Solitude Run

My original intent was to drop my barang barang in the gym and head out for a run. However, the idea of running to Esplanade, Kallang Basin just didn't appeal to me one bit. My mind kept thinking about the tree-lined road along Upper Thomson, the stretch that always bring me serenity & solace. Since I woke up late anyway, made some last minute changes to my original plan (heck! skip the swim!) and decided to run near my place.

I wasn't confident about the run coz I no longer had the strong desire to run, and running alone will just make the distance and duration seem more daunting. Nonetheless, I had to run and reminded myself that I will go very slow. The objective today is to cover the duration (minimally 1 hour) and not the distance.

I kept to a very slow pace right from the beginning, even opted to walk up the stairs instead of run which I used to do in the past. I think I was doing close to 8min pace but I just kept reminding myself to go slow, that its ok. Ran past the usual Yio Chu Kang Road, Jalan Kayu bypassing ST Electronics, NCS Hub. As I ran towards ST Electronics, was thinking to myself whether I will again bump into this lone runner whom I thought looked like MP Teo Ser Luck. I met this lone runner the last time I ran along this stretch in the morning and I thought he looked like the MP, but I couldn't be sure. So as I was deep in my thoughts, I think I saw him again passing me. Ah well.

By this time I was about 20+ mins into the run. I continued on straight towards the Teacher's Estate. I find the estate very serene ... always wonder how nice it would be to stay there. Should be quite quiet and peaceful. The area looks like an enclave, hidden from the watchful eyes of others. I wonder whether the residents there behave like a community. The last time I ran past this area was at night, the estate looked even cosier at night ... awwwww .... *dreamy* ... ok, snap out of my dreams and I trotted on ...

Turned right at the junction, facing Casuarina. Casuarina always brought back memories of the first time I ran past the area and saw this HUGE pack of cyclists whizzing past. It was A SIGHT that til now seemed so fresh in my mind. Passing Casuarina & running along Upper Thomson Road gave me renewed strength as I knew my favourite stretch of the tree-lined road awaits. Yeah!!! So happy! The slow pace really helped me as I wasn't panting as hard and I wasn't feeling so jaded about running like how I felt in my previous few runs. In fact I managed to ease into a comfortable pace and able to get into this "zone" where I was deep into my own thoughts and not realising that I was running. When I snapped out of my zone, I realised I had covered some distance. Hmmm ... I like this feeling... makes running so less tiring!

As I started early, I wasn't attacked by the harsh sunlight and heat. The stretch of road was cooling, refreshing with minimal sunlight passing through the tree branches. I had planned to u-turn 40mins into the run so that I can head home in time, but my fav road proved too enticing and I just kept going, wanting to be able to cover more and enjoy this solitude longer. Finally hit Tagore Ave (which actually isn't very far from Casuarina), was gonna continue straight but was stopped by so many cars turning into Tagore Drive ... this is where the NTUC fairprice is (not sure whether that is their headquarters or what - Streetdirectory showed it as NTUC fairprice ctr). Hmm ... since its bright and early, I thought to might as well turn in to explore the area a bit. So I turned into Tagore Drive and carried on. There was a sign that warned of heavy vehicles (hmmm... must have some factories inside). There were many cars turning in (but not out) to the lane, probably many of them still work on Saturdays. There were some factories / companies that I saw further up on the right of Tagore Drive - Tagore Industrial Ave. I contemplated exploring the place but as it meant running up a pretty steep slope, and not knowing whether it would be wise for a lone female runner to be running into some remote industry area, I decided against the idea and just ran ahead to the dead end road and did a u-turn back out from where I came from. A short stretch of at most 1km but still nice to be able to cover new ground nonetheless!

As I returned to the main road, I plodded back where I came from. Time to head home, I shouldn't be running too far and too long. I must take care of my legs ... I was strategizing how I could reach home. I only u-turned at the 50min mark, which if I took the same time to return to the starting point, that would be 100min run. Thankfully I had $10 with me which I was prepared to flag a cab to get me home half way in my return leg. I was worried though that no cabs would want to ferry me as I was stinking and dripping with sweat from the run! Will be very paiseh to dirty someone's cab too! I was glad that the return leg wasn't as tiring and painful as I had expected and with a few walk breaks in between, I returned to the petrol kiosk which was just a stone's throw from my place. I ended my run there to buy a drink to hydrate. Felt very shiok from the run. Slow but satisfying for me.

Total run duration : 1hr 50mins
Total distance covered : no footpod. But I guess at 7:30-8min/km pace, that should work out to about 13-15km.

Just plotted the route on Streetdirectory. One way distance was about 7.4km. So if I just double it, it would be 14.8km.