Trail Running Training day 47

I never know that there is a good place to trail run near my house. I came to know about this trail through the Instagram (of course, nowadays Instagram is the main source of information). It's like 7 minutes drive from my house. You just need to take the MRR2, exit towards Taman TAR. You will see Kuala Lumpur International School (ISKL) on your left. Go straight around 3 minutes and you will see Darul Ehsan Club entrance on your left and a guard house in front of you. Go pass the guard house and find a place to park your car at the road side. 

You can see running tracks along the road side. I usually will run one round on that track to warm up before hitting the forest trail up to Bukit Kembara. 

The trail begin with a steep hill track upward. You can try to run and burn some sticks. I take it easy and just quickly walk up the steps upwards. In two minutes you can see a "garden" where you can catch your breath. Some older hikers will hang out here for coffee and small talk. 

I will start running going up a short hill track and will be greeted by a stunning view of a lake. The lake was used to be a  water reservoir for Ampang area. Except for the old 'observation deck', you never would have expected that this lake was a water reservoir. Now the lake was left alone to blend with nature. The view is not stunningly awesome but there is a sense of calmness. 

You can choose to run around the lake. There is a good vertical trail for running. It gives you a sense of introduction of trail running with protruding roots and wooden planks crossing small streams. I can say that this place is offers a good trail to familiarise your self with trail running. 

For 'extreme' work out, I will hike up Bukit Kembara. Just take any trail uphill until you see a plateau. The trail is well maintained by enthusiast hikers. There is rope for you to leverage. There will be a sign to tell you that you had arrived at the right place. Thanks to those who maintains this place. They are not being paid but they do it because they are passionate with what they are doing. I think that's what we need in this world, people that are passionate with what they are doing. People who has problems at their work place because they don't love what they are doing. It's all mechanical without any passion. 

Okay, to continue with the trail run, take another trail downhill on the opposite side until you can see a housing area and run up again. I will run downhill to the lake and make one lap around the lake before going down to where I park my car. 

Due to its location and trail conditions, this place is used by few trail runners for light workout. I met few seasoned trail runners here.  They do not hesitate to share useful tips and pointers. We are like one big community that helps each other. When I take up trail running, I want to push my self to limit. I am running against my own self not against others. If I can make few friends along the way, that will be a bonus. 

Gosh I think I found my training ground that I'm looking for all this while.