Author Archive Bratwurst

Swift happened, we can prove it

At 0515 on Tuesday morning, 7 men rolled out of the lot at the Vine American kitchen without a care of the overnight monsoon, or that there may be ice, but soon discovered an empty canvas on which to unleash some speed.

The THANG:

• 0500 – a couple of Bagpipers and a few Swiftys left the lot for some pre-run.  Gumbo and YHC, late is our calling card, forged our own path to find said mixed-workout group and tracked them down over the last part of the run.
• 0515 – letting two of the early Bagpipers continue of their run, and 1 early Bagpiper / vagrant in a hoodie / Pebbles with a kettle bell swing in peace, 7 PAX headed out for the high land of the Bridge over 521
• Repeat of a workout 2 weeks ago should give us a chance to check our improvement.  Not exactly the same course, but the same pace and distance goals.  We did find ourselves easing into some extra work on the backside.
  • 3 rounds of 200m at R-pace (1 mile race pace), 200m recover, 200m R-pace, 200m recover, 600m at R-pace, bend over / wheeze / gasp for air / recover for 600m
  • 2 x 200m at R-pace again, but we’ll leave that additional 600m in the tank we’re out of time for anything else
• Surprise BountyHunter with the Shortcut through Lance parking lot / fitness trail / Lochness, and head home

Moleskin:

• 6 of the 7 PAX can prove they actually did the workout today.  Never has such a large group of calculating, analyzing, and out-to-prove-it PAX been assembled:
  • OneNiner – https://www.strava.com/activities/494693331
  • StrangeBrew – https://www.strava.com/activities/494701174
  • Gumbo – https://www.strava.com/activities/494701697
  • Tuck – https://www.strava.com/activities/494718585
  • HoneyBee – https://www.strava.com/activities/495290676
  • Bratwurst – https://www.strava.com/activities/494937306
• On the warm-up, Bounty Hunter was practically re-introducing himself to OneNiner again.  While OneNiner has been nursing an injury, Bounty Hunter has been consistently posting for many weeks.  Getting pretty fit out there, but also noticing that this running thing is easier the more you do it.
• Chasing down HoneyBee most of the morning was OneNiner right on his heels.  And then many times, here comes Gumbo!  Gumbo was sure that he couldn’t possibly hold that pace for a mile, but then OneNiner casually offers, “if I can do a sub 6 mile, you for sure can.  It’s just gonna HURT!”
• After the first couple of intervals, Strange Brew was not in a good place, but he held in there and actually maintained the aggressive pace if looking at his results.  Just goes to show that you may not feel it, but it’s in there somewhere and you maybe just need to back off a few and then find it.
• Tuck is the quiet leader.  Busy building up his new DaVinci workout into legend status already, and taking on the Balrog, he’s out at Swift still learning what he’s capable of.  Looking for good things as he starts building the miles.
• HoneyBee hides his workouts.  Yes, he posts them to Strava, but he claims some sort of bug in his watch is preventing some of the more granular details coming across from Garmin.  It’s likely that he’s just hiding training secrets from Haggis.  The next 1 mile showdown is going to be interesting.

Announcements:

• 1 mile challenge is coming soon.  Dare I say that it’s going to be March, but we do have the Balrog and Palmetto200 to plan around.  Let’s just see where this 1mile training takes us.
• Next week we’ll try a new course with an old workout with 2/1/30, but then it’s on to a new Phase of 1mile training that includes some new tests.

First in Freedom on a Prancing Pony

At 0515 on Tuesday AM, post Sleet, 17 PAX showed up for some Hills and History to the weekly speed workout in SoB-land known as #F3Swift.

The THANG:

• 0500 – Early crew – probably about 9 PAX (including 2 Bagpipers) got in 1.3miles.
• 0515 – Grab the rest of the PAX and head off 1mile to the wilds of the Ballantyne Country Club West – via Ballantyne Commons PKWY, up Ben Nevis, and into the CC.
• Commence warm-up with dynamic exercise with heels, toes, high knees, and butt kicks.
• Start rounds of :30, :30, 1:00.  Generally, run at 1-mile race pace effort up a significant hill, regroup down to the bottom after each :30 interval, start next together, and then regroup to move on to new location after the 1:00 interval.  Actual event went something like this:
  • Set #1 – Question #1 – What is the 2nd new plate option in NC behind “First in Flight”.  Wrong answers included lighthouse, and something else…  JRR Tolkien visited the NCDMV recently, so he knew that “First in Freedom” was correct.  Because someone got it right, we’re running 1st set normal – 1mi race pace.
  • Set #2 – We’re on James Jack Ln, so Question #2 is – Who is that?  Since HoneyBee and a few others have heard this spiel before, they knew that of course James Jack is the same Captain Jack as in the “statue” meet point for the Muthaship Monday.  Because someone got it right, we’re running 2nd set normal – 1 mi race pace.
  • Set #3 – We’re now at the bottom of Resolves Ln, so Question #3 is – How does “Resolves” relate to James Jack and First in Freedom?  No right answers (see bottom for right answer).  Satisfied that the PAX we’re stumped, let’s run backwards for 30 seconds up Resolves Ln.  Next, we’ll do high knees up Resolves Ln.  And for the 1:00, per HoneyBee’s suggestion, let’s do Bounding (a.k.a. Prancing Pony) up Resolves Ln.
  • Set #4 – Out of Questions, we’ll just run normal up Resolves Ln.  Up hill.  Forwards. 1 mile race pace.
  • Set #5 – Back to a low point in James Jack Ln, we’ll do this set Up hill. Forwards. 1 mile race pace.  Instead of the last interval at 1:00, finish at the original start point of Set #1.
  • Back to COT about 1.0mi away.
  • The SIX comes in at COT around 0620.

The Moleskin:

• Didn’t make Swift?  Find something interesting at bottom about the First in Freedom plate.
• Despite talk of American Revolution and Independence, 3 British subjects (Bodybag, Mr. Bean, Haggis) and 1 loyalist (Canadian Strange Brew), were only mildly offended.  Probably spurred Haggis on to showboating his rage a few times, but Bodybag (Swift FNG) was probably more offended by the Bounding because he was eager to get it done – somehow having strong Football legs must propel a man to bound up a hill like a gazelle.
• Also welcome to Swift FNG Grapejuice.
• BountyHunter was surprised to show up and see another IndianLander with OneNiner there.  He was beginning to think it was “his” workout.
• Got a note from one of the PAX, and wanted to share for all of you in SoB / Area51 land that are intimidated by Swift.  Yes, we’re an hour workout and you’ll get in about 5 miles of running.  You may not remember the last time you ran that far intentionally.  Yes, there are some fast dudes like Frasier and HoneyBee that will be out front.  Then there are guys like Haggis who redlines against the Q’s suggestions and JRR Tolkien pushing himself to keep up with him, Abacus who trains to beat his brother, Champagne who comes so he can give his KB-shredded palms a rest, CableGuy who surprises us all with what a young 48 he is, Bunker who’s one of the newest out but is strong and quick, and Gumbo who will drop a huge PR at the RaceFest Half in April.  All speeds and all types of PAX.  One thing in common is that on Tuesday all we do is run.  No frozen hands from bear crawling across ice for one day.  No soiled clothes from laying in goose poop.  Just running.  Straightforward and simple.  We’d love to have you out for all of these reasons and more:
  • There are certainties about posting at Swift (from StumpHugger):
    • It’s the toughest running workout I will do all week.
    • Everyone is way faster than I am.
    • The fast guys treat you as an equal (work is work)
    • Every time we launch I say to myself “I cannot believe I am doing this”
    • I am faster today than I was yesterday.
    • Do I have enough in the tank to get back to the start?
    • It’s mind over matter.
    • Wow, I just did that!
    • After the workout I am freezing to death for the next 4 hours (regardless of outside temps)
    • I am starving!
    • I am thirsty! (end up drinking 64 oz of water by noon)
    • Dang! Look at my pace on Strava.
    • These recovery compression sleeves feel great!
    • I’m sleepy
    • #MakeStumpHuggerRunAgain

See You in the Gloom!

– Bratwurst

About the “First in Freedom” Plate

North Carolina native Charles Robinson, a license plate collector and historian, designed the “First in Freedom” plate, which recognizes two important events: the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775, and the Halifax Resolves on April 12, 1776. These two events are also commemorated on the North Carolina state flag and are regarded as the first steps toward independence from Great Britain during the early stages of the American Revolution.

3K / 3000m / 1.86mi #makeSwiftFastAgain

SYITG – It’s an ending to many posts that means See You In The Gloom.  Well, it was so gloomy this morning that YHC and the 14 other PAX didn’t have to use expensive hair product to get that Greaser look.

Preblast instructions:http://f3nation.com/2016/02/01/preblast-a-harder-workout-made-easier-by-the-pax/

The THANG for Swift:

• 0500 unified early crew sets out for the traditional warm-up.  It was so warm, we burned the candle a little too fast on this one.  Not counting the 1.3mi as “official”.
• 0515 grab the rest of the PAX for some 2nd F running and warm-up drills.  By the time we were done, PAX shed layers and were only 1.5mi into the run.  Head to the outer Bull Ring.
• Run at 1 mile race pace (or Repetition Pace from the good Dr. Jack Daniels at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator ), recovery is a slow mosey.
  • 200m Interval, 200m recovery
  • 200m Interval, 200m recovery
  • 600m Interval, regroup to the Six and recover at least 600m
  • That’s 1 set and included 1K (1000 meters)  run at 1 mile race pace.
  • 2nd Set run in opposite direction on the Bull Ring.
  • 3rd Set run same direction as the first (to avoid the bigger outside leg syndrome that affects a lot of track athletes…).
• Run back to COT.
• Arrive so early that PAX circle up for some Cumberland County Viaducts IC x 10 per side.
• LBCs IC until Bagpipers are done gawking at our incredible endurance to exercise until 0615

The Moleskin:

• We did a similar workout 2 weeks ago, but what a difference an extra 200m makes!  All intervals run at the same pace in order to get that fairly terrible feeling that builds up in a 1600m / 1 mile race.  Heartrate at MAX.  Legs getting heavy.  Good stuff…
• Total of 3000 meters (that’s 1.86miles for Mr.  Bean) run at the 1 mile race pace.
• Form is critical at the R-pace.  The goal of R-pace is to develop Running Economy – speed that feels (relatively) easy.  If you can’t hold form through the workout, then you need to back off.  Hence, the recommendation from Dr. Jack that 2 minutes is really the MAX for these intervals.  Since only a handful of PAX were barely under 2min for 600m today, recommendation given for 600m #2 and #3 to at least try to finish a 400m OR end at 2 minutes OR push yourself past reasonable limits.  Pax choice. #disclaimer
• Only a few PAX went “Metro”, but many more were waiting for Abacus to follow suit before joining in.  Abacus didn’t cave to the pressure.
• Kotters to Teddy, Tootie, and OneNiner.  Great to have you all back post #fartsack / #babyinducedfartsack / #roadtorecovery
• Haggis was prepping for the 1 mile race today by going out strong, holding back through the middle, and then finishing with all he had.  PAX learned a new word chunder , but apparently only JRR Tolkien was “near” chunder after the last interval when he was hunched over, staring at the ground, and gathering himself for the run back to COT.
• Heard reports of Gumbo turning it on and surprising some folks. #speedkills
• We weren’t going 8 mi today, which somehow makes things “great again”, but instead are sensibly building toward a goal of taking down the mile sometime in early Spring. YHC is looking forward to some of the workouts planned. Starting off a workout with an 800m at R-pace? Going to F-pace (Fast) – thinking about unbridled speed – for all of you PAX that want to tear up a 200 but can’t hold on to the goal of the 600… you’ll get you day to prove the raw speed, kept in check of course. Just be patient.
• Are you looking to maintain this speed? Get in a 2nd speed workout during the week – something like DevilsTurn on Thursdays or MountainGoat on Fridays and then also hit some Long Slow Distance (LSD) on the weekend. Build up that endurance slowly and avoid injury.
• New LSD Sunday morning options. Not really new, just getting more momentum. Look on Area51 app for SOBLSD. It is a Twitter / App announced workout that will mostly happen on Sundays 0600 – 0800. There will be pace group options and maps at each workout so everyone can find a place in the pack. This week, meet at Kohls in Marvin – this is just south of Blakeney on Rea Rd & Tom Short Rd. 0600 for a 4 mile Pre-run option. 0630ish (when 0600 crew gets back) for an 8 mile option. There will be maps for shorter runs.

An Easier Workout made Harder by the PAX

Almost a week ago on Tuesday, 1/26, 18 PAX from the SonsOfBallantyne AO took off into the Gloom for the weekly Speed workout known as Swift.

The THANG:

• 0500 – Early crew gets going for some warm-up miles.  Bratwurst and JRR Tolkien do some recon on the course to make sure it’s ice free (yes, this was a week ago when there was still some white stuff around).
• 0515 – Grab the rest of the PAX for the proper warm-up.
• 2nd F pace over to the Ballantyne Corp Drive bridge over Hwy 521 where we do some skipping when we’re not supposed to and true butt kicks (Mr. Bean really wanted to show his soccer/football warm-up prowess), and then mosey down to the bottom of the hill where we explain the workout.
• Objective – Run at Threshold Pace for 1000 meters (1Kilometer) along Bally Corp Dr over towards Bally Commons.  Threshold pace is defined as a Comfortably Hard pace, between 10K and Half-marathon pace, defined better at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator , or more simply as 1:00/mi slower than your goal 1mile race pace (since that’s what we’re shooting for, the final explanation is probably the easiest to keep in focus).
• Workout – 1K, 1:00 rest, repeat until 0610.
• At 0610 – meet at the 4-way STOP and head back to COT.

Moleskin:

• The Cones – the cones marked the start, some distances along the way, and marked the end.  In actual distance, the interval was more like 850 meters from start to end.  We simply ran out of real estate unless the PAX wanted to play in traffic.  Instead of revising, we just went with it.  Cones along the way ended up being at 400m, 800m and 850m in one direction.  And then 800m (from the end) and 400m (from the end) in the other direction.  Didn’t exactly help for pacing checks because they weren’t consistent both ways, but at the very least, probably provided some marker about how far was left or you had gone.
• The Pace – For YHC, this workout turned into something not done before.  The Interval was run faster than Threshold Pace, but given the 1 minute recovery, felt like the effort was right.  Explanation – Threshold Pace workouts normally run with multiple 1 mile interval / 1 minute recovery.  Or multiple 2 mile interval / 2 minute recovery.  Or a single 20minute interval.  This was supposed to be an intro workout to give a shorter 1K interval (funny how Mr. Bean wanted to make sure that was right at 0.62mi when he grew up on the Metric system) and 1 minute recovery – should have been easy.  However, when you don’t have a working pace watch (Frasier’s is stuck in time), or cones to mark consistent distances (thanks to YHC’s planning), and PAX to chase around, it’s hard to stay on Pace.  Your body / breathing / fatigue will be your guide.  With a tested workout plan, if you can’t stay consistent on the intervals, then your pacing is off.  Sometimes, you have to adjust to get the workout you need.  For today for YHC, with the shorter 850m interval and 1 minute rest, that meant faster than Threshold Pace.
• Where to run – YHC began the warm-up perhaps setting a bad precedent – running in the middle of the road.  When confronted with an oncoming vehicle, icy sidewalks, and trash truck coming up from behind, we hit the open middle turning lane.  When running the first interval, YHC again ran down the middle (of a road with bike lanes and a middle turning lane) to place cones in the middle.  However, when going through the rest of the workout, YHC meandered between middle and left side of the road.  Now some of this was fatigue from trying to stay with the PAX in front (run the tangent), but it was not thinking very well.  There was more traffic than normal on this segment of road, but if the shoulders are clear, we should always run facing traffic on the Left side of the road.  You won’t get as many high fives because you won’t be as close to passing PAX, but you have a higher probability that one of the PAX or an EMT won’t be lifting you off of the road.  On high traffic roads like BCP, let’s stay on the shoulders.
• If you haven’t invested in a GPS watch yet, there’s still an easy way to measure your workout with your smartphone.  The Strava App can record your workout, and though it doesn’t have the ability to manually Lap when you Start/ Stop interval, you can go back in later and mark Segments in Strava to break up your workout and see what your interval performance was.  There are many running apps out there, but YHC has found Strava to hold the most benefits from recording distance on your shoes to getting on Wing_Man’s leaderboard.
• Was reading some really old Backblasts from a while back, and forgot about Haggis’s use of the word “Chunder” – not sure if this ever happened then or since, but that’ll be the goal this Tuesday.

#Preblast – Mile Prep – Take 2

#F3Swift will be launching at 0515 from the Vine Restaurant.  Come at 0500 for some extra warm-up time.  We’ll try to keep up with the Bagpipe pre-runners that plan on hitting sub8 pace (at least for the first few minutes).

The Location:

• The Pre-run will show us the best venue for this (ice free), but the desire is to mix in some hills.  We’ll be staying in the core Ballantyne Corporate Park.

The THANG:

• 1K at Threshold Pace, 1 min rest.  Repeat until time.
• Due to the Distance-based workout, we’ll form some pace groups.  If you don’t know your target Threshold Pace, go to http://runsmartproject.com/calculator or we’ll have some suggestions.
• This is one of the types of workouts that the Mile training plan calls for on a Different day, but we’ll move it to Tuesday to give us some variety instead of the faster 200/400/600/800 stuff.  The thought is that YHC can give you some ideas about training to do on days other than Tuesday.

No Sprinters Track

#F3Swift this week was all about the Sprinter.  Run hard then jog a lot.  While we probably could have done more reps, sometimes you just have to start over somewhere, and this was a great way to get back into the buildup to prepare for the next challenge.

The Thang:

• a fractured early crew departed at 0500.  Even while stragglers drove in, PAX were seen chasing others to catch up.  Gumbo and Bratwurst were watching this show as they drove in, so instead of running to catch up, as they have done before (should get their clocks checked), they took off in a different direction to set up some cone staging.
• 515 and there were a couple more takers in the parking lot.  The early crew didn’t stop too long in the cold, so all departed for the warm-up run almost immediately and just made sure that car door of a late arriving PAX wasn’t going to be opened.  Must be a Bagpiper.
• Warm-up through the Corporate Park is done, flashing cones spotted, so the dynamic exercises commence with heel walking, toe walking, high knees, and butt kicks.  On to the “track” of Rushmore Dr.
• Main set run at 1 mile race pace (a.k.a. Repetition Pace or R-pace from http://runsmartproject.com/calculator)
  • 4x200m with 200m recovery
  • 3x400m with 400m recovery
  • 4x200m with 200m recovery.
• Mosey back to home.

Moleskin:

• With a promise to improve the 1 Mile Time Trial times this Spring, we have to get back to setting that base pace and working from it.  It will likely seem too easy a pace for 200s, but we’re going to build from it and make it so the 400s (at the same pace) seem like cake.
• It’s still fun to push on the 200s a bit, and some of them got pretty spicy.  Fortunately, none of the PAX ended up with a popped Achilles or torn Hammy.  However, as seen from race photos by JRR Tolkien, Bunker, and Tuck, they were flying:

• Great to have Heisman and Bounty Hunter out from the South Carolina reaches of SoB land.  Still seems like BH only posts when OneNiner, WWL, or Ringer don’t show.  Weird phenomenon.  Almost like YHC swore for a while that Gumbo and Beaker were the same PAX, but that Myth has been busted.  The IndianLand PAX avoiding each other Myth is still probable.
• StrangeBrew was wearing his Luge outfit from his appearance in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.  Sleek and aerodynamic in those tights.  Just leave the helmet at home next time.  I bet it was hard to run and see out of that thing.
• YHC didn’t check the Runner’s World site What to Wear for Tuesday morning, but probably should have.  Still, an extra sheddable layer is not bad to have around.  Just have to make sure you remember where you drop it.

Announcements:

• You’ve heard it here first.  There will be a “Destathon” for F3 this year – Egypt of F3Metro translates this as “Destination Marathon”.  In previous years, PAX have gathered to travel to Chicago and San Francisco, but this year will be more accessible to most PAX and Ms.  Stay tuned for details.  Bratwurst is on Q.