13 fellows got their mind right this morning at one of the humpiest hump-day AOs in Area 51. For a site that typically draws in the upper 20s in numbers, why so low this morning. Here’s my speculation:
“I’m ‘tapering’ for the BRR, bro”
“I got a VIP invite to the Lodge yesterday and had one too many Cold Mountain’s”
“We’ll probably just run the whole time. I remember the last time he Q’ed Death Valley”
“Chester and/or the Horsey gave me the business on Monday”
“School started this week, traffic on Pineville Matthews Rd at 5am is a nightmare. Wait, wasn’t there a crime scene over there a week ago? Sounds too risky.”
“I’m getting caught up on my DVR and was up too late last night. Bachelor in Paradise was too good to miss. Of course I watch it for the chicks though.”
Whatevs, bums. If you weren’t there here’s what you missed.
The thang-a-rang:
Cold start mosey out of the gate to Davie Park a.k.a. Benjamin Moore Park for COP
Merkins x 20 IC, SSH x 25 IC, Mountain Climbers x20 IC.
Pick two of your best buds and form a group of tres.
Gingerly cross 51 to the Windswept neighborhood.
Grinders to the left: Merkins x150 at the end of the culdesac, RDLs right leg x 100 at the start – complete as a team
Grinders to the right: Sumo squats x200ish at the end of the culdesac, RDLs left leg x 100 at the start.
We wrapped up the neighborhood tour with a set of suicides to the end of Windswept. Some token Mary was sprinkled in for giggles.
Mosey back to SCMS. Circle up at the end of the lot in plank position. One guy (or two, or 4) runs a loop around the cars and back to the circle. Errbody held plank til errbody ran a loop. THE END.
The Skinny:
Lotta limp commits yesterday about joining in for a prerun left Buttermaker and I alone for a nice peaceful jaunt through raintree for a few miles before the real deal. Smaller crew for DV was bringing the wood this morning.
The Eagles crew, ST and Dolly were leading the pack, per usual. It wasn’t even close.
Buttermaker’s handing over his baseball head coaching position this season, but still gets to wear the jockstrap and tight sliding pants as the assistant coach.
Gloss and TL were wearing the same shirt today. It was cute. Hadn’t been for the hole in Semi’s you couldn’t tell these guys apart.
Drano kept confusing Edward Scissor Hands and Sweeny Todd. The dudes almost got into a legit fight in the neighborhood until Floor Slapper got between them. Scary stuff.
Good connecting with Chin Music this morning. It was cool learning he played minor league ball with Sidd Finch a few years back. Word has it CM was the only guy that could hit off the monk. #chicksdigthelongball
Pop looked fly in his new running digs. Good thing RFYL wasn’t out there this AM – dude would have been beating the ladies back with sticks.
Strong efforts across the board this morning. Pleasure was all mine.
Hit the Lodge today for HDHH – starting at 4pm. Ball out.
YHC and Utah cruised past a pack of FIA ladies crushing the run down 51 headed in the direction of the Anvil AO. Certainly cannot blame them for wanting a change of pace at, as Hops says, is arguably, the best AO in all of A51. Options abound on this 100 acre Calvary campus. 14 PAX arrived via automobile and Snowflake ran in. Dude is a stud. Respect. Pre-workout mumbling about the Jeepers among us feeling bad for YHC who recently off-loaded the Wrangler in favor of a 4runner. Key here is 4. 4 doors that is. 2.0’s and a 2-door Jeep Wrangler es no bueno. There will be another Jeep in my future. Thorough disclaimer given to include the essentials and some encouragement to the PAX. Disclaimer given, that is, after Iron Horse rolled in. Quick hello to IH, who appeared excited as he raised his hands in what appeared to be a victorious manner, having made the launch. Off we go.
Thang
Mosey from launch lot through the lots near the main buildings to the lot closest to Entrance 1.
COP
SSH x 10 IC
Imperial Squat Walker x 10 IC (Mumblechatter from Gummy began right here)
Low Slow Squat x 10 IC
Mountain Climber x 10 IC-Hold plank
Merkin x 10 IC
Mosey over to the Pavilion at CHAMPS field. HOME.
Campus Circuit
Group ran through the 1st circuit together. Mosey back HOME. Repeat x 2 at AYG pace. Repeat Bench Set after round 2 and plank to wait for six. Plank-o-rama before 3rd repetition. RAH/RLH/Flapjack/6 inches/Right knee to right elbow/Flapjack/Merkin x 6 IC. Go for repetition 3. Stop at lot above Pavilion after rep 3. On your six.
Mary/Merkin
Flutter x 10 IC/Merkin x 10 OYO/Dolly x10 IC/Wide Merkin x 10 IC/Heels to Heaven x 10/Diamond Merkin x 10/LBC x 20 IC/5 Hand-release Burpees OYO/High Flutter x 10 IC/Hold 45/Rosalita x 10 IC/Hold 6 inches for Brushback 10-count. Recover.
Mosey over to lot above Entrance 4. Fly-by the rock pile to make sure all were redistributed into the pile rather than the grass. Stewards of the AO that we are.
Line up at far end of lot. Plank. Right hand forward/Right leg up/Flapjack/High Plank/AYG sprint from High Plank at GO. Finish at cars at 0615 on the nose.
COT
Moleskin
Saw Brushback at soccer yesterday and he said he would be at this workout. Glad he made it. Upon arrival, Van Pelt greeted him with, “Dude, I thought you were dead.” Kotters Brushback. Life often precludes us from hanging out with our buddies doing man work. Hope to see you back out soon.
Man, Gummy stayed relatively quiet for a few minutes. Was hoping he was OK. Then the call was made for Imperial Squat Walkers. Flood gates now open. Just a few of the Gummy offerings today:
“I should have gone to Death Valley.”
“Should have gone to Death Valley.”
“Should have gone to Death Valley.” (Yes, he said it several times)
“Is there a post-workout feedback form I can fill out?” Why yes, Comment below.
Maybe it was the company, maybe YHC smelled bad, maybe Gummy missed the DV pax.
Also said something about Bloods and Crips or Turf War when we were twice in the general vicinity of the FIA ladies. Thanks for the chatter, Gummy. Always makes the workout more enjoyable.
Speaking of FIA, they appeared to be enjoying this AO. My weinke put us in their general vicinity on two occasions in a relatively short period of time. On the first pass, a warm hello was given from several of our group. Pleasantries reciprocated on the fly by the FIA ladies, who also indicated they were trying to stay out of our way. Don’t worry about us, ladies, do your thing and enjoy the digs. Second pass they were at the Pavilion. YHC made sure they knew we were not following them around campus. They may have been weirded out a little because they were not seen again. They looked to be pushing hard. Way to get after it ladies.
Good to see The Onceler back out. Been a while. The Respect group of Snowflake, Van Pelt, and Iron Horse crushed it as usual. Great work men. Lobsta, well, he was Lobsta. Out front and pushing the pace. Red Rocks and Brilleaux not far behind. Rest of the crew all pushed hard today, which is usually the case at Anvil. Lots of encouragement given along the way during the circuit work. Love that about Anvil and F3. You can be in your pain cave and you get a hand slap and word of encouragement. Like pouring gas on a fire. Just take a minute to imagine trying to do this workout by yourself at 0530. Would you push as hard as you did today? Likely that you would not. Cool to see Sledge, Hammer’s 2.0, push through a tough workout at 13. Great work Sledge. Thunder Road keeps getting faster and stronger. That is what happens when you keep posting. Solid work today TR. Same with Utah. Amazing how much faster and stronger the guy has gotten since beginning F3.
Always thankful to lead this group of men at Anvil. T-claps to Gummy for the takeout prayer.
Announcements
Memorial Day Convergence. 09/05/2016. Stonecrest. 0700-0800.
A51 5-year Anniversary Convergence. 09/14/2016. Calvary Church (5801 Pineville-Matthews Rd). 0515-0615.
3rd F Evening Group. Hops on Q. 09/20/2016. Rusty Onion at Carmel Commons. 1930 (7:30PM). Why is being a #HIM important? All are welcome.
Southern Discomfort. 2nd Annual A51 CSAUP event. Put it on your calendar. Logistics to follow soon.
After stepping into the meat cooler that Troop 39’s Scout Hut had become, YHC set about disabling the AC so that we wouldn’t freeze solid while in savasana. Four more PAX rolled in and we were soon off and running. Well, not exactly “running.”
Disclosure
Meditation: “Don’t worry. Trust God.” Luke 12:25 NIV “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
The Main Thang:
Table Top, Cat/Cow 5X w/breath
Step up to Mountain and Sun Salutations: 1st together slowly, then 2nd and 3rd OYO following breathing.
Forward fold and bind arms, turn right to stretch, holding for 2 breaths, center-1, left 2 breaths, center 1. Then lower all the way down to seated, then back to flat.
Hip stretches: flat on back
After finishing on the left, roll to one side and use your hands to come to a seated position. Transition to feet (Mountain): shoulder rolls, neck rolls and side stretches
Hands up for breath, fold, half lift, fold, up for breath. Sun salutation with full breath at Forward fold, Plank, Up dog, down dog, OYO.
Fold, half lift on inhale, then step back with left foot for crescent lunge. BreatheX5.
Straighten right leg and then bring left foot up. Sun salutation with full breath at Forward fold, Plank, Up dog, down dog, OYO.
Repeat crescent lunge stepping back with right foot. Breathe X5.
Straighten left leg then step up. Sun salutation with full breath at Forward fold, Plank, Up dog, down dog, OYO.
Lower down to sitting, bring soles of feet together and make back straight from bottom of spine to top of neck. Lean forward and grab feet with hands, and use arms to pull legs toward body and bend at hips, keeping back straight. Breathe X10
Relax pose and straighten legs and knock them against mat to stimulate blood flow.
Lie down and draw knees to chest and roll back to release tension.
Closing: Rest all the way down, relax and deepen your breath. Remember: Don’t worry. Trust God.
END
Announcements:
4 more weeks until F3 Gumby officially starts.
Moleskin:
YHC is not a professional (read the Disclaimer), but did manage to make it through the workout with only one name fail. I had to look this up afterward to figure out that the standing, hands-up pose at the start of the Sun Salutation is called Urdhva Hastasana, or for the more red-blooded: “Upward Salute.”
The nice thing about yoga is that unless you hurt yourself doing it, there’s really no wrong way. Endless variation. And modification. Which is all YHC can do, since the actual “correct” poses require a level of flexibility that only our revered master, Gumby, can attain. But it’s fun to try and good for a laugh when you google different poses and wonder how a person that flexible can even walk.
Until next week, remember to breathe. And that worry is a waste of imagination.
In His peace,
Swiss Miss
After not posting to Bagpipe but maybe twice this year; YHC wanted to pull out an old workout to ensure it hasn’t been done recently. I went back to 2013 and modified a Mighty Might Chutes and Ladder with a Champagne thriller. A little bit of my own touch, and viola = Quiet Suck. After a proper disclaimer was given; we took off.
The Thang:
Mosey across Brixham Hill to open lot
– SSH x 20
– IW x 20
Quickly move to lower patio area around Lock Ness.
Here’s what we’ll do (according to my plans):
– 11’s in the Lower Area: Diamond incline merkins/Wall jump. Run to upper area.
– 11’s in the Upper Area: Wall lunges/Backward lunge (flap jack legs). Run to grassy area.
– 11’s in the Grassy Area: Spartan burpees/Knerkin.
– 1 full lap then back to lower area; Repeat circuit then
– 2 full laps, then back to lower area; repeat circuit then
– 3 full laps then back to lower area; Plank.
Here’s what we actually did:
– 11’s in the Lower Area: Diamond incline merkins/Wall jump. Run to upper area.
– 11’s in the Upper Area: Wall lunges/Backward lunge (flip flop legs). Run to grassy area.
– 11’s in the Grassy Area: Spartan burpees/Knerkin.
– 1 full lap then back to lower area; Repeat circuit then…
– Plank then hang out waiting for McGee, Heartbreaker, Cable Guy, Peppermint, and Dumpster Fire (all of them way out in front) make their way back after earning an extra credit lap.
Partner up for catch me if you can:
– Partner one 5 LBC then run to catch partner two; partner two run backwards until caught. Flap Jack. One lap around Lock Ness.
Quick mosey back to Brixham Hill; cross safely; then AYG back to parking. 1 Min. overtime for pax.
Moleskin:
For some reason (stupidity), YHC has been posting exclusively on Tuesdays at Fast Twitch. But I enjoyed my time a few weeks back following Cheddar, and had decided to sign up to Q. However, I didn’t want to take the pax on the same circuit they might have done last week, or the last month; so I decided to pull from archives. “Chutes and Ladders” sounded interesting and with Mighty Might being the author and Q, I knew that I had found a winner. I also remember another just plain terrible circuit that Champagne ran that almost broke my spirit. Both involved the infamous Lock Ness. Perfect! I do remember how to get there! So with a parking lot full of would be Guinee pigs, we set off to try to conquer a new variant to some old circuits. As you can see above, we didn’t come close to completing. The 11’s really kept us planted in each area, and oddly it was very quiet. No mubble chatter. That was noticed almost immediately. Some mistakes made were the choices of the wall jumps and Spartan burpees. Those quietly sucked. It was also a tall order to try and even come close to completing even the 2nd time around. Only the 5 mentioned above were on their 2 laps going into the final circuit. They all shot out early and never looked back. Sorry for the clunky beginning to ‘catch me if you can’. The middle and end went better. Special shout out to Lochte. He was pushing himself hard to get better; and kept a positive attitude — keep coming out brother! Happy birthday to Hail Mary for his 50th (Kotters and please correct me in the comments if I mixed up birthday wishes). All were focused and businesslike today. Hence quiet suck. Thanks to JRR Tolkien for the take out. Keep Mario in your prayers.
Announcements:
A lot’s going on. Please read the newsletter. This weekend – COTS and Labor Day convergence. Two weeks a Tuesday convergence in Fort Mill to see off a brother leaving for active duty. The next day (Wed.) Area 51’s five-year convergence.
Thank you for letting me lead you today.
19 of the finest students made the trek to Basecamp for the first day of “School in the Gloom”. Class was in session with Professor Torpedo leading todays lesson in “Beat Down 101”.
The Thang:
YHC lead the Pax on a little mosey tour of he school parking lots. The group then circled up the start of the lesson.
Chapter 1: The COP
There are several convergences happening:
23 men got their last heavy FastTwitch in before the BRR with another shot at the Dunkin Knolls run made popular by Utah (sans cinder blocks this time)
The Thang:
Warmup Run down to Five Knolls entrance on Rea, partner up
Partner 1: Run down Five Knolls to cul-de-sac at end, and return
Partner 2: Run up Rea to stoplight at Dunkin Donuts, and return
Flapjack – each partner runs each leg once; can repeat, but return to entrance by 6am
Regroup at entrance to Five Knolls, and return to school
Mileage: 7+
Moleskine:
Announcements:
If memory serves (and it rarely does) the last time I was at Skunk Works, Witch Doctor played the 12 days of Christmas for an hour straight and then I left F3 for about 4 months. That’s what that horrible song (and an “overactive thyroid”) will do to you. A sad clown home KB workout a couple of months back left me blistered of hand and taut of hamstring for about a week so, with the BRR a mere 10 days off….NAH GONNA DUH IT. Not gonna harsh my taper, man.
[Voodoo, High Tide thought cloud: “BUT, BUT….KBs are the runner’s best friend. Posterior chain, hamstrings, glutes, they make you faster.”] They are right, of course. But not, after 6-8 months off, if you put them in the week before a race. I might be stupid, but I am not dumb. So that’s why you get a little bit of KBs and a lot of conditioning today. Thank Witch Doctor.
Surprised that we had 6 for the 0500 Skunk Runner. I thought that more or less died when Sussudio packed up his capri pants and moved to Del Boca Vista. Not surprised, however, that Fletch rolled in at 5:02. Not content to just catch up, he rolls down his windows to survey the faces and says….”Only you guys, eh? Go ahead (you sluggardly clumps of flesh), I’ll catch this group in no time. Probably have time to drop another deuce beforehand, too.” Those weren’t his exact words, but that’s what he meant. I saw a TED Talk on Body Language one time so I know these things. And catch us he did.
Meanwhile, the Spacklers, Bounces and Freedoms of the world were doing what they do at 0500: Swerving, yelling and honking at runners; working on masturbation jokes; and anthropomorphizing cast iron gorilla heads. Respectively, mind you, so as to not confuse the reader (and whatever body oversees 4 point Baptists). The Oxford semi-colon is key. (Funny thing there…I typed “Semi” and “Colon” and the concession stand at SCMS immediately came to mind. True story.)
Before we go any further, a note to any barrister reading this: your client was told, in a great cloud of 24 witnesses, that what was to follow were only suggestions and that he should have the common sense to KNOW THINESELF and modify as necessary. [Mermaid, your house is safe on my watch, buddy.] Thus forewarned, we moseyed to the suicide curb. Well, not entirely accurate: we walked down there. We started with some swings and ended up by doing cleans, reverse lunges and presses. This is a happy coincidence because when stacked one on top of the other, you get a Viking Salute, one of my favorites. The main set went like this:
Repeat with Reverse Lunges. Then repeat again with Presses. Then, stack them together and do the combined movements, or modified version, 3 times ea side, with the same suicide stations.
The backwards run up the hill on the last set reminded me of the backward bear crawl for some reason so we assembled at the bottom of the hill and, with a 25 arse salute to passing traffic, BBC’d up the hill with our KBs in tow, an exercise well-received by all who did it (not many).
Back for Mary followed byt a little bit of running and stretching. FINIS.
MOLESKINE
I gotta tell ya, I worked harder during this BB than I did during the workout. Quiet bunch today. It was probably the tension between Header and Arena that killed the buzz. Their respective MS Soccer teams face off in Game of the Century: The Carmel Candy Apples vs. Kings of the Jungle. In an unfortunate turn of events for the Candy Apples, Header, the always-effervescent Head Candy Apple, says their best player’s dad took the doors off the family Jeep, got caught in a freak 68 degree cold snap, and is hypothermic (the kid, not the dad). Or maybe just has the sniffles, but either way is expected to recover fully but won’t play today. Arena, the rock-ribbed Capital-P Presbyterian that he is replied. “Don’t matter no way. We be Frozen, Chosen and Bull-dozin’.” The blood-letting begins at 4:15 at Warner. Get your tickets.before they sell out. I hate to poke the Happy Candy Apple and then not show but I’ll be half way to Virginia watching my middle child run for 13 minutes.
F3 Hashtag Pro Tip: Chatty is good during the work out and when counting. Not good during COT.
Peace out.
P.S.: Rachel Price’s birthday today. Some gifts from her to you:
Finally a “cooler” morning, relatively speaking. Small group of four, and oddly, no Subarus, alt country, or Sundancer. Figuring he followed through with his decision to post to Skunkworks, we launched into the gloom.
Thang
Run 1.8 miles to Sundancer Ln. Partner up.
At the bottom of Sundancer Ln., do 5 Partner Dumbocrats each (P1 planks, P2 feet on P1 back – both do 5 merkins, flapjack).
Run to the top, do 20 WW2 situps each (P1 in situp position, P2 planks with hands on P1 feet).
Repeat until 6:00 and run back to OPE.
COT
Announcements
HDHH is on this week (hey, that’s tomorrow!) at The Lodge. Show up anytime between 4:00 and 6:00, and you’ll probably find someone there.
Church on the Street is THIS Sunday morning. I will be there. Will you join me in serving the poor?
Area 51 is having 5-year convergence on 9/14 (YHC’s 35th birthday).
BRR is next Friday (9/9). Time to start training – no, that was a couple weeks ago, but inopportune injuries occur every year, so if you’ve been posting several times a week, step up to fill in if asked and able. It’s like a great 24+ hour road trip somehow improved by a few hours of godawful running.
Moleskine
Small crew of four today, after ten-ish last week. We rolled up on the FT crew as we were heading up Rea to Sundancer Ln. Drudgery at its finest? Brady and Gerber were relatively talkative. Alf mumbled “Hey something or other”, which I assumed was a complement. Frasier was smiling, even expressing concern about guys going the wrong way. I think Runstopper was smiling too.
One Eye, getting stitches out today but still posting, modified and assisted with plank. YHC and he got in a couple of rounds when Hammer showed up. Apparently he has a bad right ankle and left knee, never knew…but I’m sure the 1.8 mile jaunt up was fun. Anyway, he jumps in with us for a couple rounds. Thunder Road rolls up, and partners with One Eye. Think everyone got in something between 5-9 rounds, but I stopped counting after 3.
These are both difficult exercises, so we kept the rep counts relatively low and went with multiple sets. Sundancer Ln. is a short little hill, which provided virtually no rest. Core was shot by the end, and probably going to feel that one tomorrow.
Pulling back into the drive way around 6:30 this morning, and get a text from Sundancer. He is alive, didn’t post to Skunk, and apparently had one of those nights – “even the dog is drinking coffee this morning”. They happen, but 90% of life is how you react to what happens, or something like that.
Final reminder to hit up HDHH tomorrow. For once, Runstopper will not be wearing spandex.
We’ll be back at it next week and try to get some decent hills / manageable mileage before a taking few rest days before BRR.
7 pax chose to forego the long drive to the Horsey and instead focused on the hills nearby the AO.
Run through the church parking lot and down Colony to the intersection of Sharon View with stops along the way for: SSH x 10; IW x 10 and Arm Circles x 10
Partner up for the main event where speed matters most.
Run up SV at Colony section 5 times stopping up at the top of the hill (Allison) for 10 burpees OYO and then back down for partner hand slap merkins x 10
Run back up Colony towards AO stopping for: knee-ups x 20; Russian twists x 20; granny situps x 20; over/under x 20
Run to bottom of church lot for sprints from your belly x 3 with varying distances
Boone L & R x 10; LBCs x 20
10 burpees OYO and then 10 x-fit burpees OYO
COT
Skin
Love Boat was talking smack before the workout so YHC altered the original plan which included fence jumps to this one. Hope everyone enjoyed. YHC was smoked after the main event. Pele seemed to agree.
Announcements
LD Convergence at Freedom Park – 7am
Thanks to Pothole for taking us out and the pax for the opportunity to lead.
LB
Grab your Subaru with factory issued COEXIST sticker, worst Radiohead / alt country play list, and patchouli, and come on out to OPE for the most entertaining workout of the day.
For those that don’t know, Sundancer has a bit of a physical reaction to WW2 situps, which we all believe is truly psychological. Basically, he becomes a merlot spilling station. We’re here to help, and to do so, we have designed an immersion therapy program to deliver maximum results in only 45 minutes (better than an hour long infomercial).
Partner up – speed, weight, smell, and conversational ability may all be worthy of consideration.
Run 1.8 miles to Sundancer Ln. In Swift parlance, this is your Interval or 2-mile race pace.
At the brick entrance, 5 partner dumbocrats each. Run to the top (Sunstar Ct.) for – you guessed it – 20 partner WW2 situps. Repeat until 6:00.
Run the 1.8 miles back to OPE for COT.
Total mileage should be north of 4 with significant core / upper body work.