Last week I did the Coast to Coast trail solo, which is a walking trail that spans for roughly 40 km from the west to the east of Singapore. Despite the name, it didn’t actually start in an actual coast - I guess “Jurong - Coney Island” is a more accurate name, but oh well!
What went right
- If there is one thing I learned from my South American trip, it is this: be. Well. Prepared. No. Matter. What. Walking for 40 km at sea level might sound like a no big deal for some - it’s still less than a marathon, the snarky part of my brain kept saying - but as someone who only walks for 5 km at max per day and maybe 15 km on the weekends, 40 km in a day is a pretty huge jump. I prepared myself by going on hikes almost every weekends, building my mileage up from 5 km to 20 km as you can see in my Trail Diary posts. I learned how to pace myself, how to take breaks, what clothes are comfortable for the weather, and how to get used to walking long distance under the Singapore sun.
- Man, I love my hydropak so much. It’s definitely one of my best investments this year.
What went wrong
- I’ll be upfront: some sections are dead boring. I didn’t enjoy the Bishan-AMK section at all; there were many constructions going on, so there were barely any trees, and I did it at around 1 pm when the sun was scorching hot and at this point it felt more like a punishment more than anything. I’m not sure how I could have done it differently, though. Start earlier? Start later? I guess you just gotta march on.
- Honestly this is more like a minor me problem, anyone who knows me will know that I CANNOT survive a commute without my playlists, let alone a nine-hour walk. But my dumb ass actually forgot to create a playlist for this and I spent the first half an hour making a playlist as I walked through the first section which did put a damp on my pace (duhhhh).
- Suddenly rushing your walk when your feet are not prepared is a terrible idea. I thought it was going to rain, so I half-ran the last 5 km without really intending to run and my right foot is feeling really funky now.