Shifting Goalposts

Build-up
I jogged about 8.8 km on Saturday, including a 3.8 km non-stop stretch that took me about 23 minutes. Monday’s rain disrupted my schedule. On Tuesday, it looked like it was going to rain again and I decided to jog alongside my wife as she walked in the estate. Wednesday, I basically sat around the house and did other exercises. Thursday daytime, my leg muscles were feeling a bit tense. I feared that because of the two-day breaks between my jogs and the unstructured run on Tuesday, I was losing the gains I had made so far.
Time Limit
We had a group coming for Bible Study at my house on the said Thursday, so I had limited time to jog. I decided to run 5 kilometres, and if I would be able, to run 20 minutes non-stop like I had done last week. I was not sure I would manage this, though, and I was ready to try at least 11 minutes non-stop.
Off!
I usually warm up with a little jogging on the spot and brisk walking for 5 minutes or so. This usually means that the total distance I cover usually includes the 5-min walk distance. I wanted to actually measure my 5K time this time. So I did a brief warm-up within the compound and left the gate running. I felt ok. As I approached Mombasa Road, I started feeling a bit strained, so I figured that I was going a bit too fast. I slowed down. The footpath was rather crowded with people walking, but not too much.
Uphill Task
Ahead of me , on Mombasa Road, was the bridge that goes over the railway line. That meant a climb. That meant strain. I jogged on. The uphill jog wasn’t too difficult. I had decided not to check my stopwatch (Read: my wife’s phone) until I had crossed Enterprise Road. I would then have covered about 1.7 km and would have jogged about 10 minutes. (Wikimapia.org and Google Earth have been very useful in measuring distances.)
Target Ahead
I got over the hill okay, passing the working nation walking home. On my left were cars on the road. The descent was okay as well, and I was still in good shape. I crossed Enterprise Road, still feeling strong. The length of Sameer Business Park was next. My turning point lay just after, at Tulip House. I decided to try and at least reach Tulip House still jogging.
Right, left, right, left, I jogged on. An occasional sip of water.
Sipping water becomes quite a task when jogging and thus breathing more heavily than usual. You have to take a breath, take the sip and coordinate breathing through your nose while keeping your mouth shut and then swallowing.
Turning Point
Tulip House was here. 14 minutes and some seconds. I decided to jog till at least a round figure of 15 minutes. Left, right, left, right. I passed Tulip House a little and turned in a curve to avoid actually stopping. Not yet 15 minutes. Ok, let’s try go for 20 minutes then. That would be 60 X 5 which would be 300 seconds right? I started counting.
Passing Sameer again. Passing pedestrians again that I had passed while going the other direction. Right, left, right, left. 180, 179, 178, 177… Right, left, right, left.
I Know I Can
Did I start counting at 300 or 240? Doesn’t really matter, the counting is just to guide me, and also importantly, to distract me. Mind games.
I decided to continue jogging at least until I again reach Enterprise Road. Part of my concern was that I wanted to jog a distance that I would be able to measure easily. As I got nearer, I felt I could go on beyond the Road. But there was the hill again in front of me. Of course I can make it to the top of the hill, I told myself. Thank you Lord that I can make it. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 20 minutes had certainly passed, but now I had a new objective. Let me just jog till the top of the hill.
As I approached the main ascent, some guy joined the path from the left, jogging in a bouncy manner up the hill. Showing off, eh? You have just started jogging moments ago, so of course you can bounce along. He jogged away. I followed at a slow pace. I passed him and other pedestrians a few metres ahead. He was walking. Whassup homey! I said to him in my head.
I managed the climb and descended happily. Some guy had a jacket with a pocket that reminded me of a kangaroo’s pouch. His was on the back side of the jacket. In the pocket, he had one of those rectangular, transparent, plastic containers that you can buy some foodstuffs in. I passed him. Another guy seemed to be sagging his jeans, but he did not look the type to deliberately sag. I figured he was just shaped like that, with nothing much to hold up the jeans. I passed him too.
The End
At the bottom of the descent, I felt energised. Maybe it was excitement. I can actually push this till home! I thought. Let me at try at least till the gate. Left, right, left, right! Cars, pedestrians. Left, right, left, right! Look at the road behind, cross. I was now at the gate. I can actually do this! Guard at the gate waved hallo. I waved back. I jogged on. The straight stretch. Left, right, left, right! Excitement! Left turn. Reach for phone in pocket. Refrain from checking the time. Reached our gate. Stop the phone’s stopwatch. 5 Kilometres. 30 minutes, 01 seconds! Non-stop! Yesss!!!