Monthly Archive February 2018

Package Not Delivered

7 Pax showed at Blakovery to prove it was no rainout sweat. Still feeling BrOlympics though.
5 Miles thru Landen Meadows / Ardrey to drop a package at @escobars house. Delivery attempt unsuccessful. Will try to deliver again next week.
Stretch was covered by @wingman under cover.

Dodging the rain?

The Thang

Quick disclaimer (somebody threw out “lawyer”) and we were off. Mosey to the Church at Charlotte parking lot for warm-ups. No need to get out of the rain, and so we stayed out in the open.

SSH x20

IW x20

Mountain Climber x15

Peter Parker x15

Parker Peter x15

Run through Church at Charlotte breezeway. No need to stop – again, not raining, across Colony and down Charmay Trail to Castellaine Dr.  Hang a right to the cul de sac for instructions.

7s from one cul de sac to the other at opposite ends of Castellaine (squats & wide-arm merkins)

Mosey back to Church at Charlotte campus, run through the smaller breezeway north of the “other” breezeway – again, no need to stop, not raining. Find the wall in the main parking lot for some let work.

People’s Chair, with 30 air presses x2

Okay, now we’ll go to the main breezeway and stop. Even though still not raining, I’m running out of modifications for this workout planned with a downpour in mind.

Partner up.

Each team does 300 150 step-ups, 200 LBCs, 100 dips

While partner 1 does exercise, partner 2 runs the short lap around the building. Flapjack.

Mosey back to launch.

2 MoM (Dollies, Rosalitas)

Done.

Moleskin:

Great group out today. I think the A51 guys outnumbered the Metro guys for a change. Forecast called for a steady rain, and so YHC planned for a workout that would keep us (sort of dry). By the end of the workout, when we were still all mostly dry except for the sweat, YHC figured that it would be a terrible to end a wet workout all dry, and so we left the cozy dry confines of the breezeway for the wet Carmel Park parking lot for our two minutes of Mary. And yes, the intent to get nice and wet led to the call of dollies and rosalitas.

The 7s on Castellaine turned out to cover 2 miles! YHC didn’t see that coming. Good BRR training if you can get it! Kirk was way out in front, with One Eye right behind. Enjoyed the mumble chatter, led by Gummy (as usual). Good to see Rock out there again. Always a pleasure (and a challenge) to lead this group of men.

Announcements:

  • Run Jen Run 5k this Saturday. Sign up on the internets. F3 discount code is F32018.

Another Idiot Joins the Fold

6 men laced up for a hybrid road/trail route at F3 Pursuit.

This week was another all new loop course at Pursuit.  The route started on the North side of the hanging bridge on the Thread Trail. From there it went North on Ridgehaven (past Atlas’ house), left on a Thread Trail access trail, and left on the main Thread Trail back to the start.  Each loop was about 1.4 miles.  Most of us got 3 rounds in.  The trail portion was fantastic and the road portion featured a nice climb.  All in all this was one of YHC’s favorite routes so far.  Thinking we call this one ‘Run Mississippi‘.  Do you see the resemblance?:

Route

Great to see Strawberry at Pursuit (site FNG).  After some time off he’s getting back into form.  Keep it up, Strawberry.

T-claps to Goodfella for posting even though he knew he had to leave early to catch an early meeting Uptown.  Strong dedication as always.

Bratwurst showed up before we launched, which is always a plus.

Major T-claps to Atlas for leaving water for us at his mailbox AND for bringing an FNG.

Speaking of which, welcome FNG Wahoo, a Cleveland transplant and Pursuit’s 2nd FNG since we launched on 1/4!  Wahoo is a reference to Chief Wahoo, the Cleveland Indians logo/mascot.  Do I think Wahoo is going to fit in?  Well, he just ran a race called the Idiot Run.  So yeah, I think he’ll fit in quite nicely.

Tune in next time for YET ANOTHER all-new course at F3 Pursuit.

-TUCK

Cue the rain

9 PAX met in the rain that typically accompanies me Q’ing. Everyone navigated the streets of Pineville to find today’s launch spot at Belle Johnston Park, we are still trying to locate Udder and Flipper.

Disclaimer 

COP

SSH, Cherry Pickers,  Abe Vigodas, Low Slow Squats (x15 each)

THE THANG

Partner up – this is before Soft Pretzel arrived around 5:45, so we had even numbers

Grab a lifting rock by the shelter

Partners complete 100 of the following (with lifting rock)

  • Step-ups
  • Curls
  • Low Slow Squats
  • Tricep Curls
  • Overhead Presses

The other partner is running to a designated spot near the playground to complete 10 burpees or 10 pull-ups and running back to alternate.

Partners then take a lap around the lake in opposite directions stopping for 20 hand-slap merkins once they meet.

Retrieve lifting rock – 20 x Overhead Presses, 20 x Tricep Curls in cadence.

We then went round-robin for 15 counts of various Mary (flutters, box-cutters, american hammers, etc.) finishing out with a minute plank.

MOLESKIN

Thanks to Dumpster and Private Benjamin for the opportunity to lead. Welcome to our new FNG Morning Wood, hospital name John?. He has his own wood flooring business if anyone is remodeling.

Run Jen Run – March 3rd

Richard Sheltra 5k/10k – April 28

BroSpeed5 – the Last Prep

21 PAX at Swift used the last Tuesday before the BrOlympics 2.0 to sharpen the planned 1600m race pace and work on some endurance.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Warm-up mosey.
  • 0515 – If that warm-up mosey wasn’t enough for you, or you were using that time to sleep in or flush the system a little more, then we’ll start as a group at 0515 and head towards the Hwy 521 Bridge Rushmore (last minute audible due to fog and not really wanting to turn in traffic).
  • 0525 – Do some warm-up drills with the regular stuff.  Do some more warm-up drills with things like Bounding, Hamstring Kickers (?), Carioca, Lateral Bounding (like skipping sideways), and some weird North Korean military 2-step.
  • 0535 – Start the intervals which are a mixture of Repetition Pace (let’s just call it our Brolympics Goal Pace) and Threshold Pace.  Both can be found at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator by entering a recent race result.
    • 200m at R-pace, recover 200m
    • 200m at R-pace, recover 200m
    • 5:00 at T-pace with a U-turn at 2:30 to finish back where you started, recover 400m (or about 2:30)
    • Repeato for 3 rounds total.
  • Mosey back to COT at the Vine, many arriving late due to the Q’s choice of routes for the way back.

The Moleskin:

  • The final 5:00 interval was to get us back to the Vine on time.  As MT said in COT, there were a lot of PAX out there today that chose the longer route (and both routes were uphill as we found out) to perhaps push themselves that extra few minutes.
  • As the final tune-up for the BrOlympics 1600m that was the focus of this past training cycle, YHC wanted to wait until ALL of the results were in before typing out this Backblast.  Thank you for your patience.    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • At the Brolympics on Saturday, YHC was a bit surprised that only 12 of the Swift PAX participating at least once in this training cycle were able to compete in the 1600m.  Several PAX have been VERY consistent in this last 5 weeks, but weren’t able to toe the line.  But congrats go to Bunker, Woodson, Tuck, Fire Hazard, Doc McStuffins, Haggis, Goonie, Purell, Soft Pretzel, and Citgo for toeing the line to see what they were made of.  Some PAX set PRs, some were perhaps disappointed, but you guys did the work and got to prove to yourselves that you can handle the mental and physical of a race effort.
  • For those PAX not able to make the Brolympics 1600m that day due to various reasons – some of which included group training runs in the mountains for other events, volunteering and serving your fellow PAX on that day, or other valid commitments, YHC just wants you to know that there is no reason you CAN’T race.  For those PAX that set PRs on Saturday, they know they have a new benchmark in training.  For those that didn’t set PRs on Saturday, they know there is something for them to figure out with the next training cycle or racing for next time, or perhaps there is a new more realistic goal to set.  For those PAX who just didn’t think they had it and didn’t toe the line, make this next training cycle your most consistent and honest.  We’ll have more opportunities to “time trial” with the new Swift format (see below), and the next is May 29th.  If you have a race on the calendar between now and then, make that your time trial.  But don’t let your fear, worry, or doubt ever prevent you from testing yourself again.  You put in the work, and now’s the time to see what you can get out of it.
  • Here is an analysis from PAX who ran the 1600m on Saturday and did the Swift training leading up to it.  Many of you did these same workouts, but either didn’t have the data (Woodson, Goonie) because you can’t find a Lap button, or YHC didn’t have the time to get through everyone’s results.  Open the full file to check out any formulas used to evaluate results, and there is some other data as well.  The goal was to look at the Repetition Pace (which is just about 1 mile / 1600m race pace) from each of the various workouts we did over the 5 weeks and then how those translated into race results.
    • Full file is: http://goo.gl/BcwFh9
    • For some, you’ll see they could have done a little better in the race.
    • For others, you’ll see you fading during a workout (look into the details, especially at the longer intervals that get separated out, like the 800m, 2:00, and 5:00 intervals).  You perhaps can correlate that to how you were feeling that day, when you know you were pushing harder than you needed to, when you were just unsure of a goal and backed off, or you had a different “A” race you competed in or were training for.
    • It’s data, and you can look at it 5 different ways to tell you different things.  However, if you are showing up to a workout, pushing the Start button on your watch, using your Lap button (like Erector, Fletch, and Mario did this month), programming the workout, using Heart Rate, or something else, it’s good to look back and look at trends.
Repetition Pace Efforts Brolympics 1600m BroSpeed 1 BroSpeed 2 BroSpeed 3 BroSpeed 4 BroSpeed 5
Purell 0:04:59 0:04:38 0:04:43
Citgo 0:05:08 0:04:49 0:04:48 N/A No Lap Data
Woodson 0:05:24 No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data
Haggis 0:05:29 0:05:01 0:05:10 0:05:04
Bunker 0:05:42 0:05:53 0:05:34 0:05:23 0:05:38 0:05:20
Doc McStuffins 0:05:51 0:05:38 0:05:52
Tuck 0:05:52 No Lap Data 0:05:57 0:05:22 0:05:36 0:06:06
Fire Hazard 0:05:53 0:05:49 0:06:22
Soft Pretzel 0:05:57 No Lap Data
Goonie 0:06:22 No Lap Data No Lap Data No Lap Data

 

Announcements:

  • RunJenRun 5K at SouthPark this Saturday.
  • Swift schedule for March:
    • 1st week of the Month = Time-based intervals
    • 2nd week of the Month = Hill repeats
    • 3rd week of the Month = Distance-based intervals
    • 4th week of the Month = Form-drills and Sprints
    • 5th week of the Month = TIME TRIAL (1st month with 5 Tuesdays is May)
  • PreBlast for tomorrow = 2/1/:30 through Ballantyne Country Club (counter-clockwise)

I got your script right here!

15 pax posted for a heavyish light day at RockZero on Saturday morning.  No SF?  Disappointing.  Where are the long lost SF’s from Day Zero and The Rock?  I think Haze uses the the Day Zero one as a comforter.

Anyhoo….onto The Thang & Ye Olde Moleskine:

Some rambling commentary along with some of what we did at RockZero 2 days ago.  In addition to wearing out my welcome as Q by not following the “Light” script, I’m also woefully late with this backblast.  #cobains

Think we were supposed to cover 3 miles.  We didn’t.  In fact, McGee asked if we could run a bit more at the very end because someone’s Strava/MapMyRun/Garmin showed just shy of 2 miles…so we ran some more…though several did not.

Anyway, that was at the end of the downpainment.  We started with COP over near 51 with some slow squats, H-R merkins, rockhoppers (yep – you read that right – rockhoppers), flutters and perhaps something else, all IC of course.

Mosey over to the rocks by the never-used entrance off 51 for some partner work.  P1 runs while P2 did the called exercise (flapjack, of course): overhead press, squat, thruster.  McGee chased the 2.0 youngsters Sledge and Nemo around #notsoyounganymore Put the toy rocks back and jog to the pavilion.

Peoples’ Chair with some overhead press and some other variations.  3 sets of Walthar N’Djaiye’s x 15 IC. One BTW with much mumblechatter and questionable form.

Jog over to the picnic tables near the kitty litter for 3 sets of 15 jump up’s or step up’s and 15 incline merkins OYO.  Despite YHC’s tutorial on correct form for step up’s or jump up’s – many of the pax continued to make the exercises wholly ineffectual.  #youcanleadahorse

Mosey down to kitty litter for some lunges, backwards lunges, bear crawls, broad jumps, and maybe one other?

Jog to the baseball field near the cemetery for some partner work with the rock: Old school sit-ups toe-to-toe with the rock alternating possession & one other partner rock ab exercise.

Jog back to the launch lot.

Sprint 50’ish yards down, 15 H-R merkins. Sprint back.  Did this two more times with CDD’s and H-R widearms as well.

6 MoM with something akin to: slow flutters, LBC’s, protractor.

Run a lap for those who don’t want to be fully Strava-shamed for going < 2 miles in an hour.

Other sundry observations:

Hoover did most of the workout with a ruck, adding yet another reason why I’m never leaving the Noruck team.  Hope he didn’t hurt his back though a ruck on Hoover is akin to many pax carrying a string-bag with a bag of pork rinds in it.

Flipper did a prerun with Hoover as well, and muttered something about never doing Brolympics again, lest he be gifted with a rename.

Nemo left early but not before dusting McGee on some of the running.  Witch Doctor was donning some smoke boots on some of the runs for sure.  Mighty Mite posted at RockZero – glad to have you with us brother, even if due to the fact that all SOB workouts were closed for Brolympaloosa.  Boerewors…is there any other more consistent pax at RockZero?

Hammer struggled with some math during protractor work…Saturday brain or Clemsonowledge???  Ductwork posted for a rare Saturday workout for him at RockZero.  Glad to have you out as well brother.

Crabcake took up 3 spots parking so to avoid the door dings….of course there are about 5,000 parking spots at RockZero.

And great to have Abba back in Area51 on a visit from Atlanta.  F3 Bangkok coming soon.

Shoe with a back-to-back Centurion, RockZero post — Tclaps!

And our other Respect – Marlin – put down another workmanlike downpainment.

There were probably announcements about races, runs, etc. – RunJenRun, SpeedForNeed, Olive’s Run, etc.  Check twitter, slack, facebook, newspapers, and group texts and emails from which you can never unsubscribe for more info.

Grateful for the takeout from Ductwork.

By the way, we did not do any burpees.  Was that off script as well Flipper?  Regardless, you’re welcome guys.

4miles – 45 min – Lets do this bootcamp

10 brave men showed up for the 4+ miles light bootcamp in the alloted 45 min..

 

COP

SSH 10 IC (In cadence) – Circle around the parking lot

Cotton Picker 10 IC

Merkins 10 IC  – Circle around the parking lot

Mountain Climber –

 

Thang

Mosey to deck

Second level – Partner up – one runs straight other runs up slope comes back and 3 hand tap merkins where they meet . meet 3 times

Up another level – same partner setup – this time 10 LBC

Up another level – same partner setup – 10 squats

 

Run down to the starbucks

Modified 7 (6 Merkins at Wells Fargo  and run and do 1 jump squats at Starbucks ) …till 1 at merkins and 6 jump squats

 

Mary – Flutter 10 IC, Box cutters 10 IC, Dolly IC

 

Front of Ulta – 4 islands

German relay or suicides using the 4 islands except on the way back did 1 burpee at base

 

Ran back to Base

Completed 4.2 miles

Moleskin

Not sure if all the pax knew of the challenge of completing the 4 miles but we did it none the less. The deck did get a comment – this is the stinkiest Q I have been to – garbage truck was close. Cinqo-Ocho was leading the pack today. Transporter was not far behind him. The rest of us tried to hang on. Solid effort by Huggie Bear , his watch lied to him with 3.7 miles . Wild Tuna and Chippy gave a solid effort too. Delta thought he would withdraw from Cerberus but the 3 headed dog was in his head and he was unfazed by 4 miles. Kirby was all in from the moment YHC posted on Slack, he has been transformed into a runner in the last 4 months and injury free too. Pitch Fork and Mighty Mite gave a great effort too.

Kirby thanks for the take out.

Thank you Transporter Alf and Argonaut for the chance to lead. This AO sure has a lot to offer, you wont be short of creative drills.

Below in the announcements I have listed Speed for Need , im would highly recommend one SFN race at least one in year. Get a chance to serve in the community for a good cause with your fellow F3 brothers. Bring the M and 2.0s too .truly humbling experience.

 

Announcements:

 

  • Run Jen Run – Speed for Need Race March 3rd
  • Richard Sheltra Memorial 5k -April 28th –  Race is to benefit Firefighter education materials. We are trying to have a Speed for Need race here. But first trying to get 10 HC before we can talk to riders. We have some good men we are looking to push but first need the 10 HC(2 HC currently). Contact Cheddar if you are interested.

https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Pineville/RichardSheltraMemorial10K5K1MileFunRun

  • Spaghetti Dinner to benefit Michael Starnes family – March

https://nextdoor.com/events/nc/waxhaw/waxhaw-fire-department-spaghetti-dinner-for-michael-starnes-1884275

Shakin’ that Weight

Happy days were back at Kevlar for a fun Friday!

THE THANG

Jog to parking lot for warmup – SSH and the like

Hit the hills 5 times adding a burpee at top for each hill.

Mosey to the bro gym for some exercises (see moleskine)

To the field for sprints and mary

COT

YE OLDE NAKED MOLESKINE

There are days where you may pop over to a neighbors because you are out of milk or need to borrow a tool or need a helping hand to move something heavy. I liken this to my dilemma last night when handed the Q last minute by Tackling Dummy. I was certain that there was one thing needed to bring the fun back to Fun Friday – The Shake Weight. We generally bust this device out just after the New Year but despite my desperate texts no one seemed (or claimed to) have one handy…

Enter Tiger Rag. I texted. Nothing. Left a voicemail. Nothing. And then at 8:24 pm it was the return call I was waiting for. Tiger Rag not only had one Shake Weight – he had two! Not only that – he had actually stopped by Covenant Day and dropped both off in the long grass next to the fence in the dark much to the shock of a dog walker who appeared out of nowhere! That’s a true friend. It does so happen that TR has been on a strict Shake Weight exercise regimen these past six months in a bid to get back in F3 shape. His forearms look like Popeye’s.

Speaking of forearms the Shake Weight shaker during the bro gym segment had to stand on the picnic table displaying their skills for all to see. Singles to doubles to behind the head – everyone had their own style and tried to work it to the music. When “Beat it” by Michael Jackson came on the pax took it to a whole new level.

Enough of those shenanigans. Good workout. Beautiful weather and have a great weekend lads! BD

 

 

Off the Grid

22 pax showed up on time for Centurion. 1 wandered around until he found us, before we went off the grid.

We ran from the launch area, through the Chipotle parking lot, across 51 to the parking lot adjacent Palatine Hill. There, among the intense spring aroma of the row of Bradford Pears, we circled up for COT. Nerves set in for the Q after Snuka was roasted for not going the correct order for moving the pax into the called exercise. Fortunately, it came back to me. We did IWs x 10 IC, MCs x 10 IC, Merkins x 10 IC and Low Slow Squats x 10 IC. It was interesting that a pickup truck coming into work very early pretty much encircled us before finding the perfect spot out the 112 available spaces to back in to. We were not deterred.

From there, we previewed our route by running around Carmel Park I to the courtyard of tables and benches between Carmel Park I and Carmel Park II then down to the stop sign then down the road stopping at the base of the west side of Palatine Hill. The Bermuda Triangle was announced.

  • Up the steep west side to the top
  • 10 burpees at the top
  • Down Palatine and then up the road around Carmel Park I to the courtyard
  • Find an open bench in the courtyard for 10 Derkins, 10 Dips and 10 I-Merkins
  • Run down to the stop sign for 20 jump squats
  • Then back to the base of the hill

7 is the number of perfection. It’s also the number of days Joshua marched around the city before the walls of Jericho fell. So the goal was 7 times.

At 6:10, we gathered and started our run back. With traffic picking up on 51, we moseyed to the CC crosswalk. We pressed the button but we never got the red light so we could cross. Ultimately, we found our opening and started an AYG back to base in order to arrive by 6:15.

After Name-0-rama, we had what seemed like 27 announcements. The ones I remember are:

  • Check out Speed for Need race calendar. Run Jen Run is coming up.
  • Achilles International is looking for para-guides to run with visually impaired runners.
  • Olive’s 8K in Huntersville

Great take out by Hops, reminding us to invest in others and praises for Bout Time’s son Jennings.

 

Been a while since YHC had Q’d Centurion, so it was time to bring back the Bermuda Triangle. As Chelms pointed out, it’s really a trapezoid. But there’s no deep, dark place from which you never return that’s named after a trapezoid. Plus, he did name it the Bermuda Triangle when it was introduced to the pax back in 2016. The west side of Palatine Hill is no joke and adding the burpees at the top throws the heartrate to epic levels. The rest of the loop is spent simply recovering before you have to climb it again.

The pax did solid work this morning. A handful achieved perfection, completing the 7 rounds. Most guys got 6 rounds, except Pro and Gloss…pretty sure they skipped burpees and quit after 4.5 rounds. For YHC, it’s demoralizing to hear you’re going to do the same thing over and over for 30+ minutes of a workout. But getting through builds some mental toughness and stamina.

Thanks to Margo and Udder for the opportunity to lead such a quality group of men. And thanks to the men for the brotherhood.

-Haze

Snowbirds are back!!! – Impromptu Monthly AMRAP

With the temps rising a bit this week it looks like the migration of the Snowbirds has begun – shout out to Foley, Dasher and Legal Zoom for packing up their OldmasBuicks and  leaving the comfy confines of Boca Del Vista to make the trip North for the summer.

Warm-up: Quick Mosey around the parking lot and then headed to preview the course. Stop at rock station -SSH, Stop by BearCrawl station – Merkins, Transporters Office – Cherry Pickers, BB Court – LS Squat, Light post – 5 Burpees.

Our Monthly AMRAP – 30 minute timed – roughly .4 Mile circuit with the various stations.  *Top past performers were “handicapped” with large cinder block vs lifting rock

As a Q – not much to do with this one but gather everyone to the starting spot and hit start for the timer.  Results were impressive:

BottleCap – 5.1 Laps – Dude continues to crush it – even with the added handicap and suspect Donkey form
Toast – 4.3 Young Fella came of the courts to crush the course. I can’t have a young gun besting me – so I’ll need to deduct .2 #russianjudge
RunFlat -3.1 – No Flats here – had on the low profile sport tires today
Old MacDonald – 3.5 Continues to practice on the farm chasing Chickens and herding the goats – good work
Yo Adrian – 2.5 – sets an impressive baseline to improve upon for the string of sequals
GoodFella – 2.5 – Plays the Mickey today offering encouragement “You’re going to eat lightning and you’re going to crap thunder!”
Doughboy – 4.1 – Ran this course like some buttermilk biscuits were coming out of the oven – Don’t get in his way
Foley – 4.0 – Back from Boca Del Vista – logs an impressive number – pissed because he left the white loafers in FLA
Hooch – 4.3 – Was wondering how he would do without his partner in crime – but sends a clear msg to Longhorn “Champions are made in the offseason”
StubHub 4.4 – StubHub turns down a huge contract from CrossWit to stay and Play for the #BallPit – drops the hammer on the course
Foundation 4.4 – Not bothered by the Handicap – puts Photoshop on hold, sends all important work calls to VM and busts up the course
BeltWay – 3.1 – Didn’t seem to be stuck in traffic today – making impressive ground – left turn signal on>>> looking to get in the fast lane
Dasher – 4.4 Boca Del Vista’s finest – drinks secret potion of prunes, livermush and Flax seed oil he scored off the shuffleboard crew – announces his presence

Das Boot – 4.3  Turns down running workout and Cabella’s – forgets headband and still lays down an impressive score.

Legal Zoom – 4.3  No need for practice – quietlylays down a 4.3 on his firt go round.  Can be heard mumbling – wonder if we could get this many PAx to come to Cool Runnings

Fuse Box 4.1 – Part of the Clydesdales making noise on the course today.  Went without the towel to cut down on the extra drag.  Impressive results

Spam 3.3 –  relative newbie posts an impessive number – doesnt lose his cookies #restinpeaceorville

Rose  3.3 – Continues to post, ride in the clown car and learn from the AMRAP Master – BC.  No Whinning here

I’ll update the xls once Hollywood recovers from the flu so you can see past resutls

Pleasure leading this great crew today – everyone was pushing, encouraging and pulling brothers along.

Announcements:

BroOlympics – tomr Wedd Track – 6am/Spagetti Dinner Fundraiser March 3rd