Extending the run… that was to be extended

Extending the run… that was to be extended

My runs in the last two weeks have been good.  I have not been caught up by the rains out there, nor were the run paths any muddier.  I thank my conviction to run for me, not against TT a.k.a COVID-19, for bringing back the good runs.  I no longer bother to see what TT is doing.  I am not compelled to run and compete TT.  I run when I want, for the distance that I feel is appropriate.  

I would previously be compelled to do a particular number of runs, just to prove to TT that I was still game.  That ended two weeks ago when I put my foot down, rather put my feet to the run, and decided that I cannot do things for TT.  I do things for me.  

So, let TT do its thing.  I will do my runs.  Let TT have 4,734,378 confirmed cases worldwide, with a mortality of 313,459 as of today, Sunday.  I have my own numbers to show for the run track, even as my own country contributes to 830 cases and 50 deaths on those stats.

Last week’s runs were good, now that there is no pressure whatsoever as I do the runs.  I did the three runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I do not even know whether I keep the distance metrics anymore.  I believe the three must have totaled sixty-something ks – but who cares how many ks they were?  The last Friday's run must have been streak 25, but again, who cares?  There is so much satisfaction when you are competing for yourself, that numbers mean nothing – inner joy means everything.

But make no mistake about it, I still miss the group runs and the duels that we would have with members of the running team.  I miss those lunch hour sprints that we would do with Karl and Edu.  Those were the days, when we were friends at the starting line, adversaries by the time we were at the Vet loop and down Wangari Maathai route, only to be friends once again as we wait for each other to finish their downhill at the river and run as a group uphill back to our starting point.  You read right, as a ‘group’.  The very group runs that are now not possible due to TT.  The very TT that I am not bothering about anymore.

I do miss the group runs.  We had the monthly ‘international’ marathons.  Those were cast on stone!  Every last Friday of the month would be a marathon Friday – come good weather, come bad weather.  Those runs were a must… and they attracted a large group of runners.  Marathoners eager to participate in an ‘international’, probably the only international in the country, had this run as a permanent fixture.  

We would start the runs at 4.45pm and had to get those 21km packed into the short time available in the evening.  We occasionally finished the runs at 7.30pm!  That is right!  7.30pm, the very time that you must nowadays be 30-minutes locked in the house due to the TT-induced curfew!  The B-and-B team even broke a record by finishing some international around 7.40pm!  Those were the days when we broke records!  When running was fun.  When there was no fear of the dark!

We would then take our sweet time taking those finishing-line pictures.  We would take our sweet time freshening up.  We would take our slow walks with aching legs and body parts, after the tedious 21,000 running steps, to the diner for a sumptuous dinner.  A philanthropic marathoner would occasionally be celebrating one thing or another and ‘dirtify’ the table with drinks.  There was always ‘something’ to celebrate, from the real to absurd.  I think of all these with nostalgia knowing that probably these times are now gone – maybe gone forever!?

I was hoping that there would be some semblance to getting back to our group runs since the current lockdown and curfew in Kenya, caused by TT, were set to end on May 18.  May 19 was to be the ‘back to normal’ day.  I was already planning the ‘welcome back international marathon’ for the last Friday of May, as usual.  I was getting ready to be back to normal after the isolation that has persisted since mid-March.  However, this was not to happen.  The government extended the lockdown and curfew for another 21-days until June 6.

“I give up!,” I said loudly as I heard that announcement on the seven o’clock news on one of the local channels on the screen.  The extension had been anticipated, but 21 days!!!  

“I give up!,” I found myself saying a second time.

Life on planet earth shall come back to normal when it comes back to normal.  Keep living and keep doing what you are doing.  Do not peg any dates to anything, especially the back-to-normal date.  Keep living one day at a time… and make the best of each day – make each day count.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, May 17, 2020