Went the wrong way....AGAIN!

Went down to MF for the second recce of the Mizuno MF race route on Tuesday evening. There was a large turnout, with quite a number of guests joining in to check out the route ahead of the race this Sunday. I tried on my Gel Speedstar to see if I could use it for this Sunday's race.

Lai Chee asked me if I was familiar with the route, and I explained that I got lost the first recce....the route is a little confusing in the night, especially after coming down from Kampong Bahru side of the hill. We started off from MF ClubHouse at 6.45pm, and soon all were picking up pace towards Morse Road. Up Morse Road, I took a steady pace, insistent I should reach up the top with some spares. This portion of the upslope will 'kill' runners if they do not 'reserve' themselves on race day.

I reached the top of MF, overtaking a few who ran in front earlier. On the steep downslope of Kampong Bahru side, I was very careful not to 'rush' down, as this portion is real bad for the knees. Reached down, and ran along the slope of Telok Blangah Rise, then turned along Henderson Industrial Estate. The front runners like Bug, Wong, Jimmy and Ong were kind enough to station themselves at strategic turning points. I overtook 3 more runners as I ran Lower Delta Rd, and I kept left thinking I will find Henderson Road. I then found myself running towards the ClubHouse...heh, too early liao....Arghh, I took a turn too early. There was no one at that strategic junction as I ran back towards it....then I saw Sok Hwa coming up, and I signalled her to the right direction.

From then on, I had lost track of my timing and pace. I plodded on, and soon found Henderson Road. I was pretty drained as I ran up the final slopes of Henderson Rd towards the CC. Met Wong at the final junction near the ClubHouse, and he guided us to a loop inside (which would have to be run in the initial start of the race), adding another 500m or so. I reached the ClubHouse 'spent' from this short, but hard run. The slopes in the MF area do make this 10km route a challenging one for most casual runners like myself. They informed that we did about 55min for the whole run....did a great stretchdown routine by Julie, and finally savoured the goodness of 'Hong Zhao Chi' after missing it for a few weeks now.

Distance: 10.5km__Time: 55min__Pace: 5:14min/km