Marathon: You Can Do It

I have  just finished reading an Interview of Samuel Wanjiru on Daily Nation Newspaper, on how he won Beijing Olympic Marathon. If you thought lack of sleep, anxiety, fear and self doubt is the stuff of amateur runners, you will be interested to know Samuel Wanjiru didn’t sleep on the eve of the marathon.

Samuel Wanjiru Couldn’t sleep on the eve of the marathon.

The 21 year Olympic medal winner admitted he spent the whole night thinking about the marathon. He only relaxed in the morning when he met fellow runners, Martin Lel and Luke Kibet who also admitted they had also not slept at all.

Lack of sleep on the eve of a marathon afflict all runners, the best advice I read was on the runners guide book of my first Stanchart Nairobi marathon: If you cant sleep you can try to relax. If that is hard you can check my previous post, Foods you can eat to help you sleep on the eve of a marathon

Samuel had doubts about his chances

He was confident of a Kenyan win but he knew team mate Martin Lel would win  the race because he has a stronger finishing kick.

Who said progression running is the best race strategy?

In soccer they say the best defence is attack. Samuel hit the tarmac on a fast pace because according to the assumptions of his Japanese coach, “It was hot and humid in Beijing and thats why it was important for Wanjiru to run fast in the lead group so that by the time the temperatures rose, it was difficult for the chasing pack to catch him. I think that is what happened. A perfect strategy by the coach!

The Pounding heart

I remember as he zoomed into the bird nest, I  saw a smiling face but according to Samuel, his heart was pounding heavily. Sometimes looks can be deceiving!

Samuel Wanjiru Beijing 5K split times

1st 5 Kms - 14 mins 52 secs

2nd 5  Kms (10Km) - 14 mins 34 secs

3rd 5 Km (15Km) - 15 Min 11 Secs

4th 5 Km (20Km) - 14 Min 33 Secs

5th 5 Km (25Km) - 14 Min 48 Secs

6th 5 km (30Km) - 15 Min 16 Secs

7th 5 Km (35 Km) - 15 Min 23 secs

8th 5 Km ( 40 Km) - 15 Min 17 Secs

At 21 years, you can expect to hear more from this young man.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, Kenyan Runners, Running

It was a beautiful month, it’s so sad the Olympics happen once in 4 years. Let me share my best moments from Beijing:-

Michael Phelps winning the 100 meter freestyle

After seeing the Serbian swimmer lead from start to near the finish I thought Phelps would miss his 8th gold medal. But Phelps made a stunning jump at the final metre to win Gold.

Usain Bolt  jog to win 100 metre gold

I didn’t watch this race on TV but listened to it on BBC sports radio. The fact Usain Bolt  jogged the final 10 metres to win the 100M gold means sooner or later a sprinter somewhere will dash 100m in 9.6 flat.

Constatina Tomescu break

I love marathon running and as I watched Romanian Tomescu break from the other runners, I just wished one day I will be able to run at such a high pace and not implode at the 32K mark. The point most novice runners hit the wall!

Kenenisa Bekele Final Kick

As a Kenyan it is disheartening to see Kenenisa Bekele make that final kick and there is no Kenyan runner to match him.

Samwel Kamau Wanjiru  Winner Mens Olympic marathon

I loved the salute he made as he entered the Birds nest stadium on his way to break the Olympic marathon record. At 21 I never rated the guy to win the mens marathon but he was the strongest on the day it mattered most.

If you are already feeling the hangover of Beijing Olympics don’t go to sleep yet,  the Paraolympics are just getting started!

Tags: , Athletes, Beijing Olympics, Olympics

The beijing olympics has been a success, no scandals have been reported. I did a google search on Olympic scandals and I only got scandals from the past. The most interesting bits were about the following women athletes who were suspected to be men.

Polish Runner Ewar Kobukkowska

She was the first woman to be caught in a gender test in 1967. In 1964 summer olympics in Tokyo, She won gold medal in women 4 x 100 meter relay and the bronze in womens 100 meters sprint.

She was found to have a rare genetic condition which gave her no advantage over other athletes, but was nonetheless banned from competing in the Olympics and professional sports.

Indian Runner Santhi Soundarajan.

She won the silver medal in the 800 meters track event at the 2006 Asian games in Doha, Qatar. She failed a the sex determination test and was stripped of her medal. Her case is yet to be concluded however.

Soundarajan  is reported to have lived her entire life as woman.

Brazilian Judo, Edinanci Silva,

At Sydney, she beat Australian Judoka Natalie Jenkins. At a press conference Jenkins raised the issue of Silva’s gender by constantly referring to her as “he” Eventually Silva was confirmed as female but not without some considerable embarrassment.

German athlete, Dora Ratjen 

In 1936 a German athlete named Dora Ratjen finished fourth in the women’s high jump. Twenty years later, Ratjen disclosed the he was in fact Hermann Ratjen and that the Nazis had forced him to compete as a woman.

Brazil Women Vollyeball team

After 2000 Sydney Olympics I remember reading about How volleyball teams had complained about the Brazilian volley team. The team officials admitted some of their players were formerly hermaphrodite but they had undertook an operation to be women. Even after the IOC confirmed the players to be men, most girls from the other teams continue insist they had played against men.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Running, Scandals

After watching Jamaican Usain Bolt smash the 100 metres record, I asked myself, “From which part of Africa did his slave ancestors come from?”

All Jamaicans are descendants of Slaves from Africa. Did his slave ancestors come from Kenya? I don’t think so. If they came from my country Kenya, Usain Bolt would have been a long distance runner.

Ethiopia? No. Ethiopia is good at middle distance running.

What about Nigeria? probably yes.

Nigeria is the only country in Africa that has been able to produce sprinters that compete in Olympics.

At 2008 Beijing summer Olympics, sprinters Olusoji Fasuba and Damola Osayemi represented Nigeria in the sprints. Fasuba holds the African record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.85 seconds. Nigeria won a bronze medal at the mens 4 x 100 meter relay.

I won’t mind if Nigeria gloat about Usain Bolt being their own!

Tags: , Athletes, Beijing Olympics, Olympics

Running your own business is hardwork, all the time is spent attending to the needs of your customer. Most business people admit they don’t have time for family let alone hobbies.

I have just finished reading a BusinessWeek magazine story about six entrepreneurs who have been able to balance business and time to train for Olympics. I loved the following four entrepreneur/athletes who have been sweating at Beijing Summer Olympics.

Melanie Roach

She is an American weight lifter, A bronze medalist at 2007 Pan American games. She runs a 17 employee Gym with her husband.  “To be a good business owner,” she says, “you have to put in the work, have the vision, and be goal-oriented. It’s the same in athletics. You’re never off the clock. There’s always something you can do better.”

Christie Ramphone

She is in Beijing as captain of the women’s soccer team and is co-owner of Airship Self Storage, a three-person company in Manchester, N.J.

George Hincapie

This cyclist has competed in every Summer Olympics since 1992. Hincapie and his brother Rich are the owners of Hincapie Sportswear, a six-employee, $4 million maker of cycling apparel in Greenville, S.C.

Sailor, Austin Sperry

When Austin got married he discovered that his new father in-law had tried to qualify for Olympics for 40 years. Austin teamed up with his father in-law, John Dane III the oldest American athlete competing in Beijing. They are now in Beijing!

Austin runs a 10 person, 500,000 mobile home business. He told businessweek “I look at sailing as a job. I look at the other business stuff as what I love to do,”

Tags: Beijing Olympics, old athletes, Olympics, Running