Weather: a bit on the humid side with dew point in the 60s and temps around 68F. A light breeze came in from the NW, and some rain drops fell for about 15-min at the beginning of the beatdown.
Welcome: at 0515, YHC greeted Defib and took off for a quick warm-up. Word was that Excalibur was a few behind, but Defib made-up for it by running an extra 1.5 miles pre to keep the ledger straight.
The Thang: Excalibur came in hot, but I’m not talking about in his vehicle. As YHC and Defib circled back from Caddy’s for the warm-up, Excalibur flew past asking if we “went to Caddy’s”. It was apparent he had every intention to make up for missed miles. YHC consoled him and coaxed him into joining the pack, and to accept the fate of lost miles.
After about 2-mile, a decision had to be made. Tackle option 1 or option 2 knowing that whatever was chosen, a re-visit must happen within one month. Choices were as follows:
- 3 x 1-mile repeats at goal 5k pace with 1/2 mile jog for recovery after each. Only other goal was for each pax to go at a pace he knew he could improve upon for each mile.
- 4 x 1-mile repeats at goal 10k pace with 1/4 mile jog for recovery after each. Same additional goal of accelerating paces from repeat-to-repeat.
The choice was made to go at 5k pace. Before the decision was completely verbalized, Excalibur was underway. A 6′ 6″ silhouette was all that could be discerned in the gloom as Excalibur blazed up the Green Bridge slope on his way to mile repeat numero uno, eager to reach the south side. YHC and Defib fought to “break even” on the up-slope and recover a bit on the down-slope. Success was our reward. All pax hit their target 1-mile pace. A series of recovery then race commenced until 3 1-mile repeats were completed.
On the final repeat, YHC challenged the pax to verbalize their stretch goal time. Once all times were spoken, YHC then stated that if all pax didn’t meet or exceed their goal time, an additional repeat had to be undertaken. All agreed that an additional repeat would be detrimental to existence. We lined-up and away we went, pain found its way out of every living fiber of our being. It was good and it was fun. We nearly made it. An additional repeat was required, and it was completed in workhorse-like fashion.
All told, this was a challenging beatdown. Repeat #3 triggered Lego Pain Scale “9” as promised. Given that the mile is the foundation of all mid to long-distance running, workouts like this improve speed endurance. The pax met the overarching objective, and then exceeded it. All told, more than 8-miles were logged for each pax, with 3 of those miles eaten in Outlaw Josey Wales fashion, like “Hell coming to breakfast.”
See you next week.
Announcements:
- 2-yr anniversary convergence Mar 30.
- Number of local road trail races coming up.
Praises / Requests:
- First responders.
- Injured / sick pax.
Thankful for the opportunity and ability to Q at this AO and for the fellowship among good men.
“To do what others cannot do, do what others will not do.”
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