Of being a Good Person, despite corona – the story of running into the philosophy of life

Of being a Good Person, despite corona – the story of running into the philosophy of life

I gave up on declaring any corona numbers as a milestone.  Every infection, every death, every affliction in whichever way, is already bad as it is.  We do not have to wait for some numbers to consider it a milestone.  We have corona milestones every second and it is a situation that we, as humanity, need to put a stop to soon.  There is no pride in any corona numbers, the very corona virus that causes SARS-COV2-2019 disease, also called COVID19 disease.

Look at today’s numbers* as an example.  140M global confirmed infections – 140,630,831 to be exact.  And these are the confirmed cases, meaning that a test was done to determine this status.  We all know that there are likely to be many more untested cases that can add to that number at any given time.  I would throw in a wild guess of 10% more (not very wild though, since positivity rates on any samples collected locally have tended to be in the 5-15% range upon random testing in any population).  That would mean 154M global infections!  The global confirmed deaths are 3M, or 3,014,739 to be exact.  My 10% topup puts that number at 3.3M.  It is that bad!  Our Kenyan numbers are 150,260 and 2,443 respectively, of course, add my 10% additional cases on both numbers that are not confirmed by tests.

Though these numbers are bad, we have hope as humanity, in the name of preventive measures, therapeutics, treatments and vaccines.  The first and last on that list are what can be of utmost help to humanity, so that we do not get infected in the first place or we be protected even before infection.  Vaccinations also reduce the adverse effects of the disease in case of an infection, generally meaning not getting a serious case that needs hospitalization.  Each intervention has its challenges, but we are on the road to recovery, despite the numbers.

The point of my story today is however different.  I do not want to glorify corona, but to encourage humanity to keep living to their fullest each and every day.  Living to your fullest also mean getting the best joy and happiness in everything that you do.  Being fulfilled and content.  Having a peace of mind.  Being a good person!  This is the challenging one.  What is even being ‘good’ all about?  Why even bother?  Who even determines who is good?  Or even who is bad for that matter!

I was pondering over this and realized that the judgment is probably two-fold.  How you judge yourself and how others judge you (and of course how you judge others).  In your own metrics, your own marking scheme – if you even have a marking scheme in the first place.  How do you rate yourself?  You are the candidate, and you are the interviewer at the same time.  How do you score?  How do you do on your scale of marks?  With the same (or different) marking scheme, how do you rate others?  And with the same (or different) scheme, how are others rating you?

These are weighty issues and quite complex.  To start with, you cannot dictate to others how they judge you.  You can also not dictate to others how you judge them – I told you it was complex.  Can you even dictate to yourself how you judge yourself?  Are you not too lenient or even too harsh?  You can really confirm your impartiality?  How about if you refuse to judge yourself, or if other refuse to be judged by you – or even you refuse to be judged by them!  I told you – it is a complex set of prepositions.

Anyway, assuming you know how to judge, and you have judged yourself and/or others (and be aware that they have judged you, rightly or wrongly), then there is the strife to be ‘good’.  To receive ‘good’ reviews.  Something positive to encourage and motivate you.  Being content with what you have and how you are.  For runners or athletes, the ‘good’ measures would mean you are happy with your athleticism and your routines.  You feel content.  You feel ‘good’.  Extend the same euphoria to your life – and get the same level of satisfaction and fulfillment.  That to me will be the ‘feel good’.

How about how others judge you?  Do they believe that you are ‘good’?  Remember that you do not have control over what they think about you.  You can only hope, if you even care in the first place.  Sometimes others will tell you as it is in the form of feedback.  They will tell you that are good or otherwise.  You can take their word for it as their judgment of you.  Let me not even go to the direction as to whether they are telling you the truth – just assume that you believe them.

Of course, the whole debate can have many ‘what ifs’.  That is why at some point you need to take a stand.  Decide on what you shall believe in.  Decide on your marking scheme and trust it.  Decide on your ethos and stick to them.  Decide on one stand, one conviction, one modus operandi – trust it, assume it is true, be convinced it is for you and live by it.  You could refer to some rule book, some established standards, some policies somewhere, your own gut feeling or a combination of some.  Judge yourself by it, mark yourself by it and trust yourself to judge yourself correctly, truthfully and impartially.  Take a stand and trust your stand – chances are, you are right in what you finally stand for.  That is you.  That is the ‘good’ you.

Finally, how people judge you is likely upto them.  You have little say, though you can have some influence.  You hope that they judge you upon is correct, truthful, and impartial, just like self-judgment.  For your self – have your stand, stick to what you believe.  For the others, let the external person judge you as they deem fit – rightly or wrongly.  If the external view is voiced, then you can have the opportunity to correct a misperception.  Whether the correction shall stick is another issue, but you would have had your say.  If it is not voiced, then it is a different story, one that you will just have to live with.

Oh, and talking about what others say about you… I once participated in a prayer.  The person leading the pray, in our group of five or so, asked for the divine intervention on how others judged him.

“Help me be a good father, that the children may judge me rightly”

Judgement is difficult, be it self-judgment, by others or to others.  Take a stand and believe in your stand.  If will just realize that you are a good person and others affirm the same.  The judgment metrics are already up there.

WWB, the Coach, April 17, 2021

Six months later…

Six months later…

Today has many significant events worth remembering.  It is 9-11.  Yes, the date in 2001 when terrorists attached the twin towers buildings in the US and brought them down, causing death to 2,996 people and damage to property.  Thereafter, the terrorists affiliated to the event have continued to attack, damage and kill people in different places in the world, especially on or around this date.

It is also on 3-11, six months ago, when the World Health Organization, WHO, declared that a new virus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus version 2 of 2019 (SARS-CoV-2-2019) as a global pandemic.  The disease caused by this virus came to be known as Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19).  The virus and disease originated from a food market in China’s Wuhan City in Hubei province in December 2019.  The virus then started spreading from China to the rest of the world… one country at a time.

On that date that WHO was declaring ‘the thing’ aka TT as a pandemic, the world had recorded 123,416* infections and 4,641 deaths.  Those 124 thousand infections were distributed in regions as follows Americas had 1010, South-East Asia 189, with 22,320 in Europe, 9966 in Eastern Mediterranean, 71 in Africa and 89,860 in Western Pacific.  The deaths were distributed worldwide as 28 in Americas, 1002 in Europe, 2 is SE Asia, 364 in E-Med, 0 in Africa and 3238 in W-Pacific.

In the same month of March when WHO was declaring that pandemic, and in response to this pandemic did Kenya also initiate a dusk to dawn curfew and lockdown of four regions, including the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa.  On that 3-11 date, when WHO was declaring the worldwide pandemic, Kenya had 0 cases of Corona virus.  

The new virus was spreading through breathing in respiratory droplets (cough, sneeze) from an infected person.  The infected people exhibited symptoms such as fever, dry cough and tiredness as common ones, with some reporting loss of smell and taste.  The virus incubation period was determined as 14-days, leading to such a duration of isolation after travel to a hot zone or self-isolation when one suspected that they had the infection.  

However, only a few of those with the disease required hospitalization, and most would just suffer the discomfort of the infection symptoms and get well without the need for medication.  Getting rid of the virus from their body in two or so weeks.  At the period of disease, those ailing are advised to take lots of rest, avoid interactions with other people, be on a balanced and healthy diet.  Visiting the hospital should be the last resort, when home rest is not helping at all.  

It was therefore a virus that was serious and not serious at the same time.  Serious because it was new, with many unknowns and spreading exponentially, but not serious due to the low mortality and hospitalization rates.  

Unfortunately, some of those who needed hospitalization would turn out to be surely badly off, with respiratory failure and hence needed assistance to breath by use of ventilators.  This need for ventilators posed a new medical challenge since this required a higher level of hospitalization facilities with associated equipment and expertise costs.  This is where the disease was considered a serious thing.  Lack of such intervention would surely mean death.  This is serious I tell you.

Six months later and the world is different.  There are no more social gatherings or any grouping of more than ten.  Bars and night clubs are closed.  Hotels and restaurants are mostly operating take away service or minimal occupancy with short operating hours.  Night life ended, as most countries have night curfews from nine.  People have to put on face masks when in any public place, including while using public or private transport.  

Temperature checks and handwashing or hand-sanitization at entrance to public spaces such as supermarkets, public transport systems and office blocks has become the new norm.  Humanity have to keep a distance of at least one-metre from each other wherever they are, be it while using vehicles or while being served in a supermarket.  This restriction on number of people at any gathering has meant that sports and social events are now cancelled for the year.  

All marathon events are not possible this year.  The organizers of the Stanchart Nairobi International marathon that was to be held on Sunday, October 25, 2020 have already communicated the cancellation. The event is now pushed to next year and is scheduled for Sunday, October 31, 2021.  However, this remains a tentative date, meaning that the possibility of another postponement exists.  That is how badly things have gone.  Ndakaini marathon that should have been held tomorrow, Saturday, September 12 is off.  The Mater Heart run of May was cancelled (read the list of marathons on this earlier blog, where anything scheduled since April 1 has been cancelled)

Our own monthly ‘international’ marathons remain cancelled since March.  I do not see possibility of holding any such event this year.  Nonetheless, individual runs are ongoing just like the one I did this lunch hour, despite them being lonely, boring and non-motivating.  I was on the same route from Eldy town to the 8km junction at Kipkenyo, then back same route then added a twist on the 15k mark leading to a finish on the 22.32km mark.  That was a 1hr 52min 46sec run.  I was glad that I was not rained on, for the first time in many runs.  The last time I took this selfsame route was on Monday.  The rain hit me through the last five minutes of that run.  Today I was lucky, was I not?

But not being rained on did not prevent the world from the reality of Corona virus as we mark the 6-month anniversary of the declaration of the pandemic.  While the total cases were only 124,116* on 3-11, when TT was declared a pandemic, the infections now stand at 27,972,386* with 905,413 deaths.  The infections per region (and fatalities) being 14.4M in Americas (0.5M), 5.1M in SE Asia (89k), 4.6M in Europe (0.2M), 2M in E-Med (54k), 1.1M in Africa (23k) and 0.5M in W-Pacific (11k).  The infection numbers have multiplied 226 times in that 6-month period.

Good news is that the fatality rate for TT remains relatively low at 3.2% world average.  Nonetheless, loss of life remains a serious thing and we do hope that this COVID thing shall be defeated soon.  Several vaccine initiatives are at advanced stages of development, while Russia already has a vaccine available for its masses.  It is now just a matter of time before TT is defeated.  Let us enjoy the secluded moments while they last.  We shall be soon back in the midst of big crowds… laughing out loud in crowded eateries…. while looking back at how 2020 was a totally messed up year.  

Enjoy the moments while they last.

*All the data used in this article are from who.int

WWB, the coach, Eldy Kenya, Sep. 11, 2020

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

Runner versus Co-rona – who shall win?

Runner versus Co-rona – who shall win?

Our monthly marathon was meant to be on Friday, Mar. 27.  It had already been publicized in January when we were formulating the 2020 calendar of events.  I had already sent a reminder to marathoners at the start of the month, just after the Beyond Zero marathon, that the March 27 run was on.  We already had it code-named ‘Easter-run-before-Easter’.

However, a series of turns and twists would come to bear on this run.  It started when the government of the republic ordered all schools and colleges shut by eighteenth, through that communique of Sunday, March 15.  The same advisory asked employers to consider asking their workers to work from home.  All this was as a result of the international spread of the Corona virus.

It would get worse when the employer actually went ahead and issued a ‘work from home’ directive, effective eighteenth.  More was yet to come when a moratorium was imposed on all visits, official and personal.  There was no way that any runner was going to get to the starting line aka ‘be generated’ on March 27.  The goose was cooked… but I doubted if anyone even had an appetite.

The Corona pandemic cannot be underestimated.  It is the most serious situation I have experienced in my lifetime.  We should not be taking it casually.  If anything, we should be speaking about it in hushed tones.  It was traditional to talk about ‘bad’ things in hushed tones or changed names during my childhood.  I have grown up with that etched in me. 

This is a monster!  You should not even be mentioning it by name, lest it hears and responds!  This viral disease, in the family of the flu, is spread through droplets.  And do not think of droplets like rain droplets – nope.  Droplets means the air exhaled from an infection person to the person nearby.  Contaminated surfaces that bear the droplets can infect someone else if these viral particles can be picked out from these surfaces to find their way into the mouth, nose or eyes.  The disease is not airborne; luckily, hence the infection is mainly confined to person-to-person or contaminated-surfaces-to-person. 

Once it afflicts someone, the signs must show in a fourteen-day incubation period.  That fact has led to quarantine requirements whenever one suspects of being in contact with an infected person or situation.  The fourteen-day quarantine eventually leads to either getting it or not getting it.  The treatment or rather no-treatment takes about the same period for the symptoms to go away.  

The symptoms are principally a dry cough, shortness of breath and a high fever.  These should go away on their own within the fortnight, but those with other underlying medical issues are likely to require hospitalization.  These symptoms also hit different people in different ways – with others suffering severe distress more than others.  Admission into hospital or need to take some medicine may be required by others, while others may survive the distress without medication.  Full treatment could taker longer depending on the health complications that would result.

The Corona virus disease of December 2019, COVID-19, is not a small matter.  It has spread throughout the whole world, from the original patient-zero at Wuhan city in Hubei province in China in December 2019, to the current situation, four months later, where almost all countries in the globe have a reported case.  The John Hopkins University and Medicine has a Coronavirus Resource Center, accessible online to the public.  On that site they publish the stats of how the virus is spreading worldwide, with total confirmed cases, total deaths and total recovered.  It is a nice and scary dashboard.

It was a Friday.  It was March 20.  I was looking at the dashboard.  I had already had a long run on Tuesday, three days ago.  That two-thirds of a marathon run had really drained me.  I was completely out of shape on Wednesday, and was just about recovered on Thursday.  I did not have any intention of hitting the road again until the new week.  

But things were happening.  Staff were already working from home.  I had early attempted to attend a meeting at our main hall – the very hall where we can park 600 seats.  On this Friday I was turned away, hardly five minutes after the start of meeting, because the hall ‘was full’.
“What do you mean full?”
“You cannot get in,” the sentry had repeated in a whisper, “Just look and see”
I looked through the door.
The place was full alright – with about twenty people seated.

This came about due to the requirement for ‘social distancing’.  The seats were so sparsely spaced that even fitting twenty was a miracle.  They were so far apart that it looked like an exam room than a meeting room.  I would instead have to tune into the meeting online.  Social distancing and reducing exposure were the main reasons for the now ‘optional’ compulsory advise that we work from home.  Additional precautions were emphasized, being sanitization of hands and surfaces at all times, at all places.  Greetings and hugging had already been abolished like a week prior.

Distancing
It is the social distancing thing that was still puzzling me.  A one-metre gap was needed between people at all times – be it in offices, in walking situations or in meetings.  Thinking of it, now I do know why the hall had like twenty people.  Meetings of more than ten had already been abolished.  The hall in use was actually two halls combined into one for this occasion.  It qualified as two distinct rooms.  Technology made the speaker appear in both at the same time.  Of course, the middle separator had also been removed.

Social distancing – being a metre apart.  I kept thinking about this while watching the proceedings online.
Social distancing… wait a minute!  I had earlier on, on this selfsame morning been in a matatu to Westlands.  I remember being packed onto the fairly small seats on the 32-seater, for the whole 30-minute travel.  There was no metre separation for sure.

Social distancing… I kept thinking about it, since I had used another matatu back and had to seat with the rest of my country people next to one another.  At Kangemi market I had observed how densely parked the market vendors and buyers were, as they jostled on the small footpath besides road.  That footpath had been made worse by the road construction that destroyed almost all available walkway.  Now it is a real struggle for survival between the vendors, who have laid out their wares on the small footpath, and the pedestrians who have to walk-through. 

The story does not end there.  We still have to deal with the buyers who have to stop on the same narrow path to negotiate, look and buy.  That is not all, we have the nduthis that believe that they can pass-by anywhere, anytime and that they are entitled to right of way.  That is not all, we have the wheelbarrows, that are used by vendors smack in the middle of the footpath.  They occasionally get compelled to wheel them back by half a meter to allow people through, before they return them to the road to block it once more.

Social distancing… my mind went back to the other events of just this selfsame day.  I had even been to the local supermarket, where the shelf isles as so narrow, that you literally have to front-hug or hind-bump someone to go past them while moving from isle to isle.  We paid by queuing on a tight-knit fashion at the cashiers.

Social distancing… I am taken aback to the same morning when I had to do some mobile money transaction.  I went to this Uthiru chemist where about six of us were crowded Infront of the grill barrier.  Three of us struggling to get MPESA going, while another three talking to the pharmacist, almost in unison, to get some drug or other.  More people kept coming in and blocking the doorway, waiting to be served.

Social distancing… I thought.

The stats
It was now in the afternoon.  I was seated facing the JHU dashboard.  It had grim statistics of the effects caused by this severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus version 2 (SARS-CoV-2).  This wretched virus!  The same virus that someone called ‘this thing’ on a YouTube video.  His reason was not because ‘it may respond to being called’ but because the content managers at YT had been pulling down videos of ‘the thing’ whenever mentioned by real name – COVID-19 or Corona.

I was at the dashboard – 244,601 total confirmed cases.  That is massive! 
10,031 deaths – a 4% mortality rate. 
86,033 total recovered – 35% recovery rate as at Friday, March 20, 2020 at 12.43.03pm! 
These were bad stats. 

But that was not all, as my ear was still tuned to the AJZ channel, where major cities in the world were on lockdown.  And lockdown means you are locked into your house, without any chance of enjoying the freedoms that you take for granted like taking a walk or doing a run.  London was in lockdown.  Paris was in lockdown.  New York was in lockdown.  

Even Rome was in lockdown, having suffered the most deaths of just over 3k in that 10k figure of mortality, overtaking China, which also had a figure of just over 3k.  The same AJZ that was also breaking the news of the deaths of my favourite musicians in the name of Aurlus Mabele and Kenny Rogers.  Bad news was everywhere on this day!

I was still looking at the dashboard.  I kept looking at it. 
I was listening to stories of ‘the thing’.  I kept listening to them.

‘The thing’ had already caused a ‘work from home’ directive.  The thing (TT) had even caused a death to an innocent Kenyan, who was lynched by the mob for just coughing out loud on the street, with the mob accusing him of having the thing.  TT was bad.  TT was not something to take lightly.  TT had already forced people to start avoiding handling of currency notes and money in general, saying that those papers are breeding grounds for SARS-CoV-2.  What else did TT want from humanity!  What else does TT want from humanity!!

I kept looking at the dashboard.  At this rate, the whole world was going to be infected!  At this rate, we shall be having a lockdown ourselves over here!

“Lockdown!,” I said out loud, unconsciously. 
The prospects of a lockdown were unimaginable.  If social-distancing was already causing us all manner of trouble.  How about a lockdown?
“Lockdown!,” I found myself repeating, shaking my head.

That is when the light-bulb flickered.
“Why can’t I just make the best out of the situation while ‘the thing’ has not yet arrived?”

That question quickly saw me preparing for the evening run that I would otherwise have been taking a breather from.  The March 27 run was already off, but the March 20 run was not yet off.  I would keep running as much as I can, for as long as I have, before TT takes over life as we know it today.


That marked the start of the streak between Runner and Co-runner, I mean co-rona.

I left the generator at 4.45pm and was surprised as to how energetic I did feel.  The pains of the Tuesday run were gone, and my strides were quite energetic.  I intended to just do a mock run on the 21k route and just confirm that it still existed.  I would also take the opportunity to ‘check out’ how other country people were being affected by TT. 

Life seemed to be continued as usual.  I still met groups of people walking, especially around Kabete Polytechnic – groups of three, four or even five – walking together, talking, holding hands, calling each other ‘babe’ or ‘bae’.  Taking shoulder-to-shoulder selfies and generally oblivious of any care in the world.  The motorbikes continued carrying two or three passengers unbothered.  The matatus kept on their business.  The bus stages were still full of crowds standing next to each other.

At Ndumbo, the market was still full, with sellers and buyers.  That nduthi stage, just before you take the left turn on Kanyariri road was still packed with parked motorbikes.  The riders were still in deep animated discussions – shouting and laughing, occasionally ‘sss-sss’-ing a passing girl.  Kanyariri road thinned out after the market area.  From there on the road was a bit deserted.  I occasionally found the young people walking around, holding hands and even once saw two of them dancing in the middle of the road, cheered on by four other colleagues.  I shook my head as I raced up Kanyariri road.

The Gitaru matatu stage was full as usual.  Matatus were beckoning passengers onto their vehicles, as they cashed-in on the evening demand.  I would soon circle around the market and be back to Kanyariri road.  The down-road was smooth and quick.  The international route remained what I expected – the same old route that gives you a 10k of hill, then a 10k of downhill. 

I did another Vet loop on my way back, as the energy reserves on this day were just top notch.  That ‘take full advantage of the days before TT strikes’ must have filled my body with adrenaline.  I was fast and I was energetic.  Despite making hay while the sun still shone, I did not want to destroy the hay in the process and hence I had to put an end to the run and plan for another run on another day.  I would stop my timer on a time of 02.05.03 for 24.17km, averaging 5m10s per km.

I was just settling down after the run when I saw this ‘1000-Miles-1-year’ title on one of my webpages.
“What?,” I studied that title puzzled.
I was taken aback. 
I had all along thought it was ‘1000-Kilometers-1-year’ challenge?
“This is not going to happen at all, with TT hanging over my shoulder?”
Nonetheless, I shall keep taking advantage of the run opportunities as they arise, whether it is for 1000mi or 1000k or to beat TT.  It does not matter!

The verdict…

For round one – I give it to the runner.  I hope that the runner can enjoy a long uninterrupted streak before TT takes over through an affliction, a quarantine or a lockdown.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Mar. 20, 2020