Devil’s Turn faithful and those that would like to become Devil’s Turn faithful, let’s hit the greenway this week. We leave the greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place at 5:15 am.
Like the previous outings on the greenway (first suggested by Bratwurst), we will plan to warm up a mile together and then proceed into a tempo run out and back to the Johnston Rd parking area by 5:50.
For the 2 miles back to the parking lot, there will be a progression run. We will start at a reasonable pace and increase pace at each 0.25 mile marker. By the end, we should each be at a pace that our body hates but that we will reminisce later.
Bring your headlamps and wear them so you don’t fall in the swamp.
9 men decided to trust YHC to carry the highly engineered and scientific mantle that is Bratwurst’s Swift workout. From the good 2ndF and winded recovery sessions, we got the job done and then some.
The plan was easy (in theory),
1) Warmup 1 mi and do dynamic stretches (PAX choice although no one wanted to be blamed for choosing a ridiculous looking one so back to Q’s choice #don’tmindlookingrediculous)
2) Run a hilly stretch of Ballantyne Corporate Place (Brixam Hill to Premier Deck) – 4 x 0.75 mi at Threshold pace w/ 2 min rest
3) Move to Bull Ring for 4 x 200m at Repitition Pace (1 mi race pace) w/ 200m jogging rest
Total of between 5.8 and 6.3 miles were covered during the course of the workout.
Moleskine:
This was the first time in all of history that Swift had more PAX than Bagpipes (9 vs. 6). Perhaps, Swifter’s are more hardy in the rain? Perhaps, the impending mud run has people in a running mood? Whatever the reason, it will go down in the annals of Tuesday workouts.
There were a bunch of beasts out there today. Silk paced himself early to completely dominate the last 200m interval passing all PAX like they were standing still. All this was done with that smooth glide of a run. Silk like? Dominant. This smooth speed will serve him well in case a bear or mountain lion visit him on his upcoming field exercise with his reserve battalion.
Brushback also had a beast-like demeanor on the 200m intervals and was pushing the pace to new levels. This appears to be his #wheelhouse. It was also interesting hearing the source of his F3 name during one of the cool down jogs. Let’s just say, don’t step up to a little league plate with this guy on the mound. Nuff said…
Haggis was, as usual, running at high rates of speed while arguing about the relative topography of the chosen course. Although everyone grudgingly admitted they liked the rolling hills of Ballantyne Corporate Place for the long intervals, they pack a hardy punch since they end both ways with a strong uphill.
Rock Thrill was getting one last hard session before Saturday’s Racefest. We wish you luck brother. It seems like some PR’s may be in the cards the way you were moving over the hills today.
Tootie, Strange Brew, Chipotle, and Hard Hat seemed to be pushing each other hard this morning. You could almost smell the iron sharpening iron out there! Thank you to Strange Brew for actually knowing how to properly program a watch and enforcing the 2 min rest periods. We needed them!
Men, the mud run is upon us now. The hay is in the barn. Bratwurst’s scientific plan has prepared you. Enjoy the taper into the weekend and dominate on Saturday.
Since Bratwurst is off on his European gallivant, Swift is left in the questionable charge of YHC. Don’t worry, he has left instructions so we will not get too far astray. (The science is still sound).
Here’s the plan:
1) We leave the parking lot of the Vine restaurant in Ballantyne at 5:15 am. After jogging moderately and enjoying some preliminary 2nd F, we will do some dynamic stretching.
2) We will suddenly arrive at the corner of Ballantyne Corporate Pl and Brixham Hill Ave, this is where we begin to work. We will run at Threshold Pace 0.75 mi toward the Premier deck rolling into a recovery jog at the first entrance. After recovering ~2 minutes, we will run back to where we started (0.75 mi). Again rest 2 minutes and repeat this set one more time. (Total 4 x 0.75 mi)
3) After the final 2 minutes rest, we will enter the Bull Ring to complete 4 x 200m @ Repeat pace with 200m jog. This is one quadrant on, one quadrant off repeated for 2 full laps (you do the math).
At this point, our legs should have a warm feeling and we should be ready to return to COT triumphant.
Find your Threshold and Repetition pace at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator.
10 men decided that with one week until the Superbowl of F3, they would hit up Devil’s Turn for a 4, 6, or 7 mile jaunt through the hills. As mentioned in the preblast, Hill Week was moved to this week (out of normal rotation) so that next week can offer taper opportunities at the track.
It was a cool crisp morning perfect for a quick run through the hills. It was Black Beard’s first week at the Turn and was targeting a nice 4 miles in the warmup circle. This 4 quickly turned to 6 as peer pressure won and he followed the PAX into the Piper Glen darkness. In COT, he looked glad he did though. Keep coming. This is where its at for BRR prep.
There was much discussion in the COT about how much the hills hurt this morning. YHC can agree. Not sure why this was the case since conditions were optimal. We’ll keep at it and they will get easier though.
Announcements:
– Mud run is coming. Get your minds right
– Please pray for and donate if so inclined to Zip-a-dee and his father. He is leaving the hospital and moving to Florida in a few days to recuperate.
– Wisdom nugget from running with Haggis: Take the red pill in all aspects of your life and success won’t be a stranger. Good words to live by.
So let’s recap. Two weeks ago we did hills and last week we hit the boardwalk. If we were to conform to the pattern, this week would be track week and next week would be hill week at Devil’s Turn. However, we are not conformists and we are hitting the hills again. Boom. Minds… blown…
Actually, there is some reasoning to this. Next week is the mud run and we are all interested in Area 51 domination. To that end, next week’s Devil’s Turn will be a quasi-taper friendly workout. We will head to the track where you may do as you wish. Run fast, run slow, do J-Lo’s, lay on the ground motionless… It’s your decision. Whatever gets your mind right for the mud run.
But back to this week: We will leave the greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place at 5:15 am. After doing the apartment loop, we will head south on Rea Rd. to Piper Glen and proceed on the standard route.
See this post for the Piper Glen route: http://f3nation.com/2014/06/18/devils-turn-preblast-time-to-hit-the-hills/ If you can follow it without arrows, you get your orienteering badge. #convoluted
There are options for ~4 mi, 6 mi, or 7+ mi. Speed is up to you. There will be chalk arrows marking the turns once we get to Piper Glen. If you want to see them, bring a headlamp. If you want cars to see you, bring a blinky light and wear nightglow paraphenalia. Oh and watch out for the uneven sidewalks in the first 1.5 miles of this route. Them things will jump up and get you (just ask Mall Cop).
13 men chose to push themselves at an aggressive tempo pace through the hills of Piper Glen in this week’s installment of Devil’s Turn. The course was the typical hill route and there were options for 4 or 6 miles.
FNG Woodstock jumped into F3 with both feet choosing hill week at Devil’s Turn for his first post. Brother, if you can do this and enjoy it, F3 is for you. YHC looks forward to seeing your progression to 5k domination (you ran 1 mile longer than that today!). See you at Swift on Tuesday!
FNG Woodstock was almost FNG Sofa King, but our resident voice of reason (Madame T), wisely steered us away from this easily mispronounced expletive laced nickname. The possibilities would have been endless, Sofa King Smart, Sofa King Fast, etc… However, thanks Madame T for keeping us on the straight and narrow even though our backblast fodder has now been greatly limited.
Horse Head and Big Easy joined Woodstock for the 4 mile loop and looked to have an entertaining trip through the hills even with YHC’s confusing directions at the Old Course / Piper Glen intersection. Cobains!
Long Haul and Cheddar were vying for gold and silver the whole run. Maybe someone should tell them they aren’t really medals at DT. On second thought, anything that makes you push that hard over steep hills is fair game. Keep on believing men!
Buttermaker, Funky Cold, Sanka, and Exlax were also pushing the pace out there and Sanka had a great point in COT about the iron sharpens iron effect. There is no way any one of us would push that hard over the hills without each other there. It’s real guys.
Mr. Bean and Madame T were flying under the radar this morning and were not readily observable to YHC. Were they here or were they there. We will never know. We will know however that they will dominate the upcoming mudrun and later the BRR due to the fact they are beasts of nature and train on steep hills for fun.
Next week Long Haul will lead us back to our roots and onto the greenway.
How about this…
We leave the Greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place at 5:15 am, run around the apartment loop and South on Rea Rd for a total of 1 mile to warm up. We then proceed into Piper Glen via Old Course and follow the chalk arrows through the hills at a pace that evokes feelings of hatred and utterances of colorful language.
There are options for ~4 mi, 6 mi, or 7+ mi in this plan. The pain level is up to you.
See you at 5:15. Bring your blinky lights and nightglow paraphenalia for safety purposes. Headlamp is optional but encouraged if you like to see where you are going (Piper Glen is a dark affluent place).
17 men chose to hit the rough streets around Trader Joes for some tempo running greatness at Devil’s Turn this week. The warm springlike weather must have people feeling frisky because there were two site FNG’s and one full on FNG today at the ‘Turn. We headed to S. CLT Middle School, around the track for a variable number of times and back to the greenway parking lot for COT.
Big Easy and Crypto were the site FNG’s and put in some serious effort on their first visit. It was good to get to know them and look forward to celebrating their domination of the upcoming fitness test for the Army Reserves. A few more Devil’s Turn’s and victory is yours! It was interesting hearing Strange Brew talk military with them although to YHC, it was just a bunch of acronyms of some sort. Still was a great run though!
Cheddar brought out his work colleague today and based on the speed at which Sound Bar (Kyle) passed YHC on the way back to COT, I would say he has done this running thing before. Welcome to F3 SB and we look forward to seeing you in the gloom again soon. (PS, have Cheddar send me your email address so I can get it on the list – Cobains for not getting it from you this AM)
Once the 1 mile warmup was complete, there was a huge group of Larry Birds who began to pound the pavement with intensity and prowess. Even the normally irrationally exuberant, Haggis was seen trailing this pack. It was impressive to behold. I think Gunny’s 2.0 (Google Maps) may have instigated the mayhem, but it was all a blur from this viewpoint.
All others were no slouch either and it looked like an effective workout for all involved. Thanks for the effort out there and for making Devil’s Turn what it is. Next week is Hill Week again!
Announcements:
– new 3rd F opportunity starting Tuesday April 28 at Einstien Bagels in Ballantyne
It’s back to the track for the Devil’s Turn faithful. We will leave the Greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place at 5:15 am.
Here are your options:
1) Warm up a mile, then hold marathon pace the rest of the way to the SCMS track around the track as desired and then leave track in enough time to cover the 2.2 miles back reaching the parking lot at 6:10 am.
2) Warm up a mile, then increase to marathon pace out to the track. Once on the track, alternate one mile at threshold pace and one mile at marathon pace until it is time to leave the track to get back to parking lot at 6:10 am. On the way back, run at marathon pace the 2.2 miles back or add a cool down pace toward the end if desired.
Consult the Pace Calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator (instructions for the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/instructions/) for your marathon and threshold pace values.
Safety Message: It will be dark and we will be running on public roads and on a dark track. Wear headlamps, blinky lights, and sparkly night glow paraphernalia to avoid tripping, falling, or becoming road kill. That concludes this safety message.
At 5:14:59, YHC came squealing into the parking lot of the greenway expecting the PAX to be ready to revolt. Luckily there were still two cars with PAX inside clinging to what warmth was available. Upon assembling we 3 and Cheddar deciding whether or not to go with layer #4, Haggis rounded the corner clearly late. Even later, Bratwurst strolled in with a Baklava or Balaklava or something over his head.
At approximately 5:17, 5 men set out to face the day head on. There was good 2nd F headed out to the track hearing about Sanka’s BRR team aspirations of greatness in the Fall and Cheddar’s raw intro to F3 showing up cold to The Brave.
Once at the track, Haggis and Bratwurst hit their stride and bolted into the pre-sunrise. The rest of the PAX hit their tempo stride as well and finally realized the cold wasn’t so bad. Haggis even complained that his 4 layers were too hot. We all knew that out there somewhere, Tiger Rag was out there in shorts and T-shirt laughing at us. But, we didn’t care, we were in running bliss by this point.
After each man chose his time to leave the track, we proceeded back to the lot for COT and a quick retreat to warmth. Overall, the PAX ran between 6 and 7 miles and showed their meddle in some severe temps.
Many races are coming up, see weekly email for details. Also, Sanka has an open spot on his 12 runner BRR team. Contact him for details.