A day of rest in Iten, Kenya: Resting is also part of training

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Run with Sung

3 min readApr 25, 2019

Me having a stomach problem and ready to rest for the day

Kenyans swear by their chai (their delicious milk tea; a cocktail of milk, water, sugar and tea leaves) and ugali (their staple food, made of crushed corn mixed with water). And I don’t balme them. Their food is so fresh and delicious. It is my 3rd week in Iten, Kenya, and I am really enjoying the training and food here.

Problem is, I end up eating too much often. That made me get a stomach problem. And I was not sure whether I should take the day off or not. I asked coaches here, and they told me that Kenyan runners take a day off (or do a really realy easy run) when they are sure their body needs rest. So we decided I need to take the day off. I had a nice rest day and worked on my writing*.

Luckily, I felt much better in the afternoon so I went for a 40min easy run. It felt blissful to run around the beautiful terrain of Iten, Kenya. Watch the video to feel the ambience of Iten, Kenya.

What you see during your daily run in Iten, Kenya. Running here makes you feel damn grateful to be alive.

About my writing: I wrote an ebook on my experirence in Iten in 2015 in Korean. If you know how to read Korean, you can read my essays here: https://publy.co/set/141.
If you want to be notified when the essays are ready in English (I plan to upload whole thing in one batch), please subscribe to my email newsletter: http://tiny.cc/sungwookim

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Follow my journey as I document my training with some of Kenya’s best runners in #Iten, #Kenya here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsVFuucbQNWIP_EoGQ6W3g4O3Zcl6iQmm

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Sung Woo Kim is a runner and wellness content creator. He shares his tips and learnings through his Instagram and YouTube channel. He also offers Mindful Running and Barefoot Running classes in Seoul, South Korea. Currently, he is in Iten, Kenya, to learn from some of the best #athletes of Kenya and document his journey and their training.

Sung is a lululemon ambassador in Seoul, helping the community to lead healthy lives based on gratitude and breathing.

Sung wrote an ebook with PUBLY(https://publy.co/set/141) based on his time in Iten, Kenya, in 2015. The book is available in Korean now and the translation is almost finished.

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If you are planning a trip to Seoul, South Korea this July~August 2019, come join my running classes

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