Jogging in Tonj

Recently Suzy and I have been exercising together. She has a book that teaches you how to go from walking to running. Each week you increase the amount of time you run and decrease the amount of time you walk. We started in Nairobi running one minute and walking three minutes. We did this seven times three times week. The next week you increase to eight times and the following week it's nine times. Then you start running for two minutes and walking for two minutes seven times, then eight, then nine. The first time we did it, I barely could run one minute. It was a struggle and was hard to do it seven times.

When Suzy stayed in Nairobi and I came back to Tonj at the end of March, she continued but I didn't. When she came back, I picked it back up with her. At that point she was running for two and walking for two. The first time I joined her again in Tonj, my body was hurting. Running for two minutes was so hard! However, we kept at it and now we are running for three minutes walking for one, eight times. I am surprised by my body's ability to adapt. Now running three minutes is easy. The first set is hard because my body does not want to do it, but once we get started, it gets easier. I discovered I was making it harder on myself. Suzy has a timer so we know when to start and stop running. Each time she started the timer, I would try to count the seconds in my head so I would know when we would be done. If we were running for two minutes, I would count to 120. Running is challenging so I desperately wanted each running section to end quickly! The depressing part occured when I would get to 120 and the timer didn't go off. I did this for a while, then one day I didn't count and found it so much easier. If I didn't keep track, the time seemed to go by faster. I had been torturing myself unnecessarily. Since I stopped counting, running has become more enjoyable and not so difficult. Suzy and I have improved and can now carry on a conversation while running. Keep in mind, when I say run, I actually mean a slow jog! Today Suzy and I decided to see how long we could run non stop. We got to ten minutes before stopping. Ten minutes!!!! That's huge for me. Not long ago, one minute was very hard.

We have had a few funny things happen to us while running. The first is, people we pass, point and laugh at us. They aren't discreet about it either. They will come right up to us, look, talk to each other and laugh at us. Many people have even join us for a short while. We usually run when kids are going to school so some of the school kids will start running with us.

Another funny thing is we almost got ran over by a truck. The road is being worked on so that particular day there was a portion of the road that was very narrow with piles of mud on both sides. There was just enough room for one car. On our first pass through, Suzy said “I hope a truck doesn't come!” We were ok the first pass, but on our way back, we were about halfway through that section when we heard a truck coming. Suzy said “run!” and we started sprinting to the end. We were trying to avoid jumping over the big piles of mud. We almost made it but decided to jump when it got a little too close for comfort. I think we could have made it, but it was better to be safe than sorry! We both were hurting after that sprint. I don't think I have ever run that fast!

The other funny thing is the interesting people we come across on the road. One time Suzy saw a man from the cattle camp carrying a spear and she talked him into selling us his spear for Garrett to take home. Today was quite the exciting day. When cars or motorcycles come by, we have to move. They will not go around us. There was one heading towards us today so we moved to the side. Unfortunately this guy decided to be a punk and zoomed right at me. He came within a couple inches of me. Another lady we met today was a little intimidating. She was with her neighbors when we ran by and decided to put on a show for them. She was a very tall lady and had a big stick. She ran next to us for a bit and then went behind us and was swinging the stick like she was trying to whip a horse to make it go faster. She did it behind Suzy first and Suzy scooted out of her way. I didn't want her to think this was a game we were going to play so I continued at the same pace. She swung her stick and I could hear the whoosh as she whipped it really fast in the air. She got really close to me and then Suzy told her “no” and it wasn't ok. She left after that. Most of the people are funny not scary!

Things happen while running in Tonj that would never happen in the States. Never a dull moment.