the bike park, trail and retirement

my first salomon x-trail run was back in 2010 at the macritchie reservoir park. i signed up for the 10 km category in 2011 and had to give away my slot due to health reasons. after hearing the hubby and my ex-colleagues’ feedback on the trail route, i felt discourage to sign up for the x-trail runs held at the tampines bike park.

the tampines bike park and trail has been slated for the development of a new residential town, and this sixth edition of the run could possibly be the last in the park. glad that i had the opportunity to run there once. traces of the clearing, barren land and gravel-covered path was more prevalent in the last 3 km of the race route.

the first 4 km was a pain, navigating through the narrow path in a single file. i had to stop and walk often, and coupled with the constant hopping around, i soon lost my momentum. pain started to build up in ankle and calf, before i hit the 3 km mark. by then, i had fallen behind from the crowd, and i was running almost alone in the trails after around 4 to 5 km.

i had under-estimated the trails, despite prior warnings from the hubby, my ex-colleagues and following running kakis. climbing over fallen trees, stomping across muddy tracks and crossing a small stream were some of the obstacles encountered along the trail. the soles on my shoes started to peel off, layer by layer, and i soon was running in my “zero-dropped” adidas adizero.

water point was scarce and i had to stop for a good 2 to 3 minutes at each of the 2 points to rehydration. thankfully the weather was cool and i had my visor on.

i completed the race with less than an ideal time of close to 2 hours.

overall it was a good race experience and a memorable one. i lost my first pair of adidas adizero, even though it still looked good without the soles.

the only drawback was the tiny weeny finisher medal, and the return of my old calf injury.