Werknesh Kidane raises her hands in triumph as she wins the women's long course (© Getty Images)
Dear athletics fans,
Selam! (“Peace!” in Amharic.)
I’ve been preparing for the World Championships, where I’ll be running the 10,000 metres. Although I have a qualifying time for the 5000 metres, I never thought about it once I settled on the 10,000m.
The national team started training together four days a week quite some time ago. For the last several weeks, the world championships team has been staying together in a hotel, and trained together six days of every week, with Sundays off to go and visit our families and do other things.
I think it’s a good arrangement because we get to work with the coaches in the mornings and evenings every day and all prepare together. The hotel is not too far from the woods and not too far from the track, and we’d go by car every day as a team, but if we wanted to, we could go and run in some woods nearby on our own as well.
The hotel is pleasant and everything is taken care of, including food. They prepare dishes that are suitable for us and we can eat whatever we like, whether it’s injera, the national dish, or foreign foods.
Two people share each room, and I’ve been rooming with Kutre Dulecha. She’s doing well.
At the World Championships, we know that every athlete who comes prepared and puts on a pair of shorts and lines up is there hoping to win, so we just have to be prepared. There are tough competitors, including our own, like Derartu Tulu and Berhane Adere, who are both strong.
I think I can gauge my own condition better during competitions than I can during training, but I have been preparing, with God’s help.
I hope your prayers will continue to be with us.
Werknesh
