Working out again

I have started working out again. When I left the US for this trip, I was in top running condition. But, for various reasons, it is hard for me to go running while I am traveling from place to place and especially if I am traveling with someone else. I can't run within two hours of eating, I need to find a mostly traffic free and safe path to run, I can't run when it is too hot, I need to shower and change afterwards, etc.

But when I settle into a routine at one location, I can usually find a proper place to run and fit it into my schedule. I found a great location in Chiang Mai and my fitness really improved after running about five or six times. Here in Bangkok I found a nearby asphalt track to run on that is over a kilometer in circumference and I went running there earlier. Although it is much warmer in Bangkok, I can still get a good workout here.

I tend to run in the very late afternoon or early evening time before it gets dark. It has cooled down a bit by then. I think most Thais run in the early morning. In fact, at the asphalt track in Bangkok I saw perhaps a thousand Thais out and about but not one other person running besides myself. And when I run I basically work out at top speed -- my race times are not much faster than my workout times -- and I am much bigger than the average Thai male. So I think when the Thais see this Westerner running lap after lap at top speed in the late afternoon heat they are thinking that perhaps he is a bit loco.