Swift – Fall Race Prep
Greetings gentlemen. For the next two months, Bunker & Gumbo will be your Swift Q’s on the ever spinning merry go round of Swift captains. The focus over the next two months will be for Fall race prep. Whether it’s a 5k, 10k, half-marathon, relay, or full marathon, we have you covered for your speed work for the next 2 months. There’s a lot packed into each of these workouts so we suggest you read this pre-blast (it will be re-posted each week) to familiarize yourself with the plan. We will start on time and go right up until 6:15 to maximize our work.
The plan will be consistent with pacing over the next two months. This is a great opportunity to see how you can build and improve over these next 8 weeks. The key for each workout will be consistency. Try to have your last interval just as fast as your first…resist the temptation to take off out of the gate on that first interval. Strive for consistency and improvement over these next several workouts. The pace range will be 5k/10k…most should know this given the workouts we’ve done over the past few months with both a 5k and 10k time trial/race.
Here is the plan (all workouts will include a warmup, dynamic stretching, and a cool down period):
August 6th – 600m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (8 cycles)
August 13th – 800m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (6 cycles)
August 20th – 1000m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (5 cycles)
August 27th – 1200m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (4 cycles)
September 3rd – 1 mile at 5k/10k pace with 800m jog/rest/recovery (3 cycles)
September 10th – 1200m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (4 cycles)
September 17th – 1000m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (5 cycles)
September 24th – 800m at 5k/10k pace with 400m jog/rest/recovery (6 cycles)
It’s good to be back
There was a tear in the space time continuum this morning. A runner showed up to lead a bootcamp. Back from all the running….and running…and running. And by the looks of his midsection the running wasn’t working. Nope…not talking about Fire Hazard…you assumed because I referred to the large mid-section, but you know it’s not, because I mentioned running.
That’s right…YHC back at the helm of The Brave after a very long time. I would like to think I’m noble by stepping up to Q…blah blah blah. In reality my Brave Q happened like all the others…Mario told me I was signed up for a date so I showed up. That’s how it works.
The Thang:
I had to give this one some thought….it’s much easier to Q a non-Swift running workout. I tried to come up with some semblance of a new route, some running to hit the requisite miles, and some exercises even though I had forgotten what all of them were.
Stop 1 – corner of Ballantyne Corp & Ballantyne Commons. Run 0.8 miles to the top of Bagpipe hill stopping at every break in the road for 10 merkins (100 total). Then turn around and run back stopping for 5 burpees at the same breaks (50 total).
Stop 2 – up Ballantyne Commons and turn right onto Durant and into Ivy Ridge neighborhood. Partner up. 3 cross street…P1 goes right, P2 goes left and when you meet back in the middle 10 hand-slap merkins. Repeato on all three streets. Then reverse route with American Hammer.
Stop 3 – Brixham Green track 4 corners. P1 runs the park while P2 does Merkins, Burpees, and American Hammer. So nice we did it thrice.
Stop 4 – some mary at the end
Moleskin
Good group this morning and some good chatter. Fireman Ed was pissed when he saw who the Q was…I’m going with the assumption that he thought we’d be running too much vs. him not liking my wonderful personality. Fire Hazard said he hated me on the way back from Bagpipe hill but I don’t think that had to do with the workout…that’s just man love between F3 brothers (did I really just type man love?)
Other chatter heard this morning:
Frehleys “hmmm…those sweat stains on the ground look like tits”. FireHazard – “that’s where I did my merkins”. Frehleys – “oh…nice”
Fireman Ed – “4 miles is fine”. I’m glad he made sure to clearly say miles and not inches.
Wingman “I can’t do superman because I have my HR monitor on….but if I had tits like Tuck I’d be fine”
Frehleys “oh that wasn’t bad…it was just a squeaker”. Good thing he carries the towel.
Wild Turkey – “I can run this pace all day”. Yeah…but he didn’t mention he’d probably get lost doing it.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead today. It’s been too long since I’ve Q’d The Brave…I won’t let it go so long before next time (that means Mario is probably already penciling me in).
Bunker
Announcements:
Joe Davis – sign up…or just donate like FH
Go to workouts tomorrow…Cheddar at DaVinci, Lex Luther at Stonehenge, and Goonie at Rock Zero
And please keep About Time’s family in your prayers.
You will not believe what happened
4 guys showed up for Devil’s Turn today. We ran. Paper Jam was there.
That’s it.
Backblast over.
Bunker
Announcements –
More races coming this winter. Sign up for Xmas party. Tip your server.
What’s a backblast?
A backblast? For Devil’s Turn? Yep…I know…it’s been a really long time since you’ve seen one of these. Gumbo and I have been heads down on marathon training for the past few months and have just flat out not been getting it done. So there’s never a time like the present to start over again.
Today a solid crew of 8 showed up for Devil’s Turn. The route was the DangerZone by way of Bevington, Elm, and 51. YHC was recovering from the Marine Corps Marathon so wasn’t looking to hit major hills yet (and stupidly YHC is also preparing for NYC marathon in 10 more days). Bratwurst is working on a half marathon plan so he had speed ideas on the brain this morning….
The plan was easy as it usually is…run the route at your own pace, don’t get lost (that is more of a challenge for some), and make it back on time.
Bratwurst and Frasier took off on some threshold pace intervals…my legs and brain would not allow me to join them. The rest of us settled into our own little pace groups for a nice run. The weather was great this morning…a crisp 40 degrees which I will take over what we had the past several months. I am definitely ready for the cooler weather in the morning.
Turkey Leg was out front of the non-Brat/Frasier group followed by Swiper, Enron, & YHC. Cheddar and Thurston slightly behind plowing through the miles as well. Turkey Leg will be running Boston so watch out this winter when he starts trying to coerce you into his long weekend runs (hit me up TL…I’ll be there). It was good to see Swiper out there…he got a little break from early morning feedings with his new family addition.
Even though there is no BRR or P200 in the immediate future, DT is always a good place to get some solid miles in with some good solid running company. Come out and join us.
Bunker
Announcements:
Races coming up: Joe Davis, Baxter trail run on New Year’s, plus many more
It’s all about me
The crew of Devil’s Turn numbered 23 this week. We were blessed by an overseas visitor and almost had to send out a search party for a Turkey. Strong group this morning on a hot, humid summer morning.
The Thang:
Pretty simple this morning although we had a minor revolt on our hands. YHC was being a little selfish since I had to travel for work and miss my interval workout earlier in the week, I decided to get in my much needed marathon training workout. The announcement that we were headed to the track was met with the usual mix of mild excitement combined with a touch of annoyance. Some were more vocal than others (“I’m not doing that”), while others waited until we arrived at the track to pick their poison. Some opted for the hills in Raintree, and some opted to hit the track. We seemed to be evenly split.
Skinny Mole
Opinionated group this morning. Never one to shy away from an opinion, Tiger Rag announced his intentions early that he was hitting the hills vs. the track…which isn’t an issue since the split off point works well right at the entrance of SC Middle. He also had strong doubts at whether we’d see a backblast for the morning’s event as well #ignoringworktoproveTRwrong.
Once we hit SC Middle, half took off for BRR training hills and others hit the track…some for a more leisurely pace, and a couple Brave souls decided to join YHC and run threshold pace intervals. Haggis and his brother Doubtfire stepped up to the plate and didn’t make YHC run those on his own….I immediately knew I was in for a tough one after the stories I’ve heard about Haggis chasing his brother all over the hills in Scotland. Haggis proved to not be very good at math and figuring out his pace….once he realized we were going much faster than we were supposed to he commented, “well…now that we’ve started this, we can’t go slower”. Hard to argue with that. We were able to hit 3 intervals on the track but had to head back for COT for the last one….and here’s where it got interesting. Doubtfire was biding his time all morning running side by side with YHC just slightly behind Haggis. 0.2 miles before the end of the last interval, the fire was lit in his belly to best his brother in front his F3 brethren and he takes off like a bullet. When the segment was done and we had caught our breath, Haggis looks at YHC and says, “Bunker…that’s what I hate about having a younger brother”.
I’m sure many hilarious things happened in the hills of Raintree…but since I didn’t choose that route I don’t care.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Annoucements
None…yes…even with Tolkien in attendance there were no announcements.
You can’t make everyone happy
You can’t make everyone happy….great title for today’s backblast. Lately it seems like everyone is very interested on Wednesday nights about where DT is headed in the morning. Some hate The Village (cough, Hairball, cough), some dislike the track, some can’t stand Five Knolls/The LC….and apparently from this morning, The DangerZone isn’t everyone’s favorite either.
The Thang:
We ran. At The DangerZone. Light to light…then make it back and don’t be late.
Moleskine
As the title states, you definitely can’t make everyone happy. It’s pretty interesting to see which of the PAX like the different DT routes. Some guys totally dislike routes you think they would enjoy because they crush them, and others like routes that seem way out of place for them….and some are just cranky and don’t like anything.
What is consistent week in and week out is that guys show up and run their tails off to get better….the other consistency is that you’re going to pick a route that someone likes and someone hates.
This morning was a good run…the weather was a little bit cooler than the past few days and the humidity was down so it wasn’t so muggy. We had a solid crew of 17 out this morning for a nice run on The Dangerzone. YHC happens to enjoy that route…you get one leg of it that has a few subtle hills and a gradual downhill trend and coming back you have solid hill in the middle and it keeps you honest. Plus you get to see some Pax back and forth on the laps….YHC learned today that Haggis isn’t a fan of the DangerZone. Perhaps it was because YHC blew by him on one leg of the run and jumped up to 4th on that segment (oh…YHC is definitely going to pay for putting this in here).
Several strong efforts by the PAX this morning. BRR season is upon us so I expect to see solid numbers for the next several weeks and Gumbo and I will have many good routes planned for us…perhaps even some new territory.
Woodson…thanks for coming out. First Devils Turn post today…keep coming back.
As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements
Timed mile at Mountain Goat tomorrow
Several items on Monday: The Murph @ Ballantyne Village deck and Patriot 5k as well
Saturday convergence at Calvary
4 minutes of Mary
This morning the crew (19 large) of Devils Turn hit the lovely hills of Piper Glen. Much fun was had…..lots of pounding and heavy breathing were heard…wait…wrong backblast.
The Thing
What did we do? We ran. Yay!
Ye Olde Skinny Mole
Good start to the morning…apparently the only Pax not on Slack showed up to Devils Turn this morning. Numerous “where are we going Bunker” was heard as car doors opened this morning. I don’t like The Twitter…so I pre-blasted 2 words on Slack: Piper. Glen. Seriously…if you aren’t on Slack then you need to get on it. Where else can you constantly make fun of Fire Hazard and Tolkien in a secure and private environment? Slack is where it’s at….
A few grumbles about Piper Glen this morning, but c’mon we all know you love it. Hairball said that was the only reason he showed up. Speaking of Hairball, we learned about his jailhouse tat this morning thanks to Swiper and his interrogation of said tat. Count the whiskers….one for every kill.
Not much mumble chatter this morning…or at least not much that I heard given that I was chasing folks all morning. The group spread out a bit this morning and fell into some nice pace groups. Hard to keep a group of 19 together on the hills, but luckily no one got lost. Someone put chalk out this morning….
We ended with a little impromptu bootcamp action thanks to Swiper. As I was grabbing my phone from the car I heard, “ok guys…4 minutes of Mary”. As I returned for COT what did I find…but several of the Pax on their six doing Mary at Swiper’s direction. Swiper commented on my delicate elbows during the plank…Paper Jam taught me that trick. After a little Mary the group lined up like parents at a kids soccer game and handled COT like a champ (with a few cheers for the ladies finishing their runs this morning).
One more thing…not a single comment about Star Wars day this morning.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
F3 New Hampshire….not Boston
May 24th FNG day at The Maul. Big convergence…be there and bring an FNG. See everywhere for details.
Goonie is Tired
12 Pax showed up for some flat running at Devil’s Turn this week. Last week was a Q-less affair given that the Bald Brothers (no similarities to the Bash Brothers of the 80s/90s ) needed a day of rest before running through the backcountry of South Carolina. This week…a Q was demanded and a Q you shall have.
For the PAX who are too young…here’s the Bash Brothers:
Today’s running event was quite simple. Out and back on the Greenway. It’s nice when the weather starts to warm up because the Greenway comes back into play…during the winter months those boards can be hazardous to your health so we leave them alone for a while.
Today was a good crew for some good ole’ fashioned running. A few folks took off (Fletch, Turkey Leg) to stretch the legs and get some faster miles in. Some folks aren’t on Strava yet (Depth Charge — get a watch and get on Strava!), but the group fell into a few pace groups.
Goonie made a showing to Devils Turn and wanted it clearly noted that he was tired at the end. 6.5 miles of running for him and he ran hard. He’s on a BRR team coming up this fall so we should see him more and more at DT attacking those hills and getting in running form.
Had there been an FNG today, i would have named him Pollen. That stuff was in full force yesterday morning….you could see it in the air in the headlamp glare.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead this morning.
Announcements:
Goonie is tired.
Cheddar has a BRR team and needs folks…he asked that we pray he finds enough people for a team. Good luck.
Five will get you twenty
An update to the original count for Devils Turn this week…originally thought to be 21 ended up with only 20 at the workout, but still a very strong number for the first Thursday in February. All came out to hit Five Knolls for the morning.
The Thang:
Pretty simple as always…we run. Today’s route was requested by none other than Bratwurst (oh and he didn’t show by the way). Instead of taking the normal route up Rea to Five Knolls, we took a stroll west on Bevington to hit Elm and 51 and then hit Five Knolls from the other entrance. From there we proceeded to plow through hill after hill until time was called.
Moleskin:
As noted a moment ago, Bratwurst didn’t show up. But others did. A big crew out there for some hills…some “newer” DT folks are becoming regulars. Nice to continue to see Rebar and Depth Charge showing up week after week lately.
I will thank Bratwurst for the suggested route…going in the 51 entrance is a nice change of pace and allows the Pax to decide for the extra half lap or not at the end. Several PAX took advantage of that and busted out some long mileage on the day. Fahvra had his first post at Devils Turn and flat out killed it…almost 7 miles on those hills at a 6:16 pace…impressive.
No one got lost this week…well almost. Strange Brew decided to get some extra distance in and the calvary was just about to called on a search and rescue mission but he ended up showing up at last….and not wearing a white tank top by the way (surprise).
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Bunker
Announcements:
F3 Dads this Saturday at the Bull Ring. See the F3Dads channel on slack for more details.
Also check out and join the Run channel on slack for more details about upcoming races.
Where’s Waldo? (or in this case Clubber)
Interesting morning at Devil’s Turn this week. We had a nice sized crew for January run…18 strong. Starting to see some newer folks come out and be regulars which is nice. The Bee and I love having the new guys out there and we have some strong runners in this new group.
The Thang
Today we went old school on Piper Glen hills. A great course that is always tough. Seems like the crew is getting stronger as we used to just get through the 6 mile loop in time and now folks are running for extra credit before the bell rings. The hills in the Glen just keep on coming and by the end of the run they are quite brutal. We had a few new folks to the run so some suggested I chalk the route…HoneyBee lent me some chalk but I thought, “we don’t need this…no one will get lost”. Hmmm…..
Moleskin
The backblasts can sometimes be hard to write for Devils Turn. Mainly because we just run and the PAX breaks up into pace groups. We have the speedsters out front like HB, Brat, Haggis…no one but them knows what goes on up in the front. A few of us try to keep up behind them but are too tired to talk, and then you have some folks cruising further back probably talking about taxes or how bad Cam Newton played this year…but no one really knows.
Today’s run was no exception…same dudes out front killing it. Haggis ran an extra hill lap I believe and he flew past me so fast I barely heard him grunting and snortling. The rest of the crew was running strong and nothing happened until the end.
YHC had dutifully chalked out the directions throughout the run as the morning went along….I even added an arrow with “back to Rea” written on the pavement just in case someone missed the turn back onto Old Course. Well even with all the chalk and directions, we lost someone. First time that has happened to YHC. Poor Clubber didn’t make it back…
His buddy Drago was quite concerned that he had not returned by 0620. We all know how dangerous a place Piper Glen is….but when you are Clubber Lang nothing should scare you…I mean…come on…Clubber used to be the heavyweight champ of the world:
By the way…if he joins Slack that image has to be his avatar.
A few of us sprang into action. Haggis and I jumped in the Stone Mobile to go look for him…well I said let’s go run and find him and Haggis said I was crazy and that he’d drive…he turned out to be very correct with that decision. HoneyBee, Brat, and Wild Turkey all took off looking for him as well. Haggis and I thought we had found him at one time…but it turned out be a 70 year old guy out for a walk giving us the stare down as we slowly crept through the neighborhood. Haggis and I did a little real estate shopping and looking for houses for him since we couldn’t find Clubber anywhere. Eventually he was found…huddling, scared, shivering, and barely alive…Bratwurst and his soothing and calm demeanor brought him back to life…and back to the parking lot.
All in all a good day….but next time I’ll make the arrows even bigger.