Friday evening I did my long run according to schedule, this time on roads. Even though I have come to like the Treadmill, running on roads is of course always superior.
This time we all went to Lumpini Park, Ludvig in his stroller and Mia with her favourite running outfit.
The park was full. Full of all kinds of people. It just makes you feel good running – or just being – in this mix. Tai-Chi, Open Air Aerobics (or was it square dance?) runner’s, pedestrians and this time I even saw one kid on rollerblades, which is very rare. We like to think of Lumpini as our Central Park, but it is not quite there yet.
80 minutes of running and then driving back home. Lovely weather, good form. Good evening.
Saturday morning I packed my bike into the car and took off for the peice of road just by the Airport. We have a 5k stretch that we ride on, back and forth. It is really nice actually and one day I will tell you more about this place. Since I havn’t come to terms with my trainer for cycling as much as I have with the treadmill, I still prefer the roads, on any day and twice on a Tuesday. But the trainer saves me time, and I get a lot of training in thanks to it! Today I got to ride with Michael again, we did China together last year. He’s Kiwi, lives in Bangkok and works in Singapore – I don’t see him often but it’s nice when I do. We chatted and rode for about 2 hrs before he switched to running and I kept riding. We met Bill who is training for Langkawi IM and does 112 miles once a week – and tries to beat his time every time…
I hooked up with Chris who sells Cannondale exclusively in Thailand and Singapore, sporting a brand new “Slice”.
Then Chris left me and I sort of joined Andy who also is training for Singapore and aiming for Clearwater. A superstrong athlete, that I hope I will get to train with more.
I managed to do 86 kilometers this morning and I was happy.
Sunday I was ordered “Active rest” whatever that is – I decided to join my friend Peter for a “minimarathon” which is a race of 10k. Around the area of the palace and the old parliament building. A very nice area of Bangkok where I don’t go very often. The start was at 06.00 so it was dark for the first couple of kilometres. A good way to train, there is apparently a “minimarathon” almost every weekend here.
It is funny how I have come to terms with the situation in Bangkok regarding training. We got here about three years ago, February 11 2006 I did a “minimarathon” – my last one – I thought it was too hot and nowhere to train. Now riding for three hours on a 5k stretch feels great and the weather this time of year is perfect for training.
A good weekend.