The Kingfishers were not misled by the rather short scheduled 12km for the first weekend. Indeed...their noses were sharp to be able to sniff out the challenge that came with the seemingly shorter distance - it was the challenging trail terrain as well as the long tempo pace they had to sustain during the 12km that would leave them with lots of respect for the undulating trails.
The pre-training briefing was kept short, and focused mainly on how to estimate the effort to be applied for the morning's long tempo run (LTR) - using Heart Rate, based on perceived effort or ability to converse during the exercise, and using a prescribed formula to calculate tempo pace for the respective timings they were gunning for.
After they were flagged off in waves, The Kingfishers gingerly made their way along the undulating Northern Route, moving at a relatively hard pace. By the end of Northern Route, the groups were already segregated into the faster front group and a main body. The runners were able to keep to their prescribed paces and effort, as well as observe proper lane discipline in the trails, making the morning's run not only 'profitable', but also interesting and engaging for all.
The Kingfisher Trainers did an excellent job of guiding the runners throughout the run, especially at critical junctions and turning points. No trainee was reported lost, no trainee walked other than for short water breaks, and all trainees paced along strong, even on the multiple up slopes at certain stretches.
The run ended on time, and we were able to do a good debrief to share what we learnt in the morning, and also to give them briefings of the following week's activities and schedules. There was a lot more exchanges between the trainers and the trainees, where group learning was activitly taking place for all the respective timing groups.
With week 1 successfully completed, we will welcome week 2 of intervals and speed training at both the tracks and outdoors with yet another interesting menu of new workouts that will piqued the Kingfishers' interests. We were happy to note that none of the trainees sustained any injuries, although there have been some feedback of tightening muscles and aches after the hard workouts. A the training progresses, we can only see the Kingfishers strengthening and conditioning for sustained speed ahead.
Picasa Slideshow, courtesy CK Chin
