A day after the tnf100 trail ultramarathon, there was markedly less Sunbird trainees as a number of them were recuperating from the rigours of one of the more challenging races in the local running calendar. Still, a good number of Sunbirds showed up, all intending to give themselves a good trial of their sustainable pace before the New Balance Real Run (NBRR) next weekend.
This being the second session we have done at the twin reservoirs route of MacRitchie and Pierce, the briefing was kept short with the emphasis on the faster target training pace for the morning. The hills and trails training over the past few weeks have strengthened the Sunbirds who have been able to attend most of the sessions, while the few ones who had just enrolled into the program were finding the training both challenging and rewarding.
With an intended sustainable pace to meet, there were very little stops and even the only toilet stop planned was made with pauses to the timing devices. The HM Sunbirds made a turn at the mid-point 7.5km mark along OUTR, while the/ FM went on further with more slopes along the scenic and quiet UPR stretch.
With the continued upgrading of capabilities of the Sunbirds, groups 1-3 have grown larger in sizes, while Group 4 is a lot smaller compared to when we first began - a good sign that the trainees are improving and moving up in terms in sustainable endurance over longer distances. There were a lot more exchanges between the trainees and the trainers as we got more familiar with one another - questions and discussions abound about running form, distance progression, injury prevention and corrective actions, nutrition and even compression and adaptive recovery.
The whole session ended within allowable maximum training time with most of the trainees having a satisfying session, with many having their confidence boosted from meeting this challenging route and pace. Even the few who were recovering from fatigue from their previous few days of active personal workouts were able to keep to the respectable paces, albeit only slightly tapered distances.
The well executed training session at sustained pace capped 5 weeks of comprehensive base building for the Sunbird trainees, which will see them going for their first time trials at the NBRR next weekend. We look forward to bringing the training to the next level of optimal pacing in the second leg of the Sunbird journey - Follow Our Pace, Win Your Race!
More Photos from Ronnie Goh
