Making the distance - Thursday the 21st of July, 2011

A little disappointed with my shortened lunchtime run, I went out for a brief recovery run after dinner.


Dark conditions and dancing lights on the running track in the local park

And, just like that, I was finished work (temporarily). Now to try to fit in a couple of runs on my favourite HK trails while busily packing my stuff!

Sacrifices must be made!
~ Joe

Midday Heat Finale - Thursday the 21st of July, 2011

A final lunchtime run along the trails that surround UST didn't go exactly according to plan (my running partner twisted his ankle and we had to take a diversion) but wasn't a bad ramble along familiar paths anyway.


Narrow and steep


Crossing this little stream


Dirt steps weave their way down to the flat paved road at the bottom on our diversion

Sometimes things don't go according to plan, but roll with the punches, keep moving and you'll get there in the end.

Dodge and Weave!
~ Joe

Urban Blur - Tuesday the 19th of July, 2011

A quick, late-night 10km to make up for the semi-failed run the day before. Apologies for the blur, the photos looked fine on the tiny LCD on the back of the camera!


Wet bike paths and deep shadows


Crossing the road at Tiu Keng Leng


One of the many underpasses on this route


Bright hot spots


Reflected blur

Also,sorry for the lateness of this post, with the move back to Melbourne only a couple of days away now things have been in crazy over-drive!

Power-on!
~ Joe

Photos with old friends - Monday the 18th of July, 2011

Running (ha ha) out of days to cover my favourite trails around HKUST, I headed out along an old favourite: down to Po Lam along the trails and back up along the roads.


Passing through Tai Po Tsai on my way to the start of the trail


Beautiful tree-lined dirt trails


Enjoying the small details


Looking down the trail towards Hang Hau. Heavy haze visible in the sky


It's been a while since I've been able to snap some good photos of the reptilian wildlife along the trails (they normally dart into the undergrowth before I can ready the camera), but this guy waited for me to take a few snaps before leaping into nearby grass...


Where I got another couple of snaps of him!

Despite all the time off I wasn't feeling the best during this run, but as I get back into the groove in this last week and a half, I expect that to improve. Really going to miss the VERY convenient access to beautiful trails in Hong Kong.

It's the fii-nal countdownnnn...
~ Joe

Saying goodbye, one route at a time - Thursday the 14th of July, 2011

Just a short, easy run along the waterfront to keep the legs moving.


Wet and hot. It's tropical summer in Hong Kong.


The moon illuminating a small patch of clouds above the city lights


Hung Hom Ferry Terminal on the right with HK island on the left

I rather enjoyed this very easy run in my barefoot shoes, and I suppose that's a good thing looking back because it was very likely my last run along that stretch of waterfront for quite a long time.

Things are moving fast now. I'm back living in Hang Hau and in just over a week, I'll be back in Melbourne!

Run hard, see all the things!
~ Joe

Slowing Down - Monday the 11th of July, 2011

If there was ever a sure sign that I needed a little down time, it was on this run as I cruised down a long hill only 5km into the run and couldn't get my heart rate to drop below 165-170bpm. It's been a reoccurring thread in a couple of my last posts, but it was really hammered home in this one... Despite the 3 days break since my previous run, my legs were feeling fatigued right from the start of this run. Of course, the very hot and humid conditions weren't helping and the heavy air pollution was probably also playing a part... But I was just tired...


Crossing the bridge before starting up the hill. The view from here is normal pretty great with mountains stretching out across the horizon. In these heavily polluted conditions, I could barely make out the closest peak.


A bright red seed-pod part of the way up the hill.


Safe slopes save lives... It's amazing the amount of concrete that's poured on even slightly steepish slopes around HK, but I suppose history has shown that heavy rainfall and steep slopes make landslides a common occurrence.


A panorama at Tseung Lan Shue village. Kowloon Peak obscured in the haze.


More bright red as I head back towards HKUST.

Not a great run in any way really, I was very happy to get back and cool off. This time, I took the warning and have decided: no more hot lunchtime runs this week. I'll probably throw in a few night-time waterfront 5km runs to keep the recovery happening but am aiming for about half my normal weekly kms. Hopefully I will be recharged and ready for a couple final long trail runs to say goodbye to the beautiful places I've ran.

Down and up again!
~ Joe

Running on Empty - Thursday the 7th of July, 2011

After my awesome run on Tuesday, I was pretty fired up to get back out on the trails. Unfortunately, my legs were still a bit fried (running in the heat really takes an extra toll), but I decided to run anyway, along my other post-work trail/road route.


I was a little late leaving work, so the sun was quite low in the sky even as I headed out along the roads towards the trail.


I spotted some caterpillars munching away on a shrub, so jumped a fence to take some snaps of them, only to find that my camera's battery gave out after only a few shots.

And that was it!

When I started the run, the battery showed yellow (1 of 3 bars remaining) and in the past, this has been more than enough to get me through a run. I was pretty disappointed not only by how quickly it dropped to red, and then to shutdown, but that there was no battery "bounce back". In the past, even with a depleted battery, I've been able to wait a while (say, an hour) and I'd have just enough charge for a couple more shots.

I was counting on it, in fact! After the battery died initally, before I even reached the trails, I thought that I'd just forego any photos till I was up high on the trail, and then at least be able to snap a couple of sunset photos... but no dice! The battery was well and truely dead.

As for myself, by the time I got down to Tiu Keng Leng, I was starting to feel pretty drained as well. As I approached Hang Hau, I was a little skeptical of my ability to maintain any decent speed even along the flats, until I reached the final hills, where I was sure I'd have to walk. Well... things there faired far better than with my camera, and two runners turned onto the bike trail I was following ahead of me. Nothing like just being able to ride someone's coat-tails to maintain speed (of course, when he realised that some big Western dude had been following him for a little while, he sped up, but that wasn't a problem, I'm a pretty expert coat-tail rider!).

At Hang Hau village I turned off towards the hills, starting the grind up the first hill I was pleasantly surprised how was my legs were taking it, and I continued up first hill, then the second one... Bounce back! Awesome! Being able to fully run the final two hills was an unexpected bonus. Perhaps my endurance is a little better than first appearances, but it sure was hard work!

Work hard in the heat, so you can work harder in the cold!
~ Joe

Homage to our Sun - Tuesday the 5th of July, 2011

On my long Tuesday night run I got to experience the most breathtakingly beautiful sunset in memory. I ran up along my Half High Junk Peak route and managed to get to the top of High Junk Peak at the perfect time to watch luminous finale. While the photos don't do it justice, I've got plenty of them, so let's get started!


Deep blue skies and unusually bright sun for 6pm, when I was departing


The sun casting long golden shadows just before I turn onto the trail


The sun was far too bright for me to even look toward it here, I had to put the camera between myself and the sun!


Things still pretty bright as I continue up the hills


Long shadows and golden light


The dark-side of the range


In what has become my banner photo, liquid gold pours through the gaps in the mountains, reflected off the tops of the towers, as I climb ever higher


The city


Ribbons are often used as markers for difference races and orienteering activities. This one is tied to a shrub just before the final climb onto High Junk Peak


While climbing the hill, I found this guy. He didn't sit still for very long, and I couldn't quite get as good a photo as I wanted


I was originally planning on just spending a couple of minutes at the top of High Junk Peak, admiring the view, but when I got up there, I found a grasshopper sitting atop the trigonometric post I normally climb. I spent 5mins taking photos of him!


The grasshopper was quite happy to be photographed. The sinking sun and city visible behind him.


After a while I coaxed the grasshopper off the post and climbed up there myself. I was enthralled by the sinking sun, melding into gold, then into a red orb. I couldn't tear myself away till every glimmer had sunk below the horizon, moving on to light another part of the world


A river of gold. Lion rock visible just right of centre


I really love this shot, and it's my current desktop wallpaper. If anyone else would like a full sized version, just let me know.


The city coated in pastel tones


As the sun darkens to red, the intensity of the moment heightens


Painterly


I imagine the sun moving around the world, with a sunrise on the other side of the Earth. It was one of those rare moments you can faintly paw at the sheer scale of things. Honestly, such a strong emotional moment


After the sun sinks, I make a move to get off the top of the peak. It's quite a treacherous descent, and preferable to make it in the light! This was halfway down off the trail, the light still hanging in the sky.


As I cruise back towards HKUST along the roads, there's still intense colours left in the sky


The moon rises as the light fades

Although not a super physical achievement (especially with a 15min break in the middle), this run was an awesome reminder of why I do what I do. I feel very privileged to be able to get out and experience these natural wonders. I dearly hope I can vividly recall this night so I can compare it to the next amazing encounter.

Chase the Golden Hour!
~ Joe

*Not* pushing my limits - Monday the 4th of July, 2011

Another lunchtime run and another super hot day. Having just a short run on the weekend had left me excited about the Monday run, and for the first km I was feeling great! So great in fact that I tackled a very tough climb at about the 2-3km mark that I normally go around. Aside from the fact that the "over" trail is basically a set of paved stairs straight up, then a set of paved stairs straight down (boring), while the "around" trail is a wonderful tree lined dirt-single track, there's a reason I normally go around it, and about 15mins into the run, I was already feeling beat. But more about that later, on with the photos!


Bright hot sun and an interesting donut-like cloud formation!

As I was running along, I came upon a huge butterfly laying in the middle of the footpath, so I coaxed it onto my finger and put it on some roadside vegetation...


Big!


Awesome details

As I stepped back onto the footpath, I felt something against my leg and looked down to see:


A huge stick insect making it's way up my leg!

My first urge was to knock the thing off my leg, but I resisted worried that I'd hurt it. It was moving kinda fast (in that weird "wind-blown stick" way that they wobble about) so apologies for the blurry photos...


Arms fully extended!

So I coxed it onto a small stick and placed it in some nearby grass. I was planning on getting a better shot after putting it down, but their camouflage is awesome! I don't have any photos where it obviously stands out!

So I headed out on my way, turning onto the trail and taking on the hill.


I ran mostly along this roughly paved stone trail, avoiding the dirt tracks I normally favour, just for a bit of variety.


The usefulness of this scenic marker is somewhat diminished by the crowd of trees growing in front of it!


Looking down towards Hang Hau with the High Junk Peak Trail ridgeline visible on the left (High Junk Peak itself is hidden from this angle). The "green box" at about halfway up on the left is a construction site next to the Tseung Kwan O Hospital which I ran past around half an hour later!


An inviting looking respite from the heat illegally built along the trail


A more serious looking shelter, although I think this one was officially built as part of trail upkeep. I couldn't resist but to test out the seat for a few fleeting seconds: very comfortable and a nice view!


The Tseung Kwan O / Tunnel highway intersection visible between residential towers


A little stream that I'm sure is unhealthy (but it looks nice) before crossing into Hang Hau Village

I wasn't quite feeling up to blasting myself up the hills so I took it easy. I decided that when my heart rate reached 170bpm, I'd slow to a quick walk, and when it dropped below 150bpm I start running again. An average heart rate of 160 is quite a good number, so I figured this strategy wouldn't make me too guilty about walking up the hills!


As I got to the top of the hill, construction crews were repairing part of the cutting here. I'm sure that this OH&S is a little sub-standard! While all the crew were wearing full masks, only a half-height short piece of plastic wrap was stopping myself from inhaling the same (I'd guess) unhealthy liquid concrete mix. Terrible!

On returning back to UST I felt like I'd been out on a much more serious run than it had been. While I will dearly miss the trails around Hong Kong, I won't be missing this tropical heat!

The countdown is on!
~ Joe

PS. The gear page has been updated, so feel free to check it out! (You can also get there by clicking the "Gear" tab up the top)