Retraction Time

Ok, I was going to do this post yesterday, but the Internet was not co-operating. As has been already pointed out by a comment of the last post, not a single thing in my last post referenced the title Tri-Lingual. Let me take you in for a sneak peek of my writing style.

Not that I am channeling a stream of consciousness, ala James Joyce, but I just sit down and start writing. Yeah I try and remember the more memorable portions of the last few days, but a focused structure I lack. Basically I just imagine that I am having a conversation with somebody who agrees with absolutely everything that I say. Which is precisely the reason why I have to imagine such a person, being highly unlikely that such an individual exists. So if you ever wonder where I am heading with something, so am I.

What I meant to tackle with the last title, was the difficulty picking up language in the countryside. Kiswahili is not that hard of a language to pull from, but Kenya is a tribal republic. There are 42 or 47 different tribes here, and they all have there own dialect. It is most common to find people speaking those dialects out in the rural areas. Some people who are travelled can speak and understand numerous of these languages. I am struggling enough with Kiswahili and have no clue when somebody switches over to Kalenjin or some other tribal speak. I rely on someone to go, "Hey he just greeted you in tribal language". Which garners a response of, " Ooh, didn't catch that either". The similarities are indistinguishable and it really doesn't make me any more confused. Just that if I were bright enough to remember any of those words and think I picked up a new Kiswahili nugget. I would fail miserably when I introduce my new find into any one of my three Kiswahili conversational topics.

When I was in Eldoret, I had the pleasure of eating a hamburger. Actually pretty funny because I am not a hamburger guy in the US. Not that I am a health nut, far from it, but some things really bring you back home. I have met a fellow American here in Kapsabet, and he is practically a local, knowing Kiswahili and all. He has really helped me out and shown me the ropes around here. We picked up a few essentials that are not available out here in the country. Cereal, crackers and a bag of roasted/salted peanuts among the good finds.

It is not that I do not enjoy the food, but I have stewed cabbage and ugali with about every evening meal. Not sure if my digestive tract is thanking or cursing me. Last night we actually went over to my new American friend's house for his BDay dinner, including mash potatoes, which I promptly had thirds.

It looks like the rain is slowly starting to back off, from its' daily appearances. Which makes training much more enjoyable, since the roads are in much better condition when allowed to stay dry.

Today was another one of those big group runs. We met at 6:30 am and the weather was maybe high 50's and the sun was barely peeking out. I just said forget the status quo and wore shorts & running tee. This is compared to the long tights and full windbreakers of everyone else. I know that by 7am it will be in the high 60's and I can't stand being sweating like a pig for another 60min.

We meandered for about 20min at a leisurely pace, until we reached a familiar hill that usually takes about 15 min to climb. Today I made sure to stay near the front of the group, to avoid any delayed surges from dropping me if I wasn't paying attention. I felt better as the group pulsed up the hill, and I held my own sufficiently while conversations all died down. Once we plateaued on a ridge a few people got chatty again. But as usual I have only a relative hint where I am located. So that keeps me pretty much on task of not getting dropped, which I held just fine. The run finished up a tarmac road about 1 mile back to the starting junction.

Most group runs here turn into a big kick sometime over the last mile. I prepared for the increased pace. I held the front group until about 400m to go, and they gapped me by about 5-10yds, but my pace was still jamming. A short little guy, probably about 96 lbs. little, didn't seem too pleased that a mizungu was so comfortably climbing the hill alongside him. He laid down about 5 mini -surges which I basically ignored and held pace, but resulted in him getting caught each time brought great enjoyment to some fellow runners behind us. I turned and smiled laughing which brought roars of laughter among them. Little man was none too pleased and raced his guts to finish 1/2 a step ahead of me, to his buddies delight.

We finished the run in 1hr 20min, how far I don't know. If I were to try and guess the pace of runs. We start around 7:30-8:00 for 10-15 min, then 5:50-6:30 for a good period of time and then much faster for roughly the last 10min of every run. I have been told that this group used to just hammer like madmen every run, but upon lack luster competition results, just save it for speed workouts now. I am really starting to feel comfortable training, and don't feel embarrassed of the thought of getting dropped.

As usual thanks for the comments, they are great and hopefully I touch on most questions.