After missing way too many Kevlar workouts this summer, I learned our scheduled Q could not make it and offered to lead. Orange Whip reluctantly agreed, especially after I disclosed I consumed Ilios Noche last night. Knowing this has been the most consistent successful Friday post for our F3 brethren; I knew I’d have to step up a bit. So with that said and a little pleading from a few Ghost Runner’s the night before, 13 of us embarked on a classic strength based bootcamp.
Basic mosey onto campus only to see several cars driving around for some odd reason. Circled up for SSH, IW and LBC x 20 with 10 merkins OYO in between (regular, wide arm, diamond). Mosey over to LAX field for grinders; jump squats on one end, merkins on the other, running in between switching up; about 6 times through. Mosey to rock pile for lifting rocks, overhead press, tricep extension, bicep curls times 20 (all three exercises, thanks Bulldog) and then run down road and back. Three full sets. Plank/recover. 10 Thrusters x2 with run down road and back. Plank/recover. Mosey to hotbox for three sets of dips, derkins, step-ups x 20. Ouch. Mosey back across street to parking lot. Final sprint, backwards then turn halfway and knock it out. Mosey back to launch for some mary provided by various PAX. Flutters, Slow old school sit ups, Backscratchers, Freddie Mercury…and then Squid brought out the Men’s Journal page 31 summer workout special. Not sure if we agreed on “tip toe” or “plank baby step” or whatever; but it was stretching and core. Done.
I can’t tell you how nice it was to get back out there. Between a nagging injury, family vacations and just stuff, I’ve missed a lot of workouts. We were greeted with beautiful weather and a solid group of guys. Some idle banter, strong encouragement and everyone worked hard. As mentioned, mostly veteran regulars out there. Orange Whip and Fletch pushed the pace making the old guys look bad. Hanni has become the youngest regular, and quite speedy, great to see Pavarotti bringing the pain along with lowering the average age. Wham-O first timer at Kevlar (and new neighbor of mine I just learned), just started F3 on Monday with a Magee Matrix beat down and still came back for a Fun Friday with us. Glad to have you out there!!
I feel good, hope everyone else does also and uses this to kickstart into the weekend. Be safe. Hug your family members. Call those not close by (don’t just text or DM them). Thoughts and Prayers for Destiny and Good Hands. Thanks to Squid for the takeout.
Let’s cut to the chase…despite all the rainy weather lately including a Thursday night deluge, 22 PAX vowed to make the most of Fun Friday at Kevlar and were greeted with perfect weather…perfect for running around a big church and picking up heavy objects repeatedly. So here’s how it went down:
Mosey out of the lot clockwise into Covenant Day and around the entire campus where I pointed out 4 exercise stations identified with two orange cones (Walmart $5) and provided guidance what to do there. After one full lap, we circled up for SSH x 20, IW x 20, LS Squats x 20, Wide Arm merkin x 10, Diamond merkin x 10. From there we divided into two groups to spread out and began an AMRAP adventure.
Station #1: 25 Merkins
Station #2: 15 Thrusters with 40# sandbags
Station #3: 25 LBC’s
Station #4: 20 Curls and 20 Overhead extensions with Cinder Blocks ($1.72 each at Lowes)
(Meet back at launch, do some mary while you wait).
MOLESKIN:
So I’m pulling cinder blocks out of my car in the lower lot when a truck pulls up and asks me where the Kevlar start is…didn’t recognize the truck or the guy. I pointed him in the right direction and thought, “Cool, someone new.” I found out later is was Grave Dancer. Upon arriving at the official launch…whoa!…the cars kept coming in…22 PAX is a huge group for Kevlar…and lots of new faces (or maybe I just don’t remember them) like Godfather, Nuke, Minor League, Pickle, Pavarotti, Pleats, Ramen…thank you for showing up. Great age mix which has become the norm, 18 to 49. Lots of regulars and seasoned veterans out there also (Coldcuts, Busch, Bulldog, Harley, Turkey Leg, Puddin Pop and Luthor, et al…). Last week, Orange Whip told me to “bring it” so I wanted to push hard and I like the AMRAP format. And with a group that big…it works out to spread out that many PAX. I was a little iffy/vague on how many reps, didn’t want to wimp out but the sandbags get really heavy real fast. I was making sure we’re all coming when I was a little surprised to see OW leading half the group in perfect marching formation…not sure if they ever spread out or not, my half of the group dissolved after one station…or at least I fell back pretty quick. I think the group averaged three full laps maybe with an extra station or two for a few go-getters. Total mileage around 3 and change. Shoulders and hamstrings…check!
Announcements:
F3 Dads at Col. Francis Beatty park Saturday am…check Twitter or Slack for details.
Thanks to Squid for the takeout prayer.
Upon learning of my upcoming Q the night before (thanks Alf), I knew I had to stick to what I enjoy and knew best. Despite the new AO, I wanted to go old school FT and hit some Raintree hills. So that’s what we did. After admiring everyone’s winter wear, gloves and hats required at 32 degrees, I gave the disclaimer and off we went, here’s what we did…
Mosey out of the parking lot and turned left to enjoy the brief slight decline followed by the uphill to the 4 way intersection on Raintree Ln and 4 Mile Creek. Circled up for COP: SSH, IW x 20 followed by 10 merkins OYO. Mosey down Raintree to the top of Windbluff. Instructions were to run down Windbluff to Providence and back x2, with 10 merkins on Providence side and 10 jump squats on Raintree side. Be sure to get the six meet back here….go!
Upon completion we moseys back up Raintree to the 4 Mile intersection. Did a quick sprint down to bottom of 4 Mile Creek (500 yards) for 10 merkins then back up. Mosey back toward AO but wait, there’s more. Quick run backwards up Whitethorn Rd. Then AYG back to Latin lot.
MOLESKIN:
Pretty simple yet effective workout. Since I’m lacking any speed, I wanted to stretch the group out, let the gazelles do their thing while the rest of us can tempo the distance. 6.2 miles, not bad. Strong group today. The handful of merkins were enough to please Pop Tart. We learned Purple Haze MUST wear gloves due to his “sensitive fingers”. We were pleased to see Astro daunting his red beanie. I hadn’t seen Uncle Rico in awhile…and only saw him a little on the course, he’s fast! Margo kept me company down the stretch with a strong pace. Good to see Cheese Curd again, but he ditched us early to see if he could be the lucky caller on his favorite morning radio show. Duct Work, One Eye and Retread worked hard, kept the merkins legit. Purell led the squad with Rachel a close second, only because of his unplanned “pit stop” behind the Arbo pond #eww.
Back at the lot we met up with Hawk’s Nest led by Header, another great turnout for that post.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Jennings, Bout’ Time’s 3 year old son, who’s scheduled for his marrow transplant (from his sister) this Thursday. Hug your kids, kiss your spouse, call a family member, be thankful for everything, take nothing for granted.
So it took a couple days for Tebow to get me the backblast (because he didn’t know my real name)…and a couple more days for me to post it. Sorry. Just know it was a a great Site VQ from Tebow who brought out XC team to workout. Here you go….
We probably use this word too much (usually with sarcasm), but it actually was balmy this am. Warmer weather with a little humidity made for a nice February Monday morning. Similar to last week (even though I wasn’t there), the fields were still quite soaked so I decided to venture off-campus. I did a little homework the night before while watching the Olympics (male figure skating has changed a lot since Blades of Glory left the ice). Pop Tart showed up early with the shovel flag, a bunch of cars came in at the same time, I provided a disclaimer and off we went.
After a quick mosey to lower parking lot to loosen up with some shuffle sidestep and running backwards, one straggler (Pro…ahem) joined us as 14 PAX circled up back at the cars for some SSH, IW, Merkins and Mtn Climbers x15.
Finally, I ended the suspense and asked the group to grab the 3 newly duct-taped sandbags and share the load as we ran down the sidewalk along McKee to our first stop, Glenmore Garden Drive. We gathered at the Fountain, dropped the sandbags, split into two groups. Group 1 does the called exercise, Group 2 runs a short loop through the townhomes. Deep Squats, flapjack, LBC, flapjack.
Next we circled up around the Fountain with the Sandbags kind of evenly spread around. Those with the sandbags did Thrusters x10 then hand off to your left, CLOCKWISE. Those without alternate between Derkins, incline merkins and dips until another Sandbag catches up to you. Keep going for 3 full rotations. Then…same thing, but Chest Press with sandbags (add flutter combo if you feel my plan is weak…Rachel). No bags, box jumps or step ups on short wall around Fountain (try not to fall in).
Then we move on with Sandbags, sharing is caring. Quick trip back toward school but STOP at Fred Gutt Dr. (not making it up). Bags down. Run down to end and back stopping at all 4 roads, alternating Jump Squats and Merkins x10. Quick Mary for the quick guys as we, the 6, caught up.
Back at McKee Elementary, we split into 3 teams, each with a Sandbag, the call was run back to the cars across campus, as a team, sharing the load. Ready GO…chaos ensues, zigging and zagging, curb jumping, full race adrenaline kicks in and I’m pretty sure only 6 out of 14 guys touched a Sandbag, in fact I think Magee carried his sandbag with a guy on his back holding his own sandbag. Everyone else just ran behind in admiration…and chuckling a little. Once back to the cars, we circled up for some Dolly, Flutter, Heels to Heaven, Merkins and Romanian Deadlifts, all x10. Done.
I haven’t been to Matrix in a few months (just a scheduling thing). Felt like a homecoming, great to see the regulars. Thanks to Pop Tart and Squid for the opportunity to lead an awesome group of strong men. Thanks to Magee for the takeout prayer.
Announcements: Sign up for CPR class…it’s a good idea. Bro-Olympics coming in two weeks. GoJenGo, or RunJenRun is coming up, Speed For Need is pushing chariots, kudos to Tolkein.
So the rains flew by in the night leaving wet streets, a few puddles and a decent temperature for running. My plans were simply to venture out a bit…and that we did. Quick disclaimer to some regulars and off we went.
Of course lots of pontificating on what “least popular territory” I was referring to in the pre-tweet. Once the group passed the first mile mark with no sign of stopping, there was an annoyed buzz in the air. Alas we reached Beverly Crest after 2 miles straight of Hwy 51. From there we split up on a lovely wide street ran opposite directions doing 15 merkins at the end then rejoining for 15 jump squats in the middle. Most repeated it twice, some had to cut it short, some did extra. And then with 20 minutes remaining we headed back….(Queue the music)
Personally, I felt pretty good en route to Beverly Crest and not too bad during the back and forth…although the hill on one side snuck up on me. Going back, once we crossed Providence, dodged traffic to get back on the south side of 51, it became a decent haul and my pace slowed. There was lots of chatter along the way both ways directions: Alf was bragging to Pop Tart about his Hokies embarassing the Tar Heels the night before. Rachel, Purple Haze and I were just commenting on the puddles and pace. I didn’t hear much from Margo and ReTread both focused on the long haul. Astro cruised along reminiscing of colder days and his warm beanie. What wasn’t Benny talking about?!
Great group this am. Minimum distance was 6 miles, max was just over 7. Thanks to Haze and Rachel for letting me lead. Thanks to Astro for the takeout prayer.
Okay so talking about the cold weather is already old and cliche, however, I was informed this am that this is the coldest Charlotte (or NC) weather since 1920. Wow. I think it was Cottontail who shared that…thank you. The forecast was 16 degrees, give or take a few. At 5:20am, a car pulled in, then another, and another and another and …. OMG, it was a legit group of motivated PAX…16 total. Godsmack walked up in shorts, short sleeves, no hat, no gloves, no sweatshirt. Since we hadn’t seen him in awhile, I’m assuming he was in a deep sleep and no one told him it was Winter. BLC loaned him some extra gloves #MintHillPrepared. Orange Whip was channeling old school Rocky Balboa, clad in great sweat pants and sweat shirt. Turkey Leg displayed some Smurf like royal blue gloves that made his hands abnormally larger than anything else on his body. Aside from that it was tough to know who was there because of all the layers and beanies pulled down snug over the ears…except for Sunshine that is, his long golden locks did not disappoint. I gave a quick disclaimer and off we went.
Mosey through Covenant Day to Fullwood and hit the neigborhood next door for a long than normal warm up. COP back at CD parking lot for SSH x 25, Merkins x 10, IW x 25, Carolina Dry Docks x 10. We proceeded the long way around the school as I pointed out designated areas; we arrived at the rock pile where we chose a lifting rock and did 25 overhead shoulder press.
Now back at the start at the side frontage road we began the AMRAP with four (4) stations around the entire campus, 25 Merkins, 25 Jump Squats, 25 Carolina Dry Docks and 25 Shoulder Press with Rock. GO!
Moleskin: The group broke up quickly, TL, Alf and Orange Whip jumping out front with something to prove. I couldn’t really tell where everyone was until the end as we all filed back to parking lot for some mary that had already started when I got there. Stone Cold displayed true class hanging with Godsmack who was pushing hard after some time off. HH found a football and made a side game of Fumble = Burpees as it made its way around the group. I think the minimum distance was 3.5 miles with the fast guys getting in 4 laps and over 4 miles. The goal was to stay in motion to offset the low temps. Mission complete.
Couple announcements, Joe Davis run tomorrow at 8am in Fort Mill, you can still run or just show up, it’s not too late!! New F3 bible study after Kevlar at Panera Arboretum #mancave. Thank you Squid for the takeout. Thank you all for showing up this morning in true F3 fashion.
Sorry for the delay getting this out…it seems my employer doesn’t trust our F3 web site security protocols. In any case, it was a bit colder than expected, 29 degrees at 5:15am (compared to the 36 my app told me the night before). So I gave the instructions and a thorough disclaimer and off we went…10 runners running.
In an effort to deviate from last week’s homage to Ratt (see if anyone gets that reference) by Alf. I chose a more direct route straight out of SCMS via Woodfox to Raintree Lane, down and back up to 4 Mile Creek. Break for 25 Merkins. Then out 4 Mile all the way to Ballantyne Commons…25 more Merkins. Back to Raintree Lane intersection 25 more Merkins and back the “home stretch” to SCMS. With a few extra minutes, Alf opted for 25 more Merkins for a solid 100, then we did some COP with IW, Low Slow Squats, Dolly, Freddie Mercury and LBC to close it out.
MOLESKIN: Fun group today, albeit a little quiet at first…I think some were trying to figure out how we could possibly get to Ballantyne Commons and/or do we really have time and/or why aren’t I still in bed where it’s toasty. Others were second guessing their choice of apparel including proper hand protection from the cold and coarse roadways upon which we would embark on a Merkin frenzy (by Fast Twitch standards). Rachel and Turkey Leg took a quick lead and never looked back. Followed by Astro, Alf and One Eye. Solid pace up front. I’ve never met Astro before but he had no problem showing off his speed and vintage snow hat (poof ball and all!). Margo, Purple Haze, Benny, Mr. Brady and YHC kept it human like. I have to tell you I was waiting for Haze to drop back so I could join him but he never did #runforrestrun. At the turn, it broke up a little bit. I think Mr. Brady started to stretch out his Achilles and picked it up more to his natural gazelle like gait. Purple Haze kept in stride and the rest of us were chasing. At the 4 Mile intersection after the Merkins, it turned into a 2nd F with 8 of us trotting down Raintree Lane. Rachel and TL were at the school already discussing their favorite elements on the periodic table and the dynamics of atomic weight.
So we completed 6.4+ miles, 100 Merkins and some much needed Mary. I honestly didn’t think the whole group would do the complete trek but we did, with time to spare. Kudos!!
REMINDER, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR F3 AREA 51 CHRISTMAS PARTY NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY!!!
Thanks Purple Haze for the takeout prayer. And thanks to Rachel and Purple Haze for the oppty to lead this group.
My long awaited VQ at Meathead finally arrived. Just so happened to be on Thanksgiving. And with that said, I had a slower than normal work day on Wednesday to research and come up with a creative strategy for the kettlebell intensive workout. Well it turns out, there’s not a whole lot of room for creativity or variations on the classic movements. I considered filling the time with rogue hot laps around the school parking lot; but didn’t want to upset Voodoo or Witch Doctor. So after a thorough disclaimer, here’s what we did:
Warmup: SSH x 10, IW x 10, Merkins x 10
The Plan: Three rounds, do each exercise in order, follow the rep count posted (modify as needed to keep good form). If you finish all three rounds, ladder back down or start over with round one.
Swings – 20, 30, 40
Upright Rows – 20, 30, 40
Goblet Squats – 10, 15, 20
Shoulder Press (each arm) – 10, 15, 20
Lawnmower Pull (each arm) – 10, 20, 30
Snatch (each arm) – 10, 15, 20
LBC – 50, 50, 50
Slosh Pipe – 40 yard carry – Rotate turns throughout workout
Moleskin: Voodoo, Rachel and High Tide joined me for a 3 mile pre-run to get the blood flowing. We re-entered the parking lot with a minute to spare to find 8 others anxiously waiting with their KB’s ready to go. A dozen PAX is a perfect size group, enough idle chatter yet focused enough to get the job done. I didn’t recognize Witch Doctor with his Holiday Beard in full effect. TL brought his brother-in-law Bulls Eye from MN for his annual holiday beatdown. Mad was sporting the rucksack to man up the workout a bit. And while I thought having the workout in writing on a nice sign was cool, I still failed with no workout music. Fortunately, Voodoo earned Site Q points and was prepared with his mini- speaker. It was a rough start with GNR November Rain but picked up with Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and more. Of course, the 10 foot Slosh Pipe was my way of mixing things up. Always fun to watch PAX weaving and struggling…and it’s good exercise (core, back, arms, etc.). Soul Glow carried the pipe like a boss. Thanks to Witch Doctor and Voodoo for letting me lead. Thank you Young Love for the takeout prayer.
Announcements: Tomorrow, 7am Kevlar (Convergence with Joust), Covenant Day. You know you want to. Joe Davis run in early January, sign up, it’s a great event. F3 Area 51 Christmas Party, Friday December 8th, sign up link below…