It's a runderful life.

It's been a couple of Saturdays since my last piece. Life has been busy and great - I broke my tooth, almost lost my phone and had to study like crazy for my CPA exams for the better part of August, but everything still feels great.

It's on the 31st of August and I am headed for a run in Karura forest, every last Saturday of the month with 'werunnairobi', remember? I was up by 5.20 and out a few minutes past 6.The first thing I noticed when I stepped out was the beautiful sunrise and a quarter moon - I paused, one hand inside the door's lock and just stared at the sky for a moment.The light of dawn seeped into the parking lot, evoking in me a feeling of awe.

I am sitted in a matatu and despite all the noises around me, I feel so calm. My mind is at peace. So I decided to write about my other experiences with 'werunnairobi' to avoid actively wondering how many passengers are left before we leave. Punctuality is one of the ways you get to have a good run because then you get to do the pre-run stretches which are really great.And you get to do a group-run. Distracting my mind is a good way to avoid the anxieties of running late.

I have never been to Karura Forest before, but it's been at the top of my bucket list. I always knew that the first time I'd go there would be either for a hike or to bike ride, but alas! It's for a different course and I am so gung-ho for my very first forest run.

This piece is a sequel to my first piece about 'my' running club and there will be so many more to come. So first off, a little update:

They introduced 6am-Thursday-runs in the Nairobi arboretum. And there is a merch labelled 'we run nairobi' now - come on!

 When I saw them on their Instagram page yesterday I instantly liked them - they are black with minimal writings on them. And I love the font and style used on the writings. I'm sure I will order one sometime.

After that first run, I missed the next (27th July) because of my brother's graduation party - it went great! 

The early morning of 3rd August found me in Riverside Square, pumped up for the run. This time I didn't bump into a running partner so I was on track alone, I did 10km. 

Just as I made my way back to Brioche, which is our assembly point, I noticed one of the faces I love to see on my Instagram walls - Shiv Simani. He is a fitpreneuer, a wellness influencer and a fitness coach. I'm a fan of his wife as well, I love her style. She does a lot of DIY styling hacks and she's so good with her kind of creativity. They have beautiful daughters and a cute dog - isn't mamba a cute name for a black rottweiler? I was so surprised and happy to see him all I managed to say was, 'Hi Shiv, big fan of yours.' I was part of the small group he guided with the post-run stretches. We were in a circle and I was directly opposite him. 

From being a fan of his on the socials to stretching right beside him, wow!

He is a kind human. I asked him for a picture moment later on and he was so easy with it:

This right here, was the highlight of my day. I don't want to talk about the coincidence in our fits but you see it, what are the chances?

On 10th August, this was the vibe:

You notice the details in this poster? - that background screams of so much effort.

I didn't have a running partner that day as well but somewhere mid-run some pretty lady with an athletic build challenged me to keep up with her pace for a while. She had been behind me and when she got to me she was like, 'Come on let's go!' So we ran for like a mile side by side before she slowed down and asked me to push forward with a 'nice to meet you Nesh.' We converged on our way back to 254 Beer District and high-fived in smiles, like, ' I love to see that sweat.'

As I hydrated, I noticed two guys stretching and went to ask if I could join them, of course they let me. Later they would compliment my running posture and pace, mind you they looked very athletic so the compliments carried a lot of weight and had me smiling real big. They reminded me that I had passed them in some hilly path and that it had them going like, 'Who is this girl?' Ouh they also said I have really good kicks. 

And then there was Emily, the founder of this club. We pulled in for a hug the moment we noticed each other. She has a very welcoming spirit. While we talked about how the run was, she asked me if I have been doing it for a while cause she said she had been noticing my strides everytime she passed me, she passes literally everyone cause she starts running way after us and she is so fast she does more than catching up. My take: 

There are so many things you could be good at that you haven't tried doing yet.

The watch party was great, so great : a bunch of runners cheering on marathon runners like they were right there with us, listening.The cheers and screams that filled the room every time the cameras were focused on Kenyan athletes were so wholesome. 

I was sitted beside guys who knew so much about the marathon and athletics in general - so many things beyond what we see on the screen. I was like yeah!There is levels to everything for sure. People like me love athletics but I can't sit and talk to you for more than 5minutes spitting a bunch of facts like they did.When my eyes were not fixated on the screen, my concentration was on their conversations. A guy sitted on my right was also amazed with the same and that's where our conversation which lasted hours stemmed from. We stayed behind a little longer after the watch party and talked about so much - when a tech guy unlocks their zip folder, there is so much to them.

On August 17th, I attended a special kind of thanksgiving party. Over the years, my mum's brother and his wife have helped so many relatives and homies get through their education and tough seasons of life, they have always hosted people in their home here in Nairobi.A good number of them planned a party to thank them for their selflessness. So many touchy speeches were given: One man said, 'You gave me a second lease on life,' while fighting back tears and that stuck with me. There is a place in heaven for people who make anyone say that.

August 24th was the weekend after a rough week of CPA exams. I couldn't wait to go unwind with a Saturday morning run but I was called up for an ushering gig at a wedding. And since I have no other source of income at the moment, I had to forgo the run because in the long run, these gigs will enable me to keep showing up.

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My next piece will be about the Karura Forest experience. What better way to sign out than to show you how we will be running Nairobi this month? 

Adios!✨