We had a nice crowd of 18 show up at Dromedary on a brisk Valentine’s day morning. Keeping with the spirit of the day, 14 was the go to number as well as working for better or worse along with your partner.
The THANG:
The Moleskin:
A nice mosey around the parking lot started the morning off right, that led into a nice warm-up of multiple exercises done 14 times to get the body heat rising. Then the fun started. We partnered up and hit the rock pile. As in life, some of us picked our partners (and our rocks) wisely, others didn’t which they paid for later. After a lot of moaning and groaning, we ended up cutting the final exercise of big boy rock swap sit-ups short and returned the rocks. Then the rock returner got a free ride up the hill on the back of their partner. We finished the morning up with a bear crawl and lunge around the world. All of this was done with my trusty weinke on hand but rarely was it used.
Announcements:
– – Posted on behalf of Boucher – –
Called up/down Merkins until stragglers arrived
Jog twice around parking lot and adding in some side shuffles
Circle up for a proper “Bulldog” warmup
Jumping jacks, I guess they’re called Side Straddle Hops.
Alternating standing knees to elbows, I guess those are called Imperial Walkers
30 Merkins on your own
20 Jump Squats
Partner up for races around the parking lot while other half of team does called exercise, losers do burpees
Round one Merkins
Round two Drydocks
Round three jump squats
Round four speedskater single leg squats Round five Diamond Merkins
Recover with some Mary: protractor, flutter, Rosalita
Suicides along the basketball hoops full length of parking lot
Round one when finished – 30 Merkens
Round two – 20 squats
Round three – 10 Burpee‘s
Round four – 20 diamond Merkins
Line up shoulder to shoulder – Bear crawl five steps, five Merkins, bear crawl five steps, five Merkins, bear crawl five steps, five Merkins, bear crawl five steps, five Merkins
10 steps of dragon walks
Sprint to the first basketball hoop and back – 20 Merkins
Sprint to the first basketball hoop and back – 20 squats for the first basketball
Sprint to the second basketball hoop and back – 20 diamonds
Sprint to the second basketball hoop and back – 10 burpees
Sprint to the fourth basketball hoop back Mary
It was great to be back out with the boys again, my infrequent F3 participation of recent months was obvious when I blanked on the name Side Straddle
Hops and Imperial Walkers. What a laugh that was, and it is always fun when the Peanut Gallery is in full gear as was today! A great time was had by all and it’s such a blessing to be out with great men!!
5 PAX made it out while the rain almost held off so we made it an all asphalt workout. 7am hit, disclaimer given, and off to bus parking lot.
COP
SSH, IW, Low Slow Squat, MC, Cotton Pickers
To the track
Merkin corners 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x around the track and then a lap and then plank for the six
Merkins, Wide Arm merkins, diamond merkins, Carolina Dry Docks
To the wall for a seat
Arm presses, then lunge walk it out
Chest presses, then bear crawl it out
Balls to the wall
Mosey to the rock pile for a lifting rock
Curls, presses, squats, calf raises
Run it out to parking lot
Triceps, rows, flutter press, curls
Mosey to the neighborhood for triple nickle which is 5x called exercise (LBCs) at the cul-de-sac, 5x called exercise at the top of the street (Jump Squats), and 5 runs in-between.
Mosey back to the school and to the overhang for Mary
Sit ups, Flutter, Back Scratcher, Dolly, Sit ups
Time called
Announcements
Continue to keep ‘Bout Time and his family in your prayers. Great to see Rusted make it back out (he has a 3 month old). Madison has organized a CPR course (which is full), but which will be repeated – keep on the lookout. Check out the new Friday bootcamp @5:30 at Waverly (Viva Chicken).
As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead.
YHC set expectations for solid beatdown on 2/5/17, the eve of Union Co’s toughest boot camp, Thrive. I was excited to Q Tuesday AM, and was fully prepared, even for the pre-run – well, almost. Seems that in my anticipation of the epic weinke and subsequent beatdown, I forgot to set my alarm and therefore missed my Q (for the 1st time ever). To see the shenanigans that took place in my absence, check out last week’s BB. My self-imposed penalty for the miss (a/k/a fartsack incident) was to lead next week. I took the penalty, but it was the 16 other PAX that paid the price. Thrive 2.0 – the Madison Q re-do went something like this….
Mosey to side road. Line up in middle. Side lunge Right to curb. 10 jump squats. Side lunge to middle. 3 Hurpees. Side lunge Left to curb. 10 wide arm Merkins. Side lunge to middle. 3 Hurpees. Repeat with 2 Hurpees then 1.
Mosey to hill for Jack Webb’s Reverse Triple Nickel – Run up hill backwards. 1:4 Jack Webb at top. Run down hill. 5:20 Jack Webb at bottom. Repeat until 5:20 at top and 1:4 at bottom. This was a challenge for YHC and a good portion of the PAX – more on this in the Mole.
Mosey to field. Too wet. Mosey back to side road. Partner up for wheelbarrow. P1 is to go as far as he can (or to the 1st parking island) then flap jack. Repeato. On 2nd flapjack, switch to broken wheelbarrow. Repeato to the 5th island so each person goes twice (allegedly). Plank until 6 catches up. 10 Maktar Ngaye IC. More on this in the Mole. Mosey to the pic-nic area.
At tables, 20 Derkins, 20 Dips, 20 Step Ups = Round 1. Next round, pick 2 & perform 20 reps of each. Round 3 = pick the exercise you dropped in Round 2 X 20 reps.
Mosey to parking lot. Line up on parking line. Plank walk Left to next line. 5 Merkins on my count. Plank walk right to original starting line. 5 Merkins on my count. Repeat until time for Mary.
Mary = 20 Heels to Heaven IC, 20 LBC IC, 20 Freddie Mercury IC, 20 Russian Twist IC
Time is up
Announcements
Gypsy had a long list that included a Conviction/Pain Academy convergence, a SFN race, & BROlympics — check out social media for details.
CPR training class is full. If you missed this class, look for an upcoming session 2
Moleskin
It was a great morning for a boot camp. I decided at 4:12 that I was not going to pre-run at 4:50. I arrived at Carolina Courts at 5:05 to check out the field as it was going to play host to a large part of the weinke. Fall is the wet season in the Carolinas and the field was too moist (yep, I went there) to crawl around on, and since no one wanted to hear Glass Joe complain about it, I adjusted things to stay as dry as possible. We had a good crowd show up at 5:25-ish, 16 to be exact, including 1 FNG that we named Trojan Horse. The numbers swelled to 17 when Blow Out came in hot, like he stole the truck he was driving, parked like there were no spaces #Idowhatiwant, and joined us in the COP. Not sure how he escaped the 5 burpee penalty for tardiness. Maybe it was because everyone was paying attention to Glass Joe’s impeccable form during the COP’s merkins. #soccerarms.
YHC had trouble from the beginning when I announced that it was 9:30 and time to start. The PAX shifted the target of the mumble chatter from my time keeping skills to Hurpees. #notaSTD. Fortunately, the hill was dry and the instructions were to run up it backwards during the Reverse Triple Nickle. YHC was thoroughly confused here because I had adjust my running direction on at least 2 occasions up the hill. Thanks to Bernanke, Nomad & Glass Joe for calling me out. I should have given them burpee penalties. #next time The instructions to perform a Jack Webb ladder was apparently confusing to Bernanke & many others. A ladder typically means one end increases in number as the other end of the ladder decreases in number. I’m not sure what was going on, but we eventually got through it. Since the field was so moist, I decided to do partner wheelbarrows on the road. Wheelbarrows were a real crown pleaser. You can expect more of them in the future.
The rest of the workout went off without incident and we finished up on time and had to pleasure of getting to know Ralph Spada a/k/a Trojan Horse. TH is a workout machine and I hope we’ll see him back in the Gloom next week. It was an honor to lead and I appreciate the opportunity to have a re-do Q. TClaps to Nomad & Bernanke for their leadership at Thrive. It pulls huge numbers and keeps growing.
9 PAX decided to show up to the Scout Hut Love Shack this morning to reset and recover at Gumby.
Admittedly, when YHC was informed he was Q this morning, his mind instantly reverted back to the age of 13. How many lame jokes and innuendos could be made, given that we would be in all kinds of odd bodily positions here on Valentine’s Day?
First up, however, a serious note — there is a devotional to get to.
In addition to Valentine’s Day, it is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lenten season. Now, YHC, not growing up in a churched home, and currently being a “low church” kind of guy over at Carmel Baptist, the idea of a formal liturgical calendar is a little foreign. But, the magic of the Google machine turned up this devotional from BGEA on Ash Wednesday that is good for anyone looking to recognize and celebrate the season. YHC did have to edit for brevity for the in-person crowd, so, please go to the site and read the full thing.
And if you have any issues, call the BGEA call center and ask for Tweetsie personally. He’ll be happy to field your input.
Okay, now that we have THAT out of the way … there’s only one way to fully appreciate today’s BB, and you should do so by pushing play below:
So, we have the mood music … and the lights were turned off and we were Bambi-lamping this morning. The heat in the Love Shack was on and pumping. Let’s do this …
THANG
Corpse pose
Devo
Start moving your arms and legs, stretch arms over your head.
Windshield wipers, left and right. Holding one side each for a few breaths, then flapjack.
Bridge x5
Sit up, and flutter the wings of love, aka the butterfly. Push knees to the floor, as low as you can go.
Leave right leg tucked in, straighten out left leg and lean in toward your foot. Flapjack. Then put both legs out and grab your feet.
Head to Table Top.
Cat and cow, using your breathing as a guide
Odell Beckham with right leg, first out, then making circles clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Flapjack.
Remain in Table Top, and do the Bird Dog, left leg out, right arm out … flapjack.
Up to mountain.
Two guided Sun Salutations …
At down dog, we did some 3-legged dog and cheetah with the right leg. On the second run through, we did this with the left leg.
3 more SS OYO, meet in Mountain.
From Mountain, sit down in your chair. Arms up, then straight out, then kick right leg out into the Dancer pose. Throw in a quad stretch if you so desire.
Back in chair, arms out, then up, then recover.
1 SS OYO, then repeato on chair flow, switching legs on the Dancer pose.
Another SS OYO, then time to do the Cupid Shuffle. No, not the popular line dance done at only the finest weddings and dances, we’re rebranding the Warrior poses as “Cupid,” since he had arrows and stuff.
Oh, wait, do you need some more Barry? Yes, you do.
Okay, now that we’ve recharged … let’s go:
Then, turn and face the wall for star pose, lower down to the mat. Walk your hands back toward your six, then over to the left leg, then the right leg. After that, back to the middle, left hand on the floor, rotate over and reach up with your right arm. Flapjack. YHC was particularly inflexible on this move this morning.
Come back up into star, then back into Cupid 2, Cupid 1, mountain.
1 SS OYO.
Repeato the Cupid 1, 2, Peaceful, 2 flow on the other side. Once again, back into Star, lower down, then into Ninja. Bend your left leg and sit back on your left heel, right leg stretched out and right foot flexed up. Flapjack. This was popular amongst the PAX, given the grunting and groaning.
Slowly come up, back to Cupid 2, Cupid 1, mountain.
1 SS OYO, stopping at down dog.
From down dog, kick right leg out and bring it through to Pigeon. Keep that leg perpendicular — although the question was asked, “Perpendicular to what?”. Get down on your elbows. Slowly unwind back to down dog, then flapjack with pigeon on the other side.
Kick back into down dog, then finish up that SS.
On your six, bring your knees up, give them a hug. Roll around to get out the tension in your back.
Finish on a happy note. Happy baby, that is.
Corpse. Devo redux.
Fin.
Count off … Name-o-rama … COT.
Oh hey, since it’s Valentine’s Day, and YHC is on a bit of a sugar/carb detox, feel free to grab some chocolate hearts gifted to YHC on your way out.
-30-
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CPR training, if you’ve signed up, is Saturday at Providence Road Church of Christ. If you have signed up, make sure Madison has your $$$. T-claps to him for taking the lead on this initiative, and look for future opportunities to take the training and become certified — Madison did say more would be coming.
LOVESKINE
I did try and have a little fun this morning without going too overboard with the puns. I hope it was well received. Also, I hope that everyone enjoyed our soundtrack, which was, yes, Barry White Radio on Pandora. A definite departure from our usual Zamfiresque offerings.
When Paper Jam walked in, he asked if there would be any candy or flowers, given it is Valentine’s Day. Glad I could come up with at least half of that. Also, he saw my Barry White musical gambit coming … was hoping to keep that a surprise.
I did bring the M’s new Bluetooth speaker she received for Christmas, in lieu of my tinny keychain speaker. I like to think it helped set the mood. No complaints from the usual peanut gallery on that one.
The mood was enough where at one point, it looked like Paper Jam was getting up to take off his pants.
Glad to have Beaver show up — is he site FNG, or just back for the first time in a while?
As always, it was an honor to lead you guys. Thanks to Swiss and Tweetsie for the opportunity. Hope it was fun and functional.
Until next time, play us out Barry ….
12 Pax relive my Mardi Gras night on Bourbon Street back in college
Having listened to F3 Roundtable discussion about the importance of a disclaimer, I decided to make sure that we got fully disclaimed before we even took the first step. Unfortunately, Delta decided to walk away as I was giving the disclaimer. And then somebody else skidding in on two wheels never heard it (no, that wasn’t me at the last minute; I’m never more than 10 minutes late for my own Q’s). So to prevent any lawsuits from those two for today’s ass-clownery, here is the disclaimer:
“I am not a professional, and that’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me. You are an idiot if you follow me. I have a series of bad ideas that get worse as we go along. You should modify these so called exercises in whatever fashion you choose of your own free will, up to and including getting in your car and going home right now. Suing me, the school, or F3 is the highest form of douchebaggery and ass-hattery there is, and you will not be my friend anymore if you do.
With a shout of the start of Mardi Gras, I ran off in a completely straight line to get us started. Those behind me claim that I was running across curbs and in the grass, but I think they were drunk. Fusebox asked “Posse, am I supposed to be following right behind you?” Seemed like an odd question.
I stopped to catch my breath at the end of the parking lot. That was a lot longer than I expected. I feel like I ran a mile just now, while everyone else is barely at the quarter mile. Are we done yet?
We continue to the small bus parking lot where I kind of got turned around and didn’t quite remember where I was supposed to be going. We ended up at the green benches under the portico. There I led some side straddle hops, but my speech was a little slurry, so they didn’t quite understand me. I think I talked about my childhood dog, Smush.
Guys guys guys! I got a great idea! Let’s go grab a rock! Curls x20
Okay I got an even better idea! Let’s take this rock and run to the W on the far side of the parking lot! We’ll go in a straight line, which means go around the outside parking lot loop. Once there, we did flutter presses with the rock (on your back doing bench presses while doing flutters simultaneously) until everyone got in. Great drunk simulator, BTW. Then set the rock down in space 318 and let’s side skip down to the rock pile closer to the highway.
Grab a rock from the rock pile. This time curl to press x 20.
Guys I got a better idea! Let’s run back to that other corner that we were just at and do Dolly presses until everyone gets in. Set the rocks down at spot 243.
This place sucks.
Backwards run to the ORIGINAL rock pile and do mountain climbers until everyone gets in.
Grab a rock from the rock pile – this time we’ll do bent over rows x20.
Hey guys! Let’s run back to the other rock pile with this rock. I think the band’s about to get started. Triceps until everyone gets in.
Set the rock down on spot 30.
Grab another rock. This time halos: 6 in one direction and 6 in the other.
Hey guys, let’s take these rocks back to where we just were on the other side of the rock pile. I like the bartender better over there anyway. Thrusters until everyone gets in.
Set your rock down on space 80. Let’s Mosey.
We mosey to the middle of the parking lot where we plank up, because I lost a contact. Nobody bothered to help me. Bastards.
Then I realized Mom and Dad are going to be home soon. Guys! This place is a mess! We got to get all these rocks cleaned up before Mom and Dad get home! Let’s go! So everyone scattered to the farthest corners of the parking lot, grabbing rocks and bringing them back to the rock pile – EXACTLY where we got them from. For the girls who brought their rocks out, we could take two at a time.
Run Flat led some LBC’s until everyone got in.
So with the bars closed, we decided to take to the streets to earn some beads. Mosey to the portico again where I explained:
B = burpees. We will do 5 at this side of the bus island; run to the other side 5 more burpees; repeat for a total of 40 burpees (the 40 days of Lent)
E = Emperial Walkers 10 on each side of the island until you get to 40.
A = American Hammers. 15 on each side of the island until you get to 40.
Hollywood, who I think works in some math related field, said that’s 60, not 40. It was 40 last night when I was drawing this up.
D = dips. Do 20 on the bench; run the entire loop and then do 20 more and then run another loop
S = squats do 40 squats all in the same spot.
During this time, Old Man Stickleg drove up asking who we were. Beltway was flying solo at this part. I don’t know what Beltway told him to keep him from calling the cops on us, but it worked. You want him for your wingman.
I think only Hollywood outright earned his beads. The rest cut it short because math kills a good buzz.
Mosey back to the cars.
Announcements:
+ Madison’s CPR class is closed. I sure hope you people know how to bring me back to life without using that Flatliners crap.
+ Brolympics – Do you even, bro? Participate or volunteer. There is no fartsacking. Ranger has a soccer game immediately afterwards, 1 mile away. Still volunteering. Bro’s in IR are volunteering (I see you, McFly). It’s our home people. Tuxedo shirts are optional, but classy.
https://f3southcharlotte.com/2018/01/11/2018-brolympics-2-bro/
Moleskin
Frack would have been proud – no warm up and announcements lasted no longer than a quality burp.
Hollywood seemed surprised that we got 3 miles in. Well, for you #StraightMilers, it was 3. I easily clocked 27.
DoughBoy said it was like controlled chaos. I assure you, I blacked out about halfway through. You must have been at a different workout than me.
The name-a-rama was filmed in a slightly more sophomoric selfie-style. It gave me a chance to tell the guys how much I loved them (and some of their sisters). In no way should that video ever see the light of day.
Spring was in the air as 11 PAX showed up with short sleeve shirts to run the reverse Flat Branch route. The night before, our faithful leader, Bratwurst, sent the route via some magic technology which nobody could download to their fancy watches. With no directions or disclaimer, we were off.
First we cut through the Blakeney Shopping Center parking lot, past CVS and Circle K to Rea Rd. A quick left onto Demaine Dr, right on Arcola, then right on Elrose Pl. From there, left onto Gander Drive, left onto Parks Farm Lane, right on Blakeney Heath, and right on Elm St. Down to Williams Pond Lane where we made a right and crossed over Rea Rd to Provincetowne Drive. Stay on Provincetowne until Lacken Dr where we made a right then onto Bryant Farms Rd and left onto Dennington Grove Lane. Right onto Darcy Hopkins Drive and a long stretch to Alma Blount Blvd. Turn onto Alma Blount and at the traffic circle go left onto Alexander Martin Ave. From there we took a few different routes but ended up with 5 miles and back at the AO for stretching by Paper Jam.
MOLESKIN
Something was in the air this morning because somehow I ended up in the middle of the group. At different times I was running along side of Gumbo, Madison, Bunker and Wingman. There was a debate raging among the speedsters-some said I was getting faster (something Mermaid opined at another workout last week) while others thought it was the relentless teachings of Bratwurst. However the true epiphany belonged to Wingman. He surmised that the key was adding me to the site Q list for Blakovery. He argued that not only did it make me faster but it prompted more PAX to show up. Sounded reasonable to me.
Thanks for the take out Bratwurst and thank you to all the PAX who show up on Monday to hold me accountable. No way I would run that many miles without your support.
I tweeted out that the group was going to focus on increasing our muscle hypertrophy, which I don’t think many people knew what that meant, except Purple Haze who admitted to googling the term. Basically, it is muscle regeneration. I actually showed up a little early and time struck 5:15 and off we went. Disclaimer purposely delayed until we had all the Pax together at the COP.
Mosey down Woodfox Drive and take a right to the end of Burning Tree Dr. We circled up for some COP in front of Fireman Ed’s house. Disclaimer given. Of course, we head off the main road to mix things up, and we find the one car that is out on the road delivering papers. We were interrupted a couple times as the car made the loop. I think it was Alf that made the point the workout was already off track and I might as well give up. I thought about it, but decided to move ahead. We did get in the following:
20 x SSH
20 x IW
10 x Merkins
Mosey back down Woodfox to the intersection of Rounding Run. Let the fun begin. Take a right down Rounding Run and follow to the right to the bottom of N. Course Drive. Oh, but make sure to stop and perform 10 merkins at each street light on the way. Based on Margo’s math, we completed 110 merkins during that portion. And no, that wasn’t the end. Heading up N. Course Drive for a set of 11s. Start with a merkin on the bottom and SSH at top. Push at about 85% on the way up, and jog back down. I think that makes 55 more merkins. Leaders finished early and performed some Mary.
Gather the six and continued to mosey around Rounding Run and turn right on Ivystone Ct. Partner up and run back and forth opposite directions and perform 5 handslap merkins in the middle. Each Partner run each direction three times. That was 30 more merkins.
Head back out to Rounding Run to complete the loop. Instead of merkins, sprint from one street light to the next, then jog, then sprint, etc. Continue all the way back to the cars.
We had 5 minutes left so line up for some more sprints. 4 total, and then 20 x LBCs.
Moleskin: This was my second Q at FastTwitch and I made sure not to pass out this time. Successful. Since I hate running, I decided to get more interval runs in so I could rest. I hope all the real runners, aka, everyone else, didn’t mind a slight change of pace. I think we got 195 merkins total if I have the math right. A new record for FastTwitch. Rachel was quiet most of the time but I assume he was complaining to Bout Time about the lack of miles, but they were hard to hear as they lapped me. Alf had a tough time with the sprints at the end because he felt 45 seconds was not enough time in between sprints to recover, so he asked for at least 60 seconds next time. I think I have scared off Benny for life with all the merkins and he will probably never come to one of my Qs again. I reminded him that he will appreciate it during pool season when he is busting out of his tank top. Faultline had his fair share of merkins at his Q yesterday, so he modified a little to make sure he didn’t get too swole and have to buy new shirts. Haze was pushing it hard and reminded me that the hill of N. Course broke his soul last time, and he was not happy I had us run the hill at the beginning of the workout, instead of the end. I think deep down inside he enjoyed it. Margo was kind enough to run with me and partner during the handslap merkins. He admitted he enjoyed the breaks in the running as well, as I am sure others did they just won’t admit it. I hope Turkey Leg, Brady and One Eye forgive me for only getting a little over 5 miles. That is considered a warm up for them. I think Brady was the first one to yell out “This is a running workout” as soon as I called merkins at every street light. Retread is getting back at it and hit the hills hard as expected. He just told me last week he had run in awhile, but he wasn’t scared of the hills and pushed it hard the whole time. Thanks for letting me lead Rachel and Haze.
Announcements:
March 3 SFN need race. Sign up if you are around.
Continue to keep Bout Time and his family in your thoughts in prayers. His 2.0 will be heading to Memphis soon for 6+ months of treatment for a bone marrow transfer.
As the Q stumbled into the parking lot with out his Casio. 10 men headed to the Gloom unsure of the time.
Warm up:
A brisk run through some of downtown Matthews then to back behind the school.
20 X SHH
15 X IW
15 X squats
10 X slow merkins
Time for suicides with exercises run to each of the three lamppost on left and back. At each lamppost do the called exercise.
First round 15 merkins each lamppost
Second round 5 pull-ups
Third round 10 squats
Fourth round 20 mountain climbers
Mosey over to the baseball field time for jack Webb
1 merkins then 4 air presses up to 8 merkins and 32 air presses
I was told it was 6:13 so we had to mosey back to the launch point upon arriving the time became 6:10 so we did a couple rounds of Mary, Nomad, Strange brew and Mad picked the Mary.
Moleskin: better late than never with the backblast sorry about that. Great job everyone. Thanks again for Sansei and Lois for letting me clue. Q fail for forgetting the Casio. Way to crush it with the Ruck Mad. Mad respect to the respect crowd Nomad, Lumberjack and Semigloss. At the end we ran into a couple dog walkers with backpacks full of bricks Dora and Geraldo
Announcements:
CPR Training two hours for your actual certification