Listen Up!
13 men gathered in the parking lot of the AO known as The Maul. A quick disclaimer was given and in particular, there was a warning that listening was going to be a strong requirement for today’s workout.
Marlin decided to join us at 5:31 for warm up. We did Imperial Walker then we did a plank for one minute and then merkins at a different tempo.
We moseyed across the street down the murderhorn to the rock pile.
This is where our listening ears were key. Some did well and others did not.
The Thangy Thang: Pretty simple with six exercises at five stations. At the rock pile do curls x 20. Run up to the pull-up bars to do ten real up and down pull-ups. Twenty dips at the picnic tables. Run back down to the rock pile and do twenty overhead presses. Run back to the base of the Murderhorn. Stop at the first light on the left and do twenty hand release merkins. Run to the next light and do ten diamond merkins. That is one circuit. The goal was to hit five times through.
6:08 so we moseyed to the top of the Murderhorn for elbow plank for one minute then back across to the parking lot for the last three minutes. Slow cadence toe tap crunches followed by protractor with alternating legs. Done!
Moleskin: So working memory is usually remembering four things at one time. I gave you six. Some of you did well with this task and others needed a little help.
Counting on the merkins during warm-up was weak. It basically turned out to be one person rotating each time counting.
Paperjam was full of in-depth analysis. First, he started out playing mind games during the warm-up. Then he kept telling Tool Bag that if he doesn’t believe then it cannot happen. He and Cul De Sac were talking shop the whole time. Something about analysis, spreadsheets and blah blah blah.
Tool Bag did not bring the shovel flag. Blamed No Show. Extreme Ownership buddy.
Marlin and Frehley’s Comet were fast out of the gate on the circuits. Respects were in the lead. Some faded fast.
Fire Hazard crushed it. Everyone else was a distant second.
Frehley’s had an astute observation that the pavement had not cooled from the night before. Nowhere to hide.
Patton Pending and Kirby tried to push a boulder at the base of the hill. Loogie was supervising. It didn’t work.
That is all.
Announcements:
F3 Dads Saturday at 9:00
Pokey starting July 11th 5:45. It is a yoga style workout.
Keep Mic Check’s son Bolt in your prayers.
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful: Coldcuts Q
The valley
Check out @PastorJoeLanman’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/PastorJoeLanman/status/1009512687687163904?s=09
The Anvil Mile
17 men, including YHC, sweated through our greetings in the launch lot for a few minutes. Even the disclaimer made YHC sweat. It was given and we took off.
Thang
1/3 mile mosey at a brisk pace, at least according to Gummy. Circle up.
COP
Merkin x 10 IC
MC x 10 IC
Peter Parker x 10 IC
Wide Merkin x 10 IC
Squat x 10 IC
Mosey to Champs Field Pavilion
Anvil Mile
4 stops around campus with finish where we started, at pavilion
Pavilion Bench Set: 10 Step Up/10 Dip/10 Derkin
Run to the top of Entrance 2: 15 Jump Squat
Run to the sign at the top of North Face at Entrance 3 thoroughfare: 5 Hand-Release Burpees
Run to the top of Entrance 4: 15 Carolina Dry Docks
Run back to Pavilion. 1st round done together with the group.
People’s Chair: RLH/LLH/Hold
High Plank
Civilian Cadence Merkin Set (all to 10): Regular/Offset Right/Offset Left/Diamond/Wide
Repeat Anvil Mile: AYG
Mary at finish: Flutter x 20 IC/Heels to Heaven x 10 IC/Hold/High Flutter/Hold/Rosalita
Mosey across campus and descend hill to base of North Face.
Round 1: 5 Burpees at the bottom. AYG up hill. 5 Burpees. Plank series
Round 2: 20 Jump Squat at the bottom. AYG up hill. 20 Merkin. Plank series at top.
Mosey to launch lot.
Mary: LBC x 10 IC/Freddie Mercury x 20 IC (called by Purple Haze)/High Plank/RAH/RLH/Swap/R A out/LLH/Swap/Low Plank/Low Plank Jack x 10 IC. A few 10 Counts called by the PAX mixed in.
COT
Moleskin
My brother, Slow Roll, has come to A51 from Mountain Island a few times. 6/8 Centurion and this morning. YHC on Q for both. He called both times. 6/8 it was 4:52, 3 minutes before my phone alarm. Good thing. YHC failed to set said phone alarm and would have slept right through it. Never done that before. Today, call comes in at 5:12. Must have turned the alarm off at 4:55, rather than the snooze. Would have slept through today as well. Thanks, brother. Glad to have you out with us and keep up the strong work.
Anvil Mile was actually the loop we ran for the Sixfold Challenge a ways back for Fast Twitch. 6 x 1.1 miles with the exercises in 60 minutes. If memory serves, 4 of the 20 or so did all 6. We cut off about 1/10 mile to make it pretty close to a mile.
Top 6:
Rachel
Scabby
Lorax
Nemo
Uncle Phil
Brilleaux
Honorable Mentions: Haze’s beard because he must have been 10 degrees hotter than the rest of us with that.
Strong work by all the PAX to push through that workout. Conditions were absolutely brutal.
Kotters to Cottonmouth. Been a long time since YHC has seen him. And a Respect now. Strong work out there.
Other Respects, Shoe and Snuka, pushing hard out there as usual. Hammer crushed it until he had to be the first out. Semi joined us, always good to see him.
Gummy started the mumblechatter out of the gate, commenting on the pace of the mosey. Glad he did, YHC has a problem with starting fast. Last Fast Twitch Q it hit YHC hard on the back end.
I think at least 25% of our PAX today are CPA’s. Not sure where to go with that one. Helpful should audit services be needed.
Always a pleasure to lead the Anvil PAX. Well done today men.
Announcements
Serve: The Sandbox is a service opportunity that is ongoing. Provides help to local families who need it, from yard work to moving services. This Saturday there is an opportunity to help. Check the Sandbox Slack channel or reach out to Soft Pretzel or Transporter for details.
The real Death Valley
7 PAX for a temperature and humidity combo that would make Death Valley, CA blush.
Warm-up:
Disclaimed and mosey around the lot to the teacher’s parking lot and back.
COP: 15x SSH IC, 15x IW IC, 15x Low Slow Squat IC, 15x Mountain Climbers IC, planker’s delight upon which Puddin Pop graced us with a 10 count of flatulence so we had to vacate the area for one last exercise: Circle burp ‘n merk – run in place while each PAX takes a turn calling down upon which a burpee with a merkin is performed, adding a merkin with each PAX (glad there were only 7 of us).
The Thang:
Mosey to the rock pile to select a lifting rock.
Do called exercise at the top of the stairs, mosey down the sidewalk to the baseball field bleacher area for next exercise, up the stairs and repeat 3 times through starting with 10 reps on round 1, 20 reps on round 2, and 30 reps on round 3.
-Overhead press up top, dips at the bleachers, bear crawl up the stairs
-Curls, supine pull ups, one legged hops alternating on the flights
-Squats, step ups, bunny hop up the stairs
Couple round of Mary, including Fireman Ed’s ‘egg roll’ move.
Grab the rock and some wall for a modified Jack Webb. In people’s chair do front shoulder raise x1 followed by derkins or Carolina Dry Docks x4, 2×8, 3×12, 4×16, 5×20.
Put the rocks back and mosey to the parking lot for a quick round of suicides at the basketball hoops, stopping for 10 merkins at each basket.
Doneski.
Moleskin:
Dollywood reached out to YHC Monday night needing a Q. I was happy to step in and lead these fine men on a sweaty beatdown, although I’m pretty sure we didn’t need to work out to sweat today. It was 99% humidity until Puddin Pop and Fireman Ed starting ripping @ss, then I’m pretty sure it was 100%. Everybody was putting in solid work today and pushing each other. Always good mumble chatter with Horsehead and Fireman Ed in attendance, thanks to Ed for the new Mary idea, although it just led us to talking about Chinese food. Great to meet Hammy for the first time, nice work out there. Was good to get a little more background on the Monday Horsey workout… sounds like we should get Chester out for a workout, Horsehead volunteered to partner with him on partner carries. Geraldo was getting after it, maybe too after it. Was seeing some stars during the rock exercises but I blame it on the air he was breathing. He learned a tough lesson today, never run behind Puddin. Funky cold was cruising as well today, good work!
Thanks to Puddin Pop for the takeout and thanks Dollywood and Smokey for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
Continued prayers for Mic Check’s son (he is back home and doing well), Bout Time’s family, and the Providence Day students involved in an accident abroad.
If you know of somebody that used to come out and doesn’t anymore, reach out and check in with them. Some are going through trials and tribulations, as we all have different struggles and levels of struggles in life, but try to keep up with people and reinforce that this band of brothers to lean on in hard times.
Firecracker 4 miler – one year anniversary of Speed for Need over the 4th of July.
Another Solid Horsey BB – The Bladerunner by Spooky Jon
The Bladerunner
10 Men gathered for the workout that burns so bright it can last only three months. No frills hills was the name of the game. Two times up the appetizer hill to warm the legs, then it was figure eights on the McHorsey course with alternating trips up Yuca Sucka for 40 minutes. Stopped at 6:00 for a bit of core work and two final sprints up the one of the many hills before heading back to the parking lot.
The thing about the McHorsey backblast is that not much happens in the way of the workout. You run – hard. It is very simple yet one of the hardest things you will do all week. It is just like a life well lived – not complicated but hard. So back to the McHorsey backblast. You’ve gotta come up with something else to say, because (as demonstrated above) the workout description just isn’t gonna hack it.
So thinking about McHorsey and why it lasts only three months. For this I will reference Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Bladerunner. For context (and for those millennials in F3 that perhaps didn’t catch this back in 1982), replicant Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer, is back on earth seeking more life. You see, the company that manufactured him installed an expiration date on his body. A fail-safe, as it were, to make sure these replicants didn’t get too uppity. In Roy’s case this was a very wise decision indeed. Roy had escaped a replicant work colony and was causing havoc across the galaxy. You see, Roy wasn’t cool with the expiration date. He was going to the source for more life. Enter Tyrell – the head of the company. Roy confronts Tyrell demanding more life, but is confronted with the terrible news that indeed he has less. As Tyrell puts it:
“The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy.”
Roy doesn’t take it well, but that is a discussion for another day. Here is the link to the scene: https://youtu.be/O5MDGMvrSJc (disclaimer: sensitive people should not watch to the end)
So back to McHorsey and the three months. Frankly, it is all anybody’s got in the tank. McHorsey burns so very, very, brightly. But it is fleeting. Lightning in the sky , a fart in the wind, whatever you want to say. But the point is this. If you sit on your ass and don’t come soon it will be gone. Take that as a metaphor for life too. Burn brightly, just like McHorsey and be out there next Monday. Our man Fishwrap has the Q this June 25 and nobody burns brighter.
See you there!
Swift track day
18 PAX for the monthly installment of distance based intervals.
Warm-up:
Disclaimed which apparently is a new thing at Swift. Guess Brat had a perma-disclaimer in place. Moseyed through the parking lots heading west to Ballantyne Corp. Place road and back through the parking lots ending at the finish line of the 400s for some dynamic stretching, exactly 1 mile.
Heel walks out/in x20, Toe walks out/in x 20, stride out to speed bump
10 lunges each leg, stride out
Hackey sacks x 10 each leg
A skips
Butt kickers as we head to start point
The Thang:
400m repeats with equal rest around the Brixham Green ‘track’. The equal and lengthy rest allows for more recovery which should mean a faster pace for the ‘on’ repeats. We targeted a timed mile pace without sacrificing consistency throughout the intervals. Started with a goal of doing 8, but circled up at the end and did one last bonus quarter as a group before moseying back to the Vine for COT.
Moleskin:
I hope Purple Haze and the rest of the Fast Twitch brethren don’t read this… as it’s frowned upon to abandon Twitch for Swift, let alone Q it. Take note that Haze led the troops today at FT as YHC was at the helm at Swift. The writing is on the walls and I think he wants me out. Not sure if Swift allow me back either after serving up some 400 repeats today. Maybe I’ll start taking Tuesday’s off.
Intervals are always brutal, but 400s might be the hardest. They are truly the cornerstone to any training program for any distance, from sprints to ultras and everything in between. Getting through a workout like this is only going to pay dividends to whatever your current fitness goals are. Great to see everyone out there pushing each other in the hot and humid conditions. Awesome work by all of you!
Thanks to Bratwurst for allowing me the opportunity to lead these men today and for the 5am help making sure the track was marked appropriately.
Announcements:
Continued prayers for Dumpster Fire and his family and Mic Check and his family.
Get involved with The Sandbox if at all possible. Looking for help this weekend. Check out slack for more details.
DaVinci looking for Q’s on Saturday mornings at 6:30. Reach out to Fredo or Bucky to get on the schedule.
The Greyson Cul-De-Sacs
The Thang
14 men found the new(est) parking lot for our launch at Latin. 2 did not and went on their own. Official A51 statistician @Gummy will have to determine if the count is 14 or 16. This was YHC’s first Q since being ousted as site-Q and Purell, who replaced me, wasn’t even there today. Maybe he too senses Rachel’s wanting me back on the job as his executive assistant and couldn’t bear to see me thriving in that role again, even if just for the day.
My FT Qs are predictable, with Mr. Brady (who arrived inexplicably at 0513) exclaiming “I told you Alf” when I announced during my disclaimer that we were doing a triple nickel. Doing the same thing over and over for the hour helps us get our minds right.
Greyson Heights and Greyson Ridge are two roads just off Providence. They each have cul-de-sacs at the end, that are about 200 yards apart. Unfortunately, the only way to connect them, save cutting through some yards and woods, is to run the Providence Road hill. The distance between them going that way is about 0.75 miles. That would be about 7.5 miles for a completed triple nickel. Another 10 minutes or so and a few of the men would’ve have made it. The call was for jump squats at the Greyson Ridge cul-de-sac and merkins at the Greyson Heights cul-de-sac.
Solid work by all. And the repeating short distance allowed for some fellowship. All in all, a good morning, if you’re a fan of the Providence Road hill.
Moleskine
Great crew this morning. We cut through each parking lot looking for guys that missed the memo…and still missed Cheese Curd and Margo. Sorry brothers.
Alf is back, as he spent a lot of the morning up front. Laronda apparently saw us running down Providence and just parked his car along Greyson Ridge and joined us there. Still drove over for COT…brother, you owe us one trip up Providence Hill and the man card for the Prius. T-claps (or therapy sessions) to Ductwork for his back-to-back Horsey and FT posts. Ouch. Timing worked out great Rock Thrill such that he had time to run to the bottom of the hill and back up before our meet up to run back to base…never seen him so excited. And PopTart extended his streak for being the first one back to the launch point to a record 5 weeks, breaking the previous record held by Prohibition.
Joker, enjoyed sharing the sunrise with you.
Rachel and Purell, thanks for letting me relive the glory days. Men, thanks for allowing me to lead and for pushing me to be better.
Announcements
- SFN 1-year anniversary race on July 4th
- Incredible love and support in the COT this morning
1,2,3,4 Get This Q off the Floor
15 PAX showed up at to Watchtower on a muggy Tuesday morning. There must an unexpected rush of cars arriving at 5:30 for a “Guess who is on Q? session. It was a race to determine who would actually run the workout given Beltway suffered a toilet/back injury remodeling the bathroom. It was 5:30 and off to the races with everyone wondering how I Q-jacked the Frack from the 1,000 merkin workout.
Down to Business:
COP
- Mosey a lap around the parking lot in front of the school
- Side Straddle Hop x 20
- Imperial Squacker X 20
- Plank Jacks X 20
- Mountain Climbers X 20
The Thang
- Dip and Derkins with a Run Inbetween
- 25, 20, 15 of each exercise with a lap around the parking lot in-between each exercise
- Qoute” Do we end with a lap?- Yes”
- The Serpent
- Mosey to the upper parking lot
- Decriment from 10 to 5 merkins at each speed bump
- Run backward in the straights
- Run forwards in the curves
- Once you hit 5 merkins, begin increasing by 1 at each speed bump
- Do some Mary while waiting for the 6
- Fun with Rocks
- 20 Curls in Cadence-ish, 20 Curl to Press, 20 Tricep Extensions
- Repeat without the cadence for 15 and 10 reps
- Mosey to the Wall
- Donkey Kicks to Merkins
- 10 Donkey Kick followed by 5 Merkins
- Repeat 4 times without a break
- If you are a Clydesdale, pray your heart doesn’t explode
- Mosey to the blue hand rails
- Supine and Leg Lift Ladder
- 10 to 1 Supines
- 10 to 1 leg lifts
- Mosey to the side of the school
- Bear Crawl for the last two minutes
COT
Everything in Cadence. Although Q school was supposed to teach a method, I am pretty sure it was lost on me today.
I am pretty sure this is how all the cadence looked until I simply went to count on your own through a poorly cadenced set of curls. Obviously need to spend more time a corporate training. At least the PAX had something to mumble chatter about through the fun.
Announcements
- 3rd F Opportunity every Sunday at 5 Stones Church from 7:00 to 8:00 AM. Currently studying the book of John. No preparation necessary. Just come, learn and discuss.
- Sandbox Event this Saturday if you are in town. Check out the Sandbox on Slack for more information
3 Years of F3
9 pax showed up. 9 pax got their money’s worth. Here’s how:
COP: (all IC) SSH x 25, merkins x 15, IW x 25, Peter Parker x 15, LSS x10, Parker Peter x 15
Mosey down to the track for some 4 corners:
Round 1: 25 merkins at each corner
Round 2: 25 dolly
Round 3: 25 CDDs
Round 4: 25 LBCs
Round 5: 25 Plank Jacks
Head back up toward the parking lot, stop along the steps to grab a lifting rock:
Round 1: 25 overhead presses, 25 tricep extensions
Round 2: 25 curls, 25 bent over rows
Round 3: 25 overhead presses, 25 tricep extensions
Round 4: 25 curls, 25 bent over rows
People’s chair against the bathroom walls accompanied by 2 rounds of 25 overhead presses.
Mary: 6-inch crunches x 10 IC
Box cutter x 20 IC
Rosalita x 15 IC
Hourglass x 20
American Hammer x 15
LBC x 20 OYO
Burpees x 5. Done.
Ye Ol’ Moleskine
I can’t really say anything about the impact of F3 on my life that hasn’t already been said. You have all made me a better man, and those closest to me: the M, my 2.0, my family, my clients, have all benefitted, and I can’t thank you all enough. 3 years = 1,095 days. This morning, we all did 1,095 reps. It was kind of crazy how the timing worked out perfectly (much like my finding this glorious brotherhood) and we did those last 5 burpees with about 3 seconds to spare. I guess the workout lasted 44:57, then. #cobains. Some observations:
Abba, once again, needed a ruck or a weight vest to be slowed down. He was out front all morning. Keep him and his family in your prayers as he embarks on a missionary trip to Thailand for the next 2-3 years #HIM. Big, muscular dude in Thailand? Yeah, he might stand out a little bit.
YHC has never had the pleasure of meeting Stalker or Spanxx, but it looks like they attended to send Abba off right. Hope to see you guys out at Base Camp again. Strong performances by both of you.
Glad Fireman Ed showed up. He Qed YHC’s first post, and was lucky to not get charged with attempted murder that day. To a fat, out-of-shape YHC, it was absolutely brutal, but it was exactly the kind of kick-in-the-ass that was needed. Thanks for always being there the last 3 years, Ed!
Spinner, Thumper, and Sardine are becoming Base Camp regulars. Always glad to see them out there putting in work!
Thunder Road was his typical silent killer. Keeps his mouth shut and just gets the job done. YHC thinks he was the only one that wasn’t struggling with the lap of 100 merkins #beast.
I’m sure the high schoolers that came to do whatever they were doing had some choice thoughts about the old dudes running around a track doing crazy sh!t. If YHC had been thinking clearly, we would have done monkey humpers on that last lap.
Fireman Ed sounds like a female tennis player when lifting a rock. I think he woke his neighbors. He’ll just claim his rock was so much bigger than everyone else’s #sizematters
Pax were NOT happy when YHC called burpees for the 4th round of 4 corners. That was never going to happen – YHC isn’t that crazy #maybeIam #moderateworkout
I don’t know what or where I would be without finding F3 3 years ago. Give it away. Pay it forward. Think about the impact it has had on your life and drag your friends, co-workers, and family (kicking and screaming if you have to) to a workout. They WILL thank you for it. It is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another person, as it is the gift of strength, health, confidence, leadership, etc., etc.
Announcements:
Some prayers needed – Abba and his family, Dumpster Fire and his family (loss of brother), Mic Check and his family (son suffered a bad head injury this weekend playing rugby), ‘Bout Time and his family (son). Remember that we are a light of hope for our brothers, sometimes when they need it the most.