It took some ciphering

It took some ciphering

6 men were not deterred by the confusing and convoluted preblasted plan for todays Devil’s Turn.  Either that or they didn’t read it and showed up blindly trusting the Q for an effective running workout.  Regardless of the circumstances, they were there and it was good.  It was greenway day.

The day actually started at 4:45 with Frasier joining YHC for some extra credit.  This credit consisted of 2 miles Easy pace, 9 minutes out and 11 minutes back of Threshold pace, and 5 minutes rest/jog to meet the rest of the PAX at mile marker 0.5 near the Johnston road entrance.

There was significant ciphering involved in finding out how to meet the PAX precisely at mile marker 0.5 at the right time.  However, the run went down with military precision and Bratwurst joined Frasier and YHC for couple more intervals of Threshold pace alternated with 3 min rest.

The remaining 3 PAX (Huggy Bear, The Mouth, and Cheddar) proceeded with pushing to new limits today.  The Mouth and Cheddar were observed far from home (>3.5 miles to be exact) at the midpoint.  Talk about full commitment.  They made it back just after 6:15 so that the bet paid off!  Strong push men.

Although not confirmed (PAX split up at the end), Huggy Bear likely also pushed to new limits today.  Running in with Bratwurst may have triggered some PR’s in the speed department.  To be confirmed in the comments section.

Overall a great day on the greenway.  As it is at most Devil’s Turn workouts, it is really painful while you are doing it, but when you are done, the sense of accomplishment is well worth it.  Thank you men for coming out and sharpening iron.

Announcements:

  • Keep Long Haul in your prayers (recovering from shoulder surgery).  We need him back in the gloom.
  • Haggis is running 102.5 miles this weekend.  Pray for him.
  • Haggis has convinced several others that running 20.5 miles with him in the dark is a good idea.  Pray for the others also.

 

 

Merkin Count

Seven men gathered at Dromedary Wednesday for a bootcamp workout a that was intentionally a little merkin heavy. Here’s what we did.

The Thang: One lap around the parking lot while waiting for Bananas to park and get out of his car.  Then circle up for: 20 IW, 20 slow squats, 10 merkins, 20 MCs, 5 merkins (all IC).

Mosey to the small hill for Triple Nickel: 10 merkins at the top, 5 merkins at the bottom.  Simple, effective.

Mosey around the building to the small wall.  In groups of 3, P1 runs the hill, P2 does LBCs, P3 scales the wall over and back.  Rotate and continue each time until the runner gets back.  Next set – P1 runs, P2 flutters, P3 peoples’ chair.  When finished, 20 merkins as a group.

Mosey back to picnic tables.  20 decline merkins, 10 step ups each leg, 15 DMs, 10 step ups each leg, 10 DMs.

Mosey to school entrance for Mary: 20 dollies IC, 20 Bicycle IC, 10 burpees OYO, 10 heels to heaven, 20 russian twist, 10 dying cockroach.  20 merkins.

Partner up for: P1 runs the parking lot hill and back, while P2 does squats.  Repeato until time is up.

Moleskin:  Small group but a good one.  An honor to lead as always.

Announcements: Stay on the lookout for 3rd F including a new one Wednesdays at noon to be led by Simba and Purple Haze.  More details to follow.  Timekeeper continues Tuesdays after Bagpipe.  Next book will deal with marriage.

The Long 7

16 of A51’s finest posted in the 34 degree gloom for a simple but effective beat down   Here’s what went down:

  • Brief disclaimer followed by 5 boyo
  • Run down Camilla toward Carmel Middle School with 5 burpees at each drive way along the way – 9 driveways
  • COP – 25 SSH; 24 IW
  • The Long 7 – Route = middle of back of school to benches in front of the school (approx .2 miles) with dips at the benches and hand release merkins behind the school
  • Mary while waiting on the Six – 25 flutter; 25 dolly; 24 LBC; 25 Heels to Heaven
  • Railing walk followed by 5 boyo
  • Run back up Camilla toward Carmel Road Park with 5 burpees at each driveway – 9 driveways
  • Mary while waiting for the six – 25 flutter
  • Finish with 25 merkins oyo

NMS

YHC wanted to keep it moving today thus the Camilla driveway Burpees and the long 7s.  Both turned out to be real crowd pleasers.  A number of Larry Birds out there including Swiper, Bushwood, McGee and Cat Gut (DMZ FNG).  Overall mumble chatter was minimal – likely due to Film Festival’s absence.   Thanks to Bushwood for the opportunity to lead.

Announcements:

New 3rd F immediately following DMZ at the Duncan Dounuts @ Ray and Colony

 

 

Trip around the AO

12 men took to the workout like a bear takes to salmon

The thing

Run around to summerlin and COP at the corner of Summerlin and Abbotswood

25 SSH – CAD – Whisper
20 MC – CAD
10 Merkins – CAD

Run over to Foxworth

11’s on the hill – Merkins and the top and Squats down at the bottom.

Run up Windyrush and over to the church.

Rock Work –
Chest Presses – 25 CAD
Curls – 20 CAD

Partner Work
One partner runs while the other does the called excercise
1. 200 Tricep extensions
2. 200 Curls

Mary – 15 LBC’s, 20 (don’t know what they are called but one leg on other knee cruches….learned from Kirk)

Finale – Curls till failure OR 100 whichever comes first

COT

Moleskin

It all started at Death Valley when Puddin asked me to q by trying to use his fingers to spell a “Q” #no. In all seriousness it was a great day to lead and I am appreciative of the opportunity. Hydra is such a great spot to q because there are a TON of things to do out there. You will always get at least 3 miles in (thanks to Ironsides for keeping track) and if you haven’t had a chance to do it please get with Good Hands or Pudding pop and sign up.

There was some new faces and old favorites out there as well. Always good to mix it up and hit a few workouts that you aren’t used to.

Jamboree as always runs in….that Man is a machine. Daisy is running in to every workout as well.

On a side note, I don’t think there is anyone in the tent over at the pumpkin patch because I imagine we would have gotten yelled at by them if they were in there.

Announcements.

3rd f – Monday’s – Dunkin Dounuts at the corner of Rea and Colony.

Mud run this weekend.

Brave is converging with Centurion tomorrow.

Death Twitch

26 pax got a mix of the valley and FT today…

The Thang:

  • Mosey to track
  • 1/4 mile warmup
  • Circle up for COP on field
    • SSH x20
    • 5 burpees
    • Squats x20
    • 4 burpees
    • MCs x20
    • 3 burpees
    • CCDs x20
    • 2 burpees
    • IWs x20
    • 1 burpee
  • Mosey back to lot

Run 1/2 mile down to Rosecliff

11s on hill at Rosecliff and Strawberry:  burpees and squats

Various plankwork; run backwards back to up Strawberry

Run 1/2 mile back to school; mosey to back lot, get cinder blocks

  • Grinders, teams of 3
    • Overhead presses / merkins
    • Squats / merkins
    • Curls / merkins

Total distance: 3.4mi

COT

Moleskine:

  • Despite mileage forecast from the night before, still a big crowd today at DV – you can’t say you didn’t get your money’s worth
  • Busy morning out there… who knew Rosecliff would be so busy with the walkers, dogs, and cars before 6am?   Just needed a herd of deer to tackle the pax and it would have been perfect.
  • Seemed to split into a few groups today with some of the spinters out in front, a solid “6-club” in the rear, and a big mass in the middle.  Even with the heavy mileage, all pax kept up well, even the 6-club far behind.  Everyone kept up with the exercise on the 11s as well, with almost no refusniks (except TR, of course)
  • Apologies if some felt short-changed on the grinders – was hoping there would be more time for a half dozen rounds, but alas, I must have still been on #fasttwitch time
  • Thanks to Stagecoach and Semigloss for the opportunity to lead Death Valley
  • Hat tip to Header for the take out in COT

Announcements:

  • Save the Date: Christmas Party, Dec 12, Sardis Country Club
  • The Brave CANCELLED this week; converge at Centurion

 

5/10/15 – Three Cones

20 Swings
20 Merkins
40 Swings
40 Merkins

5 (10 -since we were doing two handed we doubled) Swings – Sprint to first cone ~ 40 yards – 20 Merkins upon return
10 (20) Swings – Sprint to second cone ~ 70 yards – 20 Merkins upon return
15 (30) Swings – Sprint to third cone ~ 100 yards – 20 Merkins upon return

5 Clean and Press Right, 5 Clean and Press Left – Sprint to 1st cone – 20 squats upon return
10 C and P R/L – 2nd cone – 20 squats
15 C and P R/L – 3rd cone – 20 squats

5 Snatch Right, 5 Snatch Left – Sprint to 1st cone – 20 Merkins upon return
10 Snatch R/L – 2nd cone – 20 Merkins
15 Snatch R/L – 3rd cone – 20 Merkins

few minutes of Mary
20 High Swings

20 Heels to Heaven with KB Press
20 Dolly with KB Press

Thanks for allowing me to lead, a great group of men that decided that the first F3 of the Fall at 34 degrees would not keep them in the fartsack. Chanel mentioned something about mudrun training and I thought I should add some running…but Frehley’s added that it was the most running they had done at Foxhole…Brown would not have approved. Pebbles mentioned the Gladiator race coming up down south, and Chanel added that it was the hardest 6+ minutes he has ever experienced. Sign up and support!

Preblast: Devils Turn Greenway Week

Come to Devil’s Turn this week to get a little Threshold Pace in your life.  Like last week there will be a 4:45 am option and a 5:15 am start time.  All options will end at 6:15.

We will start in the greenway parking lot at the corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place.  Prior to showing up, find your “Easy,” “Marathon,” and “Threshold” training paces at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator

Option 1 (5:15 launch with Bratwurst): Start at an easy / warmup pace for a mile, run 1 mile at “marathon” or “threshold” pace, rest jog for 2 min, repeat this one more time watching for 5:45 where you should turn around to come back, repeat the intervals 2 more times, then cool down pace into COT.

Option 2 (4:45 launch with YHC): Start at easy / warmup pace for 1.25 miles, 1 x 20 min at threshold pace (10 min out/back to 0.5 mile marker), 3 min rest periods, run 20 min at threshold pace, rest 3 min, run 10 min at threshold pace, rest 3 min, 2 mile Easy

Option 3 (5:15 launch with Bratwurst): Begin with Option 1 and join Option 2 after the first 20 min threshold pace at mile marker 0.5.  Continue with the rest of Option 2.

Complicated enough?  An alternative is to show up and run for 60 minutes on the greenway with a great group of guys.  Anyone can get into that.

Bring your headlamps since the greenway is very dark and the sun doesn’t come up anymore.

Beaker’s Q

18 PAX left the friendly confines of the Ballantyne AO on a Tuesday morning at 0530 to embark on a Lancaster Hwy bootcamp adventure.

Posted on behalf of Beaker.

The THANG:

  • Mosey to parking lot behind Labcorp building.
    • 30 SSH ic
    • 5 burpess oyo
    • 25 IW ic
  • Mosey down to Ballantyne corporate place and turn left heading towards Ballantyne commons pkwy.
  • Run up Ballantyne commons parkway to Lancaster Hwy. Stop at each side street- 4 total. for 20 merkins (1st), 20 LBC’s(2nd), 20(3rd) and 20 LBC’s (4th).
  • Plank at lancaster hwy for the 6. Loogie decided to not make this journey and stopped at the second street on the way up the hill. This sent Pebbles on a wild goose chase searching for him.
  • Repeat the above on the way back down to Rushmore drive. Thanks to Dory for leading Mary while YHC circled back for the 6. 20 dollies ic
  • recover and mosey down to rushmore drive making a right and following it past the ESPN building towards the bull ring.
  • Make right into parking lot for plank/ 5 burpees oyo to wait for 6.
  • Mosey to Brixham hill ave stopping at XPO building entrance for: 20 dips ic, 20 derkins ic and 20 dips oyo.
  • Mosey through parking lot toward courtyard hotel side lot for 20 merkins, 5 burpees oyo and 25 freddie mercuries.
  • Head back to start(Vine) for Mary, including LBC’s x 20, Rosalita x 20, protractor and finish off with 5 burpees oyo.

The Naked Man Moleskin:

  • Great chilly morning to lead.
  • Thanks to all the Pax for bearing with me this am.
  • Dory, Sacajawea, and Pebbles led us to Lancaster Hwy- all very strong.

Beaker

2/1/30 intervals in da Club

#F3Swift launched at 0515 on Tuesday starting a new round of Speed Training.  Some came at 0500 to warm up for a while longer.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – 1.3mi at a 9:00/mi pace – warm-up them old bones!
  • 0515 – Circle back to the parking lot to pick up the rest of the PAX for a 1.0mi mosey towards the SPX building.  Drills then continue to corner of Ballantyne & Ballantyne (Corporate Pl & Commons Pkwy).
  • Start the 2-1-30.  Continual rounds of:
    • 2 minutes Hard (a.k.a. I-pace / Interval Pace / 2 mile Race Pace – find yours here at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator)
    • 1 minute jog recovery and REGROUP
    • 1 minute Hard
    • 30 seconds recovery and REGROUP
    • 30 seconds Hard
    • 30 seconds recovery and REGROUP
  • Run over this course (https://www.strava.com/routes/1296732) in the Clockwise direction.
  • Run 3 rounds on the East side of the Club.  Cross under 521 in the tunnel taking a long recovery.  Give an option to head back to start point.
  • Continue next 3 rounds on the West side of the Club starting in the Club parking lot.  Finish Round 6 heading down Ben Nevis.  Mosey 0.75mi back to the AO.
  • COT – total miles between 8.1 (those with extra credit) and 6.3.

Moleskin:

  • Coming up with titles for Backblasts saps most of YHCs creative energy for the week (and evidently takes a long time, too!), that’s why Honeybee’s description of his Swift workout was borrowed for this edition.
  • Was Champagne lagging this week?  When YHC looked over the Strava Flyby of the workout, Champagne looked like he was about 50 meters behind the PAX at all times, but YHC was pretty sure he was right there in da Club when a Pax called “Car Back” and Champagne responded mid-interval “no, it’s on the Highway”.  Whatever, he was delirious we guess.  Or he was talking about Old Lancaster Hwy.  Or he was delirious.
  • 6.3mi was a tad more than the 5.6mi advertised, but that’s due to regrouping.  PAX did excellent work in the REGROUP this week, and the six having a headlamp definitely helped.  Definitely missed a mid-pack StrangeBrew that usually also has the wrist computer programmed with this fancy workout and sounds the end of the intervals for the PAX mid-pack, but that just led to more vocabulary this morning with…
  • “Road Hump”, or just “Hump”, “Car Up”, “Ho”, “Hup” as the most common language of the day.  Swift PAX must have their own language when they get out of breath.
  • Invasion of South Cackalackie – the word is spreading, and perhaps the Clandestine SoBs invading FortMill from the previous weekend helped, but OneNiner’s tweets brought #TheFort men out in force.  Of course the regulars Ringer and WorldWideLeader were there, and not all of these are from #TheFort, but surely this is the biggest influx of fresh legs (1st or 2nd post) in a long time with Menthol, Bounty Hunter, Rooney, Copay, Wild Turkey, and Tuck.  With the growth of Interval workouts like Swift and Mountain Goat, there’s definitely a need for running-focused days in the workout schedule of the PAX.
  • Some more about this I-pace that will come into play again next week.  Hard / Interval pace is about 30-45 seconds slower per mile than your 1-Mile Race pace (see Announcements about your next chance to run 1 Mile race pace).  Find yours here: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator. Hard / Interval pace is also known as VO2Max – the longer you run at your VO2Max, the better.  Not as much benefit if you run the first Interval too fast, then can’t get back up to the Max later in the workout.  Check out this video for more details about I-pace.  STRONGLY suggest that you figure this out before next week.  HINT HINT

Announcements:

  • #TimeKeeper / 3rd F following Bagpipe / Swift resumes next week with a new book on Marriage – “The Meaning of Marriage” by Tim and Kathy Keller.
  • 1 Mile Time Trial – coming soon to Mountain Goat – check the PreBlasts.
  • 1 Mile Time Trial – coming to Swift on 11/3 or 11/10 – depending on Haggis’s schedule.  Since he is co-founder of Swift, we have to run everything through his schedule.

Your Humble Correspondent,

Bratwurst

Mudrun Friendly

The tweet the night before stated “mudrun friendly.” What it should have said is we are not going to work too hard on the legs minus a little mosey.  Eleven men decided to assemble and join me in my first Q at #F3TheMaul since my broken wrist.  5:30am came and off we went!

Did not have a plan today because I wanted to see who showed up to base what type of work we were going to get ourselves into.  It usually works better this way.  The AO has so much to offer you can pretty much find something to get into.

Warm Up: Disclaimer was given.  Thirty minutes of IW was called but was quickly changed to x 10.  Slow squat x 10.  Slow merkin x 10.

Enough of that.  We mosey over to the intersection of Ballantyne Trace and Forum Ave.  The three legged star fish was named and instructions given.  You were to partner up based on opposite speed.  Partner one would do the called exercise while partner two held a perfect plank.  We ran to the bottom of Ballantyne Trace, the top of Forum Ave and the top of Ballantyne Trace.  Round one was twenty diamond merkins, round two twenty wide arm merkins and round three twenty merkins.

Mosey back down Elm Ln towards the theater.  Stopping along the way twice for slow merkins in cadence x 20 and one more time slow American Hammer aka Russian Twist x 20.

Stop again in the parking lot beside the theater for slow count merkins x 15.  Recover and mosey towards the parking lot next to the BofA kiosk.  Partner back up with your original partner.  Three rounds with partner one run around the two islands and partner two holding a perfect plank until partner one returns.

I tried to dress up the merkins suicides as similar to merkin suicides but this group is much too smart for that.  We did four parking lot lines with ten merkins at each stop.  Plank till the six returns.

Get back with your partner for partner hand slap merkins x 20.  Lots of grunting was heard at this point.  Recover and mosey back to the launch point.  Stopping along the way for American Hammer x 20.

Circle up for Mary.  I asked who had not Qed before.  We have a very experienced group because only Pebbles had not Qed.  He lead us in the first round of mary with heels to heaven x 20.  Loogie called dying cock roach.  Go Daddy called Rosalita and Fire Hazard did flutter x 20.  That was a wrap!

Moleskin: We had a lot of guys out this morning participating in the mudrun.  Should be a great time. I did not want to burn up their legs along with Haggis who is doing a mere 100 miles this weekend!  I think we accomplished the goal of taking it easy on the legs.  There was some complaining about the upper body being overworked but everyone should have plenty of time to recover.  Besides the water at the mudrun is going to be so cold you are not going to feel anything below your head anyway.  Good luck to all of the pax heading down that way on Saturday.  Have fun and be safe!

Good luck to Haggis and the men he has recruited to help pace him on his journey through the woods.  Haggis is doing five laps for a total of 100 miles.  You are made for these types of events.  It is nice for Honey Bee and Strange Brew to volunteer to be out there pacing Haggis at night.  You will get it done I have no doubt.

Announcements: Pay for the bus if you are going to the mudrun.  There are links all over Twitter.

That is all.  Have a great day!