Water Log

The time is 7.25am. A fine drizzle blankets the surroundings in mist, as you step within the cool shade of the trees in MacRitchie Reservoir. As you proceed, a distant roaring fills the ears, one that grows louder as you near the source. A waterfall in MacRitchie?

Rounding the bend, a truly magnificent sight comes to view. Enthralling. Water draining from the reservoir with such a ferocity as you have never seen before in MacRitchie. Even though smaller in scale, the fierce, rushing waters crashing down upon each other is exactly reminiscient of a dam. (Note: McRitchie Reservoir has no river or channels feeding it, yet 4 hours later, the flow of water remains as fierce as ever.)
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Hi everyone. There's a first for everything, so this is the first time I'm going to write about my training today at McRitchie. What's so unique about a training, one that you've likely had countless times before? But, for me, every single training is unique, especially those long runs at McRitchie. The exhilaration and triumph after completing a particularly hard run, the bitter taste of crushing failure, the utter exhaustion that accompanies you throughout the last leg of the run, the grim determination as you struggle upslope...all unique in its own way, all experiences that can never fade into ignominy within your memory.

So...about today's training. Due to the rain of the past few days, McRitchie appears to be quite flooded. At the side where the canoeists normally paddle, the water level appears to have risen significantly, overflowing the banks. 5-10cm, about there. Other parts of McRitchie has also flooded, covering entire stretches of paths with water. The 4km / 5km route that is normally used for school cross-countries is heavily flooded. In many places, running upslope / downslope is akin to splashing through shallow flowing streams. If not, it'll be splashing through water about 5cm deep in places, except for a place where the reservoir overflowed its banks and covered the entire path in ankle deep water (ankle deep as in entirely covering the ankle, and more). Ever tried wading through ankle deep water? Now try running through it. As you may have already guessed, waterlogged shoes are a must, as well as being splashed with water up to your knees. Shoes splattered with mud? No worries, just run through ankle deep water for a free wash. Luckily, the Northern Route's not as bad. I wonder the extent of flooding in the area near the golf course (that area's perma-mud, even in dry seasons). So if you're visiting McRitchie over the next few days, advice is to go the Northern Route. (Unless you're Jameson, which wouldn't matter anyway since your trainings in the water ^^)

Don't get me wrong. Though rain makes the ground condition bad, I still love it (rain, not bad ground condition). What makes most people dislike rain is wet shoes, wet clothes, or bad ground condition. But people should really learn to appreciate the magnificence of a storm in all its fury, the coolness (in all its meanings) of a heavy rain, and the romantic beauty of a quiet drizzle. Ever seen sparkling raindrops form on the edge of the roof, before falling? But I am getting sidetracked here.

My performance during the 18km run really sucked, as it was 3min slower than my personal best (which is itself not that good compared to several others in X-cntry). Ironic, to have so much water everywhere while I suffer from intense thirst. No, it's not bloodthirst, or I would have completed the run much faster. But this paragraph is souring the post, so I shall stop here and change topic again.

McRitchie has all sorts of diverse flora and fauna (fauna, at any rate). You can frequently see creatures like monkeys, squirrels (there was once you could see up to 5 of them together), monitor lizards, chameleons, and even a 1cm long snail (I doubt that was a baby snail, as baby snails have soft shells, I believe). Plus, the view is wonderful, especially at sunrise / sunset. Ubercoolsia. I recommend that you go there for a relaxing walk sometimes.

On a sidenote, I heard that RI canteen is reopening on Monday. Who wants to go there to try out the food? To those who have tasted RI canteen food, I believe a few stalls are coming back.