So I find myself in Singapore for a few days in early July. Coach tells me no let-up while travelling…the program has me swimming Tues pm and running Wed (anytime to late arvo), pref. w/hills (yeah I know…)…oh, and a Fri pm run on the way back through. Any good local groups I can scam a session with? FYI I’m not sure which part of town I’m staying yet, haven’t booked, flexible. TIA…
edit: BTW I also have to train in KL & Jakarta so if anyone’s familiar… I only mentioned Singapore up top 'cos I know there’s a bunch of you folk lurking
no idea for swimming, but i did a short hike in bukit timah park and there were runners and mt bikers there. it is also the highest point in singapore.
Lots of public pools around… 50m pools, but they might be a little crowded.
As for runs, if you’d like something flat, there’s East Coast Park. If you want cross country stuff, there’s MacRitchie Reservior. Bukit Timah is more for trail running; you’d be doing that on the mountain bike path.
The most common routes, start at either Rat’s corner( Orchard Rd.) or OCBC bank on Upper Thompson, heading north to Kranji ( either via Mandai or Sembawang / Admiralty ).
Further proceeding through Kranji nature reserve to Lim Chu Kang and either through to Mandai from there and return to central areas Upper Thompson or Rat’s corner.(or to Boon Lay from Lim Chu Kang and then Tuas to add in some mileage.)
If heading out the Boon Lay way , you can head back along West Coast Rd. to Mt. Faber ( a hill in Singapore ) should you wish to do a “bit” of hill work…
Riding out by Changi airport on Changi Coastal Rd. is pretty popular but I personally don’t ride ther anymore because it is inundated with dump-trucks roaring past at 80km/hr ( although it is 2 lanes each way ).
I presume you have been to Singapore before based upon your posts. Local drivers are improving but generally don’t understand why bikes are allowed on the roads much less how to drive next to them. A high percentage of local drivers also see indicating/signalling as a “task” , so be EXTRA SHARP as it is very common place. Additionally 20% of drivers at night drive with “park” or no lights on whatsoever , yes , so make sure you have your correct lighting on the front and back of your bike working properly.
There are numerous public pools for swimming , but the better ones for training are located at APSS next to KK Women and Children’s Hospital and at the old Singapore Management University next to the Botanic Gardens. There is a running track right next to there so you may find it convenient to run around Botanic Gardens area and incorporate some track work too.
BTW I also have to train in KL & Jakarta so if anyone’s familiar… I only mentioned Singapore up top 'cos I know there’s a bunch of you folk lurking
In KL, lake gardens is a pretty popular place to run on weekends. starting point is at the bukit aman carpark and you have a choice of a 10, 15 or 21k loop from there.
you can also try to hook up with the pacesetters, a local run club, at http://www.pacesetters.com they normally have runs on weekdays. click on the activities link to see which run fits your schedule.
Easiest thing to do is for you to tell us where you’re staying, or alternatively, where you have to work, so we might propose where you stay, and we’ll then be able to tell you where the nearest pools and run routes are. There are plenty of both which are easily accessible in Singapore.
Taking a shot in the dark; if you’re staying in and around Raffles Place or Suntec City, then the simplest place to run is along the river. You can jump ontp the riverside path anywhere from North of Clarke Quay to Suntec and then run around the Singapore, Kallang and Geylang Rivers/Basins, which would give you about 10-15Km. You can also connect through to the East Coast and run for ever basically.
You could also got to MacRitchie Resevoir and run the loop, which is about 12Km now with diversions, and is trails to whole way, a good run. Get the taxi to take you to the Carpark of Lornie Road. You can also run through the East Coast Park. It is roughly 20Km from one end to the other and dead flat. Get the taxi to drop you at the Fort Road Roundabout at the the End of the East Coast Service Road.
Do not try and run Bukit Timah, it is a Mountain Bike track and miles from anywhere besides.
With regard pools, if you’re staying in town, as mentioned above, the closest pool (50M) is at Katong Swimming Complex. At the junction of Mountbatten Road and Fort Road. very accessible, but note, doesn’t open 'til 08:00.
The river run is very easy. I get out at lunch and head down along the Marina, which is probably part of the 70.3 course, and can get across to the East Coast park very quickly to then have a run that can cover a marathon if you so wish on dedicated running paths.
Katong 50m pool is very easy. Farrer Park pool is great as well, but I cannot remember if you can just drop in and pay or not.
Get Sentosa and Faber in at least if you are bringing your bike. I start down the East Coast, get up to Sentosa, do Faber, a few other hilly (on a relative basis) sections, then head back down Nicholl Highway onto the East Coast and past the airport. The comment earlier about the dump trucks is fair, although I have had more issues with taxis here (and private cars) than the trucks.
At some point we will get maps onto our club website that will give ideas on where to do all this stuff.
hey peeps…thanks for all your answers…really really useful! (as always)
looks like i’ll be staying at “The Hive” on cnr of Lavendar & Serangoon.
i’m finding two pools within walking dist - one just off Balestier, and Jln Besar pool a little further away (gotta love Google Earth!) - anyone swimming at either of these places? any chance of jumping in with a squad on Tue pm/Wed am?
as for the running…safe to assume i can find somewhere to do some short hill reps within say a 30min radius?
