I will update for real soon, but I just wanted to give a shout out to a new location that I will be posting every so often! A great site Called Rise and Roam. Check, check check it out!
thailand
Thin Air and Clear Skies
It’s so loud. So loud. So. LOUD. It’s SO LOUD that I can’t hear myself think. I can’t hear myself yell over the sound of laughter, crying, the ceiling fans blowing. The bell rings and I stop. I breathe in, I can’t talk over the bell—they don’t understand what I’m saying anyway, I breathe. 5 minutes left. I breathe.
The school I teach at in Thailand is an outdoor, open hall school. Each classroom has two doors (so twice the noise entering) and equipped with multiple fans to blow hot air, adolescent B.O and my small American English speaking voice around and out the open windows. It’s loud. My voice is quiet in the classroom but loud in my head. It’s loud going over lesson plans (or lack there of,) loud going over weekend plans, evening plans, training plans, self-reflections, and plans for self improvement. Loud and unable to shut-the-hell-up. Loud in my head and loud in my classroom.
This past weekend I left. I got on a bus and rode all the way up to Chaing Mai. The entire bus ride I relished in the quiet (how is it that Thai kids are so noisy, but the adults are so quiet?) I left my sunglasses on and starred out the window at the approaching mountains. I was readying my lungs for some thin air and clear skies.
Saturday morning my new friend, Andrew, and I were in the mountains. It was quiet. It was so so quiet. My brain was working hard—but not hard at getting the kids to listen and learn, it was working hard at maneuvering a mountain bike over sticks, rocks and vertical terrain. My brain had finally shut up and all it was doing was getting me over the next switchback safely.
“I rented these pads, I’m sure ass hell going to use them!”
Thailand Flag at the top of the mountain
Coffee 30/baht (about a dollar)
Coffee plantation
SO happy
74, 25, 1
10% and 90%? No. 50% and 50%? No. 75% and 25%? That’s probably closer.
This is me trying to figure out the mental to physical strength I’m going to need in February. Yep, you guessed it, I signed up for a 50K trail run in Thailand. What the fuck am I thinking? Part of me said after I entered my credit card into the little box. This is going to be awesome! The other part was saying. 5:30am is not a good time to make big decisions, but I threw down the money and now I have to begin training—for realz.
74% mental: (I know, you think I’m nuts…bear with me) 50K is what? Like 30-something miles? That’s a lot of time on your feet, a lot of time in your brain, a lot of time to talk yourself out of something. Or in my case I’m pretty good at talking myself into things. Being here in Thailand is tough on my brain, on my emotions and on my regular life routine. Running has been a savior, if I can convince myself that 89 degrees isn’t that hot (mostly because yesterday was 94 degrees) and I can go out and run—I’m golden. Just 7-10 hours of that on race day and done is done!
25% physical: So yeah, I do have to train for this thing. My current idea of a training plan is as follows:
6xweek: run
2xweek: 2 a day runs
3-4xweek: yoga
1xweek: try to get out for over 2 hours (we’ll see how this goes)
Other activities: badminton, push-up, squats, lunges…etc.
By February 2nd it’s just going to be another long day in woods…right?
Wait wait wait!!! Where’s that extra 1% ? you ask?
1%: Support. Cheerleaders. Positive energy. Love. And Gu… don’t forget the Gu.
thesolesearch 