Its 10 am and after 2 back to back coaching sessions, it is now my turn to train. By this time I am running on empty, the espresso and banana, which I had enjoyed at sunrise this morning, is now only a memory in the pit of my stomach. Gone. Some hill repeats will do nicely before I can give myself a liquid gold recovery reward.
So Guess where #25 is the final slope on the road that leads to Upper Pierce Reservoir. Spot on Young Yi.
This was one of my earliest running routes. I first ran this route as a teenager 35 years ago. This was also where the early Singapore GP was raced in the 70’s. As scouts we camped here in a place we called the ‘Valley’.
Access to the “Valley” from Lower Pierce Reservoir
You will see plenty of greens and with those greens come plenty of cheeky monkeys. So mind your forest etiquette. Do not feed the monkeys.
To access you can drive in from Old Upper Thomson Road or you could park your car at the Casuarina Road prata shop and run in. Either way, your recovery meal, if you so fancy a prata is few short minutes away.
This route is perfect for a hill workout. 6 slopes, comes at you think and fast. You hardly have time to recover before the next uphill presents itself. The gradient is not severe, its manageable if taken in isolation but when 6 of these come at you, relentlessly, one after the other, you can be sure you will sweat and be heaving for breath. One loop of this hill route will turn your legs to jelly. This morning I did 3 loops. Reminding myself about Jim Collins’ fanatical discipline, where you march the exact distance you planned for the day, I stopped myself from doing an extra loop.
I do deserve that liquid gold recovery.