Run, Forest!

The Nairobi Half Marathon is coming up in a couple weeks. I’ve been training semi-faithfully for the past month and a half. It’s been an interesting experience, a little different from training in Charlotte. For one, my trail shoes - I’m obsessed with them. There’s no pavement in sight so they have been my best friend. My routes are kind of creative – during the week I run around the two fields on campus. This sounds tedious but sometimes it’s during intramural soccer, which keeps me actively engaged dodging balls. Once some kids were doing target practice with a bow and arrow on the field . . . so it’s not that boring. On the weekend we try to get in a long run. Since 25 laps around the field is about all anyone in their right mind can handle, anything over 5 miles means a route outside the gates.

Living on the side of a mountain means that all roads go either up or down, there’s not many level options. There’s Kijabetown Road, which is so rutted I have no idea how cars actually drive up it. It’s not too bad going out but coming back to school is a killer, huffing up some serious incline. Lower Road is my favorite, which is about 5 miles out to the ‘tarmac,’ or the main road. It’s a slight decline all the way down and not such a big deal on the way back. Except right at the very end, when we are running through the shops, but I try to find someone I know so I can stop and talk. We’ve had some special moments out there, 5 miles from civilization, realizing that running in the heat of the day wasn’t such a good idea after all . . .

This weekend several people who are running in the half ran out to Mt. Longonot, a dormant volcano near RVA. The route involves climbing up Nature’s Trail to the railroad tracks above the school. (Ever seen Ghost in the Darkness? It’s that railroad.) Then we get to run along, or sometimes on, the tracks for 8-9 miles towards the mountain. I ran on the tracks one other time and twisted my ankle so I was a bit apprehensive about this run. To be honest, running on rocks is not my favorite and I spent a good amount of time high-stepping it or stumbling around, trying not to fall. Thus the "run, forest, run" title - my form . . . not so hot. But every so often the path would even out enough that I could look around and it is the most amazing view - 100% Africa. The tracks run midway up a ridge of hills stretching out toward Longonot so the view into the valley is amazing. It was surprising after an hour or so of running to look up and see the mountain filling my view; it looks so far away from RVA.

My favorite part of the run was being joined by Paul, a boy from a village somewhere along the route. He trotted along with me for the last 30 minutes of my run in hopes of seeing the doctor that was running with us, a friend of his, but running quite a bit faster than me! He sang me a song . . . “I am so happy to be running with you!” and demanded one from me . . . “I am so tired, so tired, because I’ve been running so far . . .” Only I did it in some rough Swahili: “Nimechoka sana . . . kwa sababu nilikimbia hivi hivi . . . Ninahitaji kumpumzika!” He thought I did a good job. My other favorite part was spotting the bright yellow land rover picking us up at the base of the mountain. Nothing like a ride home after a hard run!

I didn't take a camera out there but someday I will. So here's some views of Longonot from RVA . . .

Kind of hazy, so I tried to help you out . . .

At sunset

And you should probably check out our Mt. Longonot Webcam, which is overlooks upper field and the mountain. If you watch it around 5:30 during the week, you might catch me making loops around the field. =) Wouldn't that be lovely?