Monthly Archive April 2025

Commissioners Unite

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: ufo-ultimatefriz Q: Spyglass PAX: Shank, MARTA, Spyglass, Crawdad, Broken Arrow, David Baker, Fruity Pebbles, Smokey, Yeti, Mayo, Pink Eye, Victoria, Situation, Biden, Sooie FNGs: None COUNT: 15 WARMUP: Biden was spotted doing some leg swing maneuver, trying to lock in before joining Pax on field. Up for debate whether he looked like a high level athlete or auditioning for the Rockettes. After a short stretch, 7’s ensued.
THE THANG: Play begun with Yeti committed to figuring out why the lights weren’t turning on. He even called an old friend, Broken Arrow, Mr. Switchboard himself, to save the day but to no avail. Pink felt Yeti’s absence right off the bat, settling into a multi point hole where they would stay for just about the whole match. At one point around the 3rd quarter, pink did have a run to bring within one point, only for yellow to lay the hammer. All part of the script for the tv ratings. Yours truly was on a heater, hammers for tuddys (sounds like a fundraiser name) took place, and even the former commissioner Vicky was playing nice this morning. You love to see it. Also, major rivalry brewing between Marta and Fruity. You can feel it the air.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Blood drive this afternoon (Friday) Breakfast next week Fit With Me leading bracket.
COT: Sooie’s brother finding a job.
Yellow (Winners): Spy Marta Shank Sooie Vicky Crawdad Pink
Pink (Losers): Fly Smokey Situation Yeti Fruity Biden Mayo Broken

The hills are alive with sounds of pain

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: the-devils-turn Q: flipper PAX: Joker, bunker, frasier, fletch, retread, flipper FNGs: None COUNT: 6 WARMUP: Frasier and YHC for the PreRun THE THANG: run up to Coburn to strawberry to rounding run then up rain tree to 51. Hang a left, right on Rea and then back to launch via 5 knolls. Fletch, Bunker and Frasier forged ahead while we other 3 followed at our own more sedate paces. Much vert was had MARY: nope ANNOUNCEMENTS: WTF COT: YHC took us out.

Track Sprints

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: mountain-goat Q: slim_fast PAX: slim_fast, Spammer, retread, gullah, lois, geraldo, drano, jello, mallcop, fleetwood, wildturkey, Mounds FNGs: None COUNT: 12 WARMUP: Dynamic Stretching on the track followed by 15 minutes of Zone 2 running. THE THANG: 100 meter sprints with 3 minute recovery x 8 MARY: 15 minutes Zone 2 cool down COT: slim_fast

Dice Rolls

Date: 2025-04-03 AO: peak-51 Q: Spammer PAX: Spammer, slim_fast, mallcop, gullah, lois, @mounds FNGs: None COUNT: 6 WARMUP: THE THANG: MARY: ANNOUNCEMENTS: COT:

PreBlast: 2025 Mile Time Trial ChatGPTraining Plan

Join us as we continue the annual Spring tradition of running a mile time trial after following an 8 week training plan. This year will be a bit of an experiment, as we’ll be using a plan designed by ChatGPT. Ironically, this AI plan will help us to run away faster during the machine uprising.

The plan will start the week of April 7th, culminating in a mile time trial on Tuesday, June 3rd at Waxhaw Express on the Cuthbertson track. There will be three key workouts per week, with intervals on Tuesday, a tempo run on Thursday, and a long run on Saturday. All other days are up to you, and can be a mix of easy runs, cross-training, and rest. The interval workouts will be Q’d each Tuesday at Waxhaw Express, and hopefully Swift as well (check Slack). The Thursday and Saturday runs will be on your own, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find like-minded individuals at one of the many area running workouts (Pursuit / Devil’s Turn / Sparta / Fast Twitch / Chicken Run / Paper Trail).

Weeks 1-3: Building Speed & Threshold. The first three weeks will focus on developing speed, improving VO2 max, and increasing the ability to sustain faster paces over short distances.

Week 1: Apr 7-13
  • Tue (intervals): 8 x 400m at 5k race pace with 90 sec rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 20-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 75 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 4 x 5-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Week 2: Apr 14-20

  • Tue (intervals): 10 x 400m at 3k race pace (slightly faster than last week) with 90 sec rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 25-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 80 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 4 x 5-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Week 3: Apr 21-27

  • Tue (intervals): 7 x 600m at slightly faster than 3k race pace with 2 min rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 25-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 85 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 4 x 6-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Weeks 4-6: Building Speed Endurance. These weeks introduce longer intervals and tempo runs to improve lactate threshold and running economy. The focus is on sustaining a fast pace for longer durations, as well as sharpening anaerobic capacity for the mile.

Week 4: Apr 28-May 4

  • Tue (intervals): 6 x 800m at 3k race pace with 2:30 rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 30-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 90 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 4 x 6-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Week 5: May 5-11

  • Tue (intervals): 4 x 1000m at 5k pace with 3 min rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 30-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 90 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 5 x 5-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Week 6: May 12-18

  • Tue (intervals): 4 x 1200m at 5k pace with 3 min rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 35-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 90 minutes at conversational pace. Optional: include 5 x 6-min pick-ups at HM pace.

Weeks 7-8: Sharpening and Race Specificity. In these final weeks, intervals will get faster as we hone in on the 1-mile pace. We’ll introduce more short bursts of intensity at race pace.

Week 7: May 19-25

  • Tue (intervals): 8 x 400m at mile race pace with 90 sec rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 25-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) followed by 6 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (long run): 80 minutes at conversational pace with 4-5 strides at the end

Week 8: May 26-Jun 1

  • Tue (intervals): 6 x 400m at mile race pace with 60 sec rest
  • Thurs (tempo): 15-minute tempo run at “comfortably hard” pace (roughly 10k pace) to stay sharp followed by 5 x 20-sec strides
  • Sat (short run): 30 minutes at conversational pace with 2-3 strides at the end

Tuesday, June 3rd: Mile Time Trial at Waxhaw Express

Additional Notes:

  • Training Load: Keep an eye on your weekly volume (miles) and overall intensity, as increasing both simultaneously can lead to injury. If you feel overly fatigued or sense any potential injuries, take additional rest or back off the intensity for a day.
  • Warm-Up & Cool Down: Always include a warm-up of 5-10 minutes of easy running, dynamic stretching, and strides before workouts. After intense sessions, cool down with 5-10 minutes of easy running or walking to help your recovery.
  • Strides: Incorporate strides (short bursts of fast running, around 20-30 seconds) after easy runs or tempo runs to work on your form and improve speed.
  • Recovery: Make sure to prioritize sleep, hydration, nutrition and mobility work throughout the program to maximize recovery/performance and minimize injury risk
  • Pacing Strategy: Aim to start slightly conservative in your time trial, focusing on even splits throughout. You can push harder on the last lap if you feel strong.

-TUCK

King of the Hill

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: centurion Q: Hawkeye PAX: snowflake, Point Break, Mr. Magoo, Snuka, Cheese Curd, Circuit City, Mildew, Rocky from KC FNGs: None COUNT: 9 WARMUP: THE THANG: Partner hill climb alternating wearing ruck. Partner workout with bricks. Wall sit shoulder press, step ups, dips, and running with bricks. MARY: each pax member calling out a core exercise in order. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NCCAA final party at the Hawkeye basement. COT: Thankful for healthy bodies, and pray for those in recovery. Pretty much.

4 corners – 4 miles

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: the-brave Q: Franky PAX: C3P0, frasier, soft_pretzel, fire_hazard, teddyf3 FNGs: None COUNT: 6 WARMUP: short run, 10 ssh, 10 imperial walkers, 10 windmills, 10 merkins, dynamic stretching. THE THANG: running 4 corners around Ballantyne. Corners were variations of : 25 LBCs, 20 RDLs, 20 merkins; 20 American hammers; squats, shoulder taps; hand release merkins MARY: a few minutes of fan favorites. ANNOUNCEMENTS: COT:

Swapping Loads… Don’t ask…

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: scars Q: Roulette PAX: Starch, midriff, kirby, Gump FNGs: None COUNT: 5 The mumble chatter was vibrant and diverse today, the sheer range of topics covered was simply breathtaking… midriff Didn’t know the bruising would be so bad Starch Is going on emergency enchilada runs for his M kirby & Gump Swapped loads with some questionable innuendo by the PAX The 2nd F was strong this morning…

Better Late than Never

Date: 2025-03-28 AO: ufo-ultimatefriz Q: MARTA PAX: David Baker, Victoria, MARTA, Slumdog, Paris, Pipes, Fruity Pebbles, Wu Tang is for the children, Shank, Yeti, Smokey, Broken Arrow, Chubbs, Crawdad, Crumpets, Soooiiieee, pink eye, seal, biden FNGs: None COUNT: 19 Pink defeats yellow after yellow collapses from a 3 pt lead. Good competiton today but lots of easy drops and throw aways made a back and forth game. Great battle between Crumpets and Shank today. Yhc got a little heated on a foul call so I apologize for that. Yellow was #1 in hammers and our hears but #2 in the scoreboard.
Yellow Fly with me Vicky Marta Crumpets Slumdog SOOooie Paris Pipes Fruity Wutang
Pink wins Shank Yeti Smokey Broken Arrow Pink eye Chubbs Biden Seal Crawdad

4/4 Joust workout

Date: 2025-04-04 AO: joust Q: Tuna PAX: Header, spackles, Tuna, gummy, ductwork, puddin_pop, O’Tannenbaum, Horsehead, Limey FNGs: None COUNT: 9 2.3 miles ran – 120 merkins 4/4: Joust 15 Side stratel hops 15 imperial walker 15 hill Billy 10 merkins 15 mountain climbers Stretch
Run to field – Four corners twice -1 Upper/lower body: merkins/middle, Carolina dry docks, jump squats, wide arm merkins, lunges -2 Abs: mountain climber/middle, LBCs, Freddie mercuries, heels to heaven, flutters
Run to track: 3 laps, 3 stops: pull ups/knee ups, merkins, jump squats
Count down/up: 5 – 1 – 5 Merkins & Peter parker
Run bleachers once
Pick a bench: 2x 20 Knee ups 20 dips