Dear Wheelchairtraveller fans and members,
Please see below some highlights of the last month’s running training… Hope you enjoy them and please think of me this coming Sunday, 16th of November, when I run the Standard Chartered Bangkok Half marathon, starting at 4am in the morning. If you find that this sounds like it is deserving of some support, please donate to our organisation Wheelchairtraveller.org here. We will use the funds to relaunch our website and further reach out to wheelchair users…
Running in pouring rain: Saturday, 18th of October evening – on the agenda: 15km
Just about 10 minutes after I started running, it started to pour!… I took shelter in a restaurant and did some stretching… usually it rains here for about 20 minutes (A LOT!) and then it is over. So, after 15 minutes I started again… Then, when I arrived in my running park, it started again… I did not want to stop again and so ran through the rain… I was drenched after about 10 minutes and pretty much the only runner still out and about…. On the way back, I had to wade through our street which was flooded with 7cm of water!!!! I had been incredibly slow… about two hours for 15km!
Getting hurt!…
Monday, 17th of October – a 7km speed run
I decided to do a speed 7 km run… But forgot to stretch beforehand… While I was running, I felt a bit stiff, but pushed myself on… I can be quite headstrong and I do not always listen to what the body says! I certainly felt the consequences the next morning when I could not get out of bed… My hamstrings were shot… and hurt incredibly… walking was painful. So I had to take three to four days of rest, not great three weeks before the race…
Running around an island!
stop when you go on holiday. My mum came over to visit me in Bangkok and as a birthday gift we went on a four day resort retreat to Koh Yai Noi in Thailand… it was absolutely stunning… however, a bit tricky to come up with a route that would allow me to run 18 km… In the end, I used the resort’s map to figure out a run around the island that would get me there… It was actually really fun and also gave me a great opportunity to not only tan but also get to know island life, as I had to pass all the villages. I got some funny looks but mainly everybody was very friendly… I was sore but happy afterwards and provided with another reason to relax the rest of the stay.
Registration for the marathon
Just a slight surprise when I could not find my name initially on the list of participants online… However, after calling, my registration was confirmed and my starting number was 20365! Starting to get pretty excited
Last week!
Now, it is just about keeping the muscles stretched, with running reasonable but not long distances in preparation. I have visited my favourite park in Bangkok and did the green mile again… at a nice time, starting at 6.30 on the Saturday. Just hope my hamstrings won’t get inflamed again, so do my stretching and massage with Tigerbalm before going for the run… It is interesting how different this time feels to my last run in Sydney, where I felt much fitter… So either the climate makes a difference or the energy bunny is having an impact!… However, I’m still optimistic that I will finish in good spirits and health on Sunday and hope I can keep to my time around two hours…. Wish me luck….
