Photo Credits (c) FatBird CK Chin
The Sunbirds arrived at MacRitchie Reservoir Park bright and early for their second session of Ops Sunbird 2012 marathon training. Most had no problem finding the Amenities Centre even though that was the first time for a number of them training in that lush greenery. It was great to welcome more new trainees to the program as they look to incorporate structured training in their marathon plans, something which they have not experienced before.
The trainees were sectioned into their respective groupings along with trainers and Running Guides who were all eager to provide a targeted training pace, through what would be a mixture of undulating trails and rolling slopes along the Reservoir roads. It was a revisit to this training area for those trainees who have been with us for some of the previous FatBird training operations, while it was a eye-opener for those who joined us for the very first time.
As usual, the trails and the slopes of the course provided lots of challenges and a good workout, even at the lower-intensity training pace we adopted during this Basebuild phase. The cloudy weather and lush greenery flanking our sides made the run interesting as we tackled the trail slopes as a group.
Maxifuel, the Ops Sunbird nutrition sponsor was on hand to provide electrolyte refreshments to hydrate our run, so essential in doing Long Runs in that kind of terrain without too many water stops along the way. It was great that the majority of the trainees had with them their fuel belts and hydration packs for although it was a cloudy morning, the humidity levels were high and water/electrolyte replacement became so essential for optimal training performance.
After distances of 14km for the HM participants and 20-24km for the FM trainees at their respective sustainable paces, the Sunbirds were all too glad to be back to the MR Amenities Centre. Although the Sunbirds exclaimed that the workout was challenging, they enjoyed the experience of training hard with a group and going for a common objective of achieving their target marathon timings.
As they refueled with the bananas and electrolyte drinks post-run, there were lots of chatter and sharing of stories of how their first training at the trails went. From their satisfied and smiling faces, we could see that they have enjoyed their training run thoroughly and were looking forward to next week's program of hills and more hills.
Overall we had a successful trails session and we hope to see those who have missed this second training return for more challenges next week. Those who are still interested in joining the Sunbird Program may CLICK HERE for more information and registration.
