Author Archive Goonie

St. Patty’s Day Shenanigans

Where else would anyone post on St. Patrick’s Day other than the #1 drinking AO in all of F3? Well, 16 pax made the right choice, earning whatever libations were to be ingested later that festive day. Here’s how they earned it:

The Thang:

Mosey to the Dana Rader Golf School parking lot across from the SPX building. The yog here was maybe .5-.6 miles, yet the complaints and mumblechatter started exactly .43 miles into the workout. It was going to be a long hour unless YHC figured out some way to turn that chatter into heavy breathing. Circled up for COP: IW x 15 IC, Windmill x 10 IC, merkins x 10 IC, LSS x 10 IC.

Headed down the cart path into the darkness of the golf course. Through the (pleasantly surprising) very well-lit tunnel, around the 17th green and down the 17th fairway. Cut across the 11th hole, calling out the sand trap so no one falls in, dodge a few lawnmowers (who were undoubtedly surprised to see a bunch of idiots in black running through the course at 6:10 on a Saturday morning), around the 12th tee and up to the patio of the first of four buildings that run along the left side of the 12th hole. Main event: at each patio, do a called exercise, wait for the six, rinse and repeat.

Round 1: 5 burpees (to get the heartrate going)
Round 2: 10 Supermans (because we don’t work our back muscles as much as we should)
Round 3: 15 incline merkins at patios 1 & 3, 15 decline merkins at 2 & 4
Round 4: 20 dips
Round 5: 25 LBCs

At this point, we’re right next to the Met Life building on B’tyne Commons. Pop into the parking deck there for 3 quick rounds of Mary (Flutter x 10 IC, Dolly x 10 IC, six-inch crunches x 10 IC). Head out to Ballantyne Commons toward the resort. Right into the parking lot by the golf entrance, left to the long row of parking spaces right along Ballantyne Commons. Partner up. P1 starts doing burpees, 1 in each parkign spot. P2 runs to the end of the row and back. Flapjack. We continue this for about 2 rounds, and headed back to launch. A few rounds of Mary (American Hammer, Freddie Mercury) and a 1-minute plank and we were done.

Moleskine:
YHC’s prediction on what each pax celebrated St. Patty’s Day with:

Billy Goat: YHC thinks he’s a Cubs fan, so this one’s easy: PBR. The curse is over, BG, you can start drinking some better stuff now.
Cul-de-sac: A fine glass of Chardonnay. YHC doesn’t know CDS very well, but he looks like a classy dude.
Hops: Being the beer connoisseur that he is, he was undoubtedly slamming the hoppiest light beer he could find. Probably Natural Light. He was, simultaneously, poking a voodoo doll of YHC in protest of having to run more than 2 miles in a boot camp #makebootcampsrunlessagain
Taglong: Another easy one: the Tagging-A-Long Brown http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article204076149.html
HIPAA: The lowest-liability beer: O’Doul’s
Toolbag: Toolbag has gone through a nice little body transformation since joining F3. He was rockin’ some Michelob Ultra with some bikini-clad models while rollerblading through the park.
Commish: My man likes his Coors Lights. Probably had 36 of them.
Frehley’s Comet: Where do we begin? Vodka, bourbon, and a lot of it.
Fire Hazard: He told us during the workout what he’d be enjoying – a frothy bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. Don’t let anyone give you shit, Haz. You do you, buddy!
Nard-Dog: ND hails from the Ivy league, so he was probably drinking some high-end Scotch. YHC guesses Macallan.
Fireman Ed: Ginger beer, obviously.
Wild Turkey: Jim Beam.
Frasier: The heaviest beer he can find (in another futile attempt to put on weight). Probably Guinness. Then, after 12 of those, he slowed down from a 5:00 mile to a 5:04 mile.
Shrinkwrap: YHC doesn’t know what millenials drink, so YHC guesses Shrinkwrap was one of those bros at the bar double-fisting Red Bull & Vodka. That’s basically how YHC pictures every millenial except for Mario.
Market Timer: He popped a bottle of Cabernet that was more expensive than your car payment.

A pleasure, as always, gentlemen.

Folsom Hill

11 of Ballantyne’s finest decided that a 35-degree Saturday morning was a beautiful time to arise and embrace the suck. With visions of post-workout, free chicken biscuits in our minds (surprise bonus!), we set off to explore new territory and name a new hill.

Goonie’s M: You guys have a weird name for everything.
Goonie: Pretty much
M: Why?
Goonie: Because we can….

The Thang:

Mosey through the Best Buy parking lot, cross Rea, gather at the lot between the gas station and Target for some COP: IW x 15 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Tempo Merkins x 11. At this point, someone pointed out that somewhere, some prison inmates were probably doing the same thing as us. For the first time (and definitely not the last), it was pointed out that this was absolutely not as bad as prison. Mosey north on Rea to Parks Farm Ln. We thought of turning right to go pick up Paper Jam, but there was a pleasant little hill waiting our arrival. Turn left and stop at the intersection of Parks Farm and Gander.

What was to become “Folsom Hill” is an almost quarter-mile long incline with a pretty steep final hundred yards. It’s not the Murderhorn, but it’s pretty nasty. So, we decided to give it a little love.

Round 1: Sprint up hill, recover with 3 merkins at each of the 25 trees on the way back down
Round 2: Sprint up, recover back down with 3 squats at each tree
Round 3: Sprint up, recover with 1 burpee at each tree

Pax frequently reminded each other that it wasn’t as bad as prison. We did some Mary between rounds to collect the six. Once done, we headed back toward launch. Stopped for some Merkins and plank along the way to let the six catch up. Stopped by the fountains between Bravo and Brixx for a round of 15 incline merkins, 10 step-ups (each leg) and 15 decline merkins. Headed back toward Chick Fil-A with a few minutes to spare. Stopped at the bank parking lot for 10 6-inch crunches, then 50 LBCs OYO, run up to Rea, around the corner on Ardrey Kell, and back into the CFA parking lot. We hit 4 miles right around 7:29:30. Goal accomplished. Great work by all. Done.

Ye Olde Nekkid Moleskine:

YHC was cutting through on Parks Farm Ln. one day and discovered Folsom Hill. Once I measured the distance to CFA, a message went out to Fredo to put YHC on the Q schedule for da Vinci. YHC loves to find new territory and take the pax to new places, no matter what AO. Mission accomplished on this one. Fredo and Bucky both informed me they had never been to Parks Farm (that they knew of), so new territory was discovered.

When we arrived at the base, a gentleman was at his front porch lauding us for our dedication. After a few back-and-forth comments, Bucky invited him to join us. That was met with a “Good luck fellas, and a door slammed on us. Someone needs to learn the joys of the DRP.

Teddy, Lewinsky, Bucky, and YHC were out front most of the morning. Bucky just glides effortlessly. Lewinsky took off like a bat out of hell up the hill the first time and almost ran out of gas. Those young’uns need to learn how to ration energy. The dude can move, though. Teddy was putting in his usual quiet strong effort. Future Q tip: Teddy’s kryptonite is stairs. He does NOT like them.

We had some strong respects in our midst this morning. Fredo and Frehley’s doing what they always do – making us all hope we’re in that good of shape when we’re 70 years old, too. Chopper was the definition of persistence – he made sure he finished every last rep. Respect, brother!

Escobar was disappointed at the mileage. He was hoping for at least 5. We don’t know what got the better workout: Mighty Mite’s legs or his mouth. Unfortunately, they don’t have a smartwatch for that. Strawberry was pushing hard, even though he wasn’t feeling 100%. Scratch and Win reminded us all morning long: the workout may suck, but we all have it pretty good.

Thanks to Fredo and Bucky for letting YHC Q. Thanks to Chick Fil-A for the free chicken biscuits when you use the app. FYI, it takes multiple Clemson grads to download the CFA app and use it. Thanks to Scratch and Win for the takeout.

Yes, the Q actually knows where he’s going #recon

Despite the talk of Snowmageddon and CMS schools cancelling classes as soon as they heard about the chance of frozen precipitation, 16 manly men hopped out of the fartsack to a pleasant surprise: temperatures that didn’t make you think your eyelids were going to freeze. It was a balmy 42 degrees when we started. Although Mr. Bean was sporting some nut-hugging tights #wearsomeshortsoverthose and a knit hat with the biggest pom pom at the top of it you’ve ever seen, it was so “warm”, we all thought Pop Tart was going to take his shirt off at some point. Let’s find out if that actually happened:

The Thang

Head directly toward the Murderhorn. Groans ensue. Bean starts talking and heckling the Q (and doesn’t stop for 45 minutes). One the way down, 10 merkins at each lamp-post and 10 at the bottom. Quick COP of IW x 10 IC and 10 merkins IC.

Head up to the pool parking lot for some 3-man grinders. P1 does 5 pull-ups and 10 merkins at the park area. P2 does squats at the base of the parking lot. P3 runs between. Keep switching. Everyone got about 6 rounds of everything so we could get our requisite 30 pull-ups for the January challenge.

Once completed, we took a left on Elmstone, L on Thornhill Club, and a R on Meadow Run to head out to Ballantyne Commons Parkway. Lots of chatter (led by you-know-who) of the Q not having any clue where we were headed. In fact, we were headed toward more pain. L on B’tyne Commons to Stonebriar Dr.

3x up the Stonebriar Dr. hill, with 10 HR merkins at the top and 10 squats at the bottom. #smoker

Mosey east on B’tyne Commons back to Stonecrest. Stop for 10 merkins to catch the six. Head in the south entrance and toward speed bump alley. About 6.5 minutes left. 5 merkins at each speed bump (6 of them) and then jailbreak back to launch for 10 more merkins. 1 minute of plank and we’re done.

Moleskine

The Murderhorn gets a lot of run at the Maul and Rebel Yell, but the Stonebriar hill sucks almost as bad. Wanted to switch it up a bit and take some guys to a place they may never have been before. Even some crafty veterans were mentioning they had never been over there. It’s always good to venture out and find new territory so AO’s don’t get too stale. When you’re Qing, do some recon beforehand and put some thought into it.

Solid work by all this morning. I think Kirby and Arsenal were thinking bad thoughts about me while heading up Stonebriar, but they pushed through the whole time with maximum effort.

Frasier is getting faster. That guy might have a future as a runner. If you’re looking for someone for a BRR team, look him up. With some training, I think he could be a pretty solid piece for some lucky team. After getting smoked last year by Team Waterade, the SOB team might be looking for another guy in hopes of redeeming themselves.

Fredo and Marliln continue to amaze at their, um, “advanced” ages. All kidding aside, YHC hopes he’s that fast and strong after hitting the “respect” age.

Pop Tart kept his shirt on, thankfully. However, he really needs to run more. Looking kinda flabby and slow out there…..

Speaking of flabby, many pax pointed out that the pull-up bars were tilted after several rounds of Fire Hazard doing his pull-ups all on one side. Meanwhile, the Baxter Village New Year’s day race is already starting to slaughter pigs for next year’s meal. They ran out of food this year #Iwonderwhy #foodhealshishamstring

No Show has a significant advantage when it comes to hills. Since his legs are a full 3 feet longer than anyone else’s, the dude can move. The much shorter Tagalong and Teddy were right there with him, though.

Strong work by all, this morning. We covered 3 miles and got in our 30 pull-ups and 200 merkins. Thanks for coming out – enjoy the second workout of the day (chasing the kids around the house).

Announcements:

Keep Gremlin’s (MECA) family in your prayers as they deal with his passing.

Keep ‘Bout Time, his son, Jennings, and their family in your prayers as they deal with his struggle. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

Congrats to Madame Tussauds on his 4th F3 anniversary.

Happy birthday to Kirby (tomorrow)

Bean is bringing beer to his Stonehenge Q on the 27th to celebrate his 50th birthday. Should be a good one.

Everyone drive safe today.

FNG Calls Site Q a Woman

Posted on behalf of Purell:

15 pax (including 1 FNG) squeezed into a school bus filled parking lot ready to jump-start their week with a healthy beat down.

The Thang:

After a brief but substantial disclaimer, YHC decided the only way to counter the 35 degree weather was to limber up and keep moving.
COP – 2 laps around the 1,000 busses with a sprinkling of high knees, butt kickers, and karaoke. SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, LSS x 10 IC, Windmill x15 IC, Parker Peters x 15 IC, HR Merkin x 5 IC.

Mosey down Woodfox, left on Rounding Run, stopping at Rising Meadow for some peaks and valleys hill work. 5 burpees at the bottom of the hill, run up Rounding Run to the first speed bump at the top of the hill for 10 monkey humpers, continue towards Raintree Ln and run to the bottom for 15 merkins, run to the top at Raintree Ln for 20 mountain climbers/leg. Plank while waiting on the 6, then 20 LBCs IC. Rinse and repeat in reverse direction starting with burpees again and ending at Rising Meadow. Plank til 6 has arrived and 20 Dolly IC. Repeat this loop one more time with 20x Flutters IC and much to the pax chagrin, 10 Cumberland County Viaducts/each side.

Mosey back towards camp stopping once to recover the 6 and get 20 counts of Freddie Mercury in.

Mosey to the rock pile, grab a partner and a lifting rock to work on the beach body. Only 6 months til bikini season.
Round 1 – P1 runs to bleachers for 15 incline merkins and run back, P2 does overhead press, flapjack.
Round 2 – P1 runs to bleachers for 15 dips and back , P2 has tri extensions and curls, flapjack.

Done. COT.

Moleskine:

Pleasantly surprised when I pulled in the lot at my usual 90 seconds before kickoff to see so many PAX, especially given the cold temps. We had one FNG (Windex) out today courtesy of Horsehead. Somehow when coming up with the FNG’s name, we got on the topic of Greek meanings and Windex quickly pointed out that Goonie means woman in Greek. So yes, FNG called the site Q a woman… very solid first post, welcome aboard and hope to see you often. FIA will love you Goonie.

Everyone was getting after it today, pushing hard from start to finish. BaseCamp is always such a great group of guys working their tails off while encouraging one another. As YHC is still relatively new to the F3 Nation, it is an honor to be asked to lead by Drano and Goonie, and an even bigger honor that you all followed. Looking forward to seeing you all in the gloom again soon!

Announcements:

Holiday party – Dec 8, apparently the same day as Star Wars so no nerds will be attending the party
Let them soar 5k @ Christ Covenant Church, Sat Nov 4
Pancakes and Beer 5K @ OMB, benefits MedAssist, Sat Nov 4

“Simple” does not mean “easy”

15 posted on a perfect morning for this week’s version of Rebel Yell (just waiting for some liberals to catch wind of this name and get offended….. it’s only a matter of time). Strong, veteran crew showed up this morning. Fredo came in hot around 5:30:45. We waited a bit for him because we wouldn’t want him to miss out on Ms. ‘Horn. Disclaimer given. Pax ready to get after it. Here’s what went down:

The Thang

Mosey across Elm and down our favorite little incline. To the bottom for COP: IW x 15 IC, MC x 10 IC, LSS x 10 IC. Doc immediately got on YHC for LSS form. Too much of that causes tendinitis to flare up. If YHC was a goat or another mammal, it wouldn’t be an issue since Doc was there. Just needed a little warm up for our little quickie with the Murderhorn #segmenthunting. One time, AYG to the top.

Mosey back across Elm to the fountains by Chipotle (the restaurant, not the pax). Partner up for a simple workout: as a team, do:

100 Burpees
200 CDD’s
300 Step-ups
400 Merkins
500 Heels to Heaven

Call it at 6:12 to mosey back to launch. Done.

Skinny:

YHC was thrilled when McGee rolled in, as this workout was inspired by a BB I read from one of his workouts within the past few months. I vowed to do something similar once I got done with the BRR buffoonery. I couldn’t find is BB for the exact exercises, so I went with something I felt was doable but would smoke the Pax. This was an ultimate you vs. you workout. You could go balls out if you want, or you could dog it if you wanted to. The partner aspect keeps some accountability, as well as some encouragement. It’s a smoker, though. No one finished, as far as YHC knows. The Burpees and CDD’s went a little faster than YHC thought they would, but the pace really started slowing at the step-ups. As the great San Diegon philosopher Ron Burgundy once eloquently stated: things escalated quickly. This Weinke will be brought out again, that’s a promise.

YHC hadn’t gotten a chance to segment-hunt the Murderhorn in a while, so I wanted to see the effects of BRR training. In short – it works. PR. After running BRR, the Murderhorn isn’t so bad.

Great group this morning. Everyone was getting after it. YHC didn’t see anyone resting or dogging it. Just good, hard work. Not too much modification either. Tuna was, however, complaining that there wasn’t enough running. He’s looking for a BRR team for 2018. I hope all you men feel better for posting this morning.

Thanks to Heartbreaker and Strawberry for the chance to lead. If you haven’t ever Q’d at Rebel Yell, let them know and get on the schedule.

Annoucnments:

Gut Check after Rebel Yell on Thursdays. Strawberry and FMB are coming up with some great topics to discuss.

COTS once a month on a Sunday. See Strawberry if interested.

Some other guys said some stuff that I can’t remember. Gotta run to a meeting – sound off in comments with other important stuff. Talking about how much FC’s arse smells does not fall under the category of “important stuff.”

Goonie out.

“Unsavory” was an appropriate description

Intensity: the quality of being intense

High intensity: a heightened level of being intense

Well, shit.  Google dictionary was no help on this one.  Rock Zero is supposed to be a “high intensity” workout.  What the hell does that mean?  Flipper just told me to make everyone hurt and if they hated me afterwards, I did my job.  Done.

The Thang:

Mosey out of Calvary across Rea to the library parking lot.  Avoid the j@ck@$$ going about 60 mph down Rea at 7:00 in the morning.  Circle up for a quick COP of stuff I don’t remember.  What YHC DOES remember is Gummy being so weak he had to modify the SSH.

Mosey out the lot up to Rea and 51, hang a right on 51 and another right on Cary Ridge.  Left on Coburn to the junction of Coburn and Cabell View Ct.  Instead of a Triple Nickel on this half-pipe, we’re just going to do three rounds for time’s sake (best decision ever).  Run down Coburn and back up until you hit Browne’s Pond.  10 HR merkins at the top by Cabell View, 10 merkins at the top at Brownes Pond, and every time you hit the bottom, do an ascending burpee count (1 the first time, 2 the second, so on).  This was, as Flipper described it, “unsavory.”

Once done, head back to to the library the same route we came, with several stops for the Q to catch his breath for Mary (you know, gotta work the core).

Head back into the library parking lot for the requisite partner work. Start with 10 partner derkins each. Wheelbarrow to the next street lamp. 30 prairie-fire Mary (10 left, 10 middle, 10 right), flapjack on the wheelbarrow back.

Finish off with a little Paula Abdul: bear crawl two parking space, do a merkin. Back up one space, repeat. Do that until the end of the lot. Again – “unsavory.”

Mosey back to launch. At this point, we had done so many Mary exercises that I was just making stuff up. We did about 2 or 3 more, threw in a bit of Protractor to waste time, and we were done about 30 seconds early. YHC was spent.

Moleskine:

Coburn hills after Woodfox repeats on Friday at Mountain Goat was a terrible, terrible call. YHC’s legs were dead after this one. A lot of strong performances out there. Checkpoint is just a flat-out beast. He was way out in front on the half-pipe (REALLY far in front of Flipper). T-Claps to Flipper for running a 5k prior to this workout, despite YHC’s warning not to. Marge, despite his questionable form on merkins Squats Everything, was near the front and looking strong. Maybe Hydra is a real workout after all? Great job by Pro, as well, who got the double dose of Goonie and hills on Friday and Saturday. YHC knows how he feels.

Everyone was pushing hard. Lots of groans during the Paula Abdul, as well.

Thanks to Flipper for the opportunity to Q. Had never Qed a workout at Calvary before, and I felt like I only scratched the surface of all there is to do. Great AO (no way in hell we were going anywhere near North Face).

Announcements:

DV and Anvil converging on Wednesday. Hops speaking after on his “Make Boot Camps Great Again” tour (someone is a little salty at boot camps that actually have running and movement).

A Lovely Stroll Through the Neighborhood

13 goats showed up at the weekly “moderate” running workout.  Some saw the Twitter warning of “BRR Training.”  Some didn’t. Some came because they traveled all week and needed some miles.  Others knew the plan ahead of time and fartsacked (cough, Retread, cough).

Either way, everyone got their money’s worth.  Some took YHC off their Christmas Card list after this one.  Here’s why:

The Thang:

Warm up down Woodfox, left on Rounding Run to Raintree.  Left on Raintree, Left on 51 back to launch.  Dynamic stretching in the parking lot (trying to stay out of the road), and then on to the main event.

Mosey down Woodfox to the bottom.  Woodfox repeats.  When the leaders hit the stop sign at Strawberry, turn around and collect the six for a recovery back down.  We got 5 rounds in.  Head back to launch for some stretching.

Skinny:

Those pax training for the BRR got some good training in.  Those that aren’t just plain hated YHC after this one.  It wasn’t moderate.  Plain and simple – Woodfox is a bear.  It’s about .3 miles of uphill suck.  Check the Strava records – it puts the Murderhorn to shame.  The only other hill that I’ll put against it (limited knowledge, admittedly) is Ben Nevis over at Ballantyne.

Everyone pushed hard today.  Early Bird took off strong out of the gate.  Pro was consistently in first or second.  Slice and YHC were also up there.  Thurston sandbagged the first three rounds because he was pushing Pro and EB on the last two.  Great work!

For those running BRR – hope this helped.  I’ve heard we can’t really replicate those hills, but hopefully you all got a little stronger.  For those not running BRR – what are you waiting for?

 

Stray Pit Bull = Audible

YHC’s 2-year anniversary Q began in a much more anxiety-filled way than was hoped. To celebrate, the goal was to get in a good 2-3 mile pre-run (something YHC couldn’t fathom doing during the first year of F3, let alone before F3) and then kick some serious @$$ during the workout. YHC made a quick loop down Woodfox, left on Rounding Run, left on Raintree, left on 51, and back to Strawberry at about 1.8 miles. The goal was 2-3, so YHC decided to yog down Strawberry and back to launch. On the way back up, YHC spotted a dog ahead in the street. As I got closer, I realized it wasn’t just a stray dog. It was a stray pit bull. Now, some of you may say “they’re actually very calm, nice animals if they don’t feel threatened.” You may be right. However, they’ve also been known to kill people, and I’m not a dog person. Therefore, this whole experience scared the $h!t out of me. Thankfully, YHC went to the far side of the road, and Fido never made a move toward me. However, the Weinke called for some work on Rosecliff and possibly Fairway Downs Ct. That wasn’t happening, not going to put Pax in danger. So, as 12 collected to start their week at Base Camp, on to plan B, or C, or D….. Whatever one it was, it was made up on the fly, not-so-moderate, and painful. It went like this:

The Thang:

Semi-adequate disclaimer given. Pax enjoyed that everything was going to be merely a suggestion. Mosey over to a lot on the other side of SCMS for COP: SSH x 15 IC, IW x 15 IC, 5 burpees OYO (just for MAD), LSS x 15 IC, merkins x 10 IC. Enough of that – to the hills!

Mosey down Woodfox. Left on RR to Rising Meadow. Run up Rising Meadow, 10 merkins at the top. Run back down, 10 LBCs at the bottom. Repeato twice for 3 times total. No triple nickel because more pain is coming. Mary while we wait for the 6 and catch out breath.

Continue down Rounding Run to the half-pipe as you approach Raintree. Nightmares of Udder having us run 3-man grinders on this half-pipe for 30 minutes still haunts the Pax. As you’re running, 10 LBCs at the bottom of the pipe, 10 merkins at the tops (YHC wasn’t very creative on the different exercises this morning). Run to the other side and back twice. Many cars were dodged in the process. None of them were nearly as frightening as a stray pit bull.

Collect the six and head back to the intersection of Rounding Run and Woodfox. Some Mary while we rest the legs a bit for the next challenge: an AYG run up Woodfox to Strawberry. This was pretty terrible. A quarter-mile of uphill suck. Collect on the sidewalk on Strawberry for some Mary while the 6 comes in.

Mosey to the rockpile by the stairs next to Semi-Gloss’ office. 2 sets of 15 bicep curls, 15 overhead press, and 15 tricep extensions. Return rocks and end with 3.5 minutes of Mary and planking. Done.

Moleskine:

This is what the Pax gets for putting someone on Q that’s training for the BRR (oh wait, YHC put himself on Q). The Rising Meadow and Rounding Run hills are not fun. Top that all off with an AYG up Woodfox and it makes for a pretty painful workout. The humidity didn’t help – it was soupy out there. Pax got about 2.4 tough miles in.

Base Camp is supposed to be a moderate workout, but this might have fallen outside the “moderate guidelines.” The Pax were killing it, though. Not too much mumblechatter, just hard work. MAD exclaimed at the beginning that he was done with rucking for a bit but wanted to do some burpees. YHC obliged, much to Wolfman’s chagrin. Speaking of Wolfman, he was sporting a brand new aerodynamic look this morning. It worked, too. He was looking faster out there on those hills. Fireman Ed, Simba, Jet Fuel, and YHC led the pax up Rising Meadow. Simba and YHC repeated that effort on Rounding Run. Snoopy was looking STRONG on Rounding Run. For his efforts, he earned a spot in the Base Camp Q rotation. Scrum is only 3 weeks in, yet tackled this workout without complaint. Strong work, brother. Keep it up.

Huge T-Claps to all who donated to Speed for Need this morning. YHC collected $70, which means I owe the Pax 70 burpees during Jello’s Q next week. I told Thunder Road that if he got a donation to me BEFORE the workout started next week, I would count it. That goes for the rest of you, as well.

Finally, a sincere and humble thank you to all of you men of F3. These last two years have been life-changing for me, and every single one of you are a part of it. Please know what a profound influence and positive effect it has had on me, and go find the next guy. Pay it forward.

Base Camp Pre-Blast: Burpees for those who can’t

On Monday, June 19th, YHC will be Qing Base Camp in celebration (who celebrates with a painful workout?) of 2 years of F3.

We hear the stories all the time of how F3 has helped people. For some, it’s as simple as posting one or two times a week and losing a little bit of weight. For others, it has saved lives (see Winston-Salem news story a few months ago on F3). For YHC, there is not one aspect of my life that is not better because of F3 and all of you. When I first posted at Base Camp on 6/22/2015, I was not in a great place. After being fairly active for the first 30+ years of life, I found myself very, very inactive. I was overweight, always run-down, and didn’t have the energy to play with my 1.5-year-old 2.0. Hell, I struggled just walking up the stairs. On top of all that, I was lonely. Yes, I had my M and 2.0, and I love them more than anything in the world. I could not have asked for a better family. However, I was really missing that male bond that we all need. Then I found F3.

Well, now I just want to do a little bit to pay forward all F3 has given me. To help out with Speed-for-Need, YHC will do one burpee for every dollar that’s collected at Base Camp this Monday, 6/19. Burpees will be done at Base Camp on Monday, June 26th (and possibly 7/3 or 7/10 if enough comes in that I can’t do them all in one setting). So, come celebrate and cause some pain with some donations.

SYITG

Steeper Than It Looks

25 Pax (YHC thinks he skipped one, so sound off if I missed you!) posted to Rebel Yell under ideal conditions. A little crisp, not too humid, a perfect morning for a @$$ kicking. Fredo has become quite the glutton for punishment, having experienced YHC’s brick paver parking deck workout. The non-runners in the pax need to get off MySpace and invest in a Twitter account. YHC promised some miles, and some (painful) miles we got. YHC doesn’t think this is the way that most people start their birthdays, and that’s why we love Market Timer (happy birthday, brother). Disclaimer given. Here’s how each one of the pax in attendance got better:

Mosey to Speed Bump Alley behind HT/Target for a warm up. Do 2 burpees at each of the 6 speed bumps and collect in the lot south of Target and do Imperial Walkers until the 6 arrives. Mosey through the Starbucks parking lot to the lot behind Chick Fil-A. SSH IC, LSS IC, Merkins IC, LBCs IC.

Mosey to the corner of Rea and Ballantyne Commons for the main event:

Triple Nickel. Start at Rea/BC – run to BC/Elm, do 5 burpees. Run back to Rea/BC and do 5 HR merkins. Repeato 4 more times.

Mosey back to launch lot, stopping a few times to collect the 6. First time we did Dolly, Rosalita, and Flutter. 2nd time we did Freddy Mercury, merkins, LBCs, and Protractor. Done. About 3.4 miles covered for the leaders.

Mole-skinny

Strong group out there today. More running than usual for Rebel Yell, and the non-runners in the group really pushed through and gave their all. On the north side of BC, Beaker and Morning After were leading the group, with Heartbreaker, Fredo, Market Timer, and YHC right behind. On the other side, Doc was killing it, as usual. Strong group behind him with Bucky, Tagalong, Shrink Wrap, and Crab Cake.

Heartbreaker likened this to a Murderhorn Triple Nickel. A number of pax commented that they didn’t realize there was as much of an incline here as there is. YHC hand’t noticed it either, until recently, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the next RY Q to use it. It takes a special sort of suck to make burpees feel like a break. If YHC wasn’t sucking so much wind, I’m sure I would have noticed a number of dirty glares. Ignorance is bliss in this case. This sucked.

Happy birthday to Market Timer. Please keep his family in your prayers as his father begins chemo today for esophageal cancer. Thanks for the take-out today, MT

Fire Marshall Bill and Strawberry are launching a 3rd F each Thursday after RY. More of a discussion group than a Bible or book study. Try it out if you can make it one morning.

Bucky is Qing da Vinci. He was begging pax to come hang out with him. Sounds like he needs a friend.

Until next time: Goonie out.