Well that was quite a week. Last week we flew from Barcelona to Doha, and two hours later on to Phuket, Thailand. Descending to the airport we had a lot of turbulence because we were flying through thunder and a lot of rain. For a second I was afraid that weather predictions would be true; the first week was supposed to be rain rain rain according to all 371 forecasts I checked…
Nothing turned out to be less true though. After a rainy first day (swimming in rain and mist is actually pretty awesome) the weather has been great. Great means very warm, quite sunny and crazy humid. This humidity is a huuuuge factor when training here. The first couple of runs I did I thought my Garmin was slowly dying. Paces were easily 30seconds per km slower compared to my runs in Spain. Now, 7 days in I must say I’m getting used to the heat little by little. Running still kills me and hammering up hills on the bike with barely any air in your lungs is still challenging. But the paces and watts are not so bad anymore.
I’m training 2 to 3 times a day here with an awesome group of triathletes from all over the world. Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, and the last days I had a lot of fun with my new buddy from Abu Dhabi; Abdul. Abdul already qualified for the world championship in Tennessee next year, so I hope to see him there in September 2017. He will also be racing the Ironman 70.3 in Barcelona in May just like me. Good things.
The facilities here at Thanyapura are really top notch. It is all that it advertises to be. A great running track, two awesome pools and very very nice cycling routes on the island with a lot of challenging hills. The coaches are very cool and knowledgeable guys and the food here is also great. Recovering with a protein infused mango smoothie instead of cacaolat (like in Girona) is not too bad either. Below you find a little of impression of what training looks like here. Some moving images from yours truly will follow soon ;-).
Wally says
How lekker is that zeg! Keep up the good work. And the fun!
Els says
Dat filmpje is echt heel gaaf om te zien zeg! Je krijgt een goed beeld van waar jullie zijn.
Denise says
Ziet er super uit!??