Time intervals times deux.
We left the parking lot after a disclaimer of wear your headlamp and reflective device. Some of us had all of the required safety gear, some had none and others had none. We all own this stuff since we have gathered it through the years with relays so please start wearing it. We run on roads every day and it makes no sense to not wear what we have.
We did a warm up around the bull ring and then down Rushmore to the parking lot at the corner of Rushmore and Ballantyne Commons. Usual Brat exercises: heels, toes, butt kickers, high knees, B skips, and Zombie walks.
Mosey to the corner of Ballantyne Commons and Rushmore at the base of Nevis. Running up the right hand side towards Lancaster Hwy. Kept the same intervals as last week 2:1, 4:2, 6:3, 8:4, and 10:1. Cut that last one close but almost everyone got in. Ran up Nevis twice and then back into the Ballantyne Meadows neighborhood. Steep hills in there so we got a couple of laps in there before it was time for a CannonBall Run at the top of Nevis back to the AO. It was choose your own adventure at that point. Look up Gold Digger couple of 80s references in there.
Great work by all. Those hills are no joke and can make you want to puke. Saw no evidence of that today. Just good ole fashion hard work out of everyone. Don’t be afraid of hills. We love them and are good at running them.
I think my month, more like two weeks, as Q is over but I believe I get the privilege of leading again in Feb at some point.
Enjoy your day. Sorry if I left anyone out of the Pax list. All by memory.
It was chilly start this morning. 20 men not afraid of a little wind and chill decided to come out. There was also 1 Tuck out there running all around Ballantyne Corp.
Gave a quick disclaimer and reminded everyone to warm up properly since it was chilly. We took the usual route to Rushmore then a right to the bull ring where we did our fancy warm ups that Fast Twitch does not believe in.
Instructions were given to run at your 10k pace. All vets here today so I am confident everyone can on memory tell me their 10k pace right?
We were running intervals with the time going up two minutes each time. The rest was half of the interval time. We started at a 2 minute interval followed by one minute rest returning to pick up the six. We got 4, 6, 8, and 10 minute intervals in before heading back to the AO. Everyone got in right on time which I consider a great accomplishment.
Despite the cold we warmed up quickly and some may have even broken a sweat.
Spoiler alert we are doing the same thing next week but on a harder course so get ready for that.
Thanks again for Citgo and Thin Mint taking the Q in marathon taper absence. Appreciate it.
Sorry if I forgot anyone in the pax count.
Eight guys stood around in a circle listening to the proper disclaimer. One came screeching in (Kirby) right as we were leaving. We moseyed across N. Community House to sidewalk. The directions were given to stop every third light and do five merkins until we got to the stoplight at Endhaven. We did mary until the six arrived.
Next was ten merkins at every road until you hit the light at Johnston Rd. You get the theme here of mostly merkins. Did mary until the six arrived. Then just a simple run from the corner of Johnston and N. Community House to the parking lot for the greenway. Wait on the six while doing mary. Two rounds of 20 dips and 20 decline merkins were called. Mosey down the greenway under Johnston Rd bridge for some mary. Continue on the greenway to the benches were we did more dips and incline merkins. Run back to the spot under the bridge and do some mary. We did this twice total.
Continue on down the greenway till the next set of benches only stopping once to do some more merkins at the 3.75 mile marker. At this set of benches we did 20 CDD and 10 decline merkins. Run back to the mile post and do 10 merkins then back to the benches to bang out another set of 20 CDD and 10 decline merkins.
Continue down the greenway and take a hard left to get to the back of Pikes nursery. Sit down and do two sets of mary exercises AH and toe tap crunch. Mosey over to the parking lot by large athletic gym (I forget the name). We did two rounds of suicides there with the last round doing escalating merkins at each suicide stop. A little plank while we let Kirby get a head start. Then it was catch me if you can trying to catch Kirby.
Cross back over Johnston Rd and head home. Stopping at every third light pole for 5 LBCs. Got back on the dot.
Tried to find some new ground which is not easy now a days with Tuck and Wild Turkey always pushing the boundaries. I have a few more places to try. Wanted to see if we could get to Elm and back up White Oak hill but I think it would be too far. Might be a good Devils Turn course though.
What’s this you see, a back blast. You may ask what is a back blast. It is this thing we use to do in F3 SOB when a Q lead a workout. It was kinda of a requirement if you led. Admittedly, myself included, have gotten slack about doing a back blast. They are a cornerstone however of leading a good workout and so those that came can remember and those that did feel guilty for missing. I speak to you Free Range.
First Happy Birthday to our Nantan Thin Mint. Almost Master’s age.
What we did
A quick disclaimer was given. Upon leaving the parking lot instructions were given for the exercises we were going to do and the order we were going to do them in. I did a poor job explaining it clearly, my wife can attest to this. What was in my head and supposed to come out was every fifth light you will do five reps of the given exercise. The order of the exercises were merkins, American Hammer, and CDD. The group behind us thought they were supposed to do all three before running to the next light. Those that did that just got a bonus for the same amount of money. #lucky
We had several pit stops on the way around the big loop of Ballantyne. We stopped at the corner of Ballantyne Commons and Thornhill neighborhood, then at the pull up bars x 10 at the Thornhill neighborhood park, run up the Murderhorn, take a left on Elm to Endhaven, run to the bottom of White Hall neighborhood (at least I think it is called White Hall), back up to Endhaven down to Orchid Hill neighborhood, down to the bottom of Orchid Hill and then back up to Endhaven elementary’s pull up bars x 10, back across the street to the bottom of Misty Ridge Ln, back up to Endhaven to the corner of N. Community House and Endhaven, to the top of Wells Fargo parking deck, and finally back down back to the AO.
At some point we switched up merkins for diamond merkins and American Hammers for toe touch crunch. Everyone finished in time with the mileage ranging from 5.4 to 6.6.
Moleskin: Appreciate everyone showing up. 12 is a good number for The Brave especially since it was advertised as heavy running. One Niner lit the way on his bike. Thin Mint was feeling spry on his birthday and was at the front especially pushing hard up the Wells ramp. Fletch was always either on the heels or close behind. Transporter never misses an opportunity to push himself. Fire Hazard ran thirty (or maybe less) prior to the start. Wild Turkey changed his clothes several times to prevent from soaking the course. Tolken was there getting back after it. Buckeye never stopped despite coming back from an injury. Wingman encouraged the six the whole time. Bucky may have come to his first Brave? Either way he does everything well and made it look easy. Not sure if he sweated. Tuck continues to be consistent and encouraging as he also comes back from his injury.
Several announcements: Hope Challenge starting back up in September. One pax started early by sharing. Thanks for that it can be difficult to do but everyone benefits from it. Sandbox this weekend. We need Qs for The Brave starting next week.
Enjoy the holiday weekend and see everyone at the Waxhaw launch on Monday.
The plan for the month was to train and run a 10k as a group. We started out with 1200m on N. Community House, followed by a celebrity guest Q from Citgo doing 1 mile repeats and then last week running the bull ring doing 800m. All of this culminated with the 10k this morning. Everyone was asked to give a time goal at the start of the month to have something to measure themselves against.
We had 21 show up this morning at 5:00 for the event. Wolverine and Haggis forgot about the earlier start but still managed to run the course. We did a little warm up, got a drink of water and got the instructions of the course. We started at 5:15 heading down Ballantyne Corporate towards Sara’s Y to complete a loop that we ran twice.
Pretty simple challenge, run as fast as you can as long as you can and trust your training, ignore your inner doubts and keep running. I thought the group did awesome. We had several guys that had a PR and many others broke their stated goal. PR for Hairball, Woodson, Flipper, Das Boot, Cheddar, Frehleys and Udder. Polly, Vodoo and Rubber Maid ran their second fastest 10k and Mario ran his third fastest 10k. Eclipsing their goal was Polly, Hairball, Flipper, Vodoo, Cul De Sac and Jello. There were many others that set personal best on segments.
Everyone should be proud of yourself. You showed up early, ran a tough course on a warm/humid morning. Nothing about it was easy. Jello got lost and still beat his time goal. Rock Thrill ran in Orlando. It is good to give yourself a metric to see if you can hit it or not. Not all of us hit and there is a lot to learn from that.
I really appreciate Brat putting in all the work to set the course and zig zag back and forth encouraging everyone to do their best. He built this thing (Swift) we are just trying to not let the wheels fall off. He has created a great concept with the Q having a month to create a plan to challenge us and build upon our base.
Thanks again for coming out and trying hard to reach your goal.
If you read the preblast you were prepared and if you didn’t then shame on you.
We started with the outline of the plan for the month. A strong encouragement was given to put on a reflective vest and head lamp all month since we will running on the roads. Some obliged but most did not. A strong disclaimer was given since there were so many delinquents. Side note, almost all of us have a reflective vest and head lamp so please put it on.
We headed over to N. Community House via Ballantyne Hotel. Dodge a few cars since we did not get the pedestrian light, we did press it. Do the standard twinkle toes, butt kickers, high knees and Frankensteins to warm up.
Instructions were given again that we are running 1200m down N. Community House to almost the corner of Elm and N. Community House at your 10k pace. The goal was to do four total and leave by 6:05 to get home. I would say that this was accomplished by all on the first part and there were a few that took a wrong turn coming home that were late.
Great effort by the whole group. We had perfect weather considering how hot it has been. Valderama and Gold Digger were leading the charge with Citgo on their heels. Not sure if that was their 10k pace because it would crush their stated finish time goal. Everyone else followed in line and pushed it hard.
Great to see Frehley’s out to Swift again. The Crane Relay has inspired him to become a runner.
The plan for next week is one mile race pace at your 10k pace. Running up and down Ballantyne Corporate Pl. This will be the site of some of the actual 10k race so it will be good practice. Citgo is leading next week since I will be away on vacation. I will do the work out though at the beach.
Here are everyone’s goals for the race. Vodoo 48:00, Atlas 48:00, Benny 48:00, Udder 48:00, Taco Stand 50:00, Madame 52:00, Frehley’s 52:00, Jello 53:00, Cobbler 61:20, Cheddar 45:00, Madison 45:00, Gypsy 45:03, Flipper 46:00, Das Boot 46:00, Rock Thrill 46:30, Gumbo 42:00, Bunker 42:00, Woodson 41:00, Polly 39:39, Hairball 39:39, Tua 39:59, Brat 38:59, Citgo 37:49, Frasier 37:00, Gold Digger 37:00, Valderama 36:59
There is plenty of opportunity to run together over the next three weeks depending on your pace. It is easier to run as a group than try to do it on your own.
If I missed anyone let me know your time so I can put it down.
Following up on the hills of Bratwurst and Citgo is hard. They have done a great job laying down the structure to build towards a timed event. This month will be no different in that it will culminate with a timed event that will take place on the last Tuesday of the month, June 25th.
This month we are going to be training for a 10K. There are a couple of events around the corner and a 10k is a good measure for fitness and durability. It is also not too long that we cannot complete one in under an hour after we have trained for the month.
We will be running the course through the Cooperate Park so that is where we will spend the majority of time training. This will allow for us to encourage one another along the route.
It is important that we test ourselves from time to time and not become complacent. Many of us have been doing F3 for many years and it is nature to become complacent. Swift is one place, thanks to Brat, we can push ourselves to find our limits. Expect to work hard and to be in pain. That lets you know you are finding the limit on that day. We routinely get over 20 out to Swift now so I expect no one to not show up for the race on June 25th unless you are out of town.
Calculate your 10k pace here. Basically take a minute off of your One mile race pace that we did back in April. This is your goal.
https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/?utm_source=VDOT%20website%20link&utm_medium=website&utm_content=VDOTO2%20Homepage&utm_campaign=VDOT%20website
The structure will be the same that you have come to expect. We will roll out at 5:15 to do a warm up mileish and then some drills to get the muscles primed.
First week, 6/4 we will head over to N. Community House rd to do 1200m at 10k pace. Rest two minutes and then get back after it. You should be able to get at least four in. Head back at 6:05 to get in on time. We will all take the Ballantyne Resort route to get there. Optional route on the way home depending on your time.
Second week, 6/11 we will do one mile repeats at 10k pace. We will run those along Ballantyne Cooperate Pl going from the Premier deck area to the corner of Ballantyne Cooperate Pl and Harney Dr just past the Bulls. Rest three minutes in between. Try to get four in.
Third week, 6/18 we will do Yasso 800 at 10k pace with the hope of squeezing in 8-10 depending on our time at the Bull Ring. 400m recovery.
Fourth week, 6/25 Race Week. Start a little earlier to get our warm up and stretching in. Start at 5:00 for 5:15 race start.
We will start off tomorrow taking down everyone’s 10k goal so think about it for the next twenty hours or so.
Thin Mint asked if I could take his Q since he was recovering from an ankle injury. Of course, I would love to get back over to the Fast Twitch.
The jokes started yesterday when I was asked via social media if I knew where to park. Yes, I missed the last time I had the Q, ironically where we park now is where I came the first time. I must have had foresight.
Once the pax started to arrive everyone seemed to have the same joke about my sweet look. I think there was some mention of the village people. You had to be there to know.
Instructions were given and a proper disclaimer since we had the nantan in the group. The grumbling started right away. I’m not sure what was said. Pretty sure this is a running workout, or it at least use to be, so we ran. I did oblige the rule of putting hands on the ground to appease the masses.
We ran to the bottom of Providence road to the stop light by the entrance of Providence Plantation. Instructions were to run to Shallowwood entrance do five hand release merkins, run down to the bottom where we started do five hand release merkins and then to the top, following Providence road to the raintree entrance doing five hand release merkins. We did this twice.
Some confusion ensued at this point since the instruction was to go catch the six and follow them back. Like most workouts at Fast Twitch some did not listen or refused. We all got to the same point eventually.
Once we regrouped we headed across the street into Providence Heights. Just run to the end of the cul de sac and back. Catch the six. Head up Providence back to the AO to stop and do two more rounds of run to the top and then back down doing five hand release merkins on Raintree Ln. Dodge some cars along the way and have Purell take a segment crown with some goating from Tolken and boom it is all over. Came in at perfect timing, at least eleven of us did. Four decided to desent.
Thanks for the grumbling, it is part of what makes getting up in the morning so much fun. Look forward to more of it this summer.
12 Brave souls came out for a rainy Brave day. It was promised we would hit it hard from the jump so a few (Thin Mint, One Niner, Fire Hazard) did a pre run to kick it off.
I quick disclaimer and referral if you want to fight the disclaimer was given to Paper Jam.
I had to deviate from the original plan which will be done at a later date due to the weather. Wasn’t really up for running around in the rain for sixty minutes when it is cold. The crew here today are all veterans of at least one or two years so I knew they would appreciate the audible.
I decided to go to the furthest parking deck away since we have worn out our welcome at every Ballantyne Corporate deck. That’s okay because a lot of miles were promised. We stopped at the corner of N. Community House and Ballantyne Commons. Instructions were given to stop at every stop light between were we stood and Johnston Rd running down Ballantyne Commons. Three total. Do twenty merkins and collect the six.
We moseyed over to the deck from intersection and ran to the bottom. It was a ramp suicide. Start at the bottom with feet on the wall and do five merkins. Run the first straight away and do at least five jump squats and more than that if you are speedy until the six gets in. Run back to the starting point and do five feet on the wall merkins. We ran each straight away working our way to the top always waiting on the six before we returned down.
Once at the top of the parking deck we did ten jump up/get ups on top of the white parking columns. Mosey down the stairs to the bottom to collect those of us that discarded our gear. Time to mosey back to the intersection of Johnston Rd and Ballantyne Commons. Once across the street the instructions were stop at every fifth street light and do five merkins. Run all the way to N. Community House doing five merkins at every fifth light along the way. Collect the six.
We had about nine minutes to spare so partner up and get in as many LBCs as possible while your partner runs around the parking circle. Most groups got close to 500. A 1000 was ambitious. Done!
Observations: A little bit of belly aching from the boot camp faithful. Something about having to do too many merkins on the way home.
Piggy backing on Paper Jams great back blast from yesterday Purell and Thin Mint both commented on how much faster Paper Jam has gotten. Truth
Five of the twelve were Free Rangers, with Fletch making his first ever post at The Brave.
Thin Mint has gained his speed back as evidence of running hard with Purell.
I think we got lucky with rain in someways because it appeared to start raining a lot harder after the workout.
Thanks for everyone coming out. I know it is hard for me to get psyched about working out in cold rain so I appreciate everyone showing up.
Also, if I screwed anything up blame it on the new Word Press. I could not find the box for the site. Sorry Wingman.
Announcements: Pray for Huggie Bear and Cooter with their recovery.
The alarm went off at 5:10 the only problem was it was not my alarm but my wife’s alarm to get up for work. Despite my dog getting up at 2:00 I cannot even use that excuse because my alarm still would not have been sent. Sent a quick text to Brat, who did not get it till later, about the plan. He must have read my mind because when I pulled up to the turn lane on Johnston he was headed to where I was going to go. The pax was so involved in giving me grief about being late to see that the turn lane I was in had a green arrow.
After running faster than I wanted to catch the pax I finally caught up with the tail end at Ballantyne Country Club entrance off of Ballantyne Commons. We caught the rest before they made the right turn. Everyone was scattered at this point and the theme of the morning was me feeling like I was herding cats. We did stop and do some warm up drills i.e. tip toes, heels, butt kickers and B skips.
Once we had finished our warm up and Paper Jam had decided to set sail himself the instructions were given. The workout was jog two minutes, run a 10k pace for one minute and then go hard for thirty seconds. I did not do a great job of communicating this or we just had some refuseniks. After the thirty seconds of hard you were to circle back and run with the shirtless wonder Strange Brew. We did this through both sides of Ballantyne Country Club being careful crossing Johnston Rd.
Somehow we finished in the parking lot with one minute to thirty seconds to spare. That promise of stretching did not occur one more failure in the plan today. The idea was to mix it up with a long recovery followed by some harder running. Not all that was promised in a recovery run as Paper Jam ran by me calling me a liar in a polite way. I know a lot of us are still recovering from The Crane Relay with some fantastic performances. Guys were running hard this morning, in particular One Niner, Polly, Brat and Fleetwood who participated in the Crane. Hope to see more of you out there next year.
The moral for today is make sure you not only set your alarm but turn it on as well before Qing a workout. Side note if anyone wants a dog that does not sleep very well at night and is prone to whining please let me know.
Announcements: No Swift at Swift next Tuesday. We are converging at Fast Twitch at Charlotte Latin for a topic secret hard fitness test.