15 Pax rolled out of bed ready to work. They all arrived in a variety of modes of transportation…cars, runners, walkers, motorcycles and even a bicycle. The only thing missing was Steve Martin and John Candy realizing that the other hand is not between two pillows. One FNG present so a full disclaimer was given and off we went.
A lap around the Btyne medical building and up by Duckworths then circle up for COP. SSH, Peter Parkers (hold 6 inches), Hillbillys, Parker Peters (hold 6 inches) and then something else.
Mosey to Blackfinn at Btyne Village. Partner up. P1 runs out to the courtyard benches and does called exercise while P2 does people’s chair with overhead presses. Flapjack. Exercises were 10 derkins, 15 step ups and 20 dips. YHC messed up and did not clarify that the flapjack should occur after each exercise and not do all exercises and flapjack. So YHC clarified and called Round 2 of 15 derkins, 20 step ups and 30 dips. Then round 3 back down to 10 derkins, 15 step ups and 20 dips.
Mosey over to the condo neighborhood where the converted fountain/overly large flower pot thingy is. Find your partner. P1 bear crawls from the world’s largest flower pot down one of the walkway arms and back. P2 leans up on the flower pot and does 2 incline merkins then 2 inclined plank walks clockwise continuously until P1 gets back. Flapjack. After 2 rounds of the bear crawls YHC called for the plank walks to go counter-clockwise #gottaworkbothsidesevenly. Do this until each Pax bear crawls each of the 4 walkway arms.
Mosey back to launch for some Mary consisting of Pax circle 45 degree leg throw down. Then some called exercises by various Pax. Done.
Moleskin:
Mileage was kept relatively low at 1.75 miles but the upper body workout hopefully made up for that. The clockwork bear crawls/incline merkins/inclined plank walks was a YHC invention. You never know how invented exercises will go but there was minimal chatter so it appeared to be sufficiently taxing. Nice work by the Pax all around. Cooter keeps impressing by putting work in and biking from spot to spot. Welcome to FNG, Fonzie. Not necessarily because he rode up on a motorcycle but mainly because he has had like 13 knee operations because of said motorcycle.
Announcements:
Oh, now i remember. First Q since…. August of last year.
Disclaimer given and we were off.
25 Side Straddle Hops IC
25 Imperial Walkers IC25 Mountain Climbers IC25 some other forgotten named excercise
I planned to do the other excercises mentioned but in the middle of the Imperial Walkers leading cadence, I just could not remember the name “Mountain Climbers” #qbrain. Not like i haven’t done that at least once a week for the last 6 years.
Mosey to Lockness for a 1-mile lap. Give it what you got. A few faster Pax decided to add in some dips on there own. Good on them. More of those coming.
I ran a fast-yet-not-so-fast 7:15 mile. There were about 6-7 PAX ahead of me. #smokeshoes
Plank while we wait on the six
Count of by 3s – Rotate through the following stations
Next Set
Hold air chair waiting for last round to finish
Mosey home right at 615a.
Honor to lead, as always. Fun to try to plan something we may not have done in a while. Checked with the site-q on last weeks Q (no backblast @wareagle ) to be sure not to do something similar.
Announcements:
Prostate 5k in Ballantyne
Upcoming Speed for Need races
SOB Picnic – Give your monies to @mighty-mite
22 men decided to post on what can only be described as a swampy morning. Thanks to last night’s rain, the humidity was up and some plans for wheelbarrow relay on the soccer field had to be altered. None the less, the show must go on, and so it did. Add some beliefs that I stole this Q from Zin, and we had all the makings for a wonderful morning.
DiCCS proclaimed, and we’re off….
Warm-up
The Thang
Moleskin
The plan for the month was to train and run a 10k as a group. We started out with 1200m on N. Community House, followed by a celebrity guest Q from Citgo doing 1 mile repeats and then last week running the bull ring doing 800m. All of this culminated with the 10k this morning. Everyone was asked to give a time goal at the start of the month to have something to measure themselves against.
We had 21 show up this morning at 5:00 for the event. Wolverine and Haggis forgot about the earlier start but still managed to run the course. We did a little warm up, got a drink of water and got the instructions of the course. We started at 5:15 heading down Ballantyne Corporate towards Sara’s Y to complete a loop that we ran twice.
Pretty simple challenge, run as fast as you can as long as you can and trust your training, ignore your inner doubts and keep running. I thought the group did awesome. We had several guys that had a PR and many others broke their stated goal. PR for Hairball, Woodson, Flipper, Das Boot, Cheddar, Frehleys and Udder. Polly, Vodoo and Rubber Maid ran their second fastest 10k and Mario ran his third fastest 10k. Eclipsing their goal was Polly, Hairball, Flipper, Vodoo, Cul De Sac and Jello. There were many others that set personal best on segments.
Everyone should be proud of yourself. You showed up early, ran a tough course on a warm/humid morning. Nothing about it was easy. Jello got lost and still beat his time goal. Rock Thrill ran in Orlando. It is good to give yourself a metric to see if you can hit it or not. Not all of us hit and there is a lot to learn from that.
I really appreciate Brat putting in all the work to set the course and zig zag back and forth encouraging everyone to do their best. He built this thing (Swift) we are just trying to not let the wheels fall off. He has created a great concept with the Q having a month to create a plan to challenge us and build upon our base.
Thanks again for coming out and trying hard to reach your goal.
Relatively low number today at the ‘Nest. Maybe its the hot temps, or the family vacations. Or maybe its the Site Q’s threat that I would run and lift during a boot camp and who the heck wants to do that?
5:30 Disclaimer-ish. Then Mosey. Up to the new parking lots by the new fields, next to the newer fields they are fixin’ to build. Nobody says you don’t get your money’s worth at Latin.
COP – The Standards: Merkins, Squats, Mumble Chatter, Complaints about the .3 miles it took to get to COP.
Mosey up to pavilion. Little Hazes at the top and burpees down the hill. 3 Rounds. Followed up with the Triple D – Derkins, Dips and Donkey Kicks. 3x of course.
Over to the pile of rocks. 15 Thrusters run track with merkins at each corner. 2 stops for hand release and 2 stops for exploding merkins.
Wall sit for the six, then repeat.
Back to launch to say Hi to Gummy who was so fast at Fast Twitch he made it back 15 minutes early to towel himself off.
The Moleskine:
Puddin’ Pop puddin’ pooped himself after the first track lap. He was gracious and moved 10 feet upwind before he did it. He was eyeing Geraldo’s extra long socks and wishing he had a pair at that point.
Spackler was doubled over in a dry heave position when I rolled in. He’s a pro and popped right out to get out for the launch.
Semi-Gloss ran a lap by himself in the reverse direction because he needed “private time.” On the other hand, Hammer seemed to have mind reading abilities on initial mosey. Cut off a section of the hill and just met us back on my way around. Veteran move.
Hopper is turning the big 5-0 this week. Wish him a happy birthday, compliment his sweet new shoes he was wearing, and ask him to drop and do 50 burpees. He had to modify the DDD a bit. Apparently Donkey Kicks aren’t in the PT recommendations for shoulder re-hab. I am as shocked as you are.
Good to have LaRonda back out – even if he only joined us for the last 20 minutes. Missed the launch and took the private tour of Latin on his own. Come find the man soon – he leaves in 4 weeks to go to med school. T-Claps.
Shout out to Billy Goat who reached out this week and said “Cerberus Q is vacant, you need me to step in?” We do, thanks for leading and come out Friday to Cerberus and have Billy Goat chew you up like a tin can.
McGee was back out. He wore yellow. And all things are normal again.
Thanks to Snowflake for the takeout and for Hop(s/per) for the Q invite.
-Alf
I’ve spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get 9 names into that silly “Tags” box so they can get their full credit on here. My creativity might be a little spent by now. But hey, the ‘blast is the 3rd most important part* of Qing the #Horsey, so here goes nothing:
What were you doing at 4:30 this morning?
Here’s what the 9 Horsey Pax, plus some imitators, were up to:
Snots: Straight-razor shaving his head to reduce any possibility of drag, so he could smoke us all on the uphills (spoiler: it worked)
Titan: Stretching out his injured coccyx in preparation for his first real run since the #campandjog event in June
Horsehead: Pull-ups on the home gym to get the muscles flexed in case @Chester was out in the sunlight
The Mouth: Picking out the reddest red shirt he had so he wouldn’t get lost while moseying around Blue Ridge on his own
Egypt: Last-minute changes to his “Map My Run” route to maximize @Chester sighting potential
SS Minnow: Already dressed, ate, had coffee and motoring down I-485 in his big-daddy pickup so he could post at a workout more than 15 miles from his home just because a teammate said it would be a good idea
Federalist: Talking. A lot. To anyone in his house who would listen.
Turkey Leg: Practicing the phrase “You know, nobody really even knows what a consent order is”
Mr. Brady: Expertly applying nipple tape to protect during a shirtless run
Stone Cold: Helping Mr. Brady (without gloves)
Two of those are true, and the rest are figments of Egypt’s imagination. If you chose SS Minnow and Mr. Brady, you’re the big winner. Minnow is already the BRR Team Captain of the Year for trekking all the way from Harrisburg (that’s somewhere outside of Charlotte, but we don’t really know where) for an 0515 workout. He even got there early and did a pre-drive of the potential course. Of course, he is 63, so he goes to bed at 7:30 and gets up at 3 a.m., but still, it’s impressive.
And even though Brady and Stone Cold didn’t do the Horsey workout, they showed up on the course at various points and then hung around during COT long enough to get a #nippletape mention here. You gotta see it to appreciate it (or not).
What we did (as if you’re still reading)
More Moleskin
So, about @Chester. Snots and Minnow, both virgins to the #Horsey, were anxious to see him and I think got their wish while it was still mostly dark. YHC made the mistake of looking over on the way back when the sunlight was out, and it wasn’t good. I will never do that again. Some things you just can’t unsee.
More cigarettes. After COT, some dude in a white CR-V came screaming into the parking lot in between 2 Pax’s cars that had their reverse lights on, as if he was late for his 5-mile run on the greenway. 5 minutes later, after he finished his smoke while standing alone in front of his ride, he got back in and drove away. Not sure where “smoke a cig in a nondescript greenway parking lot with some random dudes in it at 6:15 a.m.” fits into most people’s daily schedules, but it ain’t on mine. At least he was fully clothed.
T-claps to everyone who powered through that humid mess today. Especially Minnow for making such an effort to get there, Snots for leading the way, and Horsehead for, well, for being Horsehead. @Fishwrap, we still miss you and want you back.
Until next time.
(*) Most important part is just showing up. Second most important part is the Pledge at 0608. Third is the ‘blast. Fourth is not losing anyone at the intersection of Wilby and Mountainview. If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.
Coming in fresh from vacation I was feeling great! Basically after a week of recovery, with a few runs, and relaxation I was ready to get it this morning and so were the rest of the Pax!! Let’s do it!
DiCCS given.
That Thang:
XY’s – 20?? IC (Exicon) Need to work on the cadence.
Burpee mile-ish (1.4)
Lunge/Squat/Run (LSR)
MT’s/Squats Web – Kill me now!
Wave of Merkins – What was I thinking?
Donkey Kick Offs/Squats – Drag me to my truck….
2.5″ left…RECOVER! Mosey to back for COT
The Skine:
All Pax left it everything they had at Cuthberson today! Personally, I thought the workout was grueling and everyone nailed it! Burpees, to lunge walks, to squats, to run, to mike Tysons/squats, to Merkins, to Donkey Kicks/squats may have not been a good idea but everyone hung in there and finished strong. My legs and chest are feeling it pretty good. We lost Moneyball at some point during the burpee mile but I’m not sure when. Calves are wrecked! Shout out to Shake N Bake for the push at the end. He ran by me trying to motivate me to run faster and I wasn’t having it. He dropped back, physically pushed me and I dug a little deeper and sped up!! We need more of this kind of encouragement. Thanks, Shake! 3miles, 24 burpees, 305 squats, 55 MT’s, 40ish Merkins, 45ish Donkey Kicks…probably missed a few reps! #hadtobethere
Well done men and thanks for letting me lead you! Thanks Dana for taking us out!!
Announcements:
Damascus on Q @ Watchtower and The Floater! The man is back with a vengeance!! #TheStreakWillLiveOn
I have unfinished business to attend to:
This one goes back a ways, but has continued to remain in the back of my mind. On December 4, 2018, I posted to Fast Twitch for the 1st time and quickly realized I was surround with guys that have obviously run these roads many many many times. I had never heard of Raintree Ln and for sure had no idea it was a connector between Providence and 51. This being said, When the directions were given for the morning route I simply figured there was no need for me to know the way because we all know only the guy out front needs to know and the rest of us try to mindlessly follow.
I was wrong and after getting to the turn around point at Rea and 51, I soon realized there was no one in sight for me to follow. At some point (what I now know as Strawberry ln) I did see 4 blinking lights off in distance and figured it was the PAX, so I followed and continued to follow as the group seemed to be getting faster and faster. By time I caught up on this unlit dark road I was panting uncontrollably and must have looked like a crazed crack head running from the cops. This obviously was a great way to suddenly come to the realization that the 4 blinking lights were actually 4 ladies out for a jog and being pursued down a dark road by the above said crack head to the end of a dead-end road. I have no idea how I was not maced on the spot and then pummeled to death by them (although at that time I would have taken that vs. continue to run aimlessly attempting to find the AO.) After turning back, I saw a path on the right so I took it thinking maybe I cut a corner and find my way back to Providence.. nope.. I ended up in the middle of a golf course. Now the brilliance of why I need coffee kicks in.
OH YEAH.. I have a phone on me.. Google Maps to the rescue. Make my way to Woodfox Dr over to Raintree and finish with an AYG to the AO just in time for COT to wrap up.
The above was all reference to say.. I never finished the actual route we were supposed to run on 12/4.
So tomorrow we will try to make sure everyone makes it this time. 🙂
The Routes:
4 miles:
Left out of Latin School Dr onto Providence Rd.
Left onto Raintree Ln
Right onto Pineville-Matthews rd(51)
Right onto Providence Rd.
Right onto Latin School Dr.
5.5 miles:
Left out of Latin School Dr onto Providence Rd.
Left onto Raintree Ln
Left onto Pineville-Matthews rd(51)
Turn back at Strawberry Ln
Right onto Providence Rd.
Right onto Latin School Dr.
7.3 miles:
Left out of Latin School Dr onto Providence Rd.
Left onto Raintree Ln
Left onto Pineville-Matthews rd(51)
Turn back at Rea Rd
Right onto Providence Rd.
Right onto Latin School Dr.
7.3+ miles:
Left out of Latin School Dr onto Providence Rd.
Left onto Raintree Ln
Left onto Pineville-Matthews rd(51)
Turn back at Rea Rd
Right onto Providence Rd.
Turn back on Latin School Dr. for the 6
I was called in from the bullpen yesterday afternoon due to a Zinfandel Gold Cup outing impacted his ability to effectively take the reins. Not wanting to dust off an old Q (not that I can effectively remember them anyway), I set up to have a lower mileage, but still difficult Q, incorporating some gear to make Transporter happy.
The Warmup
The Thang:
Announcements
Moleskin
This morning I woke up to rain tapping at my window. I thought to myself no one will show today, it’s Saturday, raining at 5:30am, fixing it for Christ service event and a big ol’ donkey is on Q. I had visions of no one showing, just me in a parking lot. My mind raced with a backblast laced with me, myself and I in a Don Quixote-esq type struggle of physical feats and outrageous claims. Alas upon pulling into Nesbit I saw a gaggle of men and knew i had to put this dream away for another day.
DiCCS given. Let’s Mosey.
Mosey to and around the circle up to Kensington parking lot. 11 Potato pickers, stretch left, right, plank calf stretches. Mosey to playground parking lot. Line up side by side. Bear crawl the length of the lot. Recover. Mosey to Kensington Drive around to the entrance of Millbridge.
To help our marketing efforts, I called for 20 monkey humpers, 6 facing the street. Mosey to clubhouse, return for the six.
At the clubhouse, line up side by side again. At this point Damascus stated if we were doing bear crawls he was going to climb on my shoulders or something awkward like that. I said of course not, no more bear crawls. We shall crawl – bear the length of the clubhouse parking lot.
Recover. YHC then informed the PAX we’d be moseying up the best hill in the recently acclaimed neighborhood, all the way to the end (second round about). 20 merkins at every intersection. Circle back for the 6.
Some wise ass then suggested we mary as we wait for Uber to bring us back to COT. Enough with that, YHC informed the group we’d be moseying back down to the clubhouse (a mere .7 miles away), stopping at every intersection and performing 10 Bobby Hurleys.
Right before the clubhouse a small group gathered at the entrance to the trail. Word got out a certain member of the PAX had the sudden urge to fertilize some bushes. Well, that’s all YHC’s colon had to hear. Change of plans – circle back for the 6, mosey along the trail back to Nesbit.
Arriving back at the Nesbit circle, YHC had an urgent matter to attend to in my office, temporary Q duties given to Rubbermaid. Sprints and burpees ensued. Upon completing my business, I returned and assembled PAX back to Nesbit Circle. Everyone grab space on the curb.
Next up: Robin Givens Web: 1 Mike Tyson, 4 jabs…all the way to 10 Mike Tyson’s, 40 jabs.
Next: Partner up, first pair sprint, all other hold plank until first pair cross finish line, next pair spring, etc. On the other end across the finish line, hold plank until the entire group finished. 25 LBC’s in cadence. Finished.
Seems like mileage today was between 3.5 to 4.0 depending upon how much you circle backed for 6. My inspiration for today was NOT Doughboy’s workout on Friday, in fact I didn’t see the backblast until this morning. I wanted to challenge myself and provide a workout that would be challenging for the fittest of gazelles. Also truth be told it was out of laziness, the only planned weinke was the loop from Kensington up to the top of the hill in Millbridge. Everything else I improvised. The inspiration for the Robin Givens webb was born out of an idea Knish shared with me as we moseyed down the hill. I won’t steal his thunder but he has a great new webb called the Donkey Punch. I was going to steal it and conduct this awful move back at Kensington, but as my urgent business matter called, I had to change plans. But, while in my office, a deviation of the Donkey Punch was born, the Robin Givens. Ta-da!
One thing I want to put out there, which is serious. My intent is to reach just one guy who is going through something similar and let them know they are not alone. It’s also a way to keep me accountable. I’m coming up on my 1 year anniversary with F3 in a couple months. Overall my stamina is up and I’ve lost a very modest 15 pounds, very mediocre results. What’s kept me from losing more and getting closer to the head of the pax? Booze, wine, cocktails. It was nothing for me to throw back a bottle of wine at night during the week. I was trying to suppress/numb some things I was going through, we all go through: My job, relationship with M, kids, just the everyday struggles and stresses we experience as we go through life. Problem was I knew I was growing old, but not necessarily growing up. 3-4 glasses of wine at the end of a day was suppressing this reality, if just for a couple hours. Problem was it was still there the next day. Well, after committing to myself and my wife, enough was a enough. No more drinky poo during the week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to enjoy the weekends, but mindless, socialess drinking on the couch at night had to stop. It affected my mood, my ability to push myself during workouts, my performance at work and doesn’t help the fact that I’m prone to depression and anxiety. And in the couple weeks since I’ve started, it has made a tremendous difference. I also started seeing a therapist. That too has held me accountable and helping me become a HIM. Why do I say this all? It’s not for outreach or praise – but to say thank you to a group that has steered me down a path to becoming a better man. I say it because maybe someone else in the group is going through something similar. I want to let that person(s) it’s ok, life can be heavy at times and it’s ok to reach out for help. We CANNOT do this alone. Life is not meant to be a solitary exercise. F3 is one of many vehicles we can use to help each other out. I always knew that was part of the idea of F3, but I can tell you that not until I committed myself to becoming a better man did I feel the non athletic portions of F3 applied to me. We are here for you, I am here for you.
Blue Screen took us out, thank you.