Thump, Thump, Thump!

Can you hear it? Well, if you spent any time eavesdropping on our house in Addis Ababa these days, you would no doubt hear the sound of feet thumping up and down the white marble stairs. Listen a bit closer and you may hear my lungs pulling in large gulps of oxygen, maybe the occasional thud of rocks tumbling over on each other in my backpack, or the faint whisper of CCR, Stix or Lenard Skynard echoing off my eardrums. These sounds are becoming more and more familiar for Andrea, Micah and our patient housemates as I am trying to take advantage of our month in Addis Ababa by getting into tip-top shape.

Why? Well, about two months ago, my older brother came through on a dream he’s talked about ever since he learned of our acceptance to work in Ethiopia. Being a family with the reputation of attempting crazy things (like marathons), physical fitness challenges have a certain appeal to us. What is the draw? I’m not sure. Some call such an addiction the “runner’s high,” while others call it nothing short of insanity. I, myself, enjoyed two back to back years in the loony bin of marathoners, but plagued by knee-pains, I somehow found enough sanity to declare my retirement from marathons back in 2000. However, I checked the records to be sure, and that official retirement speech said nothing about mountain climbing.

And so when my brother emailed last month “Hey, I have vacation time to use, are you up for Mt. Kilimanjaro?” the temptation of adventure grabbed me and immediately had me in a firm head-lock (thus impeding any attempt at clear thinking). I shot back my emailed response, “I have to ask Andrea first, but my knee-jerk reaction is ‘I’m in!’ just give me at least 2-3 months to train.” And so it began.

Addis Ababa, a high elevation city at 7,500 ft, gives me a good training ground and given my primary need for leg strengthening, I opted to climb up and down our stairs for 30+ minute workouts. Back in Gesas, we would walk to get water from the hand pump about 2/3 mile from our house. On such trips, Micah helped by slowly filling my backpack with rocks. Now, with my hiking books laced up tight, my rock-filled backpack strapped on, and classic rock music pumping raw adrenaline into my veins, I start my timer and hike. Thump, thump, thump. I guess there is one benefit that my family and housemates enjoy about this Kilimanjaro training. That is, all this exercise is forcing me to step up my well-established routine of 2 showers a week to 5 or 6. I guess, the 30 minutes of thumping, is a small price to pay for fresher air they are now enjoying.