5 runs in 5 days challenge – Day 3 of 5

5 runs in 5 days challenge – Day 3 of 5

Day 3 run was one of those that I did not even think about.  I only worried of run no. 1, 2 and 4 when doing the planning of the 5-day event.  It was expected to be just ‘one of those runs’.  However, that is not how it turned out.  It had many surprises in store, and I now wished that I had thought and planned for it.  I have planned to have some breakfast around nine-thirty, but this was not to be.  I was picked at that time and asked to interest a school leaver on the whole engineering career path.  This was to have been a ten o’clock thing, but it came in early.

So, there I was, persuading the new generation student into moving to engineering, with emphasis of my own electrical.  Two hours later and the potential engineer had settled for civil engineering.  What a teacher I am!  I had nonetheless learnt, during my research for this talk, that engineering has now diversified to the level that we now even have ‘sports engineering’, which is the thing that I probably should have specialized in in the first place.  In my time we had the traditional 4 facets of engineering – the DNA that makes engineering engineering.  However, many years later and this is now water under the bridge.

I did a pre-run time check at noon.  I had not yet taken my breakfast.  I knew that a run without fuel would be untenable in this hot weather.  Not only that, but the body also just needs to be kept at some minimum energy level to attempt the 12k that was in store.  I took a quick mid-day breakfast despite fears that it would mess my run that was coming up in the next thirty minutes.  And that is exactly it did…..

I started the run when it was shinning hot.  I was hardly through with two kilometres at Kabete Poly when the pain in the stomach started.  I knew it was the food bouncing up and down.  It got worse and I just reduced the pace and lived with the situation.  You are in for a bad run when you have stomach discomfort.  I am just glad that mine was not running along with me.

How I finished the challenge 12.6km route in 1:07:47 is a miracle.  I was just too slow on this run.  I know that my fears are on day 4 of the challenge and I have lessons learnt already.  I was not badly tired, it is just the stomach discomfort that messed the days run.  The muscles of my legs and ache all over the body is starting to be a real feeling.  I am still confident that I can get out for day 4.  It is now day 5 that seems to be the one to worry about.  However, let us see how it shall go.  Three runs in three days already done.  Two runs in two days await.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, June 15, 2022