Author: BoBerry

  • Utilizing The Afterburner

    last weeks edition of The Graveyard Shift called for some hill repeats. 3 PAX answered the call and hit Mt Midlo to try and get a bit better. We got in 7 reps total. 3 on the bottom half, 2 on the top half, and 2 reps of the whole enchilada. At one point a PAX who shall remain nameless, released some excess gas and shot off the rest of the way like a rocked!

  • Chasing a Wolf in the dark

    the graveyard shift was in full effect in the full on gloom yesterday early morning. Headlamps were needed for the track! YHC and Airwolf answered the call and hit the track for the following:

    Rolling 800s

    2 laps warm up

    The Thang
    2 laps 5k pace
    2 laps just slower than that that (1 min slower/mile)
    X3

    2 laps cool down

    4 miles total

    only audible was to go a bit faster for the “on” laps, and a bit more recovery on the “off” laps.

    Catching up a bit here. It was a good to catch up with Airwolf. Though YHC did not actually catch him anytime he decided to go fast.

  • was that supposed to be uphill??

    A perfect 10 SOJ PAX made the toughest decision and got out of bed in time for a Friday post at Satan’s Hill. YHC had the Q, ironPAX wk4 2024 was on the menu. Exercise lists passed out, music going, timer set and off we went. According to the dog walker and the singular car, this is more less what happened:


    ADD ALL BURPEES FROM ALL ROUNDS:   TOTAL BURPEES =  TOTAL SCORE

    200m = to second driveway on the right and back

    Round 1)  0:00 – 5:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Freddy Mercury’s
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 5:00 mark

    Round 2)  5:01 – 10:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Pickle Pounders
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 10:00 mark

    Round 3)  10:01 – 15:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Low Flutter Kicks
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 15:00 mark

    Round 4)  15:01 – 20:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • Plank Jacks
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 20:00 mark

    Round 5)  20:01 – 25:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Monkey Humpers
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 25:00 mark

    Round 6)  25:01 – 30:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Squats
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 30:00 mark

    Round 7)  30:01 – 35:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 LBCs
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 35:00 mark

    Round 8)  35:01 –  40:00 

    • Run 200 m
    • 30 Side Straddle Hops
    • Run 200 m
    • Burpees until 40:00 mark

    5 minutes left so some broga to cool down before time was called. Great work today by all. YHC got 2.8 miles. Calculation for distance of 200m may have been slightly off. Rumor has it Wildcat set the pace with over 100 burpees!

    great to see the everyone push through a tough workout today!

    numbers, names, YHC took us out. Prayers for Futon and his family as his mother in laws funeral is today.

    announcements

    • the bridge is tomorrow, see whitesnake on slack for details. Heist for SOJ meetup
    • homegrown half 8/16, half, 10k, and 5k options
    • ironPAX Thursdays in September at Timberwolf! Come on out and challenge yourself.
    • evening ruck 8/29, Crabgrass is working in this

  • Run Slow, Turn Left or “Beer Nips”

    With different runner in different spaces of training and speed, YHC opted to Q a bro code style run. Goal to be fast or slow depending on your plan for the day. With the speedsters coming back for the 6, on the four mile route laid forth. Down 60, left on mt pisgah, continue onto Westfield, left on Winterfield, continue on to LeGordon, continue onto Charter Colony, left on Woolridge, left to go up mt Midlo and left into the parking lot. (Zoolander would have had a hard time with this route). Doozy sped ahead but kept coming back, Don Draper and Cavity Search followed Draper’s planned 800m reps and kept getting back for the 6 as well. YHC managed to take it easy until deciding to chase Rosie up mt Midlo at the end. Easy is relative given the high humidity.
    prayers for Doozy’s M who is on a mission trip and for my HS friend who lost his father and his wife who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
    announcements

    -homegrown half is August 16th, route is current under construction, more details forthcoming. There will be a 10k ruck option as well. (Here’s looking at you Try Hard!) potentially a 5k option as well. Come on out and challenge yourself!

    -partner ship with the bridge is ongoing. Whitesnake is leading the charge July 19th. See him or slack for meet up details.

    NMS

    YHC hasn’t been posting as much lately. Plan to get more regular with it. Great mumble chatter today. Word to the wise. Be wary of nipple chafing on runs if your overseas travel involve a lot European lunch beers.

  • Kamikaze Frogs

    2 pre-gloom warriors met at 4:30a on Wednesday for this weeks edition of the Swift Freakshow AKA The Graveyard Shift. Temperatures were spiritually 70 and sunny, while physically a light rain persisted through the time on the track. Usually held on Thursdays, we went with Wednesday this week because YHC is running the Brandermill 7.4k on Friday. Taper intervals were in the docket. According to the fleet of foot intrepid ladies who joined us at 5am, this is more or less what happened.
    .5 mile warm up in zone 2

    1 lap at 7:30 pace, 1 lap recovery pace (9:30-10:30ish)

    Repeat 8 times, water break after every two fast laps. 1 extra cool down lap at the end. Not quite 5 miles complete.

    this speed work doesn’t disappoint. We missed Crabgrass with the switch in day. Looking forward to having him join with Swoop next week! YHC and Big Rig are definitely seeing the improvement in speed from these sessions. Have a great 4th gentlemen!

  • Zombies In The Mist

    With the cool mists rolling dramatically across the fields, two southern gentlemen emerged in search of some speedy track work. The work was found in the pre gloom darkness. This is what it was like more or less.

    1 mile warm uo

    .5 mile at 8:20

    1 mile at 7:50

    .5 mile at 7:30

    .5 mile at 7:15

    1 lap cool down

    Only adjustment was a faster lap for big rig chasing a PR.

    great time as always. It was super hot and swampy so those cool mists were magical

  • half and half

    Two gentlemen met in the pre pre dawn gloom for a mix of speed work and weighted exercises. Started with a few slow laps around the track, then 1 lap at 8min/mile pace for YHC, and 2 laps for Big Rig. Cool down for a lap or two. Then one last hot lap. Weighted work followed with Big Rig’s coupons and shiny new kettlebell and YHCs dumbbell. Each of us took turns leading various squats, curls etc. cool down lap, then farmer carry the implements of woe back to the vehicles. prayers for big rigs mom as she has surgery today. Good push today, trying to get better, one day at a time.

  • Crossing The River

    After scanning the area and securing parking, YHC waited to see if there were any others present for a pre-run. No takers, no worries, onward to the preplanned route. Out on the Potterfield Bridge, back on the bridge suspended under the road. Forgot gloves for the main event so got to do an extra hill climb to retrieve them. Got in 2.99 miles. Beautiful morning for a run over the river with views of the city. SYITG.

  • Yacht Rock 2025: They Found the Ramp! Wait is That Oats? Where’s Hall?!

    The morning weather was beautiful. There was a bit of light just starting to peak over the James. 5:30am hit, The Doobies (Featuring Michael McDonald) were first up on the playlist. According to the gentlemen who almost ran us over because they didn’t check slack…. This may or may not have happened. Lap around the lot, stop on the path for…

    Warmerama:

    Invisible jump rope 

    Jazzercise

    Hairy Rockettes

    Copperhead squats

    Plank it up

    J-Lo’s

    The merkin 

    Up dog

    Down dog

    Walk it back to dead man hang

    Reach up for Andy dufrains 

    Get close to water for a triple check. Runner goes to picnic tables in the woods and back. Exercises are dips and derkins on riverside benches. 

    Mosey to the other side of where the ramp used to be. PAX Hold plank and one by one do a pull up in the boat rack. Except for Orange Crush, he did 100 pull ups. 

    Next up was Touch a tree with 2-4-6 trees, exercises were merkins, squats and LBCs. 

    Then a OAX-choice DORA with 100 side straddle hops, 200 monkey humpers, and 300 single count flutter kicks. Next we moseyed back to the parking lot to get on the 6 and 

    Spell “yacht rock” with our feet. 3 minutes of Mary to finish it out. Prayers and announcements, YHC took us out. 

    Announcements 

    • Congrats to the HS graduates! Prayers for the parents to keep it together. 
    • Convergence on Monday at 7am at Tredegar. See Heist if you want to help out. YHC is leading the pre-run at 625am!

    NMM

    Fun time today on a beautiful morning. Thanks for coming out fellas. Special shout out to Whitesnake’s mustache that survived the entire beat down!

  • Answering Existential Questions

    Two gents got together at a dark and early hour to get in some speed work at The Graveyard shift, AKA The Swift Freak Show. The questions were asked and may or may not have been answered: What is “race pace”? What is “conversational pace”? What is the best race strategy? What is next after the races are done for YHC and Big Rig? Hopefully we can or have figured out some answers or at least are on the right path. Here was the plan:

    • 1 mile warmup
    • half mile at 7:50 pace, one lap walk/jog x4
    • half mile at 7:30 pace, one lap walk/jog x2

    we may or may not have been faster than that. #prematureacceleration always good to run and catch up with Big Rig. SYITG!