African Adventures (Part 3): Training Campus interruptus

A training camp where you can’t train is like a long-awaited beach vacation where it rains the entire time. Sure, it is nice to get away and relax, but it is disappointing nonetheless. You make the most of it, staying busy playing scrabble and watching movies, but you can’t help but dwell on what could (should?) have been.

My time at Kenya, while a nice life experience, didn’t quite pan out as the training camp for which we had hoped. Instead of logging in some great miles in Iten, I spent my time trying to minimize pain and trying to stay busy. In the end, coach and I decided that I was probably better off heading home early to get medical treatment. And so I packed up my gear, said goodbye to training partners and new friends alike and made the 36 hour trek home to Hanover. My search for a diagnosis has most recently brought me to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Fingers crossed!

While it was a bit disheartening to travel so far to get injured and head home early, this is part of the job that chose. At the very worst, I had the opportunity to go to an amazing country, meet some inspiring people, spend time with my lovely training partners and have an incredible life experience. Sure, I didn’t get much training in (and didn’t see any critters beyond livestock!), but I feel fortunate that my job allows me to travel to and spend time in Kenya. I guess that it is best to have the perspective that, when it rains on your beach vacation, at least you aren’t at the office and stuck to your desk!

African Adventures (Part 2): Polépolé

In Kenya, I’ve had to embrace the concept of Polépolé, Swahili for “take it easy”. We joke about things happening on Kenyan time: relaxed, late (according to us), and predictably unpredictable. After a series of injuries, illnesses and mishaps, 2010 has been a year of learning patience; a lesson that is being reinforced by my experience thus far in Kenya. Like a good little student, I’m trying to learn from the relaxed culture here and let things happen in their own time.

The latest lesson in patience has been dealing with a glute injury sustained last Sunday, our first full day in Iten. Part of me appreciates the irony in being unable to run (or even bike *sigh*) in one of the most famous running towns in the world. For the time being, I can only watch runners instead of running myself. Although I can’t do much on land, I have picked up some running tips and am getting to be a pretty good water runner, perfecting the worst tan lines of all time in the process! I’m also trying to be supportive to my training partners Andi, Vicky and Lisa, who are getting in some seriously good training. Watch out for these three in 2011!

My injury is taking a while to heal (at least far longer than the two or three days that I would have preferred), but it is happening on its own time. Polépolé. Until then, I’m just trying to stay relaxed, I’m meeting some cool runners and I’m unsuccessfully avoiding having my swimsuit lines permanently etched into my skin. Hopefully my next post will have me back running side-by-side with some fast runners!

Kwa herini!