Running in Koh Samui

Bonjour,

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families!

I spent last week in Koh Samui with my family. It is one of the numerous islands in Thailand and a very lovely place. 

Link to Google maps

We got a taxi from Pattaya to Don Mueang airport in Bangkok and flew to Nakhon Si Thammarat airport. We flew with Air Asia and I have to say that I was rather impressed with them. The planes were clean and new and the members of the crew very nice. We then got a coach to Donsak Pier and finally a ferry to Lipa Noi Pier in Koh Samui. We stayed at the Ibis hotel in Bophut. The hotel is fairly new and we had a nice stay there. It is literally built on the beach so we did not use the swimming-pool too much! The location is great as it only takes a few minutes to walk to the Fisherman's village where there are lots of restaurants and shops. At night most of the restaurants have either a terrace or tables on the beach and we ate there almost every day. I will do another post on where we went and what we did on Koh Samui.

I had taken my running kit with me and I went running three times. I did not run on the beach as the sand was not hard enough. I do not know about you but when I get to run in a new place it is very often that I find the perfect spot just before I leave. Well, it happened again!

My runs 1 and 2 were one the same route, the first one just being a bit shorter. It is not always easy to run in Thailand. I am not referring only to the heat but also to the terrible traffic, the wild dogs and so on. For these two runs I just followed the road along the coast. I basically ran on the side of a main road. The scenery was nice as I could see the sea but I am never too comfortable when I have to run on the side of a main road with so many cars, scooters and so on.

Below are a few photos taken during run 2. Sorry about the quality once again. I took them with my phone and there are not great. I do need to look for a small camera that I could take with me when I go running. Please feel free to give me some tips if you have any!

 

During run 2 I went to the Big Buddha Temple - Wat Phra Yai, as you can see on the two photos above. I did not visit the temple though.

When people talk about what they have seen in Thailand it is often about - in no particular order - the blue sky, the clear water and the amazing beaches. It is true that if you visit Thailand this is what you are likely to see. As a runner and also someone who is very conscious about environment issues - the two probably go together - I have to say that it also sadly very dirty. If you run in Thailand this it is something you must have in mind. Every time I go for a run, even in the jungle, I get to see a place where people just throw stuff away. I am not saying this in a bad way. I fully appreciate that most people here have more urgent priorities. It is just sad to see such a beautiful country spoiled with rubbish. I hope this will improve in the future and I know that there is already a lot being done in this respect.

For run 3 I changed and I went in the other direction and I eventually found a perfect spot to run in Koh Samui. I also started by following the main road but after about 2 miles I took a road going towards the middle of the island. It was just great. It was initially a new road and then what could be described as a cement track/road. There was almost no traffic and it was very quiet. I had not taken my phone so I do not have any photos. After a while, on both sides I just could see trees and wild nature. It got a bit tough at some point with a rather steep hill. I kept going as far as possible but I had to stop at some point as I did not have anything to drink. We were leaving the following day so I did not get the chance to run this route again but if one day I am back in Koh Samui I would definitively like to run there again. I would like to know whether it is in fact possible to run from one side of the island to the other. From what I can see on the map below that would appear to be possible. It seems that there are also tracks in the forest. It might actually be a National Parc of Thailand so I do not know whether there is an entrance-fee to be paid and if there are any limitations about where to run.

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent

Photos Koh Samui - Thailand - New Picasa Webalbum

Link to full Picasa Webalbum

Pattaya - The Sanctury of Truth

Bonjour,

Below are the latest photos I have taken in Pattaya, especially while visiting The Sanctury of Truth. The Sanctury of Truth is a temple. Its construction started rather recently compared to other temples that can be found in Thailand. It is however a beautiful construction and it is worth taking time to visit it. It is made of wood and all the work done is really impressive. There are a lot of sculptures. I also found very interesting the information provided to the visitors.

To learn more about The Sanctury of Truth: The Sanctury of Truth website

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent

Koh Larn island

Bonjour,

Below are a few of the photos I took during my last trip to Koh Larn. Kho Larn is a small island close to Pattaya. It is very easy and cheap to get there. They are regular ferries leaving Pattaya and the price is 30 THB per person for one way. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the island. Then once in Kho Larn it is possible to rent a scooter or to get a taxi to get to one of the beaches. The journey takes only a few minutes. The first time I went there I have to say that I was not to impress as the beach where we went was not too nice and the water not too clean. This time we went to the smallest beach on the island. There is only one restaurant there and no other shops. The beach is small and not too busy. It is a very nice location and the water was clear and warm!

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent

My report on Bangkok marathon

Bonjour, 

On the 18th November I ran Bangkok marathon, my second this year after Paris in April. I was not planning to run another marathon in 2012 but since we moved to Thailand in August I decided that I could not miss to run in the capital of the country. I talked about my training in a previous post. I had the feeling that I would have been better prepared with two or three extra long runs. Well, I was right...

The start of the marathon was at 3.00 am, on the night between Saturday and Sunday, at the Grand Palace. I arrived there at about 1.30 am and it was lovely at that time of the day. There were a lot of small lights everywhere on Sanamlunang, the park close to the Grand Palace. Bangkok is a very busy city but then it was really calm. When I got to the starting line not too many runners had already arrived. 

The weather was nice at the start. It was not too hot for Thailand - probably between 22 ºC to 25 ºC - and it was not raining.

I think about 1,200 runners had signed up, so the atmosphere was slightly different from the one in Paris with about 40,000 people at the start. Anyway it was very lively at the start with a band  playing and the speaker in top form!

My understanding was that Bangkok marathon was rather flat but in fact, although it cannot be said that it is hilly, there are a few hills especially where there are bridges. I remember very well a few "bumps", just a few metres long but painful enough in the condition I was towards the end.

Although this was not really an issue, I found a bit disturbing - but this is probably due to the fact that I was really struggling towards the end of the race - that runners running the half-marathon joined us after a while. They started later than those running the full marathon but part of the route was the same. Most of them were naturally faster than us and it was a bit strange to be overtaken by so many people especially as it took me a while to realise that most of them were running the half-marathon and that it was not only because I was slowing down!

I cannot say that I really enjoyed the route. With the exception of the start/finish and the last 4 to 5 miles, most of the race is on main roads and not in the centre of Bangkok. As shows on Garmin Connect about 16 miles were on a motorway, half on one side and half on the other side for the way back to Bangkok. It was however a special thing to be able to run on such roads where there are usually thousands of vehicles. Because of the u-turn on the motorway we also got the chance to see the top runners and it was great to see them running so fast!  

Probably because of the time of the start and the fact that most of the route there was not a lot of people on the side of the roads to cheer the runners up. It got a bit better close to the finish line.

I completed the marathon in 3h57min13sec according to the results on http://championchip-thailand.com/raceresults.html and finished 143rd out of 1.107 runners who completed the race. My average pace was just over 9min per mile, rather lower than my pace of 7:50min per mile in Paris. This is clearly due to my rather slow pace during the last 6 miles. With my Paris pace I would have finished this marathon around the 50th position. I was on about the same pace for about 16 to 17 miles but the last 6 miles were very painful and I hit the famous marathon wall pretty badly. I had to slow down and my legs were hurting a lot. I even had to walk. I just had no energy left. I explain that by the fact that my training did not include enough long runs. It was just too hot here in Thailand to do long runs during the day and I find hard to go running very early in the morning. By very early I mean running at about 4.30am. It is also not very easy  to do long runs on roads as there are wild dogs everywhere and they are not all very friendly. Another reason for this lack of energy was clearly due to the fact that I failed to feed myself properly before the race. We spent the Saturday in Bangkok and I had to walk a lot more than I wanted to get to the place where I got my bib and the chip for the timing, so once I got to the hotel I did not want to walk any more. There was no big shopping mall close to the hotel and therefore I did not find any Italian restaurant where to eat my usual big pre-race pasta meal. I had rice noodles at lunchtime and a soup with noodles for diner. It was not enough. Furthermore I could not find any energy bars or gels here in Thailand, even in Bangkok. I am sure there are shops selling them but I do not know where they are yet. I was planning to cook energy bars myself, I have found a nice recipe on a blog recently but I failed to do so. I therefore bought Snickers thinking that they would do the trick for once but I forgot them at the hotel!... Well, I realised at miles 17 - too late - that I was not organised enough and I paid it during the following 6 miles. The few glasses of energy drink and the few pieces of banana I got from the water stations were not enough to give me what I failed to take before the race. One learns from their mistakes as people say. Well, I've certainly learned from this race.

Just a few metres before the finish line

Overall, I found the marathon very well organised:

- Nice atmosphere at the start/finish.

- Place where runners could drop a bag.

- Water stations every 1.2 miles. Energy drink and fruits were available after halfway. 

- Well signed race.

- No problem with traffic, there were people in charge of stopping cars at the few places where we had to cross roads that were not closed.

- Nice goody bag received at the registration the day before the race with the race t-shirt - although I understand not all the runners received it as they ran out - and also a nice medal.

- Finisher t-shirt with long sleeves, even if the medium size is rather small.

What I found could be improved:

- The toilets at the start. They were located in three trucks and without giving too many details they were not too appealing and there was no toilet paper. There are things that people do not really talk about or pieces of advice that are not always given. Well, for my readers who are new runners I can tell you that it was worth having in your bag tissues and hand sanitizer.

- The fact that the glasses of water at the water stations were full of small ice cubes. I appreciate that it is hot in Thailand but I do not think that the ice was necessary. Furthermore it was really difficult to drink with all this ice. 

A very good memory of that day was to meet with two very nice guys from Kenya before the race. They were looking for the starting line when I got there and we had a chat about their country and how they train. A lot! They had no fancy shoes or fancy watches but were awesome runners. They were there for the win. One was hoping to do 2h16 and the other 2h19!... They invited me to train with them, they said they've got good coffee. Not sure I'll go, they train every day and on Sundays they do long runs, about 23 miles!... :-) All the best to you guys, it was really nice to meet with you.

Another one was to see my 8-year son nearby the finish line and to have him running on the side of the road for the last metres of the race.

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent

Trail running in Khao Sam Roi Yot national park

Bonjour,

I am now getting close to tapper time in my training plan for Bangkok marathon on 18th November. I am happy with the training I have done so far, although it would have been better with two or three extra long runs. I did not get the chance to do 15-mile to 20-mile runs when we arrived in August as I could not then cope with the heat. I completed a 16-mile run a few days ago and I felt good, I was able to finish faster than the pace I am planning to follow for the race. The pace I am aiming for is 8 minutes / mile. That pace should take me to the finish line in about 3:30. In Paris this year I covered the marathon in 3:26:55 and I think I am about in the same shape. I may start a bit slower because of the time of the start of the race - 3:00 am - and because of the heat and then see how it goes at half-race. My last long run will be this week and hopefully should be close to 20 miles. I should then have covered 125 miles this month and adding to that a football game every Friday for the last few months I am about happy with my training so far.

I spent last week - half-term week here in Thailand - with my family in an hotel close to Hua Hin. One of the best things about the hotel is that it was very close to Khao Sam Roi Yot national park. The entrance-fee to the park is THB 200 / adult and THB 100 / per child. When you live in Thailand it is usually possible to benefit from a reduced entrance-fee but apparently there they do not have this kind of policy so we paid the full price.

Link to Google maps

We went to the park a few times as there is a lot to see in this park, in particular caves, like Sai cave:

To access the cave, you must follow a trail for about 300 metres. No risks of getting lost as it is well indicated from the start. It is not a too challenging walk but it is better to have good shoes as it is quite steep and rocky. It is possible to rent a torch for THB 60 at the start of the trail. It is a good idea to have one as it is very dark inside the cave.

The other cave we went to visit was Phraya Nakhon cave. Once inside the park there are at least two ways to access the cave, either by walking from the car park or by boat. We used the second option and we paid THB 300 for two adults and three children. This price included both ways, to the cave and back to the beach close to where we parked the car. 

The path to access this cave is longer than the one to go to Sai cave. It is also advisable to have good shoes, for the same reasons mentioned above. 

Phraya Nakhon cave is a really impressive cave, really huge. It is worth going there. It is a very strange feeling to be inside this cave, like being on another planet, at least I reckon!

View from the beach where we arrived with the boat

Start of the trail

View from half-way

View from the beach when we left

I also took the opportunity of being there to go running in the park. I started from the hotel and tried to get to  the park by following the coast. I managed to get there after a few miles and finally found a trail I could follow. I had never run there and therefore did not know what to expect. I was not disappointed. Being there on my own, in the middle of nowhere was just a great feeling. It is what I like about trail running, just being in the nature surrounded by an amazing landscape. It was a great run, not too hard as about flat, a bit muddy though but that would not be trail running without mud! Cherry on the cake - or cerise sur le gâteau as we say in French - I was chased by one wild dog only! The best part of the run was to get at about half-way to a very small beach. There was no one there and it was so quiet and peaceful. I took a few photos during this run. Sorry about the quality, I took them with my new phone and I am afraid the camera is not too good.

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent

Swimming in Pattaya

Bonjour,

I have now signed up for Bangkok marathon! So it is no longer just an idea, it is hopefully going to happen! As always when I sign up for a race I get excited about this new plan but also a bit scared about whether I will have trained enough. Since I decided to take part in Bangkok marathon I have been able to run almost everyday, and most of the time at least 6 to 7 miles. I think I am now getting used to the heat or at least I can cope better with it. I have also done a few long runs but I think my training may lack two or three longer runs. I have not done anything over 2 hours recently and, although I did two rather challenging runs in the jungle, I know that I would feel better if I had done at least two 20 miles runs. Well, I could not do them when we arrived in Thailand in August as it was too hot and I was just not able to run for such a long time! I think I still have about 30 days until the 18th of November and then I should be able to do two one or two longer runs before the race. Hopefully I will then have had the amount of training to complete a marathon without struggling too much or without hitting the wall too hard!...

Today I was feeling a bit tired and my legs were a bit stiff. I ran a 2.8 km cross country in a local school on Monday evening of this week and I won the adults race! I was quite pleased with this result even if it was a very small and local race. A race is a race, isn't it? I completed the race in 10 minutes and 30 seconds and came second overall, 10 seconds behind the winner. I think I lost these 10 seconds at the start of the race. I am now 37 years old and I am afraid no longer able to start a race at a too fast pace. I could probably work on that but I rather like long runs than short distances anyway. 

As I was not too keen on running today, I decided that it would be nice to go swimming. In Pattaya, especially on Beach road, the sea is not clean enough for my personal taste. Therefore I decided to look for a public swimming pool. I do not know if there is any actually. I was not able to find one but after a quick look on the Internet, I saw that there was one swimming pool on top of Mike shopping mall between Beach road and Second road. I think it is between soi 10 and soi 12. It seems that some hotels also allow you to use their swimming pool(s) with payment of a fee of course. I decided to go to the one on top of Mike shopping mall as it is very central and I knew that it would be easy to park my scooter there as they have parking places in the basement. I was not disappointed by my decision. The swimming pool is on the 10th floor and there are lifts to access it. The view there is just stunning. It is possible to see most of Pattaya and there is also one side with the view towards the sea. The swimming pool is also quite large and I was in fact surprised about its size. I am not really sure about the actual size as it has a funny shape, with a part for children. However I am sure it is over 25 metres long and it is absolutely possible to do lengths. I stayed there more than 1 hour. The price is 100 Thai Baht which is about 2 Pound Sterling. There are changing rooms with showers and toilets and, although it is not brand new, and found the cleanliness acceptable. The shopping mall opens at 11:00 am and this is when I got there. I do not know whether it is possible to access the swimming pool before the mall opens.

A few photos taken from the swimming pool:

I have only one regret about today's swim: it was a very sunny day and I did not have any sun-cream with me!... I will not forget it again!...

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent