Today was our weekly run date, 5:30 am “Sharp” said Amany the team leader last night before we went to sleep.
5:33 am we stared our way to downtown Cairo, showed my Garmin wrist watch.
I tried to catch up with the group pushing my usual pace, witnessing the rising sun while crossing the kasr el Nile bridge is a moment not to be missed. Passing through bab el Louq square you can spot the renovated old buildings with gold paint decorations. Finally I arrived with last few runners at Abdin Palace. Egypt was ruled from this palace starting from 1872 to 1952 and was built by AlKhedwi Ismail Pasha.
We had to take our famous running group selfie before we start our way back to Zamalek.
I usually try to train below zone 5 heart rate training zone which is below 90% of my maximum heart rate, unless I am finishing or in a race, as it is much safer for your heart, muscles and joints.
Today on my way back I found Ibrahim and Safi waiting for me and told me “Today you should finish with us”. At that moment I took the decision and didn’t care much about the heart rate training zones and kept in pace until we reached our starting point. And guess what ? Although I ran at a higher pace my heart rate did not get higher.
While stretching I had a small talk with Ramy, who turned out to be a young doctor and will soon be leaving Egypt to start a residency program in the USA.
I guess ramy did not want to leave Egypt and probably had another future planned when he entered medical school 8 years ago, but sometimes you have to change the mental state and the heart will follow.