Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: ‘Do it. Come on. I have to do it.’
I’m lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.
I know what I want when I start a marathon: to win! But what do you want? Make sure you’re clear in advance and don’t go out too fast.
I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn’t feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.
When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.
My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day, through gorges and over rivers. If I was late, there was a very big stick waiting for me.
I love running and I will always run.
Age for me is just a number.
When you promise something, you must fulfill it.
You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.
In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we’d have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.
It is not my duty to spend my money in my country, but it is what I want to do. There is nowhere else I would like to invest.
Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.
The marathon always starts after 30K. That’s where the problems start. You start without any problems, without any pain. All the pain comes after 30K. Sometimes, it’s possible to have pain even in the finger.
Life is a kind of struggle. Life is a sort of fight.
If you’re planning only to make money and nothing else, you’ll be broke.
He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.
When I had no shoes I was comfortable – I used to run barefoot. When I wore shoes it was difficult. To run in shoes was ok, but at the beginning of my career it was hard.
Being a great athlete is something that requires a lot of training and dedication, it does not come as easily as some people may think.
Athletics is in my blood.