Can You Train for a Run in Paradise?

Pei A.

Every year in November I go home to Bangkok, Thailand right after I finish running the NYC Marathon. So it was always my off-running period and I never had to train for another marathon while I was on my vacation.  

This year it was my first time that I was taking my vacation in the middle of my NY Flyers Marathon TrainingProgram ("MTP"). I rarely miss a scheduled training session when I am in New York. But when on vacation there are a lot of factors that can throw me off. You may wonder why. 

First, it is hard to get up early morning to go running when it is a vacation. I deserve to enjoy my morning to sleep in or take my time that I usually can't do when I am working.

Second, it is hard to run in the evening. Again, it is a vacation. 

How can I run in the evening after I spent my whole day on my legs going around doing some sightseeing (beaches, snorkeling, visiting temples or even riding an elephant), shopping or plain and simply enjoying delicious and extremely affordable Thai food, plus desserts? 

Last, and the key reason, it is very hot and humid in Thailand. Thailand is a tropical country. It is hot all year around and it is very humid especially in Bangkok. I was born and raised half of my life in Bangkok but I don't do well in hot and humid weather (thanks to A/C 24/7). I checked the weather in Bangkok before my vacation and noted the temperature of over 90 degrees with 80-something percent humidity. I thought it was going to be tough for me to stick with my training program. But I was so determined not to miss my training, so I came up with my game plan.

I discussed with my coach, NY Flyers Head Coach Brian Rosetti, on how to adjust my training program during my vacation in a very hot country. Brian advised me to adjust my pace by adding 30 seconds per mile for any easy run longer than 9+ miles when the heat index is over 90 degrees, and to use treadmills for hill and interval training including with some tips to make running on treadmills bearable. I always run outside so I really appreciated suggestions, but still I planned to use the treadmill as a last resort.

I want to be motivated. In New York, I found that group running helps me tremendously to stay disciplined and stick with my training. Hence, I reached out to a running group in Bangkok called Bangkok Runners. I've run with them while in Bangkok since November 2012 and have been keeping in touch with the group ever since. Of course, they welcomed me with their warm hearts. They invited me to run with them the next morning after I arrived and even took me out on several interesting running routes.

Bangkok Runners

I enjoyed meeting with several members from Bangkok Runners at different running locations almost every morning (My training calls for 5 running days per week). I may not know all of Bangkok Runner members but when I ran, I looked for their singlets (good thing about wearing team singlets). I would say "hi" when I passed them or just ran with them after a quick self-introduction (I’m quite active on their Facebook page so they recognized my name). It worked. I didn't miss any training days. On top of that, I enjoyed meeting people with a similar interest. 

During this trip, I had an opportunity to meet one particularly interesting runner, K-san from Bangkok Runners, who plans to run across the United States this year.  He asked if I can meet him and run with him when he reaches NYC (you can read about K’s Run Across USA 2015 by clicking HERE). I said yes, and I offered to help him with planning his running route from NJ to NYC. I am going to suggest to him to complete his 3,500 mile journal by following the final few miles of NYC Marathon. Isn’t that a great way enjoy running in NYC?

With K-san from Bangkok Runners

Back to my training. Of course, I didn’t just stay in Bangkok for my whole trip. I took a mini vacation to Krabi, which is located in the southern part of Thailand. Krabi has a lot of beautiful beaches and a lot of interesting limestone cliffs that draw rock climbing enthusiasts from around the world. It was going to be tougher with my goal. But where there's a will, there's a way. I needed a new strategy. I needed to eliminate all excuses I knew I would come up with. 

Two excuses high on my list were:

1.  I don't know the area, and 

2.  I don't know if it is safe for a woman to run alone before the sun rises (again, I need to run early morning to avoid the heat and humidity). 

I did my research on running routes posted in MapMyRun and also spoke with hotel staff about running routes, including to ask if it is safe to run alone. The hotel staff recommended a few routes to run and told me that I would find a lot of other foreign visitors running on the beach early in the morning, and that it is safe.  I decided: "Ok, let's try!"

The first morning in Krabi, I still had my jetlag (Thailand is 12 hours ahead of NY’s time) so getting up wasn’t that difficult. I went out to run and when I hit the beach (5 minutes from my hotel), I felt encouraged to see several people running even before me. I never ran on the beach before. It was much harder on my legs, but with the magnificent view of the sunrise behind those limestone cliffs and fine sand on the beach, so I ignored how my legs felt and kept running. I was hooked. I couldn’t wait for the next morning to do it again.

At the end of my trip, I had missed only two days of running. They were on the days of my flight, so I think I took those days off for good reason. Now I know it’s not difficult to train for a marathon during vacation. I can’t wait for my next upcoming trip when I will run around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. If I can do it, you can too. 

Pei A.