Just four days after my family’s Africa trip, I was scheduled to tackle the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim, a grueling 45-mile trek across and back.
My friend, Coach Chris, had sent out an intense 30-day training program to prepare for it, with workouts like "Swim 45 minutes, then run six miles, and cure cancer on your way home."
But there was one problem: I was in Africa. And not only was I in Africa, but I couldn’t walk from my room to the dining area without an escort due to the wild animals.
For 21 days, I was either escorted, confined to my room, or sitting in a car on safari. It was impossible for me to train for my upcoming challenge. I know, I know, high-quality problems. I just had to deal. But…
One day, after reading messages in the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim chat group about all the incredible workouts everyone was doing to prepare, I started to panic.
So, I asked the manager at the Safari Park Hotel if they could hire someone to drive behind me while I ran in case I needed them to scare off any wild animals.
They agreed, and my guide set up two routes: one on an active runway (where I'd have to dodge incoming flights) and another around the safari park perimeter.
On my second day running the route around the park with Martin—the hotel bartender who had volunteered to run with me—I discovered he was training for the Kenya Marathon. His walk was my sprint.
So, there we were on a random road in Nairobi: he was walking as fast as he could without running while I was huffing and puffing along at just under an all-out sprint.
Suddenly, James, the driver, honked from behind us. We turned around to see a buffalo standing 50 yards away, staring at us with its head down and horns up—an intimidating posture. It stamped its foot and foamed at the mouth. Naturally, I jumped behind James's car as fast as I could.
Then James—who stood about 4'7"—jumped out of the car. He puffed up his chest, jumped up and down like a gorilla, and started screaming at the massive buffalo, even throwing rocks at it.
To my astonishment, the buffalo turned and trotted away! I’d always heard that making yourself look as big as possible is key when confronted by a wild animal, but I never thought it would actually work.
James taught me that knowledge—not size—is power, too.
