Half way there!

So today marks the official halfway point. Pretty crazy I have already been here 3 1/2 weeks! It's gone by so quickly. I have really been enjoying the time here so far. It has been really nice to explore as well as train. There is a lot of free time during the day that I poke around Pattaya eating at different places and finding different coffee spots. The massages here are amazing and sooo cheap. They are only like $8 or less. I have been getting two-three a week. I am definitely going to miss them when I come home.

My training is becoming stronger now. I still have a bit of a cold which is keeping me from being at my full potential, but I think once it's gone my stamina will be the best it's ever been. Before I got sick I was averaging running about 3mi, then 8 rounds on pads plus sparring and clinching(about 2 1/2-3 hours a day at the gym). My trainer suggests taking it easy so that I can recover, so I haven't run yet this week. Hopefully I can start again in the next few days. I think the most important technique I am learning overall is to be relaxed. This is something that the Thai's master so well. Every Westerner I see get in the ring to do pads is so tensed up. It's such a strength and energy drainer. Everyday Pon (trainer) yells at everyone to relax. Occasionally I get it but majority of the time I forget. Now that I am used to the heat and all my blisters, bruises and aches have healed, I am hoping to really focus and improve my technique over the next 3 weeks.
Update: Training was just ok today. I get really frustrated with myself a lot when I want to push further than what I can actually do. Today I did 5 rounds of pads, clinching for 20min, 100 knees and 200 situps. The pads went better than yesterday, but it's amazing how quickly I feel I get out of shape. I know part of it's my body fighting the cold that I have, but it's just really frustrating. Tomorrow I am going to run a little bit. Probably no more than a mile and a half. I am realizing now more than ever how much more the running really helps with stamina in the ring.
Below is a photo of the boys goofing off and trying to be acrobats on one of the swings at the gym.

In Thailand people have different Buddhas for protection that represent the day of the week they were born on. Usually people will give each other small amulets of the Buddha for protection. There are also different ones for wealth and other blessings. Today I was shopping and ran across this small one at a pawn shop. When I bought it I didn't know that it represented Wednesday morning. I was actually born on a Saturday, but I think the meaning of it represents me more than the Saturday one. Motivated, artistic, adventurous. So, I am okay with having the wrong one. I know it wasn't given to me, but I bought it used so maybe that counts.

My English friends have made friends with a group of guys from Australia that where also staying at their hotel. The Australians friend who they were visiting in Thailand happened to be incredibly wealthy and took us out for drinks a few times and then to dinner one night. They were a fun bunch to hang with for a couple of days. It was also really nice being spoiled.
Only one of my English friends (Star) is still here with her two sons. Both Lamia and Rachel have returned to England sadly. I miss them, but it's definitely going to be worse when all of them are gone. It has been a unexpected and pleasant surprise finding people that I enjoy to hang out with. I feel very fortunate to have met them and am so excited to go visit them all in London some day. It might have to wait until the dollar gets a little stronger. Below is me and Lamia at the night market.
Not only did my friend Star meet the Australians, but her and her boys also met a brother and sister vacationing down here from Bangkok. The girl 17 is in LOVE with Stars youngest boy 11 and he in turn is planning to bring her to London to live with them when he is old enough to date her. They barely speak each others languages, but it is just soo cute. They are all about each other. I will get pictures of them and post them tomorrow.
The brother and sister also being somewhat wealthy have paid for my dinners on several occasions and took all of us bowling the other night. (I love being spoiled!)
Yesterday I found the mother of all junk stores where almost everything that you find at the night market you can find even cheaper here. I think I am going to be in trouble with this one. Definitely going to have to spend half of a day at this place.
Tonight I went out to dinner with Star and we both got massages for $6. Following that we went and had a piece of chocolate cake. It was a really nice evening. Hopefully tonight I can get some sleep. I have been tossing and turning lately trying to get to sleep anytime before 2am. Hopefully now that training is getting better and with the help of the amazing memory foam mattress that I now have thanks to my boyfriend I will be able to sleep more easily.
more to come....

Sick :(

So, I am sick and stuck in the hotel because it is down pouring at the moment and doesn't look like it's going to stop. I figured I would update you guys on the past few days. Songkran was crazy. People throwing water(buckets full-probably why i'm sick) and pasting flour all over your face. It was insane. They really go all out here for new year. I was drenched from head to toe and had flour all over my face.
Here's the girl that brought me to the festival. For some reason people were all over her with the flour.Too much fun, I think we need to change our new year to summer time or make 4th of July all about water. After walking through some of the festival 6 of us took two mopeds across town to another area and this is what it was like during the ride.




The whole thing was just nuts. Although now that it is over it is quite nice to not be getting hit with water everywhere I go on the moped.
So, both boys that I have become buddies with had fights this past week. Dia won:) and Beit lost:(. This is Beit bowing to the corner during his ritual dance before the fight.Dia (in blue) is in the two photos below.
The first one he is challenging his opponent in the ritual dance done before every Muay Thai fight. He's got a lot of spunk in him.

Dia did a really great job. The coolest part about his fight was that I was one of the only foreigners there. This was a legit everyday kinda fight where people were yelling and placing bets and getting in the fighters corners telling them what to do. It was also a free fight which was great. It was so much fun! The other place where Beit fought was where foreigners usually attend and it cost $40. You get VIP tickets, but it just wasn't the same.
At the place that you pay more specifically I have noticed that when they set a westerner up to fight it is with a Thai who is not an equal match. The same night that Beit fought there were quite a few westerners that fought. The Thai matches tend to be really good fights, but I think that the Westerners are set up to win the fights. The Thai's that fought them seemed to be smaller and not skilled or don't really even try. One match was just ridiculous with both the Westerner and the Thai seeming like neither of them had any Muay Thai technique whatsoever. Pretty interesting. It's probably not that way everywhere but who knows. I would prefer to fight where I could feel good about my win and not like it was handed to me. Not saying that they do that everywhere for those of you who have fought here, just saying that this is what i have seen thus far.
At the fight that Dia was in there was a festival going on since it was the last day of Songkran. At the festival were some Thai Cowgirls doing sexy dancing on stage and lip sinking to some Thai pop. Pretty entertaining.
Below my trainer was playing one of the carnival games they had. He was trying to win his girlfriend a stuffed animal.

I was playing this game where they fill a kiddie pool with goldfish and you have this paper spatula thing where you try to catch fish and get them in the pitcher before the water breaks through the paper. Really cool! I need to invent it in the states.
Also, there were a bunch of food vendors. I've seen them at the night market also. They have a bunch of different sticks of meat lined up. You just pick yours out and they grill it right there. Yummy!

A little later during the week one of my new English friends(Lamia) and I headed to an elephant farm and went on an hour long ride. So cool! We bought bananas for the elephant and during the ride he would stop and make us give him one every 50 feet.

At the farm they had a momma and baby elephant. Shortly after this picture was taken the baby elephant head butted me. He didn't want me touching him. He was strong.
I have been updating this post over the past few days. It is now Monday and I am feeling a little better. I had a really bad head and chest cold for the past three days and ended up taking Saturday and Sunday off from training. Feeling slightly better now. Still have the cold a bit but I think I am going to try to train today.
More later...

Week 2

So it has been Songkran all week long! Which basically means plan on getting hit with water everywhere you go. Especially if you are riding a moped (which happens to be my only option for getting to food)
The week has gone by so fast.
Let's see. It has been my second week of training so far. I definitely have felt stronger this past week and am able to handle the heat a little bit better. I have decided to take it a little easier with my runs rather than just going all out and running 6 days a week. It was making my training sessions less than they could be. Plus, I don't run or train this much at home so I figure I have to ease into it a little bit more or I will end up burning out from exhaustion. So last week I did 4 days running and 6 days training. The two days that I took a break from running were definitely my strongest. It's crazy how much I feel like I know nothing even though I have been doing this a little over two years now. There are a lot of really good people training at the gym right now also. No other Americans are there at the moment but I have seen English, French, Finlanders and several Thai's(It's a given).
Here are two people that I have made friends with. The girl is Thai and the guy is French. I find It so fascinating that they don't speak each others languages but have managed to fall in love in their second languages(english). He has already left to head back to France to figure out their marriage paperwork. They are both very sweet. (Thomas and Fon)
Since Fon lives here hopefully she and I will be hanging out more before I leave.
On to the boys. There are a bunch of boys that live at the gym during the week then go home to their family's on Sundays. They are so cute. My buddies are Beit and Dia. They both run with me sometimes if I make it there before they leave. (They run at 6. I tend not to make it there till 6:45-7)
This is Dia showing off.

This is Beit doing his 500 knees while Dia is trying to get me to call him some sort of insult in Thai.

They are both a ton of fun once they warm up to you. I spend majority of my training with them clinching and sparring. They are both great at teaching and their technique is beautiful.
Beit has a fight coming up this Thursday.
Sunday I took off and somehow managed to eat everything in sight. I spent majority of the day at the beach with one of my new friends from England Rachel.
I realized I have no photos of my English friends so I will be sure to get some this week. They are leaving this weekend:( They have been my buddies for the last week. I have spent almost every night eating dinner with them.
Speaking of food my diet mainly consists of cereal, noodles, rice, some sort of stir fried meat, pinapple, and the occasional ice cream.
This was lunch the other day. My first taste of Pad Thai in Thailand! Cost me about a $1.50. It was delicious!
At one point during the week I started getting somewhat ill because I didn't know how to tell people not to put MSG in the food.(Which I am allergic to) It made training difficult for a few days. They love themselves some MSG over here in Thailand. After a few days my friend Fon helped me learn how to say it. Now since I have gotten the tones down most people understand me and I have been feeling a ton better.
I definitely need to update you guys on Songkran but I have to get ready for training now. I'll try to post videos as soon as I can. It is so much fun!
Miss you guys!

So far so good

Things are going pretty well this week so far. Two days down, four to go. I am feeling better than I did last week by far. Looking forward to next week and hopefully being able to deal with the heat. At least now I am able to run 3.5 mi and train for a few hours everyday and not feel completely dead at night. I see the kids from the camp running every morning. They are little athletes. They run 5mi a day plus they train in the morning and in the afternoon. Training sessions are about 2-3 hours. They have unlimited energy. So Jealous!
So let me update you on the last three days.
Sunday I had off. It was a pretty chill day. I spent majority of it wandering the gigantic mall that they have in Pattaya. Didn't really buy much, but got a local cell phone for $30 with 100min on it. Just so I have a local number where people can reach me or I can reach people.

(Side note: Saw two lizards duking it out on my way to leave for the mall. One had the other one by the leg. It was funny to watch.)I ate at the food court at the mall once again and then took home leftovers for dinner. After I had already eaten, the people running the hotel invited me to go with them to the night market for dinner. I went and ate more. I figured why not its just fish and I am training like crazy.

I don't really like fish all that much, but this fish was delicious!

Ate it right off the bones....mmm delicious!
The night market they took me to was huge. I have never been to one so big before. The ones in Taiwan don't compare to this one. Tons of different food and wares for sale. There are a few night markets near the hotel where I am staying but this one was way better.
All in all a good day off. Went to bed around 10:30.
Work up around 6 to head out to run. Only did 3 miles Monday. It was a fairly boring day. Just trained and ate and slept. 3 girls from London showed up to the gym though. They are all very nice ladies. They will be around for a few weeks so that will be really nice.
Yesterday I went out to run and one of the boys from the gym ran with me. It was really sweet. I think his friends were making fun of him but he didn't seem to care. I did 3.5 he did 5.
The girls from England invited me out last night to the night market but it ended up being closed. We decided to go to Walking street instead. (for those of you who don't know Walking street, there are tons of bars and clubs and prostitution there, but also shopping.)
We just went to check it out. It was packed.

Along Walking street and other places in Pattaya they have these fish tanks that people put there feet in for a "Fish Massage". The fish basically eat the dead skin off your feet. uuuckk
I didn't try it.Also along Walking street they have all kinds of different food vendors including people selling bugs to eat. Eeewww
I didn't eat any of them.
The night was pretty good overall. The girls were a lot of fun to hang with. I ended up staying out till 11:30 which is way too late for training purposes. Needless to say I ended up sleeping past 6am today and didn't get my run in, but at least I am going to training.
Today is the first day of Songkran. Thai New year. What this means is being prepared to get drenched everywhere you go. During the next week the idea is to shoot everyone with water. So, when I went into Pattaya today I had completely forgotten about this. I was just riding my scooter on my way to get food and passed a truck full of people with giant water guns. It was all over after that. I was soaked. I think I will be avoiding the central part of down town for the next few days. more later....

No really, I'm in Thailand.

I was sitting in Pattaya having coffee this morning thinking "Holy crap I am really in Thailand!". It's hard to wrap my head around being on the other side of the world. I have done it before, but this time I am on my own and basically living here for two months. crazy
Last night I passed out around 9pm and was able to sleep until 5:30 this morning. yay! I mean I tossed and turned, but it was still a full nights sleep for the most part. I got out to run around 6:30. Even though its early, it's still so ridiculously humid. We don't have this kind of humidity in Philly. I run at this elementary school just down the road from my hotel. They have a pond on the grounds with a .5mi track around it. There are always a bunch of people exercising there in the morning. The school has a bunch of different exercise machines set up around the outskirts of the pond. It's a pretty cool little area. A bunch of the boys from camp showed up about half way through my run. (Age ranges 9-14ish probably) I said hello and bowed. They all said hello back. :) I lapped them a few times. slow pokes.
After, I returned to the hotel and proceeded to do my laundry. I brought laundry detergent with me from home. Thanks to Mark Houldin I will now be bringing laundry detergent with me on every trip I go on. The washing machines at the hotel only cost 20baht (about 70cents). So Cheap!
Initially I was thinking about trying to stay somewhere closer to Pattaya, but now I am thinking I am just going to stay put. It's really nice and quiet here except for one bird that likes to start screaming at 5am. Plus everything is pretty accessible from here by moped and the camp is just down the road. Which is the reason I am here.
After my morning antics I headed into Pattaya for coffee and lunch. I once again returned to the mall food court because it is just sooo delicious. I ate my favorite greens and some chicken and ginger dish. Pretty tasty. Total it probably cost me about $5. I am getting into a habit of eating half and then taking the other half home for dinner. It works out well only paying $5 a day for food. I have also been eating Clif bars everyday about 2 hours before training. I think they help, but I am going to start running low on them soon. Oh no!
I am slightly nervous about training today. The sun seems to be out in full effect so I know it is going to be HOT. I am drinking water and electrolyte powder like a MOFO in preparation.
Just after typing this clouds rolled in and now I am starting to hear thunder. So we shall see. If anything I will be very well hydrated.
I am going to try to get a nap in before training. more later...

Update: Training went pretty well today. It started to rain just as I left for the gym and once I got there is just down poured. It made it not so hot which was really nice. Today I did 6 rounds, sparred 20min and bag work about a half hour. I am pooped. Definitely looking forward to a day off tomorrow. With running and training everyday this week my body is feeling a little broken. I am just not used to training so hard. Somewhere along the way I think I might have bruised my tail bone. Probably when one of the boys dropped me. Which happens a lot. They might be small but they are fierce. Pon asked me if I wanted to train tomorrow at 7:30 but I think I will burn out if I don't get some recovery in. He said he is going to take me for Tom Yum (traditional Thai soup) tomorrow since I like spicy food.
Alright, I am off to bed...

HOT!

So, yeah. The whole heat thing. It's as bad as everyone says. The tricky part is you don't really feel like eating when its hot but really I should be eating more because of all the training. Electrolytes are also super important. I was fried within a half hour yesterday from overheating. I think it's going to take me a few weeks to get it all figured out.
Today I am pretty much exhausted. I tried to drag myself to run this morning but I couldn't do it. I needed sleep more than running. I ran 3.5mi a day for the last 3 days so I don't feel too bad about taking one off. Plus I am still going to train for at least 2-3hours today. My goal is to be running between 4-6mi a day 6 days a week by the time I leave.
The fight last night was really great. The main event was two females fighting for Welterweight champion of the world. One Thai the other from England. Both held belts from their respective countries. The girl from England slaughtered the Thai girl. Pretty surprising considering Thai's train from like the age of 3. They stopped the fight during the second round probably because the Thai girl took so many elbows to the face and it all started to go downhill for her from there. They are really a lot of fun to watch. Too bad I was so exhausted that I only hung around for a few of them.

The best is watching the little kids that are professional fighters. They are wicked good. I failed to get pictures of them but I will make sure to next time I attend a fight.

Other than frying yesterday training is great. Kru Pon is a really good trainer and a really nice guy. He is always concerned that I am ok. Yesterday we did pads for about a half hour. He then had me spar with one of the young professional fighters for about 20-30 min then I clinch sparred with two of the young fighters for another half hour or so. They are good. They also do a really great job teaching.
There are about 10-12 kids(maybe more) that are always around when I go to train. I got some of them in trouble yesterday when I told Kru Pon that I saw them when i was running in the morning. He asked me if they were running or walking. Unfortunately for them I only saw them walking during the 40min I was there. He then proceeded to ask them how much they ran and then yelled at them and made them do laps. I think they are starting to warm up to me a little bit. They seem to be wary of foreigners when they first arrive. Rightfully so. There are a lot of meat heads running around.
Today has definitely been a little rough. I am starting to miss everyone at home. Also, the exhaustion is kicking my butt and I'm not sleeping so well because the bed in my hotel room feels like I am sleeping on a rock. I end up tossing and turning all night. I think I am going to try to get someone to send me a mattress topper. At least I think that I am finally getting used to the time zone. I was able to stay in bed till 7 this morning.
I went into Pattaya earlier today to check out the mall that they have there. The food court downstairs was really nice. I was able to eat vegetables for the first time since I have been here. yay! I was craving them something fierce. Not only were they vegetables, but they were my favorite cooked green. I first ate them in Taiwan and loved them. I have never been able to find them in the states.Anyway, gotta get ready to train. Miss you guys!

Update: Just returned from training. Today went soooo much better than yesterday. Before hand I went to the pharmacy to buy electrolyte powder and downed a bunch of it. I think it made a huge difference. That and it wasn't as hot today. The clouds rolled in and it started to rain. Training with Kru Pon went really well. I was able to keep up with him and still had energy after doing pads. I then proceeded to spar and then clinch with the younger boys that are there everyday. I think they are starting to warm up to me a little bit. Pon had me doing pushups with them. They were making fun of me because I didn't have to do as many and also because I was doing them on my knees. When I went to finish up my day with situps they also went to do situps with me. Kinda nice feeling a little more accepted.
Now I am back in my room eating leftover greens and chicken curry. Today started out a little rough but training made it all better. Hopefully now I can get a good nights rest.

I'm in Thailand!

So I've made it to Thailand. I have been here three days and I'm finally just starting to get over the jet lag. Until today I have been waking up at 3am. Today I woke up at 4:30. Tomorrow I am hoping to sleep till 5:30.
Thailand is HOT. Not so much temperature wise but more humidity. We don't have humidity like this in Philly. I have been running every morning at 6:30 and I am completely drenched by the time I get back to the hotel. I can't imagine trying to run any later than that.
Everyone has been really nice so far. They are always checking on me to make sure that I am ok.
When I first arrived I wondered around for a while on foot checking out what was close to the hotel. Where I am is basically farmland with a small town or two accessible by foot. I quickly realized that in order for me to survive and find food I would need a moped. The following day I rented a moped and found my way to Pattaya. It is a small city about 4k away. It is basically the prostitution capital of the world. I have not attempted to go there at night. My usual day so far has been running at 6:30, heading to Pattaya to eat food and drink coconut water around 8:30, then I have been returning back to my hotel around noon to relax and snooze before training at 3pm. The moped has been a ton of fun.
I have only trained once so far and it was great. My trainers name is Kru Pon. He suggested that after he trains me for two weeks I should fight in Thailand. I politely suggested that I think I would like to wait for a later date. Not so sure I want to fight in Thailand. I don't really want to take an elbow to the face. Safer in the states with no elbows. So anyway, I felt pretty good about the first session. I was pretty surprised that i hung so well in the heat. He had two other people request him the same day so we all took turns going for about 20 min at a time. Between training and watching the show they put on for the tourists, I ended up staying there for a good 3-4 hours. He had me finish up with doing 200 situps. Good times. Tonight after training Kru Pon is taking me to watch a fight. I will definitely post more later...for now I have to get ready to train

Ok, I am back from training. I take back what I said about the heat. Today was very HOT. Probably about 10 degrees hotter than yesterday. I almost passed out at one point while training. April is supposed to be the hottest month of the year here. lucky me. I honestly don't even know how I made it through training. I need to find Gatorade if I am going to survive this heat. Anyway, there is a fight tonight. Kru Pon is coming over and we are going to ride our mopeds there. Not sure I can stay awake that long, but I am going to try. more later....