‘Your chances of getting struck by lightning go up if you stand under a tree, shake your fist at the sky, and say “Storms suck!” – Johnny Carson
When your workout buddy texts you at 4:38 am with “this might be too much gloom for me” and as the lightning cracked and the rain came in sideways there is a decision to make…Do we call the thing off and fartsack (Bananas) or do we make the most of what we are given? My response was “I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t have to…” and with that we met at the cul de sac as usual. I waited for Ice T outside his house and saw him back out of the driveway only to hear a sickening crunch of his Yukon smashing into his visiting relatives car. Could have been another good excuse to stay put but we trudged on making our usual predictions on numbers – “4 maybe 6, if the clown car comes I’m calling 8!” Both of us were way off as 15 tough mudders showed up for a worthwhile sweatfest at CDS.
THE THANG
Mosey to lower lot and dodge Hops and Lost Weekend going 60 mph.
SSH x 20
IW x 25
Merkins x 15
Peter Parkers or Parker Peters x 20
MC’s x 20
Right arm high
Left arm high
Six inches
Hills and partner up
Partner 1 – Burpees, Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 50 burpees.
Partner 1 – Split jumps, Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 100 jumps.
Partner 1 – Diamond push ups, Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 50 diamonds.
Partner 1 – Turkish get ups, Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 50 err 30 get ups (audible.)
Partner 1 – Manmaker push ups, Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 50 manmakers.
Partner 1 – J Lo’s , Partner 2 – sprint. Flapjack. Combine for 100 J Lo’s.
Mosey to Lower School
Pain Station 1 – incline push ups on bench with shoulder taps
Pain Station 2 – two footed jump ups
Pain Station 3 – 15 burpees
Repeato
Pain Station 1 – tri dips on bench
Pain Station 2 – one footed step ups
Pain Station 3 – 10 one legged burpees
Staggered all out sprint to flag pole in three groups – Clydesdales, Ponies, Mustangs. Lost Weekend with gold.
Mary’s
Clydesdales – 8 burpeees, Ponies – 10 burpees, Mustangs – 15 burpees.
MOLESKIN
Much confusion this morning as to whether “West Side” Centurion was a go and “East Side” Kevlar benefitted with the appearance of Hops and Lost Weekend nearly mowing down the pax as they sped in late for the workout. Surprising to see so many pax go against the advice of the M’s and launching out into the stormy conditions. Great to see Joker and 49er venture out today.
Combined partner exercise count on the hills is becoming a crowd favorite. Lots of encouragement as guys knocked out reps to give the partner work on the hills some respite. Pain stations were tough going with the 1 legged burpee making a rare appearance and Crab Cake struggling with the coordination of it all only to then pump out 10 for his group.
Staggered wind sprints to the flag pole saw a major sandbagger with Lost Weekend stating he was a Clydesdale only to show Mustang-like speed to leave us all for dead. Finish off with Mary’s at the school with Tiger Rag still harping on about form and technique despite him throwing out his back on Tuesday because a of a lack of both. Don’t Q what you can’t do right?
Burpee blast at the end was a good finish to a hard workout with all the lads showing guts and finishing strong. Thanks for coming out.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Saturday workouts as scheduled.
Keep lifting up Cottontails daughter Emily as she fights off breathing problems.
Workout gear collection for Charlotte Rescue Mission in next week. All donations get up with Mall Cop or Q.
One thing not mentioned was that starting May 10th Stone Cold and Bulldog will be a leading a 3rd F book study right after Kevlar/Centurion at Chic Fil A Arboretum based on the book “The True Measure of a Man” by R E Simmons from 6:30-7:15 am. Let us know if you are interested.
Have a great weekend!
The Thang:
We hit the woodsy hill this morning (about a mile loop with a big hill in the middle). But to celebrate the the 61 degrees at 5:30 this morning, at the top of the hill, we did 61 exercises. Some chose push-ups, some chose squats, and some may have even skipped a few reps on the last loop (you know who you are). No one, however, chose burpees.
Moleskin:
It was a warm day out there for hard work. I did not bring my towel for the car after the workout thinking I was not going to get dirty. I had not considered sweating into the equation. Looks like its time to reconsider that one.
Sprague and 49er were the early risers, working in 5 loops on the hill. They also set the pace out there and sped past the rest of us at one point.
Welcome to Ivan Johnson to Area 51. EH’d by High Tide earlier this week. Too many directions to go for a nickname had us all stumbling and scratching our heads. Looks like Ivan is going to have to commit to a second run before earning his handle.
There’s nothing like 35 brothers getting after it in the pre-dawn hours. The shovel flag was firmly planted, and then Cheese Curd and Stagecoach delivered the PAIN.
From CC: “Thanks for celebrating my b-day in the gloom. It was a pleasure to get the day started with you all!”
WARMUP:
COP:
Jog to base of stairs near baseball field for partner wheel barrel up the steps. Just 1 time thru for each partner. We have other cool stuff to get to.
Say goodbye to your partner and split into two groups: group 1 with Cheese Curd, group 2 with Stagecoach (start with sprints). No flapjacks half way thru this time…stay with your QIC for entire workout.
Obstacle Work:
Mosey to baseball fields
First Circuit x 2
Second Circuit x2
Third Circuit- Bleacher Obstacle
Plank in between circuits until all PAX is done.
Sprinting and Core:
Mosey to football/futball (as Bulldog would say) field and line up at one end
Stagecoach’s group:
Cheese Curd’s group:
Thankfully no more sprinting
Hill Work:
Mosey to the hill for 11’s:
1 Merkin at bottom of hill, then 10 Jump Squats at top of hill
2 Merkins at bottom, 9 Jump Squats at top
You get the idea.
Audible: Stagecoach saved his group from this misery about 75% of the way thru so we could stay on schedule.
Other audibles:
Entire group came back together for COT
Moleskin:
Announcements:
Shovel Flag was firmly planted and 27 strong men rolled out into the (finally) warm morning for some Skunk Works downpainment.
The Thang:
Warmup lap around track
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Merkin x 20
Mosey to Church- stack ’em, swithc as needed
Two handed swing x 20
KB plank row x 10 each arm
Snatch to overheadpress x 10 each
Run around Church- plank
Figure 8 with twist x 10 each side
Uneven merkins on kb x 10 each
KB Burpees x 10
Run around Church- plank
Goblet squat x 20
Good Morning x 15
Sumo deadlift x 10
Run around Church- plank
KB crunch with leg raise x 10
Seated Halo x 10
Around the world x 20
Quick feet x 60 sec.
Run around the Church- plank-a-rama
KB Burpees x 10
Mosey back to Parking lot- KB curls on the way
Two hand KB swing x 20
Louganis x 20
Mason Twist x 20
Done—-Whew!
Moleskin:
A warmer morning with the KBs and some running will definitely soak the shirts. Glad to have the nice weather and not have to layer up with long sleeves, hats, and gloves.
T-claps to Dolphin, the running machine, who trotted 10 miles to get there this am before the workout. Strong!
YHC was trying to work in a few new KB exercises to mix it up with some of the ol favorites. KB Burpees #crowdpleaser
Yankee- watch those toes- Around the World got away from him just a little. Crater in the parking lot.
Worked in the quick feet for the kickball boys- Header and Bulldog made it look easy. #riverdance
Strong wheels by the whole pax today running around the church. We never had to plank for very long.
KBs are a great workout, fellas. Just remember to keep good form, engage the core, don’t bend the back and all will be well. TR is watching you….and is there to help.
Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. — Colossians 3:23
19 men showed up this Monday morning for a little ‘there and back again’ helped along with a big fat dose of…
THE RED PILL
Sprint to far soccer pitch. Circle up for…
COP
Line up on goal line for partner field work. How it works:
– Partner 1 sprints to far goal line and back
– Partner 2 does AMRAP for said exercise
– Flapjack
– Keep Flapjacking to reach target total reps
– Total reps are per team
Mosey to Little Baby Playground for…
Mosey to the wall for…
Mosey to Little Baby Track for…
6MOM
Mosey back to parking lot for COT.
Moleskin
Nothing like meeting up at 0530 on a Monday morning to start the week off right. It’s always a honor to lead you men, and it’s big fun. Who’s next?
Cooked up the 100/200/300 while on vacation. I liked it. I think it needs a name. How about the “#Dora123.” It kept the heart rate high, and gave everyone a lot of opportunity to work on your Perkins and your Psquats. Expect an encore on this one.
Today was the multilingual edition of The Matrix, complete with a Spanish counting lesson during Mary and what may be our first Latin F3 nickname: Bibendum. Welcome to Danny B., our sole FNG today who works for a tire company. Google the connection. Welcome, Bibendum. You’ll be expected at #HDHH.
Speaking of multilingual, seems like Dora was the only pax interested in the sprint to the fields for COP. Calls of “Run, Dora, run” from behind me should have been “Vamanos.” Looks like Dolphin is gonna hafta Q The Matrix to show you how we start.
Announcements
USMC Leatherneck Mud Run is 2 weeks away. Some teams have had cancellations. If you want to join a team, send a request up to f3area51@gmail.com and we’ll try and match you up.
Snowflake is involved with Project Hope which is a support project for our veterans. If you are a veteran and would like to find out how you can help out, or if you want to learn more, send an email up to f3area51@gmail.com with the subject “Project Hope” and we will get it to Snowflake.
Happy Hour on Wednesday at Vintner in the Arbo.
Dora out.
Aye! 17 pax jumped into the gloom on Saturday to enjoy Stonehenge. Our group included one FNG and several pax decided to grab the second half of The Rock afterwards. Very strong work by the pax and solid lead by Haggis.
The Thang
COP
– SSH x 25
– Imperial Walker x 25
– Mountain Climber x 25
– Merkins x 25
Little baby half mile jog to fountain wall
– Derkins x 10
– Slow Dips x 10
– Jump ups x 10
Run to the wall
– People’s Chair
– Balls to Wall with 10 skull crusher merkins
– People’s Chair
Run half mile to lake hill
Partner up
P1: Run lap around lake then LBCs while waiting for P2
P2: Hill repeats with 5/4/3/2/1 burpees at top
Flapjack
Repeato
Little baby jog to Bulls for Mary
6MOM
– Flutter x 25
– Dolly x 25
– Bicycle x 25
– Heels to Heaven x 25
– Protractor x 1 minute
Run back to lake for Relay Race
2 Teams
– 300M run around lake (1 from each team in opposite directions)
– 5 burpees, 10 merkins, 15 squats per lap by rest of team while waiting
Run to Parking Lot
Sprints up the hill
– 75% effort first rep, jog back down
– 75% effort backwards, job back down
– Karaoke up, reverse Karaoke down
– 100% effort sprint up, 50% effort back down
– 5 merkins, 100% sprint up, 50% back down
– 5 burpees, 100% sprint up, 50% back down
Jog back to starting area
Plankorama
5 slow merkins
10 count Plank
COT
Moleskin
– Strong work by all the pax particularly double downers who posted at the second half of The Rock after Stonehenge. Runstopper even Q’d the second half of The Rock. #strong
– Focus on Form – let’s do our best to keep feet up as long as possbile during Mary. Mary is an understanding lady but don’t test her!
– Dolphin sighting? – Dolphin is a no show at his own workout! Despite text message in AM just before launch that he was not feeling well…still he HC’d the day before.
Announcements
– With spring break behind we are back to regular routines this week.
– Looks like winter could finally be over so no excuses to any “fair weather pax” for not posting.
6 hearty souls jumped out of bed and raced to South Charlotte Middle School for YHC’s first Q of Base Camp, or at least I’d like to think so. Another 15 or so folks were so scared they cuddled in the fartsack pulling an Eldon Campbell no doubt. So up the mountain we went…
The Thang:
.25 mile warm up jog
SSH IC x21
Merkins IC x10
Imperial Wokka IC x20
Carolina Dry Dock IC x15
Squats IC x20
Bear Crawl half the field width, butt kickers the other half, since it was hard to see we probably bear crawled 3/4 the way, well done crew!
Mosey with lunge walk to the baseball field
Partner up (size doesn’t matter, we don’t do partner carries at Base Camp) for Jane Webb…what is Jane Webb?
Base Camp modified Jack Webb obviously, partner 1 does the Merkins, partner 2 does the Air Presses to 6, all in cadence
Flapjack
Partner 1 supine pullups (thanks #Coal Miners Daughter for the naming) x10, partner 2 dips x20
repeato x3
butt kickers to hill for step ladder
up the hill for 1 burpee, down the hill, up the hill for 2 burpees, down the hill, up the hill for 3 burpees then plank it up
over to the washroom for some people’s chair
People’s Chair x45 sec x2 with some noticeable grumblechatter
balls to the wall x45, YHC shoulder starting to shake so audible to only 1x
COP for some 6 MOM:
Dolly IC x20
Flutter IC x15
Heals to Heaven (thanks #Haggis) IC x5 (these really burn the upper abs for YHC)
Tribute to #Runstopper, with partner 10x each leg high knee ups flapjack, then 15x both legs
Moleskin:
Great effort by the Pax today, realized that YHC cheated 2 min from the workout but was forgiven by the pax. Fantastic effort by Tumbler with his second time out after 20 years on the couch (first time was Sat at the Rock), great to see Thin Crust out there pushing hard as always and Fireman Ed with the pre and post workout run from/to his house, you’ve made some serious progress brother, keep it up! Felt great to be leading a workout that I had helped to start but then have never lead since inception due to injury, thanks again to Coal Miners Daughter and SMASH who lead this with me. Great send off by SMASH to help us focus ourselves as we set off on our week.
14 of CLT-South faithful showed up for a nice spring morning (finally) and their weekly downpainment at Area 51. Young Love and Abacus were the co-Q’s this morning with Young Love batting lead off.
Warmup/COP
–Jog around the school to kickball field and circle it up
All exercises in cadence
—-SSH x 25
—-IW x 25
—-Windmill x 10
—-Squats x 20 (slow, w/ good form)
—-Mountain Climbers x 20
—-Perkins (Perfect form Merkins) x 20
—-LBCs x 20
–Mosey to track at front of school
—-Burpees for 1 minute, as many as you can
—-Zig-zags across field inside the track
——Karaoke across/sprint forward zig-zag for length of the field
——Shuffle across/backpedal zig-zag for length of field to other end
—-Exercise/sprint medley (Perform exercise listed below, sprint to end of track field and back. Continue with next exercise)
——20 Merkins/Sprint
——20 Squats/Sprint
——20 CDD/Sprint
——20 Backwards Lunges (10 each leg)/Sprint
—-Circle up for Jack Webb to 7/28
–Mosey to the wall at front of School
—-People’s Chair x 60 sec
—-Balls to Wall x 30 sec
—-People’s Chair (Frankenstein style/arms straight out) x 90 sec
—-Balls to Wall x 30 sec
Abacus takes over for 2nd Half:
–Mosey to soccer fields for a little Hands of Time
—-Hours 1-2, 4-5 – Staggered Merkins x 10
—-Hours 7-8, 10-11 – Jump Squats x 10
—-Hours 3, 6, 9, 12 – 5 Burpees
(Originally planned 2 rounds, but thought better of it due to O2 deprivation)
–Run the 800 meter loop and return to the playground
–3 Stations at the Playground
—-Pull-up’s x 10, Dips x 20, Decline Merkins x 20
—-Hanging Leg Raises x 10, Dips x 20, Incline Merkins x 20
–6 MOM (in cadence)
—-LBC x 20
—-Dolly x 20, Hold ’em
—-Slow bicycle x 20, Hold ’em
–Finish it off with an Indian Run to the track and back
Moleskin:
-Nice job by the Pax on a beautiful Saturday morning. Nice little sprint competition between Turkey Leg and Ocho Cinco. Young Love unable to determine who finished in front as he was too many yards behind.
-Jack Webb made a brief appearance. Had to be an abbreviated session for sake of time. No complaints registered.
-Hands of Time originally scheduled for 2 rounds but YHC thought better of it after Round 1.
Announcements:
Skinner is looking for a 4th to add to his Leatherneck team for April Mud Run. Send him message on Twitter at “@f3skinner” if interested or let Joker know.
Workouts as usual next week, beginning with The Matrix (McKee Rd Elem) and Base Camp (Moderate Intensity, South Charlotte Middle) on Monday.
YHC mostly fully back and excited to lead Base Camp for the first time, looking forward to leading the crew! Ready to bring the moderate intensity to South Charlotte Middle School on Monday at 5:30 sharp, the real shovel flag will be planted and the pax will set off (moderately of course). EH the friends, bring out the FNG’s and see you in the not as gloomy gloom!
The Shovel Flag was planted by Barqs, and 40 faithful, including 5 FNGs and 4 2.0’s posted for another weekly assault on The Rock.
The Thang:
Hops’ Q:
Jog to lot closest to North Face (NF).
Seal Jacks x 25
MCs x 25
Squats x 25
Jog to base of NF
1st Line runs up NF, 10 Merkins at top, Run or Tumble (see Moleskin) back down
2nd Line planks until 1st Line returns
Flapjack
Repeato
Jog to field in front of The Rock
10 minutes of She-Hate-Me
10 Squats/10 Merkins/10 Flutterkicks – repeato for 10 minutes
YHC called an audible at the 8 1/2 minute mark. Too much chatter for She-Hate-Me. So 15 Burpees on your own
Run to circle drive in front of gym for 4ish MoM
Dolly x 13
Freddie Mercury x 13
CCVs x 13 R, Flapjack CCVs x 13 L
Runstopper’s Q:
Jog to far end of soccer fields
Jack Webbs – up to 10ish, but Runstopper mixed it up with a 15 merkin/50 arm-raise set among some other random combinations including slow merkins and thrash-count merkins
Spider Man crawl 1/2 length of soccer field, Lunge walk for the other 1/2
Partner carry run length of soccer field
Flapjack
Jog to pavilion/concession stand
Partner up for the following combos:
20 Step-ups each leg while partner does merkins
flapjack
BTWs while partner does 20 wall-MCs
flapjack
20 dips while partner does LBCs
flapjack
Jog to parking lot for sprint relays – 2 teams; Burpees throughout the relay – painful.
COP
Moleskin:
Great turnout today by the faithful – the 40 count set a non-convergence record at The Rock! T-claps to all you guys. 5 FNGs, 4 2.0s, and 8 Doubledowners – T-claps again fellas! Stonehenge + The Rock = Petrological DoubleDown.
Much chatter among the pax on a beautiful spring morn; however, YHC heard a lot of mumblechatter regarding the cold, wet turf, thus, the audible to Burpees during She Hate Me. Kudos to FNG The Tumbler for brushing himself off after a head-over-heels tumble down NorthFace; hence, the nickname. Great sport though vowed to return Monday morning for Base Camp – Aye!
Strong lead from my co-Q Runstopper who continued to bring the pain even after 90 minutes of workouts as he DoubledDown. Good humor during Jack Webbs with the slow merkins then thrash count merkins, fuzzy math, etc. –> produced much chatter; but painful stuff regardless. The burpees during the relay were especially unsavory as well.
5 FNGs – The Tumbler, Checkpoint, Schrute, Yeti and Upstate – strong work and look forward to having you guys out again soon. And T-claps to Mic Check who was an FNG yesterday at Centurion and posted at The Rock today.
Thanks to Skywalker for the prayer to close out COP; and a big crowd at coffeteria. #2ndF
Proud to be a part of the pax and bring my 2.0 along for F3 with a solid group of men.
The Matrix and Base Camp – see you guys Monday morning in the 5:30am gloom of Area 51!