This time last year, I was
studying at University and working part-time in a small shop. Fast
forward one year and I am now a full time athlete - training out in
the heights of Kenya, preparing for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
It's amazing the difference a year can make.
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| Kenya |
This is my second visit to
the High Altitude Training Camp in Iten, Kenya. It is situated at
8,000ft high in the Rift Valley and home to hundreds of the world’s
top athletes. Training here – is a huge eye-opener. There is not a
bit of flat land in sight and the thousands of trails which surround
the town are of tough, uneven mud terrain. Running in Iten... doesn't
come easy. It really is an awe-inspiring place to visit and the
locals are the friendliest people I have had the pleasure of coming
across.
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| Made some new friends - Kenya |
The
whole culture in Iten is altogether different to anything I have ever
seen before. Running is the norm. Back in my hometown of Dundee...
running is definitely not the norm. You have to persuade people out
on a run by claiming they can have a McDonald's after it or that they
can have a bottle of wine later that evening. On the majority of my
runs, I had numerous little kids – some as young as five, with no
shoes on – running alongside me. It was impressive to see. They get
excited seeing 'mazungos' (white people) out running. There are
always kids joining in, asking my name, what country I come from –
a really unique experience. I would literally have to throw my little
brothers Xbox out the window to watch him run outside two metres to
collect it – yet these tiny children were out nonchalantly jogging
alongside me.
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| Back to the grind in Eldoret |
Kenyan
athletes to these kids are like gods – athletics is
a way of life. The dusty, dirt track is constantly inundated with
groups of 20-60 kenyan athletes which is a stark contrast to our
modern, tartan tracks back home which rarely see more than ten people
pass through the gates weekly. The only setback they have here are
the sheep, cows and goats which regularly graze on the infield!
The
food within the camp is very basic and after four weeks, it does
become very repetitive. Ugali (a form of maize - tastes of nothing,
has the texture of play-doh and if you threw it against a wall, it
would probably stay there) is on offer every single day as the
Kenyans swear by it. Alongside this kenyan 'delight', there is the
option of rice and beef stew most evenings. For desert, we have
watermelon or oranges. The repetitiveness of daily life does
eventually start to get to you... but once you are back home, you
genuinely do appreciate how nice it is to live in this manner. No
worries. No stress.
Life
is simple. Eat, sleep, train, repeat. There are no distractions.
That's the difference to back home, there are umpteen distractions –
silly little things you don’t think about until you realise out in
Kenya - they aren’t there. It is the bare minimum – constant
power cuts,cold showers, limited internet. Running is the only
priority.
I
will be returning out here again for another training spell at the
beginning of January for four to six weeks. I hope these two trips to
altitude will truly give me the training boost I need for the summer
racing season. In my event, the 3000m steeplechase – the World
Rankings are amass with Kenyan athletes and so I feel this is
essential for my development in order to make the next step forward.
To be the best – you
have to train like the best.
Thankfully this year, Christmas Day
landed on a Wednesday which also coincides with my easy training day.
It was lovely to spend some quality time at home with my family and
friends as I rarely get to see them throughout the year. The 'Driving
Home for Christmas' experience definitely wasn't as smooth as Chris
Rea depicts. After almost ten hours of what should have been a six
hour journey, my fateful windscreen wipers decided to break! A
crashed car, two new wheels and a large bill to a car garage wasn't
really what I was expecting for Christmas! However, I did finally
make it back to Scotland in time! To makes things even more
difficult, I haven't been able to avoid the winter illness spreading
around this festive period and so have been fighting off an illness
for the past week which unfortunately means my time at home has been
cut short in order to get myself back to full health in time for a
five week training spell out in Kenya!
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| Training out in Portland with the Oregon Project |
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| Portland, Oregon |
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| Very lucky to have the most amazing friends! |
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| MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SCOTLAND! |
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