Mike Wardian: Ugali and Other Fun Things October 16
Hope all is well on your ends.
I have been unable to work on a proper blog for a few weeks so wanted to update you all on what I have been doing. I have been training and racing a lot.
I have done the following races the last few weekends:
» The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler-3rd overall all in 6:31, September 19, 2009
» Clarendon Day 10K-30:59 (within 4 seconds of my PR), September 26, 2009
» The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon-2:23:13 / October 4, 2009
» The BAA Half Marathon-1:09:15 / October 11, 2009
I was pleased with the 10K and 50 Miler and disappointed with others the Twin Cities Marathon and the BAA Half Marathon but so is the way it goes with running.
I was on pace at Twin Cities (went through 20 miles right where I should have been) to achieve my goal of sub-2:19 but failed to hold that pace till the end of the race, so cliché but it is exactly what happened to me.
I am presently excited for the 50K World Championships on October 31, 2009 in Gibraltar and I am focusing my training the next few weeks on making a very good showing there. I think I can do well for the USA and would like to come home with a Gold Medal for us.
Apart from the running, my family and I are doing well, trying to get ready for fall and battling some nasty illnesses but we are recovering and should be 100% soon.
One of the most exciting things that happened the last few weeks is that we had a Kenyan house guest, Joseph Chirlee, who came to the Washington, DC area to run the Baltimore Marathon on October 10, 2009 and he ended 4th overall in 2:18 or so.
Joseph, taught us a lot of interesting things about being a professional runner and best of all, he loved our children, Pierce (3 years) and Grant (almost 10 months) and we got to “race” around the house with him, learn to make ugali (pretty tasty actually) and see how he views the world. We learned that he is supporting his extended family back in Kenya, which was very inspiring and made us appreciate all we have living in the United States of America.
Another interesting and exciting thing that is going on is that our son Pierce has discovered Star Wars and we are in full discovery mode. Pierce is quizzing us daily on why Darth Vader is “bad” and Luke Skywalker is “good”, what is a “Wookie” and does R2D2 have feet. Where does Darth Vader sleep, how does he get out of his mask, does R2D2 help undress him, etc…
This morning, I did a 10 mile treadmill run while Pierce watched scenes from “Return of the Jedi” and asked questions. Great training.
All in all things are good and life is going well, need to stay after training for the 50K Worlds and can’t wait to compete again for the USA.
Hope that all is well on your ends too.
Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Michael Wardian
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