A lesson in climbing...

While I had great intentions to run the beautiful path at the KL City Center this morning, I did not make it.  I woke up with just enough time to get in a treadmill run at the gym and then shower for the day.  I will compliment the hotel staff...the heat in the gym finally wasn't unbearable!  Sweating still occurred, but it was not the uncomfortable kind.  So that was that.

I rather thought my exercise for the day was done after that, but I was mistaken.  Our second stop of the day, after the hot springs where it appeared to be an average Malay bathing delight (no really, full on sudsing and all), we headed over to Batu Caves.  Ever heard of them?  They are amazing.  It's basically a Hindu temple built into a cave, first used as a holy site beginning in 1891.  How do you get to the cave?  You walk up 272 steps, dodging banana peels and mokeys who want to steal your bag.  It was a great walk up and the temple was amazing.

Then, after a couple other stops, we headed to the KL Bird Park.  Another amazing site.  If you ever get to Kuala Lumpur I recommend it.  Lots of walking, lots of bird sightings (did I mention I also fed a monkey?).  And now, I'm off on a sprint to the airport so this intrepid traveller can begin the 28 hours of flying back home.  See you back in the States.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.02
Time:  35:13 (average pace of 8:45 per mile)
Location:  Treadmills at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Feeling:  Finally good...

Slogging through the heat...

I live in the Mid Atlantic, which means I know what summer heat and humidity are like, but today the real feel in Kuala Lumpur was 108 degrees.  With high humidity.  Like 70% humidity...maybe more.  All I know is that every time I walk outside I need a shower.  This shouldn't really impact what I do in the gym, though, right?  After all, Malaysia is a modern society with air conditioning in the hotels.  However, as I mentioned before, my hotel does not seem to believe in using this vital resource in the fitness center.  Now, like most folks, I sweat pretty decent during a workout, so I do not need the sauna-like environment to add to the effect.  Alas, I refused to allow it to deter me and pounded out 5 miles., albeit it a little slow on the average pace because I took the final mile down to a 9:30 - 10:00 minute pace to start edging off the organ boiling.

Sweat, once you've started, seems to follow you all day long.  I may actually have burned off a few extra pounds because I seemed to be glistening to the extreme all day.  Since the fitness center believes in providing the same sauna-like experience as outside, hence causing a full day sweat, I may as well take my running to the great park over at the KLCC (that's Kuala Lumpur City Center for those out of the Malaysian loop).  The running path is 1.4 kilometers long around a green space with an amazing kids park and its only a few blocks away.  In fact, I can almost see it from my hotel room (if it weren't for those pesky high rise buildings that cities are so fond of).  Now, if only I can find my way to it on foot. 

In the meantime, here's a couple views from around Kuala Lumpur.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  5.0
Time:  45:15 (average pace of 9:03 per mile across all 5, 8:56 per mile for the first 4)
Location:  Fitness Center, Shangri-La, Kuala Lumpur
Feeling:  Sweaty but the muscles are all firing on the right cylinders

Utterly exhausted and uninspiring...

Tonight I am so exhausted I can barely remember my uninspiring run from this morning.  This is basically how it goes when the work day starts at 8am and ends at 11pm.  I'm fairly certain that around 5:45am I woke up, tripped my way into some workout clothes and found the elevator to take me down to the gym.  I located an unused treadmill...which most are (it's dark until 7ish here in Malaysia so the treadmill is really the only sane option) and took off.  A couple factors I remember that really leave a lot to be desired.  (a) it was really hot.  I mean mind-numbing, dripping sweat all over hot in the gym.  Seriously folks, you build air conditioned walk ways so that you don't have to walk outside, what does it take to get air conditioning in the gym?  (b) jet lag is catching up with my body and its getting tougher to move. Other than that, I really have nothing to say about the workout....but every mile does count in the grand scheme. The jet lag won't last forever, just a few more days and hopefully I can hit my stride again.  (Oh wait, in a few more days I head back to the states which means the jet lag starts all over again)

Unless we get back to the hotel from meetings before 9pm tomorrow, it is highly unlikely I will get in a workout, which means I won't be back with an update until Friday.  Here's to hoping, though, that if I do get in that run that its a bit more exciting.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.0
Time:   35:28 (average pace of 8:52 per mile)
Location:  Fitness Center, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Feeling:  My legs are a little wobbly from the exhaustion setting in

Duck redux, sortof...

This morning I woke up to ominous thunder and lightning, as is fairly normal in Malaysia, so I decided to skip the run on the promendade alongside the Melaka River and hit the treadmill at the gym, only to find that the treadmill (s) - both of them - were not working.  Well, I could either go back to bed for an hour or risk a downpour while running.  I chose the downpour, if it had happened, which it didn't.

Ugly mother, isn't he?

The air was super heavy and the temperatures were already pretty hot, so I decided to shoot for four miles.  Melaka has a great walk running on both sides of the river that started right outside the hotel, making it an obvious choice for the run.  We had taken a river cruise the night before, so I was familiar enough with the sites to know where I was and what I should be seeing along the run.  That is until this gila monster/crocodile looking lizard starts splashing around in the water relatively close to where I was on the walk and very close to a set of stairs out of the water.  He (who actually turned out to be a monitor lizard...had to look him up) looked hungry, but not as hungry as the swarm of his buddies I saw in the water below the elevated wooden pathway just about half a mile later.  Yeah, those things were something else and boy did they change the pace of my run.  What else did I learn about these critters?  They also can be quite fast, and while not really attracted to human flesh, they do like chickens and eggs.


Anyway, aside from the unwelcome intrusion and the super heat which had me dripping sweat, the run was rather pleasant.  Along the walk are some fantastic historic sites like Christ Church and St. Francis Xavier Church, Jonker Street, the murals which tell the history of Melaka, a view into Malaysian poverty and so much more.  It's really a great opportunity to feel the city.  On my way back to the hotel I was halted by the sounds of a morning tai chi practice that I watched a few minutes.  I also cruised past the tall ship museum.  All in all, a great excursion...and the rain held off until after 9am, at which time it POURED.  So goes Malaysia.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.03
Time:   36:34 (average pace of 9:04 per mile)
Location:  Melaka River Walk
Feeling:  Hot, which makes me sluggish, but the rest of the body was super

Asian sunrise...

Because I'm on the other side of the dateline, it will look like this workout occurred on Saturday, but really it's Sunday here.  I arrived in Kuala Lumpur last night, late, and know that in order to beat jet lag impacting my ability to function in meetings, I have to treat the local time with respect.  So, while my fellow travelers were burning the midnight oil overcome with energy after some 28ish hours of flying from DC, I was forcing myself to sleep.  My plan was to sleep in until 7 and then hit the gym.  Well, that didn't work out entirely because I was up around 6am.  Not too bad actually because I got to watch the sun come up over the pool gardens while I ran.

Now, prior to leaving DC, I read up on the increase in interest in running in Malaysia and know that there are dozens of routes mapped for Kuala Lumpur on mapmyrun.com, but I'm not yet sure exactly of the lay of the land, so a gym workout was in order.  I don't like the treadmill...basically its a torture device, but I sucked it up for 5+ miles this morning.  It felt great to stretch the airplane cramps out of my legs and get moving.  Let me tell you though...remember the heat I complained about in UAE a month ago?  Holy moly, we've got that plus massive humidity here in Malaysia.  We'll have to see how this goes the next several days.  I would like to try at least one local running route while I'm here if the schedule allows.

In the meantime, today's agenda doesn't begin until noon, which gave me some time to check out the hotel this morning.  Did you know they've got a hedge maze of their own, and a great pool?  I only got a photo of the maze but I got in a little reading poolside before time to get the suit on for the afternoon.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -

Miles:  5.1

Time:  26:47 + 20:00 (3.1 miles at 8:38 per mile, 2 miles at 10:00 per mile)

Location:  Fitness Center, Shangri La Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Feeling:  Hot and sweaty but the muscles were great