Team FatBird Pacer Training Session #4

Team FatBird Marathon Training

It was yet another good turnout this Saturday morning. There were a number of new people who joined in the run, as Team FatBird was scheduled to do 24km from 7-11 @ ECP to Changi Coastal Road and back. The usual group of marathon trainees were present. FatBird A gave a brief of the route to run, and explained to the combined group of Pacees and trainees where to do the U-turn.

We started off at about 7am, at aound a 6min/km pace. The runners were maintaining a more steady pace this morning....even the fast ones like Bug was taking his time to accompany a friend. The weather was cool but not warm. There were quite a number of groups doing their training, and we acknowledged familiar faces as we ran by.

My Pace group reached NSRCC in 48min, and we continued to move along the PCN towards Coastal Road. Pacers Chantelle and Beverly were maintaining quite a good pace. As we hit Coastal Road, acidburn and Bug were already running back. Acid told us to turn at the 2nd shed for a 12km U-turn. We reached the 12km U-turn in 1hr10min, slightly less than 6min/km pace. The road surface of Coastal Road was a lot softer than the hard grounds of ECP, and it offered good relief for some of our battered legs...(hmm, we really have to run less at ECP to save the legs of our Pacers and Marathon trainees...we should move to Changi Beach Park and run along Coastal Road instead).

Babumouse followed us for most of the way as we increased pace to do a negative split on the way back. By the time we reached back to 7-11 start point in 2hr15min, most of the runners have returned, and were chilling out with the cool 100-plus provided with the help of Ultraman and his 'water' team of PassionRunner, Niwas, Terry....great job guys! Gana and Sacha did their 7km warm-up run, and we had a good discussion on how to marry the Pacers training with the trainees for time-based group training clinics....hmm, some interesting ideas to chew on :) Sacha also generously provided chilled bottled isotonic drinks....nice!

Once we got most of the runners back, the customary group photos were taken.....quite a smooth operation this morning. Lots of tips-sharing, chit-chats about running shoes and gear, as well as new routes for future training sessions transpired. It was a fun training session for all, but definitely a hard workout for many.

FatChicks designing FatBird's running top :)

After washing up, we gathered at the usual MacD for iced-cold Milo, McGriddles and ice-cream. The new FatBird running top's design looked cool, and we hope to get it printed on the Marathon Pacers' gear soon for that unique identity. And yes, the Nike Speed Cage I was trying performed pretty good for the 24km this morning....for longer distances on that terrain, I figured a good pair of more cushioned Vomeros would be helpful.

Distance: 24km__Time: 2hr20min_Pace: 5:50min/km

Photo Slideshow from FatBird Esther