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

Khao Mai Kaeo - The Jungle

Bonjour,

A little while ago I was taken by two other keen trail runners to Khao Mai Kaeo known locally as The Jungle. It's only a few kilometres away from the centre of Pattaya. We did about 4 km and I really enjoyed it, although it was not only very hot – as always – but also very humid. I went running there again a few days later for a longer run. I really like this place as it is so different from the routes I was using in the UK. It is not every day that you get to run in the middle of a jungle!... As always, I took a few photos.

Link to complete Picassa web album

The second time I was running on my own. I have to be honest, it was a bit scary at first!... I was not afraid of getting lost as there are various tracks that can be followed and I think that I have a rather good sense of direction. Well, I also have a Garmin!... I was more scared of spiders and of all the animals you may meet in such a place!... I actually only saw a dead scorpion and a crab that was on its way to get to a little stream. I also had an encounter with a pack of dogs – that would not be Thailand without them. Thankfully their owner was with them and he called them when they started being a bit too close to me for my taste! I think he was really surprised to find someone running there in the middle of nowhere. My Thai is almost nonexistent at the time being but I was able to say sawadee krap – which means hello – and he replied with a smile.

For my second run there I was planning to do about 8 to 10 km but I got lost and ended up by doing 15 km. The last part was in fact on the road as I was just willing to get back to my starting point which was a bit further away than initially planned... Thankfully I had plenty of liquid and enough to eat. I always tend to take too much but you never know what may happen! That is why I also always take a mobile phone and some cash.

I found two things very surprising in Khao Mai Kaeo, the first one being the noise. It is a very noisy place. I do not mean in a noise pollution way like in the middle of a big town but because there are so many sounds. Sounds from animals you cannot even see like birds, from the water dripping from the big leaves of the banana trees and so on... The second thing is the light. Because the vegetation is so dense, the light cannot really get through it and the result is a very specific atmosphere.

Khao Mai Kaeo seems to be a very popular spot for people running or riding enduro motorbikes. It is very easy to get there from Pattaya as there are various signs showing the direction to follow. There is a parking where I parked my scooter. From there, there are various tracks with different lengths. It seems to be possible to mix the various routes together to create new ones but I do not yet know the place well enough.

It is also possible to get to the top of the hill where there are big rocks. The view there is just stunning. Although on the day I went there the weather was not too good, I was able to see up to the sea.

That’s all for now.

Take care and enjoy your runs.

Vincent