Last week Maria asked what I liked best about Chiang Mai. It did not take me long to reply that the fitness park was my favorite place to be for running and walking. Today during my walk I made some photos of the place. There is a small 150m oval with exercise equipment, beyond that is the Convention Center grounds, which is open to the public. All of my recent runs have been around the grounds, which is about 800m.
The 3 runs I have done this week have been my best yet. One of the days I ran in the early afternoon heat, jumping into the sprinklers after every loop. I did a mid-afternoon run the previous week but lasted only 30 minutes, but this time I was able to go for 55, with a strong finish. My easy run yesterday was also good, I thought I would be fatigued from the prior heat run but everything felt great and I ended up going for 45 minutes, with the final 800m run at top speed.
On the off days I walk to the fitness park and do exercises - pull ups, push ups, sit ups, leg presses. When I started my training regime 2 months ago I was doing 2-4 sets, and I have now worked up to 8-10.
Because of the increase in time and intensity of exercise, I have needed to also increase my caloric intake, so some days I will eat a second meal in the evening if I am feeling the need for it. I have lost 8-10 pounds since arriving in Chiang Mai, making running a whole lot easier.
