Momentum

This month has been very productive. I’ve lost about 1.5kg, and have done quite a bit of workouts. I’m starting to cross train a bit, adding jogging to my mix of exercises. I’ve never felt better.

There’s no MTB session at the last two weeks of this month as Ramadan is here, and we can’t go do the trails at night, although I’d love to try

September will not be easy to lose some weight I believe, as Aidil Fitri is coming, and that will usually lots of greasy food for like a week or two. Still, I’m not backing down, and I’m planning to complete week 2, 3 and 4 of the Couch to 5K program. To counter this, I’m going to add some core workouts on my recovery days, instead of watching the TV So, wish me luck for September. I’m going to need it.

Activities:

• Hiking – Bukit Timah Hike with colleagues
• Casual Walking – Kent Ridge to Hort Park walk with family
• Mountain Biking – MTB @ Bukit Timah
• Speed Walking – Old Upper Thomson Walk
• Road Cycling – Training Route – Admiralty Rd West
• Road Cycling – Training ride – 40 km under 2 hours
• Mountain Biking – Bukit Timah Trail IV
• Hiking – Treetop walk
• Mountain Biking – More Bukit Timah trails – V
• Hiking – MacRitchie Hike
• Hiking – MacRitchie Hiking Loop
• Road Cycling – Training Ride – Mandai Loop
• Street Running – Training Run – C25K W1D1
• Speed Walking – Walk before break fast
• Street Running – Training Run – C25K W1D2
• Trail Running – Training Run – C25K W1D3
• Street Running – Training Run – C25K W1, final day
• Casual Walking – Park to park
• Road Cycling – Night riding, reservoir loop
• Street Running – Training Run – C25K W2D1
• Casual Walking – Foot pod calibration

Couch to 5k – C25K Running Program.

I’m incorporating C25K running program into my workouts. This is to add more strength and endurance into my biking, which I love more than running. I do have to work out a lot more than walking or hiking into my standard workout routines.

The C25K is a 9 week program that eases you to run either 5k, or 30 minutes non-stop. I’m not sure if I can actually run for that length or the amount of time, so I’ll just jog instead.

I’ve completed the first week, and so far, it’s been easy going. I believe week two is going to be the same as well, as I can definitely put out more than the required amount. I know some people start at week three or four, but I’d rather start slow and try to put this in my standard routine. I love the fact that the whole thing is just 30 minutes.

My first day C25K was almost a disaster, as I ran too fast for one minute, and walked for the 90 seconds of recovery time. See: C25K W1D1 I ended up with DOMS and doing normal things like going down the stairs, or even walking, can be rather painful on my thighs. With a bit of yoga (Heavy Legs on the Wall pose) I managed to ease a lot of the pain.

Time for some professional help. I head over to Podrunner Intervals to help me with my quest. The music, well, not really my liking, but I’m more into the tempo, and the fact they have it down the C25K program makes it a wonderful companion. The next three C25K runs are a lot easier on my legs, and I’m loving it. Also, the fact that my 140bpm (70spm or steps per minute) are more like jogging, do help the cause, as I have no concept of pacing a jog. When I try to jog myself, I will go 80spm, and be extremely tired after that.

I do hope to continue with this program for the full 9 weeks, and possibly, follow Podrunner’s 8K and 10K programs, which are all 10 weeks each. Which means, if I follow these programs, I’ll probably take about 6 months or so, but hey, I have time

I will report as the weeks go by.

Graph of weight loss

So this month I lost about 1 kg. Not really exciting news, but at least I’m getting somewhere. If I keep this up, I would definitely get down to my ideal weight in 30 months

I did eat a lot this month, and I don’t regret eating. At least I would try to control the intake, or try to exercise it off by walking for about 30 minutes or more, depending on where I am.

I’ve done a lot of biking this month as well, both on and off road. I do seem to enjoy more of the off road stuff. It’s like DIY roller coaster. Some painful uphill climbs, and then the payoff of great downhill runs.

I will definitely try to lose a lot more weight if it is at all possible. I aim for at least a steady 2kg a month. It will be a challenge, as Ramadan is coming in mid-August and historically, I’ve gained weight during the fasting month, and it’s not easy to put in exercise as part of the regime. We’ll see what happens.

List of activities for this month:

• Bukit Timah Trail
• Cycle around Ubin
• Training Route – Mandai Road
• Walk after heavy dinner
• Kent Ridge MTB Park to Hort Park
• Pulau Ubin – Ketam Mountain Bike Park
• Walk around Lower Peirce Reservoir Park
• 10 mile ride around Admiralty
• Tampines PCN with a touch of Tampines Bike Park
• Tampines Mountain Bike Park
• Morning Hike @ Bukit Timah
• Sembawang Park, the easy way
• Posting a check
• The hills of Mandai Road
• Bukit Timah Hike III
• Bukit Timah Cycling Trail
• A night walk in Yishun
• Around the 3 Reserviors II
• A walk along Tampines Park Connector

Cycling Stats

Had some free time today, decided to head over to the MTB trail over at Tampines to see what the fuss is all about. When we got there, lots of cyclist are there having bits of fun. Some on BMXes, most on MTBs, and a bunch of P.E school uniformed kids are there as well with rented bikes I’m not sure where from. Looks like we could have some fun after all.

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Another Bukit Timah Hike with my colleagues.  Detailed path taken: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8529515

This time round, we managed to find out that there’s a closed path that is not shown in the maps we’ve seen everywhere in the nature reserve.

Going through the Tiup Tiup Path, I see no reason why this area is not accessible to public. In fact, we do see quite a few people going through this trail as a natural part of their hike.

On the unmaintained Tiup Tiup Hut, we saw what the map once was, and hiking here, is at your own risk, I assume.

I guess we are not doing anything wrong here.
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After avoiding trails for too long, I’ve decided to take the step and go for it. Summed up in one word – FUN!.

It’s a kind of a roller coaster ride that has it’s ups and downs.

The Bukit Timah Trail offers wet and muddy trails that’s got interesting terrain and views. It spans about 6 km but there are trails you can venture out to other parks or even other trails outside of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It takes you to a part where the normal hiking trail does not bring you to. Sure, there are some people who chose to hike the trail, but with bikes going on it, I think it’s quite dangerous to hike there.

It is not an easy trail for me. Lots of times there are hills that I cannot climb so I had to push the bike up. Going downhill is not easy for me either as I don’t have the skill to technically maneuver through the bumpy tracks. I almost got myself in the bushes once, and even fell off my bike once on a slope that’s got steps carved by people climbing up the slope throughout the years.

I got to try again, until I at least manage to tackle all the downhill aspects. As for the uphills:

• I have to be lighter than what I am now,
• I have to do some strength training,
• I have to be able to build some endurance as I give up too easily, and
• I need to find a way to make my knees not cave in to pain and agony.

Did I mention my knees hurts bad? Yup, I got bad knees that hurts if I twist it wrongly. But it’s been better with exercise.

I’d definitely try to come here again when I have the time. Overall, the whole ride ended in nearly two hours after traveling about 15 km. Feeling tired for the day, I now know what to expect when I come here the next time,

Next trail to try out: Ketam Mountain Bike Park

Did this ride alone, travelled almost the same path as the previous one. This time round, I’m a lot faster, and less tired.

I have to plug the Cadence Revolution Podcast. Today’s post, #123, help me get past the second hour of the ride, taking me home safely, and with more energy. The second last song (cooldown song), however, contains some weird malay/indonesian lyrics that I found myself singing to

Around the 3 Reservoirs