In ancient times the Centurion was chosen for his expertness in all exercises and readiness to act when given orders, rather than talk. Men of skill and action. 14 pax fit that bill today at Charlotte Catholic HS for the weekly Centurion installment. YHC simply does not learn from previous errors in judgment when the famed buffalo chicken wing is involved. Char Bar 7 offers these tasty fowl pieces fried in fat and served as hot as possible at the low price of 60 cents each on Thursday nights. 12 of the hottest wings YHC has ever conquered made their way down the pie hole. Once again, the Q with twisted bowels, we launched to explore this vast AO.
Thang
Brisk mosey from launch lot to the top of the parking deck. Full moon in the sky.
COP
SSH x 15 IC
MC x 20 IC. Hold plank.
Alternating knee taps x 15 IC. Hold plank.
Merkin x 15 IC
Mosey down the stairs and around the building to the picnic table area.
Bench Set
Jump Up x 15/Dip x 15/Derkin x 15. Repeato x 2. Chair plank to gather the group.
Mosey across 51 through Jack in the Box lot and up the road to Palatine Hill. Over the back side and down the front. Stop 20 yards in front of the base of the hill. Plank-o-rama: Elbows/RLH/RAH/swap/High plank/6 inches/RLH/LLH/High plank/Merkin x 20 civilian cadence.
Triple Nickle
20 yard run to base of hill. Up hill. 5 Burpee. Run back to launch. 5 Jump Squat. 5 repititions.
Mary
Flutter x 15. Hold. Rosalita x 15. Hold. Heels to Heaven x 15. Hold. Protractor with 4 ten counts at various angles.
Mosey back toward plaza with a stop at Jack in the Box lot. Smurf Jack x 15 IC to wait for six.
Mosey across 51 through the campus back to the parking deck.
Partner Stack
Partner 1 runs to top of ramp and back approximately 200 meters. Partner 2 does merkins. 200 merkin cumulative total. Chair plank to wait for six.
Plank start sprints x 2. Start in plank. AYG to middle of ramp (approx 50 meters). Repeat to top of ramp.
Mary
QIC called out pax to call a mary exercise to 15 IC. Boutique, Rehab, Red Rocks, perhaps another. Chelms Q jacked to provide a lesson in calling and counting an exercise properly: Next exercise is the Bicycle. Starting position. Move. In cadence. Exercise. He actually did call the bicycle. Thanks Chelms.
Mosey out of deck and back to the launch lot. COT
Moleskin
YHC took 4 days off to recover from a bout with summertime sinus and chest crud. Feeling much better this morning and hopped up on Frank’s Red Hot and special ghost pepper flakes or whatever it was in the secret wing sauce. Bowels stayed in check. Humidity was through the roof today and YHC had trouble catching wind at times. We covered 2.6 miles total. Great to have Alf and Lambo join as site FNGs. Welcome men, great work today. Hope you both enjoyed the AO. Long commute from Matthews for Alf. Glad you made the trip and thanks for getting 125 of the 200 merkins during the stack. Speaking of Alf, he and several others were at the front today, including Bout Time, Scabby, Margo, and Chelms, who continues to false start. Rather, blatantly false start. He is known for it and it is expected. He crushed it today as usual. Rip Curl was hanging tough throughout. Boutique, Billy Jean, Red Rocks, Escargot, and, Rehab, and Pulp Fiction powered through. Solid work as usual men. YHC was spent after the last sprint in the deck. Was glad to see we were close to time. A pleasure to lead this fine group of men of action today at Centurion.
Announcements
Southern Discomfort tomorrow 08/01. 0600 launch at Charlotte Catholic HS. 6 and 10-mile options from CCHS. 14 mile option launches 0500 from the Vine in Ballantyne. Hydration provided at pain stops at A51 AOs.
10/24/2015 Ultimate Mud Run Challenge. Info regarding registration coming soon. Work on getting 4-man teams together. f3mermaid@yahoo.com if you have questions.
Nicaraguan Bridge Rebuild outreach project. Contact Escargot for more information. Room for more pax to travel there to help.
Step up and Q Centurion in the coming weeks. Contact Chelms or Escargot. YHC would be happy to help you come up with a good workout, run through it with you, split the Q, or whatever would be helpful. Remember, F3 is participant led. Aye
21 PAX left the comfort of the air conditioning at home to embrace the slight humidity at 90% today and Anvil. 1 FNG joined the party and was thoroughly disclaimed, along with the rest of the PAX. Off we went with the shovel flag waving.
Posted by Mermaid for Van Pelt
Thang
10 Burpee OYO
Mosey through a few of the lots of AO. Theme for the day was “Age Matters.” Glad to have a few more respect-level PAX join today.
COP
IW x 51 IC
Low Slow Squat x 19 IC (2.0 age)
SSH x 28 IC (age given by IH when asked)
Monkey Humpers x 15 IC (other 2.0 age)
Mosey over to the Avenue of Trees.
Mile of Pain
1/4 mile laps x 4 repetitions
First 3 laps with 5 pain stops: Merkin x 10/LBC x 10/Squat x 10/Burpee x 10/Heels to Heaven x 11 (51 total)
Final lap with no pain stops. Plank or Al Gore between reps.
Mosey to the pavilion (sweat box) and partner up.
Partner Stacks
Partners flapjack between run and called exercise to called total number. Run to light pole in near parking lot and back.
1: 68 Jump Up 2: 84 Dips 3: AMRAP Derkin (1 cycle)
Finish sweat box work with People’s Chair and 51 Air Press IC
Short mosey across thoroughfare to parking lot.
Parking Lot Sprints
WWII Sit Up x 10/Sprint 50 yards/10 Jump Squat/Sprint Back x 3 reps
Merkins for WWII Sit Up for rep 2.
Mary
Freddie Mercury x 20 IC
Rosalita x 20 IC
Russian Twist x 20 IC
James Brown (Get on Up!) x 5
AYG to launch lot.
COT
Moleskin
Humidity made it a bit steamy, especially in the sweat box
Boutique is fast out of the gate
Crabcake planks like no other
Great to have brothers from the Dash, Starfish and Butter, post in Area 51
1 FNG, Colby, F3 Tank. Big dude. Welcome
Thanks for showing up for the VQ. Glad to have a day job.
Thanks to Baywatch for taking us out.
Enjoyed being with the PAX. Quite an honor.
Pax kept rolling in right up to launch. YHC tweeted that there would be some running and sweating. 25 pax rolled out. Mic Check and Lorax found the pax in COP.
Thang
Mosey down Bally Corporate toward Brixham for a quick parking lot stop.
COP
SSH x 20 IC
Merkin x 15 IC
MC x 15 IC
Squat x 15 IC
Continue mosey down Bally Corporate. Right on Brixham. Stop and 2nd entrance.
Brixham Hill Triple Nickel
Run up Brixham hill to the bridge. 5 Burpee. Run back to launch. 5 Jump Squat. 5 Repetitions. Approx 1.7 miles total run.
Mosey up exercise path to Loch Ness.
Mary: LBC x 30 IC. Plank-o-rama
Bench Set/Run Combo with Option
Bench Set: 15 Jump Up or Step Up/15 Dip/15 Derkin. Either take a lap around Loch Ness or repeat bench set. Runners completed 2 reps.
Mosey around Loch Ness to parking lot in front of Corporate Building 1. SSH x 10 IC. Smurf Jack x 10 IC. Continue mosey to the Vine lot for COT.
Moleskin
YHC DR for a week and got back to town last night. Feeling that week off a bit. What better than to run a bunch in 90% humidity. The Brixham Hill Triple Nickel was thrown out there by Brushback when we co-lead the Brave not too long ago. Didn’t make his weinke, but YHC filed it in the “High Suck Factor” file upstairs. That was a long and challenging set. We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. Knight Rider, Margo, Pebbles, Lorax a few of the Larry Birds. Strong work by all pax. Option given at Loch Ness if pax preferred a break from the running. Covered 3.61 miles per YHC Garmin.
Announcements
8/1/2015 Southern Discomfort. See preblast at f3nation.com
8/8/2015 Gladiator Games in Fort Mill. Pebbles has more info
10/24/2015 Ultimate Mud Run Challenge. Get your teams of 4 together. YHC is A51 Q. Have not received word about F3 registration. Will get info out as received.
Timekeeper. 3rd F Book Study every Tuesday after Bagpipe/Swift at Einstein’s.
Bagpipe needs more Q’s. Contact Outback, Soft Pretzel, or Dear Abby
The men of Centurion converged at The Brave for a pre-July 4 workout. Solid crew of men arrived, ready to conquer this expansive AO. Brushback disclaimed our group of 27 that included 2 FNG’s brought by Scabby. Old Glory prominently waving nearby. Wheels up at Brushback’s command.
Thang
17 Merkin OYO
Shortish mosey through some parking lots to nearby corporate building courtyard. Bear crawl approximately 100 feet to concrete square lined with benches.
Bench Set
17 Incline Merkin/7 Jump Up/6 Hand-Release Burpee. 4 repetitions
Mosey to the corner of Brixham Hill and Ballantyne Corp Ave.
Hill Set
AYG from corner up the hill to the bridge. 17 HR Burpee. AYG down the hill to corner. 76 Flutter. Round 2: AYG to top. 17 CDD. Back down. 76 Flutter. Plank-o-rama. 0.38 mile each way.
Mermaid Q starts with mosey from corner of Brixham and Bally Corporate corner up Brixham. Cut through parking lot to Corporate 1 and 2 buildings next to Loch Ness. Pick up concrete loop path and cut through parking lot back to Bally Corporate. Cross over and mosey past the Vine up to the closest parking deck. Enter the parking deck at ground level.
Short rest belly start sprints x5. Started each rep with an exercise prior to belly start. Merkins/Jump Squats/Can’t recall the others. Sprint 5 to the stairway on the roof level. Run down stairs to basement level and AYG back up to the roof. Plank-o-rama.
Mary
Flutter x 25 IC/Hold/Heels to Heaven x 20/Hold/10 count
Mosey down 1/2 level.
Triple Nickel
Sprint up 1 incline deck. 5 Jump Squat. Back down. 5 Burpee. 5 repetitions.
Mosey back down to ground level and exit parking deck and back to Vine lot. 0615 arrival.
COT
Moleskin
Thoughts and prayers for the Chepul family. Chelms and Abacus lost their brother Bill Chepul after a long and hard fight with brain cancer. Glad to have Abacus out with us today. You and Chelms know that the men of A51 will support you with continued prayers and with anything else you may need.
Brushback brought his A-game as usual. YHC saw the plan prior and knew the Brixham hill set would be brutal. 1.5 miles with HR burpees, CDDs, and 76 flutters in about 15 minutes. Nicely done today as always. Pleasure to split the Q with you brother.
YHC’s F3 journey started at Centurion. Each post at The Brave feels like I am cheating on Centurion. Awesome to have the 2 workouts converge today. Strong crew of men who all worked hard.
Ages today ranged from mid-20’s to mid-50’s. Five Respects out today and they all crushed it. YHC enjoyed chasing Checkpoint up the parking deck ramps. BOG posting Wednesday and Friday. Great to have you back out with us. Easy to see you are getting stronger. Van Pelt, Frehley’s, Triple 7 all pushing hard. Respect, gentlemen.
T-claps to Scabby for bringing 2 FNG’s, Beekeeper and Spelling Bee. Welcome, men, strong work today. Keep on posting at workouts. Group stayed tightly bunched today, which was the objective. Great work all. Enjoyed getting passed in the deck by Mr. Bean who is crushing it as of late. A pleasure leading this group today with Brushback. 4.38 miles on the Garmin. Thanks to MT and Champagne for the opportunity. Thank you to Checkpoint for taking us out. Prayers and well wishes to Maverick and all other brave appointees at the US Naval Academy.
Announcements
July 4 Convergence at The Rock. 0700 launch.
10/24/2015: Ultimate Mud Run Challenge. Details to follow for sign up. Work on getting your 4-man teams together.
8/1 Southern Discomfort. Clear your morning schedule. See preblast from Hops.
YHC and Brushback will Q a convergence of Centurion and The Brave on Friday 07/03/2015. 0515 launch from The Vine restaurant at the Ballantyne AO.
The Brave is a run/boot camp workout that was introduced by Madame Tussauds as an Obstacle Course Race (OCR) training option to prepare F3 pax for the Ultimate Mud Run Challenge and other races of similar setup. The concept stuck and it has become a regular Friday workout. 4-6 miles and pain stations are typically involved.
The goal for 7/3 will be to keep the pax together, regardless of speed. Sets will be completed in defined areas. There will be separation of pax within the defined areas, which is typical for this style workout, but no pax will be left behind. Though a day early, Independence Day will likely be the theme of the day. YHC and Brushback will deliver a tough workout that will challenge all levels. Come and join us to get your July 4 weekend started right. Get your Mud Run teammates together and run with them if possible.
Shovel flag planted firmly by Prohibition. 11 men and YHC gathered and readied themselves for the weekly beating that is Day Zero. Excuse YHC, Radar came 15 minutes late.
Thang
Mosey around the track to the BB court.
COP
SSH x 15 IC/MC x 15 IC/Hold/Merkin x 10 IC/Imperial Squat Walker x 15 IC/Squat x 15 IC
Mosey to rock pile and grab an exercise rock. Civilian cadence: 15 curl/15 tri extentsions/15 press
Rockin Mile
1 lap with stop at halfway for 25 merkin. Rock set at launch point: 15 curl/15 tri extension/15 press
Repeat x 2 for 3 reps
Mosey to the back side of the school. Shaded lot.
Mary
Flutter x 20/Hold/Heels to Heaven x 20/Hold/Dolly x 20/Hold/2-10 counts
Mosey around the school for a stop at the cars for water. Continue mosey to front of school.
Bench Set
10 step-up/10 dips/10 derkins. Repeat until YHC calls time. 6-8 reps for the pax.
Mosey back around school to the track where we left our rocks.
Rockin Mile
3 laps. Stop at halfway point for 15 Jump Squats. 5 Rockees at launch spot. Repeat x 2
Put your rock back. Short mosey to BB court.
Mary
6 MOM: each pax called an exercise to 10 IC.
COT
Moleskin
YHC does not post much on Saturdays. Therefore the sun is not usually much of a factor at F3 workouts. Today it was and it was hot. No one argued about taking a short break for water around the halfway point. Radar showed up 15 minutes in and told YHC it was due to preparing a water jug for the pax. He even brought cups. I know the pax appreciated it. Mumblechatter revolved around Iron Horse’s shorts. Frasier did an extra lap on each of the mile sets. Chelms and Boomer Sooner were pushing hard on the mile sets. Not much time today for YHC so please sound off below if you feel the need. Really enjoyed getting back out to the Day Zero and appreciate the opportunity to lead the pax. Strong work by all today, as usual. Thank you to Smash for taking us out in prayer.
Announcements
Please read your weekly email. A lot going on in Area 51
YHC got a GPS watch yesterday and had to try it out with a run in and back from Centurion. Tried to clear the bowels prior to launch from the casa. Mission not accomplished. 12 pax arrived ready for the weekly downpainment provided by Centurion. YHC poked a bit by comments made via Twitter regarding Centurion and “moderate.” Hard to make sense of that given the unrelenting high intensity of a Centurion beatdown. Every time. Off we go.
THANG
Mosey up Walsh toward the plaza at 51 and Carmel. Stop for COP at office building below Panera.
COP
SSH x 10 IC
Merkin x 10 IC
Imperial Squat Walker x 10 IC
Werkin x 10 IC
Squat x 10 IC
Crucible Merkin x 10
Mosey through plaza lot and cut through the plaza to corner of 51 and Carmel. Cross over 51 and continue down Carmel to north side of plaza. Around plaza to Palatine lot.
Belly Start Sprints x 5 short rest. 80 yards.
Mosey over to base of Palatine Hill.
Palatine Repeats
Sprint up Palatine. 5 burpee. Back down. 5 Jump Squat. Continue repeats for 8 minutes. Pax got between 6 and 8 reps.
Mary
Flutter x 25 IC/Hold/Heels to Heaven x 25/Hold
Mosey back the way we came, across 51 and back to the Panera plaza. SSH x 15 IC to wait for six.
Stairway Repeats
Start with 5 diamond merkin. Run up stairs. and over 2nd floor hallway to stairs on other side of plaza. Stop at the tanning place for 5 merkin. Repeat for 8 minutes.
Mary
Flutter Crunch x 25 IC/Hold/Freddie Mercury x 25 IC
Mosey back down Walsh toward CCHS launch lot.
6-count burpees x 20 IC (Hops called cadence at YHC’s request)
COT
Moleskin
If you have done these workouts for a while you have experienced pre-TBQ or been forced to exit a workout to empty the bowels. Halfway to CCHS YHC realized this would be an issue for the day. Not much you can do at the halfway point on foot when you are the Q and 0530 is rapidly approaching. Rolled the dice with that and today was lucky. The pull of McD’s bathroom was strong, but intestinal fortitude won the day.
As usual, Chelms threw a dig at the Brave, which resulted in a bear poke regarding intensity. We covered 2.4 miles today, much of that at high intensity. 5 belly start sprints got the heart rate up. Palatine work kept it high. Stair work hurt after Palatine. Chelms, Hops, Brushback, Haze, Snowflake, Scabby pushing the pace today on repeats. Abacus, Rip Curl, Escargot, Pulp Fiction all pushing hard for 45. Great to see Tuck with the pax today. Getting back into F3 after some time off. Keep posting. Strong work today. Welcome to our FNG, E-time, who is an intern with Chelms and a Charlotte native (CCHS and NC State alum). You did great today. Asked Chelms if he rolled in a mention of the performance review with the EH. Keep on posting E-time.
Announcements
The Stand: new book study started today. Kingdom Man. Haze and Champagne on Q.
Ultimate Mud Run Challenge: 10/24/2015. Get your 4-man teams together. More info to follow. YHC is A51 Q
Southern Discomfort. 10+ miles with stops at 9 AO’s. 08/01/2015.
Several Area 51 AO’s have collected food for the Calvary Church Pantry Food Drive. Thank you men of Area 51 for your help with this effort.
Young Love and YHC will be at Starbucks Piper Glen coffeeteria to collect donations that YHC has not already secured. Please bring collected donations to Starbucks Saturday 06/13/2015.
We will gather the donations and run them over to Calvary by 8:45 to meet our contact for drop off. We should be able to manage with 2 SUV’s, but may ask a few pax for help. If you would like to join us for the drop off you are certainly welcome to do so.
Shovel flag planted by Young Love as YHC collected donations of canned meat from the pax for the Calvary Church Pantry Food Drive. Mumblechatter revolved around canned meat and the scarcity of canned roast beef, which was requested specifically by the pantry. Pax got schooled in canned beef options other than roast beef by Van Pelt. Donations much appreciated. YHC is partaking in 10KMerkin Challenge. Champagne and many other pax are not. Substitute exercises to be provided for all called merkins except for COP. Options allow pax to get between 30 and 334 merkin. 3 site FNG’s welcomed warmly and the group thoroughly disclaimed before we left the launch lot.
Mosey through the parking lots in the direction of Entrance 1.
COP
SSH x 15 IC
Merkin x 15 IC
Squat x 15 IC
MC x 15 IC
Mosey to lot adjacent to Entrance 1.
Merkin Beast with Sprints
Sprint to 1st island/6xcalled exercise/2nd island/6xcalled exercise/3rd island/6xcalled exercise/Return to 2nd island/6xcalled exercise/1st island/6xcalled exercise/launch point/6xcalled exercise (Total=36xcalled exercise with 6 stops). Rounds 1-5 followed by 200 yard sprint.
1. Merkin (sub=jump squat). 200 yard sprint.
2. Werkin (sub=CDD). 200 yard sprint
3. Crucible Merkin (sub=LBC). 200 yard sprint
4. Merkin (sub=jump squat). 200 yard sprint
5. Werkin (sub=CDD). 200 yard sprint
6. Burpee (sub=Spartan Burpee). Plank to wait for six. 10-count.
Mosey across campus to the base of North Face.
NF Sprint/Merkin/BBC/Merkin Repeats
Sprint up NF/20 Merkin (sub=20 Knee Taps)/Backwards Bear Crawl down/20 Merkin (sub=20 Knee Taps) Repeat.
Mosey up NF cousin hill to parking lot off Entrance 3.
Mary
6 inches hold
YHC took this time to mention F3 vision and mission to the pax. To invigorate male community leadership through planting, growing, and serving small workout groups. Pax asked to think about ways to improve our community through male leadership. YHC thanked pax for bringing donations for the Calvary Church Pantry Food Drive.
Flutter x 20 IC/hold
Dolly x 20 IC/hold
Heels to Heaven x 20 IC/hold/10 count/10 count
Mosey to the base of NF
Merkin count=306. 14 Merkin/Sprint up NF/14 merkin. Merkin count=334
Mosey to launch lot.
1 minute of burpees (Merkin count now higher)
COT
Moleskin
Welcome to site FNG’s Wild Turkey, Pita, and Sanctions. Great work today. Come back out and join us again at Anvil. Pita is one of Radar’s neighbors who YHC met on Saturday. Keep on posting and getting stronger.
Purple Haze called today’s Beast the “short” beast or some other descriptor suggesting an inferior version of previous Anvil Beast’s during the 1st rep. YHC then called the 200 yard sprint, which was completed between each rep from 1-5. Perhaps this made up the difference. Seemed pretty tough to YHC. Soul Glo, Margo, Cane, Brushback, Boutique demonstrating fast twitch on sprints and reps. Haze showing why shorter is better for burpees. All pax working hard to maintain cohesive unit. Pax ranged from 0 to 216 merkin on the Merkin Beast Sprint set.
YHC certain that pax are irritated by the symptoms of merkinitis that have swept through A51 workouts due to the 10KMerkinChallenge. Champagne messaged YHC to make sure Anvil pax would not do 45 minutes of merkins while circled up. This message prompted the substitute exercises. Icky Shuffle mumbled about staying right behind YHC during mosey to NF to “take him down” if more merkins were called after the 216 of the Beast. Karate Kid references ensued to include sweep the leg and questions arose regarding why Daniel was allowed to kick Johnny in the face but Johnny was penalized when he struck Danel-san with a right jab to the nose. Anyone? Well, more were called, but, yet again, pax had an option, and Icky didn’t take YHC down, thankfully. Not sure when Deep Dish snuck in, but glad to have you with us today. Also great to have Rehab back with pax as he has been tied up with his baby girl at home.
Big T-claps to the pax who donated food today, yesterday, and Monday. Thanks to Frasier for bringing over the Maul’s haul of grape jelly today after workout and to Young Love who is helping YHC by picking up Matrix donations and will help to collect at Saturday coffeeteria at Starbuck’s Piper Glen and, subsequently, deliver to Calvary. YHC’s garage is filling up fast. Testament to F3 men being men of action. Sincere thanks men.
Announcements
Calvary Church Pantry Food Drive continues through Saturday. Opportunities to donate: Meathead=canned meat; Rebel Yell=canned veggies (no corn/green beans); Centurion=canned ham; The Brave=100% fruit juice; The Rock=grape jelly (no glass); Ascent=granola bars/cereal bars; Day Zero=canned salmon; A51=canned veggies
10/24/2015 USMC Ultimate Mud Run Challenge. Gaston, SC (outside Columbia). Awesome race with more F3 pax than you will likely see anywhere else. Do it. Get a 4-man team together. Let me know if you have questions.
F3 Dads Camp. Still a few spots open. Check website for preblast.
Ghostrunner. Thursday night run option. 7:30 Arbo ABC. Followed by rehydration at Vinter’s. Alf on Q.
F3 Dad’s Saturday workouts. 0900 Col Francis Beatty Park. Dads and kids (boys and girls) welcome to have a great time.
Participating AO’s and food item:
Matrix: canned vegetables (NO CORN/GREEN BEANS)
Death Valley: 4-6 pack pudding snack pack (not refrigerated)
Maul: grape jelly (plastic container NO GLASS)
Rock: grape jelly (see above)
Bagpipe:100% juice (not fruit drinks)
Anvil: canned roast beef (5-13 oz cans)
Centurion: canned ham (5-13 oz cans)
Ascent: granola/cereal bars
A51: canned vegetables (see above)
Meathead: canned meat (roast beef, salmon, or ham/5-13 oz)–not surprised
Day Zero: canned salmon
Rebel Yell: canned vegetables (NO CORN/GREEN BEANS)
Please bring the above food items to your workout next week (6/8-6/13). YHC will take donations on the spot for Bagpipe, Anvil, and Centurion. Young Love will collect for Matrix. Maul will drop at Calvary after workout Wednesday (thanks Frasier). YHC and/or Young Love will be at Saturday coffeeteria at Starbucks at Piper Glen Saturday to take donations. If Saturday (6/13) does not work please let me know (f3mermaid@yahoo.com).
Thank you men of Area 51 and SOBs.