28 Jan A week in the life of a MetaMate – Shem Leong
We like to mix it up at MetaSport – With 10 coached sessions a week – we’ve covered all bases to develop the key aspects of your endurance game – Strength/ Threshold and Endurance. Between the roster of professional coaches conducting awesome sessions and the motivated tribe of friendly and ‘slightly’ competitive MetaMates, you’re in good hands.
The week starts off on the Monday evening with a Swim Strength/ Speed session so that your tired legs get a break from the longer weekend sessions. Expect hard and All Out sprints with paddles and pull buoys to work swim specific strength. As one member accurately put it, “It feels like I’ve just pushed out an upper body strength session at the gym.” Exactly.
Tuesdays morning and evening track sessions comprise of anything from 100m sprint’s for strength and technique, to 2km repeats at threshold, depending on the current training phase that the group is in. We peg our training cycles to the major local and regional races to mirror the ebb and flow of the season.
The mid- week swim on Wednesday is a mixed bag of easy/ moderate and hard efforts to equip you with a dynamic open water swim for race day. Practice changing gears and learn to gauge your perceived effort level in the water so that when the time comes, you’ll have the confidence to sprint out of the start to clear the pack and surge to bridge up to that draft.
On Thursday evenings you have the option of a steady aerobic swim of longer intervals or a round of running hill reps at the Botanic Gardens. We keep the work rate up so that when Friday rolls round, you’ve earned a well-deserved off day to catch up with life and to rest up for the weekend ahead.
Saturday mornings is a Bike Strength/ Threshold session that takes place on one of the number of hill loops that we use. Our usual stomping grounds include Mt Faber/ Seletar Reservoir / Rifle Range Road/ Sentosa. Push hard on this strength session and reap the rewards on the open road. You can bring your shoes for a short run off the bike if you’re up for it.
Open water swims at Sentosa Island in the afternoon are a good excuse to get out of the city and hang out by the beach while squeezing in a solid swim/run brick session. The prefect way to set you up for a relaxed evening ahead.
3 groups of varying ability leave Macritchie Reservoir on a Sunday morning for our group ride. A’s cover 70 – 80ks and C’s are able to get a good 40 – 50ks in. The ride typically heads West or East for a ‘half round island’ affair. Marked Time Trial sections add structure to the ride while regroup points mean that no one gets left behind. All rides end at cafe just in time for a mid-morning coffee break.
So if any of this sounds like your idea of fun, check out our training schedule and write in for a free trial.
