Different Paths with same Goal

Different Paths with same Goal

23 PAX took it upon themselves to get better at running by attending #F3Swift on Tuesday.  This is a little bit of how they did it.

PreBlast:

.@F3Sob #F3Swift #PreBlast is divergent. Read it and be aware. https://t.co/rjCJ95MBKs

— Bratwurst (@bratwurst_f3) September 19, 2016

A little wrinkle this week as it started the 12 week countdown to the Kiawah Half-Marathon and Marathon that several PAX are training for.  We could combine for one workout, but in the interest of specialization and giving some options, we split into Swift HD (High Definition, not half distance) and Swift XL.  Same concepts of warm-up, intervals, and cooldown, but different workouts.

The THANG:

• 0500 – Prerun and optional drills while waiting for the 0515 PAX to get out of their cars
• 0514 – YHC explains that if you didn’t read the PreBlast (Haggis/Tootie), then you will have exactly 6 minutes to decide if you want to run at least 7 miles over the next 60 minutes or run 400s around the Bull Ring. Let’s mosey!
• 0515 – Swift HD
  • Led by StrangeBrew, the PAX warm-up and head to the Bull Ring for some drills.
  • Intervals of 400m at Repetition Pace (1 mile race pace), 400m jog recovery
  • Reports indicate that Abacus and Cable Guy were pushing Wingman.  One Niner and Mario were again doing some sort of burpee madness as part of their recovery.  StumpHugger didn’t sit on the curb and call Uber despite his PreBlast warnings – he stayed strong and ran hard.  Tootie almost got tricked into the XL workout, but Abacus reeled him in at the last second.  JRR Tolkien had his Dead or Alive playing on his iPOD and could be seen running around and around and around.
  • Mosey back to the Vine
• 0515 – Swift XL
  • Led by Bratwurst, we headed out on a route via Ballantyne Corp Pl over the 521 bridge, past Premier, Left on Ballantyne Commons, Left on Elm, Left on Endhaven, Left on North Community House, Right on Ballantyne Commons, Right on BCP, Left on Brixham, stop at the Vine.  About a 7 mile loop.
  • Along the way, it was decided (by the plan, not by YHC), to break up the 7 miles into 12 minute Threshold Pace intervals (just under 2mi for most) with a 2minute rest / recovery to regroup the six.  Total of 4x12minutes.
  • Most PAX did start their warm-up at the proper 0500 start time for this kind of effort.  Just Haggis who didn’t get the memo and instead of starting the first interval decided to prance on his toes and heels (should have gotten those out of the way on the pre-run!).
  • Fahvra and Thin Mint looked effortless in the streetlights of Ballantyne.  No one knows what happened on Endhaven because everyone disappeared for a while in the total darkness.  The mostly full moon was no help there. Fahvra and TM also decided that heading straight back to the AO on the final interval was not the best option and instead found a way to fit in a full closing 2mile interval.
  • Wild Turkey thought it would be a great idea to drag along a FNG to the hardest 1 hour workout (YHC’s personal opinion, may be shared by others) that Swift has accomplished in the 2 years running of Swift.  The weather was not cool, the course was amongst the flattest loop in Ballantyne but still not flat with several rollers, and 12 minutes is a pretty long time.  It was Brutal, but the efforts will pay off.
  • Was glad to see that Nard Dog, General, LongHaul, and TigerRag took the bait for XL this morning.  Not sure that they are training for a marathon, but they’re more than well on their way to being ready after making it through this workout.
  • Rock Thrill was solid, and he’s been putting in the work a lot around town.  Always keeping the stride forward and pushing through the pain.
  • There were of course the usual Kiawah-training suspects with HoneyBee, Bunker, Haggis (who did catch up eventually), and even Gumbo (who gets virtual credit for doing this workout thousands of miles away on his own).  Seeing the work these guys are putting in recently is going to lead to some huge PRs in December.
• Next week on the Schedule for Swift XL is 1 mile repeats.  Swift HD has a Tempo Run, but 1 mile repeats are a great substitute, so we’ll likely be a combined Swift next week at the Brixham Green for 6minute Threshold Pace, 1 minute rest.  Repeat, repeat, repeat, ….
• Come early at 0500 to get in extra warm-up.  The only difference next week is that XL will only do 5 minutes of warm-up at 0515 and then start right into the 6min repeats.  HD will do more of the warm-up and some drills before jumping in the fun!  Pay attention to the PreBlast!

SYITG,

Bratwurst