Author Archive Bratwurst

F3rtlek not so much, just Fartlek

At 0515 on Tuesday, an Actual Shovel Flag was planted, and 11 PAX headed off into the Gloom for the weekly Running Interval workout known as #F3Swift.

The THANG:

• Warm-up (1 PAX drops)
• Drills (1 PAX adds)
• Preblast was here = http://f3nation.com/2016/01/11/preblast-fartlek-danish-style/
• 5 rounds of (30seconds at a jogging pace, 20 seconds of a normal training pace, 10 seconds of a SPRINT), 2 minutes jogging recovery – done on the Bull Ring CounterClockWise
• 5 rounds of (30seconds at a jogging pace, 20 seconds of a normal training pace, 10 seconds of a SPRINT), 2 minutes jogging recovery – done on the Bull Ring ClockWise
• 5 rounds of (30seconds at a jogging pace, 20 seconds of a normal training pace, 10 seconds of a SPRINT), 2 minutes jogging recovery – done on the “Square” around the Putting Green
• 5 rounds of (30seconds at a jogging pace, 20 seconds of a normal training pace, 10 seconds of a SPRINT), 2 minutes jogging recovery – done on the Rushmore Hill
• At 0600, head back to COT, 2 options A) The direct route of 0.5mi,  or B) The indirect route of 1.3mi.
• Get back to COT early, so let’s A) take off like Honeybee (LIFO); B) join in some Bagpipe COP with Dolly or Merkins, or C) Refusenik

Moleskin:

• What a fabulous morning for Swift following the JoeDavisRun showing by the Area51 PAX.  Of the PAX that posted this AM, we had three 10K finishers (StumpHugger, Gumbo, Abacus), a 5K 2nd Place Age Group winner (JRR Tolkien), a 5K 2nd Place Overall winner (Haggis), and a 5K finisher that ran with his 2.0 in their first 5K together (StrangeBrew).
• Goal this morning was to get back to some good running, stretch out the legs, and look forward to another cycle of training that starts next week.  While the workout seemed easy starting out with over half including some easy jogging, there’s definitely an opportunity to push yourself.  It’s go at your own pace, and some of the PAX took that literally.
• Haggis shot out of the cannon on the first SPRINT, but then decided to modify later by doing a jog for 30 and a solid run for 30.  Probably better for taper for the 26.2 this weekend.
• HoneyBee decided he would try to get Haggis to push as much as possible and gave LOTS of verbal encouragement.  Probably smarter than racing considering he is also in taper mode for Charleston 26.2.
• JRR Tolkien looked in Sprinter form today with great leg lift, arms, and stride.  If the F3 Football stuff was full contact, YHC would not want THAT running his direction.
• Bunker and Tuck seem inseparable and can probably now use their workout time to bill for overtime work hours.
• Abacus, still happy about coming off his 1:06 victory over Chelms in the JoeDavisRun 10K, was not holding back.
• Great to see CableGuy knocking the rust off the running legs. #Kotters
• A healthy Outback makes for a swift Outback.  2 week streak continues.
• Stump Hugger, after his drive from the SouthEastern-most tip of SOB Land, did find the PAX on the BullRing despite us using an alternate location.  Leveraged his inner bloodhound.
• Brew, Brew, are you there?  Evidently switched sides mid-workout and playing for the other team when we got back to COT.  Pretty sure that is a first for any PAX.  Several choose Bagpipe for the day but do Swift Pre-run, but until now, none have switched mid-workout (at least it was before it got real serious).
• Gumbo (and other Endurance PAX), even though the SouthPark RaceFest 13.1 is next, DO NOT FEAR the Swift schedule of the next couple of months.  Even though DevilsTurn aligns closer with more Endurance intervals required for Half-marathons, Swift will build that strength needed to make Speed seem easier.
• So, what was all of the running back and forth and around this morning you ask?  You may have seen these reports of runners doing odd shapes for running routes before:

• And you’re probably familiar with this:
• So the goal with the route this morning was to have fun and “write” something like the F3 logo – hence F3rtlek.  While 85% successful, it looks like a Q-fail because it’s hard to figure out – check out the results here from Tuck (which only looks even halfway there if you have a login):https://www.strava.com/activities/468672934
• Thanks for the opportunity to lead you gents!

Announcements:

• Swift starts a new cycle next week – 1Mile training!  Goal will look forward to a planned 1Mile time trial when the weather warms up!  1Mile training will feature fast and short intervals.  3minutes or less, but most in the 1 and 2 minute length. Perfect for ANY F3’er or Swift FNG.
• F3-DaVinci at Blakeney starts this Saturday at 7am.  Doubledown opportunity since Stonehenge will run from 0600 to 0645.

#Preblast – Fartlek (Danish Style)

Swift will launch at 0515 on Tuesday morning from the Vine restaurant in the land of the Sons of Ballantyne.  Come at 0500 for some extra warmup time.

The Thang:

• With a high number of participants in the JoeDavisRun that are Swift regulars or newcomers (Haggis, Abacus, StrangeBrew, Ringer, StumpHugger, Gumbo, Champagne, JRR Tolkien, Frasier, and others), we’re going to reset for this week and do something to loosen up the legs for all.  So, whether you ran the Joe Davis Run or are still hoping to get a good workout in, come on out.  Great for Swift FNGs.
• We’ll be once again doing the 30-20-10 workout that you can read about at http://running.competitor.com/2015/04/training/the-30-20-10-fartlek-workout_127435
• There are 7 minute cycles of:
  • 30sec jog, 20sec normal training pace, 10sec SPRINT, REPEATO 4x then 2:00 jog
  • 30sec jog, 20sec normal, 10sec SPRINT, REPEATO 4x then 2:00 jog
  • 30sec jog, 20sec normal, 10sec SPRINT, REPEATO 4x then 2:00 jog
  • 30sec jog, 20sec normal, 10sec SPRINT, REPEATO 4x
• Head back to COT.

Does Extra Credit = Extra Fun?

15 fleet footed PAX left the warm confines of the Vine Restaurant on Tuesday morning for the weekly running Speed & Interval session known as Swift.

The THANG:

• 0500 – early crew breaks out of the parking lot to get the extra credit done, but then loops back around for the late arriving Q.  Got to make a GRAND ENTRANCE, eh?  Even though they chose the other Red Pill (Bagpipe) this morning, nice to have JRR Tolkein and Outback on the pre-run.
• Here’s the PreBlast –

http://f3nation.com/2016/01/04/preblast-final-workout-for-joedavisrun/

• 0515 – Gather the rest of the PAX and head out the long way to the North Community House “parkway” – because it’s a 4 lane divided road with a median, sidewalks, street lights, and bike lanes.  If you can’t find a good place to run here, then just head to the treadmill.
• After warm-up drills, warm-up run, and pre-run, we’re sitting at about 3.5mi.  Thought we would have “plenty of time”, but not actually checking the watch at this point could have been an error in judgement.
• Workout was 4 x 1200m (from our start point, the light at Endhaven on the other side of I-485 conveniently marks close to 1200m (or about 3/4 mile).  Run interval at Threshold Pace – slower than your planned 5K or 10K, but slightly faster than Half-marathon pace.  2 minute rest, then head back to starting area.
• After done with your Intervals, gather PAX and head back to the Vine.
• Most PAX were back to COT by 0620-0622 – most of the Bagpipe PAX had already packed up and gone home!
• Total miles will seem long – about 8.7 for Honeybee including Pre-run, and most PAX at about 6.0 like Swift FNG Bunker – but most of it run at 2nd F pace today.

The Moleskin:

• Fire Hazard is going to construct a Valet key box at the Vine parking lot to leave his keys in.  Will probably be much easier than having to go back mid-workout to search for them.
• Welcome to Swift FNG Bunker (though YHC was sure he heard “Bonkers” when introduced.  Coming off his first 26.2 at Kiawah, Jay M is already showing some running prowess and quickly left his host Tuck to lead him around.  Give Bunker a follow on Strava.
• YHC tried to “illuminate” at least two cones with flashing and reflective lights.  While the first one had an issue getting face-down and lost in the liriope median, the second one seemed to do well when out in the open.  YHC would like some feedback on the usefullness of the Flashing cone – do the PAX like the cones, still too hard to see, ?
• PAX got a little strung out on these distance-based intervals with keeping a short recovery time between the intervals today, but that should change as we head back to shorter intervals with more focus on recovery as a group like other weeks.  Would be great to have each of the PAX be challenged by a partner to push them.  You’ll have to do some self-recruiting!
• Honeybee and Haggis were apparently trying to EH the #sadclown with the flashing foot.  Dude seemed like a pretty strong runner, and Honeybee and Haggis must have felt bad as they flew past him up Community House.  If the guy does post, a nickname is already picked out – Shwings.
• #Cobains on the Late arrival to COT.  #ExtraCredit. Thought we would have plenty of time, but that’s what happens when you head out a mile away from the home base and don’t check the watch.  Not too bad, but don’t want to make it a habit.
• Did StrangeBrew ever find his pitstop?  Einstein is apparently not open at 0515, so either he just sucked it up (#gross) or ducked out.

Announcements:

• JoeDavisRun this Saturday – set your Baseline for Swift!
• Swift schedule for next few weeks will be back to the shorter stuff until the Spring.  End goal will be a 1mile Time Trial, so our training will focus on a new “Fast” pace and geared toward improving that top end speed.

Topless Surprise

10 shirtless freaks (all freaks yes, all shirtless no) were at #F3Swift this week to attempt to burn in the 5K or 10K race pace into their brains.  Here’s what they were able to accomplish.

The THANG:

• 0500 – 7-8 PAX for the Pre-run.  All may not have arrived on time, but more on that later.
• 0515 – Time to accomplish the Pre-blast:

http://f3nation.com/2015/12/28/preblast-week-7of8-joedavisrun/

• We were out to accomplish feeling what our goal 5K or 10K pace felt like in the legs, heart, and lungs.  Goal was to do the first 3x6minutes at one of those paces or Threshold Pace.  We accomplished this by using the outside of the Bull Ring for the 6min. 2min recovery was to find the putting green via a walk or jog, regroup, and wait the precious seconds until heading out again.
• The 6 x 200m R-pace (1 mile race pace) are to get the stride a bit longer, let the legs run, and maintain good form.  Running out of time after 4, last 2 intervals were done on the way back to COT.  Interval #6 was treated as an AYG back to COT and was probably more like 400m.  At least it beat doing a final 6min (or 1 mile) Threshold pace interval as called by the Preblast.

The Moleskin:

• First thing to change due to the rain – PAX weren’t going to head way off campus.  Decided to head to the Bull Ring instead.
• Second thing to change due to the rain – Change of venue, where there are markings with the building entrances every 200m to get a pace check if you don’t have a fancy GPS watch, meant that YHC didn’t have to place cones.  Cones were outfitted with blinky lights, so we’ll have to wait for that until next time to use them.
• Third thing to change due to the rain and warm temps – shirts.  While JRR Tolkein was already stripped down during the pre-run, many of the rest of the PAX found after the warm-up that it was just too warm and that extra pounds of water in the wet shirt was just going to get in the way.  Shedding commenced all around.  Except SwissMiss who went the other way with full rain jacket on.
• Nothing seems flat and Windy feels great unless you’re racing – notable 11mph NW wind that was unavoidable when running in a circle.  And more annoying than the occasional puddle were some slippery spots on the ring if you ran too close to the curb.  Either algae from all of the rain or wet leaf pile spots, they can throw off your rhythm just like the slight rise of a hill.  YHC found that it’s really all mental.  Recover and move on.  Don’t dwell on the struggle.  Tell yourself to relax even though you want to quit or slow down.  YHC had plenty of those thoughts trying to hit a 5K pace goal was passed by a PAX on a 10K pace blew by on the 3rd interval. At least it helped when Frasier mentioned a little “let’s go”.
• Was it really 8 PAX for the Pre-Run?  Well, at least 5-6 plus Gumbo arriving at 5:00:30 and heeding chase. And then Bratwurst arriving at 5:01:00 and heeding chase.
  • Note: more and more PAX showing up for the Pre-Run.  At some point, it’s going to be “the workout is from 0500 to 0615. Start at 0515 for an abbreviated version.”  Probably at least 6 PAX started out at 0515.
  • Gumbo and YHC gave chase and were greatful to just catch each other and hang back trying to figure out who had made it “on time”.  First spotted was Strange Brew with the sleeveless shirt, then Fire Hazard got picked out with his yellow socks, a reflection of a head clued us in to Outback, a really slender guy in front pushing the pace must be Frasier (also, everyone knows what Frasier looks like from the back), and it was likely OneNiner had on a hoodie.
• Kotters to Outback joining the Swift PAX this week.
• Kudos to Stump Hugger for getting out there while battling injury – seems he might be on the way back knowing how to moderate and find a life / workout rhythm.
• While OneNiner didn’t have Ringer or HoneyBee to race on the 200s, he made sure to keep others honest with an aggressive pace.
• Gumbo is keeping up the improvements and pushing faster and faster.  Both he and Fire Hazard are going to have a duel in the JoeDavisRun.
• Incredible that JRR Tolkien can come off a MuthaShip workout and still turn in a great performance. Looking forward to MuthaShip Monday after the JoeDavisRun when JRR in on the Q!
• Brew keeps tacking this workout and then turning around and putting out another similar effort at Mountain Goat on Fridays.  While the body hurts now, just wait until the taper of the final week.

Announcements:

• Next week is Taper week for week 8 of 8 of JoeDavisRun prep!  It will still be Fast, but shorter.
• Plan after the JoeDavisRun for Swift is to get Shorter and Faster working on 1 mile race pace for the next cycle.  A new pace will be introduced – F for “Fast”.  This will be for all of those Sprinter types with intervals mostly consisting of 200 and 400m.

Peaks of Speed on Flat Rushmore

This morning in Ballantyne 15 Swift PAX found some Speed in a storage locker, paid a fair price, and will hopefully reap rewards from their efforts in about 3 1/2 weeks at the Joe Davis Run.

The THANG:

• 0500 – Early crew gets in about 1.3mi.  Was it me, or was that brisker than normal?  Only adventure was that it was not the normal route, perhaps just in reverse.
• 0515 – Grab the rest of the crew and head out around the Bull Ring to Rushmore Dr – otherwise known as both a stout hill and a long straightaway in the Ballantyne Corporate Park.  Today, we avoided most of the hill.  Continue warm-up with some dynamic RunCoach inspired (YHC will not take credit for these) drills.
• 0530 – Start the workout of:
  • 5minutes at Interval Pace, 4min jog recovery (5 minutes done as 2:30 out, turn, 2:30 back)
  • 5minutes at Interval Pace, 4min jog recovery
  • 5minutes at Interval Pace, 4min jog recovery
  • 3minutes at Interval Pace, 2min jog recovery
  • 3minutes at Interval Pace, 2min jog recovery
  • Head to the Bull Ring and point towards COT for one last 3minutes at Interval Pace
  • Total of 24 minutes of intervals at a 2 mile race pace – likely at least a 5K worth of speed for most of the PAX
• 0610 – Regroup and we’re officially done, but let’s jog until FireHazard’s watch (he was in the early crew) ticks from 7.99 to 8.0.  Back to the Vine at 0615.

The Moleskin:

• How quickly the PAX forget the workouts like this:
  • Last week – 2/1/30 * 5 at the same pace = 17.5minutes of intervals
  • December 2nd – 4 minute intervals * 5 = 20minutes of intervals
  • 11/3 – 5,4,4,3,3 = 22 minutes of intervals
• OK, so this run was both 6 intervals and 2 minutes longer than we had done before.  So why did the 3minute intervals seem so long?  There’s something about the out & back / turnaround, other than trying not to blow out a knee on the turn, that’s harder.  You know exactly how far you have to run, and when it’s mostly on a straightaway, there’s no hiding from the finish.
• VO2Max is about effort if you don’t have a good measure like Lap pace (pace for that Interval) on your watch / device.  It should be “Hard”, but you should not by tying up with Lactic Acid building up.  Then, you know that you are going anaerobic and beyond the VO2Max level.  5minutes (1 mile for some, or at least 1200m for most) is the longest time at this speed.  We’ll not revisit this Interval distance (at this speed) for a while, but don’t get too comfortable!
• Flat Rushmore – we haven’t done really long intervals here before (max was 800m, and that involved the hill), so it was good to find that there was enough flat that it shouldn’t affect the effort.  YHC’s Strava results for the 5min showed a -8 foot drop on the “out” and a 7 foot gain on the way back.  Looks close enough!
• If you have a Lap button on your Fitness watch that’s recording the workout, unfortunately the Smartphone based apps I have seen don’t allow a manual Lap, you should use it to separate the “work” interval from the “recovery” interval.  Helps to be able to look at the watch mid-interval and see what your “Lap” pace is (pace of the interval you are running), or at least see on the results later that you are hitting your target paces.  Unfortunately, if you’re not a Strava user, you can’t see what’s being talking about here: https://www.strava.com/activities/450543315/laps.  You’ll only see Strava’s auto-generated Mile Splits (which is the same thing you would see if using the Smartphone app).  However, Garmin also takes the data, and you should be able to see what’s been talked about here (scroll down and click the Splits tab): https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/983489722 (from a program that had a 2:30 interval, 2:30 interval, and 4min recovery).
• If you ever want a Fitness Watch recommendation for Christmas or how to program / sync the one you have, just ask.  For recommendations, you can also check out http://dcrainmaker.com
• It was great to see one of the originals of DevilsTurn, SwissMiss, as a Swift FNG today.  He sure has some a long way from those mornings at McAlpine Greenway, and we hope you got your money’s worth in your travel to the AO today!
• Dolphin rediscovered that @F3SOB has a running workout!  Not a problem for this PAX, and still coming back strong to take on whatever lies down the road.  Just don’t talk to Honeybee, who apparently has marathon schedule that rivals Dean Karnazes 52 in 52 weeks.
• Mario has either been hanging around vets like Uncle (notorious Sandbagger) or he just doesn’t know how hard to push his young man body.  He was cranking on that last interval today, did the same last week, and perhaps that’s just how it always happens.  YHC knows who would run anchor on a relay team…
• Haggis and Frasier were missed from post 26.2 recovery over the weekend, but Honeybee did his best to channel both of them.  In sound (swishing shorts) and in brutal effort (“come on [grunt]”).
• Wingman tells us that Champagne was actually at Swift today.  Still can’t trust that one because YHC didn’t hear too many sarcastic remarks while explaining the workout.
• If in fact the numbers were correct, let’s note that there were 15 at Swift at 12 at Bagpipe.  Let’s also acknowledge this was still short of FastTwitch’s 18.  #stillawaystogo
• If you guys didn’t show up today, I’d still run this thing on my own.  It would be a little lonely, so thanks for the opportunity to train with you guys.  Always hard, and always worth it.

Announcements:

• Thursday 12/17 – JoeDavisRun Preview run at the course.  @0515 – Laces Out (Walter Elisha Park) – Join Sir Topham Hatt for a preview run of the Joe Davis Race course, during the normal Laces Out workout this week.
• Friday 12/18 – Join YHC at 0515 at South Charlotte Middle School (site of MountainGoat) for the recommended Threshold Pace training for this week = 15min Threshold Pace, 3min Rest, 10min Threshold Pace, 2min Rest, 5min Threshold Pace.  Might take nominations for moving this to the 4 Mile Creek Greenway if enough interested.
• Here’s another recommended Speed workout for the weekend – Race (5K or 10K) or the 4×200,2×400,800,2×400,4×200 R-pace pyramid (equal distance recoveries after each, all are in meters).

Christmas Carols with Charlie Brown

15 PAX decided to go door-to-door in the Ballantyne Country Club on Tuesday morning to bring glad tidings to residents and thank them for their hilly streets.  Instead of caroling, we just ran.

The THANG:

• Several in the early crew for an extra mile or so. YHC was lucky to catch them almost done.
• At 0515, a hearty pack of men set off toward the 521 crossing at the resort for a warm-up Mosey of about 1 mile. Once at the East entrance to the BCC, we ducked into a couple of streets to get some warm-up drills in. Our first visit to Charlie Brown’s Christmas story was complete.
• At 0530, after getting some brief tips about running hills, explanation that “Hard” pace will be based on effort (instead of running pace) due to the hills, notice that there will be called turn-around points, and that we will regroup to the 6 on recoveries, we set off on a plan for 5 rounds of:
  • 2 minutes Hard, 1 minute recovery
  • 1 minute Hard, 30 seconds recovery
  • 30 seconds Hard, 30 seconds recovery
• Finishing around 0600, head back to the Vine.  Option for the fleet of feet – take the turn at Premier on Ballantyne Corporate.  Required for all – get back to AO by 0615.  At almost 1.5miles on the short way, this will be a challenge for all PAX.
• 0615 – finished.  Total miles between 4.8miles, 6.9 miles, and 8.2 miles (with pre-run).

The Moleskin:

• The PAX had to be adept at following directions on this one.  With either a call for turnaround point or regroup instructions (next lightpost, back down the hill, up the hill, back to the Charlie Brown Christmas display), start/stop of the interval (though many more PAX either seemed to have programmed this one into their watch or are learning the benefits of the LAP button), or road hump, we tried to be as hushed as possible in the confines on the Country Club.  So far, no angry neighbors or neighborhood watch patrols have penalized us.  Also, with the regrouping and turnarounds, it sometimes gets confusing which direction to go.  Fortunately, no collisions with other PAX and no nosediving on dark road humps or potholes (though I would like to see OneNiner sue the Ballantyne Country Club for that sneaky one next to a roadhump – a trap laid for unsuspecting runners).
• Not much car traffic, in fact YHC can only remember one.  That gave us the whole street and plenty of freedom to roam.  However, some bright headlamps out there among the PAX to pick out humps and holes, so there were a few times YHC was certain a car was coming but it was just a PAX.
• Geronimo and Soft Pretzel rejoin after several weeks on hiatus, but haven’t lost a step.
• Frasier, who is preparing for a flat Kiawah marathon this Saturday by running hills this week, is sure to blow through 26.2 miles as long as his Sherpa carrying fuel supplies stays with him.  Also, restraint shown by doing half the intervals, but leaving the PAX in his wake when he did push it to a higher gear.
• Calling for the last interval (this is not the same as stating at the beginning of the workout that the goal is 5 sets and we happen to be on the 5th set – because YHC has been know to extend the workout when time or the PAX fitness level allows) sure brings out the Sandbaggers.  Mario, who may be a Swift FNG (but whom YHC is hearing about had a F3 Turkey Bowl dominance), challenges Cheddar, but this has to go down as the longest 30 seconds of the morning.  It seemed to never end up that hill and for sure YHC thought the watch hadn’t started.  Then the best tone in the world is the “beep-beep-beep-beebahbeep” signaling the end of the interval.
• The PAX pushed it on the route home and it was self-led.  No Q instructions for what was surely a negative split effort.  A contingent that took the long way didn’t shortcut through Loch Ness as they could have, but seemed to be racing Bagpipe PAX back to the lot.  For the PAX that took an alternate way back, it was great to hear encouragement from guys like Strange Brew and know that everyone was pushing themselves right up to the limit.

Announcements:

• Not that you haven’t heard that the JoeDavisRun is coming up, but now’s the time to sign up!  A 10K option for distance, or a 5K option for speed (which YHC is opting for), there’s something for everyone including a FunRun for the 2.0s.
• Next week at Swift will be a continuation of the Interval Pace (a.k.a. 2 mile race pace) of last week.  Expect a step up in the distance for some, but it will be the last week of these long I-pace reps.