The Cold Corporate Side of Matthews

The Cold Corporate Side of Matthews

On a nippy morning in the southernmost tip of Mecklenburg County, 7 men decided to go run around town. Here’s what we did:

Start Running

Left out of Matthews Elemntary

Right onto Main Street- Stop at every Stop Sign to get some pain stations in. (SSH, IW, Merkins)

Right onto John Street, then cross over onto Ames Street- SQUATS pain station

Right onto E Matthews, Left onto Independence Parkway

Run downhill until you hit Target, take a right into the Parking Lot

Sevens- Jump Squats and Merkins

Once we were all done, gathered and left onto 51.

Left onto N Trade Street

Right onto Charles.

Left onto Ames.

Left on Main Street

Back to Matthews Elementary and finish!

Total around 5.5 Miles

MoleSkine

Let’s get it out of the way- it was cold. But perfect running weather- cold enough you want to get moving, warm enough that you’re not frozen once you do get moving.

In my mind, Sparta is one of the underrated workouts out there- A good mix of running with just enough bootcamp to make it interesting, right in the heart of the beautiful downtown Matthews.

Gypsy apparently had been promoting that I would provide a local, scenic tour of Matthews, however, I had already decided on the cold, coporate approach- heading to TARGET, by way of passing the Harris Teeter Coporate office, and the (I think) gears or sprockets office.

Great group out there- all cold (figuratively and literally) blooded veterans who know what’s up.

Christmas was out in the lead- but he’s so nice he didn’t open up the throttle on a couple of occasions because he in fact several times you could tell he was waitin on me. He got tired of that and disappeared from view once he opened it up on 51.

Gypsy wasn’t far behind but it took him a bit to get warmed up- he was still feeling the pain that is Skunkworks (only the biggest and the baddest show out there on Tuesday’s morning).

Full House was cranking it out today- fun story, while I was running one Monday with the legendary Slim Fast and Peak Q- guru, Sensei when all of a sudden he materialized in his car. So I learned he lives right down the road from Sensei, and is close to a couple of the other guys! Truly a small world.

Arena and Retread were coming on strong- both veteran runners who were knocking it out.

And of course, Joker who rated this Q highly- I was on his podium for one of the top 2 workouts he had been too in January! (he had only been to two, but we won’t talk about that).

All types of good mumble chatter, but can’t remember it all.

But on a serious note, right before I Q’d this morning, I listened to the Nations Podcast on runners’ safety, and tried to modify the workout as much as I could with the suggestions. Good news- it works. Keeping an eye on the 6, adding an additional bit to the disclaimer- it’s not hard to do. But even the little things can make an impact- especially as Q, where what you do sets the tone for the entire workout. Whether running, or bootcamp, or stretch, the key is we are all out there getting better- safely.

Thankful for these guys- thanks Madison and Gypsy for letting me lead!