MicahJohn

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.

Today after work when I was getting ready to go running, I made the very unpleasant discovery that my running shoes had disappeared from my front porch.

I’ve been doing a very little bit of barefoot running occasionally as a cool down. I decided I could run a little further barefoot. After running two miles it was getting too dark to be running around barefoot. So I pulled over at my room and put on an old pair of shoes. I did another two miles and called it quits.

Realizing that if I was to do my scheduled run for tomorrow, I would need some shoes, I went shopping.

The first store didn’t have anything my size. (The size of my feet relative to the size of Thai feet was one of the factors in my willingness to leave the now-missing shoes on the front porch. That and how dirty they can get)

The next store I hadn’t even planned to stop at (not knowing of its existence). I saw it as I drove by and decided to stop. This store didn’t have any shoes my size in any brands I’d heard of before. But they did have a single pair from a brand unknown to me in my size. I figured I might as well try it on.

They seemed pretty comfortable, and they were a quarter the price Adidas, Nike, Reebok, or New Balance shoes are here in Thailand. So I decided to give them a try.

We’ll see what I think of them after I’ve put a few miles on them.

Right up there with “to be or not to be” is the question of what to do when circumstances beyond your control prevent your running before sunset. Do you opt for streetlights and traffic or darkness?

Trying to get in shape for a Marathon I’ve come to appreciate how many low traffic roads I have had available to me the various places I’ve previously trained. Waynesboro and Grantham are both well supplied with roads for running. After two weeks I’m already getting tired of the not-so-great loops that start at my front door here in Ubon.

Admittedly, were I just looking to run a kilometer or two, there’s a great path around the lake right outside my door. But I’m running longer distances and bore quickly of a repeated loop. There are even some pretty nice longer loops in my area, but I have to drive to get to them. It seems kind of weird to drive in order to run.

As I explore new loops, dogs keep things from getting boring. Ubon is home to I have no idea how many wandering dogs. Last night I drove my motorcycle a few kilometers outside of Ubon to run somewhere with more trees and fewer cars. When I got back to my motorcycle from my run I found several dogs who believed my motorcycle belonged to them rather than to me. Fortunately, they didn’t do anything other than bark.

Recently I received a cello and a Sony eReader from home. Additionally, I was just informed of a marathon coming up nearby in January. So between playing cello, reading any book that is out of copyright for free, and running, my free time has become quite solidly spoken for. I imagine as the newness wears off, some of these activities will become rather less consuming.