Job Discussion Forums

[frankly_norse]

Hey all - just a quick question about exercise in HCMC, specifically about jogging / running. Is this activity unusual in HCMC?

I currently run about three / four times a week, not far (just 3 miles), and would like to continue that practice as it's my favorite way to exercise.

How accommodating is HCMC to runners - are there any tracks or suitable parks near the back packer area where one can run w/o worrying about traffic or congestion?

TIA![/img]

[tefl peasant]

You can run/jog.

Note, that the city is very polluted and I'd honestly wear a mask.

Parks will protect you from the cars and motorbike traffic, but you'll have to dodge, people.

[hot_rock]

I think you'd be better off going to the gym and using the treadmills. There's a really good one thats under $3 a visit in the mornings and its obviously got all the other standard gym stuff as well.

As a runner myself I understand the desire to run out in the open, but yes, as the other poster says, try running anywhere in the city and you'll either be dodging traffic nad/or people a lot of the time...and yes, the air quality isn't good (we should ALL be wearing masks -good ones- not just runners!). its also very hot and humid, especially noticable for the new arrival. You might be able to manage the occasional worthwhile jog if you get lucky with traffic etc., but honestly, for a more sustainble experience, use the gym.

personally I find treadmills have as many advantages as running outdoors. Fundamentally, the fact that you can see how far you've ran and at what speed, and energy burnt, means you're able to monitor your performance and improvement/decline. Furthermore, I find it easier to push myself to the 'limit' as it were, on the 'mill, because you just hold down the 'speed up' button to basically force yourself to speed up. Its as if I detach brain from body, the former over-ruling the latter's complaining and basically saying "this is what's happening. Now start putting one foot infront of the other faster, faster, faster." Outside, I become lazier and, crucially, its far easier to slip into a comfort zone of one-paced plodding rather than the intereval training, gradient alteration etc the treadmill allows.

Obviously, as I say, we'd all prefer to be running a mountain trail or riverside track, birds singing in our ears etc...but in Saigon, that isn't going to happen. Some of the parks are beautiful but I can't imagine running in them because they don't have long enough or wide enough paths to really get up to top speed. Ok for a very light jog or powerwalk, though.

I'll give you details of that gym if you want. And if you DO find a good running route outside, let me know. Wear something flourescent.

[deadlift]

There's a nice running track at the sports complex on the corner of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Look for the climbing walls, with the entrance on NDC. Not sure about costs.

I also see a lot of people running on the footpath around the Reunification Palace. It's kept clear of cafes and peddlars, and doesn't get a lot of traffic, other than from tourists.

re: treadmills. As convenient as they are, bear in mind that they have some serious drawbacks. One is that the fundamental muscular mechanism of running is propulsion, but the treadmill negates by pushing the foot under the body, as opposed to the body being pulled over the body (by the PC and hamstrings).

This not only makes the act of running on a treadmill less efficient in exercise terms (because it's "easier"), it creates a potentially injurious imbalance by reducing the hamstring activity but maintaining, or even intensifying, the activity of the quadriceps. That's my opinion, anyway.

[hot_rock]

I agree. But, I also feel certain that one can feel when they are doing more harm than good, and most of the time, that isn't the case. There are times when you get knee pain or whatever, as when running anywhere, and in these cases you stop or review your use...but generally, I feel my overall health is better as a result of being a treadmill user because as I say, it allows me to exercise more convenently and push myself further when I do.

I'm from the Scottish countryside and there, I always run outside. In saigon, I strongly belive that were I to only run outdoors, I would soon find myself in a "oh my god I haven't been on a run in months" situation...or telling all my friends how difficult it is to maintain my habit in this city. There's nowhere in the city that I could see myself training two or three times a week for a long period, do you see what I mean?

Yes, its true about treadmills being worse for you joints etc. But please don't join the ranks of those who talk about their usage as if it were a 20-a-day cigarette habit, because generally if you use them reasonably, listening to what your body tells you after/during use, you are improving your fitness and health.

Professional athletes e.g. football, rugby, basketball players all use them, with every club having numerous machines in its gym. If they were so bad for you, they would never use them, they wouldn't be found within a mile radius of the club, because knee injuries can easily end a multi-million dollar player's career.

By the way, also at the gym there are 'stairclimbing' machines.

[I'm With Stupid]

Just go to the park. I see runners in the park next to Vo Thi Sau street all the time.

[Micro67]

The Saigon Hash House Harriers www.saigonh3.com meets every Sunday at 1:30 in front of the Caravelle Hotel - bus departs at 2pm sharp. A bus ride to parts unknown, an 8 - 12k run and beer.

[blateson]

The absolute only way you will be able to jog is in one of the few, small parks in the city. Even so, expect to stop or dodge several times as there are motorbikes, occasionally cars, bicycles, and usually a lot of people in the parks all day and all night. Yes those are not typos, all of those traverse through the parks.

Vietnam is a very crowded place and the people do not believe in having a sense of wide open, "my" space.

The only one time I ever got in a good jog was out in the Dist. 7 Phu My Hung condominium area, but that was a few years ago (2007) and the place is much more built up now.

[frankly_norse]

excellent feedback, everybody - thanks heaps!

so, if one does dare to run outside, what about time of day? i currently run either in the early morning or early evening when the sun is really low. i know i'm in for a shock with the heat, humidity and press of flesh, but is there any let up at these times?

hot_rock - yah, treadmills are certainly an option, but for me the enjoyment is covering ground. i tried using one for several months about a year ago because there's a gym literally 50 steps out the door from where i work, but i ended up going back outside because i just can't do without the physical sensation and visual stimulation of moving forward over ground. if it turns out that i can't satisfy my outdoor running jones, i'll probably switch over to martial arts training - i did some kung fu training at the turn of the milenium and really enjoyed that, would love to get back to it.

cheers

[hot_rock]

Blateson, what are you talking about? There are no motorbikes and certainly no cars in the parks. When was the last time you were in one? there are metal barriers preventing access to non-pedestrians, and wardens that don't allow you to walk on the grass, let alone bring motorised vehicles in.

[deadlift]

hot rock, what are you talking about? There most certainly are motorbikes in many of the parks I've been to, at least on the periphery. There are motorbike parking lots in and around many parks, and where there are motorbike parking lots there are motorbikes gaining access in all manner of creative ways. If you wanted to run laps of Le Van Tam park, for example, you would certainly have to be careful about avoiding motorbikes. The same goes for the park at the back of Tao Dan stadium.

[tefl peasant]

[I'm With Stupid]

[snollygoster]

No bikes in parks? Must have been my imagination that ran into me walking in the park. Seemed very real and certainly solid, and the little man driving it seemed to bleed when he (deservedly) scraped his elbows on the path when the imaginary thing he was driving in the park fell over.

The sprained ankle I got from the encounter didnt seem too imaginary.

[tefl peasant]

You should remember when you run or job, that you are breathing deeper and the air pollution (soot, and benzene) get into your body (liver).

I jog and I wear a mask.