Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Week #6: Speedy Hills Attack


Every once in a while, we inject some very interesting elements into our marathon training programs - this evening was one of those exhilarating workouts for the Ops Falcon trainees which brought us to one of those 'Ninja' areas for some high speed workouts.



The appetizer comprised of a 2km run up the rolling hills of Mt. Faber and some parts of Henderson Waves - if that did not work up an appetite, then nothing much would.  By the time we reached the secret training grounds, the Falcons were all pumped up for some exciting speedy hills.



Upon hearing the targeted paces they were supposed to maintain for each of the 1km repeat, the humble Falcons were trying to bargain down the timings.  With a much stronger base than when they first started training 5 weeks ago, the expectations of the Falcons were high and the trainers would not accept negotiations for discounted paces that easily.



After the 1 lap orientation, the respective groups executed their speedy hills intervals with very hard runs up the hilly portion, then striding through the mid sections before being asked to work on their cadence on the final down slope of the course.  With each repeat, the Falcons were maintaining good cadence and speed with nice form and smooth arm-swing action..


We were right in insisting that the Falcons go according to planned paces, as many of them found the going rather easy, and in fact finished each lap with a good 15-30sec to spare.  Even the rest intervals seemed to be generous from the quick recovery seen.  Still, we kept to our side of the bargain as it was still a maiden speed hills workout for most of the trainees.


The 2km recovery run back turned into somewhat of a tempo run, as most of the trainees still felt strong and were happy to see if they could sustain their new found speed throughout.  Although it was one of the tougher workouts in the program, the Falcons were lapping it all up and from the smiles of satisfaction seen, we could tell that they were so glad they came and grit through the whole routine.



2 hours after the workout finished, many Falcons reported that their minds and bodies were still buzzing from all that adrenaline rush - some were even having 'crazy' thoughts of going for a recovery run...haha...if there were no work tomorrow, we could see some Falcons roaming the streets in their running attire late into the night.



Overall, all and sundry enjoyed the workout; and more importantly, boosted their confidence levels of knowing they can run fast at sustainable paces.  This would put us all in good stead as we progress into week 7 with firm grounding for the important Pace Training phase.





The Falcons Danced The Hills With Speed

Facebook Photos by Falcon MK