Travel Day 10 / Workout Day 7

---

Tuesday morning, and work has finally tracked me down. The phone rings at just past midnight because I hadn’t been replying to emails. Oh well, time to start paying for the trip now. That will be something for later tonight, assuming I can stay awake past sundown. I was afraid that call would keep me up the rest of the night, but I was out nearly right away. I actually needed the backup alarm this morning. That gave me just enough time to pack the gym bag, head downstairs to eat, and then trudge on over to the BTS. Eventhough I’ve been trying to get there closer to 7:30, somehow, I’m always earlier, no matter when I leave. Today as I was walking through the shops on the way to the gym, I saw Santafaa running there. Back at the gym, I think I heard him say he ran down to the BTS. He’s now about a week away from his next fight, and you can tell he’s in excellent shape for it. As I finished my correctly counted 8 laps, I didn’t feel like doing 9, but I did try a sprint about half of the length down the alleyway. Everything still appears to be functional, and no pulled muscles or hamstrings. Wasn’t sure if I even had a speed above my Muay Thai trot anymore. Now this morning, I did have a bit of a tweak in my left shoulder. Not sure if it’s from clinching, or sleeping on it wrong. It did loosen up as the run when along and didn’t cause any trouble all morning.

15 minutes jump rope with another slowly filling gym, and one new guy from Switzerland. Everyone was busy and Santi brought again the boiling hot drinks for recovery. Started with a warmup on the bags again for a couple rounds. The routine was switched up then as I was told I’d be sparring. Training on the pads is one thing but sparring is a totally different environment. I started with the newer of the fighter/trainer for a couple rounds. Obviously, he’s extremely good. Fast, quick, strong, and I’m pretty sure I only hit him when he let me. The first round was exhausting. I need more practice as the blocks and covers are not burned into my reflexes and I felt awkward out there, overthinking everything. The good thing is that I did get tapped more than a few times to show me where my mistakes were, and he did help me a lot with things I was doing wrong. After a second round, and a bit of an abbreviated third, Fahlaep brought me to the other ring for some work on boxing for just a couple more rounds. That really burned out my arms and shoulders. If I understood correctly, he wanted to trade off the younger people for someone more his speed. I’m not sure I’m his speed, but I’m definitely not in the class of some of these others. A couple of finishing rounds of shadow boxing and heavy bag finished off the morning 2 hour session. Walked back to the BTS with Steve and his son, and he stopped at one of the street food carts and got an omelette and rice for the crazy price of 25 baht, which is about $0.70 US. Crazy. We walked away and we’re taking about how good it looked and smelled, so we all turned around and went back and bought 3 more. Mine was big enough for a dinner, and tomorrow, we’ll be stopping there again on the way back. Once again, an early afternoon nap was needed, but only 30 minutes because I had much to catch up on. The Fitbit calculated an average calorie burn of 3850 over the past 7 days, although my weight doesn’t seem to have changed. I just may need to go find a dessert later anyway.

The afternoon was another run of 8 laps. I was thinking that I would try to get up to 10 before I leave, but am rethinking that. I know I can do that many, if I can get to 8 without problems. Some wise council has reminded me that saving that bit of extra energy is more important for the pad rounds than spending it on running. After the run, and 15 minutes of jumprope, it was hand wrap time. So far, I’ve had Santi, Fahlaep, Santafaa, and the other boxer (who I don’t know his name) show me slightly different ways of wrapping. Obviously I’m doing something wrong if they all come over to help. I was noticeable tighter today after sparring yesterday. Some of the kicks I didn’t block, which was a lot, landed on my thighs, and have those muscles somewhat tight. Even extra stretching hasn’t helped much. This afternoon, it’s still crowded, and there are a couple of sparring groups in each ring. I did 3 rounds on the bag, and then went to work pads. Still feeling pretty good, although the afternoon is a bit more tiring than the morning. The rounds were more focused on power than speed, although there were still the 10 kicks and punches to get through. Rounds 3 is still the standard for multiple everything. Near the end of this round Fahlaep gave me some time to rest, but then as the buzzer goes off for 30 seconds, he wants either kicks or punches until the buzzer stops. If kicks were at the end of round 3, then the opposite side is expected at the end of round 4. It was good there was no sparring for me today. I’ve managed to get a really good brush burn on my arm from catching kicks when the other person has shin guards on. If you catch the Velcro strap, it really makes a mark. It was almost healed up until yesterday sparring brought it back. I think next sparring I’ll do more blocking or leaning back than catching. Its a full day when I leave, nearly 5:45, and the sun is starting to go down. The walk back isn’t bad, but by the time I shower and eat, it makes for a long day.

---

Photos

Hotel friend
I see him on the way out to train in the morning, and he makes sure to say hello. He’s got the biggest smile every time I see him.

A little cat-itude
I used to see many more dogs, but now cats are everywhere on the jog. They are all very differently colored. Not sure what this one was thinking about me, but it the look says it’s not good