Blessed with the haze reprieve this weekend, the Sunbirds were happy to gather at SAFRA Mt. Faber for one of the most challenging workouts in the Sunbird Program - the double hills repeats of Mt. Faber & Labrador Park Hills.
The run started off in the opposite direction from our usual Mt. Faber (MF) route, proceeding to MF Hills loop for the first set of 1.6km hills repeats. The HM Sunbirds did 2 repeats while the FM Sunbirds completed 5 repeats with an allocated time of 50min.
The weather was rather humid with the thick cloud cover, and by the time we left the Mt. Faber hills for Labrador Park, the sun had started to peek through the skies. Marathon Pace (MP) was averaged for all the timing groups.
The Sunbirds looked strong in spite of the few weeks of training disruptions due to the haze menace, pointing to the fact that the trainees did their own 'Ninja' workouts to maintain their cardiovascular fitness as well as their marathon 'physique'.
The 2.4km Figure-Of-8 loops incorporating a challenging hill up the Labrador Tunnels served to tax the Sunbirds who had expended much of their reserves at the Mt. Faber Hills. That was the time that the runners would be stressing their legs and drawing upon fuel and hydration reserves for them to sustain the target paces.
A small group of runners did the 6km scenic Keppel Marina route to avoid incurring any risk to injury, especially with the few who were having niggles in their ankles and knees. The Sunbirds kept up with their target paces and at the end, 90% of them completed 90% of the training requirements for the morning.
It was evident that a number of Sunbird trainees, especially the newer ones who have joined us recently, have shed some excess weight, lessening the effort required normally for such a tough workout. With the dedication and commitment put into training, it is always satisfying to achieve the results set out earlier before the start of the program.
The Sunbirds Achieved Double Happiness At The Hills
Photos by FatBird Onin
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