Last days in Kenya

I write this post from Nairobi airport, as I await my overnight flight to Amsterdam. I am sad to have left, I had an incredible month, but I am also incredibly excited about the upcoming indoor season. Indeed, I will be keeping this blog going through the next couple of months to track how my performances go following on from my training in Kenya.
Tuesday involved a hill session in the morning. Following a 30 minute warm up, the session started, and involved 5 long efforts with jog back down recovery, followed by 5 by long effort, jog to start of short effort, short effort, jog back to start of long effort. As is tradition with training in Kenya, the early efforts started steadily, but soon built up, and by the end of set 8 I knew just how hard I was training. I was very pleased with how I was running though, and dug in for the last couple of sets to complete a great season. I was exhausted, but it was just the warm down to go. Then I was told that the warm down would be 1 hour. I asked if the coaches were joking, but I knew they were not, the hard session in Kenya are very hard. So it was off for the longest warm down of my life. It felt like an eternity (and I was only crawling along) and I can safely say I will never complain about the run home from Coombe Dingle in Bristol after a session again (a mere 20-25 minutes). But eventually I got to finish, incredibly tired. As Coach Simba said, he had killed me twice! It was a very tough session, but as the Kenyans are brilliant at, following a very, very tough session is a period of extended, very easy recovery.
The next day, and my final training day, was a technical drills session. As I have stated previously I had been led to believe that Kenyans spent little time on technique and strenght work. This is fundementally not true, the way they do it is just different to that in the west. I am very excited to bring home some of the new ideas I have learnt and impliment them into training back in England.
And so finished an incredible month. The training was great, I am in great shape and met some amazing people. I guess one of the true tests for how successful the period has been will be the upcoming races, but if possible I would love to return before the outdoor track season. I believe this training can only have benefitted me.
So what is the secret of Kenyan running. The answer is there is no secret. There is a massive enthusiasm for the sport, and many many people compete. When you have this quantity of athletes you are sure to unearth some exceptional talent. Added to this is a tradition of success, and as everyone knows, success breds success. Athletics also provides a fantastic opportunity, and with so many people trying to achieve in order to improve their lives, it is no wonder that people are forced to strive to exceptional levels to achieve. As to the training, there are definite differences to Western training, but there are no secrets, and all training is based on very well established scientific principles. Training sessions are varied to overload the various elements of stamina, speed, strength and technique. Tough sessions are very tough, but are then given a significant periods of recovery. Indeed there is at least one complete rest day every week (how many of the top Western athletes can say they take this much recovery) and many afternoons are rests or at most incredibly easy recovery runs. Once you choose to be an athlete and join one of the training camps, the lifestyle is also one incredibly conducive for improving running. There are no stresses for the athletes, all they have to do is train, sleep, eat (food is cooked for them) and relax. The diet is incredibly natural and healthy, and bed times are strictly 10am. Also, it is true that the Kenyans get the opportunity to live an train at altitude. This is an advantage over many athletes, but is by no means unique, look at Font Ramau in France or Boulder in USA.
So there are no secrets, just a large number of logical factors that contribute to athletic excellence in Kenya. But what is more important is that the Kenyans, both athletes and coaches, do not want to keep their training secret. They want athletes from across the world to come over, to observe how the Kenyans train and to bring their own ideas which may be new to the Kenyans. They do not want the rest of the world to fear them either, but to rise to the challenge and compete against them. They enjoy being the best, but they want the rest of the world to put up more of a challenge. They find the fact that the world cross is now only takes place every two years very disappointing, and are worried that maybe in the future there will be one world championships for Africa and another for the rest of the world in distance events.
So there you go, I hope you enjoyed my waffle! and see you all very soon back in hot, sunny England!