Christmas Carols with Charlie Brown

  • When:12/08/15
  • QIC: Bratwurst
  • The PAX: Bratwurst, Honeybee, Frasier, OneNiner, JRR Tolkein, Geronimo, Tuck, Mario, Gumbo, Cheddar, Strange Brew, Chipotle, Stump Hugger, Fire Hazard Soft Pretzel


Christmas Carols with Charlie Brown

15 PAX decided to go door-to-door in the Ballantyne Country Club on Tuesday morning to bring glad tidings to residents and thank them for their hilly streets.  Instead of caroling, we just ran.

The THANG:

  • Several in the early crew for an extra mile or so. YHC was lucky to catch them almost done.
  • At 0515, a hearty pack of men set off toward the 521 crossing at the resort for a warm-up Mosey of about 1 mile. Once at the East entrance to the BCC, we ducked into a couple of streets to get some warm-up drills in. Our first visit to Charlie Brown’s Christmas story was complete.
  • At 0530, after getting some brief tips about running hills, explanation that “Hard” pace will be based on effort (instead of running pace) due to the hills, notice that there will be called turn-around points, and that we will regroup to the 6 on recoveries, we set off on a plan for 5 rounds of:
    • 2 minutes Hard, 1 minute recovery
    • 1 minute Hard, 30 seconds recovery
    • 30 seconds Hard, 30 seconds recovery
  • Finishing around 0600, head back to the Vine.  Option for the fleet of feet – take the turn at Premier on Ballantyne Corporate.  Required for all – get back to AO by 0615.  At almost 1.5miles on the short way, this will be a challenge for all PAX.
  • 0615 – finished.  Total miles between 4.8miles, 6.9 miles, and 8.2 miles (with pre-run).

The Moleskin:

  • The PAX had to be adept at following directions on this one.  With either a call for turnaround point or regroup instructions (next lightpost, back down the hill, up the hill, back to the Charlie Brown Christmas display), start/stop of the interval (though many more PAX either seemed to have programmed this one into their watch or are learning the benefits of the LAP button), or road hump, we tried to be as hushed as possible in the confines on the Country Club.  So far, no angry neighbors or neighborhood watch patrols have penalized us.  Also, with the regrouping and turnarounds, it sometimes gets confusing which direction to go.  Fortunately, no collisions with other PAX and no nosediving on dark road humps or potholes (though I would like to see OneNiner sue the Ballantyne Country Club for that sneaky one next to a roadhump – a trap laid for unsuspecting runners).
  • Not much car traffic, in fact YHC can only remember one.  That gave us the whole street and plenty of freedom to roam.  However, some bright headlamps out there among the PAX to pick out humps and holes, so there were a few times YHC was certain a car was coming but it was just a PAX.
  • Geronimo and Soft Pretzel rejoin after several weeks on hiatus, but haven’t lost a step.
  • Frasier, who is preparing for a flat Kiawah marathon this Saturday by running hills this week, is sure to blow through 26.2 miles as long as his Sherpa carrying fuel supplies stays with him.  Also, restraint shown by doing half the intervals, but leaving the PAX in his wake when he did push it to a higher gear.
  • Calling for the last interval (this is not the same as stating at the beginning of the workout that the goal is 5 sets and we happen to be on the 5th set – because YHC has been know to extend the workout when time or the PAX fitness level allows) sure brings out the Sandbaggers.  Mario, who may be a Swift FNG (but whom YHC is hearing about had a F3 Turkey Bowl dominance), challenges Cheddar, but this has to go down as the longest 30 seconds of the morning.  It seemed to never end up that hill and for sure YHC thought the watch hadn’t started.  Then the best tone in the world is the “beep-beep-beep-beebahbeep” signaling the end of the interval.
  • The PAX pushed it on the route home and it was self-led.  No Q instructions for what was surely a negative split effort.  A contingent that took the long way didn’t shortcut through Loch Ness as they could have, but seemed to be racing Bagpipe PAX back to the lot.  For the PAX that took an alternate way back, it was great to hear encouragement from guys like Strange Brew and know that everyone was pushing themselves right up to the limit.

Announcements:

  • Not that you haven’t heard that the JoeDavisRun is coming up, but now’s the time to sign up!  A 10K option for distance, or a 5K option for speed (which YHC is opting for), there’s something for everyone including a FunRun for the 2.0s.
  • Next week at Swift will be a continuation of the Interval Pace (a.k.a. 2 mile race pace) of last week.  Expect a step up in the distance for some, but it will be the last week of these long I-pace reps.

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Abacus
8 years ago

Pretty sure I was there for warm-up & main event. If so, guess we had 16. Of course, I could be mistaken.

Long Haul
8 years ago

Make that 17. Didn’t make the warm-up, but I sure remember the main event. And I’ll vouch for Abacus too!

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