One week with covid… vaccine

One week with covid… vaccine

It was Tuesday last week that I was compelled to take the Oxford University’s Astra Zeneca production of corona virus vaccine.  This vaccine is meant to prevent infection or lessen the effects of infections if it occurs.  This Tuesday jab was however just the start of the journey.  Every person who gets a first jab needs a second one, four to eight weeks later, for the dose of this AZ vaccine to be complete.  

Nonetheless this is probably the norm.  Of the WHO approved vaccines, all but one are two jab administered – be it AZ, Pfizer-Biontech or Moderna.  Only Johnson & Johnson’s Jenssen vaccine is a one shot vaccine… and it has just suffered temporary stoppage where it is chiefly administered in the US, after cases of blood clots were reported amongst a few… one in a million I believe.  We already knew about blood clot issues with AZ vaccine even as we accepted to have it last week.  It is a risk worth taking.  As the scientists say, the benefits far outweigh the risks. 

I had read on our marathoners’ discussion page on WhatsApp that one ‘goes down’ after taking the vaccine.  That runner even confessed that he could hardly run after being vaccinated with the AZ jab, about two weeks prior.  He said that he was ‘forced’ to take a one-week break.  I was therefore expecting something to ‘go down’ after that Tuesday experience.  The jab experience was painless and uneventful (read the full story here).  I nonetheless still decided to deliberately monitor the effects of the vaccine in my system, by virtue of taking notes on a daily basis as to how things shall ‘go down’.  And this is it….

With Tuesday as Day 1, the vaccination day, I was on the lookout for anything unusual on Day 2, a Wednesday, since I felt nothing at all on that Tuesday.  I did not do any runs on this Wednesday, since I do my runs only once a week, on Mondays.  I felt nothing different on this Day 2.  I would later in the day have one episode of running nose, where I had the urge to clear my nose at least once or twice, but that was it.  This was an episode from nowhere, but it was a brief five-minute thing in the evening and it was gone forever thereafter.  Maybe it was nothing to do with the vaccine.

My Day 3 was another normal day.  I woke up in the morning and did my daily chores as expected.  There was nothing worthy of mentioning as far as change of health was concerned.  I would later in the evening had a brief dry cough for about five minutes.  The type where the throat just irritates leading to a cough.  This was also brief and was soon gone.  I continued and ended my day without any more feeling of any body effects.

And that was probably it, since my Day 4 was quite normal.  I did my usual daily activities and felt nothing out of the usual.  Day 5 was a Saturday and it did not start with my usual self.  I woke up unusually tired, for no reason that I could think of, since I had not done any strenuous activity or even did a run the previous day.  My walk from home to the workplace, a distance of about 3km using a longer route, was a bit laboured.  However, I was back to my normal self soon after that lethargic walk.  I was back to full energy and the tiredness was gone never to be felt again on that day.

Day 6 was a Sunday and it turned out to be the most normal Sunday.  I was my usual self.  I did walk around and did not feel anything abnormal.  The real test would however be on Day 7, when I would have to face the usual weekly run.  I felt good through the day and was quite ready for the evening run even as I started off the run at 4pm.  The run on the usual Uthiru-Gitaru route was just another one of those routine runs.  There was nothing different.  

Running tends to be tideous, and so I was tired as usual, as I pounded the tarmac.  I cannot say that I felt any different than last run.  If anything, the tiredness that I felt during the last run was worse that I felt on this Monday.  That would mean that this Monday’s run was just usual, with the usual tiredness.  I finished the 27k in 2hr 25min.  That 5min 21sec average time for kilometre, is the very same average that I did during the last run.  That would mean that my run pace had not deteriorated after that jab.  I was surely still the same old me.

All could have ended well on that Day 7, until my stomach become the running type in the early evening after dinner.  I did not know whether to attribute this to the refrigerated food or to any other cause.  Apart from that, I was still normal with the residual tiredness of the run.  Nonetheless, I was back to 100% normal as I woke up on Day 8, today Tuesday.  I have been well without any pains or discomfort since morning.  

Even as the total corona infections* globally now hit a high of 137,834,958 with 2,965,968 deaths and 110,837,950 recoveries, with Kenyan numbers being 147,147; 2,394 and 99,580 respectively.  Even as the debate on whether to take the vaccine or not take the vaccine continues.  My own experience tells me that the AZ vaccine has no adverse effect at all on the human body after vaccine, at least the first jab.  It is a shot on the arm like any other… and then you forget that it ever happened.  Maybe the shot number two of June 1 will have its own story?

*source: worldometers

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, April 13, 2021

When you run into a vaccine, do not wait

When you run into a vaccine, do not wait

The notification came in late.  As late as night time during the Easter Monday holiday.  Who even checks official email during the holiday?  And at night for that matter!?

Anyway, that is when the information that there would be a free vaccination camp was disseminated.  It would be held on the very next day, if anything, in just a few hours’ time.  It was a voluntary jab, but it was available… for free.  It was a moment of reflection and decision.  

The official vaccine in Kenya is the Astra-Zeneca release.  The same AZ that had gotten bad publicity in Europe and South Africa, leading to the stoppage of its administration for some time before resumption in Europe, with SA not reusing it thereafter.  The claim against AZ was that there were cases of blood clot manifestation observed on those who had taken it.  The SA people had accused the jab of not being effective at all.

I had followed the story to the conclusion that there was no correlation between the particular jab and the clots.  The clot was just an observation that could be observed on any jab anyway.  The SA twist was due to change of virus variant.  However, that episode had already given AZ a bad nametag.  Even the motherland that had received the first batch of one-million doses had not survived the vaccine hesitancy.  

Many weeks later, since the arrival of the vaccines in early March, and the government was still convincing the seemingly reluctant front-line workers to be vaccinated.  The elderly were also getting reluctant.  A colleague even confessed to me that her elderly mum had said a big ‘No’ when presented with the opportunity for the vaccine.  Her rejection was because she did not ‘trust’ the vaccine, a vaccine, any vaccine.

I had only a few hours to decide whether I shall partake of this jab or not.  The vaccine was surely AZ, as the only free jab authorized for public use in Kenya.  It was a two-shot regime, meaning that once you get into the first jab, then you are stuck in the mix, and must be available for the next jab some four to eight weeks later.  

I had woken up on this decision day Tuesday with a decision to make.  Should I, or should I not?  I kept juggling the dichotomy in my mind for the first hours of the morning.  I would later observe the camp already setup and a few people already on queue.  An ambulance parked next to the tents and the vaccination exercise was surely a real thing.

My decision was made around ten, when I saw myself walk to the vaccination tent.  The decision was partly made due to a ‘friendly reminder’ that the boss had given to his staff.  Telling them that when a vaccine comes your way – whichever the name – so long as it is an approved WHO COVID19 vaccine, then do not even think about it.  Take it! (Ask later).  

I have known the boss with those ‘friendly’ ones.  They usually mean compulsion.  When there is no compulsion then the reminder is usually just a ‘reminder’.  So, when he gave that ‘friendly’ one just last week, I knew that there was no thinking much about this.  This was the direction and I knew that very soon even employment terms of service would have something to do with vaccine-compliance.  I know how these things work.  When cloudy, prepare for rain.

I would soon be registering my name and telephone number on an attendance sheet.  Then I would be soon seated with a social-distanced group of about fifty.  We just sat and waited, not knowing what to expect.  Just ahead was a fully covered tent, with an entrance fleece, and there must have been an exit on the other end, since those who went in did not come out.  

On this front entrance stood a staff who would call two names at a time into the tent.  What was going on there?  I imagined that going through the tent would lead to another ‘proper’ registration process, followed by the vaccine administration somewhere ahead.  I kept waiting.  We kept waiting.  It took about an hour before my name was called to that tent.  I had my temperature taken with a handheld thermo-gun as I got into that tent.

“Keep that temperature, it shall be required later on,” the staffer who had taken the temperature reminded me, even as I took one of the two seats in that tent.  Straight ahead were two medics in white, with two other people seated next to them.  These two people were now just getting up to leave.

I was taken aback, since I was immediately called to that opposite side of this open internal space and asked to take one of those now vacant seats.  The lady in white then proceeded to state that she was about to administer the vaccine and wanted me to roll over my left sleeve.  It was so soon!  So unexpected!  It was it!  These two medics were doing the vaccinations right here and right now on this very tent!  I was not yet ready!  I thought that I would still be getting through the hula-hoops before I ‘finally’ get to the vaccination thing.  

I unrolled my left sleeve as the lady went ahead to prepare whatever she was preparing.  I was not even looking at her actions when I felt nothing on my arm, apart from the piece of cotton that she pressed on the upper outer arm for some five seconds, before throwing it away onto a bin.  I was still seated, when she reminded, “I am done, you can pass through and register your details at the next tent”

That was the most unfelt prick ever!  I would have sworn that she did not even inject the arm, had it not been for the used syringe and needle that I observed her dispose on a bin together with that cotton bud.  I had even felt the arm kind of ‘fill-up’ during the yellow fever jab many years ago, being the last time I had an adulthood injection, but this one, nada!  Having survived the unfelt injection that had come and gone so soon, I was full of relief and ready to join in the chatter that was ongoing on the other side of the vaccination booth.  That ‘other side’ meant for the registrations was full of life.  People must have really ‘enjoyed’ their shots, judging by their moods and high spirits.  Everyone was as jovial as never before.

We would soon face another queue of about fifty as we waited for the people operating the four or so computers on the tables centrally located on the big tent to register us.  The movement along the queue was slow!  But who cares!  The vaccination thing that was taking the world by storm was now already done.  The very AZ vaccine that was under bad publicity and hesitancy was now in my system, our systems.

I was finally seated at the registration desk some thirty minutes or so later.  The details being recorded on the computer system were personal details and those of next of kin, followed by being informed to be ready for the next shot ‘on June 1’.

“Hey, WB, do not leave,” someone drew my attention, just as I was getting up from the registration desk about to exit and leave the camp.

I looked around and saw a familiar face, “We want you to help in the registration.  Sit there and get started,” she pointed to the slot just next to where I had been registered.

I took the seat and faced a registration screen full of blanks.  A staffer of the vaccination team gave me an orientation on how to navigate the screens.  From there on it was a breeze… and this strategy of having many people participate in the registration saved the day.  It was not long before we had cleared the once full tent.  

Having seen the registration system, my only barb to the government was their ‘love’ for data duplication!  We had to re-record everything that is already on the national ID cards!  Wasn’t Huduma number the solution to all these data duplication mess!  Imagine typing the same same info that is on the ID, instead of just querying the central Huduma system to population all these!  

Every re-keying in of data introduces wasted times and the new data is prone to errors, especially telephone numbers, email addresses, spellings of names and even ID numbers being recorded incorrectly.  This Huduma project seemed to have been another ‘ghost’, in the increasing items on the list, though it was a noble project with a good intention.  But do not just take my word for it.  You could have seen the time wasted when we had to confirm and reconfirm details that are already with the government central database anyway.

Whether there is vaccine hesitancy or not shall remain to be seen.  Maybe I was just at a vaccine ‘friendly’ camp, since the doses claimed to be four-hundred would soon be finished even before the expected four-o’clock closure… with many more people still queueing.  With global COVID19* infections standing at 132,800,387 with 2,878,681 deaths, with Kenyan numbers being 139,842 and 2,258 respectively, it is a no-brainer that ‘anything that helps’ is better than nothing.  And that ‘anything’ is the COVID19 vaccine, be it AZ, Johnsons and Johnsons, Pfizer-Biontech or Moderna.  

*source: worldometers website

Even Sputnik V, already available in some Kenyan private medical facilities ‘for emergency use’ should be taken wholehearted within a second thought.  Even our southern neighbour, TZ, under a new leader has now acknowledged that ‘uviko-kumi-na-tisa’ is a real thing and any tools in our arsenal to conquer corona is one more conquest for humanity.  The speech of the new leader even elicited praise from the citizens, as I saw on that news ticker at the bottom of TBC news… ‘wananchi waifagilia hotuba ya rais…’  This was a complete U-turn from the denial tendencies that had been the modus operandi of our southern neighbour for long.

Vaccines have and have always had debates, issues, pros, cons and theories of conspiracy.  I would join the boss in a ‘friendly’ persuasion for those who are still hesitant.  The vaccine may not prevent you from contacting the corona virus and getting COVID19.  However, you have almost a guarantee that you shall not suffer adverse effects that would usually call for hospitalization need the related complications that can include the need for induced oxygen intake and ventilator life support.  The vaccine shall enable you just probably experience mild COVID19 symptoms and survive at home, without much ado, should you be unfortunate to contract the corona virus.  The choice remains yours but… when you run into the vaccine, do not wait, go for it.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, April 6, 2021

Running to get service – My Huduma number story

Running to get service – My Huduma number story

When I queued at the local administrator’s office in Uthiru on that bright April morning, the twenty-sixth to be exact, I was just fulfilling a government directive.  At that time, in 2019, all citizens had been directed to apply for their huduma numbers by June or face the consequence of not accessing government services.  To sweeten the threat, we had been warned that those without the ‘number’ would wish that they had it when the numbers are eventually issued later that year.  I did not want to ‘wish’ and with nothing to lose anyway, I found myself going through the motions of registration.

The registration process was simple enough – fill in a 2-page form with details of all your existing documents, including national ID, NSSF, NHIF, passport, residence, employment, family and then present the form to the attendant for data capture.  After that, the various documents would be scanned, your picture taken, then an acknowledge slip would be issued.  In my case the tablet computer in use even stopped working midway through the process, forcing a reboot of the gadget, followed by a restart of the lengthy process of data capture.  There was no partial and progressive saving of information.  It was an all-or-nothing operation.  However, I finally left the chief’s compound with the thin long strip titled ‘Acknowledgement Slip’.

Then, 2019 came, matured and went.  Life was back to normal and the huduma number thing was soon forgotten.  There was no mention of the cards that should have been issued at the end of year.  I even went on a sojourn to the north pole and back, while the status of huduma remained unknown.  If anything, the year was coming to an end and the only matter of concern was the new ailment being noted in China around December as the year was coming to an end.  By January of 2020, the new ailment that was affecting the respiratory system and starting to kill people was given the name Severe acute respiratory syndrome version 2 corona virus disease of 2019 or ‘SARS-2-COVID19’.

And once it was let loose, the Corona virus started to spread furiously around the world and continued to cause COVID19 in its wake.  It was in the February that the first case was reported in Kenya and the country immediately shut down schools and colleges, and sent learners home in the middle of their school session.  Employees were asked to consider working from home.  A never-before seen curfew was imposed from 6.00pm to next day 5.00am.  We lived in the fear of the unknown most of 2020.  Nairobi would soon be completely shut off from the rest of the counties, with travel to and from the city outlawed.  This was in an effort to contain the spread of the corona virus to just within its borders and prevent the virus from jumping out onto other counties.  By this time, Huduma was out, corona was in.

It was towards July that travel in and out of the city of Nairobi was lifted and people started moving about.  Nighttime curfews remained, though the timing had been moved to nine, and even later to ten, though schools remained shut.  Eateries and bars remained closed for many months, while work from home become the norm.  Some businesses closed forever due to the effects of reduced business hours, supply chain problems, reduced customers and lack of business altogether.  Such business included schools that remained shut since February and retail outlets, such as Tuskys, which would later blame reduced numbers as a cause for its woes.  There was no thinking about it…. Huduma was out, corona was in.

It was not until September that schools and colleges started opening up.  Wearing of face masks continued being a statutory requirement at all public places.  Even runners had to adorn such masks while running on public roads.  Handwashing, hand sanitization and social distancing become buzz words.  Mass events, including religious, political and sporting were postponed or cancelled altogether.  

Even the Standard Chartered Nairobi International marathon that had be held consistently for over 15 years in the month of October had to be cancelled.  Prior to this, the Mater Heart run of May, that was also an over 15-years event had been cancelled.  All major mass events in the international arena were cancelled, including the football leagues and even the Olympic games that had been scheduled for Japan in 2020.  Among the words in the vocabulary at this point in time… Huduma was out, corona was in.

The year 2020 would come to an end with, having started with zero COVID cases, according to official WHO records and ending with 84million worldwide infections.  The year 2020 that had started with zero COVID-19 deaths, would end with 1.8million deaths globally.  The year that started with zero cases in Kenya, would end with 96,614 infections and 1,681 deaths – that included several prominent public figures.  A new disease had just taken root and it was killing 2% of those it infects.  The new disease had forced the closure of several sectors of global economies, including sports, tourism and travel.  Huduma was by now forgotten, corona was in everybody’s way.

The year would also begin with good news in the vaccines front, with new vaccines, developed in record time of under one year, being released for public use to mitigate the corona virus.  Three frontline contenders in the name of Pfizer-BionTec, AstraZeneca and Moderna would have vaccines their vaccines available for distribution and use.  Other vaccines also came up in Russia and China for inoculation against COVID19.  

The year started with a promise of mass vaccinations, though it was a long-way-off promise especially for the continent of Africa.  Even our own country indicated that the vaccines would only be available for prioritized distribution to the critical workforce such as security forces, health workers and teachers, then the elderly and the sick.  This would be the target areas when it lays hands on 24-million vaccine doses anytime from February.  We started living the ‘new normal’, read, ‘living with corona’.  After all, even if the vaccines get home, some people still not it anyway.  Huduma was now completely off the records, while corona was setting the records.

The ‘forgotten’ came knocking when I got that SMS on January 10, 2021…

Dear me, your Huduma Card is ready.  Visit https [link details] to select your pick-up point.  For enquiry call 0800221111. STOP*456*9*5#

“This cannot be true!,” I shouted out loud when I saw this message at almost ten in the night.  

I would forget about it until the next day when I opened up the link details on a computer and for sure found a query form.  There were three questions, requiring one to pick the county from a dropdown list, followed by sub-county, then the collection point.  I ended up selecting KAWANGWARE as the collection point.  

There was no detail on which particular location in Kawangware, but it sounded logical enough as a pickup point.  I submitted the form and got a confirmation that I had successfully updated my pickup address as Kawangware and that my card would be ready for collection within the next 21-days.  The message promised that I would receive yet another SMS notification once the card was available.

I was to have the card on Jan. 31.  I started the waiting.  It was not to be, since I had not yet received any SMS notification by Jan. 31.  I started accepting that this was part of the same old ‘promises unkept’ that had become the huduma story.  

It was not until Feb. 10 that I finally got that SMS… 

Dear me, your Huduma Card S/No: [serial number] has been delivered to NAIROBI-KAWANGWARE Office. For enquiry, call 0800221111

The message did not have anything like ‘come pick it’, nope, it just that stated that the card had been delivered (do what you want).  It was not until yesterday, Friday, Feb. 12 that I decided to look for the Kawangware office and pick my card.  With no indication as to where the office was, I had no choice but to call the Oo-Eight-hundred number to ask for the directions to the collection point.  I was surprised that the number was in operation, as some very polite person on the other end of the line directed me to the District Commissioners office on Naivasha road.

“Remember to carry your original ID, and have the SMS message,” she concluded.

It took some asking around to get to the DC’s office, since it was not strictly on Naivasha road.  It was the Chief’s office that was on Naivasha road.  I had to take a diversion and walk about four hundred metres to the get to the DC’s place.  When there, the printed papers pasted on the walls and windows directed me straight to the collection point.  I only handed over my ID and within a few minutes the attendant was flipping through what looked like one-million cards, tied with rubber bands in bundles of probably one-hundred cards.  I have never seen such many cards!  No wonder there was that news item that Kenyans had ‘refused’ to collect their cards.

I would momentarily be studying the card.  The same that was almost two-years overdue.  The Huduma card is exactly same size as the national ID card – ATM card size.  It replicates the information as exactly as they are on the national ID card.  If anything, the card is even branded as ‘National Identity Card’.  The only difference is that it has a chip, it has not signature… and the photo is coloured.  Make no mistake about this, the Huduma card shall replace the national ID – but do not take my word for it – the government had indicated that intention from day 1.  It is just becoming true before our very eyes.

But it did not take long before I started getting SMSs from entities that should not be having my contact information in the first place…

From Nrbservices… Do you own land in Nairobi? Pay your land rates immediately

I swear that I have never shared my details with Nrb.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 13, 2021.

New year that is not new - how 2021 started

New year that is not new - how 2021 started

When I did the end of year run over the lunch hour on Thursday, December 31, 2020, I was doing this to achieve two objectives.  One was to fulfil the two runs a week practice that I had established for some time now, and two, I wanted to run the Friday run in advance, with the next day being a holiday.

My run around Pioneer estate in Eldoret remained the same that I have now become well accustomed to.  This run is made up of four circuits, with each circuit just about five kilometres each.  A final warm-down circuit is available just in case I still have some energy reserves.  This final circuit is about 4k, but generally on the same route as the earlier four rounds, as I head to the finish line.

I started the run at noon when the weather was downcast.  It looked like it could rain.  The cloud cover that had started a day before had now reached its crescendo and for sure, some rain would have to fall out of the sky – no doubt.  It was now just a matter of when, not if.  This cloud cover was a welcome relief since it has been sunny and dry since I started my holiday in mid-December.  There has not been a drop of rain ever since.  However, the clouds started to fill the sky on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, we had a fully cloud-covered sky.  On Thursday there was no way the sun could even shine through the dark umbrella of clouds up there.  Rain was a must.

The weather remained still, even cold, when I started on the run.  It was not long before I would face the cold wind, hardly one kilometre into my run.  I was heading towards the Sosiani river when the cold intensified.  This was my first run in December in such a cold.  I have been running in the hot sun, suffering a dehydration headache by the time I hit 5k.  Today I was shivering badly, hardly before the second kilometre.

The run continued and the first circuit was soon done.  However, the drizzle started just as I began my second circuit.  If I kept going, then I would be at Sosiani river in ten minutes.  By then it would be too late to take shelter, should the rain get heavier when I was at that section.  So, should I continue with the run or abort it?

I decided that it would be worthwhile to take the risk and even be rained on.  After all, I have been running in the sun for so long.  One day run in the rain would be OK.  I therefore decided to keep going with my second circuit.  The drizzle continued even as I went by Sosiani river.  I would be out of the river section less than five minutes later, and would be back to the trail far from the river.

The drizzle continued, though it did not increase.  The drizzle was gone and the weather remained cold and downcast by the time I was on the fourth circuit.  The otherwise dusty paths had now been sprinkled with the showers to diminish their dust emissions.  My run was therefore not dusty, nor wet, since the rain had not been so much.

I was glad that I was doing this Friday run on a Thursday, since the weather was just perfect for a run.  No sun, no rain, a bit cold, but the manageable kind of cold.  I would soon finish the four full circuits and face the final warm-down circuit that would bring the run home.  The run ended in a time of 2.17.13 over a 25.6k distance.  I was just glad that I was done with runs for the year 2020.

Now it was time to face the new year.

But wait a minute!  Which new year?  In fact, what is new year?  With a curfew at ten and a prohibition against gatherings, there would be no mid-night shouts and merry making.  There would be no midnight noises for the first time in forever.  Can you say that there was a new year if there was no shout of ‘Happy New Year’ at mid-night?  Well, for the first time, there was no such shout.  The night was quiet.  The streets were quiet.  There were no sounds of any movements in the night environment, be it of people, motorbikes or vehicles.  If anything, there was even a drizzle as midnight approached…. and then the midnight just passed.  For the first time, there was not new year!

To prove that there was no new year, I woke up on what was supposed to be a new year, Jan. 1, 2021 and there was nothing new.  The world was still as gloomy as it was the previous day.  If anything, the weather had gone worse.  Those clouds that we thought would bring forth the much-anticipated rains had now dissipated, and the sky had gone back to clear blue.  I was even glad that I had done my run the previous day, since this January 1 date was just too sunny and hot to even contemplate a run.

I would in a moment be doing self-reflection and realizing that new year was what you made it to be.  We have been conditioned to believe that there is some special day in a year, called new year, when things start from zero, and some miracles happen to fulfil your wish list.  Unfortunately, let me burst that bubble.  There is nothing like a new year when new things ‘just happen’ and some ‘new force’ comes to the earth to drastically change your life based on your that wish list, aka ‘new year resolution’.  Forget it!

New year day is like any other day.  Do you usually enjoy your day, regardless of the month/date?  If you do, then continue enjoying each and every day as it comes.  Even if that day coincidentally is called January 1.  Do you want to change something in your life?  Work on it today.  Do not wait for January 1 and expect that some ‘magic’ will come with that day.  Sorry, do what you want every day, any day.  There is no magic that happens on Jan. 1, sorry.

If you do not believe me, then ask yourself this – on Jan. 1, 2020 we started the year with fanfare and wished that life would be good.  By that date, there had been a new virus called corona, discovered in China.  That virus was causing a new disease called COVID-19.  On that day, we had ZERO confirmed cased of COVID-19 in the world, according to the WHO*.  There was nothing.  The attention of the world was still on this new disease, which was yet to be put into context.  On that day we made new year wishes that this new disease should ‘pass’ and made resolutions that it shall not get anywhere near us.

*https://covid19.who.int/

Ask yourself the same question now.  It is Jan. 1, 2021.  We all know that our 2020 wishes on the corona front did not come true.  The new corona disease spread like wildfire and devastated the whole world, as if we never made any new year resolution to keep it at bay.  Not only that, it hit us with a vengeance killing many people that we know – locally and internationally, prominent and commoners, celebrities and celebrators.  It infected and affected many people that we know – our family, our workmates, our neigbours, our acquaintances, our leaders, our selves!  It caused disease burdens, infected and affected human bodies, caused body aches – forced people into hospitals.  Forced and self-quarantine become the norm.

Look at Jan. 1, 2021, when we have 84,418,109 COVID-19 infections and 1,834,807 deaths globally.  In Kenya, the numbers are 96,614 with 1,681 deaths.  So why were we assuming that a new year wish was the antidote?  Why would we believe that is shall be different as we start a new year?  Of course, we cannot lose hope, but we should be waiting for a particular date in the year to make resolutions.  Tackle things as they come.  

Good news – It is not all gloom.  The death rate from COVID-19 has remained low (2% globally, 2% locally).  Many people who get the corona virus shall recover, mostly without even need for hospitalization.  And even more music to the year – we have at least three vaccines approved for use and already in use (from Pfizer-BionTec, AstraZeneca, Moderna).  Our Kenyan shutdown of most sectors is being lifted progressively.  Even all our schools are being open tomorrow.  We shall just live with masks, social distancing, hand washing and self-quarantine with healthy living, in the event that we get the virus.

You still do not believe me that there was not new year?  There is usually no new year without fireworks at midnight right?  Well, there were no fireworks at midnight this time round.  Some people tried their fireworks at 10.00pm before the curfew started…. but that was still not at midnight.

My parting shot is that we should live our lives fully, one day at a time.  Let us start doing what we want to do on, the date that we want to it.  We cannot just be waiting for January 1 to somehow, miraculously change our lives or start something new.  Change your life on any calendar day of the year.  Start anything new on any calendar day of the year.  Do not wait for January.  Just like the corona issue taught us, we cannot live on ‘wishful-hopeful’ based on a particular calendar day.  Hoping that making a resolution on such a day will somehow change things.  Let us live every day fully, no waiting for a particular day of the year to make wishes.

WWB, the Coach, Eldy, Kenya, Jan. 3, 2021

Running back is never easy

Running back is never easy

That Tuesday, December 15 run should have been the last run in the year.  It was a city run and it was the usual run through the Mary Leakey route and back to Uthiru.  It did not have anything unusual, apart from the blazing sun that contributed to the 2hours of misery on that route.  But was the sun any surprise?  No!  It has been a hot December and I do not recall any rain falling since the clock hit Dec. 1 on that Monday midnight.  

It is now just a matter of living with the heat.  It is likely to get worse as we head to January and impossible in February, before the long rains bring a relief in March.  That means that we better get used to the heat… and probably that is why Dec. 15 should have been the last run, until the heat dies down…. in March!

It was however not to be.  I found myself cutting my holiday short when I moved through the motions of dressing up onto the run gear and just leaving.  However, this was no longer a run in the city in the sun, this was a run in the home of champions… with the sun!  The 5km circuit that I have now established become the ‘new normal’ on this Monday, exactly one week since I had vowed to ‘retire’.

The route is established, hence I am now able to just set off on that circuit and just run it through, without much ado.  Much had remained unchanged on that route, apart from the drying vegetation and dried-up streams that would otherwise be forcing its waters from the soggy soil on the river sides onto the winding Sosiani river.  Their impression on the ground remained evident even as I ran through that part of the route.  Sosiani itself was not its old self.  It seemed a bit thin.  

The available water had retreated to the middle of the river course, leaving a larger than usual river bank on either sides, with stones and occasional tree stumps evident even from my running path some one-hundred metres away.  It was surely dry and drying.  I was surprised that there was hardly a rain in Eldy.  I had now stayed for five days and had not seen (or heard, if at night) any rain.  It was hardly last month when many of my runs would be rained through or cancelled due to mid-day rains.  This was a big change!

The Monday run went well by all definitions, bearing in mind the heat that prevailed over the lunch hour time slot.  I did not know that a run in the overhead sun could be that tiring!  It turned out to be!  I had initially thought that the tiredness was due to my coming back from retirement, but it seemed not.  The tiredness was a direct result of the heat.  I know this because I was having a headache by the time I had done the 2hr 15min run through five circuits.  

A headache after a run is a sure sign of dehydration.  But do not take my word for it.  I would find myself taking a litre of water, laced in Coke, rather Coke laced with water immediately after the run.  It was not long before I was taking another litre of juice in two large gulps, ‘just like that’.

It is now seven hours after the run and my thirst level remains fairly unquenched and the headache fairly unchanged.  This surely must have been the hottest run taken since retirement, though it is likely not to be the last one this year.  This is because a marathoner needs a ‘big tiredness’ in readiness for Christmas and another big one in readiness for New Year.  A big tiredness is also possible after a run.  Will there be any retirement at this rate?  Is there even need to retire, if we are kind-a-living one day at a time in these days of Corona?

Corona is so much in the air, and we even have a new ‘fast spreading strain’ that has ‘mutated’ from the original one that we know of.  This new one is believed to have originated in the UK just this week.  Getting Corona, whether the usual or the new one, would usually mean a compulsory 14-day quarantine – from all activities, including runs, that is for the majority of cases that do not end up in hospital ICU.  

Technically, these fourteen days should be the ‘holed up’ type, where you are locked in the house without a chance to get out of the house (if you follow the expectations of quarantine).  That means that we just need to keep running while waiting for that forced 2-week break when it comes.  A runner is in a better position when the runner has accumulated enough mileage, sorry, kilometage, before facing such a forced break.  That means only a two-week downtime since the last run.  The last run+2-weeks should remain your calculation on the duration of being ‘holed up’ when it happens.  The nearer the last run, the better for you.

So, what is the parting shot?  Corona numbers* are now 77,487,024 infections globally with 1,704,893 deaths and 54,379,440 recovering, while Kenyan numbers are 94,614, 1,644 and 76,060 respectively.  The numbers are bad.  However, we already have two vaccines approved in the US (read, approved for worldwide use) that are already getting into people’s arms in the US, UK and Canada (and Australia and soon rest of Europe-27).  These two being Pfeizer-BionTech and Moderna – the first with its neg-70 storage quagmire, and the latter with normal fridge temperature storage.  The third candidate, Astra-Zeneca is not far from approval in the US (read as before).  

That means that Corona is heading for a defeat – new mutant or not.  With the vaccine being a bit far from Kenya, a 14-day rest shall remain our immediate treatment for Corona going forward, in the unfortunate event that it hits us even after we face-mask, hand-wash, sanitize and social-distance.  Before then…. keep running since you never know when you shall be forced to take that ‘treatment’.

*source - worldometers website on 21-Dec-2020

WWB, the Coach, Eldy, Kenya, 21-Dec-2020

15km of pure pain – when you are stuck on the run… with no end in sight

15km of pure pain – when you are stuck on the run… with no end in sight

I just had to stop.  The pain was simply unbearable.  I have experienced such a pain before, but not this early in the run.  I had just hit the 8km mark at Mary Leakey school junction.  I was on a half-marathon lunch hour run.  I was now starting the second third of my run, which would take me to the turning point past Kanyariri market.  I would then make a U-turn and run the length of Kanyariri road all the way to Ndumbo and back to Uthiru for the last third of the run.

But here I was – stopping after an otherwise well-paced run.  Here I was – limping.  The pain on the right thigh was just unbearable.  I could hardly walk.  It was excruciating with every step, even though I was now just walking and kicking that leg as I limped along.

It was however too late to turn back and face another 8k already covered.  I could, but I really dreaded the 2km uphill from ‘the river’ past Wangari Maathai institute all the way to Ndumbo.  That hill on Kapenguria road would spell my doom with such a painful right leg.  I would instead easily keep going to the tank, to reach the Kanyariri road junction and turn left back to Ndumbo and Uthiru.  This would be a shorter route to the finish line, than turning back.  

After kicking that leg while limp-walking over a distance of ten or so footsteps, I did regain some relief on that leg, but my run was now done.  I could hardly accelerate.  In my view, I was running at the slowest pace done this year.  I would hardly do a 6min per kilometre at this pace – and that would even be a great achievement if it materialized.  

Resumption of the run reinstated the pain in its full pinch.  I could hardly fold the knee of that leg.  How was I going to make this run through?  I was still too far from the finish line, whichever route I did take.  I just had to endure a painful run for the rest of the run.  What a day!  What a Tuesday!

It is only by sheer willpower, and the fear of being stuck far from my finish line, that kept me running through my pain.  I would be better off collapsing within my home territory, not within the fields of the university farm or along the Kanyariri tarmac.  I just had to make it home.

I therefore kept running, albeit slowly, just to get myself moving and eventually finish this run.  This run was painful I tell you.  I was surprised that I still managed to turn to the right when I got to ‘the tank’ junction that joins Kanyariri tarmac.  Am I crazy or what!

I would have and should have just turned left and gone back to Ndumbo and back to the finish line but no!  I had to prolong the pain by turning right and extending my run past Kanyariri market, some three kilometres ahead, then had to run back same distance and eventually all the way to Ndumbo market and eventually to the finish line.

It was a painful run all through.  The muscle pull did not relent.  If anything, it got worse.  I grimaced and reduced speed to the bare minimum most of the way.  I was more of crawling than running.  Running any uphill stretch was the most painful!

Pain makes you oblivious of many going-ons around you.  The mind tells you to just be done with it.  I do not even recall seeing the Uthiru flyover now half demolished and the demolition now ongoing on the Ndumbo side of the bridge.  I was too concerned with survival despite the rumbling caused by the heavy machinery on top of the bridge as it knocked down on the concrete structure of the bridge.  It was working hard to get that bridge finally destroyed.

The pain would finally come to an end when I stopped my timer after 2hr 8min and 17sec.  I was so relieved that it was done with, even as I limped to the washroom and wash off the mid-day sweat.  It has been my left foot that has been a culprit of being painful with every run.  Today was different.  It was the right leg that did me in.  I hardly felt a pain on the left foot.

Lesson learnt – be glad when facing challenges ‘in advance’, since you have another day to make amends.  I shudder to think of what would have been if this day was one of those ‘real’ marathon days!  I would have probably recorded my ‘personal worst time’ (PW).  I am therefore glad that I did face this pain when there was no competition… in advance so to speak.

Talking of competition, do I see one such ‘compe’ when it comes to COVID19 vaccines?  The leading three vaccine initiatives – AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfeizer and Moderna are outdoing each other to see who among them shall launch a real ‘shot’ soon.  And the winner is…. 

The UK has officially started vaccinations of its citizens based on the Pfeizer/BioNTech vaccine starting today, Tuesday.  They shall target the over 80-year olds and the front-line health care workers.  This vaccine however requires a second shot in 21-days and ultra-cold storage of neg-70.  The same P/B vaccine is about to be rolled out for the citizens in the US by next week.  Though these three leading contenders are not the only COVID19 vaccines ready to roll.  Russia is already vaccinating its citizens with Sputnik V and China has Sinopharm in many arms at the moment.

So, before you shout out loud, over the chances that the vaccine shall permeate to the other parts of the world such as our motherland, have a look at this… The corona virus has now infected 68,126,444* people globally with 1,554,355 fatalities and 47,184,488 recoveries.  The UK numbers are 1.7M with 61,434 deaths, while the US numbers are 15.3M with 291,016 deaths.  Deaths per 1M population for the two countries are 903 and 877 respectively.  

Based on these numbers, maybe the UK and the US should be entitled to being in the rush for the vaccines.  Compare that with our motherland, where the infections are 88,579 with 1,531 deaths.  Our fatalities per 1M population is 28.  Nonetheless, loss of life remains loss of life and no numbers should be any good.  We too need this vaccine.  Surely, in the spirit of ‘compe’, one of the other top three, or any of the over sixty, should be looking our way.  Maybe our runs shall be back to normal, without masks and restrictions once we get our own dose of vaccines.  Maybe this wishful thinking shall be sooner than we wish to think.

*all data from worldometers website on Dec. 8, 2020 (4.00pm)

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 8, 2020

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