12 men showed up for YHC’s 1 year anniversary. As a gift they all received jelly shoulders for the rest of the day.
My two objectives for my Matrix Q’s are 1) Deliver something challenging for Lobster Roll and 2) Try to keep up with Lobster Roll. Here’s how it went down.
COP
Mosey around the parking lot and back around to pick up Young Love and Cole Slaw who came into the parking lot shortly after go time. Circle up in the field. Provide disclaimer stating that still after a year I don’t know what I am doing so follow on at your own risk.
SSH x 25 IC
IW x 25 IC
Monkey Humpers x 20 IC
Peter Parker’s x 20 IC
The Thang
Mosey to rock pile and grab a rock you wouldn’t be embarrassed to work out with. Spandex was covered on this one as he had a beast of a rock.
Run with rock over to the track.
A race like workout started around the track. Complete 5 reps of merkins, curls with rock, & shoulder front raises with rock. Run a lap on the track. Then do 10 rep of each exercise then a lap, keep up the cycle for 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 reps. Like any good NASCAR race, once the leaders finish, complete the lap you are on and plank up. Most everyone stayed with in a lap of the leaders. Audibled at the 30 rep cycle to overhead presses from front raises as needed.
Move to wall for some People’s Chair
Grab rocks and carry them back – but throw in 25 more merkins, curls and overhead presses to round things out. This rounded things out to an even 300 merkins, 300 curls, and 300 front raises/presses. Now take your new found swole to the beach or pool and impress the ladies.
AYG across the field to the cars. No time left for Mary – sorry, do some on your own at home.
Moleskin:
YHC has had the privilege to be a part of F3 and these men for a year now. I appreciate the opportunity to lead, support, and follow each of you and look forward to continuing for years to come.
I tried to pick a few things from past Q’s this morning to throw into the mix. It’s a good thing we didn’t have tractor tires at the AO to drag around…. although that gives me an idea! Next time. My apologies to Beaver, I realized Saturday was his first post and this would have been a real tough second one. Way to hang in there, this was a hard one. We did have 3 PAX at 50+ YO who were killing it out there today.
A great hard working bunch out there who were clearly smoked after 45 minutes. Mission accomplished.
Announcements:
F3 Dads – this Saturday at Beatty Park, 9:00 AM.
F3 Camp – go sign up for camp with the 2.0’s in August.
Mudrun – sign up. you don’t need a full team yet, we will get those later.
-Alf
10 horses posted in the early morning gloom. None of them realizing they were entering the starting gates for The Matrix Stakes. Joker was originally on the card to Q but had to scratch early yesterday. Something about not being able to wear nose strips on The Matrix AO.
COP:
Mosey out down the sidewalk and around to the side of the school. Try to find a little hidden spot behind some trees where Floor Slapper couldn’t find us when he tears into the parking lot, 2 wheels up, at 0532.
SSH x 20 IC
IW x 20 IC
Squats x 20 IC
Floor Slapper sneaks in between the trees and hops in for some
Merkins x 20 IC
Head to playground for
The Matrix Stakes (aka The Thang)
Dips x 15
Hanging knee raises x 15
Run to stumps
Jump ups x 15
Full sit ups x 15 (use tires to hold feet)
Run down back of school and around to front parking lot
Derkins x 15
Flutters x 15
Run back to playground.
First round was as a group to ensure everyone got a feel for the track.
All horses to the gate for The Matrix Stakes
Repeat the above cycle OYO 4x through. 1st cycle with 20 reps each exercise, the 25, 30, and 35. Each cycle is about 3.5 furlongs
When you are done, cool down with 10 pull ups/10 merkins (repeato until all PAX are in)
Plank-o-rama
and Done
The Tip Sheet:
Lobster Roll won this race by about 42 lengths. No photo finish required. Apparently this work out was right in his wheelhouse. The rest of horses pulled in by 0614 and we had a little time for some Planks before the track closed.
This was a hard race and everyone was pushing it out there.
Thanks to Young Love for the send off. Always a honor to lead a great group of men.
Announcements
June 14: F3 Olympics, F3 Pool Party, and Farside’s ride with the kids. Check other back blasts for details.
June 21: Start of F3 Dads (pushed a week due to all the other stuff on June 14)
-Alf
Thursday, June 5 @ 7:30PM starts the first running of F3 Night Train. This once a week run is for everyone, but mainly to support BRR training and running 2x in one day with little recovery, assuming you ran Thursday AM. Starting point will be ABC at the Arbo for week 1.
Starting point may vary to find some good hills throughout the summer and announced on Twitter. Distance will be whatever you need, similar to Rum Runner format, but not meant to be your LSD for the week. I would guess most PAX will end up with 4-6 miles on the evening, but go longer or shorter if you want.
Certainly options for post run ACRT
HC below so we know to expect on Thursday.
-Alf
Summer hours are supposed to mean knocking off a half day on Friday to start drinking beers outside. Not so for the 20 men who joined Fast Twitch’s “Summer Hours” this AM. It’s only one full hour, but feels like so much more.
Jog around the cars with some high knees and butt kickers.
COP:
The Thang:
Moleskin:
Announcements:
9 PAX posted at The Matrix on a damp morning, but the rain held off for most of the workout cranked up to 11.
This was YHC’s first post in 4 weeks as I tried to get this hamstring to recover. Horseheeaad was originally on the docket, but pulled up lame with a bum shoulder, so we sent him to the glue factory. YHC and Uncle Leo drew straws for the least injured would Q. I won and so did the PAX.
The Thang:
COP:
The Business:
Mosey down field, grab a cinder block and line up on the sidewalk.
3 Rounds of 11’s between sidewalk and lamppost with plank-o-rama between rounds.
Round 1: Thrusters with block and Burpees (Thruster = Squat with block at chest and push block to overhead press while standing up)
Round 2: Triceps extensions with block and Diamond Merkins
Round 3: Shoulder Presses with block and CDD’s
Drop off blocks and mosey to playground for a quick 10 pull-ups, 20 merkins, and 30 dips.
Circle up for Mary:
LBC’s x 25 (IC)
Flutter x 30 (IC)
Dolly x 20 (IC)
Elbow Plank for 1 minute.
Moleskine:
It was good to be out in the gloom again after a little time off and great to see 3 relatively new PAX in Hairball, Cole Slaw and Schnitzel. During the little break I had I thought about how I wanted to up the intensity at The Matrix. So why stop at 10 when you can go to 11? 11’s it was. The 11’s seemed like a great idea on the weinke but that combo of thrusters and burpees hurt real bad. So I’ll bring them back another day.
O’Tannenbaum was LIFO today and Floor Slapper was way early. If those two both ever get there prior to the start, surely armageddon is upon us.
Always and honor to lead the PAX and thanks to Floor Slapper for the send off.
-Alf
So last Tuesday I had a faulty alarm clock and totally missed my Q at Fast Twitch. Not my finest moment. Unfortunately for the PAX at The Matrix this morning, Best Buy hooked me up with a shiny new alarm clock with two alarms, snooze button, AM AND FM Radio. A bit of a budget buster @ $20, but its worth it to ensure timely pain delivery to the PAX.
As the PAX gathered we discussed yet another chilly morning. How many sub 40 degree workouts has it been this winter? Enough of that and off we went to warm up quick.
Mosey to parking lot for COP:
Each of the following 25x in cadence
The Thang:
Mosey to stumps for double move 11’s. Maybe that’s 22’s counted by two’s? No time really to debate the details.
10 step ups on stumps (A right leg up, then left leg up counts as 1 rep)
run to playground
1 hanging knee raise and 1 pull up counts as a rep.
Run back and forth until you get to 1 step up and 10 knee raise/pull-ups.
Plank-o-rama
Mosey to wall, with 25 yards of lunge walk along the way.
2 rounds of peoples chair with 15 Irkins after first round and 15 Derkins after second.
Mary on the move:
Line up and run down the parking lot stopping at 1st goal for 20 LBC’s, second goal 20 LBC’s, turn back stopping again at first goal for 20 LBC’s and run it out to the end.
Repeat-o with flutters.
Mosey to cars with 40 Russian Twists OYO to close it out.
Moleskine:
After the Spartan Race yesterday it was tough to get out there this morning. Calling the 11’s off that bat was an easy Q move: it was hard and ate 25+ minutes off the clock. Plus it loosened up all the tight parts from yesterday. Not much chatter from the PAX after we started the 11’s. Lot’s of hard work being done and I had to make sure I kept up enough speed not to have Lobster Roll lap me. He was moving out there.
Speaking of Spartan, working out with F3 all the time makes you forget how strong we are compared to the sad clowns working out next to a fern. This weekend YHC finished the race in the same pack as Cheese Curd, Run Stopper, Ninja Turtle and a few other Metro/NoCo PAX. I felt we were middle of the road for the F3 Crew. A good run, but not record breaking. Turns out we were all in the top 6% or so for the entire race. We are all pretty impressive as a unit and its clear we push each other hard.
Thanks for taking us out Clown Car.
Announcements:
**See other recent back blasts
-Alf
It was a balmy 39 degrees when the PAX kicked off at 0530 this morning – likely the best conditions of the week.
Mosey to the field for COP all in cadence:
Mosey to the playground:
Mosey to stumps and partner up:
Mosey to wall:
Mosey to cars:
Time.
Moleskine:
YHC decided to limit the running today in favor of lots of core work. Just be glad the workout was only 45 minutes long as YHC had a few more ab exercises on the Weinke we didn’t get to. I think failure was starting to occur on the 3rd round of full sit ups for most, so may have had mutiny if it went on much longer.
Great work this morning, its always and honor to lead a fine group of men. Thanks to Passport for the sendoff.
Announcements:
Starting a new book on Friday mornings Limitless Life at Chick-Fil-A in the Arbo, 0630. Bulldog has the details. Ruck is optional.
-Alf
13 PAX drifted in on the cool breeze for an Alf/Abacus beat down. All left after getting their money’s worth.
COP (All in Cadence
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Squats x 20
Merkins x 15
Mountain Climbers x 20
The Thang:
Run to grab a block and meet at parking lot for 12 rounds of pain and running – all at your own pace. All laps around the 2 islands in the parking lot.
Round 1: 50 Merkins. Run lap
Round 2: 50 Shoulder presses with block. Run lap with block
Round 3: 50 Monkey Humpers, Shuffle lap facing inside
Round 4: 50 CDD, Shuffle lap facing outside
Round 5: 50 Squats with block, Run 1 lap backwards
Round 6: 50 Decline merkins, run lap
Round 7: 50 Curls with block, karaoke lap facing inside
Round 8: 50 LBC’s, karaoke lap facing outside
Round 9: 50 Incline merkins, run lap
Round 10: 50 Dolly with block press, run lap
Round 11: 50 Bent over rows (25R/25L), Hop lap half way, then run rest of lap
Round 12: 50 Triceps extensions with block, Sprint lap
Plank-o-rama until all are done. Return blocks.
Abacus led Mary: (All exercises in cadence)
Dolly x 20 – Hold ’em w/ Turkey Leg 10 count
Flutter x 20 – Hold ’em w/ O’Tannenbaum 10 count
Rosalita x 20
Backscratcher x 25
CCV x 10L/10R
Mosey to wall. 2 Rounds of Peoples Chair with lunge walks after each.
15 Burbees and 25 Dips OYO.
Finish with Plank-o-rama.
Moleskin:
A great run by the PAX on a cold morning. YHC heard that wind when I got up and it wasn’t easy to get motivated to get out there. Welcome back to Joker. YHC saw him more this week than I had in a month. Even with the time off he still paced with Lobster Roll leading the workout.
Many were hoping for an audible away from the 50 reps per round. No such #Omaha today.
Thanks to Young Love for the send off.
Announcements:
Email Baracus if you want to sign up for the BRR.
-Alf & Abacus
29 PAX showed up for YHC’s effort to keep the Skunkworks pain on 11. We started with the standard burpees OYO but then headed down to the lot for some not-so-standard activities.
COP:
SSH x 21
Squats x 20
8 count body builders. You know 1: Squat, 2: Thrust, 3: Down, 4: Legs Out, 5: Jump, 6: Lunge, 7: Legs In, 8: Do the Hokey Pokey….. Ahh, screw this, let’s move onto the main event. Thanks to Stone Cold for finally yelling Halt. #fail #Qneedsmorepractice
The Thang:
Round 1:
30 one arm high pull (15R/15L)
20 bicep curls
20 Goblet Squats
10 Burpees
AMRAP while PAX rotates, 2 at a time, dragging the tires out and back.
Round 2:
30 Snatch (15R/15L)
20 Clean and Pres (10R/10L)
20 Sumo High Pull
10 Burpees
AMRAP while PAX rotates, 2 at a time, dragging the tires out and back.
Round 3:
30 Renegade Rows (15R/15L)
20 Good Mornings
20 Swings
10 Burpees
AMRAP while PAX rotates, 2 at a time, dragging the tires out and back.
Round 4:
30 Flutter Presses
20 Pullovers
20 Russian twists
10 Burpees
AMRAP while PAX rotates, 2 at a time, flipping the tires. 2 flips out, 2 flips back.
Moleskine:
It isn’t easy to come up with a workout that satisfies the level of pain we’ve come to expect at Skunk Works, without all the running and comments of “I didn’t think this was fast twitch.” So YHC planned no running and thankfully the cold air held off this morning so we didn’t need it.
So those tires are heavy. YHC got the idea with some left over swing set chain and rope I used to make jump ropes for kids. The rope label said “do not use for repelling, or tying down heavy objects. Failure to follow instructions could result in injury or death.” Warnings? Warnings are for other people. Let’s go with it. We dragged them about 10 yards out and back but it felt a lot farther. Good work by the PAX, it wasn’t easy. Everyone got through 2 rounds of drags and a round of flips. As you can see from the photo- the ropes didn’t fair so well. I’ll have to upgrade next time.
It was good to see Joker out there. A long hiatus from Skunk Works. He mentioned what YHC thinks everyone else was feeling: Where were the 10 counts? Sorry, no time for those today.
Announcements
Sign up for the BRR now! Email Baracus, we need more guys out there.
My phone recorder worked about as well as my 8 count body builders. I recalled the names I could. Sorry if I missed you, let me know in the comments if you were there.
Thanks to TR for the send off.
-Alf