Hello

So with only three weeks to go, I've ran a few miles, done a few track sessions, met some interesting people and generally had a good time.

Having said that this trip has been no holiday. I've been ill twice; nothing serious, just up all night cleaning out my stomach. Myles on the other hand was omitted to hospital this week, with food suspected food poisoning. I ate the same meal as he did, as I prepared it and felt fine after, so I don't feel too guilty. 

Take a minute, think of your last holiday. I bet it didn't involved living in an empty shell. No running water. No indoor toilet. Frequent power cuts. Waking up every morning to a new insect bite, only one if you're lucky. Eating the same food for ten weeks. Dragging buckets of water out of our well every day to cook and clean with.

The best part is I love every minute of it. I wouldn't change anything. Linet Masai is my next door neighbor, a 4 inch wall separate our bedrooms. If it's good enough for her, it's sure as hell good enough for me.

Training has been really good, I took my time and adapted to the altitude. The plan was not to rush into hard training and now it's paying off as I've done some good track sessions with another Mzungo, Dougie Selman, who is here for 3 months. I've only missed two days running since we arrived on the 28th August, both due to food poisoning. I could easily get food poisoning at home so it's no big deal. 

The plan now is to change this weeks training slightly and run a race on Saturday. I've not raced since the 18th July. It's been a long time, but one thing I won't be Saturday is nervous. I've nothing to loose, I'm racing at 2400m altitude against some of the best distance runners in the world. There are no expectations from anyone or myself. I've been told loads of guys don't finish the 12km cross Country race each year, because it's so tough. Some drop out after a lap or two and just use the race as training. I'm not going to make excesses as there are no expectations, but I'll be doing the race as form of progressive run, so even the warm up should be fast enough. It also comes at the end of another big week in training where the mileage was kept pretty high.

I've never raced with so many miles in my legs so that will be interesting. I would never do it at home, but I'm not at home, so this is the place to try new things. I've not had the chance to put this type of training together before, and I won't have the chance to attempt it back in Edinburgh either as I start back working in RUN4IT the week I get back. 

Going back to work means no more triple days and most likely a drop in miles, as I'll be too tired from working all day to keep bashing out miles. Zac always told me the program we follow in Edinburgh didn't allow me to train hard, simple because I had to fit it around a 40+ hour working week, most of which is spent on my feet. When someone like me gets the chance to train full time, even if it's only for ten weeks, something as small as not having running water or an indoor toilet isn't going to put me off. I'm privileged to even be here.

I know guys who train smart and hard and simple can't take ten weeks off work and just run. I always knew I would enjoy being out here. I love to run. It's that simple, and I'm here to run, nothing else. The fact that it's an amazing place and I've met amazing people has nothing to do with the fact that I'm 100% here for myself, to better myself as an athlete.

I'm already planning on keeping this house, and paying the rent all year so when I come back out next year, I don't have to buy beds, mattresses, tables, a gas cooker and all the endless things we had to buy to make the house livable. I'd love to come back out again straight away after the pre-Christmas cross-country season, and if the race results go well upon return to the real world, I'll most likely just book flights and get back out here asap.

It's the perfect place to train. The lifestyle is perfectly suited to becoming an athlete. The altitude helps. The endless trails are great. The athletes are some of the best in the world. I was doing a hill session yesterday, with 4 of the 8 done; I was wrecked and had decided that 4 hill reps were enough with the race on Saturday. I crossed the road and seen a dozen or so Kenyan athletes running towards me. Thursday is Fartlek day here. It's like a religion to them. Track on Tuesday, Fartlek on Thursday. They were hammering it; I couldn't leave my session half done so went back and did another 4 hill reps. Asbel Kiprop was in the gym next to me earlier in the week. How could you be here and not be 100% committed to becoming the best athlete you could be. 

Hopefully I'll have some good news and a decent race report soon enough

Thanks for reading