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).
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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.


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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.

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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.




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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.


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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.




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