Week #2: Track Attack and Hilly Thrills

Ops Kingfisher Week #2 had the Kingfishers launched their first track attack at the Stadium.  For a number of Fatbirds who have experienced Team FatBird's speedwork sessions in the past, it was a refresh of the great moments of past.

The trainees new to trackwork were just thrilled to be running about in the track in a structured fashion led by experienced Kingfisher Pacers.

After a quick warm up and some activation drills, the Kingfishers established their speedwork base with a mile (1.6km) time trial.  Their mile timings will be used as a guide to their paces for respective 400m and 800m interval sets, as well as set a reference point to determine speed improvements in the following weeks.

The main menu of 4 x 800m sets were executed with great enthusiasm under the guidance of the group pacers.  This was followed by 3-4 sets of 400m with shorter work:rest ratios which served to enhance the cadence as well as stride length, taxing the trainees' fast-twitch muscles for growth and development.

There were many other runners of the public using the track, and a number of them joined in the fun chasing some of the Kingfisher groups for that added motivation.

We completed the whole workout within 60min, and this was followed by cool-down stretches and core-work led by the Kingfisher Trainers.

Training concluded at 8:45pm, leaving some time for the runners to share their experiences and feelings about their first track session with Team FatBird, and it seemed all enjoyed the hard workout thoroughly.

As they left the stadium, the Kingfishers were already looking forward to their next track session in a fortnight.  Meanwhile, it is back to the hills for next week's Wednesday session.

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The weekend Long Steady Run (LSD) was a snappy menu of thriller hills at the Labrador Park 1.2km circuit.

After a dynamic drills warm up, the Kingfishers proceeded on a 4km run at BaseBuild Pace and the respective Pace Groups led their runners on a 4-5 lap around the rolling hills circuit.

It is always a love-hate challenging workout at the Labrador Hills segment, but the satisfaction of completing the required laps more than make up for the huffing and puffing, along with the 'heavy legs' feeling when climbing the double slopes.

After the completion of the menu, we ran a shorter 3.5km back to SAFRA MF, with a good push atthe final 1.5km up along Henderson Road for good measure.

The training rounded off with a good stretch down and ended off at 9:45am, to the delight of all the Ops Kingfisher participants.

When the challenges get rough, the Kingfishers get tough!

Wednesday & Sunday Photos By FatBird Onin

Strength & Speed Marathon Training - Kick Off

Operation Kingfisher, an intensive 8-week structured half marathon training program got off to a solid start from Labrador Park on Thursday.

  

The 15-session program will have its focus on strength and speed with combination of hills and track workouts on weekdays and long steady runs and optimal pace workouts on weekends to hone the speed endurance capabilities of the Kingfisher participants.

The first session on Thursday evening had the participants segmented into 1:45h, 2:00h, 2:15h and 2:30h HM pace groupings according to their respective goal race targets.

A basebuild run of 1.5km to the top of Mt. Faber Hills with 1.6km hills repeats was the highlight of the night's workout.  The Kingfishers were impressive in their enthusiasm for the challenging workouts with most completing 3-5 laps within the alloted training time.

Group 3 took a 1.5km run back at HM pace after the main menu, while Groups 1 and 2 went by a longer route of 5.5km of rolling slopes to make it strongly back to start point by 9:30pm.

A good 10min stretch down was conducted by Trainer Jayson to the satisfaction of the Kingfishers who gave their near max effort for the workout.  Their serious attitude to training and tackling all the challenges put to them was impressive to say the least, evident of experienced runners who are willing to do their best to get optimal results.

This was followed by a Long Steady Distance (LSD) this weekend at Parkland Green, ECP.  The 13km distance, although short, was meant to set a faster pace for the Kingfishers to maintain their speed for a longer duration.

All the groups did well to run at a range between 20s faster and their basebuild pace, and did some of them enjoy the cardio rush and enhanced pace challenged by the pacers.  

Although the distance was short relative to what many of the Kingfishers were used to in their longer (but slower) runs training for the full marathon, most of them appreciated this faster-paced session at Half Marathon intensity to reset their muscle memory and tune-up their cardio base for quicker timings for their target 21.1km at end of August.

It was a good kickoff week for Ops Kingfisher overall, with the set targets achieved for both missions.  Runners who are keen to ride these strength and speed workouts can register for this structured marathon training program HERE!

The Kingfishers Are On Speedy Flight!

Photos By FatBirds Rand & Onin