Day 9 Tuesday

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For the first time this trip, I was awoken by my alarm at 5am. I did wake up at 3:30 but was able to go back to sleep. Looks like that workout yesterday really wore me out. The challenge for today will be to see if the intensity level I had yesterday continues through today. I’m still planning for Wednesday afternoon off for a little sightseeing and shopping. I’ve not really done much of either. The sellers, maybe not as many as years ago, still set up stands each night (some even from the early morning) along the street with just about everything imaginable. Just out of curiosity, I checked the Fitbit and yesterday it was 14.81 miles (28000+ steps) and 3477 calories, and today nearly the exact same. That doesn’t include the 20-30 minutes with the gloves on. I haven’t been below 2700 calories, and nearly everyday last week was over 3000 calories.

Today at the gym was the busiest yet. The one guy from last night, I found out is from TX and is staying at the gym for 30 days. It’s his first time at Eminent Air. I started my 11 laps and he was running back and forth in front of the gym. Ajahn told me to go with him and get him on the route. Understandably, he was running pretty slow, so we talked a little and since he hadn’t been told how far or where to go yet. I took him around a couple laps, and suggested just doing 5 laps. He was looking pretty gassed when working the pads. I can relate to that feeling. There was one other person training but they finished early. Jomhod rolled in and was following the normal routine getting prepped for his next fight in The Fighter series. If he wins in the next round, he will be in the finals and in the prize money, so there’s incentive to do well. He was doing running, jumprope and the working rounds of boxing with Ajahn on the pads. He can generate some power for being only 115 lbs. Also saw Santafaa today and Ajahn said he lost by a standing 8 count from an elbow that opened up a large cut above his eye.

While Ajahn was training, I got to work the heavy bag. I wanted to see how my left foot would hold up by being able to hit a little easier and stop if I needed to. It felt ok, but not quite ready for the pads yet, maybe tomorrow. Then it was ring time. Normal start up with jabs and crosses, elbows, knees etc, but then today must have been kick day. It was 10 power kicks as Ajahn sort of walked a circle around me, then wanted 10, 5, 3, and 1 fast kicks. That did earn a short break and a laugh from him. Machine gun punches were then followed up by, I don’t know, maybe 20 or more alternating knees Into the pads. I’m seeing a few bruises from those show up. It was then variations of that for the next 3 rounds. Seems like he’s keeping it to 4 rounds with pads, but adding bag work or shadow boxing, which I had two rounds of that next. I don’t know if I started running later, or was slower today, but by the time I finished weights and sit-ups and wound the sweat out of my socks, it was past 9:30. I was pretty tired, and enjoyed the slow walk to the BTS. It’s not as cool as it was last week, and there was no breeze this morning. I was more tires than expected, as I nearly fell asleep in the BTS on the way back to the hotel. It’s surprising that there hasn’t been any rain except for the first evening here, and even that was a relatively short shower. The forecast looks good for the rest of the week, which is great news. If it rains, then the jumprope gets to the insane levels of 30-35 minutes. I know just reading this could get boring, so I added a few pictures of the other exciting things I see during the day.

The afternoon was more breezy and cloudy than most days so far. It was good for the running, but made me worry about rain and jumprope. I did get all 6, or maybe 7 laps done, I lost count. I caught up to the other American and was talking to him for a couple laps. He’s staying at the gym bungalow. He’s having trouble acclimating so far, and is running very slow. He’s already having problems with foot blisters already, after two days. On my last lap, there were a few raindrops, but that was all. Luckily, it was only 10 minutes for jumprope. My feet and ankles are starting to feel the pounding. No warmup this afternoon, but right to the pads. This was an even harder workout than the morning. Multiple sets of 10 kicks, and Ajahn now adds not just the 5,3,and 1, but he’s throwing in multiple sets of twos!! Lots of endurance type sets, including the machine gun punches on top of the kicks. He worked me on the knees too, with the total knees being 30 each time. Those really wore me out because he kept yelling “Power, Power” and if I got too close he’d hit my ribs with the pad as a reminder. After 4 full rounds, I was exhausted. Two rounds of shadow boxing with hand weights and then sit-ups and lift weights finished the day a little earlier. I was anxious to get back, shower, and eat. Now I’m looking forward to kicking my shoes off and laying down. Tomorrow, Ajahn told me to bring my video camera in the morning. I’m just a little afraid of what he may have in mind.

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Photos

Another excellent sunrise
I couldn’t tell if there was smog or some fog this morning. So far each day has started off with the same perfect view.

Liniment of Motivation
Ingredients include traces of molten lava, napalm and white phosphorus. Mercifully, after about 4 laps (15 minutes) it either subsides, or is exceeded muted by the natural running endorphins. But it is a good jump start to the run.

Lunch break
In addition to having a protein drink and yogurt after the shower, todays refueling included this. Yes, that’s a lot of whipped cream, but torching 3400+ calories a day, I don’t think it matters much.

Jomhod training
He’s been putting in much more time boxing this week. I think he understands the next two matches are not going to be as easy as his first two.

The Fighter
More of the training, with a good shot of a cross to the body.