Author Archive Bratwurst

Wake the Neighbors – new PAX edition

26 PAX tried to make sure the Ballantyne Country Club was wide awake at 0515 this past Tuesday morning.  We took the free tour with a format very affectionately known as the 2/1/:30.

The THANG:

  • pre Warm-up run at 0500 was heavily attended and made the 0515 start group look small.
  • standard warm-up start time of 0515 looked like a convergence in the parking lot with all kinds of old and new faces not seen in quite a while.  Was beginning to think it was for the Pancakes promised at TimeKeeper’s 0630 start time, but we’d have to wait and see.  We moseyed over and up Ben Nevis with a regroup point at the Western Ballantyne Commons PKWY entrance to Ballantyne CC.
  • commence warm-up exercises at about 0525 with standard fare of walking on the heels, toes, high knees, and butt kicks as we made our way deeper into Ballantyne CC.
  • Begin the 2/1/:30 with instructions that we were headed for the pedestrian tunnel under 521.  What is the 2/1/:30 – elaborate in timing, short in recovery, and dastardly-hard workout when done over hills.   It consists of 2 minutes “Hard” effort, 1 minute recovery to regroup the PAX, 1 minute “Hard” effort, 30 seconds to regroup the PAX, 30 seconds “Hard” effort, 30 seconds to recover before starting right back into the 2 minute “Hard” again.
  • We made it 2+ rounds (three of the 2minute intervals) before taking the pedestrian trail and tunnel under Hwy 521.  Upon exiting the other side, we did two more full rounds and were finally at the Eastern Ballantyne Commons PKWY entrance to Ballantyne CC.
  • As we were 1 mile from home with ample time on our hands (15 minutes or so) and worn out from the 2/1/30, instructions were given for a Progression Run back to COT.  Take the short or long way, but end up back by 0615 at the Vine.  Progression Run was loosely instructed as try to mentally pick it up every 1 to 2 minutes with effort.  Start slow and give yourself some pace to build to, but don’t let up until you’re done.
  • Many PAX took the long route back past Premier and the Aloft Hotel.  While we got a little strung out, it was impressive to see everyone pushing themselves and trying to catch Citgo on the way to the fitness trail.  Once everyone had their share of trying to regain their breath again after chasing down Citgo’s sub 6:00/mi pace, we did a flyby of the Bagpipe PAX squating in the woods, took a lap around Lochness, and then raced the Bagpipe PAX back to the Vine lot.
  • Looking at the Strava Fly-by was informative for this last part.  Had no idea that Tuck and Rock Thrill decided to try to get in one more hill by bypassing the fitness trail and then choosing their own adventure on the way back to COT.  Not sure if they took the recommended partner (“no one go alone”), but both were found safely back at COT.

Moleskin:

  • This 2/1/:30 is all about effort and a way to break up a perfectly decent run.  It is sneaky in its accumulation of intervals and is one of the few things that makes 2 minutes seem like a really long time.  Not sure why we’re always doing it over the hills of the Ballantyne Country Club, other than it’s an easy planned route, well lit, and there are areas to bail out and shorten or lengthen the course depending on the crowd.
  • Shoutout to all of the newer Swift PAX:
    • It was awesome to have first time Swift PAX Kirby take this on today.  “Just keep moving forward” was all he needed to get through that 5 mile course and prove to himself that it’s just another workout that any PAX can handle.  It’s never easy, even for YHC, for it’s still you vs. you, but certainly there’s satisfaction looking back on your 5, 6, 7, or 8 mile accomplishment from 60-75 minutes of work.
    • Flipper finally said snooze button be damned and showed at Swift.  Despite the usual first-timer comments on the funny warm-up exercises, he stuck through it and finished strongly.
    • Despite Bare Naked being subjected to this particular workout from YHC years ago, he returned to the Gloom to find he still had it and several compatriots there to suffer through it with him.
    • Laronda and Blackbeard also proved they weren’t one trick ponies and showed up to tackle Swift again.  By the way Laronda was stretching afterwards, he’s either really young and limber, or he’s going to feel that one for serveral days.
    • Even Madison snuck in there.  But since he seems to be everywhere these days, it’s hard to think he’s not been out there before.
  • The rest of the PAX (exception to Bunker and Fire Hazard who had a bro-date at the front of the group most of the morning, no one’s quite sure what they did) are seasoned vets at this stuff and pushed hard up, down, and through Ballantyne CC.  Perhaps not many neighbors were woken up with all of the frequent shouting of humps, bumps, and hoes, but all the PAX left feeling like Ballantyne CC owed them something after the workout.  Well done all!

 

SYITG,

Bratwurst

BroSpeed5 – the Last Prep

21 PAX at Swift used the last Tuesday before the BrOlympics 2.0 to sharpen the planned 1600m race pace and work on some endurance.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Warm-up mosey.
  • 0515 – If that warm-up mosey wasn’t enough for you, or you were using that time to sleep in or flush the system a little more, then we’ll start as a group at 0515 and head towards the Hwy 521 Bridge Rushmore (last minute audible due to fog and not really wanting to turn in traffic).
  • 0525 – Do some warm-up drills with the regular stuff.  Do some more warm-up drills with things like Bounding, Hamstring Kickers (?), Carioca, Lateral Bounding (like skipping sideways), and some weird North Korean military 2-step.
  • 0535 – Start the intervals which are a mixture of Repetition Pace (let’s just call it our Brolympics Goal Pace) and Threshold Pace.  Both can be found at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator by entering a recent race result.
    • 200m at R-pace, recover 200m
    • 200m at R-pace, recover 200m
    • 5:00 at T-pace with a U-turn at 2:30 to finish back where you started, recover 400m (or about 2:30)
    • Repeato for 3 rounds total.
  • Mosey back to COT at the Vine, many arriving late due to the Q’s choice of routes for the way back.

The Moleskin:

  • The final 5:00 interval was to get us back to the Vine on time.  As MT said in COT, there were a lot of PAX out there today that chose the longer route (and both routes were uphill as we found out) to perhaps push themselves that extra few minutes.
  • As the final tune-up for the BrOlympics 1600m that was the focus of this past training cycle, YHC wanted to wait until ALL of the results were in before typing out this Backblast.  Thank you for your patience.    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • At the Brolympics on Saturday, YHC was a bit surprised that only 12 of the Swift PAX participating at least once in this training cycle were able to compete in the 1600m.  Several PAX have been VERY consistent in this last 5 weeks, but weren’t able to toe the line.  But congrats go to Bunker, Woodson, Tuck, Fire Hazard, Doc McStuffins, Haggis, Goonie, Purell, Soft Pretzel, and Citgo for toeing the line to see what they were made of.  Some PAX set PRs, some were perhaps disappointed, but you guys did the work and got to prove to yourselves that you can handle the mental and physical of a race effort.
  • For those PAX not able to make the Brolympics 1600m that day due to various reasons – some of which included group training runs in the mountains for other events, volunteering and serving your fellow PAX on that day, or other valid commitments, YHC just wants you to know that there is no reason you CAN’T race.  For those PAX that set PRs on Saturday, they know they have a new benchmark in training.  For those that didn’t set PRs on Saturday, they know there is something for them to figure out with the next training cycle or racing for next time, or perhaps there is a new more realistic goal to set.  For those PAX who just didn’t think they had it and didn’t toe the line, make this next training cycle your most consistent and honest.  We’ll have more opportunities to “time trial” with the new Swift format (see below), and the next is May 29th.  If you have a race on the calendar between now and then, make that your time trial.  But don’t let your fear, worry, or doubt ever prevent you from testing yourself again.  You put in the work, and now’s the time to see what you can get out of it.
  • Here is an analysis from PAX who ran the 1600m on Saturday and did the Swift training leading up to it.  Many of you did these same workouts, but either didn’t have the data (Woodson, Goonie) because you can’t find a Lap button, or YHC didn’t have the time to get through everyone’s results.  Open the full file to check out any formulas used to evaluate results, and there is some other data as well.  The goal was to look at the Repetition Pace (which is just about 1 mile / 1600m race pace) from each of the various workouts we did over the 5 weeks and then how those translated into race results.
    • Full file is: http://goo.gl/BcwFh9
    • For some, you’ll see they could have done a little better in the race.
    • For others, you’ll see you fading during a workout (look into the details, especially at the longer intervals that get separated out, like the 800m, 2:00, and 5:00 intervals).  You perhaps can correlate that to how you were feeling that day, when you know you were pushing harder than you needed to, when you were just unsure of a goal and backed off, or you had a different “A” race you competed in or were training for.
    • It’s data, and you can look at it 5 different ways to tell you different things.  However, if you are showing up to a workout, pushing the Start button on your watch, using your Lap button (like Erector, Fletch, and Mario did this month), programming the workout, using Heart Rate, or something else, it’s good to look back and look at trends.
Repetition Pace Efforts Brolympics 1600m BroSpeed 1 BroSpeed 2 BroSpeed 3 BroSpeed 4 BroSpeed 5
Purell 0:04:59 0:04:38 0:04:43
Citgo 0:05:08 0:04:49 0:04:48 N/A No Lap Data
Woodson 0:05:24 No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data
Haggis 0:05:29 0:05:01 0:05:10 0:05:04
Bunker 0:05:42 0:05:53 0:05:34 0:05:23 0:05:38 0:05:20
Doc McStuffins 0:05:51 0:05:38 0:05:52
Tuck 0:05:52 No Lap Data 0:05:57 0:05:22 0:05:36 0:06:06
Fire Hazard 0:05:53 0:05:49 0:06:22
Soft Pretzel 0:05:57 No Lap Data
Goonie 0:06:22 No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data

 

Announcements:

  • RunJenRun 5K at SouthPark this Saturday.
  • Swift schedule for March:
    • 1st week of the Month = Time-based intervals
    • 2nd week of the Month = Hill repeats
    • 3rd week of the Month = Distance-based intervals
    • 4th week of the Month = Form-drills and Sprints
    • 5th week of the Month = TIME TRIAL (1st month with 5 Tuesdays is May)
  • PreBlast for tomorrow = 2/1/:30 through Ballantyne Country Club (counter-clockwise)

Bro Speed 4 – 2,2,2:

20 PAX circled the Bull Ring with a purpose of speed, more speed, and ludicrous speed on Tuesday morning.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Prerunners challenged Bratwurst’s ability to count the ticks of a measuring wheel.  Fortunately, there’s a counter on the wheel and all you need to know that ~330 ticks (feet) = 100 meters.  In reality, 300 feet = 1/4 of 1/4 mile, and 100 meters = 328.1 feet, but who’s counting?
  • 0515 – Q shows up on time at the launch point and we head off on a warm-up to the Putting Green inside the Bull Ring.  No one took the shortcut, and we all arrived by 0525.
  • 0525 – warm-up of:
    • walking on the heels x 20 straight, outside, inside then accelerate
    • walking on the toes x 20 straight, outside, inside then accelerate
    • high knees x 25 each side, then accelerate
    • butt kicks (minimize ground contact) x 25 each side, then accelerate
    • B-skips same distance, then accelerate
  • 0530 – the workout on the Bull Ring with cones marking 100m intervals
    • 200m at Repetition Pace (a.k.a. 1-mile race pace, find yours here at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator), 200m jog recovery
    • 200m at R-Pace, 200m jog recovery and regroup the PAX
    • 2minutes at R-pace, jog same distance back to start
    • First round in standard Counter Clockwise direction
    • Second round in Clockwise direction (noticeable headwind on the 2:00)
    • Third round in CCW
    • Fourth round in CW ends after 2nd 200m
  • 0610 – Mosey to COT
  • 0615 – COT
  • 0630 – 12+ PAX at Timekeeper discuss Strange Brew’s question of the day.

The Moleskin:

  • Someone finally caught up to Purell long enough to find out if he had anything to say, and he only had one question, “Why do you call this, the Bulls ring?” (paraphrased).  Funny you should ask, our Bull Ring is because of “The Bulls” of Ballantyne and the circular course of the main ~0.5mile ring around the buildings.  For more info on “The Bulls” from http://www.goballantyne.com/content/uploads/2016/03/Ballantyne-Book-Web.pdf
    • 2000 pounds each
    • were transported through major interstates from New Mexico to Ballantyne, and corralled through center city Charlotte.
    • were adopted by Bissell to clearly exemplify his company’s enthusiasm for the future.
    • technically placed in an area called “Our Park”
    • a plaque resting at the foot of The Bulls clearly reads, “Bullish on our families. Bullish on our work. Bullish on our country. Add value in all you do.”
  • Rock Thrill and another runner competed for how many times the PAX would call out “runner up” as they encircled the Bull Ring in the opposite direction of the PAX sometimes.  RT asked later if YHC cared he “refuseniked” the workout and did his own 800m intervals, but YHC was choking on a bagel at the time and never answered him, just a cold stare.  If there was an answer, it would have been, “whatever floats your boat.”  And since YHC doesn’t often give the proper disclaimer to “modify on your own”, then do whatever you want.  You got up, you put shoes on, you deserve to have that freedom.  And truly, just good to see you in the gloom and know we motivated each other to get out there.
  • Goonie once again made it to bagels before anyone else.
  • Tootie was a slave to the watch and wouldn’t let a .75 live on Strava.  Had to round it off to .00 and almost missed COT.
  • Buckeye is BACK.  After doing the smart thing and letting his body recover properly, Buckeye was back at Swift grinding on some intervals.  Good to have him back.
  • Master spreasheeter Tuck did a fancy regression analysis of the PAX Strava results from the workout and proved what YHC knew all along:
    • YHC has no idea to turn standard deviation into a quantifiable measure that makes sense
    • PAX are getting better at knowing the 200m are merely a setup for the 400 and 2:00 intervals, but there is still some work to do for most of the PAX to be close to the same pace on both.  Mostly, it’s of course going too fast on the 200m and fading on the longer intervals
    • Bunker probably told Tuck to make a different spreadsheet, and quickly pulled up that REAL work whenever Bunker walked past (Tuck did turn in this work to YHC after the lunch hour today, so…probably on his own time).
    • Frasier, Citgo, Bunker, and other PAX still had the speed going today, but they wisely dialed it back on the number of intervals at goal pace to save something for the Charlotte 10 miler this weekend – NUT UP OR SHUT UP … it’s coming!
    • the last two 200m were probably NOT in the same pacing for most Pax.  When you know you have 2:00 interval coming up, you conserve.  When these 200m are the only thing between you and a well deserved mosey back to the Vine, you try to get them done quickly.  Oh, and you can’t let a tapering Citgo pass you…
  • Are we missing any PAX in the roll call?  20 is a solid number, but there seemed like more today.  Can’t let Bagpipe have more.  We’ll try claiming Paper Jam, but doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen…yet.

Announcements:

  • Go Jen Go is one of the first big SpeedForNeed races of the Spring 2018 run season.  Check Slack #run channel for some V-Day discounts, and JRR Tolkien mentioned there is also a F3 discount if you sign up past today.
  • More Mile pacing next week, but we’ll be trying something new for some race simulation.  SHOULD be fun.
  • March – 1st Tuesday in March starts a new Swift schedule with a week (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) in each month having a pre-determined “type” of workout.  Time-based intervals, distance-based intervals, hills, sprints, time trials, etc.  Stay tuned for the format and your chance to jump in and design a workout.

SYITG,

Bratwurst

Camels Love a Brisk Valentine’s Day

We had a nice crowd of 18 show up at Dromedary on a brisk Valentine’s day morning.  Keeping with the spirit of the day, 14 was the go to number as well as working for better or worse along with your partner.

The THANG:

  • Mosey around the parking lot
    • x 14 side straddle hops
    • x 14 merkins
    • x 14 mtn climbers
    • x 14 cotton pickers
  • Partner Up, Grab one rock per pair
    • x 214 chest presses with lifting rock, partner run to top of parking lot hill and do 3 big boy burpees
    • x 114 squat thrusts with lifting rock, partner run to top of hill and do 10 hop squats
    • x 214 curls with lifting rock with partner running to top of hill doing 10 merkins
  • Partner backpacking up the hill, then mosey around to front of school
    • x 14 merkins at first pole x 10 jump squats at next pole and rotate until the end then plank it up.
    • bear crawl around the world
    • lunge around the world
    • 14 LBCs at 2nd light pole, then 14 hop squats at 3rd light pole
  • Mosey back to launch and a few rounds of Mary’s to finish up
    • * multiple rounds of planks mixed in throughout the workout for good measure as well

The Moleskin:

A nice mosey around the parking lot started the morning off right, that led into a nice warm-up of multiple exercises done 14 times to get the body heat rising.  Then the fun started.  We partnered up and hit the rock pile.  As in life, some of us picked our partners (and our rocks) wisely, others didn’t which they paid for later.  After a lot of moaning and groaning, we ended up cutting the final exercise of big boy rock swap sit-ups short and returned the rocks.  Then the rock returner got a free ride up the hill on the back of their partner.  We finished the morning up with a bear crawl and lunge around the world.  All of this was done with my trusty weinke on hand but rarely was it used.

Announcements:

  • There is a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the Waxhaw Fire Dept. on March 3rd to benefit the family of a longtime volunteer who was recently stricken with pneumonia.   The dinner will be served in the fire truck bays, various trucks will be on display for your kids to enjoy. Doc will post the fundraiser again, so be on the lookout for it and come out and support a great cause and enjoy a great dinner.

– – Posted on behalf of Boucher – –

Camels Appreciate a Dry Rain

The 14 PAX at Dromedary have come to appreciate the Dry Rain – where it threatens to rain but ends up dry and warm on an early February day.

The THANG:

  • early crew – Tuck, Bunker, Transporter, Doc McStuffins, Hollywood, and YHC – followed Tuck around on his “Northern” route though two loops of a neighborhood and trail
  • FULL CREW at 0530 for the quick disclaimer – forgot “I am not a professional”, and we’re off on a mosey to the front of the high school.
  • In front of the High School, opening COT with:
    • Side Straddle Hop x 20 IC
    • Mountain Climbers (slow with full extension of knee to elbow) x 20 IC
    • Slow Merkins (Down 5 count, Up 5 count) x 10
    • Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
  • Mosey to the middle of the Football Practice Field, plank for the Six
  • 4 corners and then back to the middle of the field using BLIMPs
    •  5 Burpees corner 1
    • get across the endline to corner 2 by running anything but forward (backward, side shuffle, carioca)
    • 10 Lunges each leg corner 2
    • 100+ yard run to corner 3
    • 15 Imperial Walkers corner 3
    • get across the endline to corner 3 running NOT forward (same as before)
    • 20 Merkins corner 4
    • Plankjack for the Six at the middle
  • 4 corners in reverse
    • 20 Hand release merkins corner 4
    • NOT forward run to corner 3
    • 15 Imperial Walkers corner 3
    • long run to corner 2
    • 10 reverse Lunges at corner 2
    • NOT forward run to corner 1
    • 5 Burpees at corner 1
    • Plankjack for the Six at the middle and we probably modified to something else
  • Posse (who wasn’t there), give us a 10 count.  Gator Cub (Posse’s replacement) counted it out.
  • Mosey to the lower parking lot at the base of the front wall.  Partner Up
  • Partner 1 does Ab exercise while Partner 2 runs up the hill (jump over the wall optional) to the front of the Middle School and does 10 jump ups (modified to step ups because damp paint covered medal benches don’t make for sure footing).  Flapjack.
  • Repeato P1 and P2
  • Last man back run along the sidewalk to the buses – everyone got the sprint in once
  • Mosey through the bus lot to the bottom of the main parking lot hill.  There are 9 trees on the “up”.
  • Tree 1, 1 burpee.  Tree 3, 3 burpees.  Tree 5, 5 burpees.  Tree 7, 7 burpees.  Run back down to bottom.
  • Tree 1, 1 LBC.  Tree 2, 2 LBC…all the way to 9.  Regroup and head to the stadium entrance railings.
  • Standing exploding Merkins x 10 OYO (stand in front of top rail, keep straight back and legs and drop to top rail with both hands on rail, push self back up to standing position).
  • Single leg Dead lifts x 10 each leg OYO.
  • 615 – COT

The Moleskin:

  • Wednesday is normally a recovery day for YHC, so whenever the opportunity opens to lead, PAX have come to expect a 0.0 type workout.  Decided to switch it up today, but get in some more movement and some variety of movement.  Not a grueling grind, but more of a potpourri to use the dry surfaces of the campus that hadn’t yet been wet-down from rain.  In fact, the rain held off until about 0625 when it was time to grab the flag and scatter in cars back to home.
  • Using the darker parts of campus this morning, it was hard to spot Teller’s newer face.  At least he didn’t get mistaken for Posse.  Posse must have come to mind as it was 0530 and there was a car approaching up Crane Rd, but alas it wasn’t him and he still got credit by YHC for being there on the dark football field.
  • Strong Marvin contingent with Bunker, Das Boot, Doc McStuffins, Grease Monkey, and YHC today.  Perhaps this is a new run to the Lawson and Chimneys crew dominance.
  • Thanks to Transporter for taking us out.

Announcements:

  • Boucher brings the V-day special next week at Dromedary!
  • BROLYMPICS 2.BRO is right around the corner, 2/24. Make an effort to be there and also pre-register using the link below to help the set up crew figure out the gear quantities:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wv7Iep3nhR-G2n1Ftwe6Ut-CGAGAWNLCIBcYIUcHYrQ/edit?usp=sharing

Pre-Blast:

BROLYMPICS PREBLAST

Bro Speed 3 – Pyramid of Pain

23 PAX made it out to BroSpeed event #3 – the Mile Pace Pyramid.  Never an easy one, and save some directionally challenged “Northeners”, all the PAX made it back safely in spirit but perhaps crushed in body.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Warm-up group was out looking for cones, and whilst there were some spotted, no one quite caught who left them there.
  • 0515 – PAX don’t need to be babysat. They can leave home all by themselves and find their way to Rushmore.  Fortunately, it’s a common place we use, so no trouble making it there.  Only Tuck and Mario tried to go an alternate route.
  • 0525 – Q joined somewhere along the way and there’s always one PAX surprised, this time it was Madame Tussauds, that he actually showed. Commence warm-up drills along the 100m markings.
  • 0530 – Explain the full workout a few times to the PAX. Yes, it’s the same pace the whole time.  Yes, recovery is the same distance as the interval.  Yes, it’s going to hurt (not asked, but some knew what was coming…).
    • 4x200m at 1 Mile Race Pace (a.k.a. Repetition Pace from a great pacing calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator ). Regroup the PAX at end of the round.
    • 2x400m at 1 Mile Race Pace. Regroup the PAX at end of the round.
    • 800m at 1 Mile Race Pace – back up slightly on the hill to run a downhill 100m to “drop-in” this beast. Regroup.
    • 2x400m at 1 mile race pace. Regroup.
    • 2x200m at 1 mile race pace. Cut off due to time and head back to the Vine.  Unless you live north of (or near north of) Hwy 51 and therefore the buildings and parking lots of Ballantyne Corporate aren’t as familiar to you and you end up running a looong way back (not a Cheddar-long way, but just out-of-the way).
  • 0615ish – COT at the Vine
  • 0630 – 12+ PAX (we let some Bagpipers attend, too…) at Einsteins for 3rd F Timekeeper with a discussion question dropped by Paper Jam

Moleskin:

  • Previous weeks saw us put in 2 miles of 1 mile pace intervals per week. Week 1 was 4x(200,200,400), and last week 2 was 8×400.  So the 2.25 miles at pace this week (should have been 2.5mi, but we did cut it short by 2×200) of mile goal race pace is not THAT much more…so why does it hurt so bad?  It’s because that 800m is a badass of an interval for several reasons:
    • 1) running it after already have “warmed up” with a mile’s worth at that pace
    • 2) Coach Jack Daniels only recommends “elite” runners run more than 2minutes at the Repetition Pace, and though there were some fast guys this morning, no one was under 2:00 for the 800…
    • 3) running “BTTW all the way to Ballantyne Commons PKWY” is a long way from the Bull Ring
    • 4) you try to relax at this pace, forget to breathe, and your body demands more oxygen by giving you the “IceNines” – gasps of air between dry heaves
    • 5) it just sucks
    • 6) everyone out there ran the whole 800!
  • The L-word – Lap buttons have been the new find at Swift lately. Apparently, even Swift FNG Purell knew how to find his, so what took Erector so long?  Well, good news everyone, Erector found his button!
  • YHC will be combing through the 18 PAX (!!) on Strava that had Swift results posted from today. Expect some comments on your workout and a full table that gets added to this backblast or a Google Sheet link.  What we’re looking for is consistency in the intervals… if they are all at Mile Race goal pace, then they should be within a small range of each other.  Next week will be another workout with similar pace, though there will be one Time-based Interval thrown in, so continuing to know that pace through to the Brolympics is key.  Now, just to get Frasier and Madame Tussauds to upload their stuff, and Picasso to get on Strava, we’ll have perfect Strava attendence and YHC won’t have to record names at COT…
  • Great to have Site FNGs Purell, Laronda, and Ickey Shuffle out today. Whether it’s just dipping your toes in the water or making a streak of it, great to have you.
  • Seemed like traffic along Rushmore was at an all time low, which is a good thing. Only one car that YHC recalls actually passing through the PAX, and none during the hard intervals (which is a good thing since they were only measured on one side of the road and we weren’t about to run short/long using the other side…hahaha!
  • Painted markings that YHC is laying out to set the cones should be there for a while, though the generic Yellow paint used to mark them on the curb is a good / bad thing. Good that it’s faint and won’t look like we’ve marked up the place, but bad in that you need a headlamp to see it.  We’ll see if some reflective marking paint is a good addition or if it becomes too obvious and gets the authorities attention.  Anyone have experience with this sort of thing that knows any rules about markings in the public right of way?

 

Announcements:

  • After the Brolympics and starting in March, the run Qs of South Charlotte are coming up with a new coordinated structure to workouts. More details to come, but it should allow those that want to run at Swift, DevilsTurn / Pursuit (new similar running option to DT that’s down in Millbridge on Thursday mornings), Mountain Goat, and others, but don’t want to get smacked in the face by something like Hills for all three days.  Also, should allow PAX to step up and Q with part of the workout already defined.  Stay tuned!

Bro Speed 2 – Choose Your Own Adventure

24 PAX voted with their clicks on Monday to determine the venue for Tuesday’s Swift.  It was left up to the Q to prepare the spot of finely tuned distance intervals with paint and cones – just what the Ballantyne Corporate Park cops want – graffiti and litter.

The THANG:

  • Slack PreBlast seems like it may be a good thing.  Check the #run Slack channel on the F3SouthCharlotte Slack group for future week plans.  Sound off in the comments if you still want a PreBlast on this forum.
  • 0500 PAX time – Tuck, Wild Turkey, Hairball, Goonie, Fleetwood, Gumbo, Woodson, and Mario just couldn’t wait to get going and set out on a prerun.  Apparently, Bunker needed some extra warming at the CVS, or had a list of supplies to buy from the M, and caught up to the rest of the pack later.
  • 0500 Q time – try to act inconspicuous as you walk down the shoulder/bike lane of a 4 lane road through a major corporate park, wearing a headlamp, carrying a can of spray paint, pushing an orange wheel, and marking spots and dropping cones on the curb every 330 ticks of the wheel.
  • 0500 Das Boot time – Choose your own adventure and post at Community House Middle school track, hoping the other PAX wanted to run on the track also.  When discovering you are solo, reroute to the Vine.
  • 0515 PAX time – Pax depart the Vine parking lot through the Ballantyne Hotel lot and up Ballantyne Commons Rd towards the Met Life building.
  • 0525ish – PAX trained in the art of the warmup start some dynamic exercises and strides.  Somewhere during the A skips, the Q joins from the opposite direction into the flow of the PAX.
  • 0530 – Group up at the corner of North Community House Road (spelled it out for Das Boot) and Ballantyne Commons Parkway.  Note start point of the 400meters (measured at 1320 feet = 1/4 mile = 402.336 meters, so you actually ran a bit further than planned!) was at the “stop strip” near the intersection and runs all the way down to the next light’s crosswalk.  Every 100m (actually 330 feet) there’s a cone along the way.  Mostly slight downhill grade, but decidedly into a 9mph headwind this morning.
    • Start 400m interval at 1-mile Brolympics-planned race pace, recover back along the sidewalk with a jog.  Form some groups and stay together.
    • Continue rounds until 0605 with a goal to reach 8×400.
  • 0550 Goonie Time – Head back to the CVS to see if what Bunker found on special was still in stock.
  • 0601 Rock Thrill Time – Head back to your car at Earth Fare?  Did you forget where we started or just wanted some extra distance?
  • 0605 PAX Time – Head back to the Vine for COT with a cooldown jog.
  • 0605 Q Time – Find your vehicle parked nearby, pass the PAX on the way back to the Vine, but run around the Bagpipe PAX until 0615.
  • 0615 – COT
  • 0630 – Timekeeper at the “bagel place” with PaperJam bringing a discussion question.

Moleskin:

  • Can’t say I was fearing for my life walking around Ballantyne Corporate Park with a can of spray paint this morning, but definitely feared for an end to a clean public record.  Definitely, don’t want anything to show up on a permanent record that speaks to defamation of public/private property.  So far, so good.  Now that I have access to a wheel, thanks to Barenaked, we’ll start measuring some more precise distances at the Bull Ring and other locales in the Ballantyne Corporate Park that will allow for easier recall of intervals that we can be better with timing.  Thoughts on a template/symbol to use with spray paint, or the more generic/incognito the better?
  • Why do we need measured intervals?  Because while GPS is decent at figuring pace per interval/lap, it’s not quite the accuracy needed over short intervals.  A Lap button is much better and you can track intervals with a simple stopwatch.  Even Fletch learned how to use his lap button this morning!  Mario is getting
  • Late January bringing out the PAX – 24 is definitely above average by a handful.  Weather is cold. Distance is medium length.  Still a good turnout.  Well done men!
  • Several groups this morning.  Group with Fleetwood, Hairball, Enron, Bunker, Woodson, and Gumbo (and Soft Pretzel?) held on and never let a large gap widen to the PAX ahead.
  • The group of Voodoo, Tuck, Erector, and Meatloaf kept things close and got in all 8 intervals that were the goal.
  • Madame Tussauds, Wild Turkey, Goonie, Das Boot, and Picasso had reports coming back that they pushed each other to the limit, kept the merlot from spilling (barely), and finished strong.
  • Whether it was Frasier (whose efforts came on late) or Citgo (who pushed hard the whole time) breaking the wind for the group, it was Haggis and Fletch tucking in behind to try to stay in touch.  And in the end, it was Mario who blistered the last 400m making a 65 second 400m look like a little baby jog.
  • Note, we ran the “proper direction” for cold-weather running with wind.  You want to run the Hard effort into the wind (despite the extra resistance), for it allows you to do the “back” recovery with the wind behind where you can warm back up.  In warm weather, opposite directions where there is a breeze, for you get extra cooldown into the wind with the recovery.

Bro speed 1

Despite the rain that woke most overnight and the rain on the windshield on the way in, 12 PAX still figured it was time for some Brolympics level speed.

The Thang:

  • Prerun crew was large and YHC was not able to account for everyone. Apparently Frasier was the first to use the gas station before the run to put gas on his car (and not remove gas elsewhere), for we arrived in the lot at the same time and tore off after the Pre-run group. Only caught them at the lot.
  • 12 pax left the lot at 0515 on the way to the Bull Ring. Turns out that’s Thin Mint’s least fav locale. YHC thought the least fav was Ballantyne Country Club, so he must have a list.
  • Did a few more warmup exercises than normal to make sure we were ready for the speed. A-skips were added correctly this time, and despite Gumbo requesting pirouettes, we refrained.
  • On the Bull Ring using approximate measurements (YHC looking for a measuring wheel to make accurate marks at several places around the area, pass on any leads), we executed 4 rounds of the following intervals at 1 mile-race pace (aka Repetition pace from the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator )
    • 200m R pace, 200m recovery
    • 200m R pace, 200m recovery
    • 400m R pace, regroup to the Six and then 400m recovery to start the next round
  • mosey back to COT for a 0615 arrival

Moleskin:

  • small groups formed on the intervals today with healthy numbers in each. Frasier, Thin Mint, and Mario led the pack, and Mario led the PAX in taking intervals off to find a warm bathroom. He seemed like he made up for it in the end by racing ThinMint one more interval, but let it be known he did lead something.
  • Gumbo, Bunker, and Enron had a trio, but obviously Enron stuck out because of his covered dome. Word is they each let each other lead an interval to feel better about themselves.
  • Tuck, Erector, and Meatloaf came through next, and Meatloaf kept singing Bat Out of Hell as he sprinted away from the other two with impressive finishing speed. Don’t count on passing him on the home stretch of the Mile.
  • Picasso and MT could be overheard talking about how to use a watch and how to get on Strava. Not sure if either were accomplished, but they pushed each other through round after round.
  • Free advice doled out today – 200m intervals merely set up the longer ones. Maintain the same effort. Will help when the watch says you crushed 200 #1 because it was downhill with a tailwind (and perhaps a tad short), and then fade a bit on 200 #2 into a headwind and uphill (elevation grade negligible).
  • The 400 is where the money is at. Holding an even effort is critical to feel that pace for the Mile race. Got to remember to relax. There will be a strain as the workout goes on, but make sure you relax the face, breathing, shoulders, and hands. Tense up and it spreads.
  • After the Brolympics, your run Qs are working on some coordination and predictability. More info to come, but it will give a chance for more PAX to step up to Q and continue the trajectory of training that we establish.
  • For now, know your 1 Mile race pace and make your Brolympics goal known!

SYITG,

Bratwurst

 

THWG

In what was going to be a long winded rant about THWG and how the University (sic) of Georgia lost the national championship football game, YHC has (Multiple Choice Quiz):

  1. decided for a much simpler tone – it’s the ^^^ Glee club ^^^ after all.  Who can get upset at grown men singing?
  2. released the hate for the red and black after all of these years…
  3. OR-  after Word Press or my internet connection didn’t save my full Backblast the first time, I didn’t feel like typing it again

The PAX are there ^^^^ to get credit.

We ran :30 and recovered to the start, ran :30 and recovered to start, ran 1:00 and recovered to start.  We ran on the flats, the incline, the decline, and the flats again.  We ran too fast (which can happen with short intervals that aren’t long enough to get into a groove), and we had some time left over.

Once back early at COT, some gawked, some ran, some planked.  You know who you are.

Sorry for the late BackBlast, but tomorrow there’s another Swift Backblast to write…

See you in the gloom,

Brat

PreBlast – THWG

University of Alabama vs. University (sic) of Georgia – if you stay up late to watch the whole thing (Cheddar – Roll Tide, Enron – Who let the hairy dawgs out?, may be others), then chances are you won’t be making it to Swift in the morning for the 0515 start.  However, our workout will still be determined by the outcome of the game.

We’ll either be “heading down the Atlanta Highway…” or will be turning over some big wheels.  But I won’t know until about 0500 on the prerun or 0515 on the warmup when someone tells me what happened in the 2nd half (aka. after my bed time).

Order of events:

  • 0500 – Early warm-up
  • 0515 – Main workout starts with an easy 10min warm-up jog leaving from the Vine parking lot.
  • 0525 – 5minutes of dynamic stretches
  • 0530 – B52? or Skynrd?
  • 0615 – COT back at the Vine.

SYITG,

Bratwurst

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