby and sleeplessness.

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11.3k GarminPhilic

Today, gung-ho with the garmin, I decided to give the 12Km/hr target another go. Like a complete idiot.
So I set off at about 2pm. It was sunny but there were episodes when the clouds protected the mortals below from direct UV radiation.
Our baby took it upon himself to ensure we dont sleep a wink last night so I wasnt exactly fresh but goals have to be met and runners gotta run. Yes, babies gotta cry too. So off I went. I wanted to make it a tempo run and I sorta did. As at 6Kms, I had averaged 11.4 Kms /hr. I struggled to push it to 11.5 upwards but the sun emerged and it was made clear to me why I should always do hard then easy, not hard/hard. So at 8K, my form went to hell and I slowed down. I had to succumb to everything. The heat, fatigue, But it was good. The garmin did not disappoint and it is able to measure distance in metres. Now I am feeling drained and overtraining is written all over my system. Tomorrow is either easy or biking. Never ever, will I repeat a hard/hard again. Damn!
What I have decided is that I will within the next 4 weeks, run slightly above 12Kms/Hr. That is my target and I think it is achievable.
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Need for Speed. Garmin is Here

I got my Garmin Forerunner 305 three days ago. I plugged in my age, weight and told it to alert me when I drop below 12Kms per hr average speed and was good to go. I put it to use today when I went for a 66mins run. I threw in some smart fartleks. I later installed the software and dertermined that I had covered some 12K (7.57miles) in an average speed of 10.8Kms/h. 1066 calories burnt. Heart rate peaked at 172bpm. My resting heart rate is between 54 and 60bpm.
If I can manage 12K in 1 hour I think I should be almost there.
This is good. Here is one of the views of the run.

 

More later. Like I said, this is good.
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Back to Training.

I have been doing 1 hour runs for three days now.
Now that Trevor is with us, our sleep patterns have gone to hell. Now there is no sleeping; just surviving - when he lets us. We go by his whim and hope we can survive
Anyways, I rested for four days after Ndakaini. Going down its steep hills was like moving forward with a judoka pulling you to the ground. So my quads and shins took the resistance and ached for quite a while.
The next two weeks will be easy to navigate because I am on leave and can run almost anytime. I ran at 6.20pm on Wednesday, yesterday I ran at 11am and today I ran at 1:30pm. Since I am not going to work, I am flexible.
But once I resume work...Like Kodi Maverik said in Surfs Up, winners always find a way. And I am a winner. So I will find a way.
Anyways, my garmin should be arriving this weekend.
I want to sensibly up my mileage and work on my speed. I have about 2 long runs and one group run left then I taper off for Stanchart.
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Ndakaini 2011 - Race Report.

This is a race report that I haven't looked forward to writing.
This lack of enthusiasm, I think, is caused by the fact that I sorta drew blank from this year's Ndakaini Marathon. Blank. Nada. Or maybe a refusal to face the facts that the Ndakaini race spread before our feet in broad daylight. Before my feet.
Lets get it done anyways. We can twiddle our thumbs and wipe our noses later.
So as agreed, we met in town and drove to Thika. It took about 1 and a half hours. GK and Mutwiri arrived shortly after us. The race was better organized but lacked adequate toilets. I had to use the bush, like many others. The parking was good, the bibs were excellent. The vests were of good quality but all too small in size.
Ogutu was good enough to be there for us just to take photos. Here I am enjoying the stretching.

We stretched and warmed up. I made sure I got both a good warm up and adequate stretching. Here is myself and Mark and Sikuku after warming up, just before the race.

Then we moved to the start line where I met GK, some elite runners (several) and some American runners.
As we waited and chatted, GK said we should not hold back because its disheartening to complete strong and know you could have done better if you gave it your all and didn't hold back. I agreed. The weather was excellent. We were good to go. I was confident of doing a 1:45-1:55 time. Here is the start line. Thin but dense.

Abel Kirui, the world marathon champion was there to give us some pep talk which he did. I didnt hear what he said. I didnt care. I was there for the gun. Then some politicians waffled out the customary dung and we couldn't wait for them to be done with the manure they were educating us about. And finally, the gun was fired. And we were off.
GK surged ahead but was within view. Sikuku, Mark and myself followed. I maintained a steady pace - nothing too crazy but fast by my standards.
I didnt want to lose sight of GK. After about 3k, I thought I lost Mark and Sikuku and I caught up with GK when I approached the 5k mark on the first hill and I passed him. When I looked back, I found my bro Mark on my shoulder. Wow, this dude is strong, I thought. On his Ndakaini debut and he is doing this great?
So Mark pushed me and I surged. He hung on. GK later came and passed me but stayed within sight. I passed him again after 12K and he passed me again when we were at about 14K. And at about the same time, there came a guy in a white top gliding easily while holding aloft a bottle of water. I tried to hung onto him and I did up to about the 18th K then I lost him and GK and some lady. On the heartbreak hill.
After 45 minutes, I felt fresh and strong and I surged. I dropped off some people and passed some and widened some gap between myself and Mark. After about 1:15, I felt even stronger and I surged. Some hamstring pain came and went. A stitch threatened but disappeared after floating around for a while.
I was running a good race! Everything was perfect. The humongous, sould-destroying hills were steep but I climbed everyone of them even though I had to slow down to near-walking pace. But the slight slopes or flat places I sped up and enjoyed it. At the steep downhill parts, I let myself go and avoided wasting too much energy braking. 
GK finally passed me at the last hill at about the 16th Km mark. The steepest, longest, meandering, soul-destryoying hill. Two guys passed me on the hill and I passed three. After that hill, I gave myself about 100mins jog for recovery then realizing that we were approaching the end of the race, I decided I wasnt going to finnish the race strong and return a poor time. So I gradually let go and sped up. I passed several people including the ones who passed me at the hill, some two ladies, some guy who ran like he was jumping and the lady who was with GK and the gliding chap. But I never caught up with GK and the gliding chap.
But I ran well. I felt good and strong and I didnt conserve energy too much. I passed one last guy with 50 metres to go. Here is me Mark, Sikuku and GK after the race.

Which brings me to my puzzle.
After running so well, how come I returned a 1:56 time? GK did about 1:54 and Mark came at about 1:58. I just dont get it. Sikuku had a problem with his ankle and returned a DNF.
So again, what happened there? I dont get it. The winner won in 64mins. And not 60 or 61mins. That  should tell you how tough Ndakaini is.

I told GK we are too slow. And I think I am right. And GK is right too that we need to work on speed sensibly or we invite an army of injuries to make us kiss running goodbye. Here is Ogutu and Mark & GK after the race.

Like I like asking, What are YOU going to do? Because I intend to run a sub 1:20 half one way or the other.
There are two things I will do in the short term: up my mileage and increase my speed runs. Our endurance is good so I will maintain the weekly long runs. The tweaking is to be done between Monday and Friday.
At any rate, I have just got a baby so training is off this week. I am getting a garmin that will help me rack my mileage and help me structure my tempo runs (based on my heart rate). Then I get some serious shoes. Then we continue chopping wood and carrying water.
And oh, it never hurts to lose some weight.
I am asking myself, can I gas out? How because in training, I recover from high speeds. I need to take one 21k training run and go almost all out (like 80%) and see what happens.
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Last run before Ndakaini

I went for my last run today with Evans. On the tarmac. 8K. Covered the first 4K in 19mins, which was alright. Per my standards, it was a fast pace. We did hills, beckpedals and other exercises. No major injuries here. I just need to rest and cut back on my food.

Stay active.
Cheers.

Tapering for Ndakaini

Yesterday I did a 10K and today I ran for 1 hour easy. Tomorrow I will do a last hard 60 mins then I rest and eat. I cant wait to rest and eat.

Cheers.
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60 MIns Hard - Wow

Yeah. Had to ice my feet after the workout. Tomorrow I rest. Phew! I finally found a way to get my garmin coming to me. Lets cross our fingers. Something always emerges from the shadows to fuck things up when it comes to the garmin.

This is MoFarah and his coach. Kenyans and Ethiopians and Bernard Lagat better watch out for him and Galen Rupp. They will be kicking ass pretty routinely from now on.
Stay active guys,
Fight!
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60 mins easy

Yesterday I got phucked up by the hard workout so yeah, today easy. From the look of things, tomorrow may be easy too.

Why I Run

1. I run because it gives me mental toughness. This comes from continually forcing myself to do uncomfortable things and running makes me sacrifice comfort (sleep and rest) or the easy way out (aches and mediocrity). Mental toughness is one of the building blocks of inner strength.
2. I run because it makes my will strong. It makes my will strong because it gives me courage. It gives me courage because it forces to continually face fearful situations like a hard workout, a race or a long distance.
   And once you have a strong will, you can apply it in other areas of your life.
3. Running is an opportunity to prove to myself that I can do it. My own doubts and fears are the best motivation and competition I think I have ever faced. And by challenging myself physically, and succeeding, my confidence grows. When my confidence grows, I become strong.
4. Running also helps me energise myself and manage stress.

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60 Mins Hard - 80Kgs

Very hard. Evans pushed me. Only problem is that it was on tarmac so my legs are singing. I am 80Kgs Yay!
Tomorrow definitely gotta be easy. Gosh.

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Mo farah vs lagat and Tergat Vs Gebrselassie

Very similar fights.
Ther gave their all. Have a look. If you dont know what the stuff of epic battles are made of, here they are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBsVTAN4oPI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuqiM7eW8Q
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Rained - Biked

Yup. It rained. So I biked.

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Hills and Bike

Hills yeaterday and bike today. Preparing for Ndakaini half. Here is Kemboi doing his mini-Bolt.

60 mins Hard

Today, like yesterday, Evans opted to go running on the road. I aint havin none o that because it is from the road that I came from and decided to stay in the field, in the dust, on the grass. Thats my homw now. I only go on the road on Sundays.
So I decided to go hard since I had gone easy the last two days. And I did and I enjoyed the workout.
Now I rest and do hills on Sunday.
Stay active guys!

Jack