Enchanted forest

It was about 16+ km into our run when we entered the enchanted forest. At least that's what it appeared to be. Trees overhead, dimmed light, wet trails and above all, a mist that floated around us. It was the first time I'd seen such a scene, much less in the dense catchment area of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Of course there's a good explanation for it. It had been raining, first drizzle then a topical downpour. The trails were muddy and streams of water were gushing down the slopes. Dark thunder clouds overhead and dense foliage added to the effect. Viola.

We were on our last LSD run before NF100 in two weeks' time. Starting off at MR, the four of us (PK, WD, IN - whom we coerced to join us!) went anticlockwise, via Rifle Range Link/Road toward BTVC in a simulation of what we hoped would be the actual race route. We were doing our normal 8:1 run:walk + walk up every slope strategy, and managed to clock a decent 8 to 9 min/km pace for the first 10 km.

A pit stop at BTVC when the drizzle started, and the customary walk up BT summit. The climb up was much easier than the climb down, no thanks to MRK. It took us 50 minutes (incl the rest stop) to cover these 4 km.

The rain started pouring down heavily by the time we reached Meeting Point 3 at Zhenghua and Chestnut Ave. As usual, we picked up our spears heading toward the old biker course, on the lookout for vicious dogs. My defence was to go for the nose when attacked (just as I would a shark when diving) - at least in theory!

HR was below 160 most of the way except when summiting BT and toward Ganga loop. Fatigue started setting in on the return leg, and my pace slowed. I started shuffling my feet and tripped a few times before a tumble. Good thing I was not hurt. Reminded myself to pick up my feet thereafter.

A little lost at the Durian loop, and lost some time there. I tried the back to start navigation tool on my garmin, but both attempts simply resulted in the unit shutting down. I did not check whether the watch was on, and missed about 4 km of the journey back (hence the fly line on the map).

IN's ITB acted up, and we were gradually falling back. We eventually separated from the other two at the RR road, and brisk walked. At MR, we started a slow run again. Unfortunately, I missed a turn and we ended up at Lornie Road. We ran the last 3 km before a well deserved breakfast at the cafe.

Took us 6:45 to finish 37.5 km. Here's the breakdown:

first 10 km (MR to BTVC): 8 to 9 min/km
11 to 14 km (climb up and down BT summit): 50 min including rest stop at BTVC
15 to 18 km (Gangsa loop): about 8 to 10 pace due to heavy rain
19 to 27 km (back to BTVC): 9 to 12 pace
balance (back to MR): 10 to 13 pace - more walk than run due to ITB

View run in Garmin connect.

The positives:
Compression tights and electrolyte pills helped! So we are going to stick with what works.
Cool weather
No blisters despite wet shoes and socks. The blister guard helped, so did the injini socks.

The negatives:
How would our pace be affected by hot weather?
Long pit stops
Check points cut off

We only found out about the check point cut off times when we collected our race pack that afternoon. Need to work out a strategy ;|

Found out that our route on race day will bring us further north to Mandai and the famous hill 265. The good news is that hill 265 is no more a hill, just level ground.

Counting down to Oct 24!