With the windchill around 19F, YHC bundled up full Cantore style and headed over to see if any others were brave (foolish?) enough to join me at Elizabeth Lane Elementary. Fortunately (unfortunately?) two others were. Rachel, working on his windburned leg tan, and Blazing Saddles, looking like Randy from Christmas Story. With a super-quick disclaimer given, we started trying to stay warm. Here’s how:
COP
SSH-10
8-count merkin-10
IW-10
LSS-10
The Main Thang:
10 Halos (5CW/5CCW), 20 Good Mornings, 30 Goblet Squat, 40 Alt 1-handed Swings
Repeato Twice (3 total)
Start with 50 X 2-handed swings, do the exercise on the list, and do 50 X 2-handed swings between each of the following:
50 X squats (squater’s choice)
50 X shoulder presses (alternate as needed)
50 X curls
50 X upright rows
50 X lawnmower (alternate as needed)
Only 20 2HS
20 X merkins – Right hand on bell
Only 20 2HS
20 X merkins – Left hand on bell
Only 10 2HS
10 X merkins – both hands on bell (think “diamond merkin”)
3 minutes of Mary
Announcements:
Anyone have Floatie’s contact info? Blazing Saddles needs to confirm he’s ready to Q Tuesday at Skunkworks
Moleskin:
YHC, inspired by his Christmas Alexa, wanted to do an all-request workout – not the exercises, but the songs. Unfortunately, Alexa needs 110V. And even with a car-charger-converter, there’s still the problem of needing WiFi. So YHC did it the old fashioned way: pulling up requests on YouTube piped through a Bluetooth speaker. Worked pretty well, but did cause me to fall behind the other two, who were powering through the workout with barely a pause. (YHC was gasping and taking multiple extended pauses in addition to the “pulling up the next song” ones.)
I commented at one point that between the cold and the wind, I wasn’t breaking a sweat, even though I was pushing as hard as any other workout. Somewhere between the start and finish, Rachel did say he wasn’t cold any more. He also said it was nice to have some padding on his back for Mary. #Silverlining.
Be safe this weekend, gents. See you next year.
-Swiss Miss
Wondering what kind of turnout we’d have during the week of Christmas, I was pleasantly surprised to be joined by 5 other men— all looking to burn a few extra Christmas calories. Props to Puddin Pop, who showed up even with no scheduled work day. (This may have been the case for others, but I didn’t hear otherwise.)
Anyway, with all regulars in attendance, the disclaimer was short & sweet. At promptly 5:30, we headed out by jogging a lap around the bus parking lot. The rest went like this:
Warm-up jog suicides with backpedal as the return exercise, followed by the same routine with bounding steps and backpedal. Circle up for COP— 10 IW, 10 SSH, 10 LSS, 10 Merkins, 10 MCs. Jog to the track and add one more lap to complete the warm-up.
Instruction given to the PAX for the first set of exercises— Run 1 lap, then 10 x Merkins, 20 x Squats, 30 x LBCs. Repeat the process 3 more laps, adding 10 reps to each exercise after every lap.
Next set of exercises— Run 2 laps, then 10 x CDDs, 20 x Sister Mary Catherine’s, 30 x Flutter kicks.
Jog to Semi-Gloss’s office, partner up with one lifting rock per group. P1 did called exercise while P2 ran down the ramp and back up the stairs. Exercises were— Bicep curls, Tricep press, overhead press, flutter press.
One set/minute of wall sits and back to launch. Done!
Moleskin: Great group of men with solid site leadership! Thanks for the opportunity to lead. Or maybe I should thank Header—who was on the schedule but instead chose to spend time with his family at an exclusive mountain outpost where I’m sure he’s hunting and shooting stuff!
Jet Fuel and I should be enemies this week with the Sugar Bowl coming up—but I like him too much. Great guy. And he does pull for a really good team. I just happen to be an alumn of their opponent.
Dollywood was very excited for track work! I know he doesn’t like it, so I thought this would be my chance to beat him. Didn’t work out so well for me!
Happy New Year to all the Area 51 men. I pray that 2018 will provide many opportunities for us to use our platform to bring Him glory.
Fellas,
I hope that you had a great Christmas. I have spoke to many of you about a paintball day this Saturday from 12-3pm at Palmetto Hills Paintball in Rock Hill, SC.
I have a private ref scheduled for our group and it should be a good chance to blast your kids on some fun courses! We have around 20 committed right now and we could easily double that. Here is some info to help you make the decision:
Location: Palmetto Hills Paintball, 1481 Anderson Road S, Rock Hill, SC 29730
Time and Date: Saturday 12/30/2017 from 12pm-3pm (get there 30 mins early to rent equipment)
Cost: $20 ish per person for rental guns, masks, air, field time etc depending on amount of paintballs you use. I usually go to Dicks and get 4000 paintballs for $55 to save money and have plenty to play. Paint is more expensive on site.
Other info: Kids are supposed to be 10 or older and you have to sign waiver. Games are high powered so no pansy kids who may cry and it will be cold and it will sting. Have them wear layers and you can always rent a protective vest if you want for $3.00
Fire away with any questions. Hard commits so far are YHC, Header, Busch, Bananas, Tackling Dummy, Spackler, Hops, Sidecar, with maybes on Horsehead and VooDoo.
Hope to see you there!
Cheers,
BD
IT was that time of the year again, so it made my prep easy and therefore, off we went to do our Thang:
Warm-up with jog to Rock and back.
The Thang: For any of you that were here for last year’s when Witch Doctor Q’d, this one looked the same. No Changes were necessary.
Days are cumulative (Day 1; Day 2,1; Day 3,2,1, etc.)
We almost finished! Got started on Day 12, and finished somewhere along the way when Arena called me for time check.
COT
Moleskin:
Entertainment (music) malfunction with the loss of Pandora and therefore no Christmas tunes. Bulldog the DJ assisted YHC by just saying use a playlist. So, the Pax got my BRR playlist that included some “mean metal” that gets me up those darn mountains. Enjoy!
The Pax did anywhere from 0 to 144 burpees this am. Only You know how many you did….
Thanks to Tiger Rag who brought this one to us a few years back. It’s a favorite just like Jingle Bells, so be prepared for next year to endure.
Five Guys showed up on a cold wintery morning to go in the Eagle’s Nest where it was warm to do some old man Gumby stretching. Most are pst running stretching exercises due to YHC’s post Christmas run yesterday.
The Thang:
Corpse pose- deep breaths with a Devotion: Mark 11:22-24 Have Faith in God
Cat
Cow
Up Dog
The Runner’s Stretch (X 5 deep breaths then opposite side)
The Standing Stretch x 5 breaths
The Forward Hang x 5 breaths
The Low lunge arch x 5 each side
The Seated Back Twist x 5 each side
The Bound Angle x 5 each side
Single Leg Stretch x 5 each side
Figure 4 stretch x 5 each side
Sumo Squat Twist x 5 each side
Tiny Fencer Stretch x 5 each side
Plank to Down Dog
Plank to Down Dog to Updog
Plank to Down Dog to Updog to Step Forward, roll up to Tree
Namaste X 5 OYO
Forward bend to walk hands forward to plank, 5 slow merkins, to Rt lunge and arms out stretch (Repeat sequence to include left lunge)
Child’s pose
Corpse pose
Closing Devotion- Matthew 13:58says “[Jesus] did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (NIV) Are you seeing with eyes of fear, or are you seeing with eyes of faith? Faith opens the door to miracles.
COT
Naked Moleskin:
Gumby is the most intimidating workout to Q in F3 in my humble opinion. The prep work includes planning the workout (of course), a good devotion or something to reflect on, and then the music to set the mood for stretching and yoga. YHC has a tough time with this one as the Site Q’s know. But, have faith, and get er done!
A great group this am, that worked hard on working out the kinks of a Christmas slumber. YHC felt pretty good after that one. YHC hopes the rest of the guys did as well.
Last night, a jet-lagged Ickey Shuffle called out for a replacement at Anvil. I took on the lead and we all learned some valuable lessons.
Like a kale-chip, the conditions were crisp, dark but good for you.
COP:
Side-straddle hops x 15
Imperial Walkers x 15
Low, slow squats x 15
Mountain climbers x 10
‘Mericans x 10
Mountain climbers left-hand high
‘Mericans x 10
Mountain climbers right-hand high
We left campus from Rea Rd to Pineville-Matthews. I had planned a circuit through Challis Farms. Upon reaching the neighborhood, we learned it was gated. And with that my Weinke was ruined. We ran back to Calvary and here’s what we did instead.
Catch Me If You Can
P1 – 3 burpees
P2 – Run
Switch and repeat
Triple Nickel on North Face
‘Merican & Jump squats
Repeat with Jump squats & ‘Mericans
Planter Partner
100 combined Derkins
Wall Sit
Mary ‘Merican Ladder
10 ‘Mericans & 10 LBC (IC)
thru 1 ‘Merican & 1 LBC
1-minute elbow plank
We covered nearly 2.25 miles and along the way we sprinkled in some additional Mary & ‘Mericans, but that pretty much covers it.
Mo’ skine, Mo problems:
I have been to Anvil a few times in the past, but I really don’t know the AO well. (That’s coming from someone who doesn’t know my regular AOs too well either.) Foolishly, I thought I could run to a neighborhood street for an out-and-back and not get lost. I did not count on a gated neighborhood. I learned you can run the Rea Rd. Calvary entrance. For being very confused most of the morning, the PAX were pretty helpful and understanding. Thank you.
Flipper and Rachel dominated the North Face segment. Udder provided some guiding chatter to keep me on track and Purrell and Snowflake never complained and hustled all morning.
WU: After a quick chastising From Mcgee for not saying the disclaimer, mosey over to the side lot and circle up. State the DISCLAIMER, 20 SSH, 20 MC, 10 Wide Arm merkins, 10 MC, 5 merkins, 10 MC’s, 5 Diamonds. 10 Cherry pickers and 10 IW to finish the warm up.
The Thang: Mosey to the back of the school, lunge walk across the bridge, plank it up with some plank jacks. Mosey to the bleachers and run the bleachers, do some mary while six gets in.
The Main Thang: 4 Plates, 4 KB’s and 4 Sandbags, groups of 3. hammer out timer activities 150 Swings, 50 Burpee press and 50ish alternating merkins all while doing worm burners or walking lunges. Mosey back to the COT….OH WAIT…I can not make it Halfback has to lead the crew, Q has to side step…never fun.
Moleskin: As always great group, Red Rider had his days mixed up a bit but still managed to get to the work out. He was also worried about his teeth, the reach over Kettle Bell had him concerned. BC, however was not concerned at all, he felt this may improve his physical appearance by losing a tooth or two, I agree, there’s no where but up for him. Radar and Xerox kicked it into gear this morning with their no quit attitude. I’m also seeing a fire in Half back and Mad Dog, there game has accelerated quickly!
Announcements:
Praying for Gary- His pacemaker surgery goes well
Praying for Lynn- Her Brain tumor surgery goes well
Sanctuary Monday Night Resumes January 8th 7:30 Brooklyn Pizza
Joe Davis Run
11 PAX made it out on a lovely Sat. morning so they could better justify their choice later on that day to make poor eating and drinking decisions.
Warm up:
Mosey with disclaimer towards practice field, stop along the way for SSH 25x IC, merkins 10 IC;
The Thang:
Pyramid to get the shoulders warmed up; Maktar Ndiaye x5 IC, Peter Parkers x10 IC , Mountain Climbers x15 IC, plank jacks x20 IC, 25 second elbow plank hold; then back down again
to field-
Bear Crawl 10 yards, 10 merkins, then sprint 10 yards, 10 squats. repeat through far side end zone. Ends up being 60 merkins and 60 squats. Mary while waiting for the six.
Maktar NDiaye x15 IC just because the PAX asked for it
At elementary school wall: 15 Mike Tysons, 5 burpees, run to end of lot and back; then 10 Mike Tysons, 5 burpees, run; then 5 Mike Tysons, 5 burpees, run, More Mary while waiting
To playground: pair up P1 run to wall and complete 10 donkey kicks, P2 does the following, then switch: 1-supines under swings, 2-swerkins
Each exercise was completed 3x; Jump Squats while waiting for the 6
Mosey to benches-13 benches, alternate 10 dips, 10 derkins through all until finished; Mary while we wait
Mosey to the path near the baseball fields-at each lightpole up and back, 10 jump tuck knee slaps -total 70 -Pick up 6 or jump squats while waiting;
20 step up/jump ups at the flagpole
Mosey back to start, frog jump over bridge along the way
1 MOM, then Merkins x10 IC, wide arm merkins x10 IC, Diamond merkins x10 IC;
DONE!
Moleskin:
Fine group of guys as always. Mumblechatter was good. The recycled workout worked out well. Grass wasn’t wet. 2.8 miles. Elementary school rocks. Still love the swings. Track was closed, #lucky. Not a Christmas themed workout. No terrible West UC music on my watch. Transporter turned into Doc, aka form policia. Coffeeteria was on point with good fellowship. All in all a great morning.
Thanks to the PAX for sticking with it despite me being in the process of losing my voice. Until next time.
Announcements:
Joe Davis Run 1/6
As the PAX began to gather and exchanged greetings, Delta brought his 2.0 (Epsilon)… Shrink Wrap “you are named after the salt?” “Umm, that’s Epsom” “Ha, the Greek letter… you know Delta and Epsilon”. After an abbreviated (and odd) disclaimer, due to cold temp we were off…
Mosey to Pei Wei parking lot for some warm-up, nearly run over by a car going way too fast in the parking lot (as Fire Hazard pointed out – I chose the only parking lot with cars):
10 side straddle hops
10 imperial walkers
10 merkins in cadence
Mosey up Ballantyne Commons to Brighthouse Financial building, 1 pitstop for some Mary (LBCs in cadence for 10 count). Recover, mosey on… after a couple groans it became apparent where we were headed some mumblechatter started to emerge… Fire Hazard “I liked Billygoat before he was a runner” and a PAX with good memory (Tagalong I think) said “isn’t this where you took us before”? “Yep, but that was months ago”
Headed to the descending landings for some work – on the way down:
landing 1 – 10 step-ups & 10 merkins
landing 2 – 10 jump-ups & 10 derkins
landing 3 – 10 squats & 10 incline merkins
landing 4 – 10 burpees
Mary and wait for the 6. On the way back up:
landing 1 – 10 step-ups & 10 merkins
landing 2 – 10 jumpups & 10 derkins (that wall was high!)
landing 3 – 10 squats & 10 incline merkins
landing 4 – 10 dips & 10 jump squats
Mosey back down Ballantyne Commons to the first parking deck on the right. A warning (from a concerned PAX) to watchout for security was given… and sure enough security drove right by us during our wall sit (don’t think he noticed though).
PAX grabbed some wall for people’s chair (10 count presses down and back the line from each PAX, quads were definitely burning despite a cheat by the Q). up the parking deck we went – ‘all you got’ for the ramps and mosey the flats to the top. Down the stairs and mosey back to basecamp with 1 pitstop for some Mary along the way (Freddie Mercury 10 count in cadence).
Strong effort from the group sticking in a tight pack and covering 3.25 miles. Delta, thanks for coming back out despite Bagpipe injuring you the last time. Epsilon with a strong performance showing us old farts what’s up. Paper Jam ‘not a runner’ up at the front most of the way. Fire Hazard, Mighty Mite and Shrink Wrap pushing the pace during the landings. Tagalong with a strong effort (as usual) despite the Scattergories injury. And Frehley’s Comet with the ability to clear out the roof of a parking deck… well done.
10 Men opted to join YHC for Joe Davis Run for Recovery simulation workout. We needed 3 things-cold weather, hills and speed. We got ’em all.
After a disclaimer that ALMOST got missed, here is what we did.
The THANG-
Warm Up – Fellowship pace of almost 1 mile via Ballantyne Commons Parkway to the Bull Ring. We need to be good and warmed up for this one.
At the Bull Ring, 4 sets of dynamic warm up exercises with strides.
Toy Soldiers, High Knees, Butt Kickers, Walk on your toes
Main Event-
3 x 1 Mile at 5K Pace/Effort with 800m recoveies. 3 full cycles will get us 4.5 miles.
The Mile segment is an out and back from the Bull Ring up Ballantyne Corporate Place to 3 orange cones at approximately the Dana Radar golf school lot. This mile is “rolling.”
The 800M recovery is a counter-clockwise trip around the Bull Ring.
Focus 1 is to concentrate on turning the legs over on the downhill back when they are fatigued. Even pacing over rolling terrain is always a challenge.
Focus 2 is to try to run each mile slightly faster, so don’t burn all your matches out of the gate.
Pick a guy to work with who pushes you or chase someone faster.
Cool Down-Fellowship pace back to COT the short way due to time.
10k done. BOOM.
MOLESKIN-
Thin Mint was out front all morning with Hairball not far behind and then a large “chase pack” on their heels. It is really cool to run in a format like this where you can see the guys up front and how they make hard work look so effortless. Inspiring. I was the 6 today and was just thankful to feel that cold air in my lungs! Cobains for not having 100% to give after being sick the last several days, but I will ready come race day! Special thanks to Atlas and Moneyball for circling back for me on the recoveries.
On the run back, we all agreed that getting pacing just right is a challenge, especially on that second mile! Everyone seemed to close strong on Mile 3, though!
Special credit due to Bunker, Atlas and Fire Hazard for a pre-run. T-claps. Fire Hazard is having some hamstring issues and went the Bagpipe route to make sure he is race ready in 2 weeks!
As always, thanks for letting me lead. It is a privilege. I appreciate Bratwurst directly asking me. There is a lot of power in that. Having been sick the last few days, I was nervous yesterday about trying to run, but accountability is the magic of F3. If it were not for you guys, I would have missed another day. Instead, I feel the best I have in days. Thank you!
Also, I would like to express my gratitude for those joining us to fight Addiction on 1/6/18 at the Joe Davis Run for Recovery. There is still time to sign up at www.joedavisrun.com and code F3FIA gets you $5 off!
Here is a link to the Pre-Blast for more information-
Be a better man today than you were yesterday.
RT out.
Announcements-
Pray for Bout Time’s family.