I am feeling a comfort in Chiang Mai which is allowing me to focus on my running and fitness. Having been here ten weeks I no longer feel the need to daily explore the streets because I have found little pockets of quiet and beauty which I like to often visit. There is much about the city I do not know, and if I were to be here longer I would eventually get around to looking into those places.
With only three weeks left here I am concentrating on improving my fitness. The more fit I am the better I feel, both physically and mentally, so I am working almost as hard as when I was in the best shape of my life five years ago. I have run 4 consecutive days, and have been at the fitness park twice a day during that time. I am increasing the number of reps for exercises, today I did 12 sets in the morning, and 4 more in the afternoon after my 52 minute run in noon time heat.
Songkran starts in eight days, and from what I have read it is water gun bedlam for four days. I plan to run everyday during that time in the late morning. That is one reason I have been running in the afternoon heat the last two weeks, to get ready for the Songkran madness! It is going to be amazing fun because there is nothing better than getting sprayed with cold water while running on a hot day. I spoke with Maria about it and she seems a bit frightened of the festival, and is considering leaving Chiang Mai for a week. She mentioned that her guest house manager offered to lock her in her room during the day so that she would be safe from the revelers :)
With Songkran and the run up Doi Suthep soon to arrive, my fitness is above average and I am beginning to work harder and longer each day to achieve new gains. It is hard to believe that I feel just as good as when I was 25. I do not know how long good health can last in a lifetime, but I plan to use every last bit until it decides to give up the ghost.
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I was finishing up a walk at the fitness park yesterday when I felt a sharp pebble in my shoe. I sat down and took off the shoe and instead of shaking a pebble loose, I found that I had stepped onto a rusty nail and it had wedged straight into the heal. This had happened to me once before during a 24 mile winter run in Urbana, and Rachel used a pair of pliers to pry it loose.
I tried to pull the nail out with my fingers but it was too deeply embedded. I decided to walk home and try to remove the nail with my "nail" clippers. The nail was protruding slightly into the shoe so I would have to walk home barefoot on the hot and dirty asphalt. When I reached the fitness park exit I decided I would stop at the nearby guardhouse and ask the guard if he had a tool to remove it. I am not sure why I thought he would, but the numerous guards I see in Chaing Mai seem bored and sleepy, so he might like to be challenged with something other than listening to bird calls and watching passersby. When I arrived at his shack I pointed to my shoe and he was friendly and smiled. He took the shoe and walked to his scooter next to the shack, popped the gas compartment and pulled out a small tool. He tried to pry it loose but had trouble gripping the nail, he then pulled out a socket wrench and used both tools simultaneously and after 30 seconds the nail was removed! I thanked him and he appeared pleased to have helped.
Today on my run to the fitness park I made sure to look into the shack as I passed so that I could wave to the guard - he was sitting there, smiling with a wide grin as we greeted each other :)
