Kenyans

I'd love to run with a group, but it ain't so easy.

When I say I live in Boulder and can't find a group of runners to train with, people think I'm joking.

... well, kind of.

It's the latest on Chasing Kimbia, in which the Kenyans' German coach explains what his boys do and the how and why of it.

Host Matt Taylor explains: "This week Dieter answers the question, “When you tell the athletes to run at ‘Speed1? or ‘Speed 2? or ‘Speed 3? what exactly does that mean?” In brief, the “speed” assigned for a given workout represents the mental effort required by the athlete, instead of a particular pace. It’s a very simple system that makes communicating with the athletes very clear."

Storming round the Res (Boulder Reservoir) on Sunday, every time I checked my watch I shocked myself. I'm no danger to the Kenyans, who have just arrived back in Boulder to put the finishing touches to their Boston marathon preparations, but I have no idea why I was running so fast.

I knocked out 11 miles at 7:30 pace, which is probably the fastest sustained bit of running I've done there. Well, it's fast for me. What I can't understand is where the pace has come from. :)

Monday had to be a rest day; I could have gone out, but Abby persuaded me to go out for breakfast, and by the time that was over and digested, the slump had set in.

Got you there! No, not me...see the Chasing Kimbia Kenyans kick up dust in their first track workout of the year.

Not at some swish all-weather venue either, but a dirt track laid down in colonial times and opened by Her Majesty the Queen in the 1950s. (QE2 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, that is.)

As well as the clouds of dust, check out the trees swaying in the breeze. "Wind is not a factor for us".

See it at ChasingKimbia.com here.

Watch the trailer for the second season of Chasing Kimbia videos and try to get the music out of your head! (It's Fort Minor, "Where'd You Go".)

CK is a website that follows "the lifestyle and training of a small group of elite marathoners as they prepare for the Chicago and New York City marathons. Managed by KIMbia Athletics and sponsored by New Balance, these athletes have left their families in Kenya and Tanzania to train together and live together in Boulder, Colorado".

The short films will strike terror into anyone who thinks success is built with EASY long runs. :)

They'll get you out of the door, though. My favourite so far is "You Ready?", but then I'm a fan of U2. Crank up the speakers and watch these guys run.

A mighty 25 miles this week!

Is that pathetic, or what?

In my defence, I would have clocked more, but for the snow. I've put the hours in, but today, for instance, I was ploughing through snow at 11 minutes a mile or even slower.

We're just starting the third week of Bobby McGee's 45-week sub-5 minutes miling program. Are we havung fun yet? Oh yes! This training is very different from anything I've done before. And speaking to Kyle, it seems I'm not the only one whose body is enjoying the slower pace.

We've been given a heart rate max which we're not to exceed during some of our runs. And it feels slow. Now, this will also sound a hit pathetic, but dude, running more slowly makes me feel good! I'm actually coming back from runs invigorated rather than exhausted. I'm recovering well between runs and there is no struggle to get out the door because I know I can do the speed I'm "supposed" to be do. Duh! I know, I know, it's blindingly obvious. But I've never done it this way before.

Want to know where all the elites go to put the finishing touches to their training?

This is a link to a great NY Times article -- with some super pictures, too -- that has the inside story. (The link has timed out and now requires free registration.)

It's especially riveting for the YourRunning team as reporter Liz Robbins and photographer Kevin Moloney tracked down no fewer than 20 Africans and the entire Japanese women's marathon squad to Boulder, Colorado -- where we are based.