For those that track this sort of thing, we have done hills and spent some time on the boardwalk the last two weeks. What does that mean? Yep, it’s track week at Devil’s Turn.
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 lap at threshold pace and one lap 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. It will also be (very) cold so watch out for ice and slippery conditions. That concludes this safety message.
Posted on behalf of Long Haul. The lateness is entirely the fault of YHC. Cobains! At least it is posted before the pre-blast for this week’s DT. Word is Bratwurst is going to lead the PAX back to Devil’s Turn roots on the greenway. Bring a headlamp!
8 PAX took advantage of the moderate temps this am and got some good running in before the cold sets in these evening. Time was called and we set out towards the track with some interval tempo running in store. We started with a casual fellowship run for the first mile followed by a faster tempo run to the track.
Once all were at the track we set out together for an 8 minute tempo run around the track. The goal was to set a tempo pace that may be a bit more uncomfortable than usual knowing that at the end of 8 minutes we’d regroup for a breather and then hit it again.
The first round went well as everyone pushed their paces even though YHC may have called time a bit early. Thanks to Brat for stepping up to time our second round. Brat and Turkey Leg stepped up on the second round and really pushed the pace.
After the second 8 we took a small break as we walked up to the parking lot and then set out on our final tempo interval for the entire way back.
I hope everyone enjoyed a little change of pace this morning and though it was just my second time leading, I have to admit it’s such a pleasure working out with such a great group of men.
Announcements:
Everyone encouraged to join a BRR team.
Everyone reminded that Spring Mud Run sign-ups are now open. Check out the link on the twitter.
It is time again to hit the Piper Glen hills. There have been rumors about perhaps returning to the Greenway in future weeks, but for now we hit the hills. Bring your opinions and ideas for Devil’s Turn and let’s discuss in COT.
Tomorrow we will launch from the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area http://goo.gl/maps/Whecl at the corner of Rea & Bevington Place on Thursday morning at 0515. There are 4, 6, and 7+ mile options available. YHC will bring his sparkle chalk to mark the way. See below for the options:
1) Standard Blue Pill (4 miles) – Run 0.75 mile apartment loop, out to Piper Glen, run the Old Course loop and back to lot (perhaps with a little makeup distance down Bevington Place). All this done at a comfortable pace.
2) Aggressive Blue Pill (4 miles) – Do all the above, but instead of a consistent pace, run 1.5 mile at “easy” pace, 1.5 miles at “marathon” pace, and 1 mile at “easy” pace.
3) Red Pill (6+ miles) – Run 1 mile at “easy” pace building to 2 mile at “marathon” pace, 1 mile at “threshold” pace, 1 mile at “marathon” pace, then cool down with 1 to 2 miles at “easy” pace.
Find your applicable paces at the following link: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
The Piper Glen Hill Routes (both 4 and 6 mile) can be found in the original post here: http://f3nation.com/2014/06/18/devils-turn-preblast-time-to-hit-the-hills/
11 to 13 men (some disagreement in the count at COT) came to the parking lot of the Vine American Kitchen at 5:15 in the morning with dreams of 400m repeats in their heads. One PAX remained in bed dreaming of the same. It turns out that one PAX was our fearless leader Bratwurst.
So at 5:16, Haggis and YHC conspired and then led the PAX out on the warmup route to the Bull Ring. On the way, Haggis found a fire hydrant to serve as the start point and found it to be exactly 0.25 miles to the entrance to the office complex from said hydrant. Perfect! After some various dynamic stretching activities mixed in with some strides, the PAX were ready for action.
Per the preblast, 400m repeats were on tap at 1-mile race pace or R-pace. After one repeat down the hill, the rest of the repeats were completed going up the hill to the office complex and recovery back down the hill. After 10 rounds of 400m, the PAX were fully satisfied. Ouch!
As usual, the Swift PAX were beasts of nature and destroyed the repeats. It looked like the effort level remained high through to the end of the workout. As said before the first repeat, the idea is not to burn out after 2 or 3 intervals, but to keep a consistent pace on all of them. It seemed like this was the case for most. Great job!
There were some that seemed to have a hitch in their giddy-up toward the end (Cheddar, Spinner, and Stump Hugger). Hopefully, there are no running injuries looming and it was just a passing tweak.
Welcome POP and Gunny to Swift! YHC is guilty of talking POP into Swift today and is hoping it was enjoyable (as enjoyable as almost recycling merlot can be). He killed it out there! Gunny hails from Metro type workouts like DMZ and SIB. Much respect is deserved with the speed Gunny showed out there today. Come out again brother!
It was on week for Brisket at Swift. Or at least there was a faint resemblance of Brisket out there in the gloom. It was hard to see with the night camo on. As usual, he brought the intensity.
Madam T, Voodo, and Abacus are becoming running beasts and are now regulars at the running workouts. Running is good! Keep killing it out there!
Haggis, of course, ran at a high rate of speed repeatedly. That’s just what happens with him though. Iron sharpens iron my brothers!
As always, YHC enjoyed sharing some gloom with you guys. Great way to start the day. Bratwurst will be back next week and all will be in proper order.
15 men got cozy with that “comfortably hard” feeling in this week’s Devil’s Turn. Per the preblast, it was PAX choice today regarding speed, but there was a gentle nudge toward 20 – 40 min at Threshold pace. (see preblast for how to calculate this infamous Threshold pace)
If anyone tried for the suggested pace after the 1-mile warmup, they can testify that it is hard and uncomfortable (even though Bratwurst says it’s comfortable, it’s not that comfortable). However, we don’t get our arses out of bed before at 4:30 in the morning to sip tea and eat a muffin. No, we come to push each other to new levels of fitness and that is what we did.
It was track week so we ran 1-mile through the neighborhoods toward the track for warmup and then accelerated to tempo speed for the rest of the workout circling the track at S. CLT Middle School as many times as possible before leaving to arrive at parking lot by 6:10 for COT.
Everyone YHC encountered looked to be putting in some solid work out there with many mentioning it was an off day. For that, I say: think back before F3 and compare today’s off day to then. Boom! Not so bad now huh?
Mall Cop and Wolfman are inching up the mileage incrementing the laps on the track each week. Keep it up!
It was great to Exlax and Cheddar back out. I think it is safe to say they are officially hooked. Great to have you brothers! Strong work.
Cotters to Joker who has not attended a running workout since October 2013. It is good your posterior injury is now under control. Great to have you out to the ‘Turn!
Outback seemed to have had a rabid pit bull’esque moment out on the track where he smoked the entire PAX for 3/4 of a lap. I think Haggis upset him somehow. Aggressive running brother! Not sure if that could be classified as tempo but it was intense and you beat Haggis, so for that, I solute you.
Everyone put in some serious work out there today and it is great to see a good core group building at DT. It is great getting to know you guys and us all pushing each other. Also, it was good to see so many blinking lights, head lamps, and reflective items out there this morning. TR would be proud. We’ll make it more of a routine at DT. Nice work on showing some safety out there.
Next week is hill week again.
Yep, it’s track week at Devil’s Turn and yes, YHC is unabashedly utilizing the words of Bratwurst in this preblast. Let’s face it, he writes better preblasts (and backblasts). So here’s the deal:
DevilsTurn will be launching at 0515 on Thursday from the traditional 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area on Bevington & Rea Rd. We are headed to the South Charlotte Middle School track and back.
Per the weekly email this week, let’s have a pause for a 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.
We will have a free-form workout this week where it is PAX choice. In general, we will warm up a mile on the way out to the track, then accelerate into whatever pace you wish. One suggestion is a 20-40min Threshold pace run as defined in the Pace Calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator (instructions for the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/instructions/).
Plan to leave the track in enough time to return to the parking lot by 6:10 for COT. You do the math.
See you in the gloom men!
11 men decided to build their stamina at a workout called Devil’s Turn. If you ran the Joe Davis 10k, 5k, or both, you are likely glad you have Devil’s Turn in your life. The tempo run is a great addition to any training program. As Bratwurst mentioned in his Swift backblast, Area 51 has a full suite of running workouts that will keep you in great shape and can be utilized to get you ready for any race you may target.
Here are your options for running workouts in Area 51.
Well now back to the workout. Welcome to Cheddar (1st timer) and Exlax (2nd timer). It is great to get newcomers to Devil’s Turn.
We look forward to playing a part in Cheddar’s Blue Ridge Marathon training (known to be one of the harder marathons around). Keep coming brother!
Exlax put in some good miles out there (although some were not officially sanctioned due to Stone Cold leading him astray deep in the hills of Piper Glen). Keep coming out brother, this is a great place to put fitness in overdrive.
The rest of the PAX pounded out a great workout and looked satisfied at COT. The hills are hard but they are necessary for us to take it to the next level. Iron sharpens iron my friends. Let’s keep after it.
Announcement (forgotten during COT):
– Please welcome Long Haul as the Devil’s Turn co-site Q. He is a Devil’s Turn regular, a great runner, and has some great tips from his cross-country star son to impart upon us.
New Years is behind us and PR’s are now securely documented for the Joe Davis run. It is now time to take our fitness to new levels and a tempo run through hills is a great way to do it. We are headed to our now standard Piper Glen route for this week’s Devil’s Turn.
We will launch from the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area http://goo.gl/maps/Whecl at the corner of Rea & Bevington on Thursday morning at 0515. There are 4, 6, and 7+ mile options available. See below for the options:
1) Standard Blue Pill (4 miles) – Run 0.75 mile apartment loop, out to Piper Glen, run the Old Course loop and back to lot (perhaps with a little makeup distance down Bevington Place). All this done at a comfortable pace.
2) Aggressive Blue Pill (4 miles) – Do all the above, but instead of a consistent pace, run 1.5 mile at “easy” pace, 1.5 miles at “marathon” pace, and 1 mile at “easy” pace.
3) Red Pill (6+ miles) – Run 1 mile at “easy” pace building to 2 mile at “marathon” pace, 1 mile at “threshold” pace, 1 mile at “marathon” pace, then cool down with 1 to 2 miles at “easy” pace.
Find your applicable paces at the following link: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
The Piper Glen Hill Routes (both 4 and 6 mile) can be found in the original post here: http://f3nation.com/2014/06/18/devils-turn-preblast-time-to-hit-the-hills/
A quote is included below from www.halhigdon.com on the idea of tempo runs.
A Tempo Run of 30 to 40 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, building to to peak pace for 10-20 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. (You don’t need to maintain peak speed for more than a few minutes toward the middle of the workout.)
In the sub-40’s rainy gloom, 3 of the baddest Sons of Ballantyne stepped out onto the Elon Park AO for an epic workout of which legends are made.
Once Bratwurst got the optimal layering situated, HB figured out how to turn off his truck lights, and Frehley’s put on his ben-gay (old bones), we struck out across the AO to where the puddles are the deepest and the mud the thickest. We then passed by there and went to the bus stop awning and remained there for the rest of the workout.
Here’s what we did:
COP #1
COP #2 (in same place)
If time, hit some swings and such…
Mary
Moleskine:
Good time out there even though the weather was bad. The awning made it tolerable. YHC found out that a raincoat makes for difficult KB moves with excessive swishing noises. Reminiscent of Frazier blowing past you at full sprint.
Frehley’s is a beast and grabbed the 44 lb’er for many of the exercises. Bratwurst was rocking the Turkish get-up by the end. As usual, Brat out ran the PAX on the way back (even with a 30+ lb KB). That’s just how it goes…
Until next time gentlemen!
Posted on behalf of Long Haul for his VQ:
Well, 5:15am came and went and there was no sign of YHC on his Virgin Q. Apparently YHC doesn’t keep track of road closure announcements as he learned the hard way that the 485 outer loop ramps at both Johnson Road and Rea Road were closed this morning. So, after being forced onto the inner loop to Pineville, then taking the outer loop to Providence Road and then back on the inner loop to Rea Road, he finally made it to Devils Turn at 5:21!! #Cantgettherefromhere! Thanks to whomever got the PAX started.
Anyway, YHC was able to fall in with the PAX as they came back around from the apartment warm up loop and all was right with the world again. It was a large group and there was a fair amount of chatter as we had some quality second F on the way to Piper Glen. Once the PAX turned into the neighborhood the real work began as everyone kicked into their threshold paces.
It was a large group today, but hopefully everyone was able to get a good workout in. Due to a wrong turn here or there in the gloom, a few people may have gotten a bit more mileage in than planned, but that only makes you stronger.
We welcomed two new brothers to the fold today and hope that they become regulars in the gloom. Mike Griffin was given the nickname of Buttermaker (You’ll have to check out the Bad News Bears to get this reference) and Steven Cory was nicknamed Kingpin.
So, while it wasn’t the ideal VQ for YHC, I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless and loved the opportunity to lead such a great group of men. Thanks for all of the support.
Announcements:
Joe Davis Run
Unbroken Movie
Various Convergences for Christmas week next week