Travel Day 12 / Training Day 9

---

Thursday already. Sleeping so much better, maybe too good now because I don’t want to get out of bed when the alarm goes off. I’ve even skipped breakfast downstairs the last two days for the extra 30 minutes of sleep. A power bar and protein drink on the way to BTS is plenty for me, especially knowing that there an omelette and rice waiting for me on the way back to the hotel !

The morning was surprisingly cool. It was also amazingly quiet when I arrived at the gym. I wasn’t early today either. Maybe everyone is just running out of gas as the week comes to an end. I did my 8 laps, with sprint a short spring down part of the alley and then back. I’m still finishing the runs in about 30 minutes. A couple others came in again, but maybe 4 of us total. I grabbed the Crossrope and hit it for a solid 15. Since no one was in the ring with Fahlaep, I went right in. He gave me a few minutes to warm up, and the 1st round also started a bit slow to make sure everything was ready to go. We went through our normal 4 rounds, although round 3 today wasn’t 20 kicks. He’s been saving the last 30 seconds on the timer, as it’s ringing, for the kicks or punches. It’s much worse than the 20 count of anything. I spent 5 rounds on the heavy bags, getting pointers on teeps, knees, and kicks, and a shadow round or 2. Because it was quiet, it was easy to get more focused attention to tweaks the techniques even more. When I looked at the clock, it was 10:00! The time just flew, so I hurried and packed and hit the rice and egg omelette cart. I had planned to take the afternoon off, but changed my mind as I was leaving the gym and feeling good. And Santafaa said, “See you afternoon”. Even getting back later than usual, it seemed like I had a lot of time, so the decision to go back worked out fine. There hasn’t been a workout I’ve gone to that I regretted, but you only regret the workouts you don’t go to.

The afternoon turned out to be pretty lightly anttended also. My running was only 6 laps, followed by about 10 minutes of jump rope, similar to yesterday when I didn’t plan on going in the afternoon either. Turns out it was fortunate I went today. Santi asked if I wanted to go to see the “boy” from the gym fight at Lumpinee stadium tomorrow night. There are 3 of us who will meet at the gym at 6, and head over by taxi. He has free tickets, for us to attend. Since we are meeting at 6, I’m definitely taking the afternoon off tomorrow ! Jomhod is fighting an 3 rounder against a Spanish guy on Saturday. I don’t think I’ll make it to that one. First, because it’s near the airport (far from the hotel), and I just don’t think I can stay awake for long nights right now. I hope he does well. Santafaa’s fight might be moved to Sunday night now. I was a bit confused about that, but tomorrow or Saturday, the details will be clear. The afternoon workout today was slightly less casual, but still the same 4 rounds with Fahlaep on the pads. The end of round kicks, I made a point of counting today. Assuming I kept a good count, it was 42 kicks in the 30 seconds on both the right and left leg. And no, I was not counting by twos…. I will double check the next time we do them which will probably be tomorrow morning. I didn’t bother counting the punches in 30 seconds, there’s about a thousand. I needed all the focus I could get just to keep going. The combinations are coming easier now, and the footwork is improving, even if it is only recognizing when I’ve placed my feet wrong. Once the last ice bath was completed, I did one shadow boxing round and then packed and left by 5:15. It was nice to get back and start inventorying the clothes, and seeing what I might need for supplies over the next few days. I walked to Bully’s again for dinner because I had time and wanted to see what the street vendors had for sale. Last time there weren’t many around, mostly due to Covid causing them to not be able to stay in business. It’s not as crazy like the first trip over, but there are some areas, mostly down the alleys off of the main road where they are still lined up on both sides of the road. The deals are still as good as ever!

---

Photos

Street vendor
Here is my new favorite lunch stop. For about 70 cents (25 baht), you get an omelette freshly cooked, (because the pre-made ones have spicy chilis), and a ton of sticky rice.

Sparring from Wednesday
No other good pictures today, so here are a couple from the other day of sparring.

More sparring
A big left hook that was easily blocked. Good thing we were only boxing, I was well within his killer kicking range.

Break time
Someone said something which caused a little laugh, and gave me a short breather.

Nightlife in Nana
Not exactly the red light area of Nana, but it’s across the street. Last time here the marijuana laws were just changing, and now from this picture you can see they are like the US, with shops everywhere.