Fifteen noble steeds collected under the clear, starlit skies for a non-Lockjaw edition of RAMM. Today was a day to work on speed and the Q offered two choices depending on your willingness to participate.
The Route
Very straightforward, no questions were asked at all. North on Commonwealth, right on Monument. Turn around and come home.
The Thang
Option 1 – The goal was a negative split. Run out 23 minutes, turn around and get back to the start in 22 minutes. The intent is to go out at a normal pace then try to pick it up on the return. Negative splits are a good goal during any run/race as you get faster throughout the run, rather than slowing down towards the end.
Option 2 – Ten 1-minute pickups, a.k.a. the Fartlek. Run out at a casual pace for a 15 minute warm up. Then pick up the pace for 1 minute, followed by a 30 second recovery. The pickup pace should be around a 5k time, i.e. run much faster than your normal Friday morning pace. Repeat for a total of 10 iterations, turning around after the 5th to work your way back to the flag. 15 minute cool down on the way back to the flag.
Numberama, names, YHC took us out.
Moleskin
YHC is a fan of trying things that are different. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. The variability is one of the reasons why F3 is so great.
The Fartlek is a great strategy to mix into your running routine to get some variability in running, otherwise it can become quite mundane. If you didn’t try the Fartlek today I encourage you to consider it next time around. Remember, it’s not always about the length.
YHC particularly enjoyed the hoops conversation this morning, especially the foray into machine learning algorithms used to predict the outcome of each game. Sounds like another opportunity for a human to beat a machine. Viva Kasparov vs Deep Blue!
Splinter out
5 Comments
Thanks Splinter. I liked shifting focus to pace a bit today and not so much on the route or distance.
Cool to have most of the group finishing in a group that way regardless of level too. Thanks!
Fartleks were an excellent change-up to a typical 10k run…For a week full of distractions, this was a welcomed one. Thoroughly enjoyed Marv’s countdown of the remaining intervals (expressed with growing anticipation coupled with exhaustion).
Thankful to see Bleeder back at it. Also thankful he was able to remain upright after tripping over BT. That could have ended badly.
Great job guys – enjoyed it !
See y’all in the gloom..
Spilinter thanks for leading. When you mentioned Fartleks a memory of your Q at Tomato Run last year came to mine.
Enjoy the first mile hoops talk with Swirly and BT!
Great job today fellas no matter what option you choose
Not gonna lie. I only sort of heard the route. That, and I fell far behind the lead pack right away. This made for an awesome solo sail around the near west end for your boy. A series of tacks into the wind lead me into uncharted waters off Monument, where I linked up with another runner (non-F3 division) and his two labs. After a few minutes of sailing in tandem, he turned off course, and I made my way back to MM (by way of Grove) for completion of what became lap one of the newly minted F3 Regatta. Heading back out for lap two, I finally came across the lead boat, SS Swirley. He was WAY ahead of the other F3 Regatta competitors. Tacking into the Commonwealth winds back to Monument for the second time, I finally came across the remaining fleet, reversed course, and sailed back to MM downwind, pulling safely back into port.
Not what I had planned, but an awesome day on the water nonethleless!