Monday 10 January 2011

Iten: land of a thousand runners

I've started writing a blog on my trip to Kenya for the Guardian. The first piece, written before I left, was put up on the website last week: guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/04 and the second piece went up today: guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/10

Things have been pretty tough over the last few days. We made it to Iten, but finding a house to rent has not been easy. The houses that are available are very basic, but still not cheap when it's a mizungo [white person] wanting to rent them. We think we've agreed to rent a half-built bungalow from a politician. It has all been negotiated through two other people, so it's hard to know exactly what is going on. But one thing is for sure, the politician is not interested in negotiating. He has my main contact running scared at the moment because we dared to say we only wanted the house for two months, instead of the four months we initially mooted.

All the uncertainty has been tough on the children, on top of the constant attention they get and the fairly basic campsite we've been staying in. They keep telling me that they like England better. To give ourselves a little break, until our house is ready - on Friday, we think - we've moved to a more expensive "resort" for a few nights. It has a swimming pool with a waterfall. The loo has a seat. And the beds have lovely, soft, fluffy pillows. It's complete luxury.

As for the running, I've been out for three runs since I left Lewa, two with Kenyans. The pace has been very slow each time, which is allowing me to get used to the altitude, and to test out my sore calf - which feels better. The "barefoot" running style now feels completely natural to me, though I have to admit I've seen plenty of Kenyans running heel first in big Nike running shoes.

The key question, though, before I bin my theory of barefoot running being part of the Kenyan secret, is how do the best Kenyan runners run? There was an incredible cross-country race in Iten at the weekend and I was watching the feet closely. It was only a district race, but the standard of competition was probably higher than the world cross-country championships - there were world championship medalists finishing way down the field. Interestingly, though, nearly all of the top 50 or so athletes in each race were definitely running "barefoot style", or, to put it another way, were not landing heel first when they ran.

I briefly contemplated entering the race, but felt it was too soon. In hindsight, I would have definitely come last, probably by quite a long way. There was one English guy in the race, and I've just discovered he's also writing a blog about training in Kenya. He didn't come last, but he was a long, long way from the front.

8 comments:

  1. Good luck with the house, Adharanand, hope the kids settle in. I still reckon footstrike depends on speed - what would those top 50 guys' style look like on a recovery run? And what would the last 50 look like when sprinting?

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  2. Well, it was 12K, so they weren't sprinting, but they were going very fast, so I take your point, Lots of Kenyans definitely forefoot strike when jogging, though, but lots heel strike, too. So, the jury is still out.

    One ex-runner (who once came fourth in the world half marathon champs), completely unprompted by me, told me today how he was telling his son not to land on his heels when he ran. "His feet make so much noise when he runs," he said. ""He's braking with each step. I told him he has to go softly, using the forefoot first. But he doesn't listen."

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  3. Wearing Nike Free Run +3 shoes, in addition to your walking foot to create a healthy environment, but also let your foot in the shortest period of time, restore the original activity.

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  4. The barefoot thing is not correct; the research finds that for some it's better and less injuries, and then for others its the opposite effect; even among Kenyans. For the non-Kenyans, well stick to shoes, your grown up and developed that way, why change that now? your biomechanics, your muscles in your legs and feet have adapted to the shoes your wearing. On the 'softly' point, thats true, as if loud that relates to wasting energy - braking. But that doesn't necessarily mean you run on your toes to achieve this, that can be achieved many ways. Remembering if you land of the heel yes increased forces are placed on the ankle, knee and hip joints aka greater injuries there, BUT on forefoot increased forces are placed on your Achilles so thus increased risk of tendinopathies developing.

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  5. There was an incredible cross-country race in Iten!!

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  8. Good luck with the house from me too. Have you considered insuring it in such an environment. I happen to work for a company that is specialized in renters insurance in Westport MA but we offer all kind of other insurances like: house, car, accident ... etc.

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