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 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

Last week, same time my butt felt like a frozen pizza in a freezer. Today, the same “pizza” was cooking under normal room temperature. The cheese was all melting. (Ok, will move away from the butt analogy). Well, what we had today was a temperature of 27 degrees and a clear blue sky. One of those days when you realize that water IS the most precious commodity in the world. Not platinum, not gold, not silver BUT a commodity that constitutes 75% of Earth and 90% of the human body, i.e. WATER! So, as an owner of many trails in Hong Kong, I officially declare today the beginning of Hong Kong’s sweltering summer season.

With Plover Clove already firmly in my hands, I decided to run Mac 3, 4 and 5 (up to Wong Tai Sin MTR) to celebrate the start of summer. Strangely, despite the strong sunshine, I noticed a lot of slush at the start of the trail. I was going to attribute that to the work product of a well-fed buffalo, but on closer examination there was slush all over the trail. It then struck me that it must have rained last night. Running down on one such slushy downhill stretch cost me an unexpected ankle twist. Luckily, I was running at a relatively moderate speed, so I decided to coax the ankle into behaving and proceeded to target.

I completed Mac 3 in 1 hour 22 minutes – a little longer than usual as I had to kill speed to please the ankle and to acknowledge the presence of the sun. I took a 3 minute break at the end of Stage 3 for some much needed water refueling. Stage 4 took me 1 hour 57 mins to complete (the sun demanded that I go at a slower-than-usual pace). I reached Sha Tin pass in 25 minutes from there and Wong Tai Sin MTR station 15 minutes after that.

Summary:
Distance: 28.35 km
Time: 4:04:41
Elevation Gain: 1,600 m

My smelly, sweat-soaked tee shirt and nasty glances from fellow passengers on the MTR ride on the way back, gave me a revolutionary idea. We have devices like the Garmin that measure all and sundry information about a run, i.e. distance, speed, altitude, etc, etc. But, I propose that one of the best ways to determine whether you have had a successful workout or not depends on how stinky you are after the workout. The more you stink, the more effective the workout. I even have an appropriate name for this state-of-the-art device. I am going to call it the STINK-O-METER (Trademark). Today, I was probably on the maximum possible reading, which is an incredible achievement as I was able to get an exclusive seat on a crowded MTR train…

Garmin.

GPX.

As part of my penultimate training for next week’s HK100, I was torn between deciding which of my two luxury homes to visit – Plover Cove or Sharp Peak. After much contemplation, I eventually decided on Sharp Peak.

It was a cold day. It seemed like even the cows in Pak Tam Chung were exercising to stay warm. They were playing some sort of running and catching game. As I watched them in amazement, I noticed something unusual about them. I ran a little closer to examine. Then I noticed something quite bizarre – the cows were all wearing some sort of earrings on one ear! Nope, not the iconic rock star kind of stud earring hanging from the lobe of one ear, but more like an ugly 5cm plastic tag attached firmly to the upper part of their left ears. I zoomed in to read the tag on one such “rock star” cow and observed some random number on it. I was initially a little puzzled, but a moment’s reflection made things clear: our super rich Hong Kong Government is tagging each and every cow in the Sai Kung area! Oh man! Look where my tax money is going! We pay so much money in taxes to the Government so they can attach ugly (and probably irritating) tags to all the cows in Sai Kung?? Wonder what that project cost!

Anyway, I did Mac 1 in 53 minutes and then made my way to my home on Sharp Peak. It took 1 hour and 54 mins. I took a 12 minute break on the summit to chitchat with some of my guests who showed up about the same time as I did. I told them to keep my home clean and to lock the main door on their way out. I then made it back to Pak Tam Au in 49 minutes.

I took bus number 94 back to Pak Tam Chung as I wasn’t that enthusiastic about running on that concrete road back to Pak Tam Chung.

Summary:
Distance: 28.67 km
Time: 3:50:46
Elevation Gain: 1,350 m

Garmin.

GPX.

After the whole puking on the trail incident last week after 40k, I was going to attempt the same Double Au solo to ensure no puking this time around. However, it wasn’t going to be fun doing Mac 3-8 two times in two weeks. So, there was a thought in my head to do a different trail. I resisted that idea though, at least initially.

It wasn’t a hot Hong Kong summer day but the skies were clear enough for some super strong sunshine. So, for a puke-free run, I made the following main changes:

- a sanitized sparking clean tube for the Hydrapack
- no consumption of the weird Vanilla gel I took last week. Instead carried my usual Japanese gel
- a pretty decent breakfast (oats + yoghurt + coconut milk + banana mixed in a blender – courtesy Steven)

Finished Mac 3 in 1 hour 22 minutes and took a 6 minute refueling break at the end of Stage 3. The vending machine only had 1 small bottle of water left and it was all mine as I beat the trail running Cosmoboy behind me during the descent into the Stage 3 BBQ area.

Started Stage 4 on limited water but noticed two Pokari bottles strategically placed on the trail to the summit of Ma On Shan. I figured someone had left it there accidentally so I went for it! About 500m later, I saw yet another two strategically placed Pokari bottles on the trail. Then it struck me – it must have been for the Cosmoboys who were running behind me. Probably their support team had left them there for them. I owe those boys 10 bucks!

I met teammate Vic on top of Ma On Shan and we continued our run together from there at an easy pace. We even decided to stop for noodles at Sha Tin pass and I had a clever idea after that. Why not spice up the run and do something different instead of the boring Mac yet again? So, we decided to hit Lion Rock peak. The views from there were fabulous. And then we ran straight down to Tai Wai.

Overall, I think I did about 33km.

Oh and there were no issues with the stomach!

Maclehose 3,4,5

Garmin.

GPX

Lion Rock

Garmin.

GPX

The weather was perfect – cloudy, cool and dry. An ideal setting for an early morning 25km trail run in Sai Kung.

For much of the day, I was running after a girl (literally). She was none other than my super fast Oxfam Trailwalker teammate Jinhwa. PLA boys and Cosmoboys – watch out for Jinhwaboys this year!

A fit guy we met on Stage 3 seemed eager to beat us as we were on the initial climb to Kai Kung San. He went full throttle and gained a couple of minutes on us by the time we reached the summit. Then the tables turned. We went full throttle downhill and ran past this guy at the very end.

Ma On Shaan was spectacular. Plenty of wind and splendid views. As we were admiring the views, someone went past us like a NASA rocket. When we finally reached the end of our hike in Sha Tin Pass, we realized that that super fast NASA rocket was none other than Peter Lee – 5th place winner in the HK100 event.

Time taken to complete Stage 3: 1 hr 25 mins
Reloading at the end of 3: 7 mins 4 secs
Time taken to complete Stage 4: 2 hours 11 mins
Stage 4 to Sha Tin Pass: 25 mins 26 secs

And then it was time for Veggie Noodles + Tau Cheung to conclude the running for the day

Summary
Distance: 25.71 km
Time: 4:09:50
Avg Pace: 9:43 min/km
Elevation Gain: 1,540 m

Garmin.

GPX.

The excitement of running Mac 1, 2 and 3 with my team woke me up at 0530. I was out the door by 6 and ran straight to my motorcycle. I removed the motorcycle cover and a white slip flew out of the back seat. I picked it up from the ground to inspect it. It read in bold “HONG KONG POLICE FORCE”. My jaw dropped and as I read further. “TRAFFIC OFFENCE” – it said. My “offence” was clear. “PARKED OTHER THAN IN AN AUTHORIZED PARKING ZONE”. The morning excitement turned to ANGER as I read the amount I was fined. 320 bucks! Just like that. My motorbike was parked less than 10cms away from the last rectangular motorbike parking spot. LESS THAN 10CMs AWAY!! And they fined me. Fined a harmless, defenseless guy like me. What about catching all the BAD guys in Hong Kong?? How about busting some drug cartel or solving some hard-to-solve murder case?? NO! Instead, “Asia’s finest” (that’s what the cops here are called) pick on some poor guy like me!! Why me?! WHYYYYYYYYYY?!

So, as furious as I was, I had to meet Romain and Jinwa on Kimberly Road. Romain was on his bike and the plan was to drive to Sai Kung together to begin the Mac 1, 2, 3 run. I met him at 0615 but I was largely preoccupied on the ride to Sai Kung with my parking ticket dilemma. I wasn’t sure what to do. Do I contest the ticket? Do I write a letter to the cops? Do I simply not pay it? In fact, I was thinking about several versions of my letter to the cop during the journey to Sai Kung.

Version 1: The “sympathy” invoker:
Dear cop,

Without my help, there’s no telling what could have happened. In light of the circumstances, I seriously hope you’ll reconsider the parking ticket you wrote me.

Version 2: The political blackmail:
Yo Cop,

PS. Time to go and bust real criminals instead of picking on average Joes like me who are struggling to make a living

Anyway… so, once we reached Sai Kung, I asked Romain about the consequences of not paying the fine. He said – “they will send a ‘reminder’ and that’s not free either”. Great. Talk about ripping off the small guy.

Now, back to the run. We started at 0733 but I was still quite pissed off because of the ticket. So, with Eminem’s “The Way I Am” blasting into my ears, I was on fire:

“But I’m glad cause they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire
To burn and it’s burning and I have returned”

Stats:
Mac 1 completed in: 52 mins 32 secs
Chilling and waiting for teammates: 8 mins 32 secs
Mac 2 to Sai Wan shop: 58 mins 3 secs
Chilling and waiting for teammates: 24 mins 25 secs
Sai Wan to Pak Tam Au: 1 hour 9 mins
Chilling and waiting for teammates: 25 mins 07 secs
Mac 3 completed in: 1 hour 45 mins

Total:
Time: 05:44:08
Distance: 34.13 km
Elevation Gain: 1,489 m
Calories: 2,271 C

Garmin.

GPX.

It was so, so, so hot on Mac 3 that I almost forgot about the ticket until I got home and …. paid it [I set up a 'Bill Payment' entry to pay exactly 1 day before the deadline! The cops ain't gonna keep my money any longer than absolutely necessary]. The motorbike is again parked 10cms away from yet another rectangular parking spot and as I was leaving I did see two cops patrolling on that street. If I see another ticket tomorrow, a version 3 of that letter will be out. So, could someone please introduce me to Long Hair?

Yesterday’s mission was to ride my motorbike to Plover Cove and do the Plover Cove reservoir trail + Pat Sin Leng. The mission was a success in the sense that I was able to ride to Plover Cove! (that drive from Tai Mei Tuk to Wu Kau Tang is majestic) The mission failed though because I lost power in less than 20 minutes into the run as it was hot as hell and I had stomach trouble (perhaps food poisoning or simply exhaustion). Eventually ended up doing some sort of loop and finished in Wu Kau Tang! (less than 10km!) The bike journey on the way back took 40 minutes only! I was originally going to rest today but then Sai Kung beckoned!

So, today’s mission was to ride to Pak Tam Chung and then do Mac 1,2 + Sharp Peak + Pak Tam Trail back to Pak Tam Chung. Reaching Sai Kung on the motorbike wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and I reached in 1 hour (after several wrong turns).

The run was a success (almost 30km) but I had to skip Sharp Peak as the body was overheating!! Today was a scorcher! There was some wind but on many occasions, the wind actually worsened the situation as it was dry and sapping all the energy out of me.

Start time: 0922
Time take to complete Mac 1: 54 mins 26 secs (very, very slow as the heat was unbearable)
Mac 2 to Sai Wan shop: 1 hour 10 mins
Break in that Sai Wan shop for refueling: 10 mins 16 secs
Sai Wan shop to Pak Tam Au: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total time taken to complete Mac 2: 2 hours 35 mins (probably my slowest time in the past year)
Pak Tam Au to Pak Tam Chung via Pak Tam Trail: 30 mins 53 secs

Overall
Time: 04:02:15
Distance: 28.53 km
Elevation Gain: 995 m

The ride back to TST from Pak Tam Chung was a disaster! I ended up touring most parts of Kowloon for no reason. What was supposed to be a 40-minute ride ended up taking 2.5 hours!!! I ended up riding through To Kwa Wan, Kwun Tong, Hung Hom, Sha Tin Pass, Wong Tai Sin, Yau Ma Tei and Jordan FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON! I rode past Nathan road about 4 times to try and find a way to Kimberly Road. Anyway, lessons learnt the hard way tend to last.

Note to self: From Pak Tam Chung, take the road to Kwun Tong and then to TST East. To cut into Kimberly Road, drive straight from Haiphong road instead of taking a left turn to Nathan Road. Or, take a little detour in Yau Ma Tei and cut across Nathan Road and come back in and take a left to Kimberly Road. (yes, all this does make sense to me).

Garmin.

GPX.

As the joke says… Why do economists make predictions? So the weatherman has someone to laugh at. Today, the economist was probably laughing at the weatherman! According to the weatherman, it was supposed to be rainy with thunderstorms today but instead, we had another super sunny and hot day!

I was hoping to meet my team at 9 in Sha Tin but wasn’t able to reach on time. So, instead, changed course and went to Wong Tai Sin to do Mac 5,6,7,8. I was hoping to catch up with my team but given their pace and my late start, that seemed unlikely.

Start time: 0915 HKT
Wong Tai Sin MTR to Sha Tin Pass: 21 mins 57 secs (it was hot!)
Time taken to complete Stage 5: 1 hour 1 minute
Time taken to complete Stage 6: 30 minutes 5 secs
Refueling break: 7 mins 33 secs
Time taken to complete Stage 7: 1 hour 14 mins
Refueling break: 2 mins 47 secs
Time taken to complete Stage 8: 1 hour 20 mins
Stage 8 to bus stop: 2 mins 14 secs

Overall
Time: 04:41:01
Distance: 30.12 km
Elevation Gain: 1,996 m
Calories: 1,955 C

Garmin.

GPX.