Letting Go(al)...

Last week I had another "Bad Run".

I had just recovered from cold and starting the 1st long run after that.

My last long run was 20km. And my target next was to reach 25km.

But I knew I couldn't possibly achieve this goal in that current body condition. More so, after having missed one long run the week before due to being sick.

So I humbly projected at least 15km but really hoping to reach 18km.

Against my favour, it was a very scorchingly hot day with the sun rays beating down relentlessly on the runner, running in the open.

I decided to run a somewhat familiar route with some twists, and plotting an exploratory spot on this route.

Met a solo otter, and a large heron with monitor lizards for company. Next I ran along the train tracks to finally reach the spot of discovery - Yishun Neighbourhood Park - on the top of a hill. I'd probably went up the slope more than a decade back but I didn't explore its top then. I had merely went up the steps and down the other side, as back then I'd run in the evenings and I was afraid of too much darkness on the run back.

Otter swimming solo

Supposedly Grey Heron, with Monitor Lizard swimming by.

So on that day, I was determined to explore more despite the harsh weather.

As I ran up the hill I was pleasantly surprised by an old school pavillion surrounded by two round tables with chinese chessboard templates on them. A nice little garden was found midway.  A few park-goers were there to Tai Chi and do some stretching exercises.

The Pavillion

A winding road led up to the little "peak" with a toilet and water cooler, and a community garden further up.  Glancing down, one could see the surrounding neighbourhood. Though it wasn't that high and the view that fantastic, it was still a nice respite from the brick and mortar below.

I was grateful for the water cooler that I much needed to drink from. I jogged round the top before slowly going down. Took some photos before eventually heading down the steps back again to pound the pavement along the road.

I reckoned it was too late to run to my targeted destination - Lower Seletar Reservoir - neither did I think I have enough power to do so... 😛

I decided to run to wherever I could for a better place to cool down and rest before having lunch.

Construction obstructed a lot of pathways and made me change directions. I turned to where I would not usually run to - an old bus interchange near the malls. As much as possible, I tried to dodge the glaring sun to get into shade wherever and whenever I could. I finally realised I was heading towards an entrance of a park --- The Yishun Pond!

Yishun Pond

I was glad. Though I ever came here once, I did not fully explore it. I ran about 2 more rounds totalling about 15km on my watch tracker, and 14km on the GPS on Runkeeper.

Cooled down and headed to the adjacent hospital's foodcourt for an earlier lunch to refuel. I needed to get back home to teach an online class that day.

Though the original target of 18km wass missed, I was happy I found another target --- another spot I that could run to and explore more in-depth, amongst the other check-in points on my next running journey.