MicahJohn

Yesterday was teachers’ day here in Thailand. My school was closed and the assistant director of EP (English Program) invited all the EP teachers to her house for a lunch. Two of my fellow teachers brought their children with them. It was a lot of fun to spend an afternoon with little kids.

What makes water so entertaining? It is easy, especially if you’re a little kid, to spend hours throwing rocks into a stream or pushing a boat around on the surface of a small pond.

First for the Cold: The weather here in Ubon has been positively chilly of late. I do not use the word “freezing” because I realize some of my readers actually live in places where the outdoor temperature could indeed cause things to freeze.

Usually I sleep with the window open and the fan on. Recently the window has been shut and the fan off. Additionally I have been sleeping under every blanket that I own (two rather light blankets). Last night I added a warm shirt to the two blankets.

Despite the cool nights, the sun is still quite capable of warming up the world during the noontime hours.

Now for the feet: Since my twenty mile run my right foot has been giving me a bit of trouble. I cut back on milage last week to give it a rest. It seemed to be helping, but halfway through my run yesterday the pain was back in force. It’s annoying to have two months of good training seemingly falling apart this close to the goal (the marathon I’m training for is the 25th of January).

I find myself wanting to back down from the goals I set for myself when I first planned to run this marathon (see the title of the post). But another part of myself balks at such withering of resolve.

After a month of really weird scheduling, school is now back in gear. It’s good to be able to accomplish things. Though spending the time necessary to accomplish them, isn’t as fun.

I know I’ve already had several posts saying something about Christmas. Most of them have been saying, “I don’t quite feel like Christmas has really come.” Last night I had a Christmas/New Years Eve party with friends, and now I can say Christmas, the seasonal event, happened. It was good to sit with friends by a Christmas tree, sing some carols, and open some gifts.

Yesterday morning I ran further than I have ever run before. I ran 20 miles in two hours, twenty six minutes, and fourteen seconds. Upon finishing I felt both wonderful and miserable. Wonderful because I had accomplished my goal. Miserable because my legs were stiff, my joints were sore, my body had no strength, and my skin in various places had been rubbed raw.

If anyone knows great anti-chafing advise, I would love to have it before my marathon the 25th of this month.