First run in Kenya!!

OK so I'm going to do 2 blogs in one actually as I didn't manage to do last Saturday's before I left, so...

Saturday 27th March
Corina and Kylie joined me to meet the Geneva Runners crew down at Bains des Paquis. I was SO not in the mood for a run, having lots to do to prepare my trip to Kenya and we all said afterwards how great it was to be doing this in a group as I'm not sure we'd be making all this progress on our own. We did 10kms but we also did hills (one of which I had to walk up a couple of weeks ago cos I couldn't do it :-D ) and sprinted at the end, which absolutely killed me. But I think Kylie has a gift for sprinting, WOW! And Corina too :-D

Really great run girls: I was really proud!!

Monday 29th March
So it's the wet season here in Kenya = mud, mud, and more mud. And very sticky mud too!
I met the kids of Familia Moja today and when Wambui asked who wanted to go for a run the response was "ME, ME, ME" as they all ran to their rooms to change out of their school clothes.

Their enthusiasm was very motivating. (Earlier in the day I was hoping Wambui had forgotten about it but she started nagging me "So, Sandara (my nickname here), when are you going for your run?" I'm telling you - when Wambui has her mind set on something, she does not let go.

So as the storm clouds built up on the horizon, I prepared myself for the inevitable - a 1 hour run in the pouring African rain.

Wambui chose the 5 of oldest kids - one of whom is performing really well at athletics at school. I asked him after "Don't you ever get sore muscles?" And he just looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about.

Anyway, these kids went running in flip-flops, skate-shoes, or no shoes at all - so impressed!! Although no shoes turned out to be a good idea as Jane was the only one who didn't have to lift 3cm worth of heavy mud every time she took a step! You guessed it, after 20 minutes of running on this already bumpy, muddy terrain, the heavens opened up and poured forth their fury on our poor group - which resulted in much giggling and "I will never forget this day my whole life" being repeated over and over again by the kids - which was more motivation for me than you can imagine.

I personally will never forget the looks on all the people's faces as we ran through their villages in the middle of rural Kenya "What on earth! What is a "mzungu" girl doing, running through our village" :-D

So my shoes still aren't dry - and my socks are a shade of red and will never be white again. But the run is ON today! Woohoo! (They're trying to convince me to go everyday... what do you think?) ;-)