23 October 2010

Where Am I?

A couple of days ago, I posted about my run in a new place and asked if anybody had any guesses. No surprises for me, only a few people looked at the blog and nobody guessed. Not really a fair question — you would have to know the streets to know that I'm in Ouagadougou, Bukina Faso. Well, OK, you would also have to actually care! :-D

We're here helping out with field orientation for new personnel. One of the things that I love about running is that I can do it anywhere I go. Except for the fact that my feet are so big (12D) and my shoes take up a lot of luggage space, it's nothing to carry running gear.

The first couple of days here, I was in downtown Ouaga. Night before last, I moved to a different guest house in a different part of town. Yesterday, since I didn't really know where I was in Ouaga, I decided to run up the major road (limiting my turns) for about 15 minutes and then come back -- about 3.5 miles. Easy enough -- no chance of getting lost or turned around, right? Wrong!

Coming back, I realized that there was nothing that identified my turn back to the guest house. And, as it turns out, I was already past the turn when I started looking. So, I kept thinking that it would be the next light. Finally, I knew I had missed badly, so I turned around and headed back -- uphill, of course. I found the turn and got back. When I finally got to an internet connection to check the route, I had run 6.1 miles rather than 3 and change.

That's also one of the great things about running -- sometimes I get to explore!! ... whether I intended to do so or not. I was bushed -- that's the longest I've gone in a year and in the heat and humidity of Ouaga to boot.

This morning -- I carefully noted my turn and managed to get directly back with a planned 4.2 mile run. One challenge of running in Ouaga, even at 5:45AM, is that there are thousands of people riding bicycles and motor bikes -- far more of those than cars. So, it turns out to be safer to run in the middle of a 4-lane major road in the city than on the edge of the road!! That's a first.

Running -- rarely a dull moment.

A shout out to Ryan and Sara Hall. They have resigned from the Mammoth Track Club and are striking out in a different direction to try to move to the next step in their running. Both are great runners and really, really fine people of faith.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

2 comments:

White's Design said...

http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/articles/2010/10/14/new-swahili-subway-commercial.html

BOB, YOU ALMOST FIT THE DESCRIPTION. GOT TO BE FULL-BLOODED KENYA HOWEVER. YOU'VE GOT THE RUNNING PART DOWN THOUGH.

SAW THE FOLLOWING COMMERCIAL ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL TONIGHT AND THOUGHT ABOUT YOU AND SOME OF THOSE DELICIOUS SUBWAY MEALS IN DAR ES SALAAM!
DEAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DU2QaL1O8Q&feature=related

Bob A said...

That commercial was funny! The comment left by SubwayFatGuy on the Mwakilishi site was rather odd -- there's a huge difference between believing and perpetuating incorrect stereotypes and hating those people. Oh, well.

Thanks for the compliment but ... I think the only thing about me that actually meets any of the qualifications that they were looking for is the fact that I speak Swahili and English. As you said, I'm not Kenyan; I also don't look like a marathon runner -- I'm too heavy -- and I've not raced more than a half marathon.

The Subway in Dar is nice. I wish there was one in Nairobi, if they could keep from turning it into Asian subs. I love Asian food, mind you, but if I want a Subway sub, I want it to taste like a Subway sub. LOL!

I tried to see you profile and then your blog, but your blog profile wouldn't show up. I got a message that said it was likely marked as private. Oh, well.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.