Half marathon, done and dusted!!

The day rolled around.
Dull and overcast. “Perfect for a run”
Watching on TV as the 42k runners were flagged off as i waited for my cousin to get ready. My feet could not keep still and I knew that I could still back out but I’d never forgive myself. We got to the start line just in time to be flagged off. We started at a slow jog on the first of a few steep of the steep hills that characterised the run. I told him to go on as I knew that I would not be able to keep up that pace. I walked and jogged and walked and jogged some more. There was an older gentleman who I decided would be my pacesetter. He was walking and jogging and we had a good momentum going until he met his friend and they started talking. So I left him and his friend behind. My strategy was to have a pacesetter that would keep me motivated, despite us having different training levels.
When I passed him I was lost. I mean, what do you do when you surpass your pacesetter?? Solution: find another.
Next, I saw these spry older Indian gentlemen at one of the loops just before the 5k mark. They were about 600m ahead of me and I thought I could catch up to them. I never did catch up to them. They were deep in some discussion that kept them distracted. At the 14k mark I saw them running at high speed (at least it seemed so) while I was debating the level of madness versus sensibility.
Till I got to the 10k mark and decided to go for a toilet break. Big mistake. Momentum was lost and I didn’t get it back 😦 Turns out it was just nerves. I walked some more and jogged some more, I wondered where the turn off was and I estimated it to be 2km away round a bend. It turned out to be 5km away! Oh the horror!! I wasn’t going to turn back or be picked up by the stragglers bus so onwards onwards. I saw the spry Indian gentlemen run at top speed. I just marvelled at them and said “These are the guys who gave us yoga and Kamasutra.”
I met my friend and it helped to have company until she told me she couldn’t talk. Lol! She needed her energy to focus on walking. We got to the 16km mark and we had to do a loop and we thought about just going under the tape as we had seen people do numerous times on the course, we looked at each other and knew we’d never forgive ourselves so round the loop we went.
I hit another wall when I got to the 18k mark, plus it was a hill. I wasn’t sure where I was, I couldn’t hear the music from the stadium, I was just following the people in front of me. This self imposed agony needed to end!
Soon enough I heard the music and saw the stadium *joy oh joy* It wasn’t clear where I was to go so I just kept walking until I go to the 20k mark,where I realised I have to do another short walk outside the stadium and then get to the stadium. I met friends who had finished it and wanted to chat but when they realised I was still on it, they pushed me onwards. Good friends.
I got there and I was so happy that I had made it,I tried to do a run then a jog but my legs told me to forget that idea. I did jump over the finish line and the trackers on the ground. Proud moment that 🙂
All I wanted to know next was “Where do I get my medal??” I was directed and I heard the sweet sound of metal upon metal, beautiful music. Soon I was plonked on the grass doing some stretches and light yoga.
I soaked in my achievement. At the time I just sat and barely talked. I thought that Batman would be proud of me but in his silent way would tell me “You could have done better.”

Will I do it again? Hell yes!!
In fact, I’m looking for the next race.
Right now, I’m relaxing and massaging my sore and tight calves.

Happy trails 🙂

Interesting life moments

Life is interesting. That moment when you call your ‘friend’ and she pretends not to know you and hangs up on you saying “it’s late” and yet it’s just 8:30pm. A few days later you meet her dad in the supermarket, you wave and a avoid him because next you know he will ask “You’re lost. Why don’t you come round?” And you can’t very well tell him what his child did/behaved like.

Or that guy you’ve been talking with tells you/offers to show you a good time of an orgasmic nature,only without the sex. You’ve never not sampled it without the sex but you’re willing to try. When you say as much, the silence from his end is so loud. So you put him down as a talker,no action.

Another moment is when you realise you really like a guy. You call, have funny conversations where you both laugh and hang up smiling. Thing is, you’re the one who calls,all the time. Time for a change. Except you almost know his number by heart. You wanna call for no other reason other than to just hear his voice..hear him laugh..this is how men are in relationships without knowing they are in relationships. He won’t even realise I stopped calling until months later and I may be in another relationship by then (real or imagined) and disappointed by his total blindness. Oh, how I hope it doesn’t go that way.
A special life moment is when a grandparent looks upon their grandchild with love, the world just lights up.
In all its interesting moments,the best are when you listen to the laughter of children or have a good belly laugh, at yourself preferably.
#musings

Unrequited laughter

Have you ever felt laughter bubbling in your stomach? All that remains is for you to let it out?
When you do eventually let it out, it comes out but not entirely. It is like an orgasm. You know a bigger one is on the way, getting it there is the hard part.

You work hard at laughing at funny things but yet…sigh
But when you laugh and laugh until you feel like your ribs are about to crack but you welcome it. Like when you feel the tingling of the oncoming orgasm spreading through your body to your toes and they curl involuntarily..
The tightening of your stomach muscles, running out of breath, tears running down your face faster than you can wipe them….I cannot wait to laugh like that.

It’s been a while

Hello dear reader.

It’s been a minute. A lot’s been happening.

It’s been a busy with my new job and finding my footing back in the city. I was also unwell for about two weeks with a cold and then a bad cough… I am, however, happy to report that things are settling down.

I have been running (though not consistently) and i joined a running community on Google + where we challenge and motivate each other. It has greatly helped me as it keeps me accountable to my fellow runners 🙂

Stanchart Nairobi marathon is almost here (October 25th) and in a moment of madness i registered for the half marathon.

I have been talking about doing it, gotten discouraged, and then decided to do it. If not now, then when??

To that end, i decided to run 10ks in my neighbourhood. It was exhilarating and tiring. I was struggling to get to the 5k mark but some runners came up behind me, encouraged me to join them and voila i did better than i thought i could 🙂 I love runners. They run half marathons every weekend. I’ll make a point of running with them.

I suffered from a mild headache all day that got steadily worse as the day wound down. I called it a night two hours early, only to wake up at midnight as fresh as a daisy. I hope that will not happen on race day.

So here i am on the cusp of a new adventure, a new challenge. I intend to put my best foot forward, walk (mostly) and run (a little bit) and make a few new friends.

God willing, in all the marathons i’ll participate in next year, i’ll do 21kms and improve my time.

Today i feel a mild soreness in my quads and sides but i welcome it because it means i worked out a bit hard yesterday.

Happy running/exercising.