Part of my character is to inspire others to endure fitness adventures. I don' t know how this became part of my make up (I am guessing my mom has something to do with it) but I quite enjoy it.
It came to my attention in October that there was a half-marathon taking place in Angkor Wat in December. I knew that I wanted to do the half-marathon and I also knew that training for a half-marathon is more fun with a friend. This is when I mentioned the half-marathon to an unsuspecting Krista. Unfortunately for me, Krista seemed to think if there was a 5km distance, that it would be more to her liking. After a few more conversations and some encouragement Krista agreed that she would do the half-marathon with me (note: I knew that Krista had run distances of 10km for her own personal training back in Canada thus amping up her distance would not be detrimental to her health in any way). It was great to have a training partner and Krista was a real trooper, considering our long runs usually took place at 4am.
Finally the day arrived. We were leaving for the airport with our friend Kristi - a seasoned runner - to visit Angkor Wat, to run a half - marathon! We were to catch a flight at 7pm and left with ample time. In the cab by ten to 5, we figured the half an hour drive would leave us with plenty of time to spare. Strangely enough the cab ride took almost two hours! TWO HOURS! How is that possible? We arrived at the airport basically 15minutes before our plane was to take flight. Even the cab driver was stressed out! Good thing we had training for a half-marathon under our belts, we had a lot of running ahead.
We ran to check in, at which point we realized that we had first class tickets...but we had no time to enjoy the lounge, bollocks! We blasted on to through customs, at which point Kristi's new passport presented a problem. Her new passport didn't have her visa in it so she brought along her old passport with the visa in it but they guy at the counter didn't want to let her go through until her new passport had the visa transferred into it. No stress, the boarding call for our plane is binging in the background, we know we have ZERO minutes to spare...sure buddy, go ahead, transfer the visa...
Kristi told us to go ahead (and to hold the plane) while her over enthusiastic customs officer proceeded to take her down the back hallways of the airport to remedy the visa situation. Krista and I ran for the gate and then dawdled around, much to the chagrin of the boarding agents, until Kristi came flying down the stairs. We made it on the flight - thank heavens- and enjoyed our first class seats in our frazzled states.
When we arrived in Cambodia, by the time we gathered our gear and got in our tuk tuk we were tired and content to be arriving at our hotel. It was late enough that we didn't want to go off site to search for a restaurant so we decided that we would eat in the hotel restaurant. This was more challenging than it sounded and our server Wha (pronounced like you are saying "what?" in a flippant manner) was rather amusing in his 'I don't want to serve you but know that I have to because you are here' kind of way. We asked him what would be the easiest thing to order, realizing that we were a huge imposition to everyone at this point. His recommendation, lumpking soup, and there it was on the menu, 'Lumpkin soup'. Sure, I'll take the 'lumpkin soup', who doesn't enjoy a good bowl of lumpkin soup from time to time? Krista and Kristi ordered some other fare and we were all happy with our choices. Lumpkin soup, also known as pumpkin soup, was rather tasty I might add.
After dinner we quickly went to bed because, not only were we tired but, we had planned to do sunrise at Angkor Wat the next morning - which meant we needed to rise at 4am and be on our way before 5am. Good times. It felt like I closed my eyes and then the alarm went off.
Our tuk tuk driver had us on our way in good time to see the sun come up. Funny thing how freaking cold it is before the sun comes up. Too bad I didn't think of that before we left the hotel. Anyway, we all huddled together in a shivering heap, excited, despite how cold we were, to be on our way to Angkor Wat. When we arrived we could see that the crowd was going to be huge and were happy that we left so early. We stumbled along our way (it was pretty dark) and found a cozy spot (if a rock wall on a temple gate can be cozy) to sit and witness the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Beautiful is a good word to describe the events of the morning. It was pretty amazing to witness, my biggest frustration being my inability to capture it with my camera.
After sunrise we grabbed some breakfast on site and were entertained by the little urchins vending wares. These little children were amazing. They had memorized facts about all countries, capital cities, leaders, national flowers...it was crazy...and the scam was, if they could tell you all about your country, or a country of your choice, you would have to buy some trinket from their pile.It was hard to turn the little buddies down but we did.
Then we went on to tour the ruins of Angkor. I can't even begin to put to words how absolutely incredible the ruins are. Intricate was the word of the day because there are so many reliefs carved into the stone. We just couldn't believe our eyes. We wandered all day in an awestruck stupor (partially due to our early rise, but mostly due to the amazing sites we were seeing). When we were temple-ed out we headed for some food and then back to the hotel. It was another early night due to the fact that it was going to be another 4am rise...race day!
We all woke and readied ourselves in our own race day rituals (mine mainly consisting of quality time in the bathroom due to my nervous stomach). We headed back into Angkor Wat, in the dark and cold, this time with a bit more purpose. It was organized like a tornado at the race start. There were no washrooms, save the one ice cream shop/ souvenir shop (bless them), and there were several races on the go (per usual) except no one was really sure where which race was starting from. Needless to say it made for an entertaining set up.
When all was finally figured out and we were off it was quite incredible. The steady pace being pounded out by the runners, the mist rising off the lake, the forest and temples all around, the local children lining the streets to cheer us on. There is something pretty magical about running a half-marathon, I highly recommend it.
Kristi finished first of our trio, speedy and content with her time, Krista, the first timer, was second and can be very proud of her accomplishment (5km my ass), and me I was content to come in third of the gang...slow and steady...
The trip home was not so chaotic, which was fine by me. Our first class lounge adventure was funny to say the least, seeing as neither Krista or I had ever been in a first class lounge before..."you mean you just take food, like whatever you want?"...and probably never will be again.
I'm thinking of keeping my schedule clear for next years half in Angkor, it is usually the first Sunday in December...any takers?
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