15 men received Toolbag’s message promising hurt at The Maul and decided to show anyway.
Thang
Moleskin
Running on fumes this morning in the mental department so we went with bread & butter (aka boring simple, but hard). Even the stats were bread & butter – some hills, about 2.5 miles, and a decent amount of upper and lower body work with some burpees (really no workout should be without burpees). Playground set took a little longer than expected and we had to ditch a little competition that was planned. Back in the bag for another time.
Toolbag received some flak this morning for his promise that YHC would hurt everyone today at The Maul. I heard, among other things, comparisons to a restaurant promising salmonella to its customers if they come for dinner. But, as men of F3 we know that the promise of hurt is more like a restaurant advertising the spiciest dish you’ve ever tasted. Regular men would be turned away. But not us. And, sure it may burn your esophagus and probably won’t taste too good — but you are damn sure going to be walking out of that restaurant with more hair on your chest. More importantly, you will walk out armed with the knowledge that if you could handle that hell-fire of a dish, you can handle just about anything else any other restaurant (or your M, or your mother-in-law) tries to throw your way.
All that to say, Toolbag is a subliminal marketing genius and 15 men showed up to get hurt and walk away stronger. Hopefully YHC delivered at least somewhat on that promise. Will be Qing at Bagpipe on Tuesday and Rebel Yell on Thursday. My goal will be to make it spicy and hurt you just enough, no matter your athletic abilities. I hope you’ll join me.
Strong crew of veteran and new, young and old, SOB/IL and A51 PAX all left it out there today as we chased Purell around and tried to catch him. Appreciate you guys and the opportunity to lead.
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17 PAX agreed they were sick of the rain and hit the deck at #F3Cerberus. FAMRAP was considered, and then abandoned when @BobbySamuelson wasn’t present.
Thang
Moleskin
Hops originally had the Q but asked YHC a few weeks back if I could swap my Q the following week with him. A last minute cancelled trip turned my “no” into a “yes” and YHC was Q to the surprise of any who do not follow Twitter (mostly just Bratwurst).
After a soggy day at Devil’s Turn the day before (and rain just about every day prior), the decision was quickly made to head straight to the deck, to the disappointment of none. Well, except for maybe the Camp Gladiator folks who were hoping to have the deck to themselves. Luckily, they never left the bottom straightaway they made camp in so we had all the good stuff to ourselves. Who goes to a parking deck and doesn’t touch a ramp or a set of stairs? I’ll tell you who. But, I digress.
Came today intending to deliver a good ol’ Friday ass-kicking and hope that I did so. Bit of a Q-fail with the directions of what to do on the final set after finishing the stairs led to a lot of people running around in different places on the deck. Good reminder to self that clarity tops complexity every time.
Great mix of PAX, as always, at Cerberus with the usuals out front, the six getting stronger, and four of the toughest respects I know showing some true grit.
Listening to talk radio on the way home (after a great Week 1 of QSource at Panera following Cerberus), there was a gentleman talking about the futility of blessings left unspoken. So many of us have people in our lives (wives, children, siblings, F3 brothers, and so on) who we don’t tell enough, if at all, how much they mean to us and our lives. We assume that they know, and they might suspect, but why not speak it and tell them?
It hit home with me in that 15 minute drive that I couldn’t remember the last time I told my daughter that I am proud of her and how happy she makes me without some kind of impetus (e.g. after a great soccer game, good grades at school, helping her sister, etc.) I told her that afternoon, out of the blue, that I look forward to seeing her every day and that I know she is going to do incredible things with her life. The light in her eyes when I finished those few words is something I hope I never forget. Certainly not advocating for telling people things you don’t mean. But, leaving those things you do feel unsaid because you’re too busy (me), not entirely comfortable saying them (me), or some other excuse (me) seems crazy in retrospect.
As tends to happen with all moments of clarity, I’ll probably forget all this next week and need to be reminded of it again somewhere down the road (hopefully not too late). Nonetheless, I thought it worth writing down in case it inspires anyone else to have even one moment like I did with my daughter.
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10 PAX showed up on yet another rainy morning to run laps around, not on, the track. 5 stayed after for SCLT’s first edition of QSource.
Thang
Moleskin
Seeing as I’m not even sure that Devil’s Turn BBs want to become a thing, and that it’s 2 days later, this will be short and sweet. The rain was quite annoying, mostly because it was day 12 or so in a row of it. But, strong group of 10 PAX cranked out both hilly laps and no one got lost. Better yet, every PAX had either a headlight, a blinkie, or something reflective on (or some combination of multiple). Happy Turkey Leg was able to find us after a slightly late start and appreciate Gumbo and Enron giving me the chance to lead DT and both showing up to run with us as well.
Pretty sure none of us was running fast enough to make Rosie even sweat, but we tried (where’s Purell when you need him). He’s off to App State in a few days and will be missed in the gloom.
Solid start to QSource (and solid breakfast) over at Eggs Up Grill after DT. Hope the numbers will grow over the next few weeks as the content and discussion will just get better and better.
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11 men showed up on time, many under-dressed, and a 12th came a little bit late (but barely) to a poorly Christmas themed, and music-free Anvil edition of the Hateful Eight.
Thang
Moleskin
Going to start on a somewhat serious note. Most of us have heard about the recent tragic loss of Digits (Dianne Wells) in FiA Lexington who was hit by a car during a workout on Tuesday morning. Aside from prayers for her family and thoughts of how we can better keep each other safe, I’ve been stuck thinking about how the worst really can happen at any time. We all know this, but most of the time we don’t really believe it. Even when we’ve been surrounded lately by brothers and sisters who are gone too soon, have lost loved ones unexpectedly, or have had brushes with diseases or conditions or incidents where the worst could have happened. When I stop and really, really think about being gone tomorrow it’s overwhelming as the list of things undone in my life is quite long — as I’m sure it is for all of us. As we go into the holidays (and hopefully some free time away from the daily grind/distractions), my ask of you, and of myself, is to pick just one thing off that list and get it done. Maybe it’s an unresolved conflict with your wife. Perhaps a long overdue phone call to a family member or a friend. It could be a board game you have been promising your daughter you would play with her “later.” Or that life insurance you have been meaning to research. I don’t care what it is, big or small, pick one and get it done. Then, maybe pick another. Ok, serious note complete.
Site Q extraordinaire Lorax tweeted the night before that YHC would be bringing Christmas cookies for all who attended my Q at Anvil. While this may have been a false campaign promise pulled out of thin air at the time, YHC did indeed Bring the Cookies. Lorax, unfortunately, was not there to partake but Big League Chew ate extra portions on his behalf. The (delicious) spritz cookies also sent Mermaid on a nostalgic trip down memory lane to Grandma’s house. Quite a pleasant way to end a quite unpleasant morning.
The Christmas cookie tweet can also be blamed for the poor attempt at Christmas theming the Hateful Eight. Did a search in the F3 exicon for Christmas and found the Elf on the Shelf — perfect fit for rocks. Came up with terrible name for the Curl & Press. Creativity and ingenuity ended there. This is why you never want me naming an FNG. Nonetheless, the Hateful Eight was as fun as the name implies. This is a favorite workout of the General_ himself (perhaps invented by him?), but he does it tabata style with music and such. See the above and know that my lack of skill applies to playlists as well so I decided to add an 8x rep theme in lieu of ciabatta.
Utah showed up in shorts and a t-shirt — misread the temp reading of 34 as a 43 — and definitely had the shivers before we got moving. BLC was also in a t-shirt and complained about how hot he was. He is also the only one of us who managed to break his rock in half. #respect. Speaking of #respect, Snuka never fails to impress. Pretty sure that guy is getting younger even as he gets older.
Hops was spotted doing almost SSHs and actually participated in the Seal Jacks. He was quick to name them the 2nd most useless exercise in F3 until we did the Moroccan Nightclub. Purple Haze kindly remembered that Anvil was where F3 had all begun for me. He should know because he was next to me most of the workout telling me to ignore that McGee guy who was trying to drop me. #someThingsNeverChange
Hammer, Sledge and Cocoa all showed up without gloves. I didn’t think to recommend them ahead of time because, well, 34 degrees. Forgot it was Anvil. The fact that 7 of the 12 of us were weak enough to wear coverings on our arms and hands probably broke some kind of unwritten rule. Still, those cold rocks certainly didn’t do bare hands any favors. Sledge ran fast enough (whooping us all every time) to keep the mitts warm. Hammer, on the other hand, just took Sledge and left early when his fingers started turning black.
Appreciate my fellow Free Rangers Frasier and Fletch making their way over. Fletch, as a Site FNG (I think), was particularly impressed with the lip at the top of Northface. On a side note, I have Qed at Anvil many times and this was the first time in almost 3 years that it didn’t rain on or around my Q and we could actually run up Northface. Good times.
Merry Christmas, brothers.
8 PAX at The Brave did a quick U-turn and started with a nice Brave Mile(ish) sprint to start their Friday.
Thang
Moleskin
Madame Tussauds donned his new temporary name (Pink Unicorn) and new attire (pink, rainbow unicorn design shirt bearing the words “I Suck at Fantasy Football”). As a reward for his stunningly terrible 3-12 performance in FF this year, he will wear this shirt at his next 4 posts, including his Q on Thursday at The Arsenal. His counting during COP in whatever voice that is he uses during COP was made all the better with the addition of this shirt. Definitely worth posting with MT PU before he burns the thing.
Uncle Rico let us know that he will be moving back to Knoxville, TN over the next few weeks. Sad for us to see him go, but exciting times for him and his family ahead. More importantly, Brown Bag isn’t going anywhere. Seriously though, the way Uncle Rico has built Brown Bag up to where it is in CLT in under a year, along with the way he has immersed himself in F3 as well as the community, is nothing short of impressive and he will definitely be missed. F3 Knoxville doesn’t know how lucky it is.
Paper Jam did some very runner-like, borderline erotic, stretching both before we launched as well as while refusing to participate in COP with us. His running transformation is most definitely almost complete. He may, or may not, have uttered the words #FakeBrave at some point but that was just a moment of temporary insanity I am sure.
Woodson brought the beacon of hope hat to The Brave. Not sure if he washed it after Swift and I did my best stay as far in front of him as possible to avoid finding out. This was harder than it sounds, especially on the return Brave mile. Not sure how a guy who ran 2,500 miles this year can still do that many push-ups that quickly, but Woodson is fast and strong. Pretty sure that’s a recipe for trying an OCR race someday buddy.
Speaking of OCR, great seeing Buckeye back in the gloom after rehabbing the knees for some time. Pretty sure the knees, as well as Buckeye (and MT Pink Unicorn) didn’t appreciate the stair sprint at the end of the workout, but Buckeye crushed it anyway. Word has it his home re-construction is almost complete after the tree that took it out a couple months ago and he may finally get to move out of the hotel. Let us know what we can do to help when the time comes.
Wild Turkey grumbled a little at the initial call for The Brave Mile. Understandable. Bodies are cold, the mile is mostly uphill, and it’s a pretty damn cruel way to start a workout. Exactly why we did it and will probably continue to do so. Thanks to Tolkien and his evil mind for conceiving the darn thing. Turkey’s grumble was followed by an all-out effort up the long hill, so I assume he was just either psyching himself up or trying to psych us out. On another note, this was my 3rd Q this week and I am absolutely exhausted. Gives me an even greater appreciation for Wild Turkey as 2-3 Qs in a week is fairly standard for that guy.
One Niner was the only Brave Site Q present this morning with Tuck and Mario off on an island somewhere running some flat race. One Niner definitely seems to back post-injury as he is consistently in the Top 3 guys now at most boot camps. Also gets an A+ on the Site Q card for some solid pre-workout Tweet advertising as well as for coining the name #Broatmeal — now the official name of 2F at Panera following The Brave (0630 at Panera in Btyne). He also saved my ass by letting me use Find my iPhone on his phone to locate mine in the middle of Ballantyne Corporate Place, where it fell off when I drove away with it on the hood of my car.
Just another day at The Brave. Hope you all have a great weekend.
19 came to Swift this week. Some ran intervals, some tapered for Kiawah, some did a mix, none were fakers. Here’s what we did.
Thang
We followed the pre-blast almost to a T
0500 – optional warmup
0515 – leave from the Vine, follow warmup route down parking lot, across Btyne Corp Place and around loop to Rushmore and Harney
0525 – dynamic warmup/stretching on Rushmore
0532 – begin intervals (below) on loop pictured below. at end of every work interval recover to the 6, then continue around the loop for recovery and next work interval
0609 – intervals done, return to the Vine using whatever route you like
Intervals (all at t-pace)
6 x 1 min, 1 min recovery (12 minutes)
3 x 2 min, 1 min recovery (9 minutes) – 2 minute recover after the last one
2 x 3 min, 2 min recovery (10 minutes)
1 x 6 min, recover home we are done (6+ minutes) (ouch)
Moleskin
Two groups today. One group pushing through the intervals. The other, smaller group was tapering for Kiawah and ran the loop with us doing various amounts of intervals and/or strides. Made for great encouragement and 2F as we kept the six in tow with our recoveries and all stayed pretty close together. Well, everyone except Mario who was doing his own thing running around in different circles than our big loop (nothing new here).
The intervals ascending in time while staying the same pace proved to be brutal. While you were getting used to pushing for one amount of time, you got to ponder how much the next, longer intervals were going to hurt. The only drawback was that by starting with the shortest interval we all went out faster than t-pace and had to suck it up and try to hang the rest of the morning. Woodson was especially guilty as the leader of the first three 1-minute intervals — his bright orange hat a self-described beacon of hope for us to follow.
Come to Swift. It’s awesome. Fast or slow. Runner or not. We will take you in and make you a better/faster/stronger runner and will not leave you behind.
Good luck to everyone running Kiawah this weekend!!
Two men ran different pre-runs and then met at the lot to wait for One Niner, Fire Hazard, General_, Madame Tussauds, Ringer… no one else to show up.
Thang
Moleskin
Expected attendance to be light today with many of the SOBs, especially the IL PAX, otherwise engaged traveling, tapering for Kiawah, eating for Kiawah (FH), and so on. Cobbler is a bad ass for not only showing up for a pre-run, but showing up at all with a shoulder that is stamped and ready for rotator cuff surgery. We modified where possible today and looked for exercises that didn’t send the shoulder into too many fits. Too bad Foxhole is dead and Genesis dies on Monday as Cobbler found KBs to be the only thing that didn’t hurt too bad.
F3 works even with just 2 PAX. That workout was decidedly less unpleasant than it would have been alone in the cold darkness. Too bad it wasn’t as warm down South there as I expected it to be. Good times and great conversation this morning in Indian Land. Thanks for the invite to lead. Madame Tussauds on Q next week.
14 men conquered today’s edition of the The Floater. Here’s how they did it.
Thang
Moleskin
As always, I appreciate the invite to come down and lead this morning. Thanks for the solid turnout on a chilly morning. We managed to warm up pretty quickly, almost too much. It was a good thing when Transporter’s hood came down, not so good when Tupperware’s shirt came off. Luckily it stopped there. Any more burpees and he might have been down to his skivvies. #PG13
Heading to Bojangles felt like a long field trip while we were doing it, but we ended up with just over 2.3 miles which isn’t too bad after all. Probably warranted another trip or two up the hill. Saw the burpee train rolling by as I pulled into the lot this morning and was sad to have missed it. The merkin snake became the burpee snake and problem was solved.
A lot of strong work thrown down by the Western UC PAX today and very little (if any) complaining even though some of those calls definitely warranted it. I was asked to make the workout tough this morning and hope it lived up to expectations. The hard work at The Floater continues the next 3 weeks with Transporter, General_, and Bottlecap mounting the throne the next 3 weeks. Better stock up on your witch hazel. (I know I’m a grown man, but it never gets old).
Great seeing a bunch of familiar faces this morning as well as plenty of new faces as WUC continues to grow. Had a great time with you guys and look forward to seeing many of you at the Christmas party tomorrow.
15 PAX set off in the frigid temps and waved to Fast Twitch on the track before heading to anywhere but the track.
Thang
Moleskin
First off, want to say thanks to Hops for taking my Q a couple of weeks ago when I was IR and for getting me back on the Hawk’s Nest calendar. Too many unfamiliar faces this morning tells me I either need to spend a little more time in A51 or you guys need to spend a little more time in SOBland (probably both). I even managed to call Semi-Gloss Spackler at one point. I’d love to say it was just to piss your off, but I’m just bad with names. If it makes you feel any better, the hat Frasier was wearing at Timekeeper afterwards was far uglier than the banana hat you had on your head.
Saw the real-feel of 26 degrees this morning and decided we had to warmup quick and stay that way. Burpees and jump squats every time we traveled did the trick — and were a lot of fun as well, just ask the guys. Burpees on the final triple-nickel were admittedly unoriginal at that point, but we were off-weinke at the time and that’s what came out. At least we weren’t running ovals (except those 2 ovals in the parking lot).
All-in-all we got right around 2 miles with a good bit of full-body work in between. Great campus with tons of options and a strong crew at the Hawk’s Nest. Would love to see a Bagpipe / HN throw down at some point. If/when that happens, just don’t mention the word Panera unless you really want to get their blood boiling.
Appreciate all of you coming out today.
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Thang
Moleskin
Still all kinds of humid today but, unlike last week, we spent more than half of our time outside the deck and in the fresh air which helped a lot. The burpees and the stairs did not, but it’s The Brave so that’s how it goes. Solid crew of 7 kicked some ass today. Two made it 4 full rounds, one a good amount faster than the other (you can guess who that was — hint, he was bald). The rest made it almost 4 rounds and most guys got right around 5 miles or more.
Vanishing AMRAP was courtesy of Rachel who did a different version of it a year or so at The Brave and it sucked so much it stuck with me until I could pull it out today. You’d think it would get easier dropping exercises, but it never feels that way. Feels like you just barely escaped death, but that’s about as good as it got.
Speaking of One Niner, thanks for stepping up as YHC’s replacement Site Q of The Brave. It’s been fun, but I can only take so much of Mario and Tuck so it’s time for someone else to step in. Seriously though, One Niner is a regular and should bring some great new energy and ideas to The Brave. Welcome!!
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