The Nairobi Marathon is THIS Sunday!! My stomach is turning just thinking about it. I'm nervous. As I've been training I have chosen Saturdays for my long runs. I was so nervous the night before my 9 and 12 miles- that I couldn't sleep! I guess I can plan on running the NBO 1/2 marathon on ZERO sleep as well.
This past Saturday it rained poured the whole night before so I knew it was going to be a muddy mess. Sara is doing the 10K so she and I drove separate over near where Rich and Shauna live to run around there. There is little traffic and the hills aren't nearly as steep. The plan was to run 60 minutes together then head back to our mommy vans so she could head home to the fam. I was going to grab a quick sip of water then do another 40-50 minutes. (I was trying to take it a little easier b/c I have had some real aches and pains lately.) I was right about the muddy mess. We were slippin' and sliddin'! I just knew I was going to bite it before it was all over with. Running off-road is much better on the joints so I try to stay off the pavement (although Sunday will be nothing but pavement). We had to stop just to rake the mud off our shoes b/c they were getting SO HEAVY.
As we completed about 65 minutes we headed down a gravel straight road that ran next to 2 large fields. As we neared our vans we noticed 2 men climbing through the barbed wire fence to come "greet" us. (Kenyans always call it "greeting".) I was NOT in the mood to be harassed so I went straight to the van to get my water, not stopping to talk. I knew they wanted something. They started asking Sara for money saying they had watched our cars. I decided just to get in the van and I would finish my run at home. You see I knew that if we told them "no" and then I turned to go back running, sure enough I'd have pieces of my van missing when I got back. That's what happens here. Just ask Graig. As soon as I got in my van I wished I hadn't. Sara told them that she didn't have money to give them. I wished that I would have stayed outside the van to say: "#1- we both have alarms on our vans. #2- we have several friends that live around here watching them for us." That way next time I came back to run they would think we were friends with everyone so they wouldn't be tempted to piddle with our mommy vans. But I just got in the van and ignored their requests for money. I know what you are thinking: "She is so jaded." Yes, I admit that I am. I can be sensitive too, but sometimes it just gets old getting treated like you are a walked ATM instead of a real person with feelings.
At any rate, I got home and could hardly get these bones out of the van. I was aching... bad! I tried to go back out but didn't make it very far. I found myself guarding every single step with my shoulders tensed up to my ear lobes. I took myself inside and reclined with a bag of frozen veggies on my leg and knee. Lindsey's diagnosis is that I have already worn out the milage on my running shoes I got in May. :( It probably is time for new ones. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do in preparation for Sunday's race since I only did about 6.5 miles Saturday. All I know is that 27 is coming... HARD and FAST with a baseball bat swinging with no plans to miss me.
And can I just give a shout out to Linds for running a 5k with about 8 minute miles at 8 months pregnant! She told me she knew she needed to pass people so they would see her R4R T-shirt! haha! Not sure I'm going to do much passing Sunday... maybe I'll just do an occasional finger point to the back of my tank instead.
Your stories are such an encouragement to others. Hang in there and take care of yourself. Don't run on worn out shoes or you will injure yourself before race day. We are saying lots of prayers for you guys!
ReplyDeleteLove you,
Nicole
Hey! What size shoe do you wear?? I have an almost new pair of Nike size 9 that I hardly ever wear.
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