The first half of the Ops Sunbird Program aims to build up a good foundation of cardiovascular strength and endurance before progressing on to pace training to extend that endurance to be sustainable for the duration of the Half or Full Marathon.
This Weekend saw the Sunbirds taking to the MR trails for a good dose of hill slopes and trail running. Many of the trainees, especially those that have not tried the full course of this segment were excited and yet apprehensive if they were able to complete within regulation time.
The respective pace groups started off towards the undulating and rocky Northern Trail after a welcome and program/route briefing. Although there was quite a number of newbies to one of Team FatBird's regular training areas, the Sunbird Training Crew and Pacers were able to manage their respective groupings pretty well.
In addition to the blend of trails and road terrain during the whole long run, another feature of this course would be the numerous undulating slopes the runners have to traverse, bringing the training challenge degree a few notches up. It was good too that we are still in base-building phase with a slightly slower pace requirement, making the whole run more manageable for the majority of the Sunbirds.
The final 5km on the return would normally sap the remaining reserves out of the trainees, but not too evident for the strong cohort this time. Many of the trainees were able to follow basebuild pace to have sufficient fuel and strength left to sustain the final 5km of slopes and more slopes.
Training ended on a high note by 10am, where a debrief was conducted to remind trainees of the importance of recovery and stretching those tightening muscle groups. After recording of the run timings and refueling with bananas, the trainees did ask relevant questions about training and recovery.
Team FatBird's trainers were on hand to answer those questions - in the end, all who were present benefited from the knowledge and information sharing. The next session will see us tackling hill repeats, but this time it is at the other popular training ground of TFB - the western slopes and hills region.
With 2 weeks of the training program completed and 10 more to go, there remains much to be covered with the build up of mileage and intensity progressively. Interested runners who wish to board this training flight is still in time - you just need to get details and register at www.OpsSunbird.com.
The Sunbirds Blazed The MR Trails
Facebook Photos from FatBird Ronnie
