Tag Archives: Kcal

Running off the jetlag

A very long flight with delays during the flight and the short stop over in Kuala Lumpur – perfect way to top off a flight delayed by a good hour at takeoff.  If it was something I could control I would be annoyed – as it’s not, all I could do was try and catch some sleep between the occasional movie.

Landing in Dubai the weather was a perfect 26 degrees.  I arrived mid afternoon and caught a cab to the hotel.  After a slow check-in, I was able to finally drop my bags in my room and call home before grabbing a shower. There’s not a lot that beats a hot shower after traveling for what seemed an eternity.

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A room with a view – from my hotel room.

A quick trip to the nearest supermarket for some essentials, bananas, water, juice and electrolyte drinks then back to the hotel.

I had organised to catch up with a colleague of a friend of mine who works in a similar industry.  Having only been in Dubai for five or so weeks, Kevin was the perfect person to get some advice for a new businessperson in town.

We went to an English style pub for some fish and chips and a couple of pints.  Despite the good company, the long flight and lack of sleep were starting to take their toll and I was ready to call it a night before too far into the evening.

By 9pm Dubai time I was in bed and pushing zzzz’s.

A slept solid and woke around 5:30am Dubai time. A quick call home, then I scoffed down a banana followed by a big drink of juice – on with the Hoka’s and out for a run to go exploring Dubai. Prior to heading over to Dubai I had conducted a few searches on-line to see if I could find any running circuits or routes that would be suitable for training.  Most were pretty short, but as I was tapering for a marathon that wasn’t too big a problem – finding them, well that might be a challenge.

One problem I quickly found was that the majority of roads in Dubai are not easy to cross by foot, except via designated overpasses or underpasses. Heading off along a major road I deviated a block away and before long I found myself in an area called The Greens that was a residential area with a fantastic footpath/track around a canal.  One of the few footpaths that wasn’t sand.

The view was fantastic and I quickly found myself with other runners trotting around a tree-lined path as the sun came up projecting reflections of the buildings on the glistening water (see the pic above).  A couple of circuits added to my run to the track were enough to cover 5kms or so and work up a sweat as I blew away the jetlag cobwebs. What a lucky find.

The best way to get the body back on track after a long journey, is to get out for a run!

Running back to the hotel I reflected back on the last day or so.  Only yesterday I was having dinner with Diane in Carlton, and this morning I’m running in the streets of Dubai.  No matter how many times I travel (and I’m a pretty seasoned traveller) it always amazes me how, in less than a day, a person can be transported to the other side of the world into new cultures, languages and a way of life and be going about things as normal.  It was only two generations or so ago that this would have been unimaginable.  I remind myself again (and not for the first time) to take time out to appreciate the “now” and be thankful for the opportunities that have come my way #luckyboy .

Even though the MDS is still many months away, being a little closer to Morocco got me thinking about the run and my training program. Sure the Singapore Marathon would be good for my conditioning, but there is a long way to go before I’ll be physically equipped to tackle the toughest footrace in the world. Today I enjoyed the run, but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking about what is ahead.

Back at the hotel I was able to stretch in the gym before rehydrating and then grabbing a shower.  Breakfast was pretty good and I was able to load up to compensate from substandard nutrition in transit – although the coffee in Dubai was seriously ordinary.  It was staggering to see that they had the equivalent of Krispy Kreme donuts out for the breakfast buffet – needless to say, I didn’t have any 😉

Not exactly the breakfast of champions I'm sure!
Not exactly the breakfast of champions I’m sure!

My work colleague Brendon offered to pick me up at 9am and head into the office for a full day of meetings and workshops.  Given I had plenty of work to do, I went straight back to the hotel after work.

A few calls back home and sort out some emails before trying to work out what to eat for dinner.  By sheer chance I stumbled across a health food chain called Kcal and hopped into a Quinoa Veggie Burger, Steamed Veggies, a side salad and Sweet Banana Sushi.  Delicious – wish they had one near home!

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Kcal Dinner in Dubai – yumm!

http://www.kcalhealthyfastfood.com/

@KcalWorld

Well it’s been a long day and tomorrow will be just as long. I have a 5am conference call that I need to be online for so a good night’s sleep is important.  Then maybe another run 😉

Happy Running!