The tale of two runs… and three vaccines

The tale of two runs… and three vaccines

If my Tuesday run was bad, then yesterday’s Friday run was worse!  If my state of fitness was a ‘6’ on Tuesday, then it was a ‘4.9’ on Friday.  I would normally skip a run when I am less than 5 on the marathoner’s Richter scale, sorry ‘Run-chter’ scale, but I still went out for a run on Friday, since 4.9 is approximately 5 anyway.

The Tuesday run started well, and it was mostly smooth all the way, as I did the usual Uthiru-Ndumbo-Kapenguria road-Mary Leakey-Kanyariri road to the turning point just before Gitaru market and back straight on Kapenguria road.  I was a bit tired, but I attributed this to re-acclimatization after my sabbatical on the highlands.  

I started and managed this run fairly well until I got to the 12k mark at the crossroad where Kanyariri ACK church is located.  I still had a 1km run to the turning point.  All of a sudden, I got a painful pinch on my right thigh.  I almost came to a standstill due to that pinch.  I could hardly fold my leg on the knee joint.  I reduced speed slightly and almost limp-ran for a few moments.

Reality struck!  I had just experienced a muscle pull and yet I was still very far from the finish line – as far as 10km away!  Anyway, what had to be done, had to be done and so I kept going, albeit slowly upto the turning point further on, then started my run back.  The right thigh remained painful and very uncomfortable with each bend on the knee, but I had no choice but to run back to the finish line.

I mostly ‘rolled’ down Kapenguria road using gravity, since my efforts to make the run were not helping much.  The more I tried to run, the more the leg become painful.  I ‘somehow’ rolled my way back to the finish line and was surprised that I managed the run the full half in just under two hours – 1.59.05 to be exact.  Phew!  The run was done and dusted.  

It did not take long before the muscle pull on the right leg would soon subside.  I would however continue to nurse my aching left foot that has been a bother for some time.  Good news was that I was not feeling much pain on the left foot during the run – the pain only came after the run and persisted for two or three days.  That was now my life and I was living with it.

When Friday came, I was set for yet another run.  It was not because I was ready, but because it was a run day.  Karl would leave me at the locker room as he started his run.  I was a bit down for I-do-not-know-what-reason.  I just did not feel like taking this run.  Nonetheless, it was a run day, I changed to my gear and was ready to go, setting out at 12.35pm.

And out of nowhere, a pain on my stomach hit me with the very first step that I took as I started the run.

“For crying out loud!,” I cried out loud, even as I started my slow jog.

How was I going to run for about two hours with such discomfort?  The pain just persisted – not too much, but not reducing either.  I was likely to abort this run since I hardly face such stumbling blocks this early in the run.

I however convinced myself to just take it easy and run to the 5k mark at Wangari Maathai on Kapenguria road, then turn back if the pain continued.  I was a bit slower than usual as I started off the run.  I kept going knowing that I had the option to turn back at the 5k, or even sooner.  That pain was reducing my focus and concentration.  I somehow kept going on the same route as Tuesday and would at some point get to Wangari Maathai institute.  I was now on the downhill and gravity was jut pulling my run towards the river… .and so I kept going past the 5k.  I would meet Karl on his way back as I did this roll.  I suspect that he must have run to the river or the tarmac junction.

I decided to make it to that Lower Kabete tarmac junction, then turn back, since the stomach pain was still a bother.  I made it to that junction just as another runner came towards me from the junction.  We lifted our hands in silence as we said our unvoiced “Hi”.  I was soon at the junction and also at a decision point.  I would now either turn back or turn left and face the four-minute run along Lower Kabete road then make the Mary Leakey left turn.

Despite the stomach pain, I found myself turning left and was now destined to take the long road through the University farm all the way to the tank on Kanyariri road.  It was now too late to turn back as I had already started the uphill.  My pains subsided when I took the left turn towards Mary Leakey school.  I was now having a more comfortable run.  The sun remained hot, while my run remained steady.  The stomach pain started relenting, but it was ‘just there’.

I finally reached the tank as I emerged on Kanyariri tarmac.  I had now done half the half-marathon route.  After doing a half of the 21, I would surely be able to do the whole.  Unfortunately, doing the whole run meant turning right and running the Kanyariri road for about three kilometres to get to the turning point, then running back straight on Kanyariri road to Ndumbo.  Well, that is what I had to do, and that is what I did, albeit at a reduced pace as my tummy continued paining… but in the background.

Reaching that 13k turning point was music!  I was elated.  I would now just be rolling back again all the way towards Ndumbo, where I would only face one last hill and the run would be done.  And so, I rolled back and would soon face that last hill to Ndumbo.  After Ndumbo, the run was just done since the short run along Waiyaki way and crossing the road at Kabete Poly was not anything to worry about.

I was surprised that I finished this run – and still in good time of exactly 2.00.51.  Two runs, with different Run-chter scales, but done in almost similar fashion.  

But wait a minute!  Could the face mask that I adorned have been a contributing factor to my deteriorating run times?  I have noted that the first two kilometres, when I am forced to be on the mask due to ‘masks on within the compound’ rule, I really struggle and even run out of breath.  I hardly manage a kilometre in 5-minutes, which I easily achieve after I pull down the mask on the open roads out there.

That would mean that this corona thing is affecting my runs.  The masks have become necessary evils, and I advocate for their use at all time… when not running.  They are real life savers.  So as the COVID-19 confirmed infections worldwide* stand at 57,996,866 with 1,379,441 deaths and 40,186,673 recoveries, with Kenya’s numbers being 75,193, 1,349 and 50,984 respectively, it is worth reminding ourselves that masks still work.  

Nonetheless, humanity is getting tired of corona and masking altogether.  I have started observing lots of laxity in mask usage as I navigate through my run routes.  That is where the three vaccines came into play – AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfeizer and Moderna.  These are three independent research initiatives, each with a vaccine that is showing over 90% efficacy.  

If two is better than one, then surely three is much better.  One, two or all of these are coming to use by end of year.  One, two or three of these shall be an interim or permanent solution for corona.  But that is not all.  These three are just the few in the leading group.  There are many more initiatives in the works – with WHO** listing 48 candidate vaccines in clinical trials (including the leading three) and another 164 in pre-clinical phase.  It is now just a matter of time before corona is defeated… and life gets back to normal. 

* https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

** https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 21, 2020

A run in two cities… the winner is…

A run in two cities… the winner is…

It was hardly one week ago when I did that final run at the city of Eldy.  It was a Tuesday and I was set to travel back to the city on the very next day.  I just had to do that run because it was the last run.  I was now used to that 5.5km circuit around Pioneer estate.  Even the folks were now used to seeing me around.

“Ndio huyo mkimbiaji,” that was how my young fans around the 3km turn at the informal settlement parts of the trail would acknowledge me.  They, a group of three to five youngsters, hardly ten, would occasionally run along for about twenty-metres before giving up.  I liked the way they ran along.  They would sprint very fast ahead of my constant paced run.  They would then just drop out after running out of breath.  Both boys and girls would be in this group.  I would get them at the very same place for the other three circuits through this trail.  I liked them.  They seemed to like me.

“Kipchoge! Kipchoge! Kipchoge!,” that was the other group of totos who would acknowledge my run.  These ones would be waiting for me just after the church, before I would turn right to leave the main road and head towards the Sosiani river, where I would run along the river for about a half a kilometer, then take the uphill route through the rocky path.  These young ones just knew me as Kipchoge.  They made no apology or pretense.  I was their hero.  They were my heroes too.

As I was just about to finish a circuit, almost at my starting point, I would pass by this group of two or three motorbike people just hanging around the posho mill area, waiting for passengers.  The very posho mill whose operator now knew me, not as the runner, but as the regular customer.  Now you know what the run muscles are made of.  

Back to the motorbike people.  They would usually assume that I am beyond earshot, as they proceeded to bite-my-back (backbite).

“Huyo jamaa hukimbia kila siku!” (That person runs daily) 

Of course, that is not true, I only ran twice a week, but whom am I to say anything over a bitten back!

Once I did meet a fellow runner – just once in the whole month of October when I was on that circuit around Pioneer.  He was a few metres ahead when I was joining the main tarmac road near the Kimalel primary school.  He was enjoying his relatively fast pace.  I was on my own pace.  He kept going… ahead.  I kept following… behind.  That is how we did our run.  He would soon be gone.  

But it is not just while on the circuit that I did not meet runners, I also did not meet any runners even when I was running the 8km length of tarmac from Eldy to Kipkenyo centre and back.  I was a lunch hour runner.  It is possible the other runners were early risers or ran on different routes.  I never got to know ‘the secret’ of when the great world athletes do run.

“Leo ulichelewa kidogo,” was another comment I got one day, when I had just cleared the over 2-hours run and was heading home.  It came from a stranger who was slashing a fence edge.  I did not know him.  He however seemed to have known my start and end timings.  I am not sure whether he was factual but I accepted his assertions nonetheless.  What other reaction do you expect from a tired marathoner who is seriously struggling to hit that finishing line!

“Uko sawa!  Hebu gota!,” that was another encounter, when I was not even running.  I was just taking an afternoon walk when a stranger approached me from behind as I headed towards the Eldoret-Kapsabet road.  I would in a moment cross that road and walk next to Sosiani Primary school, and keep going through the posh side of Eldy, all the way towards Moi Teaching hospital about two kilometres later.  So, this guy was chasing me just to ‘gota’ me.  He would then clarify that, “Mimi naishi hapo tu next. Mimi ukuona manze. Unachapa tizi – hebu gota tena!”

I will miss Eldy.  I tend to think that Eldy will miss me too, if the above encounters are anything to go by.  But last Tuesday was the last run, in the high-altitude terrain, above 2,000m elevation above sea level.  It was a run I struggled with, but I ended up with a 4.58min/km average.  The first time I had hit under five during my three months stay in that home of champs.  Only one other time did I run a 5.00 during that October month that I did those twice a week runs on that trail.  I was a 5.20s person.  Those two records were music.

I was back to Nairobi on this Wednesday, just when the Government of Kenya was announcing new corona prevention directives.  To start with, curfew hours had been revised downwards.  The curfew would now start at 10pm instead of 11pm.  The end time remained 4.00am.  Facemasks were now a must, no more jokes, no more games, no more soft ball.  Immediate arrest and fines were now expected for any person found without one.  It was now going to be a stricter time, even for runners.  The new directives were to remain in force until end of January 2021.  This was now a corona with a difference!

I decided to rest for a week, especially to heal that left wheel, the one that was x-rayed hardly a week ago.  It was found intact, but why it still pains after a run remains a mystery that even the docs cannot resolve.  Maybe I am now destined to live with the pain.  I have adopted an ‘accept and move on’ for this left leg. (Accept and walk on!)

Finally!  It was a Monday, it was a run day.  I would be taking the first run in the city since August.  I hoped that the routes had remained the same, just as I left them.  It was 12.30pm and I was soon out on the same good old route from Uthiru past Kabete poly to cross Waiyaki way and run towards Ndumbo, then the Kapenguria road, to join Lower Kabete road.  

From that junction, I was to run the 800m to the left junction that would take me past Mary Leakey school, then onwards towards the University farm, and eventually back to the Kanyariri tarmac, at ‘the tank’.  From the tank, I would turn right and run about 3km on Kanyariri road towards Gitaru, but make a U-turn at the 3km landmark and start my run back to Uthiru.

The run remained true to description – just as the coach prescribed.  Nothing much had changed.  The hills remained hilly.  The muddy parts along the University farm remained muddy.  The route remained tough as usual and surely nothing had changed.  But there was some new road construction depot just across Kabete police, where I saw very huge godowns that are likely to be holding road construction materials.  I am aware that the road from the airport all the way past city centre to Uthiru and beyond shall be made into a double decker soon – and that soon seemed to be now!

My first Nairobi run since August would eventually come to an end at around 2.30pm, after a 1hr 56min and 21sec run.  The average time was 5.00min/km.  I was now convinced that Nairobi was not high altitude.  I did not feel that much run resistance in this trail, unlike the difficult run experience of Eldy.  However, let me not speak too soon.  I need to give this run a second try and confirm that it is not as tasking.

But can I forget this new corona directive by GOK?  I cannot!  It had hit me in the morning, some two hours before the run.  I was walking from home towards the workplace when I met a group of about fifty people kind-of blocking the road, just next to the roundabout.  

A police vehicle had parked on the right edge of the road, blocking oncoming traffic.  Just next to the police vehicle was a heavy machinery engine, a grader, I believe.  I was seeing so much that was happening all over, in such a short time, to even decipher what was going on.  My reading of the situation was that the grader was demolishing kiosks near that roundabout and the residents were protesting this move.  

It did not take me long to even think twice before…

“Kijana kuja hapa!”

I turned.  I was now just crossing the road, ahead of the police car that was blocking the road.  I was set to cross to the extreme end of the road and walk towards Nairobi Water treatment compound and past the roundabout.

It was not me who was being kijana-d, it was a mwananchi behind me.  I would soon observe him fall into the grip of some plain clothed person.  I guessed it must have been a policeman, by virtue of him holding a walkie-talkie and hanging around the road-blocking police car.

“Wapi mask!  Mbona unatembea bila mask!?,” the plain clothed policeman asked him.  

By this time he was tightly gripping the persons trousers on the waist area.  That was not a grip that he was going to get out of – no way.

I was already twenty metres gone, towards the roundabout to know how that episode ended.  The only episode that I would finally see was the corona numbers when I looked them up on the worldometers site.  Global infections stood at 50,961,502, with 1,265,101 death and 35,914,825 recovering.  That put the active cases at 13,781,576 as at today, Monday.  Our own country at no. 75 ranked by total infections, had 63,244 confirmed cases, 1,130 deaths, 42,659 recoveries and hence 19,455 active cases.

However, it is not all gloom.  For the first time we have a very promising vaccine candidate by Pfizer/BioNTech collaboration.  This candidate has an efficacy of 90%, and is likely to be rolled out to the masses by the end of the month!  As I said severally, corona is progressively going to be conquered and life shall get back to normal - the real normal, not this curfew-masks-normal, but the normal-normal.

WWB, the coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 9, 2020