That’s right Mall Cop and Wolfman, we are running with you this week. We are headed to the South Charlotte Middle School track via the neighborhood streets.
We start at 5:15 am in the greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place. We will have a 5 minute #efficientrunning review / Q&A session and we will be off.
The pace for the first mile will be 2ndF. Thereafter is up to you. Between around marathon or threshold pace would be good, but do it by feel. Go comfortably hard and circle the track as many times as you can before heading back the 2.2 miles to the parking lot by 6:10. #youdothemath.
We will be on neighborhood streets and on a dark and scary track. Wear your desired gear for those situations.
It is back to the greenway this week. The plan is simple.
We will meet in the greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place at 5:15. Have a 5 minute running form session by Bratwurst on Foot Strike / Running Cadence and then hit the greenway until 6:15.
The rough plan once on the greenway is to run at your chosen pace out and back to the bridge at Johnston Road by 5:55 am to regroup and start a progression run back the 1.75 miles to the parking lot. The idea is to increase your speed every 0.25 mile post on the way back.
That’s it. See you there!
If desired, a recap of the previous running form topics can be done at the end for anyone who missed. We have covered arm/hand movement and body position so far. The goal with these mini sessions is to create a bunch of efficient runners that experience less running injury. This means domination in the BRR and beyond.
16 men decided to follow a rusty Q into the gloom this AM and returned soaked and oxygen deprived. A few of the old timers (Frehley’s and Wingman) may have remembered this oldy but goody workout from many years ago.
The Thang:
It’s 5:30, head to theater parking lot for lunge-o-rama. After 1 of the 3 rounds of lunges, the PAX were wondering what the h___ is this? Some sort of dynamic stretching mumbo-jumbo? Apparently yes, but things would not stay this easy.
Brisk mosey over to Target for the upper body warmup and some SSH, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers, and Merkins.
Enough warmup, time to work. Headed to hill by target for a Jacob’s Ladder 7’s. Plank up & downs at top (extra credit for facing down the hill), burpees at the bottom. By the end of this set, everyone was up to operating temperature (actually above operating temperature verging on overheating – but there was more workout in store, so we moved on).
Mosey over to the speed bumps for karaoka right, left, backward run, bear crawl and crab walk. It was so satisfying, we did it again for good measure. On the second set of crab walks, it was proposed that crab walking really does nothing for you, it just hurts your shoulders. While this is probably right, it seemed like a good idea at the time, so we did it. Floor Slapper gets the bad-A of the day award for doing all this with no gloves on. Perhaps he will not be doing much floor slapping for a while, but it looked manly, so there’s that.
After a brief mosey around the corner from the theater, another COP was assembled for the Dirty MacDeuce (12 reps of 12 exercises executed back to back). This was the set list:
1) Merkins, LBC, Superman planks
2) Diamond Merkins, Dolly, Peter Parker
3) Dive Bomber Merkins (nicknamed Entrapment or Cathrynn Zeta’s), Rosalita, Parker Peters
4) Wide Arm Merkins, Dying Cockroach, glute bridge march
Editorial Note: If Dive Bomber Merkins are ever called again, make sure there are no cars, security cameras, or bystanders in the vicinity. It is not recommended to view a bunch of middle-aged men doing this to a parking lot. It’s just wrong. Unfortunately, the owner of a silver F150 now has that sight ingrained in his memory. Sorry bud.
Once that was conquered, we headed to the back of the theater for some wall sits / hill run / burpee combos x 2 rounds. For added benefit, balls-to-the-wall was thrown in for a double 10 count between sets (crowd pleaser – Frehley’s even exclaimed “what the h___ is wrong with you?” upon dismounting the wall). This is music to the ears, because if Frehley’s is gassed, it was a good workout.
On that note, the workout was over and we headed for COT.
Moleskine:
There were a bunch of Larry Birds out there this morning. Fire Hazzard was one of them and there was a nice bunch of them knocking out the exercises with quickness this morning. YHC can not name them all because they were so far out front. Nice push men!
The Dirty MacDeuce could also be construed to be a 12 count on each exercise (24 reps). Today it was done to a 12 rep. Hopefully no one felt cheated. Based on the water puddles left on the pavement, I would say it got the job done though (along with the 102% humidity). Next time we go for the 12 count though! Something to dream about.
Announcements:
– F3 Dads this weekend at the Panthers practice field see preblast for details F3 Dads Preblast
– Southern Discomfort on 8/1 – everyone needs to get in on this CSAUP opportunity. Something for all PAX. Southern Discomfort Preblast
Continuing the theme of bass ackwards goings on at Devil’s Turn this week, the backblast is ridiculously late.
14 men chose to hit the hills this week out of the normal order which called for getting on the greenway. Since the 4th was upon us, it seemed needed to push ourselves a bit to put a down payment on all those ‘merican festivities.
It was a muggy morning and 2 Site FNG’s (and 1 long time cotters) chose it as their chance to experience all that Devil’s Turn has to offer. V-Neck, Madison, and Simba all remarked at the how easy the hills of Piper Glen were (actually the opposite).
MistaFlex was back after being an FNG last week and is building on his running prowess week by week. I think he is definitely hooked now if he can withstand the pain that the hills deliver. It is good to have him.
The mixup continued into the COT when we went the wrong way around the circle. Pretty much blew everyone’s mind. Next week we will get back on track.
Cobains for the late backblast. We will see you next week.
If you like patterns, you may not like this…We are headed to Piper Glen tomorrow which is out of our typical order. It’s a holiday week and we need to get some work in before the apple pies and Budweiser starts to flow.
The plan is simple. Meet at the Greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place for a 5:15 launch. We will have a 5 minute running form tutorial (and yes Hops, the terms hips and nips will be used at least twice).
We will then start a 1 mile warmup 2nd F run around the apartment loop then south on Rea Rd. We then enter Piper Glen on Old Course and proceed on the typical route. For those new to the route (and those who still have no idea how or why Seton House intersects Seton House), chalk arrows will be placed on the road on the left side (against traffic) at each turn.
The prescribed speed after the warmup is comfortably hard. This should roughly correspond to “Marathon” training pace in the following calculator: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/ Look it up and try to average out to this pace (or a little slower) through the hills of Piper Glen. It will be hard, but that is why we are going to be up at 5:15 in the morning right?
There will be an option for 4 and 6 miles. Choose your poison.
Safety Note: The sidewalks are uneven and jagged in places and it will be dark for the first 1/2 of the run. Consider wearing a headlamp. Also, the run in Piper Glen is on public neighborhood roads and they do not believe in streetlights. A blinking light is recommended to allow cars to see you. Take care of yourself. That concludes the safety message.
19 souls decided it was time to get in gear for BRR training this AM. The air was soupy and the hills steep as ever in Piper Glen this morning, but that did not stop the PAX from pushing it to the next level.
The route was the typical Piper Glen hill route with 4 and 6 mile options. (3) chose the 4-mile option to ease into the DT scene (Spackler, Semi-Gloss, Radar), (2) chose an unintended/unsanctioned route of around 5.3 miles due to missing an arrow (Dolphin, Frehley’s Comet), and the remaining 14 took the red pill logging between 6 and 7.25 miles.
It looked like good groups formed so that 2nd F could help overcome the pain of the hills. Outback and Mr. Bean showed around site-FNG Rock City around the AO. The already mentioned Dolphin and Frehley’s Comet ran together and got lost together.
Brisket, Sanka, and Prohibition were observed taking in a little extra hills at the end by reversing the Old Course loop. Nice push!
Horsehead was back after overcoming some knee issues with a new uptempo stride and some new kicks. That 180 bpm techno music must work wonders. Next time bring a boom box and we can all enjoy some boom-cha-boom-cha-boom-cha-boom.
Unfortunately, one downside of this workout format, YHC was not able to observe all the random occurrences that happened out there today. Sound off in the comments to share.
Announcements:
– #GhostRunner happening tonight at ABC Arboretum 7:30 start (4 and 6 mile options)
– F3 Dads this Saturday at Francis Beaty Park at 9:00
– July 25 – Dredd and OBT coming to Stonehenge
In case the PAX have not felt challenged buy the extended Tempo run at the track and the progression run on the greenway, this is the week that will disturb your sleep tonight with anticipation.
That’s right, it’s hill week again and we head to Piper Glen with the challenge of holding a marathon pace effort level (comfortably hard) once warmup is complete. Notice the word effort. Your pace will naturally slow and speed up with the hills. However, effort level should remain constant.
We leave the greenway parking lot the corner of Rea Rd and Bevington Place at 5:15 am. There will be 4 and 6 mile options.
Come and put a strong downpainment on BRR / fall marathon prowess.
11 men entered the murky darkness that is the 4-mile creek greenway picking up Bratwurst who arrived late and decided to drive the first 100 meters parking on the street. This made 12 for a 1.2 mile warmup fellowship pace.
Upon entering the first real boardwalk section of the greenway, it was found that the recent rains had been sufficient to wash a thin layer of mud over the planks resembling the slickness of a freshly Zamboni’ed ice rink. After the PAX properly engaged their sphincter muscles, we continued the run until reaching the 1.2 mile mark.
YHC (and others) were content with continuing the fellowship pace at this point. However, Haggis had other plans. After successfully lobbying for some dynamic stretching exercises, he took of like a scolded dog at a breakneck pace. Various PAX at different times throughout the rest of the run attempted to match the ferocious pace he was setting. Bratwurst and Frazier finally realized what was happening and passed him. Up until then, Bratwurst was scoping out parking spots further down the greenway and Frazier was leisurely running backward.
Due to the darkness, YHC does not know if anyone fully bit it on the boardwalk due to the slippery conditions. If this did occur, sound off in the comments to be recognized for your bravery. At some points, the mud gave the impression of “spinning out” like some kind of cartoon character getting ready to take off.
At the prescribed progression run starting point, it was determined Dolphin was not among us. Upon circling back, it was found that he has taken his #10000merkin challenge seriously and was doing 20 merkins at each mileage post. After declaring he had violated Devil’s Turn bylaws by doing merkins mid-run, he was left for dead and the progression run progressed. All were observed to push the pace on the way back with Sanka putting in a very hard push. Turkey Leg was also showing some legs out there with a serious pace.
Bratwurst and Frazier were of course blistering the speed and Haggis passed YHC in the final 50 meters. But this is all old news. At this point, it is all blah, blah, yakedy smakedy. One day Haggis, one day!
Announcements:
– #GhostRunner tonight at 7:30 pm ABC Arboretum
– NoDa brewing 5k this Saturday night. Do it!
We leave the greenway parking lot at 5:15 am to go to … Wait for it … The Greenway!
We will run out and back to the Johnston Rd entrance by 5:55 am. We will then do a Bratwurst style progression run back to COT
See you there!
19 men were not court ordered to re-enter the world of competitive gymnastics. These men took on the challenge of sticking to a marathon training pace for 50 minutes at Devil’s Turn. This required somewhat less spandex, but equal amounts of intestinal fortitude.
It was track week so pace was easier to determine and hold. As said in COT, this workout can serve as a metric revisited every 3 weeks. If you are frequenting the other running workouts throughout the week, you will start noticing progress and that is good.
It was a fast week out on the track and everyone really pushed out there. Keep coming out and you men are going to manhandle the BRR or whatever running pursuit you may have in mind.
Announcements:
– #GhostRider started this week 19:30 on Thursdays.
– Tootie is helping someone move Saturday. If you want to double down, contact him. #Meathead types may also have interest “I pick things up and put them down”