I’m procrastinating. I’ve spent the last two weeks on an amazing ride off the back roads and byways of north western Thailand. And now I’m starting to sound like an episode of Chronicle (is that a northeast thing, or do all the states have their own version of Chronicle?) Scott just said he used to love that show, as you got to see all the little known parts of New England. And so it has also been the case with Thailand.
As I sit back on the bed in our old room at the YWAM base in Bangkok, I think about how nice it was to be in a part of the country with much less smog, cars, and skyscrapers. I like seeing green, even if it’s at the expense of waking to roosters, pigs, and cow bells. I can’t say that it’s my ideal living situation, and in fact, having no privacy was a bit of a struggle.
Our contact lived apart from his wife an daughter for 3 weeks, so who am I to complain that Scott and I couldn’t have deep conversation for a couple of weeks? Once we arrived in Maesariang, however, all of that changed! Ray arranged for Scott and I to stay at a hotel that was separate from the rest of the team, and he even told the team that they shouldn’t eat at our hotel’s restaurant (some did, but not at the same time as us). Even though it was only for one night, it was still a necessity. We actually felt like a married couple again, and not just teammates.
The next morning we hopped back in our rented trucks (Pastor’s old Toyota Hilux and their nephew, Hebrew’s, Nissan Frontier) and made our way to Chiang Mai. Our first pit stop was to make bus reservations. After the last bus ride, our combined teams made sure we picked a decent bus line, and it definitely panned out, as we would find out the night we left for Bangkok.
In Chiang Mai, we stayed at a small guest house which loves to accommodate Christian groups (Mountain View Guest House, for all you Christian groups going to Chiang Mai). The first thing we did after checking in was go to the night bazaar. Women will love this place… LOTS of shopping, and LOTS of cool stuff! But we didn’t shop, we ate… Burger King. After eating traditional Thai and Karen food for a couple weeks it was time to “have it our way”.
Then Scott and I meandered through the stalls of goods for sale on the sidewalk, and turned in to an area off the street. The first booth we found was for Thai massage. And it was only a little less than $4 for an hour massage. So, we went for a two hour massage together. It was probably the most relaxing two hours I’ve had the whole trip.
The next morning, we went to the mall, with two objectives. 1.) go to the gym, an actual fitness, weights, stability balls, ping pong table gym!, and 2.) hit up DQ, that’s right, Dairy Queen!
So, I had the best workout of my World Race experience yesterday. I spent about 2 and a half hours working every muscle of my body. And today, I hurt. A LOT. But it’s a good hurt. It’s a hurt that I’ve missed for eight months. It’s a hurt that more racers need to experience on a regular basis. Physical pain from pushing your body to it’s limit.
And then rewarding yourself for a good workout. On the race we reward ourselves too often, for nothing. We snack. Why? Because it’s the only comfort we have. What if gyms and workout programs were our comforts? What would the racers look like after a year of real fitness? We would certainly earn our namesake as “racers”.
