Hike in Hong Kong!

I violated the unwritten golden rule of Trail Running — “thou shall not get up late!” As a result, I couldn’t make it to Repulse Bay in time to join the gang who were going to do a recci of the King of the Hills Hong Kong route. But, I still wanted to run. So, I ended up going to Pak Tam Au. The idea was that I’d start the run at Mac 3 and would stop whenever I got tired and/or bored.

Start of the run: 10.16am
Time taken to run Mac 3: 1 hour and 16 minutes
Time spent at the vending machine to refuel: 1 minute 55 seconds
Time taken from end of Mac 3 to Gilwell Camp: 1 hour 43 minutes
Time taken from Gilwell Camp to Sha Tin Pass: 21 minutes 24 seconds
(for the first time, I didn’t stop at Sha Tin pass for refueling, I just continued)
Time taken from Sha Tin Pass to end of Mac 5: 56 minutes 53 seconds

Total distance: 31.62km
Elevation gain: 2,343m
Total time: 4 hours 20 minutes

I was then torn between continuing to run vs stopping at the end of Mac 5. I still felt relatively fresh and fit but continuing would have meant a 7 hour 45 minute+ Double Au which would have put me at the end of Mac 8 at 6pm. I visualized experiencing the runners’ high on Grassy Hill and almost made up my mind to continue but then I remembered that continuing would have also meant a horrible MTR ride out of Tsuen Wan. That was a deal breaker. I really didn’t want to take the MTR, so I stopped.

I was thinking to myself that, strangely, a couple of years back Mac 3-5 in itself would have been a hard run that would have most definitely ended at Mac 5! These days finishing at Mac 5 simply leaves me feeling lazy and guilty. That I-should-have-continued guilty feeling lingers on for several hours post the run. By the way, I read a quote somewhere — “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. I’ve realized that in the world of running, ironically, if the result you are after is to get faster, you *have* to do the same thing over and over again, i.e., to run and keep the mileage up! That isn’t insane, on the contrary, that’s the main requirement!

So, after several years of mindless running covering 1000s of kilometers, I think today has been my best ever Mac 3-5 time!

Garmin.

My half-marathon debut plus Sunset Peak, Lantau Peak, Ngong Ping and Tung Chung

Sold on a road run
No denying that I am an addict. A trail running addict that is. So, when my friend Martijn sent me a message that read “want to do a race for free?”, I pounced at the opportunity! It’s like asking a marijuana addict if he wants free marijuana!

But, two details came slightly later. First was that he was referring to a “road run” and not a trail run. And the second “minor” detail came just 2 days before the event. The race was to begin at 6.15am on a Sunday in Disneyland Resort!! 6.15am on a Sunday? Hello?

As a trail running evangelist, I look upon road running disdainfully. How can a boring tar surface even compare to the beauty of a soft, muddy trail? Since when does traffic become a substitute for the gorgeous greenery you find on a trail?

Nonetheless, you can’t diss something without having tried it. And so, I went on the Unicef half-marathon, proudly wearing Martijn’s race bib. (Great to wear someone else’s bib! It gives you the opportunity to screw up big time!)

Rise and shine! It’s 4.30am on a Sunday morning
After a mere couple of hours of sleep, my alarm rang nice and early at 4.30am. I woke up and told myself that I’d have my revenge on Martijn by walking the race at a snail’s pace! I got on my motorbike at 4.45am and rode straight to Tung Chung. I then took the MTR to Disneyland and I was surprised at what I saw. Instead of Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, there were scores of runners wearing the ubiquitous “UNICEF” tee shirt. I was asking myself how SO MANY Hong Kongers were interested in waking up at 4.30am on a Sunday morning for a road race!

Sharon’s half-marathon 101 lesson
As I was looking all around at the growing crowd of runners in utter disbelief, a fresh-looking Sharon nudged me and said “I thought you wouldn’t come!” I told her that I wouldn’t have dared to miss out on this unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of getting up at 4.30am on a Sunday morning for anything in the world! She then gave me a Road Run 101 lesson. Basically this:

(1) There’s no need to carry a hydration pack for a road race. (Heeding her advice, I left mine at the luggage drop off point)
(2) You’ve got to wear some kind of timing chip by tying it to the shoelace. Pretty cool stuff. I initially thought it was some cheap useless souvenir
(3) You have to run like there’s no tomorrow!

Sounded simple enough. So, at precisely 6.15am, the race started but we were stuck way behind; we were boxed in somewhere in the middle of a LARGE pack of runners. It took us about 2 minutes just to get to the starting point!

On your mark, get-set and RUN!
I have to say — there were certain wild aspects of road running that I did enjoy today. Overtaking, for one! On my motorbike, being the punk that I am, I flash my headlight at a slow moving vehicle in front of me, then I hit the right indicator and go full throttle to overtake the vehicle in a gung-ho “I-am-a-pro” manner. Soon as I am in front of the vehicle, I hit the left indicator and get in the path of the vehicle! Big adrenalin rush I tell ya!

Today, I donned the same motorbiking attitude but instead of flashing the headlight, I used my trademark steam engine noise right from the beginning to overtake the slow moving runners. It was great fun! So much so, that I *want* to start at the back of races in the future!

The kilometers kept ticking as I kept overtaking and overtaking. The first 12km passed by in no time! I didn’t stop anywhere. I didn’t even drink water or Pokari. I just kept running. Oh yes, I certainly didn’t want to be “chicked” (being overtaken by a girl). So, each time I saw a girl ahead of me, the steam engine found more coal to burn.

Towards the end it started to rain. At around the 16th kilometer, the runners doing the 10km version of the race merged with the half-marathoners. Because of the influx of new runners, I suddenly lost track of whom I had to overtake so I kept my pace pretty consistent.

At the 20th kilometer, I saw a girl who I thought I had overtaken a while back. She clearly wanted to give me a run for my money (or rather, for Martijn’s money), so she turned on her turbo mode! My answer to that was some heavy metal music and a full blast of reserve energy (I call this my nitro boost). It lasted about 15 seconds and I was ahead again! But, unfortunately, I had mistimed my nitro boost as there was still 200-300m to go! This girl then came back at me in full force during the last 100m! Then Rule 1 of my Rules of Engagement kicked in. Rule 1 clearly states that “You shall NEVER go faster than the pre-set limits of the leg”. I didn’t want to redline my engines, so I backed off. Besides, being the chivalrous gentleman that I am, I can’t overtake a girl during the last 50m. (Read: I lost to a girl).

And, the result..
1 hour 27 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised and thought Martijn would be too! (He wanted me to go sub 90 minutes). I then saw the girl who overtook me. She was stretching her legs while still huffing and puffing. I said “well done” but she still hadn’t caught her breath to give me a response! (I felt glad that I gave her a run for her money).

And so.. the verdict
What’s cool about road runs?

1) Overtaking
2) Sounding like a steam engine and overtaking
3) Listening to heavy metal music and overtaking

What’s not cool about road runs?

1) Waking up at 4.30am on a Sunday morning
2) No greenery! Cars and buses are not a substitute for greenery
3) No real challenge! Where are the technical turns? The downhill stretches? The undulating terrain?
4) Missing the love of nature! Where’s the wind on the summit that caresses your face as you run by? Where’s the fragrance of fresh grass that stimulates the senses? Where’s the mist at the top of a hill that kisses you as you pass by?

Garmin.

The stats

Next on the menu … is a trail run!
And so, after my half-marathon I aptly concluded that I was in dire need of a trail run! I needed my identity back!

Wong Lung Hang Trail, Sunset Peak, Lantau Peak, Ngong Ping and Tung Chung
I warmed myself up at McDonalds in Tung Chung after the pouring rain. Then I went back to my first love — trail running! Near the top of Sunset Peak, I felt the mist of the mountain kissing me and the heavy wind made me feel truly alive! I then “flew” down to Pak Kung Au smelling the fragrance of the trail every step of the way. Then I went back upto 950m in elevation by climbing Lantau Peak before descending to Ngong Ping village. The stunning views of a mist-shrouded Shek Pik Reservoir and the statue of the Big Buddha kept appearing intermittently as the trail meandered towards Ngong Ping village.

From Ngong Ping I ran straight down to Tung Chung via a Buddhist farmhouse where they were planting vegetables in their organic garden. The freshness of the soil and purity of the air cleansed me as I gently ran past.

I concluded the 20km trail run in 3 hours 29 minutes. I acknowledged to myself that running has many beautiful forms — the most beautiful one being Trail Running!

Garmin.

The stats

My teammates and friends are mostly certifiably insane. One of them made me run downhill from Grassy Hill to Shing Mun Reservoir at about 17-18kmh yesterday while another one made me run 70kms “just for fun” a couple of weeks back!

So, today, I wanted to regain some of the sanity I had long lost by doing a casual solo hike at a snail’s pace. Contrary to typical Saturdays where we train like madmen, I got up at a leisurely 7.30am today and was even dillydallying between staying home or doing a slow hike. I eventually settled on the latter and made my way to Sai Kung at about 10.15am.

I have to admit, I was feeling some of that dreaded runner’s guilt for dismissing the thought of a hardcore trail run. At exactly that moment, someone tapped my shoulder and exclaimed “Hi!” I turned back to find my teammate Vic standing there! (This is the guy who made me run 70kms a couple of weeks back). All surprised, I asked him what he was doing there. He told me that he wanted to do a slow, lazy hike, possibly to bring back some of the sanity he had also lost in his life.

A couple of minutes later, we were discussing doing the Double Au! (It’s amazing how, in the right company, you can get from seemingly sane to insane in no time). And, off we went. From supposedly doing nothing to doing a lazy hike to doing the 54km Double Au.

We started at 10.35am at Pak Tam Au and passed several Trail Walker teams on Stage 3.

Time taken to complete Stage 3: 1 hour 24 mins
Refilling water after Stage 3: 4 mins 34 secs
Time taken from end of Stage 3 to Gilwell Camp: 1 hour 58 mins
Gilwell Camp to Sha Tin pass Noodle Shop: 27 mins

Once we reached Sha Tin pass, I was chitchatting with other Trail Walker teams for 25 minutes! (Yes, I can be a blabbermouth).

As I was running Stage 5, my body called for an item that’s considered to be a trail runner’s best friend. No, not water or nutrition (all that stuff is important but not AS important as this item). The more I ran the more the body wanted it. Got it? Ok, I’ll tell you. Vaseline! Vaseline is a trail runner’s best friend. And, chaffing, is his worst enemy. I dug through my bag hoping to find immediate relief but alas! I found none. A supposedly lazy hike at a snail’s pace didn’t warrant carrying it! Then I had to make an executive decision. Persist and complete the Double Au or quit at Tai Po Road. I imagined completing the Double Au sans Vaseline and fast forwarded to the time I’d be showering at home. Ouch. I’ll behave like a gentlemen and spare you the details but, suffice to say, we finished after completing Stage 5 in 58 mins. Vic was happy to stop as well. Sanity was vindicated.

The details

Garmin.

The flu-bustin’ Mac 1,2,3 run

The appetite
Imagine a food lover fasting for a day. The day after the fast he walks in all hungry into a gourmet restaurant and sees all these delicious food items on the menu. The food now controls his mind and he instinctively ends up ordering way too much.

What does this have to do with today’s run? Well, after several weeks of averaging over 100km/week, I feel victim to the influenza virus last week. As a result, my mileage until this morning dropped to 11k for the week (I know, blasphemy). While nearly recovering from the flu, I felt extremely “hungry” for some serious trail running. On the menu, at least officially, was Mac 1, 2 and 3 (34kms) but for dessert, I was sure to savor Mac 4, 5 and perhaps Mac 6.

The happy troopers

Read on to discover the truths about running with a flu

Totally INSANE 70km Wilson Trail training

Who does a 70km run just for the sake of training?? And, that’s a 70km TRAIL RUN, mind you! The answer: several of my totally insane friends. And fortunately/unfortunately, I am part of that club too!

I have roughly done about two dozen races so far. And, I have only had 2 DNFs (Did Not Finish) to date. Both these DNFs were on the trail I HATE THE MOST. The 78km Wilson Trail! Again, fortunately/unfortunately, our training run yesterday was the whole Wilson trail – my arch nemesis. Every time I have attempted it, usually something or the other goes wrong. Yesterday, I was determined to teach the trail a lesson and complete it in style.

21 runners showed up at about 7.30am in Park View to attempt various stages of the Wilson Trail. Almost all (except for five of us -Martijn, Olivia, Vic, Vivien and I) wanted to take an early exit at some point or the other.

The group – photo courtesy – Vic

Continue reading about the Wilson experience

Double ‘O’ – Mui Wo to Tai O and back! 55kms, 4000m+ elevation!

One of legendary trail runner KK Chan’s killer training runs is a tough run from Mui Wo to Ngong Ping and back! i.e. “The Lantau 4 Peaks”. And that involves climbing each of Hong Kong’s two highest peaks two times! As if that wasn’t enough, Vic wanted to further improvise on this run. Knowing his fondness for torturing himself (and us), he decided to add a little extension post Ngong Ping – a 12km undulating trail from Ngong Ping to Tai O featuring 3 more high hills! That’s Mui Wo -> Sunset Peak -> Lantau Peak -> Ngong Ping -> Lantau Stage 4 -> Man Cheung Po -> Tai O. Then you do an “about turn”, and guess what! You’ll have to do the same thing backwards! 55kms, 4000+ elevation! To put this in perspective, the entire 100km Oxfam Trailwalker course features about 4500m in elevation. In about half the distance, Vic’s improvised course covers an almost equal amount in total elevation. Insane guy.

In anticipation of this run, I bought a brand new pair of shoes to replace my old worn-out dilapidated ones. And, just as I was going to break them in on this run, the day started off with massive thunderstorms. (Nature seemed intent on messing with my new pair of shoes). I didn’t want my shiny new pair of shoes to look like they had been through hell and back so I was reluctant to wear them. But, my old ones were already in the dustbin so I had no choice. I then told myself a dirty joke and wore them, knowing very well that they would look several months older by the end of the day. Ok, I can read your mind – you want to know what the dirty joke is, right? Well, here goes: a lady is confused and asks her friend what she should wear on her honeymoon. She has too many choices of clothes to wear. Her friend finally replies – “it doesn’t matter what you wear because either way you’re going to get screwed!”

The thunderstorms didn’t seem to do much to intimidate the runners. We almost had full attendance. Martin showed up sporting a scruffy, unshaven look to intimidate the mountains while the rest of us showed up looking all gung-ho, ready for some trail torture.

Steven Sparksman, my Trailwalker teammate for several years, once ruled that all runs that begin from Mui Wo have to begin at the Mui Wo postbox right beside the ferry pier. Knowing very well that he’d be tracking our start and performance the same way NASA tracks Curiosity, we made sure that we took our group photo right by the postbox.

The formidable group by our beloved green postbox

Continue reading about the Trail Torture experience

Securing bragging rights by bagging 4 peaks in Lantau

Legendary trail runner KK Chan has several secrets to his success. One of them is a killer 31km training run in Lantau. It goes like this – Mui Wo->Nam Shan->Sunset Peak->Pak Kung Au->Lantau Peak->Ngong Ping->some itty bitty part of the Lantau Trail … AND BACK! We’re talking about something like 2,500m of elevation gain in 31kms. Now you know why they’re such a fit bunch!

We “borrowed” this page from KK’s training book and organized a similar run. 17 runners showed up for this unique opportunity to bag 4 peaks. We assembled nice and early at 7.30am by the postbox in Mui Wo ferry pier. I was about to deliver a prepared keynote speech on Lantau’s rich cultural heritage but I got booed down even before I could begin. What the group found far more interesting was a discussion on how to best wear a Heart Rate Monitor. And, Alice’s revelation on Heart Rate Monitors sparked an immediate widespread interest. She stated an incredible fact which has the potential of delivering a fatal blow to the Vaseline industry while propelling the makers of Heart Rate Monitors to a whole new level. Additionally, it also has the benefit of saving several thousand liters of male blood. Ok, in the interest of complete fairness and unbiased reporting, I have to say that I am not in any way affiliated to either the Vaseline industry or the makers of Heart Rate Monitors. Anyway, enough of this suspense, what she said was -get this – male trail runners can wear their HRM monitors around their nipples to prevent that dreadful chaffing! No more discomfort, no more blood loss, just satisfaction (and an accurate heart rate reading).

Detailed discussion on how to wear a Heart Rate Monitor

Prior to our run, I made the Two Commandments of HKTR Trail Running crystal clear to everyone.
Continue reading about how we bagged 4 peaks

Kickin’ ass on Hong Kong Trail (while getting cooked..)

Today’s Hong Kong Trail Runners (HKTR) Bastille day celebration attracted 32 partygoers. And the definition of this “party” is slightly different to the one we are accustomed to. This party didn’t quite feature drinks or food; instead, it featured a 25km/50km run under boiling hot weather! And, btw, don’t ask me what Bastille day is. All I know is that it’s some French holiday which invariably means another opportunity to run in the trails of Hong Kong.

A formidable bunch! – photo by Romain Riche

I gave myself a target of 5 hours and 30 minutes to do the 50km run. I started off strong and took full advantage of the rain in the beginning by increasing my pace wherever I could. I reached the halfway point (Park View) in 2 hours and 21 minutes.

Continue reading about the Bastille Day party

Dear Mr. Wilson,

How you doin’? Oh wait…you have some sort of a bruise on your rear end? Ah.. don’t worry too much about that. That’s just me kicking a good part of your ass in retribution of all the times you have kicked mine. In 2009, you had me on Devil’s Peak. Less than 20km into the run, I was toast. You sapped me of all my energy leaving me feeling helpless. In 2010, you had the event canceled in a cowardice manner by faking the presence of a typhoon. In 2011, you generously gave me an ankle twist while climbing up no-name hill. All those wounds have not healed and today, for a change, I thoroughly enjoyed kicking more than half of your rear end. And come October, I’d wear “ass” armour if I were you because we intend giving you a thorough kicking this year.

You must have observed that about 20 of us started off in Tai Tam, all ready to give you a whacking. Notice in the picture below that Pig is naturally sitting on a pig and so is Olivia. Martin is looking all gung ho and ready to kick your ass.

Pig on pig, the rest by pig

But, as always, you had the unfair advantage of having the weather on your side, you made sure that the “hot weather warning” was in force. It was 33+ degrees outside and the heat was unbearable.

Continue reading about me kicking most of Wilson’s ass

Running the full Lantau Trail … well, until Shek Pik

The 68km Lantau Trail and I share a love-hate relationship. Well, more of love now but back in 2009, there was plenty of hate. That’s because every single time I was determined to complete running the whole trail or even large chunks of it, I’d invariably end up being cooked by the sun. I still remember hiking up Man Cheung Po (Stage 4) in the summer of 2009. The sun was so strong that by the time I reached the peak of a hill just before Tai O, I was walking in a zigzag path like a drunk man. I was forced to nap by the peak under the shade of some shrubs to recover from a heatstroke. The sun has been responsible for terminating many of my runs prematurely.

Today, as part of Steven’s “farewell” runs, we decided to run the whole of the Lantau Trail. We were pretty determined to complete the run despite a strong, looming threat from the sun. 9 runners showed up to rise to the challenge and we were off to a relatively easy start at 8.20am.

As we were running up the concrete trail from Mui Wo to Nam Shan, ace runner Jeremy Ritcey came speeding at us from the opposite direction. I high-fived him as he ran past us, creating a strong waft of breeze. We deliberately kept the pace rather easy in anticipation of a few bazookas from the sun. However, the Gods of nature had a different kind of bazooka for us, the thunder bazooka! The skies burst open for a few minutes resulting in a heavy downpour that transformed all visible trails into flowing streams. There was no point in trying to save my semi-new pair of shoes from a total immersion in water. In fact, even Michael Jackson, with all his moonwalking prowess, couldn’t have avoided getting his feet wet. So, I switched to Plan B – jumping up and down in puddles of water and splashing it everywhere, much like a small kid in a bathtub. Awesome fun! Although, probably not so great for my shoes. Nature owes me a new pair of shoes.

The deluge was a welcome gift from nature as the breeze and relatively cool weather saved us from being cooked by the sun. But, unfortunately, as the famous Axl Rose has declared, “nothing lasts forever even cold November rain”. Well, Axl wrongly thinks that rain + cold weather is actually a bad thing but I bet he has never gone trail running in Hong Kong during May. Anyway, we reached Pak Kung Au in about 2 hours, with all 9 runners still going strong. Much to our surprise, we saw Jeremy again, this time with two of his teammates, and they were now running in the same direction as us! I should have asked him but it looked like he was running parts of this course twice! His team overtook us on the climb to Lantau Peak.

3 hours later, we were close to Ngong Ping where we had a deja vu. It was Jeremy again! This time he was again running backwards, probably all the way back to Mui Wo, to keep an appointment with his wife! We derived some inspiration from his abundant energy and continued to keep running. Soon, we reached the touristy 7-11 in Disney Buddha (Ngong Ping). As usual, there were scores of tourists all over the place, invariably carrying massive cameras and taking pictures of anything and everything under the sun. Buddha seemed to have been transformed into a Disney character from a spiritual guru. But, on the positive side, the place did attract a lot of hot girls. Not sure what Buddha’s view on that is. But, as I was explaining this to teammate Romain, he agreed with my view on “hot girls” but warned that some “hot training” was also coming up next.

He wasn’t kidding. Just like The Terminator “will be back”, so will the sun! And, boy was it hot! Stage 4 of the Lantau Trail (Man Cheung Po) is probably the best part of the whole Lantau Trail but unfortunately, it’s totally exposed. This is why I invariably get cooked on this stage. But, all these years of training have made me a wiser man. I now know how to regulate body temperature better. But, this stage did take two runners away from us. Lawrence had to leave at Tai O with a knee problem and Olivia twisted her ankle.

Romain, Vic and I continued at the front while Pig and his friends decided to stop in Tai O briefly for lunch. We had done close to 40km of running and it clearly looked like the accomplishment of completing the whole of the Lantau Trail was well within reach, especially since the sun had again shown mercy and hid above a new cover of clouds.

But, after a boring reservoir run to Shek Pik, I had to make an executive decision. I had to decide between completing the whole trail with Romain and Vic or taking a bus back to Tung Chung at Shek Pik. The former option meant I’d get back home only by 9.30pm while the latter option meant a pizza + spaghetti in Tung Chung. My stomach made the decision. Romain and Vic were more disciplined and, at the time of writing this, they are probably somewhere close to Mui Wo!

Summary:
Roughly 42km, no Garmin record unfortunately.
Garmin ran out of power in the middle of the run as I made a rookie mistake and forgot to charge it. (I guess sometimes even monkeys fall from trees..)