About a month ago, we registered for the Mount Kenya Trail Run. 7K seemed too short so I said “I can do 16K, why not? Here I go!” Following this registration, like all the new year resolutions, I started a training schedule as well… To which I stuck for a week until I get a cold. Christmas holidays followed that and I ended up not training for this 16K run on Sunday, January 19.
As a group of 6, we hit the road on Saturday morning. From Nairobi to the conservancy it takes about 4 hours by car. And on the way, there is a great spot for lunch: Trout Tree! The name explains the restaurant already. This restaurant is set in a big garden, on a big tree specifically. It has fish pools, so when you order a trout, they bring you freshly caught and cooked trout, served with fries and sukuma on the side. Great environment, great service, and delicious meal. And this place is very entertaining for kids and people like me. You can have a short walk and enjoy the playground until your food is served.
Close to the conservancy, we passed by a sign saying we are crossing the Equator line! Most of you will say “So what?” At least I say that when people tell me how interesting it is to cross continents just by crossing the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. But to me, it was childishly exciting, therefore I even have a photograph by this board.
Reaching the conservancy around 4 pm, we set our tents and enjoyed the last hours of the daylight. The altitude is about 2,100 meters. So it was not that difficult to adapt the elevation change, even for me Extreme Wilderness Challenges organized this race and I must say that the camping facilities were quite good.
There was a blue strip to limit the camping site, which I believe blocked potential elephant visits. Still, in the morning there were a few fresh poops near our tent :) The night was pleasant at the camping, however, we slept early since the race was at 7.30 am the next morning. That was camping without alcohol indeed! It did not rain and this time I had a proper mattress so I slept almost like a baby.
Unnecessarily too early, we woke up at 6.00 am on Sunday. Sunrise was behind Mount Kenya and that was a cool view, to be honest, but I definitely could sleep more. I just have trouble leaving my sleeping bag when it’s cold outside! Small breakfast and a few sips of coffee helped me out. And not feeling ready for the run, the briefing started on time, at 7.15 am. And the lovely person from the organization told us that we “might” run into “elephants” on the parkour and if we do so, we should stop, stay calm and slowly walk back to the closest water station. Me freaking out and knowing that I am zero trained for this run, I started to question if I should take the risk of running or not. In the end, I found myself running. Lucky me again, a nice runner Mohammed kept me motivated the first 7K of the parkour. And I realized that I am just feeling all right, that was a perfect moment! The elevation was around 300 meters, the weather was okay and I did not see any animals. And I reached the finish line in 1h 53m. Oh, but the total distance was not 16K indeed, it was 14,5K which is all right, I cannot complain :)
As usual, after this run, I decided that I will run more often! Let’s see if I can achieve to be more disciplined this year.
Thank you for the peaceful experience dear universe!
Bình luận