MR25 Ultra Marathon

The MR25 is not on my original schedule. I was not sure whether I recover sufficient to participate. Even though I packed my bags the night before, when I woke up at 5am, I was still struggling whether I should join the event.

I already had two Ultra events recently (HK trailwalker on 20/21-Nov and Putrajaya 12 hr walk on 13-Dec). My right leg ITB was not fully recovered when I participate the Putrajaya walk. And I got another injury on my right ankle during the Putrajaya. I did have two short distance race walking practice that go through ok. At the end, I went over the MacRitchie.

I did not register before hand and just put my name down on the spot with $35 registration fee. The race started at 7am and last for 12 hours, going around the MacRitchie Reservoir for as many laps as you want. I decided to just walk all the way. Either complete 5 laps or 6 laps.


I completed my first lap of 10.5km in around 1:31:00, pretty reasonable timing. Part of the loop was quite muddy. Almost every participate has lots of dirty on the shoes, socks and legs. I was keeping my pace slow at the beginning and use some of racewalking half way after I have fully warm up. In the golf link, I was able to do a 8:11 for a km. But from about 3km in my 2nd loop, my right ankle injury comes back. I had to adjust the way that I walk in order to reduce stress on my right ankle. My second lap slowed down to about 1:40:00. I took a short break and started my 3rd loop. This time, it took my 1:45:00, still a reasonable timing. But then, may be due to my adjustment to compensate for the right ankle, I developed a problem with my left leg ITB. Most of the time, it is not a problem except when I walk downhill. There is almost no steps during the loop. The first 3 loop took a little bit more than 5 hours. It is very sure that I will have enough time to do 6 loops if my body permits.

After a short break, my 4th loop goes on. But just after I started, the sky started to get dark and there is a light rain. The tree/leaves are dense enough in the first part of the loop that I did not get wet at all. But I was worrying that if the rain get stronger, I may not generate enough heat in my walk. However, just another 30 minutes, the rain passed and the sun comes out again. Timing of the loop is 1:45:00 as well, pretty consistent. The last lap was slower at around 1:55:00, partially take extra precaution going into the last 4.5km. But overall timing is 9:12:35 for the 5 laps. I have enough time left to make it a 6 laps. However, considering my injury on my right ankle and left leg ITB, I don't want to make it worse and call it a day for MR25 Ultra 2009. The timing, in comparing with my 5 laps in 2007, was 56 minutes faster. Mainly due to reduction in break time and more consistent timing across the 5 laps.


I collected my certificate and the finisher's t-shirt but did not wait for the ceremony. I was simply too tired. During the MR25, I was not wearing my SKINS. Instead, I just wear a simple New Balance tight. I think that the SKINS does contribute to less fatigue in a long run/walk. I will definitely use it in the future.

Racewalking practice

Another loop in Stirling. 24 mins 9s for the 3.3km distance. Average pace at 7:23. about 6s faster than the last practice of 7:29.

I started at a slower pace and accelerate at the middle of it. Getting up to 6:40 at the last split. But notice that the heartrate also goes up to very high. Shin muscle is tired after the walk.

Racewalking practice

I have a practice of race walking along my usual Stirling loop. I try to practice the swing of arm and train my shin muscle. Took me 24 mins 36 s for the 3.31km. Average pace is 7:26. I started a bit too fast and within the 1st km, my right leg shin muscle was already tight. Next time, need more warm up before pushing.


My goal is to be able to complete the loop in around 20 mins by end of 2010. This will require a significant improvement over my current state - a continuous 6:20 pace. Currently, while I can attain 6:20 pace during interval training, I cannot maintain it for a 3.2km distance, not even maintaining it during a 400m x 6 interval training. Therefore, need a lot of training to improve it.

2nd Putrajaya 12 hr walk

This is my first time participate in a rack walking event. I was not sure whether I should participate even just a week before. The trailwalker in Hong Kong takes a long time to recover. And my right leg is still not 100% normal before I book my bus ticket to KL. The 12 walk is from 8pm to 8am and count by how many laps that you can finish in a 1km loop. I was hoping to finish 72 laps (averaged 6km/h) judging from the timing in Sundown.

The journey to Putrajaya is LOOOONG. I woke up 6:30am in the morning. I got out of the door at around 7:15am. First, I took MRT to Lavendar. Then, took a bus to KL at 8:45am. There is some jam at both Singapore and Malaysia custom. At the end I only arrive at KL at 4:30pm. Then, I took the Rapid KL train to KL Sentral. From KL Sentral, I took the KLIA transit to Putrajaya. At Putrajaya Sentral, I walk about 3km to the venue - the stretch in front of Palace of Justice. I arrived there at around 6pm+. Took me around 11 hours from my home to the venue.

I register, pay the fee and get my bib and champion chip. The goody bag included a t-shirt, mouthwash, some nutrition pill, heat rub etc.

I found the Hong Kong team and introduce myself to them. I prepared myself for the race. But I found that I run out of tape to tape my foot. Didn't check that properly.

At the start, the pace of front walkers are really fast. My original plan is to keep a 9 min pace. But was driven by the atmosphere and walking at 8:15 to 8:30 pace for the first hour. That sow the seed for failure. After 3 hours, I finished 21km. I started to slow down to 9min+ pace. By 4.5 hours, I started to feel tire. That is possibly caused by the combination of long travelling to Putrajaya and the fast pace in the first 3 hours.

The food supplied almost always has a long queue. I was just using my own energy bars and no issue on food.

I finish the first 42km in 6 hr 48 minutes, slower than what I did in Sundown. I was so tire at one stage that I can only do 4km/h. I was very very sleepy around 3am time as well. My right leg ITB started to act on me. Everything turned bad. When I almost want to call it a day, I took a last effort to put on a pattstrap on my right leg to control the ITB and started another lap of slow walk. The pattstrap helps but I was still at about 10 mins pace.

It just happened that the fast Malaysia guy (the ultimate winner at the end) passed me. Driven by ego, I try to follow him. I actively swing my arms to pick up speed. His pace is around 7:30, amazingly, I was able to follow him a full lap at 7:30 pace and even have strength to pass him. It is my 2nd win. After that, I was on and off, I was able to do quick laps between rest. I followed the French lady (the ultimate winner in female category) for a lap as well at sub 7:30 pace. It was fun.

At the end, I called it a day after finishing 60 laps with 48 minutes left on the clock. It is a fun event and I will definitely join the event next year. The walking on a uniform loop is actually tougher than Sundown since you repeatly using the same muscle group vs in Sundown, the up and down allows recovery.

In the final result, I believe I was ranked 50 among the male walkers and got a prize of a Genting Holiday card worth RM50. This is the first time I got a prize in a competitive sport event!

The Hong Kong team got good results as well - Billie, Issac and Cheung Wai Tak all got into the top3 in the 50km race, Issac got silver in 70km race and bronze in overall female category.

A few reflection on improvement:
- need to make better preparation next time (e.g. the tape)
- need better training (I haven't train for race walking for a few months)
- need a better plan on support
- need to learn more skill about racewalking. My brisk walk is too slow and not efficient.

A page of the GPS log can be found below:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20471574

Oxfam Hong Kong Trailwalker

After 4 months of preparation, I was facing the coldest ever Hong Kong trailwalker event. Just a week before the event, before I was flying out of Singapore, the weather forecast was 17-22 degree which is perfect temperature for trekking. I pack lightly with a SKINS long pant, one dry-fit t-shirt, one wind-breaker, that's all. In my support pack, I add, a spare t-shirt, a long-sleeve polo shirt, a long track-pant, towel, spare shoe etc.

But just 2 days later, the weather changed a lot and the temperature in Hong Kong dropped to 12 degree. Since my wife fly out later than me, she helped to pack an extra fleece long-sleeve polo shirt.

On the day of the event, it was cold, around 12-17 degree in the city and down to 7 degree in the mountain in the new territory. My team was team 0157 consists of 4 members all from HKUST MBA (Johny, me, Roger and our team captain YC). Our team is at the 9:00am start. We trek the first three stage under the daylight. Clothing was not a problem at all as it was a sunny day. I just wear a dri-fit t-shirt with a wind breaker. In stage one, it is very easy, paved road, beautiful scene around the High Island Reservoir. We top up some water and head for stage 2.

The first mountain to tackle is the Sai-Wan Shan (300m). When we finish the Sai Wan Shan, we reached checkpoint 1. We stopped to eat. I just had a banana plus an energy bar. Then we head for Ham Tin and Chek Keng and arrive checkpoint 2 at Pak Tam Au. One of the team member Roger has a problem with the ITB. I helped him to put on a pattstrap to see if it can help to control the problem. So far, the first 2 stages are relatively easy. From checkpoint 2, we need to climb up the Kai Kung Shan which is 400m tall. This started the most difficult two stages - 3 & 4. Not only we needed to climb up from sealevel to 400m but also dropped down to 150m and climb up to 400m again. In between, the sun started to set at around 5:30pm. The wind started to blow strong and is getting cold. I put on the extra fleece polo shirt and turn on the head-mounted light. The team arrived at Shui Long Wu at around 7pm. Roger was doing ok during the stage 3. The support team was waiting for us and serve us congee with seafood, sweet potato dessert. We stayed there for more than an hour. And the weather is getting colder and colder. One of my team mate has an extra long sleeve t-shirt and loan it to me. It proved to be essential.

Then, we started again to tackle the most difficult stage 4 during the night. I was really cold and the wind blows really hard. We head for the Ma On Shan (550m+). When we are passing the Ma On Shan pass, we were walking on the ridge with Kowloon on one side and New Territory on the other side. The wind was blowing so strong that I had to lower my center of gravity and fight the wind. The gust wind can blow and move my body left and right for up to 0.5m There is a fear that someone may blow off the ridge into the valley (though nobody suffer from that). Right after passing the ridge, we grouped in an area just below the ridge where the wind is calmer. However, with the cold weather and not enough clothing, I quickly feel that my body was cooling down too much. I told my team captain that I cannot stay and have to get started. Even without his reply, I have started my way. I was at the edge of hypothermia. If I had stayed station for another 30 seconds, my body will go into un-controlled shivering. The team captain quickly catch up with me. But after a while, he had to stop to rub Bengay. But it was so cold that even after drinking a cup of ginger tea, I was still feeling very cold. I had to jog in a small loop nearby just to keep myself warm enough. We went on to finish the stage 4. But then, one of the team member who has a knee pain had to give up due to excessive swelling of the knee.

We continue with just three of us into stage 5 and need to go through Tate's Cairn. But half way into stage 5, our team captain's knee also get into trouble (ITB problem). He had to quit as well. That left Johny and me to continue. Johny's knee did not feel right as well (ITB problem again). My right knee also started to have pain at ITB and I started to be careful in going down steps. We went through the Lion's Rock and to the Beacon Hill to complete the stage 5. But at the checkpoint, it is so cold and with such as strong wind that we decided not to stop but move on to stage 6.

Through the Golden Hill, we arrive at the Jubilee Reservoir when the sun finally take over the sky. We endure through the night in the tough stage 4, 5 & 6. Now, we need to face the famous three mountains - Needle Hill, Grass Hill and Tai Mo Shan which is the highest mountain in Hong Kong. After recharge in Jubilee Reservoir with the support team.

The Needle Hill is tall (600m+) and have many steps. The top is very windy as well. We quickly decent the Needle Hill after reaching the top. The next is Grass Hill. This one is much easier as we are walking on paved road. After decenting the Grass Hill, we reached checkpoint 7. After 15 rest and eating, we setoff to the last major climb - Tai Mo Shan with the peak at 952m. The initial climb is tough but after the 1st stage, it becomes more gentle and easier to climb. The last stage is paved road to the top. After reaching the top, now is a long descent via a paved road to Tsuen Kam Au which is checkpoint 8.

When we arrive checkpoint 8, the sun is about to set. The support team has provided dumpling with sticky rice and sweet potato dessert. After a 30 mins rest and recharge, we turn on the headmount light and head for the stage 9. Stage 9 is a long paved road for about 9km+, mostly descent. So, it is not a difficult stage at all. However, with the knee problem, my teammate has some problem in going down the gentle slope. I loan him my walking pole and it works for him. With two poles, he can move at 5km+/hr!! After about 2 hour+, we arrive at checkpoint 9.

After 15 minutes break/rest, we continue to stage 10 toward Tai Lam Chung Reservoir. The path was twisty and in go down some stairs, my team mate had made problem on his knee worst. We slow down and move slowly (2~3km/hr) towards our finish point - Tai Tong.

After about 5km along the reservoir, we turn north into the new route towards Tai Tong. Johny took a 3 minutes stretch and then we head up the slope towards Tai Tong. We went up the slope surprisingly quick. And after the "new route confirmation point", the route turned into up-and-down steps which is very painful for people with ITB problem. Both Johny and me had to go down the steps slowly. After all these steps, another long uphill slope. Then, we saw Tai Tong campsite. But there is still 2km to go. We go around the campsite, finally reached the finish line at 9 mins passed mid-night. Total time spent is 39 hours, 9 minutes.

I did not have any blister on my foot but I had a very painful ITB. After about a week, my ITB just started to feel better (at least can walk downstair like normal). The trailwalker is a very good experience and I am glad that I finished the event.

Longest hike in preparing for HK Trailwalker

Since I had cut short my training last week, I decided to go for 50km today. Like last week, I try to follow the North Face 100 route.


I followed the route all the way to the Gangsa mountain bike track. Then, there is a gate closed. I cannot go through to the Mandai road and have to make the U-turn. When I was on the Keluar mountain bike track, I suppose to follow it back to Bukit Timah visitor's center. However, I lost the way when it meets the Kampong trail. Also at the same time, I feel that I had a hot spot at the ball of foot at the right foot. I did not want to have a blister over there as it takes over a month to recover. I decided to take a detour to go back to MacRitchie directly. I slowed down when the hot spot is not feeling good. Air it a few times but taking off the shoe and gently massage it. I was able to go back to my car without having the blister formed. When I reached my car, it was 37km. I thought that if I can nuture it for 7-8 km, I may be able to continue to make a loop around MacRitchie and boost the distance to 50km. That's what I did.


Total distance covered is exactly 50km (I have some detour around the MacRitchie carpark to make it up to 50km). Timing is 9 hrs 19 minutes. While the timing should have missed the cut-off time for NF100 duo, it includes a few breaks. Overall, I was happy with the pace. Feeling a bit tired. However, from the elevation, the route is not that challenging (cos I did not go into the hill 265 area which I was told very tough).


Overall, good training before the HK trailwalker which is just 3 weeks away. This should be my longest training and from now on, will be on tapering.

Hiking on North Face 100 route

Last Saturday is the North Face 100 event. Therefore, I move my training to Sunday instead. But I would like to go in using the North Face route.


The North Face signs were intact when I did my hike. I was able to follow it all the way to the Gangsa track. However, I did not see any sign after 1.5 km and I was not sure whether I was on the right path (indeed, I was on the right path), plus, there was a thunderstorm brewing. Therefore, I u-turned back to Bukit Timah. While I was still on the Belkur mountain bike track, it started to rain, heavily. Luckily, I bought my raincoat with me. I was not afraid of the rain but rather the thunder. I had to cross an empty field about 20-30m wide with thunders brewing nearby. It was not fun at all. I followed the catchman path and arrived at the catchman hut to take a break. When the rain ease off a bit, I started again.

The North Face route is interesting. Even though I have been hiking in MacRitchie/Bukit Timah many times, the North Face route took me through some path that I have never been to.

The overall timing is good 6 hr 44 mins for around 36km (SportTracks tends to record a distance that is too long). About 5.5km/h. On the slope at Bukit Timah, my heart rate did go up a lot.


But from a difficulty perspective, the route is not very difficult (maybe I did not cover the hill 265 section).
save

MacRitchie / Bukit Timah / Zhenghua Park

Another long hike on 17-Oct. Total distance is 46km. From MacRitchie to Bukit Timah, Singapore Quarry, Zhenghua Park and a part of Bukit Panjang park connector.

This is the longest hike that I had, taken a total of 8 hrs 14 minutes. I was able to keep my average heart rate checked while having an average 5.5 km/h, pretty good speed for the terrain and distance.


But I was only in the summit twice, not a lot of vertical climb.


save

MacRitchie / Bukit Timah Hike

Not much time left till Hong Kong Trailwalker. This weekend is a 35km hike. From MacRitchie to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and then to end of ZhengHua Park. This is my first time in ZhengHua Park. Pretty nice park lining along BKE.


I loaded up 3 liters of water from the start. But after the U-turn at ZhengHua Park, at Valley Fall Path, I run out of water. Luckily, it is only about 1/2 km from the Ranger station at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I topped up 2 liters and go on. At the finish, I only have about 250ml left.


Pace is around 5km+, nice pace for Trailwalker. Try to keep the heart rate below 160 but still have some stair climb goes up to 171.

save

25km hike

Finally, I am getting back on LOOONG training. This time is a 25km. From MacRitchie to Bukit Timah, loop the summit twice. Though I made a wrong turn in the North View Path and did not go all the way to the bottom via the Dairy Farm Loop. So, I only capture the Summit 1.5 times.



Speed wise, it is still slow. Not sure why I lost my speed.




save

Stair Climbing Training (40 x 5)

This is the longest Stair Climbing that I have. A total of 40 storeys x 5. I carried a 500ml water with me. Total time spent is 1 hr 12 minutes including the time to go and back. I was able to keep the heartrate in the reasonable range. Timing wise, the last climb was a bit slow but the others are all standard.


save

10km hike

I was a bit lazy in updating my training. Two weekend ago, I did a 10km hike in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Walk into the Dairy Farm Path. The area near the Quarry is beautiful.


It is a relatively slow training session. Feeling that I was not in form.


I climb over the Summit twice and also try out the new Hydration bag. The bag works fine. Can hold 3 liter liquid with multiple small pockets to put small things. I bought it in Hong Kong fo HK$599 (around S$110). It is a good deal.




save

Stair Climbing

After a pause of stair climbing for 2 weeks, I am back on it again. This time, I don't have enough time to do 40 x 4. Therefore, I go for a higher intensity training with 40 x 3. I took 6-7 floors of 2-step-a-time and then 3-4 floors of 1-step-a-time.


It was only 8 minutes for the 1st set, faster than the typical 8.5 minutes. The peak heartrate is about the same as usual. The legs get more tired. It is a good 50 minutes workout.

MacLehose Trail training

I returned to Hong Kong to join the trailwalker team for a training. It was originally planned as a LOOONG training starting from stage 2 and ended after stage 4. It was intended for a very long hike of 14 hours.


We have a team of 6, gathered at Sai Kung at 9am. Took a cab a the start of stage 2. Warm up and start hiking at around 10am.

The weather was hot, humid and without any wind. Very quick, during the uphill section to a 300m hill, my heartrate goes through the roof, hitting 170+. I have to slow down and take many break in the shade.

I sweat a lot and drink more than I was planned. After the first half of stage 2, we took a break at a store. One of the team member is not going well with the hot weather and is losing pace. He decided to pull off. Top up with water/isotonic drink and started again at around 12:30pm. In the mid-day and hot weather, I was consuming about 1 liter fluid per hour. With the slow pace, it took 5 hours to finish stage 2 (including various breaks). And we have some tough decision to make at the start of stage 3. There is no convenient exit point. You have to commit to go for the whole stage 3 which I estimated to take 5 hours. It was 3:30pm and we suppose to meet other team member at 7pm at end of stage 3. It is no way that we can finish in time.

And the end, we stop at end of stage 2, defeated by the hot weather.
save

Lets Take a walk 30km training

This year, I am not intended to join the Lets take a walk. But I still join the training. This training starts from the Tampines sports hall and ended in Ang Mo Kio MRT station.


We stop at the Central for lunch. The walking pace is generally leisure. Ranging from 10 to 15 minutes/km. I was wearing the Kayano Walker but feel that the size is a bit too small for this long distance.

Stair Climbing Training

In this week of stair climbing, I increase to 136 floors. I go to the same 40 storey block as last week. But I change to 5 floor of 2-step-at-a-time and 5 floor of 1-step-at-a-time. Then, switch to the other stairwell. I try to keep my heart rate below 160 as well. The chart below include the warm up and warm down portion.


Overall works well. Take me about 40 minutes to finish the 136 floors, about 400m vertical. More important, I still feel great after the climb.

Trail Hiking in MacRitchie & Bukit Timah

This week hiking route is similar to last week. Starting from MacRitchie going clockwise. I went up to the HSBC tree top walk but they are not opened yet. I went to Bukit Timah via the Rifle Range Link. Go through the summit three times. I think I almost cover every single marked trail in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve - South View Path, Toban Loop, Rock Path, Catchment Path, Keruing Path, Rengas Path, Serays Loop, Dairy Farm Loop. Only missing the North View Path. By the way, the Rock Path is really tough one.

Total distance covered is 32km. Time taken is 6hr 22mins. I have taken a much slower approach in going up the Bukit Timah Summit, keeping the heart rate in reasonable range and it works!!

From the elevation chart, you can clearly see that I went up the summit three times.

Interval run

I am restarting my interval training. 400m x 5 with 2 mins in between walking.

Stair Climbing

My weekly stair climbing. This time, same 40 storey building but extend to going up 3 times. Total is 117 storeys.

I alternating going up 2-step a time vs 1-step a time for every 4 storeys. Therefore, you can see the saw-tooth effect on the heart rate. When I reached the top, I took the lift back to level 1 and start again.

Condition is still good after climbing up the 117 storeys. I can still run the 400m back home.

Trail Training

Another trail training at MacRitchie & Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I have added a side trip to the HSBC tree top walk. Also an additional North View trail at Bukit Timah.

Total distance is 28.5km and time taken is 5 hr 25 minutes. During the uphill climb on the Bukit Timah Summit path and North View trail. I was going too fast and heartrate goes up to 172. I need to learn to slowdown on these steep uphill climb.

From the Elevation chart, there are three steep uphill climb - the one before HSBC treetop walk, the Bukit Timah Summit path and the North View Trail. Though the distance for these three are relatively short, but the steepness is very similar to MacLehose trail.

Stair Climb Training

I have found a taller HDB block at the junction of Alexandra Road and Commonwealth Ave. It is 40 storeys tall. I went up, take the lift down, walk up again, take the lift down and walk up to the 24 floor for a third time. Totally, I covered 101 storeys. I believe each storey is about 3 meter +, therefore, I totally covered more than 303 meters.

MacRitchie / Bukit Timah Hike

I need to find some good trail to practice. When I search around in MapMyRun, I found a North Face 100 training which is around 23 km. I feel that it is suitable and therefore decided to follow the route.

The route goes halfway round MacRitchie, then take the Rifle Range Road to Bukit Timah. Go through the catchment trail, summit and then down. Then, I took the Kampong Trail to go back to MacRitchie and finish the loop.

Overall is 25.5km and took me 4 hours 25 minutes. A little bit on the slow side. The stair climb to the Bukit Timah summit is good but a bit short. Next time, I should go around it 2-3 times.

Stair Climbing

I have another Stairclimbing training on a nearby HDB block at Dawson Place. The HDB is 30 storeys tall. I went up, walk down, walk up again, take the lift down and walk up for a third time. Totally, I covered 87 storeys. I believe each storey is about 3 meter +, therefore, I totally covered more than 261 meters.

Recovery Run

After Saturday/Sunday's trailwalker training, I have a recovery run today. A short 3.5km started at moderate run/walk to faster pace at the end.

I need to resume my 3-trainings-a-week schedule to prepare for the trailwalker.

Trailwalker training

During my visit in Hong Kong, I join the team of 10 to have a training night walk on the MacLehose Trail stage 3 & 4. I have not hiked in Hong Kong for more than 15 years (possibly 20 years). And I never had any night walk on trails in Hong Kong. Thanks for YC (veteran in trailwalker) in organising the training.

I bought a head-mounted LED light with a hand-held torch light. Also bought a walking stick. All these items are from Ap-Liu Street. The head-mounted LED for HK$24, the torch light for HK$25 and another $25 for the walking stick.

The original plan was to cover stage 3, 4 & 5. But at the end of stage 4, the team voted for exiting via 飛鵝山道.


The total distance counted by the Garmin 305 is 24.22 km, excluding the part from exiting Camp Gilwell (基維爾營) to Choi Hung.


There are a couple of long climb. For example, the 1st 1 km was a uphill climb with 220m elevation gain. These climbs are tough. Even my 70 storeys stair-climb training is not enough. During the stage 4, my quad muscle has started to get tired and I have to slow down and taking 10 second breaks for every 15-20 steps during the uphill climb. Overall, the team spent 9 hours on stage 3 & 4 (we do have two extended breaks with each last for 15 mins). I can go faster on the flat and downhill portion. The walking stick proved to be very useful (the first time I use walking stick). The head-mount light was a bit weak. I think I will buy another one that is brighter. But the weather is really hot and humid. Even at the top of the 雞公山, there is very little wind. I used up about 4 liters of water/isotonic drinks. Luckily, we have a supply at the end of stage 3 and don't need to carry all the water. I also not using the proper shoes. I brought along the Mizuno Elixir which is too soft and not providing enough support.

Just the stage 3 & 4 is so tough that it is almost equivalent to finish a full marathon. Luckily, the stage 3 & 4 are the only two 3-star stages in MacLehose trail. The rest are 1-star and 2-star only. But still need more training, especially for the quad and the minor muscles to control the ankle.

Hong Kong Trailwalker

One of the events that I want to participate at least once in my life is the Oxfam Trailwalker in Hong Kong on 20/22-Nov-09. I am trying to join the HKUST MBA Alumni team. I think my last time walking on the MacLehose Trail is at least 15 years ago. All my running/brisk walk in the last couple of years are in more less flat terrain.

I will need some serious training to finish the 100km MacLehose trail. I was told the total uphill is 3900m!!

I just started my stair training during the last weekend. Walking up 29 storeys, then walk down 29 storeys and walk up 29 storeys again. I think I need to stretch it to a total of 120 storeys at one go (equivalent to 360m, roughly the average uphill climb on the MacLehose trail).

I don't know what is the predicted time. I can do 100km in less than 20 hours on flat terrain. But with the climb, I am putting it as 30-33 hours. Need more training!!!

Sundown Ultra Marathon

Finally put the 84km to rest. Yesterday morning, I still not sure whether I should participate. During the critical 3 months training before the event, I had several injuries - a bad Achilles tendon stopped me from any high intensity training (people may notice that I brisk walk all my training), then 4 weeks before Sundown, I had a bad left lower back muscle, have to miss the planned longest training of 55km (my longest LSD was 42km before Sundown). While after 3 weeks, finally, my left back is completely recovered, guess what, I pull my right back a week before Sundown! Even on 30-May morning, I have a stiff back and have to stretch it about 5 times during the day. I wasn't sure how my back will held up plus the shortage of mileage. Anyway, at the end, I still go for it (Thank god that I make that decision).



Before the race started, I cannot sit down for long time since it will stiffen my back. I got to the wrong starting point and "consume" 200m of my energy. I followed my plan to target 1st loop to be 6.5 hours. I was right on the dot, completed 1st loop 6:31. Then, a bad mistake in my shoe for 2nd loop. I bought a new insole and have trained with it in my Asics Culumus. I bought another one for my Asics Landreth. However, due to my back problem, I cancelled all my training plan and never use it for a long walk. The Landreth is slight narrower and shorter than the Culumus though both are size 10. Just after 3km, the insole was generating too much heat and have signs in forming a blister on my right foot. Several attempt trying to fix it but only be able to get it slightly better. I tried to ask for a pair of scissors to cut out part of the insole but almost all volunteer does not have a pair of scissors. Finally one of the girl has a small nail scissors. I cut out part of the insole. But still, at around 18km in 2nd loop, a big blister formed on my heel. pain now comes in every step. And I was 23km away from the finishing line. In the next 4.5 hours, I walked in pain but slowly getting to the destination. In the 2nd loop, I took a 15 second stretch on my back in every 2km and keep it alright.

I was very conservative in the last 20km and go at a pace of 11-12 min per km. I could have got faster, but I want to play safe. In the last 500m, I started my normal brisk walking pace of sub-9 minutes and run to the finishing line in the last 100m. Finally, finish the 84km at 14:42. From a state of almost want to withdrawn just 24 hours ago to finishing the 84km and put it behind, it is difficult to describe my emotion.


As a quick survey of damages, chaffing under arm and butt, inflamed Achilles tendon, one blister on right foot small toe, huge blister at right foot heel (about the size of two 50 cents coin), blister at left foot ball of foot (about 20 cents coin size). One amazing thing is that I have suppressed the pain from the blisters from more than 4 hours. After I collect the medal/t-shirt, then, all the pain comes. I have a really hard time in walking to my car.

By the way, thanks for the support table at Bedok Town Park. The ice-cold water helps to refresh myself. And the ice-cold 100+ gives my extra energy.save

Sundown Familiarization

I am still too low on my mileage. My right foot Achilles tendon seems to recover. Therefore, I joined the team fatbird for their familiarization run.

The run starts from the carpark C4 and follow the Sundown route. I choose the 35km distance which U-turn in Loyang Ave. I set up my goal as a total of 7 hours. Target to arrive back to carpark C4 after 5.5 hours and go for more in the East Coast Park. As a practice for Sundown, I will do pure brisk walk as well.


I start at a moderate pace but slowdown to pace the couple that are also walking. The couple u-turn just before Bedok reservior park and I get back to my normal pace.


When I arrive back to carpark C4, It was 34km and I am at 5:26, slightly slower than my goal. Then, I add another 8km along the East Coast Park to completed 42.5km in 6:58. The route is tough since it is a U-turn and I had to cross 8 bridges. The up-down terrain in the Bedok HDB is also tough on the body.

When I arrived back at around 4:30am, a group of 55km runners are still chatting at carpark C4. But I was too tired to join them for "breakfast". Muscle ache for about a day. And on today, I feel ok. To avoid another DNF, I need more mileage and it is only 2 more weeks to accumulate mileage. Not sure whehter I will get to my planned 60km mark. I suppose to reach 50km mark for my training this week.

Dusty Run 2009

I have been troubled by my Achilles Tendon problem for a few weeks. I cut down on my training to once a week (or less). Mileage has been low and no high intensity exercise. But I still need to get my long run to prepared for the Sundown. I joined the Dusty Run with about 100 other runners. I decided to go for at least 30km and possibly longer (if I am still in good shape after 30km). I followed the 30km route. And when I was back at the starting point, I feel that I can do a few more. I have a total of 35km - longest training since Hong Kong Marathon.


The route goes from East Coast Park F2 carpark. We go eastward to and cross the East Coast Parkway to Bedok park connector. Make a loop in the Expo and heading to Bedok Reservoir Park. After that, follow the Siglap Park Connector, Siglap Place, Bedok and back to East Coast Park. I do some extra after arriving in F2 carpark to the hawker center and the Bedok Jitty.


The the first 8km, I was walking with Le Giang at a slow pace of 10:30. She catch up on the MRT at Expo and then I speed up to 8:30 pace for the next 7-8km. But the uphill portion at the Siglap Place is taxing on me and I have to slow down to 9:30 pace. Plus, I was running low on water along Bedok South Road and have to slow down to avoid de-hydration. I stop by in a coffee shop for a coke and head back. Overall pace is a bit slow. and the 35km took me 5hr 43 mins. I need a slightly faster pace in the Sundown, perhaps a 6hr 30mins for the 1st loop.

My Achilles tendon holds up ok. Though a bit tired but everything is fine. There is only about 4 more weeks to up the mileage before tappering down.

Tempo Walk

Since I will concentrate my training on brisk walking this year, I switched my interval training from running to walking. Now, I also switch my tempo run to "tempo walk".

I target a 7:00 pace and I was able to keep the pace. However, the original intention is to go for 6.6km but after just 3.3km at the sub 7:00 pace, I was sweating a lot and my shin muscle start to get tired. I think I am not fit enough for a 6.6km at sub 7:00 pace yet. During the big walk, I was only able to keep the 7:00 pace up to 2km and then fall back to 7:30 pace. More practices needed...

Fat Bird NightHawk run #1

I was a bit lazy in blogging after the HK marathon. I have resumed training and have two LSD in the last two weeks. This week, I have joined the Fat Bird team NightHawk run in the East Coast Park. Around 50 people participated in the run. Some goes for 10km, some 19km, some 21km and some 24km.

I decided to take a 21km as a progressive buildup of my mileage again. Route is very simple, go from the Splash all the way to end of East Coast Park and then into the Park Connector 1st traffic light. Although the intended distance is 21km, the Garmin GPS shows only 20.4km.

Since in 2009, I will be focusing on walking event, I will conduct most of my training in brisk walk. It just happended that a group of runners also want to go slowly at 7:30 pace for "fat burning". I was able to keep up with them in the 1st half.

My previously longest walk at 7:30 pace is 1 hour. Similarly this time, I am able to keep up the pace for the 1st hour, and then, my pace dropped to 8:00 to 8:30 range. And finally finish at 2 hr 39 minutes. It is slightly slower than my AHM pace but I am happy with it. I should have let my early pace goes a little slower. Still working on "what should be the pace for my Sundown?".