Disclaimer (for any mildly offended snow-flakes): This back-blast was written before the workout began. It was written when someone dropped a #neveragain bracelet in the parking lot of Providence Day School. Because let’s face it, you can’t leave something so sensitive in a parking lot where a bunch of pax meet in the gloom and not expect it to be referenced multiple times in the workout.
To be clear: YHC supports the right to free speech, whether that means walking out of a classroom or staying in your seat. Just remember kids, actions have consequences. That’s a lesson many so-called adults should be reminded of.
That’s all I will say on the matter.
Four (then five) men looked for a dry spot on a wet cold day at The Charge. Luckily, we found a new parking garage but decided the smart decision was not to start the workout there. After discovering a #neveragain bracelet abandoned by the cars and declaring that the backblast will practically write itself, the disclaimer was given and we were off.
The Thang:
Mosey up towards the school (not towards the field) for some COP
SSH x 25, IW x 20, Merkins x 15 all IC
Mosey back to the cars to grab “the ladies” and a wayward Monk. The ladies consisted of a 35# kettlebell and 2 35# weight plates. Monk was unlucky enough to show up late and run around in the rain looking for us.
CMIYC from the car to dry parking garage with P1 running with weight and P2 doing 10 merkins then chasing P1.
“In the garage, I feel safe …” from the rain maybe but not the pain. #neveragain will they let Hoover lead. (Bonus points if you know the song I just referenced.)
Once in the garage everyone put down the ladies and broke the first rule of handling the ladies. Nobody puts the ladies on the ground. Everyone does 10 merkins. #neveragin did they put the ladies down. Then it was time to work.
P1 takes a lap around the parking garage while P2 does a called exercise until P1 relieves them then flapjack.
Exercises:
Alternating Lunges (weight overhead)
Overhead Press
Curls
Tricep Extensions
Upright rows
Squats
Lawnmowers
Afterwards we all sat in a circle facing outwards and passed the weights. First clockwise and then counter-clockwise. This caused some grumbles.
Next the pax lined up for a Jacob’s ladder plank-o-rama. Using the parking spaces pax planked up on the lines between each space, then the first pax ran to the first open space and signaled for the next pax to run to the next open space. This continued until we made a circuit around the parking garage.
Onto the Mary: LBC’s x 20, Heels to Heaven x 20, Freddie Mercury x 20, Protractor (outsourced to the pax for the angles. We went wide a few times, it was terrible for the pax and the spectators.)
Head back to the cars for the COT
Moleskine: I took the Q yesterday after receiving a text from Boererwors that he needed a substi-Q. Apparently there was an injury. YHC stepped up to the plate to deliver a downpainment.
It must have rained last night, like a lot. I slept right through it, had no clue it would be in the 30’s and raining until the alarm went off at 4:45. There was a moment of #neveragain regret for not checking the weather but then it was go-time. YHC was asked to lead and you don’t back down from that.
As pax were assembling in the parking lot, Carrier found a bracelet memorializing the recent hashtag that all the kids are wearing these days #neveragain was found on the ground. After a brief moment of pax introspection the decision was made … #neveragain will we assemble in the rain when the temperature starts with a 3 to have an outdoor workout … instead we’ll hit the parking garage.
And hit it the pax did. I pulled a workout down from the library of past Q’s that should have left everyone crying in pain. Instead the pax seemed to take it all in stride. Maybe it was because the pax knew the option was to go outside and lay on the cold wet football field, maybe the ladies were too light, maybe the pax were just that good, and maybe it was the confidence from standing outside in the cold wet gloom and realizing you’re surrounded by pax that also embraced the suck today and didn’t fart-sack it. So it can’t be that bad, right? Whatever the reason, #neveragain will I underestimate the pax at The Charge.
Solid effort by everyone and we stayed (mostly) dry.
Announcements:
The Charge needs Q’s, contact Boererwors if interested
It was a beautiful, sunny dry perfect morning…somewhere in the world. Here in Charlotte it was rainy, cold and wet.
But a great group of guys showed up so instead of heading to Starbucks like I planned, we had to jump into the workout.
Side straddle hop – 15
Imperial Walker – 15
10 mountain climber burpees
Magic Box – travel around a box in the push up position: diamond merkins on the corners, wide arms on the sides and 4 sets of regular at the halfway points around the sides
9 mountain climber burpees
Magic Box – travel around the box with squats: single leg squats on the corners, wide leg on the sides and 4 sets of regular at the halfway points around the sides
8 mountain climber burpees
One lap with 5, 10, 15, 20 merkins at the 4 corners
7 mountain climber burpees
Partner lap – head in opposite directions and when you meet P1 planks while P2 jumps over their heels (20x), after 10 jumps, P1 drops to 6 inches (2 total laps, 4 partner meetings)
6 peter parker burpees
Ab blaster – 30 seconds each of lbc, freddy mercury, flutter, rosalita, dolly, half freddy, and regular sit up
5 peter parker burpees
One lap with 5, 10, 15, 20 sister mary catherines
4 parker peter burpees
Partner lap – head in opposite directions and when you meet P1 and P2 do 10 handslap merkins (one total lap, 2 partner meetings)
3 parker peter burpees
Everyone was disappointed I didn’t head straight to the field for some fun in the mud. Smokey and Busch had a nice cozy workout with their ironclad gloves while the rest of us spent most of the workout wringing water out of our “waterproof” gloves.
Because Dollywood is currently in a “no-fly zone” at home, the final round of situps aroused him, making us all uncomfortable. Hang in there, buddy.
And lastly, we all reconsidered our career paths when hearing about the genius of Doc McStuffin’s business plan.
Honor to lead and happy to get some time with a quality group.
7 men stood in the gloom awaiting instruction from YHC. Disclaimed and ready to go we drop and get 5 Burpees out of the way. Frehleys was not impressed. Wasn’t the first time, won’t be the last. Follow me.
Winding our way up colnan and down to bally med rd out to the light on BCP. Cross the street and up to Bally village parking deck. YHC anticipated precipitation but the only thing that soaked us was a heavy fog of the gloom and our perspiration. Stop in lot next to deck and circle up.
COP – IC x 15 SSH, IW, Mtn Climber, Merkin, Low Slow Squat.
Mosey over to level 1 and partner up. Glad to have even numbers.
The Thang
P1 does called exercise, P2 runs up a level, finds stairs and descends to relieve partner. Flapjack. Repeato but go 2 levels. YHC can’t count and we descend to basement for final ascent. Repeato up 3 levels.
Wall sit to catch up the six and our breathe.
Reverso. P1 climbs stairs one level and descends to relieve P2. Flapjack. Repeato 2 levels then 3 levels.
Called exercises included lunges, lbc, plankorama, monkey humpers, reverse plankorama, rosalita and something else
Wall sit some more then head back to launch.
Find the brick wall on colnan and hang for 30 secs then jail break up hill and down to launch lot.
Done
NMM: P200 taper, the hawk and rain aversion are a few contributing factors to low attendance. But we still took the DRP and got to it. Frehleys always has something to say. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Tag along is quick. Don’t sleep on that guy. The parking deck is just nasty. Smells like a hippie commune. The stairwells resemble the aftermath of a nickelback concert. Vomit and poo everywhere. I think people might board their dogs there during the day. #justnasty
Happy to facilitate a Q in SOBland. Tks tag for letting me take the reigns.
Announcements
22 total combined Bagpipe/Swift
P200 this weekend. Praying for everyone’s safety and health throughout.
Davinci was smack talking Stonehenge. I’ll let y’all figure what’s open this weekend.
YHC on the BOM
I took my semi-annual trip to DMZ this morning where I met up with 7 other PAX for a little Monday morning workout. I got roped into a P200 team this weekend so no need to crush the running today (it’s taper week from my not training)
A weak disclaimer was given, Aquafresh showed up at the last minute in what appeared to be capri pants (I thought Runstopper had cornered the market on men’s capri’s, but I guess not)
Mosey over to the church parking lot for some COP.
SSH, IW, Plank work with Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Plank Jacks and maybe other stuff.
Over at the benches do 3 rounds of 10 inclines merkins and 10 dips.
Leave the church and back into the neighborhoods. Meander our way over to the Hartmill Hill. Stopped along the way for some plank work while we waited on the six.
Run down the hill 15 Romanian Dead Lifts each leg, run to top 15 jump squats and plank.
Repeat with exercises and backward run up. Plank
Repeat with exercises and forward run up. Plank
Repeat with exercises and backward run up. Plank
Changed up the planking exercises throughout, sometimes elbows, sometimes shoulder taps, sometimes hip slappers.
Mosey back to launch stopping along the way for some Mary that included LBC, Flutter, Freddy Mercury, Heels to Heaven and more plank work.
Get to the launch and finish with – Planks, for about 90 seconds.
Moleskine:
I wondered how much planking we could do in an entire workout. I’d guess we got close to 12 to 15 minutes worth. Hopefully you feel that in the shoulders and core tomorrow. Kirk complained a lot about it. He has baby soft hands. I think it was Chappy who graciously offered him a spot on his smooth patch (of pavement) but Kirk declined.
All in all some good hard work out there this morning. Some refusnik on the long up hill backwards running and some of the elbow plank work, but nothing too bad. Lots of guys finish the workout with some arm circles trying to stretch out those shoulders that had started to stiffen up.
Thanks to One-Eye for the takeout.
We asked for announcements and it turned into some long story by Kirk and I forgot what the announcement was.
Always a great crew at DMZ. Thanks for keeping me on the Q rotation so I can travel north every few months and get out of my comfort zone.
-Alf
Last Tuesday saw 25 PAX (perhaps there were more, sure seemed like it) hit the Country Club of Ballantyne to climb some hills for Swift 2nd Tuesday of the month – now known as Hills Week.
The THANG:
The Moleskin:
Announcements:
SYITG,
Bratwurst
Now that we have course, Brat arrived early and showed 13 of us the way through Providence Country Club.
Not just another run, it was a Turkey Trot! How many workouts have you been at where both @wildturkey and @turkey_leg post together?
The THANG:
Moleskine:
Perfect workout for a Monday.
Announcements:
Looking for a 9th for Smokey Mountain Relay. Contact Icky Shuffle
Men of F3 South Charlotte,
I’m excited to announce the 2nd Annual Family outing at the Great Wolf Lodge (Concord) is officially ready for reservations. We currently have 13 rooms in our block for Friday November 9, 2018. Our prices are as follows:
Please call to reserve your rooms as soon as possible. We have 13 rooms (10 standard rooms and 3 themed rooms) in our original block. The quicker we book those, the quicker (and more likely) I’ll get the same rate on additional rooms.
Please call the Great Wolf Lodge at 1-866-751-9653 and give them our group reservation # 1811F3BA. Let me know once you’ve booked.
– Madame Tussauds
Where else would anyone post on St. Patrick’s Day other than the #1 drinking AO in all of F3? Well, 16 pax made the right choice, earning whatever libations were to be ingested later that festive day. Here’s how they earned it:
The Thang:
Mosey to the Dana Rader Golf School parking lot across from the SPX building. The yog here was maybe .5-.6 miles, yet the complaints and mumblechatter started exactly .43 miles into the workout. It was going to be a long hour unless YHC figured out some way to turn that chatter into heavy breathing. Circled up for COP: IW x 15 IC, Windmill x 10 IC, merkins x 10 IC, LSS x 10 IC.
Headed down the cart path into the darkness of the golf course. Through the (pleasantly surprising) very well-lit tunnel, around the 17th green and down the 17th fairway. Cut across the 11th hole, calling out the sand trap so no one falls in, dodge a few lawnmowers (who were undoubtedly surprised to see a bunch of idiots in black running through the course at 6:10 on a Saturday morning), around the 12th tee and up to the patio of the first of four buildings that run along the left side of the 12th hole. Main event: at each patio, do a called exercise, wait for the six, rinse and repeat.
Round 1: 5 burpees (to get the heartrate going)
Round 2: 10 Supermans (because we don’t work our back muscles as much as we should)
Round 3: 15 incline merkins at patios 1 & 3, 15 decline merkins at 2 & 4
Round 4: 20 dips
Round 5: 25 LBCs
At this point, we’re right next to the Met Life building on B’tyne Commons. Pop into the parking deck there for 3 quick rounds of Mary (Flutter x 10 IC, Dolly x 10 IC, six-inch crunches x 10 IC). Head out to Ballantyne Commons toward the resort. Right into the parking lot by the golf entrance, left to the long row of parking spaces right along Ballantyne Commons. Partner up. P1 starts doing burpees, 1 in each parkign spot. P2 runs to the end of the row and back. Flapjack. We continue this for about 2 rounds, and headed back to launch. A few rounds of Mary (American Hammer, Freddie Mercury) and a 1-minute plank and we were done.
Moleskine:
YHC’s prediction on what each pax celebrated St. Patty’s Day with:
Billy Goat: YHC thinks he’s a Cubs fan, so this one’s easy: PBR. The curse is over, BG, you can start drinking some better stuff now.
Cul-de-sac: A fine glass of Chardonnay. YHC doesn’t know CDS very well, but he looks like a classy dude.
Hops: Being the beer connoisseur that he is, he was undoubtedly slamming the hoppiest light beer he could find. Probably Natural Light. He was, simultaneously, poking a voodoo doll of YHC in protest of having to run more than 2 miles in a boot camp #makebootcampsrunlessagain
Taglong: Another easy one: the Tagging-A-Long Brown http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article204076149.html
HIPAA: The lowest-liability beer: O’Doul’s
Toolbag: Toolbag has gone through a nice little body transformation since joining F3. He was rockin’ some Michelob Ultra with some bikini-clad models while rollerblading through the park.
Commish: My man likes his Coors Lights. Probably had 36 of them.
Frehley’s Comet: Where do we begin? Vodka, bourbon, and a lot of it.
Fire Hazard: He told us during the workout what he’d be enjoying – a frothy bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. Don’t let anyone give you shit, Haz. You do you, buddy!
Nard-Dog: ND hails from the Ivy league, so he was probably drinking some high-end Scotch. YHC guesses Macallan.
Fireman Ed: Ginger beer, obviously.
Wild Turkey: Jim Beam.
Frasier: The heaviest beer he can find (in another futile attempt to put on weight). Probably Guinness. Then, after 12 of those, he slowed down from a 5:00 mile to a 5:04 mile.
Shrinkwrap: YHC doesn’t know what millenials drink, so YHC guesses Shrinkwrap was one of those bros at the bar double-fisting Red Bull & Vodka. That’s basically how YHC pictures every millenial except for Mario.
Market Timer: He popped a bottle of Cabernet that was more expensive than your car payment.
A pleasure, as always, gentlemen.
This past Saturday 8 F3 men and 9 of their 2.0s did a project at the Commodore family house in Indian Land. The family was introduced to us through the Sandbox, who helps families in need of practical, social, and emotional support when their children are suffering from long-term serious illnesses.
For more on the Commodores and their daughter Elsie, click here: https://www.facebook.com/pray4elsie/
Because Elsie’s condition can only be treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Commodores split their time between Philadelphia and here, usually with one parent in each location. They have been keeping this up for 11 months now. Elsie continues to improve and the family is hopeful and grateful… but also emotionally and often physically exhausted from their experience. They could use some support and that is where we come in.
The Thang:
Meet at the house at 9 a.m. Mulch was delivered and PAX brought other supplies to: spread the mulch, kill weeds, help re-seed the grass in the front yard, and trim up some of the landscaping. It was awesome to see everybody dive in and with the manpower we had, we knocked the whole thing out in 2 hours. This included mulching the next door neighbor’s yard because YHC ridiculously over-ordered on mulch!
Moleskin:
Toward the end of our project, we were blessed to meet Adana Commodore, Elsie’s Mom. She talked with us and thanked us a lot. Then she began to share some pictures of Elsie and a lot of detail on her condition. We circled up and Moneyball led us in prayer, which was awesome. I’m not the best person to capture the whole experience with words… let’s just say it was an emotional and powerful experience that we as men were blessed to have that day.
Another way in which I personally was inspired Saturday was as a father. Watching the PAX lead their 2.0s in this effort was special and from the attitudes of the kids and their approach to the whole thing, it’s clear to me that my fellow PAX are some good dads.
The feedback I have received since Saturday morning has been exceptional. Apparently Adana had texted with the Sandbox a lot on Saturday from inside while we were working. From The Sandbox: “… such gratitude and excitement for their new F3 friends… Grateful beyond words.” I also got a text from Travis, Elsie’s dad, not only with gratitude but his prayers for us as a group and as men and families.
We have all been blessed tremendously by this family who has let us into their lives. We are also blessed as men to be part of this F3 Nation. The things we can achieve together with the system we have in place are remarkable. My sincere thanks to the men who came out!