I have now officially run marathon distance or greater in seven countries with the running of the Pattaya (Thailand) marathon on Sunday 21st July.
As I said in the lead-up, this marathon was always intended to be just a steady training run. However, things did get a whole lot harder than anticipated, including an amusing ‘incident’ post-race.
This marathon began at 4:30am – from what I understand, the early start is as much to do with reducing traffic flow disruptions as avoiding the heat of the day. The temperature at 4:30 was 26°C with humidity of 84%.
The humidity smacked me in the face the second I walked out the hotel door for the short stroll to the start line. Not that I needed confirmation that the humidity was up, but I remember looking at my watch for the first time during the run as the sweat began to really run off my face – I was just over five minutes in.
It was at this point that I knew my pace would need to be even more conservative than anticipated. The Pattaya marathon course itself is not particularly tough. There’s a few rolling undulations, but nothing significant in terms of hills. Nor is the course overly picturesque. I can’t see the organisers putting together a Pattaya marathon postcard.
However, passing through ‘Walking Street’ at 7am provided a number of timely distractions. Walking Street is one of the best known ‘seedy’ areas of Thailand, lined with GoGo bars and clubs operating ‘special’ shows. Those of you who have been to Pattaya know exactly what I’m referring to!
Whilst, as you might expect, this area wasn’t its usual hustle and bustle at 7am, there were enough interesting sights to lighten spirits during this short stretch. I liken this experience to running along Oxford Street in Sydney early on a Sunday morning in April, 2000 on the Sydney Olympic marathon course during my very first marathon.
Despite the course not being particularly challenging, the conditions faced in Pattaya in July make for a relatively slow marathon. Kenyan winner, Joseph Kariuki, completed the course in 2.20.59, seven and a half minutes outside his personal best marathon time.
The gap between personal best times and Pattaya times are significant across the board and become greatly compounded when looking at the times of amateurs and weekend warriors.
Whilst I took advantage of every aid station to take on fluids, I became dehydrated. The last nine kilometres of the run felt more like nineteen. As a result, I ran my slowest stand-alone marathon, but I am happy with the time given the conditions and the need to minimise the damage done to my body.
To give you some perspective of the challenging conditions – despite running a slow marathon I finished in the top 25% of the field, crossing the line 145th out of 639 competitors.
Moving forward
I am extremely happy to report that in subsequent training runs my legs have not shown any ill effects from the marathon. This is extremely reassuring as I approach a very heavy training phase.
Without going into the finer details (you will understand why shortly) I found myself in a difficult ‘situation’ immediately upon crossing the finish line. I had a bit of a queasy stomach which dictated that I fairly urgently find a bathroom. Thankfully there was a portable bathroom nearby.
Once inside I opened the cubicle door to be faced by a squat style toilet. Now, my legs weren’t in too bad shape considering, but the last thing anyone wants after running 42.2 kilometres is to have to squat to take care of business!
Shortly after, I did stop to ponder if this ever came into consideration for the organisers. I could just imagine them sitting around the planning table sharing a sly chuckle as the decision was made to utilise this style of toilet.
There is a second part to this story, but it’s probably best I spare you those details. Prior to a post Pattaya marathon I have been continuing my IRONMAN training.
This has consisted of running mostly, followed by a reasonable amount of swimming. Cycling has been the discipline to suffer unfortunately.
However, thanks to two of my brothers and some good friends my new bike has finally arrived in the UAE recently. This means that, within an hour or two of touching down in Dubai, my Specialized Shiv triathlon bike will be assembled and broken in.
I am seriously looking forward to spending considerable time on this bike and clocking up the many kilometres required for a strong bike leg in Kona.
Much of my training whilst in Chiang Mai prior to Pattaya was running. This mostly consisted of long morning runs up the winding road which leads to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the hilltop temple. Anyone who has visited Chiang Mai has most likely visited this temple.
This road provides a winding ‘grind’ as it passes through picturesque tropical landscape. Aside from the opportunity to do some hill running which is lacking in Dubai, these runs coincided with the daily pilgrimage of local Buddhist monks.
Droves of monks make their way down the hill each morning to the township where lay Buddhists line the path to add food and money to the alms pot of each monk. This process, known as almsgiving is, from what I understand, a sign of respect and humbleness which provides a symbolic connection to the monk and what he represents.
This was a unique experience to witness each morning. This experience, along with running past numerous outdoor yoga groups and watching locals scale trees to remove coconuts, has ensured Thailand has provided a number of unforgettable training highlights.
The next step in preparations for Kona is the Half IRONMAN European Championships in Germany on August 11th. I will write in more detail about this event next week. Right now I’m off to enjoy the last few days in Koh Samui with my family before heading home to get acquainted with my new bike.
“Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude is how well you do it!” Lou Holtz
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