If you turn early, there’s HILL to pay!

If you turn early, there’s HILL to pay!

20 PAX set off into a rather pleasant Tuesday morning last week – 55 degrees, light 7mph wind.  I wish “this” Spring would last forever.  No more Gloom!

The THANG:

• 0500 – The prerun has returned!  And it left people in the parking lot because they were punctual.  Atlas led the charge on the Warm-up that was not an easy run (as it should be, in order to let YHC catch up), and they picked up another late PAX Gumbo on the way.
• 0515 – The PAX have returned and brought new recruits!  Paper Jam was there after an EH over Slack on there being no sprinting, and another fine gentleman, a true FNG, found us after sticking his head out of the Courtyard by Marriott just in time (imagine if he found Bagpipe first…).   We set on a mosey over to the back porch of Metlife and arrived with ample time before the planned convergence there at 0525.
• 0524 – Commence warm-up exercises of the usual Heels, Toes, High Knees, and Butt Kicks.  Ran out of runway to get in the “new” A-Skips that we built up to last week, so we’ll have to repeat get those in next time.
• 0530 –
  • Route – head North on N Community House towards Endhaven.  After the interval, circle back for the Six on the sidewalk (not in the road with traffic) and continue on the route.  Don’t cross over to the other side of the road until the Q gives instruction to.  If, during an Interval, you see the leaders coming towards you on the opposite side of the road (which means they hit the turn around point), choose a safe time to cross over instead of running all the way to the turn around point.
  • Intervals – 4:00 at Interval pace (a.k.a. VO2Max, 2mile race pace – find yours at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator )
  • Recovery – 3:00 jog to regroup
  • Rounds – 5x
• 0615 – be back at the Vine for COT

The Moleskin:

• Things started off so well.  Not many questions, everyone seemed to understand the route, intervals (effort level – explained it should take 2 minutes to get to maximum Heartrate), and recovery, but then 1 minute into the plan, it started unraveling.  Itch (speedy guy, but only 2nd time out) was trying to keep up with a rested Citgo and a recovering Frasier, and 1 minute into the first interval, his breathing said “I’m getting fried”, though his pace stayed strong for at least the first 3:30 before a slight fade.  He paid for that mistake later, but he will learn and be back.
• Then, as the leaders circled back on the sidewalk, PAX could be seen darting across to the other side of the road (see instructions above to continue towards Endhaven) and running away from the Q.  With mutiny / hard of hearing PAX starting to bail so early, there was nothing left to do but try to catch up to them, and then make them pay by starting the next Interval on the maximum upslope back down Community House.
• Uneventful Interval #3, but because we were still “off” from #1, #4 Interval was back up the Hill again.  However, instead of trying an Out & Back for Interval #5, we headed back towards Premier, “aloft” (not “A-loft” a MT had suspected, but to be honest, YHC has no idea of the proper pronunciation), and we ended in time before SPX.
• So, it was a then a mosey back to COT through the fitness trail / Lochness cutoff and arrived before 0615 today, just in time.
• Was the FNG’s name Baywatch?  Think so, something about being from the Tampa Bay area.  Said he would check out other sites while in town, but not sure if that happened or not.
• Timekeeper was a great conversation with about 10-12 PAX in attendance, and we made the decision to start discussing the book “Extreme Ownership” starting on 4/17.  Haggis will lead the Intro and Chapter 1 on 4/17, and most PAX may be taking in the Audio Book version which is a free trial on Audible.com.  Audio version evidently has good production and is narrated by the authors.  Here is a video preview – https://youtu.be/yGBj2xAnqE8 

Announcements:

• Swift on 4/10 is the 2nd Tuesday of the month, which means Hills!  With the first edition last month being near Max effort up Hills, this month will focus on even effort Up hill and Down hill at same effort level as last week (Interval pace, VO2Max).  Now, what most are dreading, YHC will relieve you.  It will not be in the Ballantyne Country Club, and it won’t be the 2/1/30 intervals, but it won’t be Easy.  If you want to set your watch, go for the following: 5:00 on/4:00 off, 4/3, 3/2, 2/1, and then back up – 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/4.  We’ll use the entire length of the bike-laned Ballantyne Corporate Place, and the Warm-up will take us to the top of Bagpipe Hill over Hwy 521.

SYITG,

Bratwurst