Day 3
My third day at the training camp started at the butt-crack of dawn; I had to roll out of bed and get ready at 5 AM because we were running a training session outside of Ayat. Ten or so runners, including my family, packed into the team van (circa 1950). The 30 minute ride took us up another 400m, or 1000 feet, and the van dropped us off at Sululta road. Today was asphalt day for the Ethiopians, which meant a longer run on the hilly roads in Sululta. The RAB coach (and Ethiopian National Team coach) Coach Melaku had something different for me and Eunhwan since we were still acclimating to the high altitude. At the drop-off point the place was teeming with elite runners, many of whom owned world class times. In this group was Derartu Tulu, the women’s winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon, who kindly agreed to pose for a photo with me and some other runners.
After some light stretching the runners headed off while Coach Mersha, assistant coach for RAB and the Ethiopian National Team, took me, Eunhwan, and Gudisa to a nearby village where we would be running. Our workout was 2 x 10 minutes at tempo pace, with a 5 minute recovery after each repeat. The repeats were to be done in the forest adjacent to the village. Being a trail novice, I expected well-maintained, dry trails but boy was I mistaken. The Sululta forest, which is where we were running, consists of a vast expanse of thin trees native to the area. It is easily maneuverable since the trees aren’t wide and are sparsely populated. After a 15 minute warm up Gudisa took us out for the first repeat, and that’s when the fun began. Almost immediately my shoes became soaked casualties of the rainy season and the workout transformed from tempo repeats into a steeplechase. Eunhwan and I followed Gudisa as he weaved in and out of the trees. During the workout we were rubbing shoulders with many elites; later, we found out that Haile Gebreselassie (need I say more?) and Tirunesh Dibaba (world record holder for the women’s 5K) were running in the forest at about the same time we were. After one repeat I was toast and my lungs felt as if they just ran an all out mile. To add more insult to injury, the repeat came out to be a whopping 1.36 miles, or 7:21 pace for those of you who failed math. Five soggy minutes later and repeat number two began. Now that I had a sense of the lay of the land… err mud, I figured I could improve upon my pace. But the altitude, and last night’s dinner, got the best of me, and the pace for the second 10 minute repeat only came out to be 7:18. Still, with the extra altitude and tired lungs, this workout was a small victory in my book.
Once everyone was finished, Coach Melaku gathered up the runners and did some critiquing. He told Yared, the top RAB runner who did 23 miles, that he did his run too fast. When I asked Yared afterwards how fast he ran for 23 miles he replied affably “5:21 pace.” When Melaku was finished critiquing the runners, he told Eunhwan and me, much to my surprise, that we handled the workout very well.
After lunch and some post-workout lounging around, we were getting ready to head to Addis. Yared said that he had arranged for us to meet the king of running, Haile Gebreselassie. After a 30 minute, white-knuckle taxi ride we had arrived at one of many of Haile’s buildings. Being at the top of international running for almost twenty years, Haile is more recognized in Ethiopia than the president. After pulling some strings and trying to pinpoint his exact location (he’s a very busy man), one of Haile’s assistants took us down to his gym. We enter to see “Geb,” clad in workout gear, completing a spin on the bike. He hops off a moment later and heads to us, where we begin with our bombardment of questions. Haile speaks very good English and is very kind, unlike some other athletes who become cocky when the fame goes to their head. He asks us how our stay in Ethiopia has been and how our training has been going. When ten minutes had passed, we posed for photos with the king and I asked him to sign my “Nease Cross Country” shirt. All in all, I wish the man many more marathon wins and world records in the future.
Back at the camp, I headed out for a quick 25 minute recovery run with Eunhwan and Gudisa in the forest. Once one gets over the culture shock of being the only faranji for miles, the locals’ calls of “china” and “you, you, you!” actually become quite humorous. Plus, I have a chance to interact with the local population. For example, on my recovery run a young boy in bare feet ran alongside me. After a couple minutes he got tired and started to fall behind. Just as he was about to stop I told him “Aysush!” which means “Keep going!” He smiled and ran back to his parents, saying “The faranji speaks Amharic!” (in his native tongue, of course). Exchanges like these, along with amazing scenery, always make my runs in Ethiopia interesting and enjoyable.
Day 4
As the weekend was ushered in on my fifth day in Ethiopia, most of the day was marked by rest for the majority of the runners. Still, Gudisa, Eunhwan and I headed out bright ‘n’ early for a 50 minute run through the forest. Despite falling twice in the mud, I gained some powerful insights from this mere 50 minute easy run. When the three of us departed for our run from the camp, it was still twilight but the roads were almost as crowded as if it were high noon, with people working hard to get on top of the day’s errands. While running on the rough and winding trails (and channeling my inner mountain goat), I noticed kids no older than 8 years old carrying large jugs of water up to their huts on the mountain. And that’s when it hit me: this is why Ethiopia produces the world’s top distance runners.
Here in Ethiopia, unless you hold a high position in government or on the corporate ladder, odds are that you will never own a car for your entire life! That’s why the main forms of transportation for Ethiopians are running and walking. Even slightly obese Ethiopians are as common as a cold day in Hawaii; it’s hard to put on the pounds when your days are filled with hard physical labor needed to sustain you and your family’s day to day living. This lifestyle coupled with the lean and mean diet that consists of (largely vegetarian) traditional dishes are the key ingredients to producing the ultimate distance runner.
After spending four days in the camp, I realized that Gandhi had it right when he said the path to fulfillment only happens when one has abstained from the use of material goods. While the accommodations at the RAB camp are modest, there are some luxuries that I use in everyday living back home that are not unavailable here. For example, the camp does not have a machine washer or dryer, air conditioning, hot water, good plumbing, cable television (or more than 10 channels), and internet access. My path up to this point has been too compromised as far as technology goes and, even though I am eventually going back to the States, I feel like this way of living makes one the happiest.
After an English lesson for the Ethiopians runners (done via Scrabble and other word games) it was time for the second run of the day, a quick 25 minute recovery run. This time, Gudisa took me and Eunhwan off the beaten path; we ran on some nearby dirt roads that had some rolling hills. It’s quite a transcendent experience to run to the calls of Muslim prayer; the former paired with the breathtaking scenery of wheat and barley fields on rolling terrain makes this route memorable. Hopefully, my trip has spared more amazing scenery to come.
