Author Archive Fredo

May the Fourth…whatever, no one cared

International Star Wars Day had very little appeal for this group…more on that later.  I bet SweatWater got more response from his Bagpipe Q on 4/20.  I’ve been away for some time, only a month, so I pretty pumped to lead my first day back.  Bagpipe faithful never disappoint and 11 guys rolled in.  Wrote and memorized my weinke yesterday.  I always try not to make it easy, hopefully I held up my end.  I was gassed a few times myself, mostly because I’ve been away I guess.

The Thang:

Disclaimer

Mosey – Out past Einstein down Conlan, cross Brixham, past Courtyard and LochNess, to grassy area…wet grassy area.

COP

–          Imperial walker x 20 in cadence

–          LSS with jump x 20 in cadence

–          Merkins x10 on my up

–          Plank – 6 inches (yes down in the wet grass)

–          American hammer x 20 in cadence

–          Recover

One lap around pond (LochNess)

–          At each porch (x2)

–          Derkins x10

–          Dips x20

–          On wall knee raises x15

–          Plank for 6 – back at start

Mosey to trail – right side

–          Split into two groups

–          Group 1 – 10x Dips / 10x Merkins

–          X3 – nope, X2 nope, x 1 1/2

–          Group 2 – 10x pullups / 10x Squats

–          X 1 1/2 rounds

–          Flip Flop – everyone got in 30 of each exercise – close enough

Mosey up trail to Ball Corp Pl – straight across

–          Through parking lot

–          Circle up for Star Wars trivia

–          Yes/no – 5 squats / 5 burpees

–          X 6-8

Mosey around the pond #2

Mosey back out to Ball Corp – turn right by pond

–          Circle up for mary – (4 various called; rosalita, box cutters, etc)

–          Mosey around pond #3

Mosey straight across through Sara’s Y to cut the corner, left on Brixham, Rt on Ball Medical

Check time

Enough to catch the 4th pond behind Tony’s Pizza. Loop x1.

Wall ups beside Tony’s – well a few of us got one in

Head back to start

Done

Moleskin:

  • Fun group for somewhere between 2.25 (my watch) and 3.5 (Cooter’s?) and 4 ponds.  Jerry World found us after COT on the lap around LochNess, he said it was his 3rd try. Don’t think I’ve met him before – thanks for the hustle my man!
  • Found out later it’s Teddy’s birthday – wish him a happy birthday, maybe we can celebrate Thursday at 4:30 – Bradshaw, or Friday at the Wells?
  • Tagalong walked up before the disclaimer…and again after the COT?  Not sure he was even in attendance.  Jokes… hard to miss the mumble chatter.
  • Frehley’s is a veteran, he avoided the wet grass.  It was pre-determined that I was headed there.  I remember one of my many Bagpipe workouts, I can’t remember the Q, but I remember him making us do COP in the wet grass.  Always stuck with me… this ain’t supposed to be easy.
  • Rousey and CableGuy were always out front – those two guys get after every exercise and never complain.
  • Cooter checked in on me last night – I was ready, but it’s always a solid idea to check the Q. I had to get up freakin early, it’s almost a 20 min drive…
  • Ralph and Morning After rolled in together. Not sure I’ve ever seen MA show up alone. Great quarantine hairstyle. Evidently he only just started coming out again. He stayed up front all morning too – we talked about working out at home and how much tougher in person F3 workouts are.  Good to see Ralph also, he’s a grinder.
  • As you might know now this is a great group of guys – add in Midriff and it’s a cool dozen. Somewhat new to F3, but it seems like he’s been here for years.  Jumping head first into the CSAUP’s and always looking out for the PAX during boot camps.  Solid dude – say hello if you haven’t, guarantee it will change your day for the better.

I thought the Star Wars trivia would be a fun way to interact with the group – possibly it’s too damn early for trivia, and a little of me screwing up the questions.  I was working from memory – most of these guys were not.  LOL

  1. Hans ships name? – Millennium Falcon (correct) easy one
  2. Hans loyal friend? – Chewbacca – (correct)
  3. Leia and Luke’s mom? – Padme – (incorrect, and i accidently said her name)
  4. Father?  – yep easy one…
  5. Who cut off Anakin’s arm? – Count Dooku – (incorrect)
  6. Bonus, which arm – right – (incorrect, well sort of, everyone yelled out both)
  7. What battle armor is used by Boba Fett? – didn’t get to this one… it’s Mandalorian

May the Fourth be With You!

– Fredo

Merkins + Merkins = March Madness

Last week Midriff asked for a Substi-Q, so I rang the bell.  DaVinci is a great AO, easy weinke and lots of area to cover, so I planned a brief tour.  First two out of the cars, YHC and Loogie. None of the ‘good morning’ time wasters, straight too it. “Well, NC State has won the same amount of Tourney games as UNC.”  HAHA that was just the start…

The Thang:

Disclaimer

Mosey – circle around back of best buy

X10 merkins at every stop sign (done once we reach 200 merkins) (Madness)

COP (near Velo bike shop)

–          Imperial walker x 20 in cadence

–          Hands up / LSS x 20 in cadence

–          Explosive squat x 12 22 in cadence (hands to ground in semi squat, legs kick back like a burpee, feet back to start, stand up (1)) We kept at this modified burpee until the giggling stopped

–          American hammer x 20 in cadence

–          Recover

Mosey to first row parking – shoulder to shoulder facing chick joint

–         Bear crawl to next set of parking spots, lunge walk to next, bear crawl, lunge – 4 rows – repeat back (I could feel this in the legs)

Line up facing lot, shoulder to shoulder plank, each have a parking spot – (another made up excercise)

–          far left side Pax runs to opposite end, drops to plank, everyone does one merkin, next guy, 2 merkins, next guy 3 merkins

–          Repeat until everyone has gone

  •   Then we did it again. (I split the pax into two groups of 5) About 30 merkins each

–          (hopefully enough to cover a 3 minute plank)

Mosey behind target – x10 merkins each stop sign

Grab a lifting rock

–          20 curls

–          20 triceps extensions

–          20 overhead press

–          X2 – replace rocks

Lunge walk to speedbump Mosey to lamp post / 20 squats x3 speedbumps lamp posts

Little plank work at the end

Mosey to Blakeney Heath

Everyone turn around and run up the hill backwards

Mary

–          High Flutters x 20

–          Box cutters x 15

Backwards down the hill (carefully keeping an eye on any cars, none were seen)

Mosey to fountains – (finish up merkins) – Well almost…we got to about 160, lots o mumble chatter about them

At fountains – dips x 10, step ups x 10, derkins x 10  take a merkin break – 15 Big Bois

Check time

Head to playground

–          Partner one does pullups / partner two runs to starbucks bushes and back

–          Flapjack

–          Repeat until each partner does 30 (most were accomplished)

Check time

Head back to start – we got to 180 at BB

–          2 1/2 minutes remain, what should we do? 20 merkins to 200 (Mic Check)

  •  Loogie call a mary “Heels to Heavan” (someone “Cause they ain’t going anywhere else”)

HBH for one minute

Done

 – Awesome group of guys. Several young guys too, and they were always in the front. Only ‘letting’ me lead.

  • Loogie started and ended the workout with a little UNC humor – love that guy.
  • Mic Check kept me in check for my promised 200 merkins
  • Great to meet Butterfingers – I think he’s ready to Q
  • Circuit City quietly put in a strong effort, always with friendly banter, except for that last 20 merkins. haha
  • The three teenage guys – watson, t1000, johnny5 – killed it, always pushing me a bit. Thanks guys
  • Their dads?  Yeah they put in a solid morning too, C3PO only cursed me once. (well not really) and Dwight – great to see you.
  • We had ages 14 to 54…quite a span

Thanks for the takeout Mic Check.  Loved the addition to ‘raise up any unspoken prayers’.   Sometime we hold them in, sometimes they need to be ‘raised up’.

Fredo out –

“They took down the @%&!? monkey bars!”

Wednesday morning at The Maul was pretty cold – we only covered about 2.5 miles, but kept the Pax moving.  Thankfully, YHC was freezing.  Continuing the Co-Q Four Year Anni Roadshow, me and Chopper were ready for another great group of guys, typical for this AO. Not to be disappointed, we even had a three-peat.  Thanks for not fartsacking guys – we had a good time Qing this group.  Less mumblechatter without PJ though.

The Thang:

Chopper lead the first half this morning:
Disclaimer
Mosey straight down the MurderHorn
COP – bottom of MH
–         Moracin Nightclub x24

–         SSH x 24
–         Imperial walker x 24
–         LSS x 24
–         American hammer x 24
–         Mountain Climber x 24
Mosey to playground (Four merkins at each light)
–         Partner up
–         40 pullups more on this later
–         40 burpees
–         40 Dips
–         One partner starts, next partner runs to end of the driveway and back
–         Flip flop – complete all

Fredo for the second half

Run up the MH
–         Stop at each street light – merkins x4
–         Plank at top for 6 – or go retrieve them

Mosey up the sidewalk, over the hill to back of regal
–         Grab some Wall in peoples chair
–         40 arm raises
Mosey to back of Target (far end) – Four merkins at each speedbump (why not?)

People’s chair for calf raises x40
Partner Up
–         First Partner does lunges
–         2nd partner runs to first speed bump and back to start
–         2nd guy does lunges, 1st guy goes to next speed bump and back to start
–         Continue to end and back (6 speed bumps)
Check time
Mosey to Hill behind Firebird’s – Quads
–         Bottom 4 Merkins
–         Top 4 Jump Squats
–         X4
Mosey to start
Circle up in plank
Done

Moleskin:

Man it was good to be back and Qing.  I Q’d in December and felt like it was my VQ, just ask Das and LongHaul, they laughed most of the workout…

Chopper led us down the MH and on the way Mic Check insulted Chippy so bad he left… something about never showing up?  Sorry Chippy, Mic Check didn’t mean it.  During the COP Chopper was whispering his ‘next exercise’ and right before I yelled over to speak up I realized we were practically in the neighbors yards.  Great call…

Tagalong, Sweatwater, Mic Check and War Eagle were leading the way most of the morning.  Tagalong and War Eagle were fairly new when I started right?  You guys have grown so much over the last few years.

When we got to the playground Chopper called out the pull-ups, in one of the funniest moments that morning, Sweetwater let him know they pulled the @$%&!? monkey bars out.  Hysterical… modify and keep rolling.

Sweat Water, Midriff, Trickle all made each of the Four Year workouts – appreciate you guys.  Midriff missed the picture each time (photo creds). We’ll have to work on setting a timer so you can join the photo.  At least then your wife won’t think you are just out driving around until the kids settle down.

Loogie and PP were there Four years ago, pretty sure, but they don’t remember…that’s what happens when you turn 50 guys (respect).

I’m fortunate as many of the Pax are, I live close enough to attend the Waxhaw beat downs and still make it to the SOB homeland in short order.  It was an honor to lead, thanks for giving us the opportunity.

Fredo and Chopper OUT…. SYITG

PP – Thanks for the take out!

FOUR-ways and Flatulence

About FOUR weeks ago I reached out to Chopper and asked if he would be open to co-Q #Firestarter and #The Maul.  If you know Chopper, then you know he was up for just about anything. We reached out to the Site Q’s; Teddy, Wingman, PatentPending an MadameTussauds.  They moved a few Pax out of the way politely asked if we could take the Q.  The significance?  Glad you asked… Myself and Chopper were FNGs on February 1st 2017 (4 years ago TODAY) and our first AO was The Maul (Wednesday) Yep – we’re back in action Wednesday, so don’t delay, set your alarm now.

We’ll save the why F3, how have you grown over the last 4 years, how did you get your F3 name, etc. for some quality 2nd F, later this week – more on that below.

The Thang –

So as mentioned above this was a split Q – I (Fredo) took the lead on the first half of the workout:
Brief Disclaimer – 13 somewhat veteran gents, and a quick PS: FOUR Merkins at every stop sign regardless of direction (mumble chatter followed…)
Mosey up towards 131 Main –  and immediately hit with a stop sign (4) merkins – mosey a few feet (4) merkins, and so on for at least six octagonal speed bumps before getting to 131.

COP
–         SSH x 40
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         Imperial walker x 40
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         LSS x 20 (some relief was apparent when i stopped at 20)
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         Lungs in cadence x 20
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
Mosey out of 131 down the hill – Luckily no one noticed or my poker face is better than I thought…I lead the men straight through a mind field of Four-Way stop signs… 16 merkins at each. Little did they know the four-ways were all part of the grand scheme.

Mosey around to back of Target
–         Street lights… some were off – but if they were gas lamps, we could have LIT them up
–         Run up two, 4 Big Boys
–         Run back one, 4 Monkey Humpers
Grab some wall
–         Sevens  at this point I was starting to eat into Chopper’s half of the Q so I improvised a little.
–         1 Mike Tyson / 6 Donkey Kicks Four Mike Tysons and Four Donkey Kicks
–         2 Mike Tysons / 5 Donkey kicks

Mosey around to Blakeney Heath
Chopper:
Quads up hill and back
–         Bottom do x 4 squats
–         Top do x 4 lungs (ea leg)
–         Repeat x 4

Mosey to Blakeney – Down by the stairs in the middle-ish – several stop signs were passed, some were honored, and reduced sentences were handed out. Thank Chopper for the reduction…
–         Grab some wall / peoples chair
–         40 arm raises in cadence
–         Shake it out /back to peoples chair
–         40 punches OYO
Check time

Back to start
–         Mary plus FOUR hand release burpees (for good measure)

Done

Moleskin:

– Great group of men today, fortunately the stop signs also helped keep the Pax together. Squeezed in a little mary here and there at the signs too. Thankfully PointBreak kept me honest and I didn’t get too crazy with the numbers. Midriff requested a merkin count and later landed on 144 – sounds about right (as planned). Chopper gave everyone a break on the way back down, I heard PaperJam’s mumblechatter die down about that time too.

– Sweetwater and I have known each other for ten or so years, finally got to one of my Qs, probably because I showed up to his VQ – great add to the Pax.  Trickle and BigBen were relatively quiet out there except when we got to the MonkeyHumpers – BigBen earned his namesake with some rather loud flatulence… several others joined in.  Sunday dinner must be a good thing in SOB and Waxhaw.

– Teddy has done a great job promoting #Firestarter (another guy helps, can’t recall who Teddy’s wingman is though).  Must be hard to turn down that easy going smile… speaking of smiles – TinyTeen TanyaTine (received some feedback), I need to know more about this F3 nickname please. Great to see a bunch of Waxhaw guys mixed in with SOB.  If you haven’t yet, check out the two workouts Wed/Fri at Marvin HS. Thats where I met Noonan and BigBen. Noonan can deliver a beat down with the best of them.  Great to see Smuggler and Fiji out today too.  When I saw the White Jeep, I knew it would be a good morning.

COT –

Thanks for the take out Chopper and the comradery, support and friendship over the last four years.

Announcements – ICYMI – Chopper and me have another set of FOURS prepared for you at #TheMAUL – the original OG site.

WAXTRAVAGANZA – https://f3southcharlotte.com/2021/01/07/waxtravaganza-wxw-csaup/  (This will be tough and FUN.  great Second F opportunity immediately following.

If running isn’t your thing, DaVinci is doing their F3 Shovel Flag unveiling this Saturday at 6:30 – Fun is sure to follow.

BLOOD DRIVE – you know the drill

See you all Wednesday!  Thank you for the opportunity to Lead.

Fredo and Chopper

 

Rusty The Q

Moving to Waxhaw in August has been great.  Especially meeting a lot of new guys at the Waxhaw AO’s. My first AO nearly 3 months ago was The Body Shop… so how did I get on the Q schedule after so long being absent from it?  Just a driving need to give back.  What everyone finds after joining F3 is the amazing support structure. Like most of you this last year I’ve leaned on a few great guys and really was feeling the need to lead again.  My absence isn’t important, the important thing for everyone, especially the new guys, to understand is – no matter how great or inconsistent your Q turns out – the men of F3 have your back! No exception today.

I had a few inconsistency’s this morning…my cadence was atrocious. At the end, Longhaul said it took me 45 minutes to get it right. LOL My second was planning, these always look good on paper and I had it drawn out perfectly, or so i thought.  My main issue was basic math. In a typical boot camp we get roughly 2.5 miles.  That’s nearly half of the workout.  I had this great idea of looping the AO twice and if you’ve ever been to Rea View Elem, you would know it’s not that big.  Great AO, just bad planning. We covered 1.5 miles after two laps. Unfortunately the basic math here is i would need about 35 minutes of exercises to even get close to 45 minutes of work. This left me ad-libbing for nearly 20 minutes. Much to the chagrin of the group.

The Thang:

Disclaimers are pretty long now covering the headlamps, CPR and a phone, start early!

Mosey down and around the track… it’s not confirmed yet, but looking back, was I supposed to warm up the Mash Unit also?  Was this my third “inconsistency” of the morning? Oh boy…sorry guys.

Circle up by the around track to bball court

Warmup

SS hop – cadence 25

2 burpees

Merkins – civilian 20

2 burpees

Lunges – civ 10 ea leg

2 burpees

Big boys – civ 20

Mosey

Behind school – Center building

Grab some wall for 7’s

Mike Tysons / Donkey kicks

Mosey

Parking lot

Bear crawl each parking spot – Merkin at each stripe x10

Mary – knees to chest / Amer Hammer

Check time – trouble is brewing…we burned about 10 minutes

And here’s what I left off that probably would have saved the day…dang it

Triple nickel on hill, merkins / squats

Lunge walk end of parking lot

Mosey to start / Decline merkins and plank jacks

Repeato – Mosey – around track to bball court – So we repeated the above and I still had about 20 minutes to go.  Adding the triple nickel and lung walks likely would have gotten us there.

Longhaul to the rescue with a rock pile not to far away – mosey to the pile and we did three rounds of bicep curls, tricep extensions and overhead presses. Mixed in a few more burpees and some mary.  Das Boots showed his juggling talents with two rocks and Sugar Daddy awarded the “Chain of Pain” for lifting the heaviest rock through three rounds.

Mosey back to start for plank jacks, mary and rounded out my cadence practice with some squats.

Great work by the crew, very little mumble chatter except during the second round of Mike Tyson’s. We worked the body and the brain today.  Appreciate the opportunity to lead!

WELCOME – FNG Steve Martin – The Jerk

COT – Thanks for the take out Das Boot

Announcements:

There is a lot going on in Waxhaw and SOB. Tons of opportunities to give back. Take a look at Slack and GroupMe for ideas.

– Q School – If you haven’t Q’d yet this is a great opportunity to learn from some of the best (and a great time for a refresher if it’s been a while like YHC). Calvary Church this Sat at 7:00 AM.

– Service Project Saturday 8:30 – New Town Elementary (Watchtower AO) – spreading mulch and various other items.

First Things First…Who’s On Q

My first Q since IR and it felt good to lead again… Buckey has been great while I was out filling the calendar.  One day was left.  Saturday after the Fourth. Last year after the Fourth Goonie lead me and Strawberry (yup, three of us). So I wasn’t sure about the turnout.  DaVinci has been keeping good company lately and the guys are showing up. Got a text from Hops about the calendar being open (forgot to add my name to the schedule).  So I wrote out a Weinke…

Here’s what we did after meeting an FNG (Happy Feet) and a decent disclaimer was given.

Mosey to front side best buy

COP

  • SSH x 15
  • 5 burpees – oyo
  • Imperial walker x 15
  • 5 burpees – oyo
  • LSS x 15
  • 5 burpees – oyo
  • Amer hammer x 15
  • 5 burpees – oyo

The mumble chatter ensued and I promised no more burpees, though PaperJam wasn’t falling for it.

Mosey to first row parking

  • Partners for welbarrow to next row, flapjack to 2nd row
  • Repeat to 3rd flapjack to 4th
  • Plank for 6
  • Line up facing start – AYG back to first row parking
  • Repeat x2

Partners

  • Run opposite directions to back of BB
  • 10 hand slap merkins
  • Run Backwards to front of BB
  • x10 hand slap merkins
  • Repeat x3

Mosey around Newks straight across and up middle Blakeney behind Old Navy

Wall –ups x5

Mosey around to Blakeney Heath

Triple Nickel up hill and back

  • Bottom do x10 squats
  • Top do x10 merkins
  • Repeat x5

Stay at top…Grab a big lifting rock

  • Curls x 10
  • Tricep extension x10
  • Repeat x3

Mosey to fountain

Do exercises on sidewalk – Another first. Not sure anyone has done these at DaVinci?  Basically on the sidewalk there are written exercises x4.  Check them out next time you pass by.

At fountain

  • dips x 10
  • step ups x 10
  • derkins x 10
  • x3

Check time – enough to cross the street and do some mary.

Done

First time in like 15ish Q’s that I actually finished on time using the Weinke I wrote.  Usually we crush it and I have to add lib a bit. We added a few LBC’s, flutters, etc along the way to give the 6 a chance to catch up. Not much lag time today – strong group.  If you’re around F3 much at all there are always a few crowd favorites, PaperJam, Cheddar and Hops are always great to have in the PAX. As Q I’m looking for someone to help with the FNG or keep me honest with regards to time. Worked out a few times now with Erector and he’s gotten strong, thanks for the pace setting at the front. Good to see Tumble Weed back after a brief hiatus too.

Couple of announcements… Cheddar mentioned Isabella Santos in September.  Plus Pokey begins Wednesday!!

5 runners joined for the COT and Coffeteria.

During Hops “take out” (thanks!) We actually revised / renamed the FNG from Penguin (a hockey reference to a rival team) to Happy Feet.  Go figure, another first for this crazy day.

Blue Moon Q in Union County

Once in a Blue Moon I will volunteer to substi-Q for a guy in need.  Just happened to be a Blue Moon and Tweetsie was in need of a subti-Q so he could spend Easter weekend doing something (more) fun.  Little does he know, we had fun anyway.

Here’s what we did (and didn’t do):

Disclaimer – and added note about not crossing the road led to some serious mumble-chatter.

Warm ‘us’ up (it was a chilly 39) – mosey to Sun Valley Elementary

  • SSH x 15
  • Imperial walker x 15
  • LSS x 15
  • Amer hammer x 15
  • Mountain Climber x 15

Grab some wall – People’s chair shoulder to shoulder (Grab the sand bag)

  • Pass sandbag down and back
  • Pass sandbag down and back with 2 shoulder raises each

Line up single file

  • Indian run around to Sun Valley HS lot
  • Guy in back carry’s sandbag, passes to guy in front of him and sprints to front of line

Partner up (Uneven numbers)

  • Line up at first row of parking spaces
  • Partners if even welbarrow to next row flapjack to 2nd row
  • Repeat to 3rd flapjack to 4th
  • Plank for 6
  •  (If uneven #, bearcrawl, lunge, bear crawl, lunge, 4 rows)
  • Line up facing start – AYG back to first row parking
  • Repeat!

Line up facing lot, shoulder to shoulder plank

  • First in line, flip around facing row of guys
  • Hand slap merkin with each guy all the way to end
  • Repeat until everyone has gone

Indian run all the way back to Shiloh Elem – Track

  • Line up in plank
  • First guy runs around track circle with sandbag
  • We ran out around the gazebo and back w sand bag
  • Rest do called exercise (merkins, elbow, 6 inches, diamond, elbow, 6 in, merkins, elbow, 6 in)
  • Repeat until everyone runs

Mosey back to middle school bus lot

Find benches

  • dips x 10, step ups x 10, derkins x 10
  • Lap around buses (19 in case you were wondering)
  • X3

Partner derkins x10 each partner

Check time – lots Mosey around to cars

Circle up for mary – guy with sand bag runs around the circle x2 , next guy calls mary – repeat until everyone goes

Still time for some blistering pull ups at the railings – led by Madison, not sure why those hurt so bad.

Burpees x 10 OYO

Done

Mole:

I was looking forward to the Q after Tweetsie seemed to be stuck. Happy to help out.  9 including YHC.  I knew or have at least worked out with more than half the guys.  All put up great effort this morning.  Fun group to lead…lot’s of chatter and pushing each other.  Very creative naming in Union Co too…though most probably started elsewhere.  Smokey wouldn’t trade names with me, he got off easy I think being a TN fan.  Village People?  That name probably deserves more questions as does Bonhoffer and Christmas.

Found a way to use the sand bag I had for my last Q at the Fishing Hole.  The Indian Run is still a struggle to get going… may retire that one for a bit.  Heard some funny chatter every time that thing is found though. (“Wait – is that a burrito?” and “You’re lucky security didn’t stop by” to “Was that already here.”) Just a few things I heard this morning… nah it’s just an over used sand bag.  Glad you guys appreciated the extra token to carry during the workout.

Appreciate the chance to lead – thanks Tweetsie.  Thank you Madison for help at the end.

Great AO if anyone gets the chance to stop by one Saturday.

Announcements:

Congrats to Madison for the new gig!!

YMCA – Ballantyne – tons of new races and activities coming up now that its nice out.  All on line.

Madison thanks for the take out –

Fredo

Small “Token” of my Appreciation

Awesome group at The Fishing Hole today.  I brought a little something that looked like 50#’s of coke, but fortunately for these old hearts, only sand poured out.

Here’s what we did.

Disclaimer

Circle up in parking lot (what no warm up? Um Frehley’s this is the warm up)

COP

  • SSH x 15
  • Imperial walker x 15
  • LSS x 15
  • Amer hammer x 15
  • Mountain Climber x 15

Line up single file

  • Indian run to front of school
  • Guy in back carrys sandbag, passes to guy in front of him and sprints to front of line

People’s chair shoulder to shoulder

  • Pass sandbag down and back
  • Pass sandbag down and back with 2 shoulder raises each

Mosey across 51 past McD’s with sandbag

  • Line up at first row of parking spaces
  • Bear crawl to next row, lunge walk to 2nd, bear crawl to 3rd, lunge to 4th row
  • Plank
  • Line up facing start – AYG back to first row parking
  • Repeat This didn’t happen – too much growning

Line up facing lot, shoulder to shoulder plank

  • First in line, flip around facing row of guys
  • Hand slap merkin with each guy all the way to end
  • Repeat until everyone has gone

Mosey around to giant hill…name?

Triple Nickel Only managed three of these…

  • 5 merkins, up hill
  • 5 squats, down hill
  • X3

Indian run back left of HS to stairs / ramp entrance of school

  • Guy in back carry’s sandbag, passes to guy in front of him and sprints to front of line

Line up in plank

  • First guy runs up the stairs and around circle with sandbag
  • Rest do called exercise (merkins, elbow, 6 inches, diamond, elbow, 6 in, merkins, elbow, 6 in)
  • Repeat until everyone runs w sand bag

At benches – jump ups x10, derkins x10, dips x20

Leave the sandbag and mosey to parking deck stairs

  • Run up the stairs, at each floor do called exercise (merkins x5, squats x5, merkins x5)
  • Plank for 6
  • Mosey to next set of stairs
  • Stop for people’s chair excercises (rt leg raise, lt leg raise, presses)
  • Back down stopping at each floor (merkins x5, squats x5, merkins x5, squats x5)
  • More people’s chair at bottom

Tater tot couldn’t stand being away from the sand bag so long so he lead mosey back to benches

At benches – jump ups x10, derkins x10, dips x20

Back to start (Tater Tot carried “his” new sand bag)

Circle up (wide) in plank – one person runs with the bag around the circle and back to his spot. Everyone else does various mary called by guys next to you.  Repeat until all go.

Done

Fishing Mole:

The guys were mixed emotions when I brought over the sand bag. Mostly groans and tears.  We started out a little rough. There seems to be a nationwide misunderstanding of the Indian run…and throw in a sand bag. Forget about it going well. The front of the line went the opposite direction that I wanted. We regrouped and were off.

EVERYONE got after it this morning. We crushed the Indian run on the third try LOL. That big hill is a beast, but she was crushed too.  Hope everyone has a great Easter.

Thanks for the take out Tater Tot!

Fredo –

Keep Frehley’s dad Chip in your prayers.

I Wish I Could Think of a Clever Title

The title is as important as the workout right? I read a BB I’m not part of occasionally if it gets lots of t-claps or comments. But more often if it has a clever name.  Don’t you?

Should I go with “Trent Frasier, Frasier Trent?” or maybe “Bracket Buster”? Oh well…

After a somewhat unorganized Disclaimer, here’s what we did.

Mosey to far side of Best Buy.

C-up

  • SSH x 15
  • Imperial walker x 15
  • LSS x 15
  • Amer hammer x 15

Line everyone up at first row of parking spaces.  Uneven numbers, though I tried to count myself twice, so i had to abandon the partner idea.

  • Partners if even welbarrow to next row flapjack to 2nd row
  • Bear crawl to next row of spaces, lunge walk to 2nd row, bear crawl to 3rd, lunge walk to 4th  
  • Plank for 6
  • Line up facing start – AYG back to first row parking
  • We had so much fun the first time, we got to Repeat

Line up shoulder to shoulder in plank

  • First in line, flip around facing row of guys
  • Hand slap merkin with each guy all the way to end
  • Repeat until everyone has gone

Interesting that everyone didn’t get this right away…or they just didn’t want to do the merkins.  ha-ha.  Or I give terrible directions.

Mosey around back of best buy, line up at the wall in people’s chair. (Hey look, someone left a sand bag conveniently by the wall.)

People’s chair shoulder to shoulder

  • Pass sandbag down and back
  • Repeat. Pass sandbag down and back with 2 shoulder raises each

Line up single file

  • Indian run to Old Navy
  • Guy in back carry’s sandbag, passes to guy in front of him and sprints to front of line
  • Repeat

Partner derkins x 10 each

Line up single file

  • Indian run to fountains by Brixx
  • Guy in back carry’s sandbag, passes to guy in front of him and sprints to front of line
  • repeat

At fountains – dips x 10, step ups x 10, derkins x 10

Head to playground

  • Partner one does pullups / partner two runs to starbucks bushes and back
  • Flapjack
  • Repeat with squats
  • Repeat with merkins

Check time… only 8 after the hour.  I was just about done with my plan.

Head back to BBT near start with sandbag

  • Circle up in plank
  • First guy runs around circle with sandbag
  • Mary Kay thought it would be harder if we went around the actual bank building w the sand bag, so that’s what we did
  • Rest do called exercise (merkins, elbow plank, 6 inches, diamond merkins, various mary, etc)
  • Repeat until everyone runs around the bank with the bag o sand

Still had about 15 minutes to cover so we ran around to the front part of the town home division by the bank.  Along the driveway Bucky reminded me there are 6 street lamps on the right that leads up to the second stop sign.

Run towards 2nd stop sign adding a burpee at each street light starting at beginning with one. Plank for 6 and return the way we came doing a squat at each light, plus one each time.

Head back to start. With 45 seconds for a little more elbow plank.

Done

Mole:

Great group of guys came out this morning. I wasn’t sure the turnout with P200 guys out for the race, but we had 11 and an FNG, Paul. More on that at the end…

The guys got after it today. We only covered 2.5 but the workouts in between was what got everyone gassed. Great to see Chopper back at it. Marlin quietly crushes every exercise, he’s a beast. Mighty Mite is a bad ass too. (PS. Don’t do shots with him, he’s a bad ass at that also.) Mic Check and Bucky stay in front at every workout I’ve seen them at. Lewinsky and Scratch and Sniff are a great add to the PAX. Hard work and great attitudes for whatever terrible directions I throw at them. If you guys haven’t seen Mary Kay since late summer, it’s too late. That dude’s gone, same great guy, yes, but he’s crushing these workouts like it’s his job. You may not recognize him.  And he’s the new site Q at Rebel yell. Way to contribute my man.  Good to see Gruden out there killin it too – thanks for bringing Paul, even if it was your wife’s idea. ha-ha

A few weeks ago I read a BB by Snowflake “Better Than Chocolates”. He wrote about a sand bag workout with people’s chair and Indian runs. So I’m not original, but I’m not dumb either.  I saved that in the memory banks for later.  It looked awesome and, as it turns out, it was awesome. Meaning; difficult and I’m actually a little sore today from carrying that sandbag around.  I dropped it behind the Best Buy on my way in. At least I didn’t make you guys carry around the cinder blocks I had with me.  Side note…that with a roll of duct tape, was an interesting shopping cart I was wheeling around Home Depot.

I also used the hand slap merkin thing I did during a Cheddar workout a while back.  That sucks too…in a good way. I checked the time around the playground part of the weinke and determined quickly that I didn’t plan enough to get through the hour. That’s when I thought Bracket Buster was the right title. You guys chime in later.

After a few announcements we got to what’s important, naming the FNG. Mic Check was peppering him with questions along the way about work and school. Pretty funny stuff, prepping for this moment.  I recorded the names as usual in case I forgot anyone, I didn’t, but this isn’t about me.  At the end I left it recording… so I captured all the bad ideas. It took us nearly two minutes to get back to the first choice. He said his name, Paul Frasier. Mighty Mite said it immediately.  I  responded that I liked it. Then we went through a few others and me and Mary Kay said it again. This time evryone got it and it stuck.  Please welcome TRENT to the F3 family.  He’s a good guy and already good at this workout thing. He’ll fit right in.

Chopper thanks for the take out!

Google Mission Uprising, by Elevation. Lewinsky highly recommends.

A few other things I didn’t listen to in the recording because I was laughing.

See You in the Gloom

Fredo –

One Year…and a Few Speed Bumps Along the Way

12 men showed up to celebrate my first twelve months in F3.  Hard to believe it’s already been a year.  Time flies when your having fun?  True statement. Great group of guys this morning. Chopper was in attendance – It’s his 1 year anniversary as well.  We both started with an Outback Q at The Maul.  I remember it was cold, and I thought this f3 thing was something I could get into, more about that later.

I had a plan…here’s what we did.

Mosey from theater to Jersey Mike’s

  • 12 Low Slow Squats
  • 12 Mountain Climbers
  • 12 Imperial Walkers
  • 12 Side Straddle Hop

Mosey over to speed bumps behind HT

  • 2nd bump: 5 Merkins, back one 5 squats
  • 3rd bump: 5 Merkins, back one 5 squats
  • 4th bump: 5 Merkins, back one 5 squats
  • Etc to end at 6th

People’s chair: wait for 6

Mosey around by Sally’s and out, crossing BC Prkwy to St Matts

  • 1st bump clockwise (Add Chopper chatter here): 6 Mountain Climbers, add 6 to each bump – 10th should = 60

Mosey counterclockwise to St Matts school lot. Start at bushes…

  • Sprint to 1st bump: 5 Diamond Merkins (stay together in plank)
  • Sprint to 2nd bump: 5 Dia Merkins, (stay together in plank)
  • Sprint to 3rd bump: 5 Dia Merkins, (stay together in plank) run backward one, 5 dia merkins
  • Sprint to end of lot

Mosey out and across Williams Pond to Bradshaw’s staircase

Partner up – One partner goes right, one left, up staircase and meet at top in middle for 5 hand slap merkins back down to courtyard for 5 each WWII sit-ups. Repeat x3

Mosey out and down Elm towards Target to Ballantyne Trace on left.

Triple burpee something…

  • Down to stop sign: 3 burpees
  • Up to stop sign: 3 burpees
  • X3

Check time… hustle back to Cinema/start. Just a few seconds over time. Close one. Mileage ~3.1

Mole:

The guys really got after it today.  No real 6, solid effort all around. Found a way not to get lapped by Teddy, partner with him.  Drago (20) and Bucky were out front most of the morning.  Great to see Chopper twice this week, back at it after a hiatus. Olaf is a SOB regular now.  Escobar and Market Timer were unusually quiet today, maybe the math problem was just too much.  I was feeling those mountain climbers at 48, 54, 60 a bit more than I thought.

I had Strawberry add me to the calendar back in December so I could Q my anniversary workout. Perfect number of guys (12) showed up. Glad Billy Goat promoted so much. 🙂  I thought the speed bumps where a good theme after 12 months. Had a few along the way…stupid things like alarm clocks and travel, but I stayed on track and did at least two workouts every week for a year. I jumped out early and was doing 3, 4 sometimes 5 workouts a week.  As Mario once said “I remember when I was this excited”.  Well a waist size smaller, a site Q “promotion”, pushed a chariot in a 5k and I’m still showing up.

Don’t let your own personal “speed bumps” get you down. Come work it out with the guys in the Gloom, you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks to Mary Kay and Billy Goat for the opportunity.

Thanks Chopper for the take out!

Fredo

Announcements:

-Brolympics February 24th.  Sign up to participate or volunteer. Here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wv7Iep3nhR-G2n1Ftwe6Ut-CGAGAWNLCIBcYIUcHYrQ/edit#gid=0

-Madison has sign up for the CPR class February 17th.

-Epic Friday: Bucky’s Birthday And Groundhog day PLUS – Tuck @ The Brave, Mermaid @ Centurion, Doc @ Cerberus

-Need a few good men to lead #daVinci in March. Hit me up if you are free.