This post is dedicated to KK and his love, running. I (Daphne) am writing this post during covid-19 quarantine, one day after KK was caught by police, running in the underground garage because he couldn’t give up his love. Oh yes, he is so addicted to running so now, that we are not allowed to go out, he goes running in the underground garage, where I cannot even breathe when we used to go (pre-quarantine era) to get the car.
His love for running started the same time as his love for me, in high school. His best friend, Nikos, persuaded him to try track & field and that was it. He stopped running after high school as he was also playing basketball at that time and he started again 4 years later after a knee injury.
He mainly runs long distance races, so half marathons and marathons, which means I am wandering around different cities, on my own, carrying his stuff, monitoring him (if we are lucky and they have a live tracker) and making sure I am on the finish line to find him when he finishes since he doesn’t have a phone with him while running. What? You think it’s easy? It’s not! There is one thing about KK and races that I love though. Pasta for lunch and dinner for 7 days prior the race, paradise!
I said this post would be dedicated to KK so back to him, his races and his time.
04/2019 ASICS Greater Manchester Marathon 3:10:58
01/2020 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2:53:50
10/2015 Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon 96:48
09/2017 Ealing Half Marathon 86:41
03/2019 Vitality Big Half Marathon 86:25
10/2019 Valencia Half Marathon 79:26
Update! After reading this article KK asked me to add his PB for the 5K and the 10K (no comments please) so there we go:
09/2019 RunThrough Chase the Sun Olympic Park 10K 35:51
11/2019 RunThrough Battersea Park 5K 17:21
The running gadgets he uses at the moment:
Garmin Fenix 3 – Tracking running, cycling, swimming activities as well as heart rate, steps, cadence. (350 euros)
Garmin HRM Run – Strap to monitor heart rate during run and cycle activities (50 euros)
Stryd – Using the excuse of losing signal when running in Dubai Marina, due to skyscrapers), he got this footpod to track more accurately distance and pace even in indoor activities (i.e running on treadmill). Besides that, it provides a new metric for running which is more common in cycling, that of the Power. Power could be used as an alternative or complementary metric to understand the effort of your exercises. Unlike heart rate, which could be affected by external factors like heat, caffeine, wind, tiredness, sickness, Power is a more constant metric of effort. The the most amazing part? Stryd can also calculate the effort you spend when running against the wind! KK loves data and data analytics so as you understand he is fascinated with that little gadget of his. (200 euros)
Of course we have the appropriate equipment for recovery. The massage gun is my favourite, I am using it too, you can feel your muscles relaxed. Then electronic foam roller, massage balls, ice packs etc.
Although I am bored to death when he’s explaining to me the time he is doing in practice, his heart rate, these new shoes, that new tracker gadget and blah-blah I am truly happy for him. He has a healthy habit that makes him relax (or not), he is passionate about and he tries hard to improve himself every single day. Go KK!