Good morning all,
Take the time to read this, go to the web site and look at the photos. This is one of my coaching clients and he IS going to make a difference in world where we have so much hate and pain. Again, we can make a difference by doing and giving!
Have a great day
Lisa
Running Under the BOMB
Hi Coach (I know you prefer Lisa but I love to call you coach),
Well this is the feedback concerning my training schedule during the 34 "crazy" war days in Lebanon, I couldn’t following your instruction as you requested, in the schedule you made for me for July and august, but I try to do my best. The war was kind of crazy, even more. I can call it running under the BOMB. Well yes coach, it is the way I use to train for the Sahara Race.
No one on the street, it's hot, around 34 degree, I arrived near the Movempik Hotel, the security guy shout "are you crazy? Since 2 days no one pass by, death near us, around 4km, and here you are running", I smile, and keep listen to U2, "Where the street have no Name", it was coincidence, and I don't know how the song and the street arrive in the same time. Well it's all start on the 12th of July in the morning, When Linda (my wife ) wake me up by saying "the war start again" I couldn't believe it, specially when I saw the TV, it was simply crazy, crazy, crazy, THE CRAZY WAR.
It was hard for me to accept it, I was preparing hard, around 3h/day, really focusing on my training, get up at 4AM to run then after work to the gym to train. What to do and how to keep training? For the first 2 days I didn't know what to do, refugees are every where in Beirut, people are dying, children caught up in conflict zones etc...(I think you saw enough on TV). Even being on the street is becoming dangerous, what to do? What about my sponsor? NO SPONSOR any more, I was really angry, depress, But I was decided to continue, but how?
Now, I'm in the Raoucher, near the sea, the sea witch is colored now black& bleu, because the bombes hit the electricity fuel reserve, running, and watching the Israely helicopters come and go, the air force plan keep hitting the airport, far from me around 10km, I was watching all that during my run, can you believe it?, I know it's crazy, I didn't want to stop running, it was a way of feeling alive, and not accepting what is happening, and if I have to died, I want to died in doing the best thing I love. Still no one on the street after 1h of running, suddenly a couple show up, waking near the AUB (American University of Beirut), we look to each other and smile, I sayed "I though I'm the only crazy person in Lebanon", they reply, "NO, NO, we are here too", I keep my way, & I was so happy to see that life keep going. I keep running day after day, and each day it was a new challenger by it self, always thinking, am I going to see my son again, my new born daughter of 3 month, my lovely wife? Each day I leave them, and deeply feel like I was never going to go back, yes believe me, out there at last there was 50% of chance to get hurt or killed, one of these days the bombs hit the port , 3 hours before going to run, where usually I pass every day, and another the bombs hit the "Harbor light", it's just in the middle of the road where I pass by. With that I lived the surprise of foreigner leaving the country, by boat, when I pass by them some insult me, the Canadian military look to me with that black look: what this guy is doing? And some simply smile. Or when the Israeli ship bomb Beirut and I was they only person in Lebanon running, near the sea, and have to find a place to hid but there was no place, the bomb pass over my head, and Linda call and she was mad, every minuets, to see where am I & if I still alive.
I'm still alive, felling alive, and thank god, they stop the war, and now I can run
But now, I will run under the sun.
During this war, I lived something reply special, something, I heard before but I couldn't believe it, people you race with, they became even more then your family, and this is what I really notice during this war, a lot of people from all over the world, I meet in 21st MDS, call or send emails, asked me to leave Lebanon, asking how they can help me, & SPECIALY my coach Lisa smith, keep sending email inviting me to her house in the US (many thank), and who will help me to raise money in support of innocent children caught up in Lebanon's conflict zones really this make me happy. I could easily go, I have a French passport, but somehow I didn't want.
I will take part of the next Sahara Race, (I will try to find again a sponsor) and I will run for SUPPORT INNOCENT CHILDREN CAUGHT UP IN LEBANON'S CONFLICT ZONES. For more information's please visit my site www.challengesforlife.com, and please do not hesitate to send me you comment @ alain_wehbi@hotmail.com
The Lebanese ultrarunner,
Ali
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