Day 1
After 36 hours of cramped seating, crying babies and body odor, I have made it safely to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The journey here hasn’t been easy, to say the least, but I am happy to announce that this faranji (which means foreigner in Ethiopian Amharic) is blogging live from the Running Across Borders (RAB) training camp in Addis.
Once the three of us (mom, dad, and me) were off the plane, it wasn’t long until we were picked up by Daniel, the driver for RAB. After an uneventful 15 minute drive we arrived at the RAB training camp, located in Ayat (district of Addis). It was 2:30 AM, so we made sure not to wake up the runners who were catching some shut eye. But there to greet us were Sadie and Yared, Sadie being a volunteer who is spending the summer months at the camp and Yared being the top RAB runner and head honcho, making sure the camp stays in check day in and day out. I was escorted to the guest room out back, where I forced my jet-lagged self to sleep.
With the sun up and camp bustling, I groggily marched out of bed and to the main building of the camp, where I was introduced to the nine male and five female runners of the camp. Immediately, my first impression was a good one: the Ethiopian athletes were extremely kind and very accommodating, using their English skills to get to know me and my family better. After some breakfast, a couple of us ventured into town to use the internet and do some shopping for various goods needed in the camp. Once finished with our trip into town, the rest of the day (except for the run) was spent interacting and getting to know each and every one of the sub elite runners who reside in the camp.
What possibly may have been the highlight of the day (with the exception of meeting wonderful people) was the run. But this was no ordinary run for this Florida flatlander: it was a run at the altitude of 8000 feet. As any well educated runner may know, altitude is extremely taxing on the lungs and when running at a pace that should feel easy, your breathing is compared to a pace that almost resembles race pace. With this in mind, I took it very easy and only did 4 miles at about 9:20 pace. The route that we ran (we being me, Sadie, and Dad) included some awesome scenery. Some of the route goes on some treacherous single track that winds around a nearby mountain, giving you an excellent view of the surrounding area. I could tell that my time in Ethiopia would be unforgettable.
Day 2
My second day at the RAB training camp started rather early; jet lag coupled with altitude induced insomnia left me wide awake at 3 AM. Fortunately, I was awake at the right time since Eunhwan (pronounced OOON-wan), a 17 year old cross country and track runner from Illinois who I would be sharing my room with, was arriving from a red eye flight at 3:30 AM. I met him and we talked for a little while before I fell back asleep, snoozing until 10 AM.
Let me go off on a different tangent for a moment and talk about the food at the camp. Meseret, a chef hired by the camp, cooks healthy, low-fat, traditional Ethiopian meals for all the runners at the camp, including the faranji staying at RAB. So let me say that after a couple days at the camp, Meseret has won my seal of approval; and not only that, but the food is excellent and if I had the choice I would prefer Ethiopian cuisine back home. Every morning I wake up to the smell of fresh bread, a commodity that is never found back home. My second day’s lunch also included the famous injera bread, sour dough bread that is eaten when mixed with other entrées. With all the great traditional food that runners eat, it’s no mystery why they can run so fast!
In the afternoon it was time to run again. Despite the fact that July is the second rainiest month in Ethiopia, we were presented with clear skies and a nice temperature of 70 degrees. Today I would be running with Eunhwan and Gudisa; Gudisa is the youngest member of RAB (17 years old) but he still boasts times of 15:00 for the 5K and 24:00 for the 8K. Today the plan was to run for about 40 minutes, at a nice and easy pace. Due to rain in the morning, we stayed on the asphalt instead of running up the mountain and into the forest. The first mile was 9:00, and the next one was 8:10. Okay, I thought, I’m feeling fine, and the pace wasn’t too taxing. The following mile was 7:35, and the fourth mile was 6:55. The three of us cruised down the hill leading into Ayat and we finished the run with a 6:18 last mile. Needless to say, my lungs were beat. My legs felt fine, which I guess is a product of reducing mileage but my lungs felt as if I had just PR’ed in the mile. Eunhwan felt similar, but I was kind of surprised when I asked Gudisa how he felt. “No problem”, Gudisa replied, “This was easy.” Along with being kind and generous people, the Ethiopian athletes are great runners, running gracefully and with an unhitched stride even when weaving in and out of a forest or traversing a climb.
