Author Archive Bratwurst

Old Spice – spice and core

DATE: 2022-11-01 AO: Run Q: bratwurst PAX: Alf, purple_haze, Joker_Shawn Heath, Benny FNGs: None COUNT: 5 WARMUP: starting off 2 min late, Purple Haze reminds the Q there is no overtime. This is key later. Mosey down to Rounding Run and over to Old Spice.
THE THANG: an Old Spice interval and core session alternating between 2 intervals (split in two groups – group 1 run CW Hard around Old Spice Loop until meeting group 2 that is running CCW Easy. When leaders meet, turn opposite and switch speeds), Repeato, then Regroup and do 2min of core exercises focused on running / stability.
2 total rounds. 4 Hard intervals total.
Mosey back towards launch, stopping to regroup and more core.
NMM: Fast Twitch pride themselves for putting hands on the ground. Turns out you must have pristine surface devoid of wet leaves, acorns, and need smooth asphalt in order to have full compliance.
Purple Haze secretly wanted more minutes past the 0615 mark, so he gave directions to Benny that led him astray and required a joint search party to make sure Benny didn’t go over and permanently join the RFYL runners at SCMS. Benny found, he didn’t defect, peace restored.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Per Benny, stay tuned to Q for next week.
COT: Purple Haze took us out.

Swift 2s & end of Oktoberfest

DATE: 2022-09-27 AO: Run Q: bratwurst PAX: soft_pretzel, teddyf3, Chopper, midriff, Tiger Rag, Flipper, Hairball, Turkey Leg, Astro FNGs: None COUNT: 5
WARMUP: 1mi to the MetLife back porch then dynamic exercises of Heels, Toes, high knees, butt kicks, PAX choice.
THE THANG: 3 rounds of 200m/200m/2:00. 1mi pace on the intervals. Equal distance recovery after each, except for double the distance after the second 200.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: – This ends 4 weeks of Oktoberfest with @Bratwurst (everyone knows the “official” Oktoberfest ends Oct 3, right?). – But we’ll continue with the Soft (and Warm – salted with mustard or Cinnamon?) Pretzel for October!

Swift – Pyramid of Pacing

DATE: 2022-09-20 AO: Run Q: bratwurst PAX: Astro (Kyle Kirchhoff), Wolverine, midriff, Chopper, goonie, frasier, Tiger Rag, Dosey Do, Citgo, Bunker, Hairball FNGs: None COUNT: 7
WARMUP: After a warmup down to Rushmore, we did Dynamic drills along Harney.
THE THANG: 1mi pace intervals of 200m4, 400m2, 800m, 400m2, 200m4. Equal distance recovery after each.
Cones marked every 200m, but it is critical you know where your Lap button is on your watch to review your pacing effort was equal for each interval. Working up to the 800m at this pace is not easy, but most were thankful it was just 1…and not more. (just wait until next week…or when we adjust to having a 2:00 interval).
Citgo, Bunker, and Tiger Rag made flybys along Rushmore, but only Citgo took the bait and hopped in a 200m.
This workout is also hard to get in for the 1hour and we pushed the limit on arriving to COT on time.

400m on the Brixham Green

WARMUP: – 0515 mosey to the Brixham Green (apparently not well known) where YHC takes a comfort break and expects that the PAX will follow – 0525 dynamic exercises with 50m of exercise followed by 50m acceleration
THE THANG: – 8x400m at 1mi race pace, 400m jog recovery. – never start an interval alone, so get extra recovery by waiting for someone behind you – goal is 6-8 intervals – group mosey back to COT

No man left behind, until you do

THE THANG: Didn’t start off so hot with immediately a wrong turn from the courtyard, but a alert group of PAX kept the Q on track.
Course map: connect.garmin.com/modern/course/16657251
The Ardrey Kell High School loop is a lot of running along Ardrey Kell Rd. Goal is no man left behind, which is done by looping for the Six, and it worked until it didn’t. With some unconfirmed Intel, two got left to fend for themselves but did make it back to COT. Next time, a solid count is needed to make sure the group that’s ahead is the whole group.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Brolympics is a team challenge this year. Sign up by finding the PreBlast in Slack.

Eric Liddell special

WARMUP: 0515 mosey for 1mi then dynamic stretching and strides.
THE THANG: Eric Liddell – rounds of 200,200,400 with equal recovery. Goal for the interval was 1mi race pace w/ an option given for slower pace and quicker recovery.
We got in 3+ rounds on the 🐂 💍 dodging a few puddles and our own 🥵😰💦. Twas not the Scottish Highlands in temps today.
Also spotted in the gloom were Astro, Dosey Doe, Gumbo, Tiger Rag

Ugliest T-Shirt Ever

3 PAX fought the Fartsack this morning to Post at the weekly Running/Rucking site known as Pursuit.

 

The Thang:

  • 0515 – Warm-up from the Millbridge Clubhouse over the Covered Bridge to the paved path over to the Ridge Haven section of “it’s still Millbridge”.
  • 0525 – Scrap the planned warm-up and workout, but enjoy great 2nd F while looping the outer perimeter of the Ridge Haven section including the Walnut Creek “half” of the loop.  Head back to COT at the Millbridge Clubhouse.
  • 0615 – COT

Moleskin:

  • The 2nd attempt at planning a “Challenge” at Pursuit was scrapped due to low turnout.  The point of running in a group is to get motivated, get outside your comfort zone, and run with others, but a workout that breaks into 2 groups this morning would have left the PAX running alone.  So, an audible was made to enjoy the unusually and unseasonally cool 62 degree temps.
  • Great 2ndF along the way catching up with 6 time Blue Ridge Relay vet and planned 6man Ultra team in 2021, Flip Phone.  YHC and Flip Phone swapped war stories of night terrors and mountain goats while wondering if there will ever be a Waxhaw Express-based BRR team in the future.
  • Turnbuckle had a solo MillBridge Parkway jaunt going almost end-to-end.

Announcements:

  • Christ Closet – 9am Saturday for a Clothes and Furniture giveaway.  Help needed until 1pm from anyone in your family to move furniture and generally lend a hand.  Park on Byrum Rd near 6025 New Town Rd, 28173.
  • 3rd annual Crane Relay – Friday, August 13th to Saturday, August 14th.  Event is run by F3 Pax for F3 Pax and consists of running a 3,4,&5mi loop in Ballantyne from the home-base hotel during the night.  Nominal cost to cover splitting a hotel room (shower, place to put your head down, and breakfast) with the teammates who are drafted onto teams that are made as equal as possible.  Sign-up list here (click link) to gather interest.  Details will be coming as interest is generated.
  • F3 Dads Camping Trip – not to be confused with F3 Dads Camp, this is tent camping in Blowing Rock on July 30-Aug 1.  For details, email Bratwurst (paul.wuerslin@gmail.com), DM on GroupMe, or check F3Dads channel on Slack.

FastTwitch through the rain drops

5 PAX showed at 0515 at the Arbo ABC store despite the RADAR and Forecast for heavy rain during the workout this morning.  We took to the streets and hills of Raintree to see if we could build some running strength.

The THANG

  • 1mi Easy down to Rounding Run & Rounding Run.
  • Dynamic warm-up exercises using the street lights as a guide to head back towards Rising Meadow – High Knees, Butt kicks, A-Skip, B-Skip, and strides.
  • Start rounds of :30, :30, :60 – run 30sec Hard (9/10 effort level), recover back to start. run 30sec Hard (9/10 effort level), recover back to start. run 60sec Hard (9/10 effort level), recover back to start.
  • Round 1: “Regular” meaning running up the hill, recover down.
  • Round 2: “Bounding” for first 2 intervals, Sister Mary Catherine’s IC x 10 then “Regular” for the 3rd.
  • Round 3: mosey back up Rounding Run to the top of the hill near the golf crossing.  “Downhill” start for all 3 intervals with PAX adding the uphill portion of Rounding Run towards Raintree Ln for the 3rd interval. Regroup at Raintree Ln.
  • Round 4: mosey across Raintree Ln to the bottom of Windbluff. 60sec Squat hold then 1st interval “Regular”. 2nd interval “Backwards Run”. 3rd interval “Backwards Run” halfway then finish “regular”.
  • Round 5: Squats IC x10 then 1st interval “regular”, Side Lunge ICx10 then 2nd interval “regular”, 3rd interval “regular” up opposite direction of Windbluff
  • Round 6: Squat Hold 60sec then 1st interval “regular”, 2nd interval “regular”, 3rd interval start backwards run then switch to regular about halfway.  Regroup at top near Raintree Ln.
  • Mosey back to COT

Moleskin

  • Writing Backblasts for running workouts isn’t a thing anymore, so I don’t do them.  That’s why they’re still required for Fast Twitch…
  • It was great to return to this part of Rain Tree.  It’s been a while for YHC since either a Fast Twitch or Mountain Goat workout from SCMS.  The hills are steep and well protected from traffic.  While 30sec covers most of them, a 60sec interval will get you past the top of the steep parts – hence the need to introduce some other exercises to induce maximum muscle fatigue for longer intervals.
  • The 60sec squat holds (the “Al Gore”, right?) were putting YHC at the limit. Such a simple exercise, but difficult if done with the femur parallel to the ground.  Making it hard to run on fatigued legs.
  • Benny’s HC on Slack Preblast made sure there would be at least One PAX attending.  YHC had no excuses not to Q, so that made 2.  Seeing Purple Haze and Airwolf pull in to the lot made it solid, and having Retread squeeze in there meant for a lively chatter.  Hearing rain on your window at 4am kept many a PAX in the fart sack today.  But YHC has never been to a F3 running workout solo.  Prepare your body with the right clothes, prepare your mind by not giving yourself an excuse, and you’ll be glad you did the workout whether it’s raining, cold, or cold & raining.  In the end, the heavy rain held off, and the shoes stayed pretty dry if you avoided the big puddles.
  • Intervals run at this effort (9 out of 10) need adequate recovery – either focus on the same distance as recovery or at a minimum make it more time than the interval.  Our recovery was often almost double the time (i.e. after the 30sec interval, the recovery was 40-60sec.).
  • Intervals run at this effort are hard to do with bad form.  Doing them on hills require more focus to not overstride going up or down the hill, so aim to keep a normal high cadence of 170 to 180 steps per minute, upright posture leaning forward from the hips, and proper arm movement.  If you can run fast and in control, you can learn to run more efficiently at slower speeds that are still race efforts.

Announcements

Preblast – Freedom 5K

July 4th , American Independence Day, is a short 8 weeks from now.  The plan is to build and continue fitness using a 5K/10K plan that will culminate in group or individual event on July 4th. First, the plan below, then some guidelines and explanation.

The 8 Week Plan:

  1. Week 1 – Monday, May 11th
    1. Workout #1: 4 x (2x200m Repetition-Pace w/200m recovery, 1x400m Repetition-Pace w/400m recovery)
    2. Workout #2: 4-6 x (5min Threshold-Pace with 1 min rest)
    3. Long run; Easy Pace for 25% of Weekly Mileage or 2.5 hours, whichever is less
  2. Week 2 – Monday, May 18th
    1. 8 x (400m R w/ 400m jog)
    2. 40min @ 1/2 Marathon Pace
    3. L run; 25% or 2.5 hours
  3. Week 3 – 5/25 (Memorial Day)
    1. 5 x (4min Interval-pace with 3min jog)
    2. 3 x (10min T with 2min jog/rest)
    3. L run; 25% or 2.5 hours
  4. Week 4 – 6/1
    1. 7 x (2min I, 1min jog, 1min I, 30sec jog, 30sec I, 30sec jog)
    2. 4x(200m R w/200m jog) + 3x(1000m I w/2min jog) + 2x(400m R w/400m jog)
    3. 5K Race

    4. L run; 25% or 2.5 hours
  5. Week 5 – 6/8
    1. 3 x 5min I w/4min jog + 3 x 3min I w/2min jog
    2. 15min T + 3min E + 10min T + 2min E + 5min T
    3. L run; 25% or 2.5 hours
  6. Week 6 – 6/15
    1. 3 x (4min T w/ 1min Rest) + 2 x (1000m I with 3min jog) + 4 x (200m R w/ 200m jog)
    2. 3 x (10min T with 2min Rest)
    3. L run; 25% or 2 hours
  7. Week 7 – 6/22
    1. 20min T + 4x(200m R w/ 200m jog)
    2. 4 x (5min T w/ 3min jog) + 6x(200m R w/ 200m jog) + 2mi Acceleration Run dropping 5sec per 400m
    3. L run; 25% or 2 hours
  8. Week 8 – 6/29
    1. 4 x (4min T with 2min jog) + 4 x (200m R w/ 200m jog)
    2. 5K/10K RACE

The Guide:

The Plan in Document Form

Please feel free to download and modify this Workbook.  We will be using Sheet 1 – 8 week plan, and Sheet 2 – 24 week plan is there for a reference.

Target Paces

There may be some new terms like R-pace, I-pace, and T-Pace that will be unfamiliar with some looking at a plan like this for the first time.

First, target paces are established by going to this calculator and inputting a recent race or Time Trial result.  Read Full Instructions, background and insight on how to use Jack’s calculator.  If you don’t have a recent race result, I caution you from putting a Goal Pace into the calculator for a 5K or 10K race that you want to hit, for that could lead you into over-exertion, but it will at least give you a starting point.  Fill to out the Table in the Worksheet and save a Copy for future reference. An App is also available for the calculator here – Google Mobile App, Apple Mobile App.  The Mobile App is VERY handy to look at before a workout.

Second, this is an excellent article with video links for the training paces that are used: Running Intensities Built Into VDOT O2 – What And Why?

A loose guide:

  • Repetition (or R) Pace is your 1 mile race pace
  • Interval (or I) Pace is your 2 mile race pace
  • Threshold (or T) Pace is your 1 hour race pace, and it works out to approximately 1:00/mi slower than your R Pace.
  • Easy Pace is the pace used for most everything else, including Long Runs.

Modify

The base for the plan is a 24 week 5K-15K plan by Jack Daniels PhD from the book Daniel’s Running Formula. The adaptions for our 8 week 10K Plan are to remove Phase 1 – the first 6 weeks of base building (average of 30min run on 5 days per week, with a long run on the weekend), to select weeks from each of the remaining 3 Phases, and to remove a 3rd Speed workout during the week.

There are other small changes to some workouts allow for F3-Swift workout principles to allow for regrouping and no man left behind, Preferring Time over Distance (not everyone has a GPS watch or track), and removing the “top end” of Interval quantity to keep to a 60minute workout and lower mileage.  If you would like the Full workout, please visit the shared workbook and see the 2nd Sheet.

If the interval workouts here are too much mileage, I recommend cutting the number of intervals, not the pace or time/distance of each interval.  As an example, instead of 4 x 5min intervals, try 3 x 5min intervals and use the rest as Easy Running.  Some workouts call for a Range

Weekly Mileage and Long Runs

Weekly mileage is individual to each athlete based on your Base Mileage (i.e. what is my average mileage over the last several weeks).  Daniels and many other experts advocate for not increasing your weekly mileage at too great a rate – FLATTEN THE CURVE!  This ranges from a conservative no more than 10 miles per week added every 3rd week to a slightly more progressive but still cautionary no more than 1 hour per week running increase.  A large increase in weekly mileage can lead to Stress Fractures and other injuries.

The Long Run guidelines are based on Daniel’s recommendation that it should not be more than 25% of your Weekly Mileage.  For some runners, this may mean 8 miles.  For other runners, this may mean 15 miles.  There is no hard cut-off to say that if you run 30% of your week in a single day, you’re going to be injured, but it’s a slippery slope to keep building most of your mileage into one day if it is not something you are used to.  Do Bootcamps count as mileage?  Perhaps, don’t be focused on the GPS miles during a Bootcamp, but perhaps use a conservative 3 miles per 45 minute workout.  4 miles per 60 minute workout.  More miles if the Bootcamp was really running focused on the legs or actual running.

PreBlast- 2 Months of Mile

Swift will engage in a March and April training program from the mastermind of Tiger Rag.

A lot of this comes from the Training Program here: https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/blueprint-master-the-mile/

Here is a summary of the intro:

“Think back to your elementary school days and the first race you probably ever ran: the gym-class mile. Fast-forward a few years, through the countless 5Ks, dozens of 10Ks and the half-marathons and marathons you’ve completed. Racing the mile has likely been an afterthought unless you ran track competitively in high school or college.

Fortunately for those of us who weren’t on the track team, or who would like to return to the simpler racing of our youth, all-comer’s track meets are catching on in the U.S., and most meets offer that famous four-lap footrace. It’s also noteworthy that stand-alone, one-mile road races take place all over the country, offering an alternative to long-distance racing and a different way to connect with the sport.”

We’ve adapted this program to have a Tuesday Swift workout, and then a second weekly workout that you can do OYO or hijack some other F3 workout to do during the week.  Once you have a baseline Mile Race goal from the first workout, you’ll go here to get an equivalent pace to train at when the plan calls for 5K pace or something similar – http://runsmartproject.com/calculator

  • Week 1:
    • Tuesday March 3rd- Mile Simulation to set a Baseline for training. 8x400m with 1minute rest between each.  Here’s the guideline for this workout: https://youtu.be/PoukQhAa21k
    • 2nd workout of the week – 4x800m @ 5K pace w/2:00 recovery
  • Week 2:
    • Tuesday March 10th – Tempo Run: 2mi @5k pace, 2x400m @1mi pace w/1:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – 8x200m @1mi Pace w/ 1:00 recovery
  • Week 3:
    • Tuesday March 17th – Hills: 10x1min @ 5K effort w/ 2:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – 6x300m @1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery
  • Week 4:
    • Tuesday March 24th – 4x800m @ 5K pace w/2:00 recovery; 4x200m @1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – 6x400m @1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery OR 5K Race
  • Week 5:
    • Tuesday March 31st – Hills: 6x1min @ 5K effort w/ 2:00 recovery; 6x30sec @1mi effort w/ 1:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – 2 x (5 x 200m @1mi pace w/1:00 recovery) w/ 3:00 recovery between sets
  • Week 6:
    • Tuesday April 7th – 2x800m @ 1mi pace w/2:00 recovery; 2x400m @1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery; 2x200m @ faster than 1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – Tempo Run: 2mi @5k pace, 3:00 recovery, 4x200m @ faster than 1mi pace w/1:30 recovery
  • Week 7:
    • Tuesday, April 14th – 800m @ 1mi pace w/ 1-minute recovery; 2x400m @ 1mi pace w/ :30 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – 3 x 1K @ 5k pace w/ 2:00 recovery; 4x200m @ 1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery
  • Week 8:
    • Tuesday, April 21st – 2x400m @ 1mi pace w/ 2:00 recovery; 4×200 @ 1mi pace w/ 1:00 recovery
    • 2nd workout of the week – TBD
  • Tuesday, April 28th
    • 1 mile Time Trial