11 men joined me today on a crisp, 50 degree morning in the “Gloom”. The stars were out and the moon was bright. Not much need for a headlamp but most of us wore one for safety and just in case Mad Dog’s minions came to spy…
We had a couple of Cotters (Catfish and Til Tok) join us today which was great.
DiCCS were delivered so eloquently announcing we would go off campus for a special treat and we were off.
Warmorama
Mosey along Waxhaw – Indian Trail Rd. to other side of campus and circle up for stretching in the bus lot. 20 X IW, Plank up for calf stretch L/R and then Runners Stretches L/R while we observe the beautifully lit sky. 20 X MC and Up/Down Dog.
Thang
Mosey to mailbox depot in Bridgemeade.
Run Around perimeter of neighborhood turning into all culdisacs on right. Do 1 X Burpee at each driveway. Total of 47 burpees and a little over a mile travelled.
Mosey back to basketball courts beside playground at school and do Captain Therkin Web.
Mosey to midway between basketball courts and partner up for P1 run to b-ball court at front of school and do 10 X in/outs, P2 run to opposite b-ball court for 10 X Merkins, Run back to midpoint and do 10 knee ups together, R/R X 2 and Mosey back to COT. Done!
Moleskin
Today is the celebration of my 47th completed trip around the sun. What a journey it has been. I’ve done a lot of things I am proud of and some things I’m not so proud of. One thing I do know is that my intentions have always been good but sometimes best intentions don’t always turn out positively. I won’t go into any detail but my life so far has definitely had its ups and downs. Mostly ups and no complaints from me about the downs. Everything up to this point has taught me a lesson or two, whether good or bad. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my life and that’s all that really matters. Sure I have regrets and sure I wish I was better with finances but all-in-all, I have a pretty awesome life. F3 has been an incredibly positive force in my life since I joined a little over a year ago. I love being a part of all 3 F’s when other commitments allow. We are a force for positivity in our community and we lead the way with our good souls and our “can do” attitude. I especially enjoy being around like-minded men who see the world around them and make it better for everyone they can. Thanks for letting me lead this fine group of men at Watchtower today. I appreciate all of you!
Nine souls joined YHC for a morning tour through Champion Forest. We hit all of the streets and made sure we covered every inch as we ran 4 of them twice just for good measure.
DiCCS Delivered and we were off…
Warmorama:
Mosey around front of MS/HS and out the HS entrance to cross Cuthbertson Rd. and into Champion Forest, stopping for the SIX so we could all cross together. Finished our warm-up mosey at the club house and circled up for: 15 X Imperial Walkers – IC, 9 X Merkins – IC, Downward Dog, Calfstretch L/R mixed with Runners Stretch L/R while reaching for the sky.
THANG:
Mosey down Dobson Rd. until we reach Chisholm Ct. – 20 X Merkins at start and run to cul-de-sac and do 20 Merkins, R/R and end with 20 Merkins for total of 100 X Merkins.
Mosey the rest of the way down Dobson and at dead end to Waynewood start 20 X Squats, run to cul-de-sac and do 20 Squats, R/R and end with 20 Squats for total of 100 X Squats.
Mosey to Whitaker Pl and do 20 X American Hammers (2=1) on each end, R/R and end with 20 X AH’s for total of 100 X AH’s.
Mosey to Bauer Pl and do 20 X Reverse Plank Knee-Ups (1=1) on each end, R/R and end with 20 X RPK’s for total of 100 X RPK’s.
Start mosey back to COT up Waynewood and do 10 X Speed Skaters at each street light until exit of Neighborhood at Cuthbertson Rd. I don’t recall how many there were but it seemed like a thousand…
Mosey back to COT and finish with AYG from MS Exit to light pole where the Shovel Flag would normally be and don’t quit until you pass the light. Done! Everyone clocked at least 5 miles and got some total body work in the process. Way to push gents!
Moleskin: I am always hesitant to lead these “extra” mileage workouts bc I don’t feel like I have the strength or endurance to finish them, let alone lead them. I have a difficult time keeping up with the Gazelles that normally post to these. In reality though, it isn’t about keeping up with them, it is about pushing myself to be better and work harder while encouraging others to do the same for themselves. My natural competitiveness and a little bit of my pride needs to take a back seat to my drive to make myself better than I was yesterday or last week or last month or last year. We don’t give out trophies to the winners in F3. The reward for your participation is just you, yourself getting better and stronger as you push forward. The other stuff, (winning or success in competition), will take care of itself when you focus on getting better each day/week/month/year. So if you ever ask yourself if you’re worthy then just remember that you absolutely are and the reward for you will come with putting in the work and pushing yourself to new limits.
To the PAX that joined me today, thank you for letting me lead and I hope you got out of it what YOU needed to make yourself better.
Announcement: See Flash BB
Easy Button took us out
Another “Balmy” morning in the Gloom today. I love Carolina weather in July… Hot and sticky in the mornings and then just plain hot all throughout the day, followed by hot and sticky again in the evening. No use in complaining because it beats the heck out of being cold.
6 men joined me today at Cerberus for a “GEM hunt” in the COVID-Adjacent parking lot of Waltonwood Providence Retirement community.
Warmorama:
Mosey around back side of Waverly and circle up behind Menchie’s for 25 X SSH IC. Continue Mosey and find our way to Ardrey Kell Rd East and circle up at the island for 25 X IW, 15 X Merkin IC, 15 X Peter Parkers, Downward Dog, Calf Stretch L/R, Runner’s Stretch L/R, Upward Dog, Jimmy Doogans C/L/R & back to C. Mosey down to Waltonwood for…
Thang:
7 of Diamonds (or 4 of diamonds but we’ll get to that later…)
7 burpees at each corner of the loop (loop was ~0.3 mi) for 28 total (MARY for the SIX after each loop)
14 BBSU’s for the next loop for 56 total
21 Merkin on 3rd loop for 84 total
28 Monkey Humpers 4th (and final) loop for 112 total
9 minutes to go and ~0.8 mi back to COT so we started the long mosey back at this point and stopped along the way for a short MARY with LBC’s IC
AYG back to COT from Ardrey Kell East to Southgrove St. (nod to the ladies in front of CYCLEBAR as we pass by…) and back to COT.
Have a nice day for 30 seconds and DONE!
Not much to say about today other than it was great to meet a few of the PAX from Area51 along with seeing a couple of familiar faces (Swimmers & Posse). These men really worked hard and I couldn’t keep up with Alf or McGee. Spare Parts holding his own and The Commish (R) and Posse out there getting after it. I felt like I was racing with Swimmers the whole time but he was probably just letting me stay with him to build my confidence. (What a nice dude!)
Announcements:
Second Blood Drive going is in planning stages. Looking at Octoberish timeframe…
A lot of choices in Waxhaw for a workout on Saturday. McGee is on Q at Homecoming, Shop Dog at Blackhawk
YHC took us out #ctg
16 brave souls followed me into the gloomy morning dew to find our comfort zone and move passed it. (some more than others)
DiCCS Delivered and reminded the PAX to stay together as we cross HWY 75 (S. Main St.) a total of 4 times during the workout. Proceeded to tell the PAX we were going to Open House at the schools around town…
Warmorama:
Mosey from COT to Sports Court behind S. Providence School for – IW IC X 20, Plank it up for Merkin X 15 IC, Calf Stretch L/R, Downward/Upward Dog, (This is where Rudy had to make a quick trip to the conveniently-placed port-a-potty over at the Shotgun houses near the school)
Thang:
For the first bad idea of the day, Mosey to the other side of the school and find some wall for 11’s with 1 DK and 10 MT up/down to 10/1. Stopped at half way mark bc I was smoked to check if Rudy was back yet. (Nope) Let’s finish it! (All while thinking… “What the heck is Rudy doing in there?”). Rudy rejoined somewhere during the last few sets so all present and accounted for.
Next up – AYG up Bad Idea (Second bad idea of the day) Mary for the SIX when you get there. Thanks Ice 9!
Mosey to last loop of cemetery near entrance and do four corners. First round do 10 Peter Parkers at each corner, Round 2 Merkins X 10, 3 BBSU or V-Ups and Mary for the SIX. Thanks again Ice 9!
Mosey to Waxhaw Elementary and start at farthest corner of front parking lot next to Hwy 75 and AYG to other side (long side) and BC around curbed curve (or bend for clarity…) back through the middle isle and repeat BC around curve and AYG to the opposite corner from where we started. We did reverse back to other corner but this time we Lunge Walked X 10 each leg around the curves.
Last (and worst bad idea of the morning) – Mosey from Waxhaw Elementary to crosswalk for Pedestrian bridge (~1.0 Mi). Mary for the SIX. Thanks for leading it one last time Ice 9!
Cross over pedestrian bridge (SHOOT! 2 mins left!) Find a curb on East N. Main St. for – 20 Dips and 20 Curb Jumps Ups/Step Ups and then AYG to COT.
Done!
All in all, I think the Pax that joined YHC this morning got something out of the workout. Everyone was sweating at least… (Of course getting out of your car and standing for 5 minutes would make one sweat in this humidity so…) By the way… When Shake N Bake is given a choice rather than a yes or no question, his answer is still an emphatic “NO”!
Announcements:
3 significantly similar but separate times for 3rd F with Open Door on the weekends. Join and lead if you are so inclined or just participate in the discussion so you can get to know your fellow PAX on another level.
Thank you to Foundation for stepping up to Co-Site Q THE Floater with YHC. Really appreciate the help getting solid Q’s for each workout.
Welcome (Formally) Shake N Bake (NO) to your new role as Co-Site Q for THE Floater! (We needed a reason for him to post more often so why not ask him to Q a site???) Kidding aside, (Not really) I welcome you to the #87thworstF3AO in all the world and I’m sure with your leadership skills you will get it to #88 eventually…
A Few great options for workouts this Friday with Dasher on Q at Swarm, Doughboy on Q at Impromptu and YHC is at Cerberus if you want to venture out of the bubble a bit…
YHC took us out #CTG
A “Balmy” 75 degrees at launch this morning. What is this going to feel like to these 15 brave souls after 45 minutes of pain stations? Let’s find out…
DiCCS Delivered and we launched
Warmorama:
Mosey around the lower parking lot and up to the buses via the stairs to the right for some stretching
Imperial Walkers X 20, Plank up and do Calf Stretch L/R, Upward Dog, Downward Dog, Runners Stretch L/R, Jimmy Doogan L/R/C
Thang:
Grab a Rock and head over to the sideline of the soccer field and do 25 curls, Lung Walk 25 steps while doing triceps extensions each step, 25 bent over rows, Walk Lunge back to side line while doing Shoulder Presses each step. Repeato X 1 for total of two sets and total of 50 of each arm exercise and 100 Waking Lunges (All About the Benjamins).
Mosey to beginning of side walk that goes around back of MS and do Burpee Ladder to the end of the path stopping at each path light for 1….6 burpees for total of 21.
Mary for the SIX and stay on you SIX for Captain Thor – Started with BBSU up to 5 and American Hammers Up to 20, Changed it up to V-Ups 6-8 and Heals to Heaven 24, Flutters 2=1 28 – 36, Then BBSU 9-10 and American Hammers X 40 to close it out.
Merkin Mile – From the next intersection at the teacher parking lot, run up to mid point of the Tennis Courts ~0.2 Mi and do 20 Merkins, run back to starting point and do 20 more Merkins …. Up to 100 Merkins and 1 Mi.
Mosey to Globe and at each Street light on right along front driveway do 10 X Speed Skaters to the end.
Long Mosey back to COT and Have a nice Day for 30 seconds, Done!
No a lot of mileage today on the ole Strava (~2.0 Mi) but definitely felt the burn on the legs from those Walking Lunges X 100. Everybody pushed themselves to their limit and I’m pretty sure none of the PAX were willing to hold onto those rocks any longer than was called for. YHC struggled a bit today on the Merkin Mile. Unexpectedly it wasn’t the Merkins that got me but the running. I guess giving blood does have an adverse effect on conditioning. Baby Ruth (Noonan’s 2.0) was leading the way a lot today. Transporter and Sprinkles took turns in the front of the PAX while YHC stayed somewhere in the middle most of the time and I’m ok with that. 75 degrees felt like a sauna at the end but we made it through relatively unscathed.
Announcements: Waxhaw Region AO’s going back to 5:15 and 5:30 launch next Monday. Set those clocks!, A lot of good choices tomorrow for posting with Fuse Box on Q at Body Shop and YHC on Q at THE Floater.
I took us out #ctg
I showed up to Q without a Weinke on my wrist to guide me and I screwed up the Warm-up (Appreciate the call-out by Deadwood). I did have a Weinke in my head but the fact that I have CRS came into play… Not only did I miss the first marker but it seems that when I said “let’s Mosey”, there were some PAX who didn’t hear me and got a little behind. We ended up together but I was nervous we may have to turn around and start over. Everyone caught up and so we went…
Warmorama
Burpee Ladder down the back of the MS sidewalk for a burpee ladder stopping at each light on the left for 1,2,….., 8 Burpees. Total of 36 Burpees. (If Bottle Cap had posted, we would have added a 9th stop but he didn’t so the PAX that posted got a reprieve. You’re Welcome…). What better way to warm the body up than to do 36 burpees from the start? So we circled up at the Shed and did Downward Dog, Calf Stretch L/R, Upward Dog, Jimmy Dugans C/L/R/C and Runner’s Stretch L/R.
Thang
Grab a lifting Rock and partner up (Or pair up with the person the Q assigned to you). Partner 1 runs to sidewalk by Softball field and back while partner 2 does Curls the first round, shoulder presses 2nd round, rows 3rd and Tricep Ext 4th. Return Rocks to their original place…
Mosey to Traffic circle between MS/HS for 7’s – Starting at top circle run down to bottom circle for 1 BBSU and return to top for 6 Diamond Merkins all the way up/down to 6 BBSUs/1 Diamond Merkin.
Mosey to 1st alcove on North Side of HS for MT/DK web from 1/4 up to 5/20. (The original plan was to go all the way to 10/40 but don’t Q what you can’t do…)
Mosey to front entrance of HS and find a bench for 25 dips, 20 Jump ups/Step Ups, 15 Derkins, 10 Reverse Plank Knee Ups, 5 Burpee Jump ups with Hot lap around drop off circle between each exercise. Rinse and Repeat for a second round.
Mosey to MS Admin parking lot for four corners. At each corner stop for 10 reps of called exercise. 1st we did American Hammers IC, 2nd Flutters IC, 3rd LSSq IC and ended with Walking Lunges 1=1.
AYG back to COT and done!
Kudos
Fuse Box getting into a new comfort zone with the more-mileage-longer workouts. (Keep pushing bro!). Pre-mature is drinking the Kool-Aid and getting faster every week (Caught him doing a pre-run). Good to see Deadwood back out with us after few days away with work commitments. Ice-9 posting regularly in his own region and showing us what it is to push beyond your limits. Dasher and Glidah displaying what hard work does to your love handles when you run the Waxhaw Express for 8 weeks (hint: they melt away). Rubbermaid (Respect!) out there with the Youngins and showing us that age is just a number.
Moleskin
First time Weinkeless Q. (Not that I didn’t have a Weinke but that I didn’t carry it on my wrist like usual). Tough for me to remember but I had it all worked out in my head before hand. Seems like I got it all in but in hind site, will print and carry with me in the future. I did have to call an audible due to the Impromptu PAX using the benches at the MS cafeteria but that is to be expected when 2 workouts share the same AO. We improvised, adapted and overcame. Glad to be asked to lead this workout. No mileage minimum but we hit just over 4 miles with those who picked up the Six logging 4.25 or more. We stayed together and had some mumble chatter about the second round of 25/20/15/10/5 but we all pushed through and finished.
Announcements
See BB for Impromptu
Rudy took us out
Reduce the amount of running but keep the heart rates up with called Exercises. The goal of the bootcamp is to push each other to be better fit men and to get heart rates up while getting stronger. We hit just under 1.5 miles today but heart rates were in the zone…
Re-use a previous Weinke because it was just so awesome not to… I re-used a previous Weinke that I recently Q’ed for Clyent Dinner that I thought was a good way to get heart rates up without all the running and could incorporate the PAX in the MASH unit.
Recycle the previous Weinke and make it into something better than before… I tweaked it in a way that would not require any coupons due to limited or no availability of rock piles at the Watchtower AO.
PSA on Recycling: When a post consumer-plastic grocery bag is recycled (YES! they can and do get recycled, contrary to popular belief…), it is turned into another bag but not directly re-usable. It has to be cleaned and then re-melted into pellets. Those pellets are combined with virgin material and on the other end of the process become a different bag so….. Please bring your plastic grocery bags back to your grocery outlet and place them into the designated bin. Your children and your children’s children and their children’s children and etc. will thank you.
Warmorama:
Mosey from COT around front of school to bus lot and do 20 X Imperial Walkers then mosey to other side of bus lot for stretching, Calf Stretch L/R, Upward/Downward Dog, Jimmy Doogans C/L/R.
Thang:
Mosey to teacher’s lot on the upper side and do:
| Circuit 1 | Circuit 2 | Circuit 3 |
| 5 X Burp 6C IC | J.Lo IC | Burpee |
| 10 X Rev Plank Knee Ups | Superman | LSSq CC |
| 15 X BBSU CC | Sskaters | MT |
| 20 X Lunge | American H. | Flutters IC |
| 25 X Dry Dock CC | PJ | Sec Elbow Pl |
| Repeat X 2 | Repeat X 2 | Repeat X 2 |
Between each set we ran to the other side of the lot and back while the M.A.S.H. unit did various exercises with Coupons. Centerfold will have to fill in the blanks here. A lot of chatter from the PAX, (Mostly Posse), about the difficulty of the exercises and how awful they were and how we should change the order of the MT’s and LSSq. So I obliged (sort of) I added 5 LSSq but no reprieve was given on the 15 MT’s in the 3rd Circuit. Everyone cheered and decried about how happy they were that I added those 5 extra reps…. I had a little trouble counting today and, well, it worked out ok. (Only a few extra reps so not a huge deal)
After we were finished with the circuit, we had about 1:30 left so we took a short mosey around the perimeter of the COT lot and when completed time was up.
Today, we stayed together for the duration. No Clydesdales and no Gazelles. Just a bunch of hardworking men trying to be better. I hope everyone who posted at Watchtower today was pleased with their results. We all worked hard and finished. Way to push yourselves to be better/faster/stronger men!
We had an FNG today – Hospital Name = Jason Reynolds, From Athens, GA originally and is in the Forrestry Industry. Spent a lot of time travelling to South America pre-COVID and now can’t travel due to restrictions. He has a wife and 2 children and has lived in the area for 15 years. Welcome Bunyan! (Yellow-Jacket was a close second…)
Moleskin:
My, how we have grown in our little town. In just a little over a year that I have had the pleasure of being a part of this group, many new sites and extended workouts have been introduced and are going strong. If you want to Q a workout in Waxhaw, there are many AO’s and difficulty levels from which to choose. I always love being asked to Q as it is my pleasure to lead any one of the AO’s in our region. They each have their own degree of “something special”. The common denominator, though, is the group of men we have the pleasure of working out with on a daily basis.
Announcements:
Blood Drive from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Thursday, July 23rd at Weddington UMC at corner of 84 and Providence Rd.. JUST SIGN UP SO FUSEBOX WILL STOP TALKING ABOUT IT ALREADY! (My self included)
Site Q School on Saturday, July 18th at Cuthbertson MS
Q School on Saturday, July 25th at Cuthbertson MS
100 PAX Challenge Raffle – See Centerfold for details and how to get tickets. $10 for 1 ticket, $25 for 3 tickets and etc…
YHC took us out – CTG
What: 4th of July 1776 Games/Challenge
When: Saturday, July 4th @ 6:45 with 8-10 minute Warmorama starting @ 7:00 AM
Where: Walnut Creek Park – 10521 Walnut Creek Pkwy, Lancaster, SC 29720 Walnut Creek Park Map
2nd F immediately afterward
For those ambitious PAX who want a little extra, arrive at Nesbit Park at 6:15 and run the Carolina Thread Trail down to the end (it ends at Walnut Creek Park) for a 4 ish mile pre-run.
It’s gonna be fun, stupid and difficult all at the same time. AWESOME!
See You There!
A great afternoon to lead 10 strong dudes for a little sloppy seconds at the famous buy-one-get-one-free site “Clyent” Dinner. I don’t know why I don’t post here more. I think it is proximity to my workplace bc I need to sneak out leave early any time I want to post here. Always a good time and get to see some guys that don’t post in the morning due to other obligations, so totally worth it. Today especially bc the early mornings don’t really appeal to my bonus child 2.0, Draedyn Carlton “John B.” named for his favorite Netflix series’ “Outer Banks” main character. I was finally able to bribe convince him to join me for a workout by offering Chick-fil-a for an after workout meal. (Probably would have ended up getting Chick-fil-a either way…)
Warmorama – Moseyed from COT around front of MS and then far side of the bus circle, stopped for Imperial Walkers, returned to the sidewalk by Rudy’s shed and then up to the intersection to no where for some stretching. Calf, Jimmy Dugans and Upward and Downward Dog.
Thang – Ran to rock pile and grabbed a lifting rock for 3 circuits including 2 sets of 5 exercises done 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 with run to the intersection to no where between each set.
| Warmup – IW, JD’s (C, L, R), CS (L, R) U/DD | ||
| Circuit 1 | Circuit 2 | Circuit 3 |
| 5 X Burp 6C IC | J.Lo IC | Burpee Press |
| 10 X Lunge IC | Superman | LSSq IC |
| 15 X BBSU CC | Curls CC | 1MT / 2Rows |
| 20 X Lunge IC | SSkaters IC | Flutters IC |
| 25 X Dry Dock CC | PJ CC | E.Plank 25 sec |
| Repeat | Repeat | Repeat |
I had lunges listed twice in the first circuit and didn’t realize until we got into it but we continued and got through it. Way to push!
I kept everyone together by counting most of the exercises and starting each set at the same time. I had everyone turn around when the “Gazelle’s” passed them on the way back.
Everyone was pretty quiet during the workout and I personally was able to get the heart rate up into the max-burn-zone for several minutes.
Great to see some PAX that I haven’t seen in a while and lead a fine group of men and 2.0’s.
Announcements:
Spartan Race this Saturday – will be separated into groups of no more than 25 to abide by restrictions from Governor of N.C.
Moving AO’s for Friday to alternate sites due to Activities at Cuthbertson – look at GM for site changes
I took us out
Cocktails were served afterward