Conditions: 45F, wet, dark, and only 1/3 of the lights on the campus were on. Looks like RBHS is saving money during the Christmas break.
4 pax joined together this morning for a pre-Christmas speed building session. YHC was appropriately worried he would be posting alone. 0530 was quickly approaching with no other cars in sight. Luckily, the other 3 pax rolled in just before starting time. Fun was to be had by all, even if we didn’t play soccer. Maybe next time.
Opening Prayer
The Thang:
As we continue to build our speed, YHC continues to Q a little more frequently. YHC felt the pressure to deliver a pain fest. Little do the Pax know, but YHC is a little off and feeds off of mumblechatter. YHC honed this skill during his psychiatry rotations. With that, YHC was ready to deliver more mumblechatter deserving speed work.
Head out of the parking lot towards the bridge. It was dark & damp, really dark. Yellowcake made the observation that it was particularly gloomy. YHC had the internal thought of Scottish Moors, and how does anyone live there? Oh well, to each his own. There was chatter about an upcoming 1000 mile challenge being discussed by #ramble, and how the lights on the bridge turn on as you go by them. YHC felt it was likely a troll living under the bridge, and not the expected motion sensing lights, regardless YHC needed to step up the pax efforts. Too much talking means not enough working. Continue the nice mozey up and up to the highest point of the #crypt AO. Yep, onto the spooky forest trail we went. Just after entering the dark trail, YHC was glad he had his headlight, and decided it was time to turn on a little speed, (secretly YHC felt like batman driving through the woods towards the batcave). It was time to really stride it out through the spooky forest trail to get the heart rate up and start working those leg muscles. After all, this is speed day. YHC increased the speed until just before an all out run. The other 3 pax kept up, but Garmin won the award by sticking with YHC. Maybe being in pajamas today gave him a little fear of the dark. At the end of the trial it was time to recover, but we lost Tuff Guy. YHC wondered if the bridge troll caught up with him, but it was just an untied shoe, or was it a mid-run breather???
Mozey to the top of cemetary hill and ease down the hill. YHC took the opportunity to point out the far light of the 2nd set, about 3/4 way up the hill. Ahh, the mumblechatter worsens. Yep, hills are good for speed work. Now, YHC knows he was with the thoroughbreds today (all the other stridesdales went for other avenues of torture or fartsacked) and worried about keeping up, but reassuringly the pax have to wait on the Q. At the bottom of the hill recover while the plan is discussed. Run 75% speed up to the far light and the mozey back down. The goal is to recover your breathing until comfortable by the time you reach the starting line, and then rinse and repeat for a total of 3 trips up and back. After the 3rd trip, recover briefly before mozeying to the parking lot.
It’s funny how the pax got anxious about the plan when YHC started heading towards the track. Unfortunately, YHC prizes his new running shoes, so the plan of playing a little socker was ruined by the thought of getting the new shoes wet, so the track was where we were heading. Mozey to the track and do a 400m nice mozey with a 50 yard section of high knees and a 50 yard section of butt kicks. Like any good track official, we had to do a warm-up lap to assure no hidden obstacles or giant puddles (dry feet are happy feet). Unfortunately, Tuff Guy found a small pond to step in (from the sounds of it) on the way to the track. Convene at the starting line. The plan for this session was to run a 5k race pace for 400m then mozey for 200m. Rinse and repeat 3 times, with the 3rd being about 10% faster. After the 3rd lap, walk for 100m, then mozey out the rest of the 300m. Head to the bottom of the hill just behind the baseball field’s pressbox and line up. YHC pointed out the gentle hill on the way to the track, and really wanted to play on the hill. Once everyone was lined up, sprint 100% to the double gait, just to really give those muscles the beating they desired. Head back to the parking lot.
COT/BOM
Announcements;
1. Lex/Birch convergence wednesday am, irmo side of the dam for a 5k then coffeeteria at Dunkin Donuts.
2. Ramble is doing a 1000mile challenge for 2015, about 19 miles per week.
3. 2 races in February
Prayer Requests: Garmin has a job interview today.
Closing prayer