Running

The biggest change to my life this summer is that here, in Ghana, I'm a runner. I've never really had the habit of running--or considered running a thing that I could enjoy--but that's changed. Instead of my normal summer schedule of late nights and late mornings, recently I've been early-to-bed, early-to-rise because most mornings the first thing I do is run around campus before it gets too hot.

It takes a lot to get me out of bed early and do something I have always resisted, but I have a great motivator and running partner in Will Brophy. He's on the swim team at Harvard, and he's got it in his head that running every morning will help him swim faster. I don't really care about swimming faster, but being a better runner could be a good thing. So I've been up early--6:30 usually--with sore legs (usually) wishing I was still asleep (always) to take advantage of this really motivated athlete, hoping it will rub off on me.

The first few days were absolutely miserable. I could tell myself to keep running all I wanted, but my body wasn't down with the idea. It hoped I'd get the message during a big hill on my first day out when I chucked a half-digested Powerbar on the side of the road. It tasted like vanilla. Trust me--I got to taste it twice.

Then you know what, I started to get it. My stomach began to behave, my legs were still sore, but I got the hang of it. Quickly. There's a great 5 mile run here that spins around a huge hill in the center of campus, and it gets easier to make it up that hill every day. I still grumble and bitch when I wake up hours earlier than my roommate Cesar, but I've learned to love the euphoria of the post-run feeling. I've got this idea that even if I'm lazy and don't do anything of real value the rest of the day, it feels like I did something because--damn it--I went RUNNING this morning.

It's not just an activity--it changes the whole course of my day. I'm probably definitely not as fun as I used to be. I regularly get to bed by 11 every night, something I haven't done since high school, maybe. It's because I'm tired from running that day, and because I know in oh-too-few hours I'll be out running again. A vicious cycle.

A perk--our professor is out running six days a week at 6 am. If we go the normal route--if we're not out killing ourselves with a speed workout on the nearby track--we get a great 'good morning' from Prof somewhere around that huge hill. It gives us something to talk about. I swear, he thinks more of Will and me because we're out there sweating in the early morning along with him. It makes me more active in class, too. I'm wide awake by the time we settle into class by 9 am--instead of sipping coffee, leaning on that caffeine like some of my classmates.

I'd be lying if I said that I'm definitely going to keep running when I get home--but it's been a big part of my study abroad experience thus far. Africa--far more than America--is a place that rises and sets with the sun. I want to make the most of my time in Ghana--so running just makes sense.