Author Archive Bratwurst

The Great Pyramid

Posted on Behalf of Polly –

16 Pax joined YHC for my Virgin Q at no better venue but the final SWIFT of 2018.

The Thing

  • 5:15- With a parking lot filled with 15 PAX in various states of readiness varying from the pre-runners with steam floating off their heads to the shivering cold crew rolling out of bed and into the lot.  The group headed out on a warm up mile across the road and down Rushmore into the Bull Ring
  • 5:25- Light stretching ensued under the usual program minus the skipping variations due to time saving needs as well as YHC’s inability to B skip or is that A skip; either way the skip with a kick feels awkward at best so it was removed from the warmup.
  • 5:30- The excitement that had been built from 5:15 up to this point quickly faded in the eyes of every PAX as they learned what the next 45 minutes had in store. 5K target pace distance intervals came as no surprise to the group but the duration came as a bit of a shock. 800M/1200M/1600M/1200M/800M/400M Pyramid with 200M floats between intervals and if time allowed some 100M sprints to work on leg turnover speed.
  • All steps of the Pyramid were climbed and the group had time to complete 2 100(FT)M sprints, the distance is under official review by Bratwurst, and one 400M back the other way towards the Vine happened under Thin Mints direction for extra credit. Or maybe to make up for the time he lost leaving the group mid-run, but I digress.

Moleskin

  • A great effort was put in by the entire group despite the look on everyone’s face when they heard the duration of the intervals. Everyone seemed to lock into a target time and tried to maintain that speed during each of the various intervals
  • Thin Mint blew past Bratwurst and YHC like we were standing still in an effort to find a place to drop the kids off. Luckily no storm drains were impacted on my Q.
  • YHC learned that its easier to just follow the internal roads around the ring that divide the space up into sections vs programing everything into Garmin ahead of time and having it go off consistently at different locations then everyone else is starting and stopping the intervals.
  • Gumbo must have decided running the opposite direction around the ring would make the intervals shorter.
  • Bushwood felt inspired this morning to branch out past Rea rd and made it to his Virgin Swift
  • Thanks for the Q Udder/Citgo, YHC will look forward to more opportunities in 2019.

Announcments

  • No Swift next week or the following, next date is 1/8/2019

 – Posted on Behalf of Polly –

Poo-Pourri of Hills

17 Pax posted on Tuesday in various states of readiness (some on recovery, some on full workout mode, some not sure which is which), but they all got a dose of run strength and endurance intervals that Swift aims to provide.

The THANG

  • A sparse early crew at 0500 – perhaps just a couple of cars had YHC worried that the Kiawah crew would not show.
  • 0514 – The parking lot was getting filled and 17 PAX were ready to head out.  A brief disclaimer about ice and leaves was given and we were off.
  • 0515 – Warm-up along Rushmore Brixham Hill, to 200m on the Bull Ring, cut through by the Raven fountain, out to and up #Bagpipe Hill, and in around the back of Lance to the parking lot by the fitness trail.
  • 0525 – Dynamic exercises commenced with the usual.
  • 0530ish – Explain the route – out towards Ballantyne Corporate, Right on the sidewalk (wouldn’t want to run in the bike lane WITH traffic), up #Bagpipe hill, turn at the bridge, back in through the front of Lance, and back around and down.
  • 1st Set – 3 rounds of Hard effort on the flat and hill.  Once at the top, recover back down to the lot and start the next round.  Regroup to the six after 3 rounds.
  • 2nd Set – Called exercise on the back patio wall behind Lance, then Hard run to the top of #Bagpipe, recover back to the porch where you do the next called exercise.  Exercises were Step Ups x20 each leg, Extended Step Ups (step back one yard from the wall and extend toward the wall to use more Hammy) x20 each leg, Jump Ups x20.  Regroup to the six.
  • One-Legged Squats (face away from wall, one leg on the top of the wall, squat) IC x8 Right and then IC x9 Left.
  • Mosey back out to Ballantyne Corporate towards Sara’s Y Hill to run Hard up, Recover Down until 0610.  Once discovering dropping temps were making the bottom of the hill sketchy, let’s pick up the mosey and head back to the Vine.
  • Repeats of the Vine Hill from the intersection to the power lines (2nd entrance to BofA) until time is called at 0615.
  • COT

Moleskin

  • Temps at the start had most water still liquid, but by the end of the workout, dropping temps made some areas troublesome.  #disclaimer
  • Bagpipe hill isn’t the steepest or longest hill in the area, but has a dry and decent sidewalk (that zig zag near the top being the exception) and well lit.  So, the exercises were necessary to give more effect to the legs and lungs.  Several PAX didn’t get the memo to take the “short lap” and instead did the full parking lot acceleration for a more realistic 2:00 Hard interval and 2:00 recovery on the 1st set.
  • Pretty surprising this morning to see several PAX that ran the Kiawah Half Marathon (Tuck, Gumbo, Frasier, Bunker) and Kiawah Marathon (Atlas, Das Boot) this past weekend out at Swift.  All of them seemed to at least temper their efforts (still fast for Frasier) and get in the recovery they needed.  Tuck was doing #fakeSwift his own modifications to get in the miles as he is headed toward a Marathon in March.
  • Transporter forgot his watch, so Thin Mint told him to stay with him all morning and that he could get credit on Strava for being there.  He didn’t tell Transporter that he was going to lead pretty much every hill segment, but Transporter gave a noble effort to stay with him as long as possible.  In the end, Transporter’s workout on Strava looked a lot like One Niners…hmmm…PAX-swap.
  • Woodson told Bunker that he has faked most of his 2,500+ miles this year to make Bunker feel like he could lead the moral victory to mileage king on South Charlotte Strava leaderboard, but then Woodson got pressured into signing up for Kiawah 2019 to prove that this is all going to pay off somewhere.  In turn, Bunker went out and created some Strava segments to hold the CR for the 1 runner that has ever completed them.
  • Solid group all PAX giving their full efforts up #Bagpipe hill.  Great to see Jello out there – hope you can make this a regular, Rock Thrill beginning another resurgence, Wild Turkey has been picking it up and YHC will show up to his next Swift Q, Meatloaf getting back into the swing of things after a Fall race, and PaperJam is still #notarunner – there’s always 2019!

 

Announcements

Freezing on the Hump

13 PAX busted the freezing mark by running themselves warm around the Hump at Dromedary on a Wednesday morning.

The THANG:

  • Disclaimer
  • Mosey to the front of the HS
  • Opening COP:
    • Side Straddle Hop x 20,
    • Imperial Walkers x 20
    • Don Quixote x 20
    • Slow Mountain Climbers x 20  (focus on bringing knee all the way to elbow in a slow cadence)
    • Low Slow Squats x 20 (down for 3, up for 1)
    • Low Slow Merkins x 20 (down for 3, up for 1)
  • Mosey to the front of the Middle School.  Along the way, do some High knees, Butt kicks, Side shuffle, Carioca, and count off into groups of three.
  • Divide into the three groups.  1s and 3s stay here, 2s cut across oval to the other side.  1s will run first around the loop to reach the 2s that are halfway around the loop, 2s will do exercise once 1s start their run, 3s will rest.  When 1s arrive at 2s, the 2s start running around the loop towards the 3s, 3s start the exercise, 1s rest.  Each time your group is to do an exercise, change the exercise.  Exercises were BLIMPS (Burpees, Lunges, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Plank Jack, Squats).  The idea is run All You Got (AYG), rest for a few moments, perform an exercise, and then run.  If you run slower, you’ll have less time to rest because the timer basically starts once the first runner arrives.
  • Rinse and Repeat, but this time with Jump ups on the Benches and Hand Release Merkins on the opposite side.  We got in 3 more full rounds.
  • Mosey back to the “top” of the HS parking lot and plank for the six.  Jailbreak back to the starting point, plank for the six, and circle up for about 10 minutes of Mary.
  • 10MOM consisted of rotating through:
    • Plank position and hold form for a 10 count by a PAX.  Positions were Left Hand High / Left Leg High, RHH/RLH, Left Hand Forward / Right Ankle Up, RHF/LAU, Elbows, etc.
    • On your six for a 20 count In Cadence of various exercises including Heels to Heaven, Dolly, Box Cutters, LBCs, 6 inches
  • Time
  • COT w/ Johnny Utah taking us out

The Moleskin:

  • Not sure how may hoodies that Transporter had on.  Only one PAX was bare legged this morning – maybe because he knew we would be moving most of the time.  The final Mary circle definitely had a nice ring of steam rising from the PAX.
  • It took a minute or so to explain the 3 group rotation, and all groups seemed to get it eventually, but YHC still couldn’t figure out how BLIMPS could get translated into Carolina Dry Docks…  Some PAX pushed hard on the AYG runs – Easy Button was definitely on turbo for many of them.  And several PAX took it upon themselves to begin the exercise right away instead of resting.  Well done…or perhaps you weren’t running hard enough…
  • On the final Jailbreak, FNG Chunky Monkey (Eric J) showed off his Softball outfielder skills and battled Transporter for the lead.
  • Counting skills were shown off by Endo starting at 1 and having a looong pause on accident (unaware that he needed to keep going to 10, perhaps delirious or just a new guy), Doc McStuffins counting VERY slowly in Spanish (but he didn’t seem to know if he got to 10?), and One Star counting “1” the whole time while double counting on his fingers to make sure he actually got to 10.

Announcements:

  • Bring donations of clothes and toys for the Christmas Party.  Check the Slack announcements or Preblast for more details.
  • Dromedary needs a Q next week to lead the WAMRAP.
  • JRR Tolkien on Q at Cerberus this week – Viva Chicken at Waverly at 5:30.
  • Welcome to FNG Eric J (Chunky Monkey) – a Vermont native and Army vet. All he needs is a plaid flannel shirt to be a Paul Bunyan look-a-like, he was HC’d by Johnny Utah.

 

Make it Hard, they’ll Be Back

18 PAX gathered at Swift on an summer-ending that had the hint of Fall in the air.  At least there were a few more shirts than previous weeks.

The THANG:

  • a handful of prerunners (Picasso, Bratwurst, Mario, Woodson, OneNiner, Atlas, missing one?) at 0500 or earlier (Atlas) got in the 1.3mi loop before the rest of the crowd showed up at 0515.
  • 0514 – PAX were briefed of where to meet at 0525 at the MetLife back porch.  Two paths to get there – about a mile to do so.
  • 0526 – got everyone squared away and started the dynamic warm-up of toes, heels, high knees, and butt kicks ending at the intersection with N. Community House and the parking road.
  • 0527 – briefing on road / bike lane / sidewalk, when to loop, watch for cars, and what the intervals were.  Impressive response on “how much recovery” and what the intervals were going to be.  Someone paid attention to the Preblast.  Intervals were 5minutes, 4, 4, 3, 3 at 2 mile race pace, a.k.a. VO2Max, or a “Hard” effort.  Recovery was 1 minute less than the interval.
  • At some point Das Boot and another PAX showed up.
  • 0604 – ended the 3rd 3minute interval as an out and back and then gave everyone instructions to head back to the Vine.
  • 0615 – COT with Bagpipe
  • 0620 – ABP sent out for PaperJam
  • 0624 – Das Boot ventures out and finds PaperJam heading back to the Vine lot.

Moleskin:

  • Ragnar for some PAX is coming up this weekend, but no special instructions given by the Q (not Ragnaring it…), so it was up to your own to figure out how to taper.  Heard several PAX say “this is my last day running this week”, so perhaps a few got the idea.
  • With the venue and the longer recoveries, chance to mix more with different PAX and stay close together.  Definitely one of the easiest formats we use at Swift to do this with.  Long and Hard sections followed by walking / jogging recovery and 2nd F makes for a complete morning.  Apparently though, PaperJam was so focused on getting his miles in that he went solo most of the workout.  After telling us he figured out we weren’t coming back for him, he made it back to the Vine.
  • Several runners on the same streets this morning.  None more awkward than the poor single woman runner that passed us as we were about to start interval #1.  It was either Frasier’s wave or Mario’s stare that had HER staring at the ground and pretending 18 guys weren’t watching her. At least the next couple of female runners with shoe lights were friendly, though we passed them so many times, it did seem they were coming in for a better look.  Most of the times though, Mario was off stretching and they missed their opportunities.
  • Thanks to the PAX for signing up to Q at Swift.  Thin Mint and Woodson (virgin Swift Q) are coming up over the next 2 weeks.  If the 4th week of Sprints / Forms has you scared off, don’t worry about it – DM me and we can work out something that would fit.  Otherwise, please sign up!  Link on the #run channel in F3SouthCharlotte Slack.
  • My Strava run says that I ran with 13 others this morning.  I know Frasier will upload at some point (that makes 15 total) and move me down the leaderboard, but if you aren’t on Strava, you’re missing a valuable training tool.  And if you don’t know how to use your LAP button with time-based intervals, you’re missing out on the basics of training to know effort / pace over the “working” interval.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead this week!

SYITG,

Bratwurst

Cut your hair, drop some pounds

15 PAX finished the run and stretch at Blakovery on Monday morning, but that’s not how it started.

The THANG:

  • Route pre-blasted as the “Providence CC” route, which for the regulars meant:
    • Head East on Ardrey Kell from the fountains of Blakeney near the Brixx pizza.  Head toward “The Fountains” shopping area at Tom Short and Ardrey Kell.
    • Turn Right on Tom Short (or use the Fountains shopping area as a shortcut).
    • Avoid Bratwurst’s knee wall that takes out shins of his running compadres, and take the first Left into Providence CC (entrance is also directly across from the fountains shortcut).
    • At the T intersection, take a Left (last left for a while).
    • Then, pretty much, keep taking every Right turn either to avoid a cul-de-sac or coming to the end of the road.  For those playing along:
      1. Right
      2. Right
      3. Right
      4. Right
      5. Right onto Tom Short
    • Left on Ardrey Kell (or use the Fountains area again to shortcut) and continue back to Blakeney while trying to avoid low branches, thin mud spots, and cracks in the sidewalk.  Not exactly a “Danger Zone” like Rea from Bevington to 51, but it definitely keeps you on your toes to not eat concrete.
  • FIN! Part 1
  • Part 2 – Fleetwood and Wingman draw straws, and it’s Fleetwood that leads the stretching as the group files in.
  • FIN! Part 2
  • Thin Mint took us out.

The Moleskin:

  • It’s hard to lead a running route when a) you’re not there at all; b) you’re not there on time; c) you haven’t told anyone where to go; d) the directions are so confusing that everyone abandons and runs a different way; e) all of the above.   Definitely YHC has answered E often to this question, so there are a few things you must do to try to be successful (and it still may not turn out):
    1. Preblast the route
    2. Show up before the start of the run to use the last minute before it starts to make sure everyone knows the route, shortcuts, regroup points, and overall objective.
    3. Start on time
      1. If 2 and 3 fail, make sure that you TRY to have trained the PAX by now to do 1, 2, and 3, and have an idea where to catch them.  This may involve parking away from the start.  In your attempt to find them on the route, hope your attempts to train 2 & 3 are followed in your absence – which was your fault no matter the excuse.
    4. Check on the PAX and make sure that PAX are checking on each other – buddy system works great here.
    5. Finish on time
  • YHC is very thankful that things seemed to work out this morning.  Despite a late start by the PAX to due YHCs absence, Bunker got things going and everyone seemed to know where to go.
  • Fountains were ON this morning, so no background music could be heard making it’s way over from the shopping square, but that also made mumblechatter easier despite Fleetwood’s directions to relax and breathe.
  • These 2nd F runs mean something different to everyone.  Some guys push it from the front, some guys choose to mix a little more 2nd F in and chat the whole time, some guys push it from the six and accomplish 5 miles.  But we all get it done together.  While 15 PAX is likely near the all time high at Blakovery with even a few regulars out, it’s hopefully a testament that you give the PAX consistency in the plan, and some will like it enough to keep coming back.  Or maybe it’s just the Journeyman challenge…
  • Thanks for following even when YHC wasn’t there this morning.  It’s an honor to be thought of.

Announcements:

  • Bratwurst cut his hair.  Apparently this equates to weight loss.  Despite trying to give up sweets for the past 3 weeks, it’s the haircut that does the trick.
  • Sign up for the Crane Relay – https://f3southcharlotte.com/2018/07/14/the-crane-relay/
  • Check out the 24 Hours of Booty video (up soon) that JRR Tolkien was up all night finishing for Speed for Need: https://www.youtube.com/user/mrkevinmyoung
  •  Swift will converge with Fast Twitch tomorrow at Charlotte Latin school.  Main parking lot off Providence Road.  1600 or 3200m time trial.

 

Preblast – Pursuit’s Threshold Reboot

The countdown timer on my watch tells me that we are a little more than 3 months and 2 days away from the start of the Blue Ridge Relay (BRR) – one of the premier Team events that F3 PAX participate in.  Yes, the BRR may first draw PAX that consider themselves “runners”, but the draw of a Team event performed in an individual manner (each PAX runs at least 3 times over the course of 24+ hours) has turned many PAX sitting on that #notarunner fence into training and participating into a very memorable weekend for all of those involved.

It’s time to bring back a bit of the Structured Training at Pursuit from Tuck’s original Threshold training (click that for background info), but we’re going to implement a bit differently this time.  Because we have the luxury of time, we’ll keep a similar format, but we’ll just put a week of a “free run” in between to allow folks to jump in and still enjoy it.

That means this is the tentative plan:

Week 1 6/7/18
6 x 4 min with 2 min recovery
Week 2 6/21/18
6 x 5 min with 2 min recovery
Week 3 7/5/18
6 x 6 min with 2 min recovery
Week 4 7/19/18
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 min ladder with 1min recovery
Week 5 8/2/18
3 x 10 min with 3 min recovery
Week 6 8/16/18
3 x 12 min with 3 min recovery
Week 7 8/30/18*

*Week before BRR
2 x 20 min with 4 min recovery

Again, if you need to know more about Threshold Training and how it builds endurance, read Tuck’s write-up here at: https://f3southcharlotte.com/2018/02/27/preblast-in-pursuit-of-a-lower-lactate-threshold/

Let’s not stand around

With 19 PAX ready for a mid-week workout, a long and lengthy disclaimer was given one minute to go that basically told the PAX, we’ll be moving around the campus of Marvin Ridge today.

The THANG:

  • Follow the Q on a mosey to the Middle School back porch.  Once there, plank with your feet against the wall to wait for the six.
  • Opening COP:
    • Mountain Parkers (something between a Mountain Climber and a Peter Parker, but done in slow cadence bringing the foot up to plant flat besides the same sided planked hand) x 20 In Cadence
    • Don Quixote x 20 IC
    • Merkins x 10 IC
    • Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
  • Move towards the circular tables, no more than 2 per table.  With dry shoes, we’re going to leverage the tables for some Burpee Jump-ups (onto the seat) for 1 minute.  Begin
  • Move towards the end of the sidewalk near the buses.  Hold an Al Gore until it’s your turn.  Three sections of wall.  Section 1 – plank with feet on the wall moving laterally.  Section 2 & 3 – put your hands on the wall (at or below the dark brick section) and move laterally.  Hold plank until the six finishes.
  • Mosey towards the fields behind the tennis courts.  Plank for the Six.
  • Using the hill under the power lines, 7s with Merkins at the bottom and World Champion Burpees at the top.  For more on World Champion Burpees, go here: http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2018/05/08/personal-trainer-sets-burpee-world-record-but-critics-say-wasnt-doing-burpees.html. Plank for the Six
  • Mosey a few yards to line up shoulder-to-shoulder along the goal line.
    • Bear Crawl 10 yards, jog back. Bear Crawl 20 yards, jog back.
    • Crab Walk 10 yards, jog back.  Crab Walk 20 yards, job back.
    • When done, on your six and hold feet 6 inches.  Go down the line with each PAX calling a Protractor Angle between 6 inches (technically not an angle), 69 degrees (snickers all around thanks to Shake & Bake), and 89 degrees (no one has flexible hamstrings that I observed getting to vertical).
  • Jacobs Ladder with Carolina Dry Docks –
    • run out to yardage line #1 (10 yards), 1 CDD
    • run out to line #2 (15yd), 2 CDD
    • …
    • run out to line #7, 7 CDD
    • Keep repeating to Line #7 until the Six is in.
  • Mosey towards the traffic circle globe and stop at the yield sign before the big straight away.  Hold Al Gore while getting instructions.  At each bush, pole, or tree that is within 10 yards of the side of the roadway, perform a Full Burpee (not of that World Record Stuff).  Do this OYO until the end of the straight at the light pole.  PAX lead some Mary until the Six is in.
  • Mosey back towards the cars and circle up for some closing Mary.
    • Side Plank with Leg Lifts x 10 IC each side
    • Inchworm – walk hands out, hold plank for a second, walk hands back up – for 1 minute
    • Marching Bridge – on your six, raise butt in line with shoulders that are contacting the ground and quads. In Cadence, raise your Right foot off the ground and march your knee towards your chest.  x10 then Flapjack to Left side.
    • Plank March – hold plank, In Cadence lift your right foot off the ground, put it down, then Left foot off the ground, put it down.
  • Done at 615!

Moleskin:

  • Continual movement, some longer moseys, several small sections done OYO, but not a ton of running was the goal.  YHC was smoked at the end for something that seemed pretty simple.
  • Glad to see many PAX like Jingles getting back out there, the new streak of Abacus, an old familiar face in Ice9, and one of my newer running buddies Stub Hub with his co-HateHate Half Back.
  • On several of the longer OYO sections, there were the normal Larry Birds eating it up, with of course Goodfella leading anything that involves Burpees (of the World Record variety most likely), and two PAX that pushed past YHC on the final run back to the circle, but the fogginess of trying to remember what was coming next has pushed their names out of the memory bank.
  • Goodfellas feedback session was abbreviated.

Announcements:

  • Bottlecap is on Q next Wednesday.  Delta is on Q the week after.
  • EOG Proctoring at Cuthbertson Middle School on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • 1st Sunday of the month for June – Church on the Street with other Union County PAX.
  • Pool Party on Friday June 8th – Sign up and donate to #Sandbox
  • Prayers for Brooks family and their daughter.

Sprint a Mile

18 PAX made it out for Sprint Week #3 of the new weekly rotation (where Sprints are week #4 of the month) at Swift this past week.  While there wasn’t as much “demo” as prior weeks’ sprinting form, we blended more traditional intervals in Prep for the 1600m Time Trial next week

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Small early crew already shirtless rounded the 1.3mi powerline to Rushmore to Bull Ring loop.
  • 0515 – Rest of the 18 PAX gathered to head off in a similar direction down the power lines to Rushmore to the Bull Ring.  Instructions to “take it easy” and “shortcut the Bull Ring if necessary” fell on deaf ears, for this was a warm-up with a little too much vigor.
  • 0525 – Traditional heels and toes, but also mixed in the walking piriformis stretch, glute stretch, and hamstring stretches.  Arm circles. A-Skip x 2.  B-Skip x 2.
  • 0540 – Line up for the 1st round and round the Bull Ring which was a 16x100m Interval at 1-mile goal pace, with a 100m jog recovery.  Cones every 100m, but watch for the “gap” cones.
  • Mosey back and catch the Six once most PAX had finished.  Setup on an interval to give a good ending to the next round.
  • Three rounds of 300m (200m at 1 mile goal pace, 100m Sprint to finish) and 3:00 recovery.
  • 0610 – Mosey back to COT.  Over-achievers Citgo and Frasier pushed to one more round of the 300m Interval.
  • COT

Moleskin:

  • Today’s workout was one created from two good 1mile Prep workouts that YHC found when poking around on the Interwebs.  It was one that allowed us to combine the 1 mile goal pace and some Sprints.
  • The first part of the workout was from a 32 x 100m at 1 mile Goal Pace with 100m recovery.  Would have been best to do this on a track with jogging the corners and 1mile pace the straights.  Purpose is to try to feel that pace in your legs without getting too much fatigue.  However, after some PAX were struggling with this first half of the workout today, it was evident that the 100m recoveries were likely not much of a recovery.  Instead, just slower than the 1 mile goal pace.  So, in the future, in a workout like this, learn to recover properly.  There are some workouts designed with an aggressive recovery (very short, fast jog, etc.), but this was not one of them.
  • The second part of the workout was one that would be 4th or 5th in a cycle of these types of workouts, but we cut it down from 6x300m to our time and fatigue constrained 3 x 300m.  Again, feel the 200m pace in the legs for consistency, but then use good finishing speed (just like you will when coming off the last corner of the 1600m time trial tomorrow) to bring it to the finish line.  Aggressive in nature for sure, but more like the fatigue you will feel at the end of a race.
  • The 5th Tuesday of the month’s rotation is a bit of a drive – Charlotte Latin is not close to many of the SC and Union County PAX, but this will be a test you don’t want to miss.  There aren’t many opportunities for us to push ourselves to our limits individually to meet a “standard”, but this is certainly going to be one of them.  With a proper warm-up, fast surface (rubberized track), and warm temps, most things will be just right to produce an effort to help gauge your fitness.  Then, in two months when we have another 5th Tuesday, we’ll have another measuring point to note our progression.  Even though writing all of this is making my heart race increase and the butterflies flow, the short discomfort of four laps of the track will be worth it.
  • Here’s a strategy for the 1600m tomorrow.  Say you’re shooting for a 6:00 finish, so those perfect 400m splits would be in 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00.  Without someone pacing you, it’s next to impossible to try to hit those exactly, and with all of the adrenaline, the first lap is likely to be faster than it should be.  So, let’s say the first lap is 1:27 (displayed on an iPad at the start/finish line), shoot for making the second lap 1:30 (right on pace, but still under goal time), knowing fatigue will set in for the third lap in perhaps a 1:33, but then you can bring it home with a 1:29 (not as fast as the 1st, but faster than the 3rd because you can smell the finish line and use that awesome Sprint speed) to coast in right at 5:59.
  • Plan for a strategy, and then hold to it even when the legs and lungs revolt!

 

Announcements:

  • No Timekeeper this week.  We’ll resume next Tuesday 6/5 back at Einsteins.

World Record Pace

Swift in a Parking Deck?  Only possible with Tuesday Week 4 of Sprints and Form drills.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Prerun in the gloom.  With the threat of rain, this was a small group.  Strava tells us that it was Bunker & Woodson with Mario & Erector in pursuit.  And while they were running, YHC was in the basement of a deck marking out 30, 50, and 100m.
  • 0515 – We’re headed where?  We can be covered from the threat of rain?  Why yes, let’s head over to the Ballantyne Village deck.  Without immediate rain, we took the long route to get in over 1mi before arriving at the deck.
  • 0525 – No funny stuff of laying on the ground in the parking deck.  For some reason it feels much dirtier in the deck because rain never washes stuff away, so we’re not doign scorpions or anything else on the back / stomach for warm-up this time.  Just the usual heels, toes, high knees, butt kicks.
  • 0530 – Form drills:
  • 50m Sprints x 2
  • 100m Sprints x 6 with long recovery down to the end of the deck and around the long way.
  • To the top of the deck – using the lower level “half ramp”, we’ll sprint the West direction and recover on the East direction up to the top of the deck.
  • At the top of the deck realizing there is no rain, let’s do Dynamic Cooldown with:
    • Walking Quad Stretch
    • Walking Piorformis Stretch
    • Frankensteins (walking hamstring stretch)
    • Perhaps some other stuff to loosen back up from the Max effort sprints
  • Mosey back to COT down the deck and a long path tracing most of the way that got us here.
  • 0615 – COT

The Moleskin:

  • It’s not often that we run into Bagpipe, but this was one day when we crossed paths in the deck.  Thought for sure there would be a collision at some point while we were in the long sprints, but they either took off by then or the timing was just perfect.
  • Good to know that parking deck bottom level is a dry (and mostly NOT dusty) place for Sprints and Drills.  It’s probably 125m long on the lower deck, so while it’s not that long, it met our purposes today.  Also, zero traffic from cars.
  • Many Swift regulars were not sure what to expect with Sprints and Drills, for last month’s session followed the P200 that many Swift regulars took part in.  And of the PAX there last month everyone except for Cheddar decided to take a pass this time.  That means YHC is not sure if anyone is going to show up week 4 in May!  However, something tells me that we’ll be doing something slightly different in terms of drills and distance, and also something to prevent “Honey Beeing” – just ask Haggis about the end of some of Honey Bee’s time trials and if that’s something he would like to improve… It will help us get ready for the 5th Tuesday time trial and other events that day – check out the Announcements for more details.
  • Bunker set some personal bests on his GPS watch, but still not World Records – https://www.strava.com/activities/1528451581 . 1 mile in only 3:51 – try harder! 2 mile in 8:23 – too slow!  5K in 13:19 – getting old!  Still, he’s likely going to create a Strava segment somewhere to make sure he’s always on top of it.

Announcements:

  • Swift will be converging with Fast Twitch on May 29th for a Time Trial of some sorts.  Bratwurst will lead the Warm-up and Time Trial #1, which will occur on the Charlotte Latin track.  Purell and Rachel have been offered to do something competitive with what follows.  And, let’s make sure that Frasier finds the right place to park this time…

Where’s Bratwurst?!

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, so that means time-based intervals.

The THANG:

  • Pre-blast went up on Slack (only) the evening before:
  • 5:15 launch and head toward the MetLife Building
  • 5:25 dynamic stretching where I will not provide tips on form, although watching me can be considered what-not-to-do instruction.
  • 5:30  — 5 minute Threshold Pace intervals, with a 1 minute recovery along N Community House (you can thank @enron for sharing with me his love of 5min intervals)
  • 6:05 head back toward Vine
  • 6:15 COT

 

The Moleskin:

  • After getting the nod on Monday morning from Bratwurst, YHC decided on 5 minute intervals with a 1 minute recovery.  However, after arriving back at COT following a pre-run, Bunker had whipped the Pax into a frenzy about too short of a recovery, so, as a man of the people, YHC adjusted to 2 minute recovery.  Following some additional comments, we headed toward N.Community House.
  • Very strong work from a big group today.  Most of us got in 4 rounds of intervals, and some of the more ambitious pax managed a 5th round on the way back to COT.

Announcements:

  • Swift will continue to rotate Qs, and Bratwurst pointed out that today was proof that “anyone” can Q Swift.

Categories

Most T-claps

None found

Twitter

© 2024 F3 South Charlotte