Clark Quay - A Morning Look at Singapore's Most Happening Watering Hole(4km)

Blue Blue sky at Clark Quay

  The last time I did my Clark Quay Run, I was down with fever and flu, thus come Saturday morning again, I suggested Clark Quay, in order to address the regrets that I had the last time round.

Comes Saturday. No Flu, No Rain.

Fantastic!

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Macritchie East Side Run - Tight, Narrow, Slippery with Steps

The narrow paths of Macritchie Reservoir

This week, we were back to challenge Macritchie Reservoir after the ill fated run a few months ago. This time round, we were more cautious, just in case Lazy Girl wondered off in the woods and ended up on a golf course again. The last time, we tried the clockwise direction towards the West side of the reservoir, so we would be trying the anti-clockwise direction towards the Eastern region of the reservoir.  

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Gardens by The Bay - Into the New Botanical Gardens of Singapore

During the Pocari Sweat run earlier in the year, when we heard that we were going to be running at the newly opened Gardens by the Bay, we were pretty excited! Little do we know that we were actually running PAST Gardens by the Bay, rather than into the Garden itself.

So one fine day, we met at our usual spot at Millennium Walk. The rest of the guys are going for the usual route, either around the Marina Waterfront or to the Marina Barrage and back. I decided to do a detour and take a small little exploitative trip into Gardens by the Bay.

The View from the Southern Part of the Gardens

It's all Green! Don't see much flowers...

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100-plus PAssion run at ECP - Bright Orange Shirts Give People a BadHeadache!

The Jigsaw finishing pic! One of the most memorable race gift I ever gotten!

The 100plus Passion run probably marks the first official 9km run I am embarking on. I had done a few 6-8km runs and an accidental 10km run and that's it. I know that I can probably complete the run, but a bout of flu made me decide to forgo my runs for the past 2 weeks. I did a remedial run of 4km a few days before but I wondered if that is really enough for me to complete the historical 9km run.

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China Shanghai, Pudong: The Economic Heartland of China

It's the last leg of our China- Shanghai trip with BGB and Alcoholic, and we were absolutely exhausted.

The trip has taken us from the old city of the Bund, to garden city Suzhou, the amazing race around west lake of Hangzhou and the historical city of Nanjing in a 2 weeks spree around central China. I brought along my running shoes but found little chance to use it as we were totally bonked out every morning, trying to explore the night life around the various cities. I dragged myself out of bed on the last leg of our journey while the other 2 refused to "torture themselves on a fun trip". 

We swapped our hotel from Puxi to the new gleaming commercial district of Pudong, so that is where I started my run....

Setting off from our hotel. Budget hotels in China are pretty decent!

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Clementi Camp Run: Changing to a New Pair of Running Shoes

Author's Note:

Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I was away for in-camp training for a week during the first week of October. I flew off to Shanghai 2 days later for another 2 weeks trip. I was intending to update my blog at Shanghai, but horrors of horrors, blogger is being blocked in China too (Along with facebook, bloomberg and many many websites. Agghh). Therefore, I got 3 weeks worth of action to update, so do be patient with me. And yes, you can expect some action from my Shanghai trip, so stay tune!

Xeo

Come on, you are not really expecting me to blog publicly about my running regime in an army camp! Although the regulations for camera smartphones to be brought in-camp have been relaxed this year, it is still an OFFENSE to take any pictures inside camp. And of course, it is definitely an offense to publish my running route in-camp! So, I am going to talk about my new SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) ASICS shoes and the running experience with it.

My SAF sponsored Asics running shoe (Taken out of camp!)

For the benefits for the non-Singaporean readers of this post, let me give you some background of what "reservist" and "in-camp" training means. Essentially, all Singaporean males have the compulsory "privilege" of serving the nation by enlisting for 2 years of full-time military service. After which, you have to serve at least 10 years of "reservist" training from a week to a month of compulsory retraining after the 2 years full-time military training. Failure to turn up for the privilege of free food, free lodging and free hike through the mosquito infested woods of Singapore will result in disciplinary action, which include spending time in prison. So one of the perks is that you get free branded footwear during that 10 years of reservist training. Previously, it was New Balance and Brooks. Recently, Asics is the preferred running shoes. It is a pretty good deal given that a pair of Asics running shoes cost up to hundreds of dollars in a normal sports apparel shop and we can get it for free! The only downside is that you will not be making a fashion statement when you go on a run as every Singaporean male will know that you are wearing free SAF shoes (which makes you look cheap in today's status obsessed society).

I did not care much on what people think of me based on my running attire anyway, and my old SAF New Balance shoe served me well until the soles painfully split apart  from the shoe proper. Some of my friends advised me to get proper forefoot running shoes as SAF running shoes is not built for that purpose, but heck, I have been doing well with SAF shoes so far.

The shoes come in two varieties. One for arch foot and another for flat foot. Being an extreme flat footer, I chose the arch support shoes and luckily, it came in my favorite blue color. After dumping my old shoes in the camp bin, I embarked on a new running journey

That's where the pain of breaking into the new shoe comes in...

The first run created a strain on my Achilles heel. So did my subsequennt 2 runs. The rigidity of the new sole is forcing me to land on my heels instead of my forefoot. The relatively thicker sole also diminished my feel of the ground. My theory is that the new shoes are putting on stress on my heels as it forces a heel strike shoe to perform like a forefoot shoe.

Tried 2 short runs at Bedok Reservoir. Achilles heels hurt!!!

The problem now is that I could not run more than 5km before the pain kick in. I have signed up for a 9km run in nov and my old shoes are on the way to the incinerator. I need to condition my shoes ASAP!

So, during my shanghai trip, I wore it as much as possible, walking everywhere with it. Good thing that few locals actually recognize these are free saf sneakers, but fellow Singaporeans recognized my hometown immediately on seeing my footwear.

At the end of the trip, I did a 6km run around shanghai. No strain, no pain. Looks like my strategy is working!!

Perhaps I should get a pair of backup running shoes so that the next time I need to change shoes, I do not news to undergo such painful transition. And I was told that running is a cheap sport....

      

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VIVO City, Labrador MRT - Friends Are Important To Cultivate a HealthyLifestyle

2 weeks of running ban from doctor, 1 week to remove stitches and wait for wound to close and 1 week of flu/cough.Thanks to the recent bad air from the bushfires of Indonesia, I have been developing a cough every time the air pollution level jumps. This always gave me a mental excuse to skip my runs earlier in the week, after my recovery from my flu. The funny thing, is that I used to be immune from all the bad air Singapore has seen in the past decade. Perhaps the Grave Disease has started affecting my lungs too?? It has been a month since I stopped running and it could have been longer, if not for my usual running friends urging me to resume our Saturday weekend run. So cough or no cough, I dragged myself out of bed at 7am in the morning, despite turning in late at 2am the night before.

The Playground of the rich!

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The Battle with Graves' Disease II: The Adventure of being poked and probbed at Changi General Hospital

I am banned from running for 2 weeks, this time, not due to flu, work or plain laziness. My grave disease is back to haunt me. You may want to refer to this article on my illness to get some background in relation to this post.

I was going for my usual quarterly thyroid check up at Changi General Hospital. Prior to the checkup, my thyroid condition has improved, thanks to a combination of western medicine, tradition Chinese medicine,a good running routine, a positive mindset, concerned family and friends, and plenty of vacation.

However, a few months before, I was going for my usual foot reflexology session when my therapist (that's the proper name for people doing foot reflexology right??) noted that there is a slight lump above the ankle of my feet. There was also a scaly feel to the skin around the lump. I attributed it to too tights socks and socks allergy, since I noticed that my condition improved over the weekends when I was going about sockless. The swelling seems to have gotten more obvious recently and it was noticed by my friends and family. I was advises to look for a dermatologist for advice. Since I was traveling quite a bit recently and my work piled up quote a bit, getting an appointment to see a specialist became the least of my priorities. Since I will be seeing my endocrine specialist for my regular check, I was thinking to highlight this issue to him and see if he has any input on this condition.

He was shocked and excited by my condition.

He was shocked because my condition was so rare in Singapore that it only exist in medical text! He was excited because after so many years as a specialist, this was his first time seeing such a condition and he will have a first hand experience examining it! The diagnosis is pretibial myxedema, which primarily causes swelling and scaling of the lower legs. Here are some statistic how rare this Illness is. Only 0.5% of the male population will get graves disease and only at most 3% of those with graves disease will show symptoms of this condition. That is like only 0.02% of the male population that will contract this condition.

The good news is that, the condition will go away if my thyroid condition gets cures (highly unlikely) or I can just bear with it, attracting strange looks from anybody who comes into contact with my feet!

Long story short: my specialist asked for my permission to share my case with his trainees which I granted. 6 docs trooped in and they poked and took pictures while I posed obligately with a smile. I was ushered immediately to the dermatologist dept without needing to stand in the legendary public hospital queues. The dermatologist was as equally excited to see me, and promptly summoned the rest of the doctors in the dept to come and take a look.

"Doc, you look so excited. Is this condition that rare?!?"

"Yes, it is very rare!"

"Sounds like it is really interesting for you."

The doc gave me a look and answered cheerfully," Yes, it is good news for us, but it is bad news for you!"

Well. That's pretty sobering news...

Doc sent me for two biopsy, gorge two piece of meat from my leg, stitch it up (5 Stitches) and advised me to refrain doing any activities that will rip it, including running....

Grounded for two weeks!!!!

Here is a picture of the stitch. Do not scroll down if bloody flesh repels you!

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The Battle with Graves' Disease I: Why I Run

I just got 2 chunk of tissue being extracted from my shin last week and gotten 5 stitches, thanks to a complication from my graves disease. I was banned from running for two weeks by my medical specialist, just in case I split my stitches. Since I will not be posting any new runs, I thought it will be apt to start something like a prologue to share with readers on one of my motivation for my running hobby.

This article chronicles the life changing experience I had a year ago prior to the start of my running hobby. I wrote this while on a hospital bed at SGH using the Facebook note application. However, I realized that with the new timeline feature being implemented in Facebook, the note feature is somewhat removed and I have to dig through my Facebook profile to extract this article and transplant this to blogger, before it is lost in the passing of time...

1st August 2011. Second day of my hospitalization.

Okie I was wrong. I thought that my luck is turning for the better when the fact is... it just got worse.

I underwent a radioactive iodine procedure (RAI) to get rid of my hyperthyroid problem once and for all. Complications came in... I was doing some shopping (Jeans) the other day and pounded the streets of Orchard Road. To those who knows me, shopping is a high tension workout for me. I developed a muscle ache after a while. The ache got worse on Friday when I went for a BBQ at ECP with the team. Well, it is normal for sports cramp to get worse the next day!

Saturday came along and I woke up with a very serious cramp. I can still wobble to the bathroom than. By afternoon, my lower body is hurting so much that I have problems getting of the bed to stand on the floor. I took 30 min. I took a step and simply collapsed on the floor. I knew I was in trouble than. Sis and brother-in-law was back for weekly dinner and they diagnosis that it could be related to my thyroid problem. Decided to get my ass to the A&E of SGH.

The walk to the car is an ordeal. I borrowed my grandma walking stick. I can still hobble around at that time. As long as I lock my legs and put the pressure on the joints of my knees and doesn't involved my heavily cramped thigh muscles, I will be already. 5 steps down the corridor and I bent my knees accidentally. Down I went and scratched my elbow. Family having shock right now as they see me collapse in the middle of the corridor. Bro-in-law came to my rescue and grabbed my shoulders to support me. He stepped on my slippers and down I went again, this time rubbing my knees. I was laughing hysterically than, on the situation and my inability to even support myself. After a few more missed calls, I made it to the car and got to SGH.

By the time i reached the A&E I could not feel my legs and needed to be lifted into the wheelchair by a strong sturdy nurse. Transported me to the bed next and I was wheeled in that bed around SGH. After a battery of test, the docs concluded that I had thyroid paralysis. After the RAI, the thyroid gland is supposed to be burnt off but my super strong mutated thyroid gland lived to tell the tale and I my thyroxine levels are off the horizon. The thyroid gland controls potassium distribution in the body. Potassium is the most important mineral in the human body as muscles need potassium to function or they will cramp up and become paralysis. A lack of potassium also will cause heart failure as the heart is the most important muscle in our body (Thank you google!). My out-of-control thyroid gland failed to distribute potassium around my body which is the reason for the paralysis of my lower limp. By than, the paralysis spread to the upper body till the stage which I could only move my head and wriggle my toes and fingers. The doc desperately pumped potassium into my body and tried to control mt heart rate.My heart was beating erratically at a very dangerous rate of 150-180 at that time, thanks to the mutated thyroid. The normal human heart rate is 60-90 (Thank u google again!)

Yup,  I couldn't move my legs, but I have to smile for the camera!

After that, I spent a sleepless night getting pumped full of liquid potassium. Why sleepless? Because pumping liquid potassium into the body is a very painful thing. My whole right arm is like stuck with a thousand needles and a few groans help to lower the pain mentally. They pumped 5 bags of liquid potassium and each bag takes around 1.5 hrs to finish. Have to put ice bag on my right arm to help to elevate the pain. A very painful night... Miraculously, with each bag pumped in, the pain in the muscles around my body began to lessen and by the next day, I could hobble to the toilet. That is after I peed in 6 urinal bottle on bed with help from the nurses. Now I know how a paralyzed patient feels.

After I thought I can walk out of the hospital by Monday, my legs cramped up on Sunday again. It seems like my potassium level just had a dive and 2 more bags of painful liquid potassium was kindly supplied to me earlier this morning. I now know that this hospital stay is not going to be a short one and i requested my lovely laptop so that I can get some work done and at the same time, get some entertainment to distract me from the pain.

A little testimonial on insurance! Thks to my comprehensive cover, I did not have to pay a single cent! Too bad I can't get anymore after my initial purchase as I gotten the thyroid condition 3 years after I started working. Regretted not getting more than. Hindsight again!!!

After this episode, i think about my mortality even more often, even more after my bouts of illness for the last 2 years. Work hard, Play hard. Life is short. You never know when you won't be able to enjoy life any longer....

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Hong Kong, Mong Kok, Victoria Harbour, Avenue of Stars, Hung Hom FerryPier - From Bustling Streets to Scenic Promenades

Hong Kong. One of the most crowded cities in the world. Full of people, narrow streets, street junctions and hilly slopes. With pollution creeping back in and a hot humid summer, I would say that this could be one of the more unpleasant spot to run in the world. Oh boy, I was mistaken. There were parts, where the running is horrible, but once you hit the sweet spot, you will be rewarded with breathtaking views of the Hong Kong cityscape.

Workers setting up the Ladies' Market in the
morning. They have to tear it down and build
it back up everyday. Curious...

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Macau, Senado Sq to Cortai Strip - Glorious Sunrise Run at Asia Sin City

This is my third trip to Macau. The first time round, I was fascinated by the spectacular architecture of the Casino buildings, the glittering neon lights of the Macau nightlife and trying to figure out the rules of the various table games. The second time I was there, I was freezing my butt off in one of the coldest winters Macau ever seen in a decade. It was also Chinese New Year and there was a celebratory atmosphere in Macau. I made my first big bet in the Casinos, along with my best buddy and made off with a tidy profit from the Black Jack table, feeling pretty confident that I would make more money from the blackjack table in the future. This trip was my third trip and was confident enough to act as a tour guide to my colleagues along, whom for most of them, was their first trip to the Sin City of Asia.

Grand Lisboa in the early morning

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Bedok PCN to East Coast Park ECP - Canal, Dogs, Hi Sister!

This post came real late because I was busy with work before my Hong Kong trip. I was too busy in Hong Kong as a tour guide for my guys and too tired after too many late nights visiting casinos, street markets and nightspots. Stay tune for my posts on my runs in Macau and Hong Kong. But before that, my long overdue post of my run done 2 weeks ago.

Weekend came, and I was down with flu... So I guess I have no choice but to skip my weekly weekend run. In its place, I decided to do a make-up run near my place. I was aiming for a 7-8km run and 2 rounds around my normal Bedok Reservoir Road was not appealing to me. Running eastwards to Tampines was simply not appealing after my ordeal last week. So I decided to run South and visit my sister's place at Tanah Merah to see how far is it exactly.

Conserve Water and Save the Turtles!?!

So I started off at the Bedok Reservoir Park connector network (PCN) and headed towards the Bedok PCN towards the south, along a nice long canal that discharge water from Bedok Reservoir into the ocean at East Coast Park (ECP).

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Bedok Tampines PCN - Too Many Pace Disruptive Traffic Junctions!

The initial plan was to conduct our weekly run at the western end of Singapore: The Chinese Garden. However, all the westerners who were championing for that location pulled out on Friday, probably due to too much excessive National Day celebration. So the choice of where to run fell to BBG and me. We decided to do our individual location runs this Saturday. Since the need to commit to a certain timing had been eliminated from the equation, I had a late night on Friday and promptly woke up later than usual on Saturday. That was the first mistake!

Objective: Bedok to Pasir Ris!

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The Perfect iPod Playlist for Running

Here is an article from the Times Website, on how music can help in your workout. I have friends who prefer to enjoy the ambient natural sound while running, but I find that running with music do help with performance! The running software that reminds you of your distance and pace helps a lot too! Here are some of the songs I use for my running:

"Barbara Streisand" Duck Sauce

"Don't Stop The Music" Rihanna

"I gotta Feeling" Black Eye Peas

"Dance Again" Jennifer Lopez

"Laserlight" Jessie J

"Party Rock Anthem" Lmfao

"Titanium" David Guetta

"Top of the World" Cataracs

"Telephone" Lady Gaga

"Till the World Ends" Britney Spears

The Perfect Playlist: How Your iPod Can Help You Run Faster and Harder 

By Alexandra Sifferlin

Sometimes you need an extra push to hit the pavement or treadmill — or to make it through that last grueling mile of training — and the key may simply be loading right songs on your iPod, according to Dr. Coastas Karageorghis, author of Inside Sport Psychology and a leading expert on the psychophysical and ergogenic effects of music at Brunel University, in London.

Getty Images

Music has specific motivational qualities that can make you work harder and faster, even when you feel spent. “Music has the propensity to elevate positive aspects of mood such as vigor and excitement, and reduces negative aspects such as tension and fatigue,” says Karageorghis, who has created custom workout soundtracks for several U.S. athletes competing in the London Olympics. ”It reduces perceived effort, and training to a musical beat can enhance endurance.”

Whether you’re a casual runner or training for a distance event (if the latter, first check out our tips on training from last week), the right playlist can optimize your performance. Here are Karageorghis’ guidelines for putting together a runner’s mix that will get you across the finish line:

(MORE: It’s Not Too Late to Start: Tips for Training for a Distance Run)

Select tracks with energizing beats
Synchronizing your strides with an upbeat song can subconsciously increase your effort during a workout. In a 2009 study, Karageorghis and his colleagues found that matching training with music significantly boosted exercise efficiency and endurance. For the study, the researchers compared 30 participants working out on a treadmill — some listened to high-energy rock and pop tunes and some did not. Compared with those who worked out in silence, those who synchronized their pace to the songs’ tempo improved their endurance by 15%.

Jamming to rhythmic songs also lowers your perceived effort, making you think you’re not working as hard as you really are. Upbeat music increases activity in a part of the brain called the ascending reticular activating system, which “psyches” you up when you’re running.

“The optimal tempo range is 120 to 140 beats per minute,” says Karageorghis. “Our research shows this yields the best psychological outcomes.”

By looking up the beats per minute (bpm) of your go-to songs, you can also find the tempo that matches the heart rate you want to achieve during your workout. For example, if you want your heart rate to get to 130 bpm, choose a song whose tempo progressively increases to that beat, Karageorghis says.

(MORE: 50 Olympic Athletes to Watch)

Stick with what you know
A song’s cultural impact is a key factor in what makes it motivational. “There’s a strong relationship between exposure to a song and you liking it,” says Karageorghis. We tend to favor songs the more often we hear them, so pick a song that’s already in your music library.

Adding songs you associate with moments of perseverance, either from movies or your personal life, can also give you an extra edge. The “Chariots of Fire [theme song] has been used extensively at the London Olympic games,” says Karageorghis. “We’ve made an association with this song and characters doing heroic feats. When you hear it, it conjures images and thoughts of overcoming adversity and striving towards a goal. So you’re conditioned to feel stimulated, inspired and motivated.”

One of TIME’s own staffers, photo editor Liz Ronk, who is training for a half-marathon in October, says this strategy has already worked for her: “Sometimes I hear songs that are played at races that I would normally never listen to, and I’ll download them specifically for my runs just because the song will remind me of that energy.”

Don’t forget to hit shuffle
If you’ve had your playlist on repeat for the last two weeks, you may be desensitized to the songs’ motivational qualities. “This is why radio stations promote songs by playing them repeatedly, but then play it less and less, so listeners don’t develop a negative response to it,” says Karageorghis. “Change your playlist at least every couple of weeks so you don’t listen to the same track over and over.”

(MORE: 5 Common Mistakes You’re Making at the Gym)

Try digitally altering your music to boost motivation
To create playlists for professional athletes, including Great Britain‘s track and field captain, Dai Greene, Karageorghis films them working out at different intensities in order to identify tracks from their music libraries that fit their workouts. Then he tweaks the music to get them working ven harder. “Often I digitally adjust tracks to give a little push of one or two beats per minute,” says Karageorghis. “Differences in tempo of up to four beats per minute are indiscernible to non-musicians. You can easily manipulate your favorite tracks slightly. It’s a particularly good ploy if you want to give yourself a little jolt or get out of a training slump.”

Be choosy about lyrics
“Lyrics can be extremely important, particularly if they carry meaning for the athlete,” says Karageorghis. “You will notice a lot of athletes like your own Michael Phelps use music as an integral part of their pre-event routine. He’s famed for his rap-centric playlist. In Beijing, he listened to the song “I’m Me” by Lil’ Wayne which has strong affirming lyrics as well as being acoustically stimulative.”

Find songs with inspiring lyrics that convey what you want to achieve, like “Pump It” by Black Eyed Peas or “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.

(MORE: Do Sports Products Really Enhance Your Workout? Maybe Not)

If you’re still unsure where to start, below are sample playlists from Karageorghis and from our three TIME staffers who are training for half-marathons in October (stay tuned for ongoing updates about the training this summer):

Dr. Coastas Karageorghis:

“Eye Of The Tiger” (109 BPM), Surivior
“Don’t Stop Me Now” (154 BPM), Queen
“Beat It” (139 BPM), Michael Jackson
“I Like To Move It” (123 BPM), Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman
“Push It” (130 BPM), Salt-N-Pepa

Bryan Walsh, TIME International Senior Editor and Healthland contributor:

“Available,” The National
“Don’t Save Us From the Flames,” M83
“Ready to Start,” Arcade Fire
“Dog Days Are Over,” Florence+the Machine
“All of the Lights,” Kanye West

Liz Ronk, LIFE.com Photo Editor:

“40 Day Dream,” Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

“Celebration Day,” Led Zeppelin

“Paper Planes ” M.I.A.

“No Regrets,” Aesop Rock

“I Can’t Turn You Loose,” Otis Redding

Liz Grover, TIME Imaging Desk:

“Is Anybody Out There?” K’NAAN feat. Nelly Furtado

“Lights,” Ellie Goulding

“Wide Awake,” Katy Perry

“Domino,” Jesse J

“Payphone,” Maroon 5

Don’t forget to protect your ears when you’re jamming on your workout. “Use music judiciously and don’t use it too loudly,” says Karageorghis. “High-intensity exercises coupled with high-intensity music above about 85 decibels can cause temporary hearing loss,” he warns. Stay alert and stay safe.

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East Coast Parkway: It Is As Good As It Can Get

After the grueling hilly terrain of MacRitchie Reservoir, we decided to settle for something less demanding, preferably flat and has potentially lots of pretty ladies. We settled on the evergreen running spot of Singapore. East Coast Park!

If you take a look at all the past post, this is the first time we are doing a run in the east as a group. The reason why: Most of the unfit runners stay in the north and west and I am the only easterner around. It is sad given that the east side has some of the best running spots around. Feeling guilty, the guys let me have my way at the end of the day...

We arranged to meet at Eunos MRT and I will pick them up from there. While waiting in the car at the nearby coffeeshop, I messaged the guys:

PES E, " Come to the back of the MRT. There is a coffeeshop there. I am at the carpark there."

Lazy Girl, "Turn North. Make sure the sun is on your right."

BBG, "Turn Right, see Mr Bean, turn Right, turn right again to carpark."

Lazy Girl, "  <Scream>. I need a compass!"

PES E, "Look for the sun!" 

She found her way via the Mr Bean Method... Anyway....

In case you spot a swimmer drowning in polluted water..

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MacRitchie Reservoir - Hardcore Runners Recommended

We thought we were ready for MacRitchie after so many weeks of running around different parts of Singapore. We were wrong.

Our Startpoint. The Jetty

MacRitchie Reservoir is probably one of the oldest and favorite running spot for Singapore runners and I probably do not need to even blog about it as most runners would have, at one point of time, done a run at MacRitchie Reservoir. The last time we did a run at MacRitchie Reservoir was during our High School days, when we were forced by the school to go for a cross country run. 

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Garden By the Bay East, Kallang, Nicoll Highway - A Big Mistake! 10 KMRun

One week after the Pocari Sweat run, we finally decided to sign up for the Stanchart Half Marathon 10km run and set or minds to training for it.

BBG,"Stanchart 10km no more liao"

PES E,"WTF!?? Let's do the 750m kids dash...."

BBG, "Ya. I just checked. Only marathon n kids dash left.."

Fang Tai, "Think GE Women run still have. Who wanna bring my kids for the run?"

PES E," Noooooooo. My Stanchart!! I never did a Stanchart run before!! I need to do a Stanchart run before I die!!!?

Marathon Girl, " OMG. This is really fast. Really gained a lot of popularity thru the years. Actually got a lot of other runs... Standard chartered too crowded...  越来越不好跑

BBG, "Any good ones u recommend for end of year?"

Marathon Girl, "100 plus passion run in Nov. Got 9km distance."

PES E," We going for all the Isotonic drinks run?? Got a H2O run???"

The discussion to replace the Stanchart Half Marathon is still on going....

The Ugly Brother of Helix Bridge

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Gardens By the Bay - Pocari Sweat Run 5km Run

Here it is, the event that we all have been training for: Pocari Sweat Run 5km! Initially, we signed up for the run because we wanted to set an objective a few months down the road. Training to run 5km from totally unfit is quite a challenge to us at that point in time. The whole experience is best summed up by the quote from Big Bone Guy:

"I never could imagine that I could run 5km! Until today!"

So 5 of us signed up for the Pocari Sweat and is determined to work out at least once a week to be fit enough not to disgrace ourselves during this public event. Alas, a week before the run, I was off to Manado and Gold Coast for holidays and did not get to run much. BBG went on a working trip in Berlin and flew back only the day before the run. Alcoholic and Fang Tai were overseas too. Lazy girl was just... too lazy to run. We were by no means in the best of condition to challenge the run and were moaning and groaning the day before

Gardens At the Bay. Location for the Pocari Sweat Run

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Australia Gold Coast - Surfers' Paradise

Australia is probably one of the most popular holiday destination for Singaporeans. Well, I am one of those who has not been there in his entire life. I guess I am more of a North Asia traveler than a down under fan, as good food, especially noodle dishes, are some of my favorite food. My sis have resort to emotional blackmail to get my sorry ass to the down under and to take advantage of the low promotional rates offered by the newly minted long haul budget airline, Scoot. So off I went on a 6 days gold coast trip with my sis and my two years old niece.

The brightly yellow wacky design of Scoot

The first few days were spend in a farm near sunshine coast. I have every intention try to make an attempt a run around the farm but the uneven, rocky ground plus the winter cold is sufficient to persuade me to stay indoors, away from the freezing outdoors.

Later in the trip, we drove back to gold coast surfer paradise where the weather is much Warmer. Our apartment fronts the famous surfer paradise beach and a nice long running track parallel to the beach makes it a irresistible temptation for any runner.

By 630am, I am suited up for the cold in surfer shorts, a long sleeve rash guard and a windbreaker. This is the first time I am running in the dead of winter anyway so, despite seeing other joggers in t-shirt and short. I rather not take the risk.

Looks like a mugger...

The sunrise is glorious and the beach is beautiful. The running track is smooth and well paved and it stretches all along the entire beach of gold coast. Running in the cold is fantastic too as you do not even perspire much, just feeling comfortably warm even with my pretty warm running gear. My apartment is near the Eileen Peters Park along Esplanade road and with the sea on my right, I head north.

The start point of my run

Glorious Sunrise

Vietnam War Memorial

Its a nice long flat track!!

Life guard Kiosk. See the security camera?

There are no hordes of tourists in the early morning, just the early cleaning crew and a steady stream of joggers. The beach is dotted with numerous unisex toilets and life guard kiosks. As compared to a single high chair in the middle of the beach under the burning sun, the life guard kiosks are a luxury as compared to what I see in Singapore and around Asia. I suspect that they may even have air-con in the kiosks, to help the life guards keep cool, so that they can focus on their jobs spotting distressed swimmers among the swells of the sea.

This Warning sign is everywhere!

 They also have designated swimming area marked out by multi color flags. The beach looks pretty uniform to me, so why do they need to mark out a no swimming area? Is it because that area is out of sight of the life guard kiosk or there is a Great White Shark lurking just below the surface on that stretch of the beach. On my left, are block and blocks of residential apartments and I see a lot of signs at the entrance of these apartments signalling that they have rooms to let. It seems like the whole of surfer paradise is one big weekend vacation spot, as most of the buildings have apartments out for short and long term rental. These are also prime beachfront apartments where you can actually enjoy the sun rising over the coast. In Singapore, residents will queue to get an apartment like that, just for the good Feng Shui.

Prime beachfront properties or just weekend rental apartments?

A rough guide to Surfers Paradise

  I hit the end of surfer paradise and turned back on hitting another stretch of the beach called "main beach".After 5 km, I don't even feel tired, thanks to the cold weather. I could have done another km or two but I need to bring my niece for her McDonald breakfast.

Turning back on reaching the Main Beach

I saw a couple of joggers doing beach jogging and I thought that they look pretty cool, so I did a short distance by the beach just beside the surf. The sand is just hard enough for running and not too soft that it becomes too tiring. If I have another morning at gold coast, I would have done beach running! Yes, I have only one morning at surfer paradise before flying back to Singapore the following morning.

Running on the beach! Beautiful!

The morning sun is fully risen and the weather getting warm

Anyway, I headed back to the apartment I change and get ready for breakfast, knowing that running in the cold, is a fantastic experience! At least I know how much clothes I need to wear to run in the dead of winter! What's left is to try to run, when it is snowing. I wonder what the experience will be like!??

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Indonesia Manado Scuba Diving Trip - Lembeh Strait

Bastiano at Lembeh

Lembeh island, unlike Bunakean, is only a 10 min boat ride from the mainland. Along the Lembeh straits, there are fishing ports, mining activities and factories churning out grey smokes from their exhaust. I was thinking, "Why is this place such a famous diving spot with all these human activities all along the coast?"

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Indonesia Manado Scuba Diving Trip - Bunaken

The View from outside the resort room

Manado situated at the northern tip of the Indonesia Sulawesi island is a major shipping hub between the resource rich eastern islands of Indonesia, China, Japan and Philippines. It also boast some of the most diverse scuba diving experience in the world. The diving group consist of the same batch of unfitters who went on the Pulau Dayang and Aur trip: Crippled, marathon girl and Mr L. This is a 6 days 5 night trip and consist of 11 dives: 6 dives at The island of Bunaken and 5 dives at the island of lembeh. Silkair has a daily flight to Manado and the air fare is pretty standard throughout the year at 450 SGD. This trip is jointly organized by Simply Scuba and Submersible. A short 4 hrs plane ride later, we were whisked off on car and boat to the island of Bunaken. To our horror, we realized that we forgot to bring along something essential for the trip: beer, coke and potato chips, all thanks to the efficiency of the organizers that we did not have time to stop by a nearby supermart on the mainland.

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Labrador Nature Reserve - A Blend of History, Nature & ModernArchitecture

Sorry that there hasn't been an update for 2 weeks. We were off for a diving trip for one weekend and the other weekend, we were detered by a morning thunder storm. Perhaps I will post the pictures of our diving trip in the floor, as this is a blog about healthy living afterall! This weekend, we arrived at Labrador Park for our weekly round the island run.

The starting point of our run.

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Pulau Aur & Dayang - Liveaboard Diving Trip. SeaSick!

Sunset on the Sun Deck

This weekend, we are off for a weekend scuba diving live onboard trip to Pulau Aur and Pulau Dayang in West Malaysia. Although SG Unfit runners is primary about running around interesting spots around Singapore, I think the main objective of the blog is about taking time to workout and enjoy the great outdoors for a bunch of aging unfit folks. So, I will blog about some interesting aspects of this trip, in case you are thinking of taking up Scuba Diving. 

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Punggol Park - Into the Heart of the Opposition ward

Thanks to the strange Hot/Wet weather of the past few weeks, I came down with flu and fever last week and had to take a break from running, while the gang went for a run at Clark Quay. This week, with all the hype about the re-election hype for the member of parliament of the Worker's Party stronghold of Hougang, we decided to drop by the nearby Punggol Park for a Heartland run.

The Pond of Punggol Park. Lots of activites there!

Somebody declaring their love using balloons?

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Sentosa Beach Run - Too much distractions, even on a quiet Saturday Morning

To the fable beaches of Sentosa: We are back!

Early morning sun at central beach station

The last time we were here, we were trapped in the rain for the entire morning. This time round, the weather was sunny with very little evidence of any storm clouds over the horizon. On the other hand, the weather was scorching hot and we regretting not bringing out sunglasses, sunblock and caps out for the run. Starting out at the McDonalds, we worked our way towards Palawan beach and Sentosa cover, planning to turn back when we reached the turning point for the tram and back to the other end at Rasa Sentosa.

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Marina Bay Waterfront - Into the Heart of Singapore

After taking a break last week at Batam, the gang is back in force this week to challenge the Marina Bay area. The freak weather of May is really getting to us as it rains and shines unpredictably almost every other day. It is no different that morning as a heavy downpour made us doubt if we can carry out the run on Saturday morning.

Start Point at Youth Olympic Park

Looks like the Gods are with us this week as the rain let up just before the guys gathered at Promenade MRT station for the run. The weather was cooling and windy and there was little sun to be seen, much to the delight of the ladies who wanted to keep out of those wrinkles inducing UV rays. We took off running from the Youth Olympic Park across the helix bridge, and we were pleasantly surprised by the numbers of runners there are in this area. There were good looking hunks and babes doing their workout too, so the scenery is a delight for both the guys and ladies.

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Bedok Reservoir Forefoot Run Practise - Guess the no of CuddlingCouples?

Now that my calves were 80% recovered, I decided to go for another practice run using forefoot run. This time, I do my normal Bedok Reservoir running route minimizing the heroism of exploring new routes and taking photos at the same time. Did forefoot run for 3 km before feeling the strain on the calves again. Back to heel running for the rest of the distance. My pace did jumped below 7min/km in the first 2 km and I barely felt any breathlessness after the 4.4km run. This is an interesting running technique. More practices to come. 

My poor poor calf...

Counted: 5 couples eating each others' face. 1 man talking to his dog by the moonlight waters.

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Batam Waterfront City - Cable Skiing, Non-Existence Running Tracks

This weekend, we ventured to Batam Waterfront and tried out the Cable Ski Park! Since our weekly run in Singapore had been cancelled due to the Batam trip, I decided to take a bit of initiative to do an exploratory run around Harris Resort, where we decided to stay for a night.

The very nice pool at Harris. Swimming is friendlier than Running!

 A short introduction to our Cable Ski activities since it involves Unfit Runners doing some upper body workout. I guess the videos will give the readers a good idea how well we fared during our first tryouts at cable skiing.

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Bedok PCN - Exploring, Fore Foot Running, PAIN!

Bedok Park Connector Network is part of the legendary Eastern Region PCN that connects the entire eastern part of Singapore. Bedok Reservoir Park is centrally located in this PCN connecting Pasir Ris to East Coast Park. My runs are generally focused around the Reservoir and I haven't started exploring the surround areas yet so I thought that it was time to try as my stamina was getting better.

Welcome to Bedok Park Connector!

My best buddy who got hang of my recent running efforts, sent me this video to encourage me to try out a new running method: forefoot running.

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Project RunThru Singapore Video

This is a beautifully made video about the different parts of Singapore. The places he has gone are where some of the spots we may be planning in the future. Of course running through hawker centers and coffee shops may prove too much temptation for our hungry unfit runners!

 

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Sengkang Riverview Park - Dodging Lightning Bolts

After yesterday aborted run at Sentosa due to the rain, we decided to try again on Sunday evening at Sengkang Riverview park. The initial plan was to run along the park connector either towards Ang Mo Kio or towards Punggol. Starting point was the very "happening" Sengkang Sports & Recreation Centre, and since Singaporeans love their workout so much, finding a carpark at 5pm was quite a challenge too.

Our starting point at Sengkang Sports & Recreation Centre

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Sentosa Beach Run Recce Trip - ABORTED!!

After last week run, our little running group enthusiastically voted for the next area run: Marina Bay Waterfront. Come Wednesday, almost everyone dropped out except for me and big bone guy. Since its just two guys running, we decided to first recce a potential running site: Sentosa beach! The ultimate running route where hunks and babes hang out!

When we left our respectively homes, that are dark clouds gathering and by the time we reached Sentosa, it was raining cats and dogs. After 30 min discussing about the latest sex scandals in Singapore, the rain slowed to a drizzle, but the drizzle is not small enough for us to venture out and run. Thus, We became so bored while waiting for the rain to let up that we decide to make up some interesting stories:

Rainy Sentosa at Beach Station

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