Running in Dhaka

Running in Dhaka feels like running laps in a sauna wearing your warmest wool sweater, a pair of pants and a burlap bag over your head! You feel the heat and humidity right away and your lungs and legs feel heavy as a result. I am convinced there is no such thing as "tempo" pace here. Dave and I have only managed to find one pace and it seems little more than a jog. We started doing 15 min runs and have also done some 30 and 45 min runs. A far cry from the DC Roadrunners SLR of 10-22 miles!!! These pictures were taken after a one hour run (I got lost) and you unfortunately cannot see that I am absolutely soaking wet. Luckily we brought some powder gatorade with us (its already running low!) and after this run, I quickly sat on the kitchen floor to get my heart rate down and try and cool off. There is a lake here we run along and try to imagine it is the Mt. Vernon trail in Arlington. Unfortunately, the garbage in the water and frequent wafts of rotting fruit/meat/whatever in a pile along the path quickly brings you back to reality. I have run on the treadmill here more in the last 2 weeks than in my entire life combined. Unfortunately, I only have the patience for 30-40 minutes even with CNN on! You can see from the picture I am not fully covered (no burkah) but do cover my legs (thank goodness for PRANA yoga pants!) and wear a dri-fit shirt with short sleeves (thank goodness to triathlons that have good shirts-road races need to get with the program!-the red one here is from the Chicago Triathlon this year). We tried running with the local hash group but with traffic it took us over an hour to get to the meeting point and we missed the run. We will try again this week-end as we have met some folks who run with them and it will be good to get involved with them. Only speed workouts to date have been racing rickshaws at the end of a regular run. This can be a decent speed, if not merely entertaining, workout. More later on running, biking and swimming in Dhaka.