Continuing our A to Z Feature Friday Series this week we are featuring K for Kenneth. Kenneth gives us a sneak peak in to how he trains, how he balance the passion of running and family needs and what advice he has for running rookies.
1) When and how did you join RD?
I believe my first run with RD was in 2015, maybe about 3 weeks before the SCSM race. My friend, Fong KS told me that there is a running group, Running Department, that we can join to train with the pacers. Prior to that, I was always running alone and had no idea how to train. I turned up for the training run and of course, I couldn’t even follow the slowest pacers.
Even though I had been running since 2007, I never learnt how to train correctly. Therefore I decided to try running consistently with RD in 2016.
2) What made you stay on?
At the beginning, RD was just a running group for making new friends. I felt like I was part of a family at the Dairy Farm exploration run. I was quite out of shape, so I couldn’t catch up with the rest of the runners and eventually needed to walk. Tien, whom I had just met at that time, stayed behind to walk with me. He also shared his experiences in running full marathons and trails. Making sure that public runners are not left behind and his willingness to go all out to help others touched me. I benefited from the friendship and experience sharing. Most importantly, they are such energetic volunteers! I stay to pass on what I had received!
3) You have been making great improvements in recent races. Tell us about them……how did you train?
I learnt a lot from the pacer training program. If we follow the pacing program closely, it helps to build aerobic base through long slow (LSD) runs, strength through hills training and core strength through the conditioning exercises. I adopted heart rate (HR) training and hill workouts to focus on aerobic base and strength development. I usually do 4 runs a week: 1 tempo, 1 strength/flat (RD Wed run), 1 Hills repeats and 1 LSD. I also rest to allow my body to recover, which is very important to stay injury free.
4) What tips will you give newcomers to running?
You need to learn to “run slow to run fast”. It is not easy as our ego gets in the way. We want the fastest results within shortest time. It can take a few months before you see improvement if you adopt training using heart rate. Be patient. It is equally important to allow your body to rest and recover. Rest is part of the training.
Yes I always pack breakfast for my family: wife, 3 children (2 of them are already of voting age😁), and my helper. I feel I want to do that for the family. My family is not into long and structured training runs. I try to do fun and short run or walk with family over the weekend. I try to balance the passion of running and family needs.
