Operation Kookaburra 2011: Ready For GOLD!

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Photos from Wai Teng @ FatBird Runner

The Ops Kookaburra finale training run was blessed with rather good weather. After 11 weeks of base building, with 6 FatBird face-face sessions, the trainees were all primed for the Gold Coast Marathon (GCAM) next weekend. Many of them are first time participants looking forward to having a good race on this rather flat and PB-friendly course.

Because of the cooler weather expected in Gold Coast, Ops Kookaburra sessions have been mostly at night by the Eastern coastline where temperatures would be cooler, and there would be some winds blowing in from the sea. We have been able to run at a higher intensity than we would normally do for day training, preparing us somewhat to maintain a suitably-hard pace.

This finale run was a final check on our race plan and strategies. There would be official pacers in GCAM from Pat Caroll’s team from 3:00h to 4:30h, with 15min intervals. Most of our Kookaburra trainees would be looking at 3:30h to 5:30h targets at Gold Coast, and they were able to build up their paces steadily. We had a final time trial of 18km (FM) and 13km (HM) in which all of us tried to sustain a slightly faster pace than goal pace. The run started off windy, but it got humid and windless midway, before settling back with some winds for the final push. It was a high-intensity run which most of us were able to fulfill to the end.

We had a post-run briefing on what to expect and bring for the cooler conditions at Gold Coast, with some of the previous runners sharing some experiences. Everyone is all pumped up about the trip, and in the week ahead, we will be doing shorter distances, albeit at race-pace intensities. Rest and fueling-up would be important in the few days leading to our departure for Gold Coast on Thursday night. The Kookaburra trainees are all ready to join the rest of the 200+ Singapore runners in Gold Coast for an exciting adventure and race.

Run Kookabuura Run Kookaburra, Win Our Race Will We!
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