The Road to 40 Day 319/365: Lost in Exploration

I found a new route on this day, as I added another place to explore in my morning runs.

The other day, I enjoyed running around the Clementi/Ulu Pandan Park Connector, which had some water from the reservoir that made a kind of river in the middle of the park. I thought it was a nice place to run around in, so I went back there again, but this time, making a different turn at some point in the route.

Looking at the map, I saw that there was a path that led to the reservoir, and it was kind of a loop around a bay of some sort. I thought it would be a good idea to check it out and take a bus somewhere around that place.

I did my interval runs from the park and ended near the start of the reservoir. I didn’t realize how massive it was until I walked up to the path that overlooked it.

The path was sandy, so it was a bit of a challenge. But the view was incredible. It was also incredibly hot, but I’m fine with it. Over the course of my run, I saw like three old guys – grandpa old guys – who were having their runs as well. Two of them were running with no shirts on in the Singapore heat.

Seeing them run like that made me feel like I’m such a wimp for doing interval runs. Those dudes had gas tanks that were better than mine and Che’s combined.

Anyway, what I appreciate about this path is that I get a city and a water formation. Unlike the view at Sentosa and West Coast, this bay-like reservoir didn’t have oil tankers, which was a welcome sight. It’s just a massive water formation with a view of the city.

Apart from the older gentlemen, I also saw random animals roaming around. I found two big birds and a couple of komodo dragons. I hoped to run into an otter, but sadly, there was none today.

It’s a view I enjoyed in Busan and Da Nang, so it’s nice to know that there’s a spot here in Singapore that has a similar vibe, to some extent.

While I don’t really regret finding this place, I realized late that I didn’t really plan out how I would go home. The highway adjacent to the reservoir path didn’t have a lot of bus stops. Additionally, only one bus passed by there. I didn’t bother riding it because I didn’t want to ride one and wait for another one, because it’s going to halt the momentum of the walk.

I ended up walking for another 45 minutes to get to the bus stop. My new shoes looked older after just one session because of the sandy path. My hat was a nice surprise. I sweat profusely, but my face was not soaked this day because the hat was absorbing it and spreading it to the visor.

By the end of it, my Strava said my total distance covered was exactly 13 kilometers for two hours and 15 minutes. It’s a good session, I think, but my other tracker showed that I had a lot of time in the cooldown zone.

My doctor advised I should consider monitoring my heart rate to see if I’m running efficiently – that is, getting into the correct zones and not burning myself out.

I consulted with Nicky, who knows more about these things than anyone I know. He was gracious enough to give me a simple program I could try, complete with warm-ups and cooldown suggestions.

I think I’ll alternate runs and walks moving forward, just so I can keep my endurance up for running, but still be able to find more interesting places to walk to.