Not even Triple halfs could tame TT – making 19 to be just a number

Not even Triple halfs could tame TT – making 19 to be just a number

When I finished the Friday run on May 1, 2020, when the world should have been celebrating International Labour day but the world was not, I did realize that many of my runs in the month were done chasing the wrong target.  The TT target was a goner!  It was useless chasing it.

The nation was set for ‘going back to normal’ on April 27.  However, it did not come as a surprise when on April 25 we were officially informed that we would be subjected to an extended lockdown and curfew.  We were given another three weeks to do things ‘indoors’, stretching our breaking point to May 18.  

But as said, it was no surprise.  The trend the world over was to extend the lockdowns, then to extend them again.  I therefore shall not hold my breath over when this lockdown shall end.  I am not hopeful of anything good coming out of the May 18 date.  Remember, the tendency is to ‘extend and extend again’.  

Since March, I have been having a competition against TT, the Thing, the virus whose name I refuse to state.  Yes, the corona virus, that causes COVID-19.  The very same virus which is technically called SARS-corona virus version 2 of 2019.  

I had initially thought I would run a few runs and keep TT at bay, in terms of who ultimately wins when life goes back to ‘normal’.  I knew that TT would cause misery by partial lockdowns, as already done in Kenya.  Now there was even possibility of total lockdowns as we approach that May 18 date.  TT is not a worthy adversary.  I am no longer holding my breath over that May 18 date.

I thought that I could win three runs every week, since mid-March, and build a good lead in the winning streak.  I thought that these accumulated streaks would beat those that TT would garner when it eventually started curtailing my runs.  The thought was good and reasonable when I thought of the April 27 date as the end date.  

That extension to May 18 got me thinking in a completely different direction.  It was futile pegging your very plans based on TT.  You may have temporary wins, but we know who the real winner shall eventually be.  

TT is a slow actor.  

Takes its time.  

Even appears invisible.  

Hits when you least expect it.  

TT makes believe you all is well, only to realize that all is not well when you look at the dashboard of infections around the world.

Take the Sunday, May 3, 2020, statistics from JHU.  The total infections on planet earth stands at 3,462,682 out of which 244,911 had passed on.  My own motherland had 465 cases with a mortality rate of 24.  These figures indicate a global mortality rate of 7% in five months since December.  

The numbers have kept rising.  I know this because I made the mistake of tracking the numbers.  The very thing that I am now contemplating on stopping.  TT has a mind of its own.  Let it be.  It shall do what it wants to do.  We cannot live our lives in fear of TT on a daily basis.  This feeling of fear is not good for the heart.  It is not good for the blood pressure.  It is not good for the mind.  It is not good for the body!

The numbers have kept rising.  Take that first time that I did note down the figures on March 26.  On that date we had a total of 521,086 infections worldwide, with a mortality figure of 23,568.  The mortality rate was just 4.5% globally at that time.  My own country had 31 cases of confirmed infections.  37 days later and everything is gone crazy!  

The only encouraging number is the mortality rate that has risen from 4.5% to 7%.  Tracking these numbers is vanity.  I am done tracking.  I am done worrying about TT.  I am living my life as best as I can from now on.  We are going to live with TT for a long time, even for life!  We better even become friends.

So, last week when I was doing the three halfs, I thought that I was increasing my winning streak, but I have just realized that I was giving TT the glory.  I was just overworking the body for no good reason.  I cannot do three halfs just to prove to TT that I am on a winning streak!  That is not good reason to subject the body to three halfs!  

I have resolved that from today I ain’t doing nothing to prove nothing to nobody no more.  I shall do my runs at my own terms.  I shall not let fear of TT influence my runs.  I shall not care about any total lockdown brought by TT.  So what if the total lockdown comes?  Let it come!  

Let TT take some wins for crying out loud!  

Let what be, be!  

So what, if we are locked-down for long, without the runs, due to TT?  

Nothing shall happen!  

Life shall continue, even without the runs!

Those three halfs were however quite something, despite them being done for the unappreciative competitor called TT, whom I am not doing anything for, from today.  

The Monday run was in the evening.  I started off at three.  The evening rains over the week before had shown a tendency to start as early as five.  I therefore had to have finished my runs by five.  The Mary Leakey route and three Vet-loops made for the 21k on this date.  

This particular route ‘persuades you’ to run on it, since it is ‘just at the backyard’.  It does not even seem far.  It does not even look like a half… but add to it those Vet loops and you have another different type of run on the cards.  Additionally, the trail by the University farm after Mary Leakey school was muddy and almost impassable on this Monday.  The run ended well.  I hit 21.23km in 1.39.18.  It was a fast run by any definition.  It later rained in the evening as I rushed home to beat the 7.00pm curfew.

The Wednesday run also started just after three.  It was a sunny afternoon but the dark clouds were already forming at the Ngong hills.  The route was the same as the one for Monday.  The route condition was the same due to the daily rains that kept the muddy trails muddy.  The intention was the same half marathon.  This run ended in 1.42.38 over a 21.26km distance.  

The crowning moment came on Friday, when I started the run at noon – yes noon.  Even by then it was already as dull as if the rains would fall within the hour.  I was just risking the run and hoping for the best.  Such risky runs usually fill my body system with so much anxiety until I can feel the pain!  

I was especially afraid of running through the University farm should it rain during the run.  That road is already muddy and slows you to a walk… without the rains.  How about if it was to rain!  It did not rain however, leading to yet another smooth Friday lunch hour run.  I would finish this run in 1.43.03 over a distance of 21.65km.  Of course, it did not rain at all that day, despite the change of weather around noon and my being forced to start the run early.

The experience of last week therefore convinces me that there is no need to make any bets with TT.  

Why I am even counting a 19-win streak after that Friday run?  

Just because I made a bet with TT?  

All bets are now off!  

TT is silent, pretentious, scheming and ultimately wins in its own ways.  Why should my life revolve around TT?  

What shall be, shall be!

I am not pulling off any three-halfs for TT.  I am not daring the weather with a mid-day half just because of TT.  No way!  I am done.  My next runs are at my pace, at my schedule at my dictate.  

I shall run when I want to.  

I shall take a break when I need one.  

I shall run a half when I believe it is the right day for it.  

I shall run longer if it is appropriate.  

I shall run short runs.  

I shall do another three-halfs if I feel like it.  

I shall do things for me, not because of TT.  

I shall do what I want to do going forward – TT or no TT!

WWB, the Coach, Sunday, May 3, 2020