Author Archive Bratwurst

#Preblast – Eric Liddell

Swift will launch at the Vine Restaurant at 0515 on Tuesday morning in the Ballantyne AO.  Come at 0500 for an extra mile and some 2nd F.  Finish the workout at 0615.  Stay until 0630 for some 3rdF at F3-Timekeeper.

Prescription for Swift this week is the “Eric Liddell” that harkens back to the founding Swift workout in April 2014 (has it really been that long)?  http://f3nation.com/2014/04/21/f3swift-preblast/

Course will be measured, and you will only need to be familiar with the Lap / Split button on your Timex Ironman, Casio G-Shock, or other fancy running Gizmo watch.  Rounds of 2 of Eric Liddell’s favorite race distances at 200 and 400 meters.

Until then,

Bratwurst

5 minute Wait Ahead

Before the #VSF was planted, 3 PAX took off for some extra credit, pulled in 1 more PAX into their scheme, planted the #VSF and joined 6 PAX at 0515, and found 1 more PAX along the way.  Eventually 11 PAX were on the ride of #F3Swift for the day.

The Thang:

• Extra Warm-up at 0500 was 1mi+ of 2nd F.  #WigglerLite
• Main warm-up (from Vine over to BCBS at N Community House) at 0515 consisted of 1mi+ mosey with 4 exercises uphill with Toe walking, Heel walking, High knees, and Butt kicks.
• Main event along N Community House – 5minutes at Threshold Pace, 1minute recovery walk/jog.  Repeato for 5x total.
• Head home to COT as 2nd F recovery or one more 5min T-pace (for 6 total).
• COT
• Total miles between 5 and 7.

The Moleskin:

• When YHC pulled into the lot at 0503, he was thinking about whether trying to catch up to extra crediters, just going solo, or just waiting.  Three guys dressed in black suddenly approached and almost sent YHC back to the car to grab protection behind the seat (golf umbrella).  When it was quickly realized that it was just the extra crediters kindly circling back, we were quickly off for a little 2nd F.
• There was a coolness to the air at the start, it disappeared after the warm-up, and it wasn’t found again until COT.  Must just have been the door open and the AC blowing from the Vine.  While we had at least Strange Brew and One-Niner sporting sleeveless, YHC just ditched the shirt at the start of the main event.  No planned 6MOM this week and YHC needed to balance the tan out, so no need for the extra baggage. UA might make #HeatGear, but God gave men #chestswithoutbigbreasts for a reason.
• Tootie was a tad late, and his bloodhound skills were put to the test.  Despite following a #sadclown to the Bull Ring, he did find his way to the pack before the start of the main event.
• #LongestIntervalsEver – pretty sure that we have never run multiple 5min intervals at Swift.  Threshold Pace intervals are “comfortably hard” and the purpose is defined as “a speed of running where lactate accumulation will steady state”.  Lactate is the stuff that makes muscles tire / heavy.  Check out the video above or the link here.  YHC finds that Threshold pace may be slightly faster than most PAX’s individual BRR legs, but there isn’t much better workout than Threshold Pace to get you more used to running hard for an extended period of time.  Breathing (which we’ll probably touch on at an upcoming #DevilsTurn “tips” day) should be forceful, but usually stay in the 3/3 range (3 steps to 1 breath in, 3 steps to 1 breath out) while running all of each interval.  After all, this workout goes up to 1mile with 1 minute rest, 2mile with 2 minute rest, or 20minutes continuous.  Breathing harder will usually indicate that pace is too fast.
• Some went down, some went up.  Turned out the course took us down or flat for some of the 5 min intervals and then up or flat for the others.  N Community House is pretty fair for elevation changes, but YHC still noticed the difference in pace between intervals.  Best thing to do here is measure based on the effort / breathing.
• More Indian Land PAX this week as One-Niner and Ringer brought WorldWideLeader (secretly a runner) along for the Swift ride.  Watch out for this crew in the BRR as they spread their running religion.  Area51 and Metro teams will have something to watch out for from the Fort.
• Noted that One-Niner and Ringer took the bait from fellow SC-resident HoneyBee for a 6th T-pace interval.  Fortunately the Bagpipe crew didn’t jump them at the end of the interval when Swift PAX started weaving through, pushing them out of the way, and calling out “on your left”.  They got their punishment – burpees while waiting to cross Hwy 521.
• While the group spread out today with the longer intervals, N Community House affords decent sighting and regrouping with the long straightaways and no sleeping neighbors to be quiet for.  The increase in through traffic doesn’t seem to be too big of an issue, but we’ll always be looking out and calling for “car up” and “car back” to make sure there are no #crossyroad casualties.
• StrangeBrew has figured out to Program on his watch and keeps part of the PAX in line with Start/Stop on each interval, but even more impressive was the consistent effort displayed with his Laps on Strava. Showing big strides in consistently hitting the T-pace effort required for a big Marathon PR and bringing down that 1mile PR time.  Consistency will be key when we rerun the 800m intervals in 3 more weeks.
• Outback’s 5 minute efforts vansihed from his Strava output, so either he ran back and forth really fast or the GPS wasn’t working.  Maybe he turned on “private mode” so we couldn’t see where he was running.  In either case, YHC overheard him discussing his consistency from Interval 1 to 5.  When you have Abacus and Hops to chase (who were looking strong today), you sometimes get a little ambitious at the start.  Which is one of the hardest things to learn about the “1st 500″… always work towards the “3rd 500” and the rest of the workout should fall better into place.
• WingMan was shining brightly in the Area51 alien shirt (not F3, officially…) and evidently has a new project to come up with a gadget to turn up the lumens for reflectivity.  That, or LiveStream his run next week.  Not sure.
• Notable missing regulars were Haggis (world traveling), HardHat (not because Haggis wasn’t there, right?), Frasier (thought this was Swift week so feeling betrayed – sniff, sniff – oh, maybe he is DR this week, SMILE), Mr. Bean (umm… unspeakable excuse), Dolphin (went too hard at Stonehenge?), Cheddar (may be off getting a M, literally, #goodexcuse), M Tussauds and SoftPretzel were leading the Bagpipe PAX (#goodexcuse), Frehley’s Comet (#fartsack?), StumpHugger (DL), MicCheck (#oneanddone), Champagne (couldn’t find the calf condoms this morning), Spinner (we’ll send out the BOLO)

When Temps go Low

Swift will launch at 0515 from the Vine American Kitchen at the Ballantyne AO.  Early 0500 extra credit in effect.

When the Temps Go up, runners head to the track for the short stuff – Fast intervals, long recoveries.  When the Temps Go down, runners can be afforded the cooling weather for longer intervals with shorter recoveries.  With expectations of temps in the 60s with low humidity, we’ll be venturing toward the edges of the Ballantyne Corporate Park to North Community House Rd for some Threshold Pace Intervals – expect 5 min intervals with 1 min rest.

What’s your Threshold Pace? – go here to check it out – http://runsmartproject.com/calculator

A Swedish Danish

13 PAX slipped into the early gloom at 0515 on Tuesday morning for the weekly speed workout known as Swift.  Returning dirty to COT at 0613, there had to be a record of something in between.  Here’s what they did.

The Thang:

• Pre-run at 0500 with 5 PAX – Strange Brew, Outback, Madame Tussauds, Abacus, and Bratwurst.  1mile easy.
• Main event at 0515 – 1 mile or so over to the Hwy 521 bridge. Do some high knees, B-skip, Butt kicks, heels (point those toes to the sky), toes, and perhaps something else.
• 4 rounds of the 30, 20, 10 workout described in the feature video:
  • 30 second “yog”
  • 20 second at normal running pace
  • 10 second sprint
  • repeat for a 5 minute round, then 2 minutes “yogging” before starting the next round
• Mosey more around the Ballantyne Corp park until finding a nice quiet parking lot for some Mary!  To the best of YHC’s recollection, we did
  • Flutter IC x20
  • Side plank with lateral leg raises (both sides) IC x 20 – a.k.a. the “Jane Fonda”
  • Scorpion IC x20 (lie flat on stomach, move right foot towards left shoulder, other side, etc.)
  • Superman (while of course singing “Greatest American Hero”)
  • Can cans IC x20 (laying on your back with feet flat out, move a straight left leg over the right leg to a 45 degree angle, return to starting position, other leg, etc.)
  • Russian Twist IC x30
• Mosey back to COT and finish off with some LBCs with the Bagpipe PAX

The Moleskin:

• This was a workout pulled out of the bag that YHC hadn’t done before.  Looked fair and different.  The PAX don’t always get to Sprints, unless Mic Check is leading, so this was a great chance to get in some good all-out running form with active recovery.  Like the article says, it’s good to learn what it feels like to change running gears.
• Here’s the full explanation of the workout – http://running.competitor.com/2015/04/training/the-30-20-10-fartlek-workout_127435 .  The video embedded above is the guy who came up with it.  When a professor from Denmark plays with speed play concepts from Sweden (i.e. farlek), you get a Swedish Danish.
• Workout seemed fair, in fact the PAX could have gone to 5 rounds based on time and distance, but cutting it short (always leave some in the tank on a new workout), gave an opportunity to show the PAX some good stretching / strength exercises that build the hips which are critical for runners maintaining good form and injury-free in areas like ITB.
• Early 0500 warm-up continues to have benefits. Great 2nd F and a mile or two more into the weekly totals.
• Great to have One-Niner and Ringer back up from Indian Land to join the Swift regulars today.

Check the Bagpipe blackblast for announcements including a Murph on Sunday, CSAUP and obstacle course opportunities on 8/1.

Swedish Speed Play on Scottish Estates

14 PAX set out from the Ballantyne Business District at 0515 on Tuesday morning to have some Swedish Speed Play #fartlek fun among the estates of the Scottish descendants of the Ballantynes.  At least one Scot in our midst gave the full tour.

The THANG:

• Pre-run at 0500 for about 1.6mi with 4 PAX.  Get back to AO at 0515 and pickup those standing around for the main Event.
• Warm-up for 10 min (just over 1mi) down Brixham Hill Ave (#ironic that it’s the flattest street in the AO) to a right on Ballantyne Corp Pl and up and over the Hwy 521 bridge towards the Premier Building.
• Do some heel walking, toe walking, high knees, butt kicks, and strides until crossing over Ballantyne Commons Dr to the East entrance of Ballantyne County Club (BCC).
• Start rounds of 2 minutes Hard (I-pace from the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator, a.k.a. 2 mile race pace), 1 minute recovery job and regroup, 1 minute Hard, 30 seconds recovery jog, 30 seconds Hard, 30 seconds recovery and regroup.
• 6 total continuous rounds with some of the PAX taking a break between sets 2 and 3 to cross in the tunnel under 521 to the West-side of BCC.  Apparently, the six didn’t get the word of the break and pushed through.  #cobains
• 0.5mi recovery run after the last set back to COT.
• Total miles for Main Event were between 5.8 and 6.7 depending on regroup distance.  Here’s the planned course (but run it in reverse) – https://www.strava.com/routes/1296732

The Moleskin:

• Pre-run should be a nice 2nd F and a chance to get more warm-up / miles.  #cobains on the Pace for the past 2 weeks, for we need to make sure that it is 2nd F for all.  If you can’t talk, it’s not 2nd F.  Strange Brew, Outback, Madame Tussauds, and Bratwurst get the extra credit this week.
• Almost picked up an unaware PAX at the start once again.  “Gloves aren’t needed for this workout”, oh, “you want the 0530 Bagpipe”.
• No 1 minute countdown warning given.  If you weren’t ready at 0515 to launch, you were running to catch up. Post-event texts indicate that we had a lurker among the PAX.  We’ll have to get start times right next time.
• The purpose of this I-pace workout is to get as much time at VO2max as possible.  Try to start conservative and then maintain that pace for 2, 1, and 30.  You’ll find it too hard on the 2 minute if you use the 1 and 30 second intervals to move up a few spots.  Use the 2 minute to do the moving, for that’s what benefits you most.
• Sleeveless shirts just aren’t for showing off the pencil arms, they’re for cooling the core!  Saw a few more of them this week.  Shirtless is just around the corner if they keep the humidifier turned on in BCC.
• Some of that extra rest messed up the Bratwurst wrist microcomputer.  #cobains AGAIN.  Think we still made the spirit of the event and knocked out a total of 21 minutes HARD running.
• A ton of solid efforts out there.  This one was HARD with the hills and humidity.  A record 6 rounds.  The goal is to jog the recovery, so push yourself to try to do that.
• Cheddar and VooDoo make it back to Swift after perhaps loving the Fartsack a little too much over previous weeks.  VooDoo requests alarm clock advice on Monday, makes it to Tuesday.  Would love to hear the advice!
• #Kotters to Hops on his Swift appearance.  Let’s just hope this one doesn’t take you to the IR again.
• Frehley’s Comet had the big wipe in hand this week.  Did it get used, buried, and left, or did he have it at the end?
• Perhaps Haggis knew something about “Ballantyne” that the rest of us didn’t.  Perhaps it’s just YHC that was slow.

Announcements:

• Haggis has the Swift Q next week 6/9.
• SIB will be joining Swift on 6/16 for the Monthly 800/200 test.  This will not be a race, but a chance to grab on to one of the many pace groups and push yourself.
• Based on the demand over the last 2 weeks, there will likely be a 0500 start option each week for the summer.  Gives a chance to increase the weekly miles just a tad, loosen-up, and have some 2nd F.  Look for the tweet or just Show!

Getting to the Higher Ground

10 PAX launched at 0515 from the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne AO for the weekly Speed Fest known as Swift.  We almost picked up 2 more PAX on the way.  Here’s what we did:

• Exit Vine Parking lot South towards Stonehenge intersection.  Check on advancing Snow Flake to make sure he attends the right workout.  Turns out he opted for the Bagpipe PAX today.
• 1mi warm-up from the Vine, down Hwy 521 on the Left Shoulder while avoiding huge flat bed trucks, ducking Left into the comfort of the Ballantyne CC, avoiding car screeching around the corner (turns out to be Frehley’s Comet), and turning Right on Ballantyne Country Club Dr.
• 0.5mi of drills to include toe walking, heel walking, high knees, butt kicks, and bounding.  Mosey to the bottom of the hill on
• 30sec Hard up the hill, regroup and mosey down, 30 sec Hard up the hill, regroup and mosey down, 1min Hard up the hill, regroup and mosey down.
  • Rinse and repeat with 1st 30seconds Hard in the set alternating between backwards run and bounding.
  • 4 rounds in all.
• Last time reaching Higher Ground we went a normal pace OYO halfway, and then AYG to the intersection of Pound Hill Ln.
• Mosey back to the Vine arriving around 0618 and the Bagpipe PAX finishing up COT.

Moleskin:

• It’s been a while since we’ve done a pure Hills workout by going Hard just on the Uphill portion. The terrain of the AO has a lot of rolling that is naturally incorporated into most workouts, but focusing on the uphill builds strength that produces speed and endurance for the BRR.
• Opting for the 30sec and 1min repeats gives nice even numbers instead of trying to get in 200m or 400m.  This hill was definitely long enough to go the full 400m, and it has the full effect of a long hill like Ben Nevis.  However, this hill starts out steeper and then is more gradual at halfway, but the wider running area makes it preferred over the sidewalk at Ben Nevis.  Only if it was a little closer and more accessible.
• Backwards running and bounding thrown in to add some variety and a break from the 1min Hard uphill.
• Strange Brew, Abacus, and Frasier heeded the call for the extra 15min 2nd F pre-run this morning.  Despite the preblast, YHC had some toe issues to work out and made it a few minutes “late/early” depending on the perspective.
• Outback is coming on strong, really strong.  And this was without Mr. Bean in attendance.  Hmm.
• Abacus is right in the buildup from Observer at last years BRR to this years Anchor Leg at the BRR.  Keeps putting the sweat out there.
• When Frasier runs (aka “leads the running”), everyone else follows.  None more than Haggis nipping at his heels.  Despite Frasier’s extra arm weight #strengthtraining (should he wear something on the other arm so his shoulder on his right arm doesn’t get too big?), Haggis doesn’t gain an advantage other than knowing he didn’t leave anything out there.
• HoneyBee was wearing the Mizuno Sayonara shoes as he pulled away from the PAX – what if he wore the Mizuno Inspire today – would quotes flow during every interval?  Maybe at DevilsTurn.
• Wing Man and Hard Hat must have been talking Strava today, for they represented half of the PAX posting some results today.  Other notables were Strange Brew, Honeybee, and YHC.  Somehow, Honeybee holds every course record on Strava.  He must rerun sections on the weekend just to make sure.
• Dolphin returned to the Swift PAX for another round today.  Still experimenting perhaps, but he was scoffing at our hill today while saying something about running this in his sleep during his last “flat” Ultra.
• Where is #Gunny?

Announcements:

• 3rd F “Timekeeper” will be building into the Summer break when PAX don’t have to rush back to wake up the 2.0s for school.  Meet at Einstein Bagels for coffee / food / AC!