Waking Up Is Easy To Do

Sorry for the delay between posts. The internet connection had been down, my whole last week in Kenya. I am actually in the US now, but will fill in a few posts that I wrote before I left.


It is going to be very difficult to transition back into 'just a guy out running' when I get back to the States. I have touched on the fact that I get noticed everywhere I travel, but not the specific reactions on daily runs. I get chased on every single outing. I can't honestly think of a single workout, where I have not turned to see a pack of giggling school children tearing after me. This usually occurs on my solo runs, when I am not flanked by a crew of elite runners.

I am talking Beatles and Rolling Stones chased. It's hard to stay 100% focused, when you have roughly twenty five school girls trailing me, while laughing their heads off. Even more disconcerting, is the fact that often the lead pursuant lasts by my side for minutes. Rocking what amounts to a traditional catholic school uniform, with or without shoes, which are irrelevant because the school shoes probably hinder performance. I've had to swallow my pride on numerous occasions, when running what I deemed to be a brisk pace, but proves to be no bother for a gaggle of ten year-olds. Don't worry Mom. I don't pull a Mr. Macho, and drop the hammer on a bunch of kids, more likely because of the deep set fear that I might not be able to drop them! I usually just continue about my pace, until even the stubborn drop off. But not without a signature see ya gesture of both arms spread outward, in a praying motion, to say 'Is that all you got?'

Do alarm clocks rule, I mean ruin, your peace every single morning? Waking up is actually quite easy for me. Forgive me, for I am just a city kid, and anything related to animal husbandry is completely foreign. Roosters actually can't contain their excitement until dawn, opposite to common cartoon logic. No, they start roughly at 2 AM and repeat with gusto on the hour, until what ever time it is chickens go sleep. So I have woken up about three times every morning, before actually planning on waking up. The pessimist in me says, "Aww I hate roosters, ruining my sleep everyday." I have gained exceptional perspective on this trip. Now I say, "Sweet! I get to stay in bed for a whole extra 3 hours!" So waking up is not too hard to do.

Training:

I know that I have kept harping on how I can feel the marked improvement at altitude, but I can feel the ease of each run still developing. That said, I am still getting housed on my fartlek workouts. I had not been able to get a straight answer concerning run distances earlier on, so I stopped asking the guys. On Thursday, I found out that our previous fartlek workout, which took a total of 56 minutes to complete, spanned about 18km (a little bit longer than 11mi). I rolled in about 3 minutes after the lead pack, and tried to do some mental math, but couldn't fathom how fast the recovery portions were being run. No wonder I am getting dropped every single workout. The recovery pace is below 5:30/mi pace! At least I roughly know my way around, and can wander back towards the direction of home if stranded.