Last weekend, I took part in my final training session with Virgin Active, to prepare our team of bloggers and staff from Virgin Active’s PR company, Waggener Edstrom, for the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay.

Happy but exhausted faces after our last training session with Virgin Active – before the Bloomberg Square Mile race tomorrow.

This corporate race takes place on 2 October and is a relay event whereby corporations send teams comprising of 10 members to each run the 1.6km course, focusing on speed.

Virgin Active, the race’s official Fitness Club partner, will be fielding four teams – two comprising of Virgin Active staff and members, and one comprising of bloggers and PR staff.

A simulation of the race day itself

The final training session was a simulation of the actual race itself. Our instructors took us outdoors to the Boat Quay area, near Cavenagh Bridge.

This was a few minutes’ walk from Virgin Active at One Raffles Place and the easy walk was good to warm up our muscles for what lay ahead.

Warming Up for the Session

We first did a few simple dynamic stretches to prepare our muscles for the hard running session ahead. These included high knee lifts and star jumps.

This was quickly followed by a slow jog of one lap around the area. We completed this in about eight minutes at a very comfortable pace. Then after this, we were ready to begin.

Running one lap around the Singapore River

For the training session itself, we took turns to run one lap around the Boat Quay area of the Singapore River, as fast as we could possibly manage. This was conducted in a relay style, with each runner handing over the baton to the next, once we were done with our leg.

This format was supposed to be a trial session of the race itself and also for us to see how fast we were capable of going. This would give us all an idea of what to expect on the race day itself.

More dynamic stretches

Before each runner set off, we were each led through a series of dynamic stretches, which were similar to the earlier ones.

The purpose of doing these dynamic stretches were to help us feel more limber and to activate the muscles that we would be using for the hard running that was to come. As a result, the muscles will take lesser time to get used to the rigours of the workout, and injury rates will also be reduced.

Time for me to run

When the baton was handed to me and I had run my lap, I felt satisfied, knowing that I had run as fast as I could have managed.

Stretching and cooling down the muscles

Once the last runner had come back from the session, we were then led through some more stretches, this time to cool down our muscles, before slowly walking back to the Virgin Active office to clean ourselves up and put on a fresh set of clothes.

Click here for training session 1 with Virgin Active.

Click here for training session 2 with Virgin Active.

web counter