On Saturday, the third and final instalment of the Urbanathlon Bootcamp with Polar took place at West Coast Park. For those who've been faithfully attending this Bootcamp series, this session was meant to be as close to a dry run as possible, except without the full distance. West Coast Park is filled with all manner of obstacle installations that the trainers from Polar incorporated into the training plan for the day to mimic conditions during the actual Urbanathlon.

Here's the interval training circuit the sadistic Polar trainers put us through:

4 x 30 second sprint / 20 second recovery pace
(with 10 sets each of diamond push-ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-up with rotation side plank after each set)

4 x 60s sprint / 30s recovery
(with 10 sets each of diamond push-ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-up with rotation side plank after each set)

And after all that...

2 x entire circuit with the addition of a 10-metre leopard crawl and 10-metre over-under obstacle which the whole cohort of participants had to complete in under 12 minutes.

I don't have pictures this time of the Bootcamp, but you can check them out at Polar's Facebook page.

Not only were the participants tired out once again at the end of training, we were also dirty as hell and covered with sand (ok, maybe just me).

I'd like to think I'm now well-prepared for the Urbanathlon this Sunday but the truth is, I'm far from confident of completing the race. I've still yet to put in a full 12-kilometre run, let alone with obstacles. However, I'm pretty sure I'd have no chance if I didn't force myself to wake up at 6am the last three Saturday mornings, and drag myself to the Bootcamp training sessions.

For this week leading up the Urbanathlon, I plan to listen to Edwin's (the head trainer at the Polar Bootcamp) advice about getting lots of rest (i.e. sleep). Nevertheless, I'll still put in my three alternate days of bodyweight workouts, and possibly even a futsal session or two. Sure, I could be risking another injury that might rule me out of the Urbanathlon at these kickabouts but, heck, life's too short to live in fear of things that may or may not happen. I'll just have to be extra-careful. May the Force be with me!
 

What I did last week:

Mon: Bodyweight training

Tue: Rest

Wed: Futsal / Bodyweight training

Thu: 7km run

Fri: Bodyweight training

Sat: Urbanathlon Bootcamp with Polar / Futsal

Sun: Rest

The Week's Feelgood Rating: 8 — I'm eating right, putting in the training (and surviving) and I've seen a 1kg (at least) drop on the weighing scales. I feel fitter and I suspect I'm even starting to see visible results in the mirror (though I can't be sure).

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Read about Day 00, or what Gavin Gets Garang is all about.