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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Lions, Gazelles, and Turtles, OH MY!

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in
Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.
(But, unless you're a runner, you won't understand.)
-Anon

Even though I don't consider myself "a runner", I like this quote.  I think they could add another line that says "Every morning in Africa, a snail wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest turtle or it will be killed".  I think that would help me "understand" a bit more ;-) 

My half marathon is over and it was GOLD BABY! I did leaps and bounds better (literally) than the same race last year.  I'm quite proud of myself considering my bad track record (pun intended - man i'm on a roll!).
My finish time was 2:33, a personal best for me.  I had to stop for a very quick bathroom break along the way that put me back about 3 minutes so I'm telling myself that I ran it in 2:30 ;-)
At the starting line of the Nairobi Standard Chartered Marathon


Sergio did amazing.  He ran the marathon in 4:35, about an hour and a half better than his last marathon in Lewa and definitely a personal best.  I'm very proud of him. The funny thing is that we arrived with not much time before the marathon start so Sergio just jumped into the street for the line-up and ended up in the Elite Runner starting area in front! haha - Those guys finish in like 2:05 and when they fly by it is just amazing.  But Sergio does have elite status with Delta skymiles so I think he just got confused ;-) At least he had plenty of space for himself in that group! 
Marathoners started first at 7am

Elite Marathoners started EXTRA FIRST


After the race, we came home and ate MCDONALDS CHEESEBURGERS!!!  How, you ask? Consider there is no McDonalds in AFRICA???  When we were in Dubai coming back from Beirut, we bought 15 McDonald's Cheeseburgers at the airport and brought them home, wrapped them up well and froze them. We gave Scott two and the rest we have rationed very carefully for special occasions ONLY.  They are pretty good after you wrap them in a wet paper towel and microwave them.
Out of the freezer....
and into my mouth :-)

 Then, I watched a Mad Men marathon and called it a day! Lazy ARSE!  


XOXO




Saturday, October 29, 2011

Race day Eve

My half marathon is tomorrow...7am sharp - it's the Nairobi Standard Chartered marathon - I did it last year too so I sort of know what to expect. I'm nervous just because of what happened in the June half marathon I did with the passing out and all and I also know I'll be hanging out solo until Sergio's done with the full marathon - a couple hours at least.  I trained a bit more this time and the course should not be as difficult as the last one in Lewa so hopefully I'm better off this time. This morning I was doing my final 3 mile training run on a quiet road around our apartment and I passed this Kenyan runner man..clearly training for tomorrow as well, but he was definitely a professional runner - he was flying and looked pretty serious.  He gave me a thumbs up as we passed and I am considering that a positive amen...not an omen..an amen..a little blessing. 
This is what they look like as they come flying by you - like, when they are lapping you 30 minutes after you start running!
Also, I asked Sergio to buy me Oral Rehydration Salts - normally used for children suffering from acute diarrhea. Considering my sweating issue, I think I'm going to mix it in some water for a recovery drink to stave off the fainting..anything to help. 

We've been carbing up today.  I had oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and a chicken quesadilla and small side of pasta for dinner.  And, I just updated my running playlist with a few tunes:
Mgmt - Kids
Noah and the Arc - LIFEGOESON
Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man
Mumford and Sons - The Cave
The Band Perry - If I die young

Going to bed at 10 to be up at 5am.  Wish me luck. (Luck = completion under 2:45)

XOXO