Emma Pallant's latest blog from the UKA training camp.

Thursday 20th January

It was a morning session day today so I got up early to have my brekkie.  Here we are going to bed at around 9pm and getting up at 6am whereas at home I find it hard to sleep for longer than  seven hours!  The session was another tough but good one.  Mick (Woods) came out on his bike and Steph (Twell) and I did road reps to his whistle.  Mick got a pretty good workout himself, especially as he was carrying our drinks and trainers in his rucksack and still managing to find some spare breath to shout us on!  efore lunch I did my leg conditioning and stretching by the pool.  Then after lunch I went for a long stroll with Mick which was good because we never really get time with just the two of us and we had a nice long chat.  Then I went in for my swim, followed by the evening run and then a mighty core session.  By that time I felt I’d earned a good dinner which was the well known Kenyan dish of pizza, result!


Friday 21st January

We did our morning run first thing and then had breakfast.  A group of people were going to go to the giraffe park but because we had already been, Steph, Mick and I decided to go monkey hunting instead (just to look at of course, not by Chef’s orders!).  But the park was closed so instead I did my core, leg conditioning and stretching by the pool and then had physio before lunch.  After lunch I went for a stroll into Iten to exchange some dollars.  On the way, two young girls fell into step with me so I started talking to them and they replied shyly at first but then quickly gained in confidence and became quite chatty.  They told me they were on their way back to school which starts at 6:30am and finishes at 3:10pm.  They have an hour lunch break in which time they have to get back and make lunch for their older brothers (who went to the same school), have their lunch and clean up before walking back to school. That definitely wouldn’t happen in our house, my brother’s lucky if he gets a Christmas present!  Then they asked me how old I was and when I replied ‘21’ the youngest said ‘but where is your husband Mrs?’ so I said ‘he has raced back to where we are staying to make my lunch in time for when I get back’.  If they told me their afternoon start time correctly, they were already late.  They didn’t seem too bothered though so either the schools aren’t as disciplined as we thought or they run to typical, laid back, Kenyan time.  Unfortunately it was typical, laid back, Kenyan time at the bank and took ages for me to exchange my money but I was kept entertained by Westlife blaring from their speakers whilst we queued.  I went for a swim when I got back, then we did our evening run and finally the two hour Kenyan group mobilisation session.  After dinner I was so ready for bed.


Saturday 22nd January

Today was a session day so we ate breakfast early.  Then before the sesh it was time for another clothes wash.  I’m moving house when I get back to England and the first thing that will be on my shopping list (yup even ahead of ugali, Kenyan tea and chapatis!) is going to be a washing machine!  The session was really good this morning, another classic beast from Mr Woods.  He took me and Steph down to our usual trail and Charlene (Thomas) and a guy Mick has met from Oxford trained with us as well.  We all worked really hard and there was a good vibe buzzing around at the end.  This was followed by a nice stretch off by the pool before lunch.  After lunch Steph, Mick and I went to Cairio View for pancakes.  A cold coke has never tasted so good! (Not that I am adverse to the luminous orange squash we’ve been drinking by the gallon back at the lodge.)  Then we hit Iten high street in search of some Kenyan beady bracelets and wooden giraffes but the hunt was in vain.  We then hurried back just in time for the evening run.  After the run I did my conditioning circuit and core in the gym, which is definitely the place to be on a Saturday night!  Charlene and Helen (Clitheroe) kept us all entertained with some classic dance moves along to some equally classic tunes!  Then it was dinner which included some belated birthday cake for John Beattie.  It was John’s birthday a couple of days ago but the kitchen need to be told well in advance, so lesson learnt for Hatti’s birthday next week.  I was tempted to claim a birthday next week myself but I think they might get a bit suspicious and start requesting passports!


Sunday 23rd January

This morning the wind was crazy (not just because we had lentils for dinner last night!) and it made every uphill on our long morning run even tougher.  After the run I did my stretching and conditioning in the gym because it was too chilly outside.  Everyone was moaning about how cold it was, I think all this Kenyan sun has turned us soft!  On the plus side though it means I will have plenty of weight allowance free for kilogrammes of ugali on the return flight home, as I will be wearing most of my clothes!  On my post lunch stroll I encountered a bull down one of the country lanes.  Thankfully it was being held on a lead (constructed by a strong-ish looking piece of rope) but just to be on the safe side I stood well back as it passed.  After my walk I had my first Kenyan date.  Wednesday and Sunday night are chapati nights and on Wednesday night I was talking with the chef, Jemba, and told him how much I love his chapatis.  So he invited me to come and make them with him this afternoon.  Kenyan measurement is fairly similar to Kenyan time, casual rather than precise being the best description!  So we chucked some flour (more than sugar), some sugar (more than water), some water (more than milk) some milk (more than salt) and some salt into a bowl.  We then kneaded it altogether and let it ‘sleep’ for an hour.  Then we rolled the dough into balls, rolled out those balls into flat circles, fried it and bish bash bosh, you had your chapatis.  Except for I was well behaved and refrained from having them there and then, I thought I’d better wait until dinner so instead I went and did my core.  After dinner the Canadian guy Larry taught us a new card game, then Steph and I challenged him and Nick McCormick to a game.  Still sore from our table tennis defeat, we redeemed our pride with a win, making it 1-1 (not that we’re at all competitive!).  I look forward to round three!


Monday 24th January

We began the week with a long morning run.  The wind still hasn’t dropped resulting in a power cut so it was cold showers all round this morning!  After breakfast I did my conditioning and core circuits, had a massage and just squeezed in enough time to beat Nick (Goolab) at table tennis before lunch.  After lunch I then beat Colin (McCourt) and James (Shane) but just as I was planning a sequel for Charlene’s ‘Girl Power’ movie, Nick (McCormick) put me in my place!  I then went for a stroll and had some dry needling done on my leg.  Then Steph, Mick and I did a very British thing and consumed some afternoon tea and cake.  We didn’t do it in true British style though as we had it outside in the sun!  I then went into the gym and did a cheeky stretching session before the evening run.


Photo Mark Shearman