Countdown to the Jinja Half-Marathon

Oh my goodness - in less than 24 hours I will have (hopefully) have completed my first half marathon! We're heading off to Jinja in a little while to stay the night, before setting off on The Source of The Nile run.

It's been a long 5 or so weeks of training since I first started training. I'm not quite sure how I managed to tick the box for 21km and not 10km - probably because I have this secret, underlying competitive streak in me that only rears its head now and again. So myself and my good friend and running buddy have been obsessing over where to run, for how long, for what distance and so forth.

The training has had its highs and lows. We're just coming out of the rainy season, so we missed a practise or two due to the weather. This isn't because we're wimps, but because a rainstorm here means that the roads turn to squelchy mud and even the paved roads get flooded. But on the whole I'd say we've been pretty disciplined. Our training hasn't exactly been hi-tech. I know runners who have these clever devices called Garmins that record your speed for every kilometre, the distance you have run and of course the time. We don't have such things. At one stage, neither of us had a watch, so we had to incorporate a loop into Kisementi where there's a big clock in the car park to have an idea of how long we had been running.

Then there are the clothing issues. Two weeks ago I discovered a big hole in the only running pants that really fit me properly. So I decided to pop to the shops to see what I could find. The first shop had an array of fleece lined trackie bottoms suitable for Arctic conditions and most definitely not appropriate for tropical Uganda. On I went to Mr Price (some sort of South African Primark style shop only with inferior quality clothes at triple M & S prices)to find shiny neon pink or green nylon track suits - not quite what I was looking for either. The next stop was the tiny but genuine Nike outlet in Garden City, but all they had was a pair of white trendy harem pant thingys costing around 40 quid - pass again! My final port of call was another sports shop selling more shiny multicoloured lycra trousers last fashionable in 1986. Needless to say, I am going to wear a pair of slightly big trousers of my own.

This week was meant to be a semi-rest week. That means that you don't run too much so that you can be fully rested and in tip-top condition on the day (hmmm supposedly). I decided that I would go on the hash run as the final practise on Monday. Bad idea. This turned out to be through the the slum areas of Bukoto (not far from where I live) and Kamwokya. Not only did we pass through this area, but the entire run involved leaping over open sewers, tip-toeing along precipitous edges with festering awamps threatening below, dodging people's drying underwear on washing lines and generally making a good attempt not to contract cholera or typhoid in the process. In the end, I did feel a certain sense of karma though. The hare, who is the person who sets the route, thought it would be an amusing touch to have a camel strategically placed at one point of the run. It will come back to haunt her forever though, since she did not have a hash handle (nickname) and came to be baptised Camel Toe!!! I think she will be most upset when she discovers what camel toe actually means!

Finally I come to nutrition and a generally healthy and balanced lifestyle. Last night was a bit of a challenge as I had to (and managed to) avoid the FREE OPEN BAR after the graduation ceremony at school. I decided to also avoid the party afterwards as this would almost certainly lead to my downfall. Tonight we're packing Scrabble and cards to entertain ourselves instead of glugging wine. Although I do have to say there is a bottle of bubbly chilling for afterwards ...