Bukit Batok Nature Park: A CNY recce run

Had the opportunity to do a short run at my brother's house @ Bukit Batok. Went for a brief recce in my car to 'Little Guilin' and along the way saw the entrance to Bukit Batok Nature Park. This has been one park I have long wanted to run in, having heard its legendary slopes and the murder of a lady jogger in its quiet surroundings some years ago.

After feasting on lots of tidbits, I decided to do the run in the cool weather. Sis-in-law showed me the path that led to the Park. After about 1km, I entered the Park from Bukit Batok side...ran some nice loops, and then exited and ran along the 2.5km bicycle track. It led me to Hillview Ave, and then I ran along Upper Bukit Timah Road till I reached the other entrance...the steep upslope. I took a good breath, and ran up the approximately 500m steep upslope. It was a hard workout. Though it was not as long as the MF slopes, it was steep...very similar in nature to Telok Blangah Hill. Finally reached the top, and before I could recover, there were three long flights of steps to run...hmm, good for vertical marathon training....all the way up the satellite towers.

Hit the top, and ran down again, took a side exit to a viewpoint where I could see Guilin View. It was nice and scenic. I then ran the other side, hoping to reach to the bottom of the Park. Ran into some private estates, Hume Heights, and then was confronted by 3 fierce dogs which were not on leash. I had to growl louder than them, while running away, before reaching back....hmm, I shall try again to do this some other time. I ran back along the slopes which I ran up from, and after getting a sports drink from a Petrol Kiosk, ran 2km more before reaching back. I estimated a total of 10km taking about 1hr. A nice run alone, rare occasions for me these days, and I enjoyed the solidarity and serenity of the run. Hope to be able to explore more of this area, maybe next will be to the 'Little Guilin' area.

Chinese New Year Greetings

To all of you:

A Happy Doggie New Year to you and your loved ones.

May you have good health, career and superb running experiences for the year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Chinese New Year Eve Run

Arranged for a pre CNY run today for a 20km tempo run to help burn of glycogen stores ahead of the reunion dinners and feasting ahead. I had invited some friends from SgRunners and well as SAFRA MF Runners to join me for the run. In the end, about 25 people turned up for an interesting and good workout for all.

I woke early, took a light breakfast, went to pick up DO and reached the SAFRA MF Clubhouse at 6.40am. It was still dark, and Freddy, Divey and Littlefoot was already waiting at the entrance. Soon Brokie arrived with Kelly and cosmic. By 7am, there was a big group of people gathered just outside the gym.....run3, superboy, Cheery, Cokiee, Kumaran, Wong, and many others. I gave a brief intoduction of Chairman and the SAFRA team to the SgRunners group, and some guidance on the route we would take. We set off at 7.15am and ran down along Depot Rd. We chatted as we ran, as a pace of about 6min/km or less. Turned into Alexandra Rd, and waited for the main body, before we ran together into Labrador Park. Many of the runners have not visited the Park before, and it was refreshing for them. We did a loop around and went to the end of the Park. On the exit, we ran up the slopes to the top and took a break near the cafe.

We exited Labrador Park, and ran along Pasir Panjang Road along to Harbourfront. Kumaran, Lee, Hedgehog and Sotong joined us for the Sentosa leg as we covered the 10km New Balance Real Route, skirting around the sandy beach portion. I was running up and down to help show the way, as the main group has broken up into a few smaller ones. After we reached the Palawan Beach area, and turned in Tanjong Beach, I was able to run ahead to meet the rest in front. We reached the end of Tanjong Beach and turned back, meeting the rest as they ran in. We had a final water break and the Palawan Beach toilet before heading out of Sentosa and reaching back to ClubHouse at about 10.30am. We had run about 2hr30min and covered from 22-24km. It was a pretty hard workout for many of us, and all were satisfied that we had sufficiently cleared our excess glycogen.....ready for reunion dinner and carbo-reloading. A nice run in good weather, with like-minded people sharing a common passion for running... till the next group workout...Wishing all a Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Pre Chinese New Year workouts

Took a break off running on Wed and went down Clementi Pool to try my breast stroke timing. The main pool was crowded with swimmers taking lessons. Met Cheow who was there to do his own trial ahead of the NUS Biathlon test he had to take. During my 20lap swim, I had to stop and swim around people quite often....hmm, not really smooth. I clocked 37min for the 20laps breast stroke...improvement of 1min over the last time I swam...hehe. After that, I moved up and went to the shallow training pool. Met Tiwazz, Balasing, Kops, LittleFoot who had already done their laps in there. Cheow joined in as well. I did another 10laps in there recording a much faster 17:30min, averaging 3min20sec per lap. Chatted with the guys on swim techniques and requirements for bi and tri events. We went for dinner and I had the beef noodles...quite nice.

Distance Swam:20laps ___Time:37min____Pace:37min/km
Distance Swam:10laps ___Time:17:15min____Pace::34:30min/km

For my regular Thursday evening run training at MF, we did the twin hills of Labrador Park & Mt. Faber. It was a 14km tempo run, and it was nice steady pace from the word go. There was quite a large turnout of about 20 peeps, all ready to chiong some hills after Tuesday's track intervals. We ran down Depot Road, turning into Alexandra Road, and then entering into serene Labrador Park. Went up the small hill, did a 800m loop along the waterfront, and return back along the reverse side which was steeper and longer. Had a quick toilet break at the top, and away I ran with DO. Met Alan and Wong at the exit, and the four of us ran towards Mt. Faber along Harbourfront. I told Wong and Alan about our upcoming run on Saturday with SgRunners, and both wanted to join in the run with us. Good, since Alan and Wong are very experienced distance runners...hopefully we will be able to cream some lessons from them.

As we hit the upslopes to Mt. Faber from the Kampong Bahru side, I was focused on climbing the steep and long slope. DO was just behind me. I chugged up reducing my stride, but increasing my cadence, with a more forward body lean. Reached the top and had the exhilirating feeling again. I really like climbing slopes once in a while, especially in good weather. From the top of MF, we had a majestic view of the night lights and city...Bumped into Chin at the top and together we ran down the slope out to Morse Road, and then back to ClubHouse along the 2km stretch of rolling Telok Blangah Rd. It was a nice hard run for me...I like the hard workout making me perspire. I felt good as I did warm down stretches, and downed the complimentary can of 100plus. Again went for cheng tng with the gang, and Ong and Jaime may just want to join me for the Saturday run as well. Suddenly everyone needed a pre Chinese New Year run to help expend their glycogen stores ahead of the reunion dinners and Feb4 BBQ...hehe

Heart Rate Chart of the 14km run

Distance Ran:14km ___Time:1hr17min____Pace:5:27min/km
Average HR:140bpm___Max HR:190bpm__KCal:817KCal

Intervals & Monster

Its been some time since I joined SAFRA MF for one of the interval runs. Since this evening's interval run at Queenstown Stadium was the final one before KLIM06, I decided to do it. DO and Divey will also be trying their first interval run with SAFRA, as well as Baby Monster (Eileen) ...yes, u heard it right, this is one very fast shwe runner.

We started off the ClubHouse at 7pm for a slow 4km jog down to Queestown Stadium. Eileen was still nursing a knee injury, and I cautioned her not to push it if uncomfortable. DO and Divey were pretty excited about the interval runs as we approached Queentown Stadium (QSTS). One inside, Ong gave a quick brief; we will be running 4 loops of 2km, 1.6km, 800m and then 400m, averaging about 2min/400m for a good sustainable pace.

I did the first 5laps of 2km in 8:11min, finishing strong.
I did the 2nd loop of 4laps of 1.6km in 6:33min...it was in this loop that Eileen drafted me for a good 800m, before overtaking me at the final 300m for a fast finish....she is FAST. I was quite happy with my constant pace and time.
Did the 3rd loop of 800m in 3:05min....felt rather tired and exhauted.....glycogen about depleted after this loop
Did the final loop of 400m with a sprint... Eileen was ahead most of the way, until Chairman overtook her in the final 150m. I finished in 1:11min.

After a toilet break, we slow jogged back for another 4km to ClubHouse. Midway I realized I left my shoe pouch containing my car keys back at the Stadium. Fortunately I retrieved it back with the help of Jaime, who kindly drove me to Stadium....thanks Jaime. We had a mini birthday celebration for Kumaran. Alan Chao also came with the Nike sponsored running gear, and I received my m size....the gear looked good, and is the latest design... thanks to Alan for the hard work in getting this Nike sponsorship for 15 regular Running Club members.

Sunday Run-Laksa-Shop

SgRunners @ The Railway Track

This Sunday's LSD saw a different twist, with me joining the SgRunners for a 15KM Run-Laksa-Shop session.

Started off at 0645hrs with DO, Run3, Divey, Cokiee & Dream from central region, Brokie, leh-lio girl, littlefoot from the north, cosmic, Bee, tekko from the east, Bug, Cheow12 & Violet from the west....ran into beautiful Canterbury estates..as we ran, morning was broken and birds were singing and some dogs were barking..... saw many exclusive houses, with private swimming pools and lawns....nice serene environment, definitely good for secret ninja training. In view of the time, we did about 5km of the planned 8km distance.

Up the slopes of Canterbury Estates

Were joined by Sotong, Ronnie, Tiwazz, Astrogal at 0800hrs for the second part of the run through the wasteland, the hidden railway track....had a train whizzed past us just after we crossed, progressed into Science Park, then round the pond at Kent Ridge Park, and up the slopes for some neat hill repeats...most did 2-3 loops around the nice slopes. Moved to the top of KRP for photos with the tank, onto canopy walk for photos of The Peak, Bukit Chandu Inspirations...very nice sight-seeing run/walk/photo leg. Did an extra 4km leg led by Bug into NUS up some neat slopes again....really taxed some of us there. Estimated distance of about 10km.

Finally after-run makan at AV food centre...delicious claypot laksa, nice avocado and papaya milk, and good discussions abt the morning's run. Joined by Mrs. Bug, Balasing, renoh, mythos who added more juicy tales at the makan tables. Shopping at queensway for chop chop running gear afterwards.

Complete photos from the cameras of Brokie and Sotong tell the remaining juicy bits and details of the morning's happenings.

Thanks to all who were there for the great fun and company. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Till the next one, Cheers!!

Swim-Run combo at Mt. Faber

Was early at Mt. Faber today, and so decided to jump into the pool and do a 10-lap breast-stroke before the scheduled 16km run. Put on my polar watch, and without any warm-up, just started to swim. I was real slow at first, taking it easy. Did 10laps, and decided to do another 10. In the end, finished the 20laps in 38min. Very slow by anyone's standards, but I'll just take that as a start to be used as a base as I begin to swim more this year. I hope to be able to improve in my swimming by the end of the year, and maybe I can then start doing some swim-run events in 2007. Lets see.

My legs felt tired after the swim. I changed into my running gear, and went to meet up with the rest of the mf runners. There were a number of us, and chatted with DO, Jerry and new gal, Karen for a bit. DO was wearing his new DS Trainer, and Chairman bought himself the Cumulus VII, just like mine. We started off prompt at 7pm. I ran slow enough to chat with Karen, and when we passed Tiong Bahru Park, we were joined by Alan Yeo and his Tiong Bahru Runners. I moved up to join DO, sok hwa, Chua. We ran a quicker pace into the Delta Canal, then along the main road turning into Ridley Park leading through old Tanglin Barracks, and then to Dempsey area all the way to Botanic Gardens. We were met by Bug at the entrace, and we ran together all the way to the second toilet inside BG. There we waited for the rest to come in.

Heart Rate Chart for the 15km run

Pre then brought us out of BG into some private estate, and then out along Farrer Road all the way to just before Commonwealth Rd, before we turned into Margaret Drive. From there, I ran with DO all the way back to the Delta Canal, and then up Henderson Rd and back to ClubHouse. We did about 15km, since DO and myself did not run the extra 1km around Tiong Bahru Park on the way back. It was a pretty hard run for me, especially after the tiring swim I had earlier. My legs felt used. I took it as conditioning for my legs, imagining that I had ran for a good distance before that. Hmm, I may consider do this swim-run combo once a fortnight, depending on the sort of run workout I have on the day.


Distance Swam:1km ___Time:38min____Pace:19min/km
Distance Ran:15km ___Time:1hr25min____Pace:5:38min/km
Average HR:157bpm___Max HR:178bpm__KCal:1,144KCal

My first long swim, and a nice long run

Recently there have been talks about swimming and participating at bi/tri events, and some of those excitement are rubbing on me a little. There has been swim sessions by trifam, and even basic ad-hoc sessions done by SgRunners. I have never really liked swimming, and my swim skills are really poor.

I took some time out on Tuesday evening to gauge my swim standards, and attempted to swim laps of breast-stroke to see how I felt. I went to SAFRA MF pool. There were some slight showers, but we were allowed to swim. The pool was relatively empty...hmm, good time for me to try some swim techniques I read from the book 'The Triathelete's Guide To Swim Training'. I jumped into the pool, and went about doing 10 laps of breast-stroke...I think I took about 18min or so, didn;t really timed. I then did 6 alternate laps of freestyle and breast, to try out some techniques of freestyle. I also did a 5min practise on my water-treading skills.....hmm, much to improve here. If I can tread water well, it will help me improve my swim confidence leading to better swimming distances and timings.

After my swim, I changed quickly into my running gear and met ws for our run into sentosa. I didn't feel like joining in the hill repeats at MF which the MF Runners were supposed to do, and they were preparing for the HK Marathon. ws and I ran a leisurely pace along Harbourfront, then into Sentosa for the 10km NBRR route, and out back along the Kampong Bahru side. I enjoyed the relatively nice paced run, and it was a good workout for both of us. Along the way, we saw some event and filming at the Tanjung Beach, and as we were exiting Sentosa, we saw very nice fireworks emiting from the top of Mt. Faber. The entry/exit to Sentosa is more or less done up, and in future, it will make running into Sentosa even smoother and more fun.

We did an estimated 18km in 2hrs, and later met with a large group of SAFRA MF runners back at the ClubHouse for a good makan. Eileen, Bug, some new faces were there. Colleen and William were back to run with SAFRA after quite a long absence. Yuen was there too...long time no see. Akira will resume training with MF in Feb. Seemed like the running group at SAFRA MF is getting bigger this year....hmm, lots more fun.

A sunny Sunday LSD at last....

Woke up for this morning's LSD to fine weather. Sensing it to be a hot day, I put on my new white cap, and brought my fuel belt along. Took the usual morning cuppa, and a small piece of banana cake. I reached SAFRA MF at 7.15am, and soon a group assembled. We were supposed to do 32km today for the runners pe all reparing for HK marathon in Feb. DO, Divey and Bug were there. So was eileen from SAFRA TP, the good gal runner, as well as Huey Ling, the good runner cum swimmer. They are all new to SAFRA MF, and have been enjoying the long and hilly runs at MF.

We started off slowly at about 8am, and proceeded along Depot Rd, Queensway, crossing the railway tracks, and then onto Portsdown Road. The pace was nice, and soon the sun was beating upon our heads. I was glad to have the white cap, and it kept me cool. When we reached the end of Portsdown Rd, we waited slightly for the rest of the gals to come in before we proceeded along Dover Road. DO was running with me mostly. Bug, Ong, Kumaran, Derrick have all gone ahead. Freddy has very kindly decided to provide mobile H2O points on board his car. What a great support we have. Goola, Eng Hwa, Hway Ling, Wong, Chua, Sok Hwa were running close by with us. Jaime, Divey and Andre were just a distance behind.

The First 11km from SAFRA MF to end Ulu Pandan Canal

Next 15km from Buona Vista MRT back to SAFRA MF, adding 1 more loop

Once out onto Clementi Road, we turned into Ulu Pandan Canal. The sun was getting hot, as it beat down on us as we ran the canal. We bumped into Benson, a very fast SAFRA MF runner doing his ninja training. At the end of the canal, we were met with Freddy and his son who provided nice cool H2O....super...topped up the tank with the neccesary amount of water and salts. We ran on to Buona Vista MRT and refilled our fuel belts with water, and proceeded on to Alexandra Road and all the way to PSA Building. We had ran 15km by then, and was again happy to see Freddy providing drinks. He mentioned the front group had ran pretty far ahead. It was ok for me to maintain my pace. DO continued to pace me and Wong, and we ran along Harbourfront and onto Kampong Bahru. DO wanted to climb up Mt. Faber, and we split ways as I just wanted to run the remaining 3km back to Clubhouse, and then do another loop of 5km around Harbourfront.

After we split ways, I maintained a constant pace all the way to finish the remaining 8km feeling pretty strong. I walked for about 50m at the last 3km to take my final bit of water. I reached Clubhouse at about 11am, did stretches, and chatted with the new runners like Divey and Eileen. All mentioned they enjoyed the run and the pace, even though the weather was a little hot. For me, it was a good 26km run to condition me for the hot weather. It was a good break from the wet runs I had been doing for the past week.

Distance Ran:26km ___Time:2hr40min____Pace:6:09min/km
Average HR:156bpm___Max HR:173bpm__KCal:2,088KCal

Clear skies, hilly run

It rained practically the whole afternoon, and it stopped at about 6.30pm, just in time for our run at SAFRA MF. The group this evening wasn't that large, with the usual regulars, and some SgRunners joining in.

We started promptly at 7pm, and we ran along depot road towards Queensway, and then Jln Hang Jebat. Bug was in front with Ong. DO was running with me mostly, and Derrick was just behind. We were doing an averahe pace. Divey, Jaime, Yean and cm were running behind. I was showing DO this route which is the laksa route we will be doing the following Sunday. We crossed over the muddy railway track, and waited for Divey, Yean and Jaime to join us. Wong came along too, and we ran along Jln Hang Jebat and crossed the new flyover towards Science Park/Rutherford. We met cm and eh slong the way, and all proceeded up to Kent Ridge Park. We did a solid 2.5 rounds Kent Ridge Hill, and it was a great cardio workout for me and DO. We went for a toilet break on top of Kent Ridge Park, and soon saw Divey and Wong running up. Divey did the same as we did....and she looked strong...wow, she has potential, this girl.

After a short rest, we ran down along Bukit Chandu slopes carefully, then out along Pasir Panjang Rd and all the way towards Morse Road. We took the steep slope up Mt. Faber from there. It was the first time for Bug, DO and Divey. All did very well to reach the top. When I reached the top, I was quite drained. We decided not to do a smaller loop, and proceeded to run back to ClubHouse. DO and I had a good chat along the way about our recent training as well as SgRunner's events. It is always fun to run with DO because we share many running activities recently, with the different running groups we are a part off....so lots for us to yack...After a washup, we had noodles and cheng tng at the usual hawker centre. We are saving the laksa meal for our laksa run in about 10days...all of us are just waiting for that run...

A rainy Hari Raya holiday run

It started to rain when I woke up at 5.30am for this morning's Hari Raja run with the SgRunners. Received a sms from SgRunner Chyarose that she cannot make it due to the rain. I went into the SgRunner's forum and shouted to all the latest at MR. By 6am, the rain had stopped, and I went to pick DO, and proceeded to meet the rest at MR.

SgRunners before the run

By 7.30am, we had Brokie, cosmic, run3, astrogal, DO, Cokiee, Tiwazz, littlefoot, ronnie, Sotong and myself starting the run from the lower carpark along the boardwalk/canoe side to Upper Thomson Road. We have decided not to run the trails as it was reported to be muddy and slippery after the many days of rain. Brokie & cosmic were leading the pack and the rest of us merrily followed from behind. run3 was also doing a good pace and soon she, cokiee and a few frontrunners turned into Pierce Reservoir. It started to rain cats and dogs, and we increased our pace and rushed to the toilet for a break, and to wait for the rain to stop. We waited for a while for Tiwazz and littlefoot, and decided to proceed along to meet them later. As we approached Casuarina Rd, we saw Tiwazz, littlefoot and Ronnie. They wanted to sit out the rain at the prata shop, and cosmic joined them. The rest of us crazy runners continued to run in the heavy rain along Old Upper Thomson Road.

Very misty and cool run along the dam

The roads were deserted, with just a few bikers whooshing by. There were relatively few cars. Brokie and run3 were pacing one another, with DO and myself running behind, followed by Cokiee, Sotong, astrogal. It was a nice run as the rains provided cool relief, and there were'nt any strong winds. We reached the main gate into Upper Pierce Reservoir (UPR) and decided to run along this instead of goining on to Seletar Reservoir along OUTR. We can do that another time when the weather is nicer. The slopes along UPR provided some good cardio workout, and the new runners like run3, astro, cokiee really enjoyed it. We ran all the way to the dam area, and then back alng the scenic route. Some nice photos were taken by Sotong, who too strategic cover under a small tree...hehe. We took a break at the tourist toilets, took some more photos, and proceeded back along the UPR road we came in. We didn;t want to stop too long to avoid cooling down too fast, and catching a chill. The way back was very nice too, and there was a big bunch of monkeys out to do their stuff. We ran past them, and chionged the slopes a bit....ha, it was shiok. We reached the main gates in no time. I had a little pain on my left foot, not sure what it was, definitely not a sprain or something....nothing serious, could still run ok.

At Casuarina Road...prata place just behind us

We ran a fast pace along the return stretch of OUTR with Brokie and Cokiee leading the pack. We reached Casuarina Rd again, picked up the boys, and had a couple of nice group photos at the strategic junction where the prata place is. This is one regular meeting point for us when we run this route. With just 4km back to MR, we decided to skip the toilet break, and ran all the way back at temo pace. It was a smooth journey back, as the roads were still relatively quiet because of the holiday and the rain. My shoes were wet by then, and I was already getting used to the water-logged feeling in my shoes after a few rainy day runs. I took them as good conditioning runs, and with this positive mental attitude, I thoroughly enjoyed all my rainy day runs. Once back, we cheered for those that came dashing home, especially Sotong, astrogal and cokiee. They really gave it their all, even for the final 100m....kudos... these people have the right attitude to perform well in their next marathon.

We did a wash up, and all drove to Casuarina Rd. The prata place was crowded, and we had to settle for wanton noodles, duck/char-siew rice, kopi/milo for carbo loading. We were joined by Seal and Kellylim who had come down to join us for the makan session. Lots of fun chatting about the run in the rain, as well as looking at the upcoming KL Marathon. I had to leave earlier for a family lunch appointment, but I was satisfied with a good morning workout on a holiday....always time well spent, especially with good running and makan kakis like the SgRunners :)


Distance Ran:16km ___Time:1hr30min____Pace:5:38min/km

SCSM05 Certificate

The Standard Chartered Marathon 2005 certificate arrived in the post after a month. Nice looking, and all information in good order. Net/Chip time of 4hr8min2sec for my maiden marathon.

Sunday LSD in heavy rain

It rained from the middle of last night, and the rain never stopped. I picked up DO and went to the ClubHouse. There were about 10 of us, all ready to run in the heavy rain. We waited till about 8am, and Ong came in. He conducted a quick brief, and indicated that we will be running about 22km, 8km less than what was to be originally planned. We will not run all inthe way into Marina South, and will turn back after Marina Esplanade, and then proceed back along Keppel Road, then run up 3 loops Mt. Faber from the Kampong Bahru side.

We braved the rain and pushed on. It was a pretty nice pace for the first 10km which saw us run along Zion Road area, towards Zouk, then the quay area, to Esplanade and all the way to Marina Promenade. Clocked the time at about 54min, took a quick toilet break, and u-turn back towards Keppel Road. The rain got heavier, and I was still running with DO. We had a fun time chatting and running in the rain. We reached Clifford Pier, and was met with Jaime (who actually took a bus to meet us there) who provided nice 100plus drinks. I took 3 cups, and continued on the run with DO along Shentown Way, then turning to Keppel Road. As we were reaching Kampong Bahru, we saw Ong and the new girl (cm's cousin-in-law, a fast runner who joined us for the first time).

We proceeded to run up Mt. Faber, with me taking the lead and doing a cautious pace. We overtook the girl midway, and when we reached the top, it felt so good. DO was feeling good too. We did another loop aound the Mt. Faber Loop, before heading all the down to Morse Road. On the way down, we met up with Bug, and the 3 of us ran all the way back along Telok Blangah Way. The rain continued to beat down. It was one of the rare runs I have done in heavy rain. Covered a total distance of 21km with good distances on upslopes.

Distance Ran:21km ___Time:2hr10min____Pace:6:10min/km
Average HR:147bpm___Max HR:165pm__KCal:1,830KCal

2-3-4: Consecutive weekday runs

Did a couple of interesting evening runs this week, which did add up to quite a fair bit of mileage. I also have not been using my HRM for a while, since SCM05. As the SAFRA MF Marathon Training Program has already kicked in, there's a lot more hill runs, hill repeats and interval training on weekdays, and LSDs on weekends. This Sunday, I will be doing the 30km to/fro Marina South; after having sone a 25km hills run just last Sunday.

Did a 12km run on Tuesday evening with Beverly around the estate. I was running at a faster pace, and wifey was lagging for a distance after we crossed the midway point. It was considered a firm workout run for me, and I came back in 1hr3min. Beverly also came back in quite a fast timing.

On wednesday evening, I joined the SgRunners for an interesting run into Old Holland Road, Greenleaf Ave. A nice cool run, with the rain just having stopped. Spectre led the run, and DO, runalone, Tiwazz and myself ran along. There are some gentle slopes in the area, which make for good training. After the run, we joined a couple of other SgRunners like Bug, Balasing, astrogirl and run3 for a sumptious dinner and iced cold milo.

On Thursday evening, DO and Bug joined me for the weekly Thursday run with SAFRA MF. We ran for 14km with a good 1km up Mt. Faber through the steeper Kampung Bahru side. As we ran up the steep slopes, after having covered about 6km, it started to rain very heavily. We chugged up slowly, getting stronger as we moved on. It is always a good cardio workout up the slopes of Mt. Faber. At the top, the rain subsided, and we ran down and exited the Morse Road side before heading back towards ClubHouse along Telok Blangah Way. When we reached the ClubHouse, Do and I went on to do another loop of about 4km. After wash-up, we went for a sinful laksa dinner with cheng tng. The laksa was so delicious, I finished the last drop of gravy in the bowl....hmm, maybe I was really hungry.

Total mileage of abt 35km so far for the weekday runs.

New Year Day Run: 3-2-1 Hills

This New Year morning was greeted with rain. When I woke up, the grounds were wet, and it seemed that it had rained the night before. Grabbed a quick coffee and a snicker bar, and headed to SAFRA MF Clubhouse. The place was rather messy from the previous night's celebrations. There were only a small group today...Wong, Freddy, Lai Chee, Derrick, Jaime, Ong, Andre, Tay, Goola, Eng Hwa and myself. Ong had his gout attack and was not running, but will walk in the rain to the various water points to provide support...what a great trainer, what a great guy...

We started off without any rain. First stop was Kent Ridge Hill, which we ran from SAFRA Clubhouse along Depot Road, Alexandra Rd, Queenstown, Portsdown Road to reach. We did 3 rounds aound the Kent Ridge Hill. Freddy who was with a knee injury after SCM was running cautiously behind me. Tay turned back in the first round. As I was still in recovery mode from last Sunday's Ultra-marathon, I was going on an easy pace of about 6min/km. I also went on the downslopes easier, and more slowly. Finished Kent Ridge and gathered at the top after a toilet break. Had done approx. 11km by then, in 1hr.

Ran down the slopes along the Bukit Chundu side, hot Pasir Panjang Road, and ran towards Labrador Park. At the entrance to Labrador, Ong and Jaime was there dishing out 100plus and gatorade. Wow, very good support. By that time, a drizzle had started, but we continued into Labrador Park, up the slope at the carpark. Took 1 lap and returned via the reverse slopes. With this, I would have covered 2 slopes at Labrador Park.

From Labrador Park, we proceeded all the way to Mt Faber upslopes at thw Kampong Bahru side. Ong & Jaime was there again with the water support. Took another 100plus here, and proceeded up the steep slope to the top of Mt. Faber. Till now I am not quite sure whether this side is steeper or the side from Morse Rd is steeper. But whatever, both sides are equally steep to me, and will rank as one of the better hill slopes for training in Singapore. Reached the top feeling quite breathless, but felt good. Freddy wanted to use the toilet, and we continued our way. I ran another loop up to the top of Mt. Faber again, before doing the final long descent (taking care to run slowly so as not to jar my knees too much) to Morse Rd. Turned right towards Telok Blangah Way and finished the final 2km of slight slope to end the whole 25km run in 2hr35min. A very good workout for me to burn off calories piled on during the festivities, but more importantly, start off the new year with a nice long run.

Distance Ran:25km ___Time:2hr35min____Pace:6:10min/km
Average HR:N/A___Max HR:N/A____KCal: 1,500 est.

Before The Changi Creepy Run (Alvo, Dream, Cokiee, Meteor)

Makan after the Creepy Run (Fd, Cokiee, Dream, Kops, Divey, Bee, DO)

A recap of the week:
Wed - swam 10laps as recovery swim
Thu - ran 12km around home with Beverly, clocking 1hr12min, 6min/km pace
Fri - ran 8km at Changi Village area with SgRunners for the 'creepy' run