7 strong and brave men joined me to run up and down a couple of Waxhaw’s hills. I don’t get up to this site much but wanted to try and use some different terrain, while at the same time not venturing too far into the darkness to avoid being chased or mauled by some stray dog. Also, spirits were high knowing that the “burpee train” passed at 5:20, sparing the PAX from that suckfest.
WARM UP: Mosey around Waxhaw United Methodist Church to Center Grove Freewill Baptist Church. 15 x Mountain Climbers IC, 15 x Plank Jacks IC, 10 x Low Slow Squats IC, 10 x Merkins IC, 10 x Peter Parkers IC, 10 x Merkins IC
THANG: Run from Center Grove Freewill Baptist Church to Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, long hilly way-each rt .4 mi –10 jump squats one end, 10 HR Merkins other; at middle point each way, 2 burpees—3 round trips total No hand flutters x 20 IC, American Hammers x 10 IC waiting for 6
Mosey to parking lot on Church and Main St. intersection, plank work-civilian count-5 Carolina dry Docks, 10 Merkins, 15 Dry Docks, 10 Merkins, 5 Dry Docks
At Caldwell St. –from there run around bend of Church St.(turns into Givens St.) up to Broad St. intersection-10 HR Merkins at one end, 10 jump squats at other-Completed 2 round trips Heels to Heaven x 20 IC, Dolly x 20 IC waiting for 6
Mosey down Broome St. (turns into College St.) to Brevard. Up Brevard St. to Main St.-5 burpees at each intersection
Mosey back to the start-4 minutes left-audible to the picnic benches dips x 20 IC, Derkins x 10 IC, Dips x 10 IC, Derkins x 10 IC Done.
MOLESKIN: Great group of dudes as always. Fast crew out there as well. A few I don’t see that often, mostly because many of you foolios don’t come to Ignition or Pursuit. F3 Haw WestUC WWW3 whatever we are doesn’t have many hills so it’s always fun to use them when we can. Last time YHC Q’d Floater it was during the remnants of a hurricane and we didn’t get to move much. #recordlowattendance
Always good to get out of the comfort zone and try something different. Just kidding, it’s the same crap I always do, run, jump, merkin, etc, repeat-just with the added danger factor of #87. That’s why I had to prerun to scout for whether those pitbulls were roaming around and whether it was safe in the dark mean streets of the Haw. Regrettably, we only saw a deer and some annoying rat terrier that was attempting to wake up the entire neighborhood with its barking. I usually try and say something about each PAX but there was not a lot of chatter going on when we’re struggling for breath most of the time. Good thing there were only 7. Some of this is actually true.
Twinkle Toes-Told me how much he loved the Q and can’t wait for the next time I’m up. At least that’s what I heard. Grinded it out today.
Easy Button-Getting faster and faster over the summer. Is it the tank tops? We’ll find out in a few months if sleeves are his kryptonite.
Carb Load-Hasn’t missed a workout in 2 months. I think. How would I know? I don’t. But he’s always there. And kicking ass.
Shake & Bake-I know how much he loves to run so my goal was to make him happy. Pushed hard as always, though he probably wished we did more merkins to show off his perfect form.
High Hat– Probably felt like stopping a few times but never quit. He’s going to give the #respecters a run for their money when eligible soon during their annual Respect Games competition.
Deadwood –Despite the calf issues, continued to work hard up at the front. And, since everyone was on their best behavior, didn’t have to scold anyone (this doesn’t apply to Groupme)
Zinfandel– Way to represent for the Crest. He must have forgot that there was a boycott of my Q’s from the Briarcrest guys. #ilivedthere10years #hoaduesalwayspaidontime #thankstroy
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Tonight-Gerber leads Clyent Dinner 5:30-He promises Old E & Mickeys 40s or Boones Farm Strawberry Hill and Zima as the low carb options *unconfirmed on the alcohol selections
Q School this Saturday-see signup links in GroupMe, Slack
You put the time and work in, you watch the experienced Q’s and then it happens. You get the call! “Hey kid, you ready Q?” I bet Fuse Box never expected me to be as enthusiastic in my acceptance of the opportunity. I’ve been fired up for today’s Chiseled Q since that moment and appreciate all that came out loosen the V off this VQ. (very gentle)
You always have everything planned out in your head, but it is a little different when you’re thinking about next exercises and counting kinda counting. You know what you should say and you know when you should say it, but then you just miss it. Thank you to Dough Boy for the reminder. Everyone would have known when to stop if they were in my head, but that is not an ideal place for anyone.
DiCCS given. DJ Fuse Box starts the Party. Let’s begin….
Warmup
The Thang: 14 Stations
Circle up for some Low Slow Squats – 15
The plan always was to get thru the cycle 3 times, but the program quickly turned into an AMRAP to keep things simple. Other Q’s in the past have successfully used running as a timer. I think I will have to revisit that technique for future Q’s.
Thanks again to the 15 PAX that came out and made my 1st Q such a great time. I hope you all felt the love I was trying to share.
Announcements:
F3 Dads Saturday at Dogwood Park – 9:00 am
September 14 prostate run with Need for Speed
We all need to change things up from time to time to get out of our Q comfort zone. After almost 3 years of F3, it’s easy for YHC to plan the same Speed + Strength + Core workouts that seem to be appreciated by the Pax. Well…at least YHC enjoys them, and I try to stick with my “Dolphin”. Sometimes it’s good to feel uncomfortable, to push through a challenge, and grow as a man. Today would be one of those days for YHC and my 14 brothers who were courageous enough to get out of bed when many others either did not, or are unable. Let’s go!
THE THANG:
After a quick Warm-up to the rock pile, every Pax would grab a LIFTING ROCK (some didn’t adhere to the direction). YHC grabbed one of the Cinder Blocks in hopes of some others doing the same. No dice! I recommended a Cinder Block again…still no takers! Sheesh. Mosey with your Pebbles Rocks up the driveway to the front of the school. Boy, this Cinder Block is heavy!
Circle up with your Rock/Cinder Block for a little dynamic stretching for what was about to come. Stretches included:
Now grab your rock for (25) Bicep Curls (IC)…drop the rock and run a hot lap.
Rotate one place to your right, grab the rock for (20) 3-count Bicep Curls, starting in the Up Position…drop the rock and run a hot lap.
Rotate two places to your right, grab the rock for (20) 3-count Bicep Curls, starting in the Down Position…drop the rock and run a hot lap. Done!
Mosey to the side Driveway with your rock for Suicides. After running to each of the (3) light poles, come back to your Rock for (10) Overhead Presses. Upped the count to (20) after the last 2 runs.
This was about the time that YHC (and everyone else) realized that Gerber was making us all look like snails, and he was Turbo! The humidity didn’t affect Gerber, but if it did, he definitely didn’t show it. Nice work, brother. “That Snail is FAAAAAST”!
Grab your rock and mosey to the Globe. At the Globe, circle up again for:
Mosey to tennis court benches for (20) Step-ups with your Rock. Ouch! Done!
Mosey to Speed Bumps…partner up for:
Done! 5 minutes left…mosey back passed the buses and return the rock. Half way there, it was clear we all YHC needed a breather after carrying the Cinder Block the entire workout. Stop for:
Now, return your rocks and head back for COT. Done!
MOLESKIN:
As usual, the Dromedary Pax worked hard today, A shout out to Garbage Plate for showing up 2 days in a row even though his dad, Pocahontas, is out of town. He’s 16, fellas! Let that sink in. What are your excuses? Also good to see Bratwurst’s 14 year old 2.0, “Howie” out there today!
A Happy Birthday to Endo, who turns 45!
Great job by Mad Dog and Dasher in showing up today as part of the WUC “M.A.S.H. Unit”. Both knew they were not at 100% with injuries, but worked hard even at a slower pace than usual. That’s what it’s all about. We never quite feel “100%” in life, but at Fathers, Providers, Leaders we need to show up EVERY DAY and perform. It’s the expectation God has put on us as men and we need to work through our tough times.
So…the title of this BB is “The Burdens of Weight” for a reason. While having my (almost) daily Coffeteria with my wife on our porch when I return from F3, we talked about how carrying that extra weight around today felt awkward/hard/annoying/frustrating/etc. (at least for YHC). It was hard carrying that weight, and I believe every man felt the same way today. That’s why it’s important to remember that we are blessed to have our brothers of F3. We don’t have to carry the “weight” or burden of life on our own. We have each other’s back and God does as well. He is the one who lifts our burdens, and that’s enough.
“I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me” Numbers 11:14 ESV
When Lazy Boy asked me if he could help me out by taking the Cinder Block during our final mosey to the rock pile, I told him, “No, I’ve got it for now”. I wanted to finish what I started and with the rock I started with. It was a burden though, and when we got to the breather of Merkins (some breather, huh?), I asked him if he would take the Cinder Block for me. He did…all I had to do was ask. This is symbolic by design, and what God put on my heart today! Don’t be like me…ask for help, or at least take it when someone offers.Thanks for your help today, Lazy Boy! I definitely needed it.
Announcements:
Thanks to OneStar for taking us out in prayer today.
Keep working hard, fellas. And let me know if/how I can help you in any way (and be helped)!
Iron Sharpens Iron!
Summer is my favorite time to Q; when I can run around buses without Diesel Death (from the bus; but your flatulence is just as deadly) or fear of vehicular manslaughter. But the Flash / Impromptu / Ignition buses are parked such that a Cheddar Weave is impossible. Others have used them as accessories; I wanted to feature them today.
Spike rolls in early and barely misses the Ignition crowd. I’m glad he chooses to stick with us.
DiCCS properly (if not semi-erotically) administered.
THE THANG
Last time I Q’ed here, I introduced the Turpee. I didn’t realize it would take off like that, but here’s what it looks like. With a brief demo, I asked the Pax to knock out 4 of them. They obliged, and thus unwittingly celebrated my 4th anniversary in F3. See Zin, you don’t have to show all your cards up front.
The Q juice kicked in on T4, and we I was off like Jason Statham in Crank (NSFW). To the front of the school for ascending / descending Turpees. One at the first light; 2 at the second, etc; up to 7, then work back down to 1. Added another element I call the Tortoise & the Hare. We would stop this foolishness when either:
+ The fastest person made it from 1 – 7 – 1
OR
+ The slowest person made it from 1 – 7.
The Tortoise won, which surprised me. Also, a surprise was not many lights between T & H. Final surprise, I didn’t get passed until light 3
Mosey to the 8th bus on the Middle School side. Plank while all come in. Point out to Pax that UCPS came out 30 minutes ago to draw a chalk line separating the 8th from the 9th bus.
Peter Parker right leg only while Pax ponder why.
Mosey to the 16th bus. Same kind of chalk line.
Peter Parker left leg only while Pax postulate if Posse is responsible for these and the Nazca lines.
Told to pair up by opposite ability. To help figure that out, we’re going to run backwards uphill the way we came. The first finisher will pair with the last, and so on. Pairs made; let’s head to the benches in front of the cafeteria.
I realize in Round 1 Dasher & Mad Dog have paired up. T-claps to Mad Dog for triaging Dasher into MASH mid-workout. They’re doing yoga in the corner. Which one of you is Hawkeye?
Round 2, I cross paths with Big Tuna, whose complaint became today’s title.
Round 3, I hear the #OldManGrunt of Recalculating, and I know I’ve done OK.
And throughout the workout, I hear Fuse #QWhispering as he tries to fill his Chiseled calendar. Fish in your own pond.
Great work by those teams finishing early to help out on the reps in each round! My partner, Joy, was a beast like I have never seen from him before. At each handoff, he consistently had more reps than me across all rounds. Impressive!
To avoid the chain decapitation of Dromedary last week, I pointed out the bright yellow chain to step over to make our way to the field. However, I neglected to point out a hole just 1 step beyond the chain. Chainsaw found it with his ankle, sorry to say.
Up to the top of the field for the Tunnel of Love. Assumed it would be a first for many. Pax plank shoulder to shoulder while one end of the line army crawls under the group to the other end. #ManTouchMonday
Back to the sidewalk. Five jump squats at each light as we go back to start. SSH & IW IC while everyone comes in.
MOLESKINE
Yeah, I had a lot of stuff in here. That’s why it took an extra day. Ultimately I couldn’t write it without rambling. A story for another time, perhaps.
Announcements
Q School – If you have Q’ed less than a handful of times, you need it. If you’ve never had access to write a backblast, help is in the sign up as well. THIS Saturday, 7/20. Hands-on training to ensure your success. http://bit.do/qschool
Elevation Church is beginning Love Week the last week in July. Lots of 3rd F opportunities throughout the area. Don’t need to be a member to help. Mad Dog and others will be resources for more questions.
Swimmers is Q’ing Zero Prostate Cancer 5k Run/Walk in Ballantyne 9/14. Speed for Need will be there.
If you are a Site Q, and you are feeling like it is time to roll off, this is the perfect time. We just had Site Q School last Saturday, and there are some men ready to take on new leadership roles within F3. Talk to your co-Site Q.
See Legal Zoom about the campground revival down near Mineral springs. Equal parts preachin’, playin’, and puddin’ for the 3rd week in July.
F3 Dad’s still going strong on Saturdays at 0900 in Dogwood Park
121 Lester Davis Rd, Waxhaw, NC 28173
Nails is on Q this Saturday, but see Gerber to pick up your Q.
Recently I pulled my calf muscle and was a little skeptical of my upcoming Q. What would I do to prevent myself from further injury? Could I still provide the Pax with a solid Q? Would Pax think it was a trick and not show up? Well, I think it was a success! I didn’t injure myself, the Pax got smoked and today’s mileage was a record low for all of my 39 Q’s.. 1.06. Mission accomplished!! Heres how it went down.
Warmup
Mosey to the bus parking lot – Circle up!
MOSEY TO BB COURT – Like 100′
The Thang:
Coming into this I knew it would be a smoker but man… I’m spent! I would love to call out Pax individually and congratulate but there was zero mumble chatter except for Zinfandel when I called out squats again! You’re welcome. All pax were pushed to their limits today and did very well. Dough Boy did give his 2.0 a hard time during the pull-ups. “Come on Bread Bowl, don’t just stand there, DO SOMETHING!!” Rudy didn’t have to do any paperwork and made it through the entire workout. Bread Bowl, however… As we were running back to COT, we see him standing in the middle of the road with napkins all around him on the ground…its still a mystery as to what went down.
Rough numbers: 87 Merkins, 55 Mike Tysons, 100 Kneeups, 375 squats, and should have been 55 pullups but somehow we started dropping by 2 but time was short and we were spent so I’m good with that. One audible called during the knee-ups I changed from squats to speed skaters. Again, nice job guys way to push!! I’ll see you on Saturday at Commitment!!
Announcements:
F3 Dads Saturday at Dogwood Park – 9:00 am
September 14 prostate run with Need for Speed
Brutus on for VQ tomorrow at Chiseled
10 men enjoyed the horsey half pipe today, using only half of the official course.
The Thang
Launch, sprint to the bottom of Blue Ridge.
Warmup, 10 SSH. Ladder on first hill, merkins at bottom, burpees at top. 2,4,6,8,10 reps per round.
Mosey up to top of Blue Ridge to middle of “half pipe” and partner up for the main event.
Partner one goes right to bottom of largest hill, 2 burpees
Partner two goes left to Wilby and down to Sardis, two burpees
Both return and do hand-slap merkins when they meet.
Switch and repeat. Start with 10 hand slap merkins, and go up by two to 20 and then return back down to 10 for 11 rounds.
Return to flagpole at 6:10. Mosey back to start.
COT
Total mileage ~6.25mi
Moleskine:
Out.
note: missed a couple: Taps, Chechel?
It’s a celebration bitch£s!! It feels like I’ve been working out with you guys for way longer but as of yesterday I’m officially 1 year in the WUC F3 familia!! What a journey it’s been both mentally and physically in those 365 days. Thanks to each and everyone of you for the push to get out of bed every morning. The friendships, the laughter and the daily grind to dig a little bit deeper every post is appreciated.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve posted but I do know today was my 25th Q. What would I have planned? Something fun? Would I chose something new and exciting? Or would I do what I hate….
DiCCS given. Let’s rock….
THE THANG
Long 1 Mile Opening Mosey. I despise running, especially long distances so it would make sense to start with a nice 9 minute mile.
Circle Up at PetSmart
Ladder. 1 Merkin, 4 Air Presses until 10 &. 40. IC. I feel like we used to do this a good bit when I first started and it was demoralizing. I couldn’t get through it without several breaks. Now I can crush it.
Mosey to Target. 3 burpees at the center. Each corner, alternate between 10 x Speedskaters and 10 x Bobby Hurleys. Come back to center between rounds for the burpees
40 Bear Crawl & 10 Mike Tyson’s. IC. Working our way down instead of up. Audibled after completing round 7: 28 x BCs & 7 x MTs. Awful. This will absolutely be my new favorite as this combines one thing I used to hate, Bear Crawls, with something I currently hate, MTs.
Mosey over to Hickory Tavern. Partner up. Split 50 x derkins. 100 x step ups. 200 x dips.
Circle up, on your 6 and go around the horn doing an ab workout of your choice. Everyone got in an exercise. And that’s time….
Complete. COT.
MOLESKIN
I’m probably, no promises, done talking about my personal journey. It’s had it’s up and downs, trials and tribulations and I’ve been more than open about it. My new focus is going to be on activities/discussion to assist others get on their own new path and to push through personal barriers. Finding new guys to drag to their 1st post is one thing I already love but I’ve found a new motivation recently with Shake n Bakes words of encouragement. Reading a few comments in his BBs but then seeing him in action at the Floater and Watchtower last week verbally helping guys push has a renewed focus for me.
“Why are you out here?” is not an easy question to throw at your brother while they are struggling to complete an exercise. It’s moments like that though that I’ve found myself pushing through a current mental/physical plateau. My most memorable are being rescued by DW and Moneyball, Doughboy offering a “good work” or any number of you that provide a helping hand of any kind.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m happy to announce I’m going to be F3 WUC’s (self appointed) Head Cheerleader. This will include even more words of encouragement, circling back for the 6 more often and I’ll be looking to make more personal connections with the hope’s that we create more F3 Lifers.
Great work by everyone that posted today and thanks for the support! It’s great to see so many legacy posters and new PAX. Keep up the good work boys!
Thanks to Swimmers for taking us out? I think it was you. Too damn humid and I forget.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
10 men laid a Brixham Egg at Stonehenge.
COP
Thang
Mosey to fountain in middle of Brixham Green and partner up.
Brixham Egg
There are six buildings situated around Brixham Green in an egg shape. Run clockwise, from building to building, stopping at each one for exercises. One full loop is 0.6 miles.
Loop 1:
Loop 2:
Mosey to retaining wall near Tony’s Pizza.
Mosey to parking lot next to Einstein’s.
Back to launch and plank for remaining 45 seconds until time.
Moleskin
7 high impact leaders and leaders in training skipped the fartsack, got up early on a Saturday, and posted at a pre-site-q-school-workout. No one (except maybe Posse) knew what to expect. 30 seconds to go and Posse drops a “Oh no, the QIC didn’t show!” scenario on us. Centerfold, The Knish, and Old MacDonald get assigned the 3 way Site Q responsibility of picking up the Q. 15 minutes each. Chastain in charge of backblast. Fusebox in charge of timing. Centerfold, you’re up!
Q1 – Centerfold: Long mosey from the parking lot around to the back of the school. We’re all beginning to think Centerfold’s entire improvised weinke is going to be to run laps around the school but finally we get to some picnic tables and circle up for some warm up.
Mosey back to the front of the school for some bench work:
Centerfold, your 15 minutes of fame are over. Next up, The Knish!
Q2 – The Knish: Back to the starting lot and down the back driveway. Alternate light poles with 10 Merkins and 20 Squats until the end of the driveway. Up to the top roundabout for 20 LBCs, down to the bottom for 20 Heels to Heaven, then repeato. Typed out that doesn’t sound like 15 minutes, but it sure felt longer in action.
Q3 – Old MacDonald: Last but never least, Old MacDonald finished off the last Q section with a quick jog to an out building where we found some wall and did some O-Line drills: Hands on the wall, knees bent, press hard for 30 seconds. Next up, repeato, this time chop your feet and keep on your toes. Once more and done. Sounds easy, but it ain’t. Pretty sure we were close to knocking down the building so we called that one. Next up, a Lunge walk (or a Bear Crawl, which YHC will take any day) to the football field. Once there, we decided to get wet with liquids not of our own making by rolling around in the dew-soaked grass. YHC can’t remember what this one was called but fortunately was able to capture it on video for posterity:
Too late to ask if anyone is allergic to grass. Nothing to do but run it off. Heading back to the starting parking lot by alternating light poles with running and then a karaoke. Finish up with some PAX called exercises, including Burpees, Dying Cockroaches, and some other things that escape the mind…
Moleskin: An out of the ordinary workout with out of the ordinary PAX. It was awesome seeing how easily all three guys quickly adapted to being thrown into the fire and gave us a great Saturday morning workout. Anyone would have thought those weinkes were planned in advance.
Announcement: F3 Dads started this morning at Dogwood Park in Wesley Chapel @ 0900. Boys and girls ages 3 and up are welcome. Bring a squirt gun if you have it. Talk to Fusebox or Gerber if you’re willing to step up and help. They need some future Qs.
YHC took us out in prayer then we headed to McDonald’s for some 2nd F and Site Q School. Much thanks to Posse for all his effort in organizing, documenting, and leading the training. It was much needed for myself and others too, I’m sure.