FastTwitchHD & Swift in controlled chaos at #SpeedVergence

At 0515 on Tuesday morning, approximately 23 PAX made it from the Bus lot at Community House Middle School to the track. We stayed on the track until 0610 for an #ISI standard workout that was Area51’s #SpeedVergence for the month.

The THANG:

Warm-up mosey on track group style for 1mi+. Kick small Yellow and Red cones out of the way that the Q had planted for the workout.
Head to the back stretch for some toe & heel walking. Head towards the Start/Finish line with some High Knees and Butt Kicks along the way.
Get instruction from the Q about optional 2-way traffic on the track. For the 1st 2 intervals (and recovery), run normal CounterClockWise direction. For the next 2 intervals (and recovery) run the opposite ClockWise direction in Lane 4. Then back to CCW normal for next 2. Back to CW opposite for next 2.
The intervals are 800m at a Hard pace (or, more specifically Interval pace from http://runsmartproject.com/calculator). 200m jog recovery is between 1:30-2:00 minutes. Slow and easy.
Continue 800m/200m until Q calls time around 0605 (finish what you’re doing) and head to COT. Cooldown optional today.

The Moleskin:

Final #SpeedVergence participation was Swift 11, Fast Twitch 11, and Independents (Frasier) 1. This was a HUGE improvement for Swift, who at the last #SpeedVergence 1 Mile Speed Challenge in April only brought 7 (FT brought 14 to that event…). Overall, a marginal increase in participation of 1 from the last #SpeedVergence with several new faces. In fact, only repeats from April were HoneyBee, Haggis, Soul Glo, Abacus, Frasier, Strange Brew, and Bratwurst. Jury is out if this is a good or a bad thing that previous participants didn’t turn out again… Will the FT PAX travel better to Providence Day School where a SIB / Swift / FT #SpeedVergence is proposed to happen next.
Here’s how to use this workout to predict your fitness level. Take the average of your 800m, multiply by 4, and put those in this Calculator as a 2mi race. Click Calculate and then go to the “Equivalent” tab to get a prediction for your next race. For a BRR translation, YHC has found a good target is to hold your race pace for whatever your BRR mileage total is. For example, if your legs total 26 miles, then focus on Marathon pace as your average pace goal. If your legs total 13mi, then focus on Half-Marathon pace as your average pace goal. Each leg won’t be right on this pace, for some are uphill and some are downhill, but it’s a good target over the course of your legs. When you have those “flat” legs, it’s a good pace to try to hit mile after mile. Hence the “Marathon Pace” efforts that DevilsTurn has been incorporating are at the top end of pace for most PAX during the BRR.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to many who was out front today (Frasier), but certainly a surprise to see Teddy trying to hang on for as long as he could. Not sure the dude even runs with a watch, and that may have come at a price. Frasier could be seen doing extra intervals on his cool down prodding others to finish. You won’t find many better encouragers than this man.
What comes as a surprise to the Swift PAX is how much Turkey Leg has improved. We all know about the BRR Leg 32 performances, Ultra relays, and GhostRunner performances where hills are involved, but it was flat-out proven that this bird in the genus Meleagris can fly on the flats, too. Unrelenting to the last interval. Either the altitude training camp in Switzerland this summer, the secret formula he rubs on his legs at night, or the empty vials YHC may have or have not seen rolling around the floor of his vehicle has this bird staying off a Thanksgiving table near you. #smokingTurkey
Some huge performance increases from StrageBrew over the past 2 months. Under a 7:30/mi average today on the 800s and just 2 months ago was over 8:00/mi on the 800s. Since this is the 3rd time in 4 months many Swift PAX have done this workout, how’s the progress for others?
Not all PAX heeded the suggestion to switch directions, and you guys missed out. Some have a distaste for the track because it’s the same way around every time. It even seems to stress one side of the body more than the other, and YHC is perfectly worn out on both sides today! Seemed like it brought a new wrinkle to the workout despite being a little chaotic at times. Fortunately, the Tomato didn’t get run over, good thing we caught her early to explain whole Lane 1, Lane 4 thing.
View Flybys > are usually a good place to watch how workouts went down from Strava. Who started fast, who ended well, etc. However, forget about the Playback this week because of the 2-way traffic. It makes your head spin. Generally however, if you use Strava to record your workouts, it’s a neat tool to watch the playback.