I ran again today ... I've managed to complete all but one of the runs so far in my Couch to 5K program, and just ran the second run of week 4. Yes, it's slow going ... and it seems like I really need to force myself to get out there, but that's probably more due to the blustery weather than anything else. Today I almost didn't go ... but I knew that I would be absurdly proud of myself for sticking with it and just getting out there. And, yeah, I am.
The three runs this week in the NHS Couch to 5K program are, as always, intervals of running and walking. As I distracted myself by counting breaths and calculating the times while alternating between runs and walks, I realized that I should be practicing counting in Swahili. I mean, why not?
For example, here's today's workout, in Swahili:
Jitayarishe kwa muda wa dakika tano : Warm up for five minutes
Mbio dakika tatu : Run three minutes
Kutembea sekunde tisini : Walk ninety seconds
Bio dakika tano : Run five minutes
Kutumbea dakika mbili na nusu : Walk two and a half minutes
Punguza mwendo kwa muda wa dakika tano : Slow down for five minutes
Phew -- that probably took me as long to type as to run today...
Here's one GREAT thing about numbers in Swahili: they are very structured. So if you learn the basic building blocks, you can count to big numbers. Hooray!
1 = Moja
2 = Mbili
3 = Tatu
4 = Nne
5 = Tano
6 = Sita
7 = Saba
8 = Nane
9 = Tisa
10 = Kumi
11 = Kumi na moja
12 = Kumi na mbili
20 = Ishirini
21 = Ishirini na moja
22 = Ishirini na mbili
30 = Thelathini
40 = Arobaini
50 = Hamsini
60 = Sitini
70 = Sabini
80 = Themanini
90 = Tisini
99 = Tisini na tisa
100 = Mia
101 = Mia na moja
111 = Mia na kumi na moja
200 = Mia mbili
201 = Mia mobile na kumi na moja
300 = Mia tatu
1000 = Elfu moja
On Tuesday I saw a guy walking around Green Lake reading a book -- a full-on, paperback book. I wonder if I could run with flash cards? (Mmmm, no. I'm clumsy enough!)