Destination running

 The night before the Dubai marathon, the lovely Debbie (my Kenya running buddy) texted me to ask if I had fire wood and cold pasta. This was what we had to do when we camped the night before the Lewa half marathon. I was so tired at the start of that race, that the finish could not come soon enough.

We all imagine having the perfect, relaxing couple of days before a long race...yeahhh right!

Things not to do before your destination race:

• Don't book flights (for destination races) on cheap, no frills airlines. It is asking for trouble. When there is fog, they are the only airline that seems not to be able to fly. I wonder if it is because their pilots don't have quite enough stripes on their uniform!?
• Don't stay awake in the airport for 8 hours two nights before the marathon. Try to get a good nights sleep, in a bed preferable.
• Don't check in your running gear.  (I carried mine, luckily, as I did lose my luggage and had to make do with the hotel toothbrush and shampoo...but I survived!) Said cheap airline inevitably lost it.
• Don't drink copious amounts of Prosecco the day before the marathon. Keep all corks in bottles until after the race...even if you think arriving in the country of the race is enough reason to celebrate!

Things to do before your destination marathon:

• Check your residency expiry date (for GCC residents). This might save a lot of hassle and teary goodbyes to running buddies at the airport. Don't worry-it all worked out in the end for my running buddy and I.

Last night I signed up for the Bahrain relay marathon (I'm doing 21km). I have checked the weather, booked an expensive and I am only taking carry on luggage!

This is the year to...

I have been thinking of some things I want to achieve this year. Not really resolutions,but a kind of 'to'do list for the year; things to look forward to. Some a short term goals...as in this week/month and some longer.

• Finish unpacking my boxes from Uganda! (This is obviously a short term goal!) By the end of the week month, I want to have emptied my last three boxes. If I didn't miss it I will throw it out or donate it.(I have already done one this week...two more to go!)
• Find hooks an hang up paintings and photos (seriously, along with 'get a scart lead' this has been on my 'to-do list' since I arrived...it is not as easy at it sounds!)
• Start pottery classes - I have a feeling I will enjoy the process, even though the end product will probably be quite crap! I have got so far as to find out when/where I can take them-next step would be to attend one!
• Take some Swahili lessons - On occasions I open my mouth and Arabic or Lugandan or gibberish comes out. At the moment I keep wanting to say "amasegunallo" (Thank you, in Amharic")-a bit more Swahili would be nice, if only to convince KWT that I only need to pay residents rates!
• Hash- Even if I only go twice this year, I want to Hash again and meet some other slow runners!
• Try new recipes more - I'm not going to make life more challenging by putting a time frame on this, like one a week/month- but  I want to be a bit more experimental in my kitchen (if you can call it that!). So, earlier this week I thought I would try a gluten-free chocolate chocolate cheesecake that I saw on this blog, then my friend at 3Limes tried it and said it was yummy. So, no excuses. But, I couldn't find all the ingredients it called for (...like sugar or graham crackers...no sugar, but found sour cream...(!) so I used icing sugar and found  diet-free digestive biscuits, so I thought I would use those! Note to self-just because they are expensive and has the word 'Gullon' on the box, does not mean they are gluten-free! Sorry dinner guest!
 

Hmmm-tasted SO much better than it looked!

 

There is one BIG goal that I have been thinking about for a while. But if I tell people I am doing it, then I don't do it, I've failed. Where as, if I don't tell anyone, I just didn't do it...right?

OK-here goes. A marathon would be great-NYC for my 30th would be even better. But, as it is so expensive, that is not on my lists-as it might not be achievable. So, I have been thinking about trying to do 12 in 12. 12 half marathons in 12 months. As I am so incredibly unfit, and can only run 8km at the moment a bit behind schedule,  I will have to try and do more than one half in some months later in the year. Haaaaaaa-who am I kidding!!! I'm not even drunk writing this! I think this is achievable!

I am really looking forward to what lies ahead this year. My Kenyan tour company (!) will be starting properly this year...I'm just waiting for the first customers to book-up! 

Currently

Current Triumph - 

 Getting my running grove back, slowly, and running for an hour in the forest on the weekend!Horay!

Current Fashion Trend -

Belted dark blue jeans with a plain white top or shirt (basically anything that I have with me...not much!)

Current Obsession  -  

Obsessing about my boxes and their arrival

Current Drink -

 Tusker...too much of it!

Current Food -  

School food - they feed us breakfast and lunch...so nice not to have to think about packed lunches!

Currently Wearing -

 a white skirt and a shirt with apples all over it -very teacher like

Current Wish List -  

 Flat heeled boots and tea tree concealer from The Body Shop (hint hint!)

Current Excitement -  

First road-trip, in my new car/truck, to the coast.

Current Mood -

Excited with butterflies - my new surf has arrived and is parked in the staff car park!!

What I'm looking forward to this summer

•  The flight home - not a fan of waiting in airports, but flights I love - movies, food and drink. What's not to like!
• Quality time with friends and family
• Lucerne and my bedroom
• Running in the Scottish countryside
• Taking lots of photographs
• A cup of tea (they taste better at home!)
• Sitting with my book on the patio in the sunshine (it will happen at least once!)
• Reading my book on the sofa when it's raining in between naps
• Being woken by the sunshine and the lawnmower 
• The peace and quiet of the village- no church sermons or late night parties around!
• Driving a manual car on quiet, pot-hole free roads
• Crying at weddings -it's a given!
• Going to the supermarket!!!Marks and Spencers food!Yeeeaaahhh...choices, choices,choices!
• Having clean feet-no more 'jinja' (red) feet for a while
• Watching a bit of the BBC
• Baking at home
• Doing some tourist things in Glasgow
• The radio
• The Edinburgh Fringe
• Eating mussels from a pot
• The weekend papers
• Drinks around the bar in the back room at home (the 'freezer'!)
• One of my dad's famous BBQs
• Free range, organic, boiled eggs for breakfast 

I am counting the days until I am holiday (this is made harder, due to the fact that I have not got a flight as yet!), but this also means I am counting the days until I leave Uganda and my wee world here. Sad, happy, happy, sad.

Juneathon
Ok-this year Juneathon hasn't worked out for me. I had my last long run with my buddy on the weekend but apart from that the only exercise I have been doing was packing boxes and lifting plant pots. I'm going to try again for Janathon!

Lists

After rich food, wine and dancing outside last night to cover versions of Freshly Ground, I really did not feel like facing a run this morning. So I went back to bed with a cup of tea. Half an hour later, it looked quite overcast outside and still cool enough to run. I gave myself a wee kick up the bum and  talking to, "It's Juneathon!" etc and I put on my running gear.

And I'm so glad I did, I had such a good run. I got lost in my thoughts and made lists in my head.

I like lists. I make them all the time: my packing to-do list, a bucket list, a list of books I want to read next year. A list of films I want to watch and a list of my favourite food for my last Kampala cook-club.

So in my head on my run, I made a  list of countries I have visited. I want the amount visited always to be equal to (or more) than my age. (You can't just can't an airport and you have to have been in the country for more than 24 hours-so Vatican City doesn't count- for the country to quality!)

At the moment I have 32 on my list ( I think? Malta might be on that list-but I can't remember it-so that surely doesn't count...) four more than my age. A good thing really, as I am planning on staying around in Kenya for my next few holidays!

Countries I have visited

• Bahrain
• Gibraltar
• UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Ireland
• Spain
• Andorra
• France
• Italy
• Sweden
• Cyprus
• Portugal
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Kuwait
• Qatar
• Jordan
• Egypt
• Lebanon
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Vietnam
• India
• China
• South Africa
• Uganda
• Rwanda
• Kenya
• Tanzania
• Canada
• United States of America
• Panama
• Mexico

I then made a list of where I want to visit in the next few years. The list isn't as long...because really, I will happily travel anywhere, anytime!

Countries I want to visit

• Zimbabwe (next on my list...Charlotte!!??)
• Botswana
• Zambia
• Ethiopia
• Madagascar
• Mozambique

Which countries are on your list?


Then I came back and got an unknown call, I answered it all sweaty and tired and I was rude to this stranger before I figured out that he wanted to buy my Prado. I was even ruder when he offered me 6 million shillings for it!!!Baaaaah!

Juneathon Day 11
Distance:7.8km  Time:53 minutes
Number of children following me shouting 'mzungu, mzungu' (really wasn't in the mood for children today)-3
Other runners I saw this morning in Bukoto/Nguru area: 1
Lists made in head: 3 - including today's to-do list.

Currently

 Inspired by a new blog I found, Diary of a Girl Abroad, another list; my current obsessions.

Current guilty pleasure: buying new running gear online. 

Current blogging about: Juneathon-  exercise and blog about it every day in June.

Current fashion trend: (ha-a tricky one in Kampala!)-my new Kampala Fair trousers, vest top and a long necklace.

Current drink: water (it is Juneathon after all!)...yeah well...trying to drink more of it!

Current food: Heinz tomato soup - the only soup that she bought in a can! Total comfort food, nothing tastes better, especially with sundried tomato and olive bread.


Current playlist – loving the Country Strong soundtrack and my girl crush on Florence (Florence and the Machine) is still on!

Current TV Show – Mad Men. The only TV show I am watching at the moment. LOVE!

 Current Celeb Crush - Pippa Middleton – who doesn't!?

photo from here

Current excitement – 1. Frisbee after school (now twice a week-yipee!) 2. getting on that plane home for the summer 3. summer weddings! 4. Starting work at, what I think seems to be, the BEST prep school in Nairobi!!

Current bane of my existence - my Prado. I can’t even think about it anymore-it is still in the garage and I am moving in two weeks.

Current wish list – 1. A new camera  2. An amazing dress for my borther’s wedding –I think this Orla Kiely (in red..no blue..no red...no blue...) is amazing and droll over it online daily! 3. Running gear, running gear and running gear.

Current website - http://www.runnersworld.com/

Currently delaying –making up my boxes, packing and saying goodbye to Uganda

Currently wearing - now, my dressing gown.

Current Mood – am here, there and everywhere at the moment- but right now I am tired, calm and content.

Juneathon Day 8
Juneathon nearly got the better of me today! I was so close to not doing anything, but I went and swam lengths at Kabira. I lost count, but I say I did 20 fast lengths and no chatting by the ledge as I was on my tod. I felt I swam a good half hour, then I got out the pool and looked at my watch. 20 minutes...and I am being generous! Anyhow- day 8...done!

Pre-race Preparations

Eeek...I am soooooooooo nervous about the Two Oceans race on Saturday in Cape Town. I am trying to take deep breathes and thinking of the tour in the stellenbosch wine route the day after the race.

Lists always help.

Race week preparations:

• Go for two easy runs
• Drink water
• Buy energy beans
• Buy and test 'run' a bigger knee brace....I really don't think the brace is supposed to cut off all blood circulation! 
• Buy ibuprofen
• Phone Expedia (once more!!) and confirm that a refund is being processed for the messed-up flight.
• Sort out transport to and from the airport
• Don't drink...save it for the vineyards of Cape Town!
• Charge i-pod and camera
• Pack; remember to put running gear in hand luggage
• Paint nails the same colour as running cap!!
• Don't worry if you only have time for half of the things on the list!