Balrog II

Balrog II

29 men from multiple regions, generations and backgrounds woke to 30 degree weather and the prospect of running 16 miles w/ pain stations… and posted to Balrog II #CSAUP anyway.

What is Balrog II?: PreBlast

Thang:

Depart from Hickory Tavern Ballantyne at 0700 with shovel flags in tow.

Pain Station #1 @ Ballantyne Corporate Park AO: Goonie on Q

Jack Webb 1/4 up to 6/24. Merkins done with hands on rocks, presses to be done with rocks, as well. Recover with a quick jog down to the western-most building of Loch Ness and back.

Mary while holding rocks above: Dolly x 10 IC, Box Cutter x 10 IC, Rosalita x 10 IC

Next set: Curls, Overhead Presses, and Tricep Curls: 4 sets, 10x, 15x, recovery mosey down and back, 15x, Presses 25x. In between sets, pax would rotate rocks to get a little variety in their lives.

Pain Station #2 @ Elon Park Elementary School AO: Kid Rock on Q

Upon arrival to Elon Park for the 2nd stop, the PAX hydrated and got right to it, by trading in their shovel flags for buckets and sandbags for an obstacles course team challenge. Circle up and count off by 2’s.  1 runner from each team start us off.
Full parking lot run to South driveway for bucket carry. Once around the child carousel and back to starting point without setting down your bucket. On to the “barbed wire” crawl around South landscape bed to the sandbag carry. Carry sandbags along East commons area to telephone pole and back. Drop your bags and off the the plate carry. 1 45lb plate walk to the school and back. Head North along the parking lot to the sled pull. Pull the length of rope, and drag back to starting point. Finally, finish the course at the spear throw. Strictly enforced 20 burpee penalty for missed spear. Circle of Mary until all PAX have complete the course.

Pain Station #3 @ Blakeney AO: Strawberry and Paper Jam on Q

Met the group at a parking lot right before Blakeney fountains with an additional 5 pax in tow including a FNG. We did a quick round of Rock Webb up to 6 counts. Was notified by many that the exercise had already been done. Questioned by same pax if we coordinated with other  Q’s as to not repeat exercises (we obviously did not…OR did we on purpose). Cobains. After feeling a little sorrow we cut the Rock Webb off and moseyed to Blakeney fountain for a PJ led Blakovery dynamic stretching session.

Pain Station #4 @ Stonecrest AO: Commish on Q

It would not be prudent if we did not run up and down our signature piece of landscape at The Maul – so of course, we started with a nice mosey down The Murderhorn only knowing that eventually the crew would have to go back up. That alone is mentally painful after you just finished running up to 10 miles. Understanding the pain these fine young men were enduring, they were rewarded at the bottom with a fully stocked fuel station and some patriotic music to keep their spirits up. The PAX did not eat or drink much so I figured they were ready to get rolling to where they could grab some cold ones and killer apps at The Hickory Tavern.

Not so fast though.. This is F3 and Balrog II so we have certain standards to live up to. In turn, we blasted out a lightening round of Mary.  The PAX counted out along with the cadence energized and inspired.  After a quick mosey down the grassy knoll to the rock pile, we banged out a lightening round of curls, military arm presses and tri-ceps with very manly sized rocks I might add.  It was time.  These guys were pumped – and off they went disappearing into the midst as they climbed back up the Murderhorn.

Very encouraging and impressive showing by all!!  Great work men!!

Pain Station #5 @ Devil’s Turn AO: Tuck on Q

After a long slog up Rea Rd from Stonecrest we circled up at the corner of Rea and Bevington.   The PAX were anxious to knock out the remaining few miles to get to the beer and nachos that awaited us at Hickory Tavern.  Not so fast.  Just enough time for a little more pain.

Low Slow Squats IC.  Each PAX calls out 1 rep around the circle until all have gone (there were 22 of us at that point).  Same deal with Tempo Merkins, then Jump Squats.  And off we went onto the Greenway for the remaining 3 miles of Balrog II.

Bal-blog:

This was a great event, made possible by all of the volunteers and brave souls that showed up.  We lost a handful of potential PAX due to the CLT Marathon.  Next year we’ll make sure there is no scheduling conflict.  YHC encourages all who have never done a #CSAUP to stop thinking and put yourself out there.  They give you access levels of 2nd and 3rd F that are not possible under normal circumstances, and help expand what you thought was possible for yourself physically.  There WILL be a Balrog III next year so keep your eyes peeled.  There are many people to recognize so here goes:

T-claps:

• Paper Jam, Strawberry, Commish, Goonie and Kid Rock for Q-ing.  Extra credit to Commish for providing a cornucopia of snacks/refreshments.  That’s right, a CORNUCOPIA! #cornucopia
• Mario, Goonie, Wingman, Dasher, Cheddar, Das boot, McGee, Fredo (respect), Velveeta, Transporter, Lumberjack and YHC for being the few and the proud to complete the entire 16-mile Balrog II course.  Mario hit 17 by repeatedly looping back to check on the six.
• Wingman, Mario, Kid Rock, Cheddar, Commish, Goonie, Strawberry, Paper Jam, Fire Hazard & YHC for being lucky strong enough to participate in Balrogs I AND II and live to tell about it.  Who’s going for the trifecta?
• Squid for once again refusing to relinquish a shovel flag after he joined at Elon Park ES.
• Fire Hazard, Haggis and Cul de Sac for squeezing in part of the event before other commitments
• FNG Sick Puppy for making Balrog II his very first F3 activity.  That takes guts.  Consider the fact that he’s not even in high school yet and that makes him a certified bad ass.  He showed great grit and determination in shaking off cramps the last couple of miles.
• Cobbler for posting despite not doing this kind of mileage recently.  Keep up the good work!
• Transporter for introducing us to “Ass Caps”
• Wingman and Kid Rock for helping w/ promotion
• Strawberry for finding the da Vinci shovel flag.  Strawberry, please be gentle with her.  Remember: 1) no bright light 2) do not get it wet and 3) never feed it after midnight, no matter how much it begs.
• Kid rock for Q-ing an awesome Spartan style pain station despite #cankle
• Madame Tussauds, Thin Mint, Mario, JRR Tolkien and Fire Hazard for providing equipment
• Mario and Fire Hazard for helping Kid Rock set up / break down equipment
• Squid for taking us out
• The nice lady we basically car jacked at the end to take our group photo
• Kid Rock and Hickory Tavern Ballantyne for providing the post-event food.  Under normal circumstances it would have been delicious.  After 16 miles and every Jack Webb ever it was… orgasmic?  Yes, orgasmic.  #orgasmic
• Everyone for showing up despite freezing temps and logic
• All of the many anonymous vehicles that supported us along the way by honking as they drove by.  Very cool.
• The PAX that donated to the Patriot Military Family Foundation
• Mad Dog and Squid for their service to our country

Alternative BackBlast Titles:

• “Introducing: the Tricep Curl” (because Goonie knows what he did)
• “Fire Hazard Leaves Early; Hates Veterans” (because actions speak louder than words)
• “All Jack Webb, All the Time” (because Jack Webb is what we do now at every workout, w/ rocks)
• “Escobar: Portrait of a Runner” (because Escobar is a runner)
• “Balcovery” (because you CAN recover during a #CSAUP… w/ Paper Jam on Q)
• “Keys to Victory” (because finding YHC’s car keys is a team effort.  2 years in a row.)
• “CSAUP: Complete Suffering And Ultimate Punishment (because ‘punishment’ is the only logical reason you would bring a middle schooler FNG to an event such as this.  whatever Sick Puppy did, it must have been REALLY bad.)
• “Nacho Average #CSAUP” (because nachos)

Kid Rock Moleskin:

YHC has had quite the week leading up to this event. Sprained ankle and a busted axle on the beast caused me to be extremely behind in planning and preparation. Borrowed vehicles, borrowed time, borrowed equipment, and a borrowed garage… courtesy of Mario, Fire Hazard, Tolkien, Thin Mint, and MT- this whole thing was made possible. We did the best we could with the time we had to work with, to put together a Spartan worthy course… or at least I dreamed it was…..  YHC never actually got to run it.

The PAX seemed to enjoy a break from running around the city to tackle a few fun yet challenging obstacles. Several OCR veterans breezed through everything without any issues, while others seemed about as out of place as YHC at a millennial dance party. We all witnessed some new spear throw techniques…… sure to improve your overall burpee count at any race.

Looking forward to a bigger and better Balrog III next year! HC already!

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