MacRitchie 10km Northern Route

My plan this morning was to run and do a time trial of the hilly Northern Route, quite a challenging x-country route. The last I ran this route was in Jan 05, when I did 52min for the Swift-AGT race.

The MacRitchie 10km Northern Route (Marked In Red)

On this Saturday morning, after dropping off my son for his football match, I drove to MacRitchie Reservoir Park at about 6.30am. Did a slow jog and some stretches to warm up, while waiting for first light.

Pushed the start of the watch at 7.05am, barely first light, and still quite dim. Ran from the zig-zag bridge and straight into Lornie trail. As it was still dark, I ran cautiously, watching for my steps. I cannot afford any injury, especially with the Mar6 KL race coming up.

I was maintaining a good pace, and reached the usual slopes in regulation...9min+ at the 3rd slope along Lornie Trail. There were many runners running back along this same stretch, and I believe they started when it was dark. Phew...maybe they have better eyesight than me.

I reached the T-juction (3.5km marker) at 11:51min. Pressed the Lap Timer. OK, quite reasonable timing. Turned right into the golf course leading to TreeTop walk. Reached the 5km mark (6.6km marker) at 27:55. Must have taken slightly longer time due to the early darkness along the undulatingt slopes fringing the golf course. There were already 2 flights of golfers playing on the greens. I moved on, and soon passed Jelutong Tower, and finally into Sime Track.

The Sime Track is a difficult portion of this route; very rocky, upslope, and long....leading all the way to Terantang Trail, and further upslope to road fringing SICC. My legs were feeling weak this morning along the stretch. Could it be due to lack of sleep? Lack of carbo for energy? Not enough rest from the long run 2 days back? I still don't know why. I continued to push on, slowing my pace a little to adjust, and take in more air. The heart rate was hovering at 160 along this stretch.

After getting onto the road, I noted the reverse route, and realized that I missed that the last time...I should turn left into this road, should I come from the reverse direction. Anyway, from here, a good breather downhill, and going into the final stretches of upslopes back into the forest. There are something like 2 long upslopes here, and once we pass them, it will be the end of the difficulty portion of the course.

On the final 2km stretch, it was smooth, but I was watching out for the many walkers and trekkers coming in the opposite direction. They were bunching together, and I had to slow down to avoid colliding with some of them.

Finally reached the end of the forested area, coming out into the Little Sisters Of The Poor area, and did a final sprint to the end. Clocked in at 53:35. Not really fast, but I'll take it, considering my less-than-perfect condition this morning. There was already a buildup of students from a school - probably another x-country school competition. No wonder the carparks were jam packed this morning.

I did my warm-down stretch, and proceeded to the market to meet my wife for a hearty breakfast.

Distance Ran:10km XC___Time:53:39min___Pace:5:22min/km
Average HR:158bpm_____Max HR:166bpm_____KCal: 721