Thursday 13 January 2011

That is not what I call a fartlek

Today was my first experience of the Kenyan “fartlek”, we had tea and a banana before we started so I knew it was going to be tough. 30 min easy run down to the start where a group of about 30 or so guys had gathered ready for the session. Although they call it a fartlek it is more like an interval session, 17 x 2min hard, 1min easy. As the session started a bit later than we usually run in the mornings it was already hot. I soon got dropped from the main group but along the punishing uphill route I picked off some of the stragglers. An absolute killer of a session and I was a happy man when it was over, I honestly thought I was going to faint on one hill! Ken handed me a much needed bottle of water when I finished and this helped me to jog/shuffle the three miles back to camp.

I think most of the guys out here are quite impressed by my work ethic and commitment and determination in sessions. They all assure me that I will run massive pbs when I race back in Europe. I hope they are correct! Just an easy 40 – 50 mins this afternoon and an early night as we are all tired from our exertions this morning.

On a side note Edwin has promised to take me sightseeing to Lake Boggoria and Lake Baringo during my stay which should be good. They are about 2.5 hours drive away but as anyone that has been to Kenya will know the landscape is awesome so I will look forward to the journey.

Here is a random picture of the camp kitchen:

Camp Kitchen

2 comments:

  1. Great blog, well written and look forward to seeing how you race when back at sea level.

    David Chalfen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha ha, that kitchen is brilliant. Shows you can make good food without all the mod cons!

    I also have noted the word 'jog' in this blog entry............... ;o)

    ReplyDelete