Four months before my Mount Kinabalu climb on December 17, 2013 I trained almost exclusively at the hills of Bukit Shahbandar in the Brunei-Muara district, located a little over an hour’s drive from my residence. Coming from badminton, a sport that I’ve played since my secondary school days, hiking wasn’t an activity I was fond of in the beginning. We started with the popular ‘4 hills‘ route that took us 53 minutes to complete, and in just a few short weeks the group decided unanimously that it was time to venture farther — the ‘9 Hills‘ route that took our group 1 hour 46 mins to complete — this route I really liked and got hooked on. On days when other members of the group weren’t available to join me I hiked alone, logging my best times — as an indication of my fitness.
My first solo attempt began on October 22, 2013 when I logged 50 mins 54 secs
Second attempt on December 11, 2013 clocking best time of 44 mins 27 secs
Earlier this week I made my first attempt of 2014 and finished at 41 mins 21 secs.
Where do I go from here? I’m thinking 40 minutes would be a realistic target.
