A Flock of Anvils
“I ran. I ran so far away.” And so we will.
Don’t ruck yourself, lest you wreck yourself.
Be late, be lonely.
EXTRA CREDIT: Take all the good parking places at Death Valley and run it over to Anvil. Wheels up at 5:15.
We’re here to Pump…You Up! If you came to run you were at wrong site this morning…
The Thang:
30 PAX showed up in the Gloom at Skunkworks for yet another beat down. Instead of spending a lot of time putting miles on our shoes, the Pax individually completed around 362 reps with kettle bells, 455 reps without along with some cardio mixed in. Overall, 817 reps completed in 45 minutes. Strong work today from the PAX and after a few of these routines we might be asked to join the Greek Gods on Mt. Olympus.
COP:
SSH x 25
IW x 25
Slow Squat super set with Dead Lifts x 25
Burpee Squat Thrusts with KB x 25
Mosey to lower parking lot with Bell behind back
Partner Up until 100 reps is reached
Exercise Hill
P1 -Overhead Press alternating w. 2 KB P2- Run up hill (15) Squats run back
Flapjack until 100 reps reached
P1 – Upright Row alternating w. 2 KB P2 – Backwards run up hill (15) Carolina dry-docks
Flapjack until 100 reps reached
P1 – KB Swing P2 – Bear Crawl up hill run back
Flapjack until 100 reps reached
P1 – Bent over row both bells P2 – Run up hill (20) Monkey Humpers run back
Flapjack until 100 reps reached
P1 – Tricep Press with 1 KB P2 – Lunge walk up hill run back
Flapjack until 100 reps reached
P1 & P2 Partner Bicep curl 75 reps
Mosey with Bell back for COP/COT
COP:
Diamond Merkins x 30
Merkin Explosion x 15
LBC x 25
Flutter x 15
COT
Lots of chatter from the PAX before the PAIN began, which was shortly squashed when we reached the KB burpee squat thrusts. Thankfully, no one lost any teeth…needless-to-say those were PAINFUL.
Might need to rename this routine as the AUDIBLE since I was a little optimistic about the number of reps I had initially planned for, however thankful the PAX liked the idea of changing from 150 reps to 100. Maybe next time we’ll shoot for the 150.
T-Claps to the entire group. It is always nice to see everyone pushing it to the limits and makes being a Q that much more satisfying. Welcome 2 FNG’s Liquor-Cycle and Short Round, hopefully you liked the workout and we get to see more of you. Actually, special T-Clap to Short Round who after the PAX broke off, came to me and said his job requires him to carry 80lbs bags all day and when asked if he’d return, he said “anything that can make me stronger like this will help me at work”- great attitude.
Finally, retiring the name Queen B was overdue. Our Queen B has officially gone through the metamorphosis process, earned his stripes and now known as THE NATIVE. Now that we changed your name, you are required to come more than once a week!
As always, thank you for letting me lead and I am grateful for the opportunity to work out with F3. – The Hoff
Don’t mess with the bull, young man. You’ll get the horns
With a slight breeze in the air this morning the Ballantyne brethren headed West.
The Thang
Mosey to the parking lot under the power lines
Warm-up COP:
– SSH x 30
– IW x 30
– Merkins x 15
– Mountain Climbers: 15
Indian Run to the fountain near the food truck tent
– Dips on wall x 20 – IC
– Jump ups x 20
– Derkins x 20
– Plank (right arm, right leg, normal, left arm, left leg)
– Repeato
Mosey to Cornhole lot and partner up
– Alternating knees x 20 (flapjack)
– High Knee-ups x 20 (flapjack)
Mosey to retaining wall of large power tower
– Plank while waiting your turn (Mic Check)
– Wall walk or substitute the Merkin Shuffle
– Plank when done
Mosey to the Bloodbank Loading Docks
– Lunge walk to that tree
– People’s Chair ~3min
– 50 overhead presses during minute 2ish mark
Mosey to the Whale pond/Photographer’s Choice/Old office view
– Set of Elevens up the hill with 1 squat at bottom and 10 Burpees at top, 2 squats at bottom – 9 burpees at top, etc…
– audible called to 6’s
“Don’t mess with the bull, young man. You’ll get the horns.”
Circle up for Mary at the Three Bulls
– Six inches
– Rosalita x 30 – IC
– LBC x 30 – IC
– Freddie Mercury x 20 – IC
– Protractor (Fish Taco led)
Let’s head Home
– Jailbreak home from abandoned restuarant parking lot
The Naked Moleskin
Alot of mosey today, I think YHC kept saying “Let’s roll” instead. We covered about 1.4 miles in the downPAINment today.
Overheard at the fountain, “Such a serene place for what just happened.”
Being a first-time Q, YHC had a lot planned today but some of the items didn’t make the cut. The counts reported above may be slightly off, a Workout in a Bag (no bag) was in pocket but most items we “winged”.
Solid effort put on by everyone. YHC hopes to explore more of the park in the near future. Tinfoil hats may be necessary if we use this route again.
17 PAX today was a great showing! Abba was FNG to Bagpipe and a big welcome to FNG McDreamy (Dave).
Here is a map of the ground we covered. YHC told you there was reckon involved (virtual and physical).
Announcements
– New book “The Resolution” for Friday.
– Freelys will be Q’ing on Saturday at Stonehenge and Tuesday at Bagpipe. (FTQ?)
– Mic Check and Mighty Mite (M&M) have something planned for tomorrow at The Maul.
Pyramid [Almost]
Ten men gathered at South Charlotte Middle School for that little workout call Fast Twitch.
The Thang
On the track…
3/4 mile warm up
IW X 24
200 Meter run with 200 Meter recovery X 4
400 Meter run with 400 Meter recovery X 2
On the field…
120 Yard sprint to goal post; 20 merkins and 20 squats; 120 yard sprint to goal post; LBC X 24
120 Yard sprint; 20 merkins and 20 squats; 120 yard sprint; LBC X 24
120 Yard sprint; 20 merkins and 20 squats; 120 yard sprint
Mosey to parking lot…
Plank
Wide-arm Merkin X 24
Dolly X 24
LBC X 24
Moleskin
- Egyptian pyramids took at least ten years to build. It won’t take us that long to build up to a full interval training pyramid at Fast Twitch, but it may take a few months. Many guys [including me] started a little too fast on the 200 Meter and 400 Meter segments. So, with our fuel gauges below empty, we abandoned ship and went to the football field to do a round of 120 yard sprints [which actually felt like rest and recovery time].
- Great effort today by all. Fraser set the pace on everything we did. Strange Brew and Leroy were really pushing themselves. I don’t know if we are fast, but we are all faster than we were just a couple of months ago.
- Not much chatter at Fast Twitch. It is definitely not a social workout.
- Covered about 3.5 miles today; next time we do this routine we will shoot for 4 to 4.5 miles.
- After we named our FNG “Goose” today I remembered that we already have a Goose in the Area 51 Pax [though I haven’t seen him in while]. Next time the new Goose shows up he may get re-named with our second choice from today… Misty May.
Ascent – Climbing the Mountain is Hard – That’s Why You Do It!
Yet another Charlotte South workout is soon appearing. From the misty mountain tops comes…Ascent. A new moderate intensity (think Base Camp style) boot camp style workout for Saturdays. Friends/Family/Acquaintances intimidated by the regular F3 workouts? Recovering from an injury? Need a less intense workout because you don’t want to fartsack but can’t stand the thought of yet another burpee – too bad, that’s not an excuse, get to a regular workout, otherwise there is Ascent. Hops and YHC will be co-Q ing an early soft launch this Saturday from the Rock location. The PAX will meet up at the shovel flag (assuming Mall Cop brings it this time, but not to worry YHC will have his planted just in case) before 7 and step off at the same time as the Rock PAX but for a less intense experience. This is the week to EH those for Saturday that have been mailing in the excuses (Epstein’s mother anyone?).
Yes, climbing a mountain is hard, its supposed to be hard, that’s why it feels so good when you’ve made it.
Details: The Rock meets in the back parking lot of Calvary Church, corner of Rea and Hwy 51
Time: Meet at 6:45, step off sharply at 7
2nd F: Coffeeteria at Starbucks in Piper Glen
Ascent will formally post at a yet to be announced location and will be co-Q’d by High Tide and Strange Brew
Whose idea was this anyway?!
26 brave souls met in the humid gloom this morning for Part 1 of Psycho T’s Farewell Tour.
The Thang
Quick ball o man
.4 mile jog to carmel ms
13 burpees
20 ssh
12 burpees
20 seal jacks
11 burpees
20 Imperial Walkers
10 burpees
20 LBC’s
9 burpees
20 Jump lunge
8 burpees
20 Prisoner squats
7 burpees
15 Mountain climbers
6 burpees
10 peter parker
5 burpees
10 parker peter
4 burpees
15 frog hops
3 burpees
10 diamond merkins
3 burpees
10 wide arm merkins
1 burpee
Lateral Railing walks on hands and feet
3 Relay races. Sprint, bear crawl and donkey kongs. Winner chooses losers excersise; which the only logical choice was 15 more burpies. Winners did plank series.
Mary: Superman, slow Freddy Mercury, Michael Phelps, Glute bridge and Cumberland county viaduct.
.4 mile run back to parking lot
COT and ball o man.
Psycho T’s MOLESKIN: Thank you for all your prayers and support as our family prepares to move to Colorado. I will miss my F3 family, but am looking forward to starting a new one in Denver.
Skywalker’s Moleskin: OK, who came up with idea to invite Psycho T to Q anyway?! Seemed like a good thing at a time. Each time I’ve gotten out of my car or a chair today, I’ve been reminded of how PT smoked us with this workout. When he called that second set of burpees, most of the pax knew where this thing was headed……..no pain, no gain. And there was plenty of pain. For those who have the guts, come out to Death Valley for Part 2 of his Farewell Tour.
On a personal note, Psycho T has made a tremendous impact on the pax since he started coming to F3 a few months ago. And those who know him are sorry to see him move.
Grab your bell and do what feels right
5:30 came and the men of Ballantyne charged full-on into the Foxhole gloom. With our brother Market Timer down with a back injury after a particularly brutal Stonehenge (he was QiC), there was a particular fervor in the air to make a solid downPAINment on the week. Mission accomplished. Here is how it went down.
The Thang:
Rack your bell and run down to parking lot by the fields
Warm-up COP
– SSH x 30
– IW x 25
– Mountain Climbers x 25
Partner up for catch me if you can around field and to the base of the hill
– Partner 1: farmers carry
– Partner 2: 5 merkin jacks then catch partner, flapjack
Line up at base of hill – for sets of 11’s
– Upright rows / run up hill / pull-ups (audible called mid-way through – Q was a bit aggressive with this call)
Changed plan to sets of 7’s
– Squats with KB / run up hill / burpees (no KB)
– 2H Triceps extensions / run up hill with KB / 2H biceps curl
Circle up in the field for COP
– 2 handed swings x 20
– Diamond merkins on KB x 20
– 1 handed swings x 10 each arm
– Traveling merkins w/ KB row x 20 (total – thanks for clarifying Bratwurst)
– 1 handed clean x 5 each arm
Line up on goal line
– Dollies with KB press x 20
– Run 100 yards
– LBC w/ KB x 40
– Run 100 yards
– Dying cockroach x 20
– Karaoke 100 yards
– Protractor (called by Soft Pretzel – thanks)
– Run backward 100 yards
– Rosalita x 20 (get your bell and do what feels right)
– All out sprint 100 yards
Run w/ KB to COT
The Naked Moleskin:
The number of SOB at Foxhole increased 2.4x from last week. It is good the word is getting out about the promised land that is the Foxhole.
When Market Timer was officially placed on injured reserve on Sunday and asked YHC to fill in, YHC felt what better way to remember his sacrifice than to plan a true beatdown for the SOB? In fact, YHC got a little overzealous with the call for 11’s including pullups and had to audible half way through to get back to a mere mortal level of effort. Sorry Mighty Mite, Mic Check, and Bratwurst – it looked like you may have had the full 11’s in you. Next time.
Nice job Long Distance and Chipotle for coming in with 33 lb (clarified not to be 35 lbs) kettle bells on your first visit. You definitely got some street cred for that. Impressive!
The PAX was strong out there today and there was a great competition in the runs. Iron sharpens iron men. Aye!
Announcements:
– Wingman’s first time Q at Bagpipes tomorrow. It sounds like he has been doing some recon and has some tricks up his sleeve. Show up and bring it.
– Mic Check and Mighty Mite are delivering the 1 – 2 punch at The Maul on Wednesday. I heard them conspiring after the workout today. Be afraid…be very afraid!
– Friday Chick-fil-a Arboretum for a little 3rd F. New book. Buy it.
Light jog around the AO, or so they thought
Even though a number of Area 51 regulars were MIA (enjoying end of vacation or a little mud run training) 12 PAX (including 2 FNGs) still appeared in the gloom for nothing more then a light jog around the school. At least that was what was advertised by Slap Shot as he stepped up to Q the full hour. Here’s how it all played out:
Run to track for COP
- SSH x 25
- Imperial Walker x 25
- Squat x 25
Run to back playground
- Pull-ups x 10
- Jump Ups x 20
- Dips x 25
Plank/Peter Parker/repeat above
Run to trail
- Burpees x 10
- Trail run
- Dips x 25
- Bear Crawl
- Plank
Run to tires
- Bunny hop tires
- Burpees x 10
- Walking lunge to picnic tables
- Dips x 25
Run to wall by track
- 3 min of jack with merkins
- Decline x 20
- Diamond x 15
- Wide Arm x 20
Run around track to rock pile
- Curls with rock between merkins
- Staggered right arm rock merkins x 20
- Staggered left arm rock merkins x 20
- Diamond rock merkins x 15
Run “800” for leisurely stroll through the neighborhood
Field work (start/halfway/parking lot)
- LBC x 20 at each
- Left side/right side/jack-knife x 20 at each
- 90% sprint / parker peter x 9
- 90% sprint
Jog to parking lot for COT
- Wrap it up with burpees x 5
Moleskine:
With Crab Cake enjoying a little R&R with his toes in the sand for one more day and Far Side and Abacus participating in Mud Run training at Marion Diehl Center, Slap Shot stepped up to ably lead the group on a steamy July morning. FNG Captain Quint was just passing through town and new Saturday regular Larry Lehman (F3 name TBD) was able to make it through the workout with not a hair out of place. Thanks to Turkey Leg for suggesting the burpees at the end to send everyone off on a good note. Good work guys.
Announcements:
Check website for details on “1st Annual F3 Camp” scheduled for weekend of Aug 16-18 at YMCA Camp Thunderbird. Close to 100 F3ers and 2.0s already signed up.
Psycho T’s Farewell Tour
As Psycho T prepares to leave for Denver in a few days, he will Q Part 1 of the Farewell Tour tomorrow at DMZ (Carmel Road Neighborhood Park). Part 2 will be at Death Valley on Wednesday. Join us at 0530 at one or both. Aye!
Tennis Anyone?
The Shovel flag was not planted (more on that in Moleskine), but 35 (1 other to come later – see Moleskin) pax set off for another painful tour of The Rock with Bananas on Q.
The Thang:
Bananas on Q:
2 minute jog to COP
SSH x20
Merkins x20
Imperial Walkers x20
Indian run 2 laps around perimeter of multiple pitches (1/2 mile approx. each lap)
Merkin pyramid by 2s (with 5 sec. plan in between in each set)
8 stations 25 yds apart
5 Merkins out every 25 yds, 5 LBCs back every 25 yds
5 CDDs out every 25 yds, 5 flutters back every 25 yds
Bear crawl up the hill at end of pitch, plank at top, then backwards bear crawl downhill; Rinse & Repeat
Hops Q:
YHC randomly numbered about 40 tennis balls with numbers ranging from 10 to 100.
The 9 2.0s would retrieve a tennis ball from 20 yards to 100 yards away while the rest of the pax planked.
The # on the tennis ball determined how many reps of each exercise we would do.
First ball picked up by Hot Shot had “100” on it! Random I promise though I suspect the pax doesn’t buy that. May have the numbers and order of events wrong below, but they’re roughly accurate…
100 (give or take) Groiners
54 Squats – slow single count cadence, correct form
25 Elbow Plank Jacks
25 partner decline merkins
13 CCVs
13 Partner Tunnel Jumps (Partner 1 planks while Partner 2 jumps over then crawls under Partner 1); flapjack
24 Praire Fire Mary’s (aka leg throws)
15 Peter Parkers
13 Burpees
12 Hand Raise Merkins
Jog 1/4 mile to COT with high knees and lunge walks mixed in
COT
Moleskine:
Great group today. Strong work men. And welcome to FNG Shadow (Ethan B.) who joined his brother Supersonic and dad Lost Weekend.
Special thanks to Purple Haze for requisitioning the tennis balls for YHC. They’ll be back soon at a workout near you.
This backblast would not be complete without mentioning MallCop’s 2nd day in a row of showing up late to a workout. Blamed it on his alarm clock….. To add insult to injury – he failed to plant the shovel flag in his late haste to join the pax, thus, YHC ordered 13 extra burpees for the Segway Pilot prior to COT. DK, Skywalker and a couple others joined MallCop for the extra burpees.
Truly was random that the first ball picked up by Hot Shot was one of two “100” balls in the bag. Unlucky and unsavory. The pax was none too pleased. Safe to say the elbow plank jacks were crowdpleasers along with the groiners.
Bananas bear crawls and backward bear crawls drew much mumblechatter as well.
Pretty sure Briquette was with us to start but disappeared. Can any of the pax confirm? Briquette – you ok brother?
Great work men – we stayed on the pitch (aka soccer field(s) the whole time; but I think a sufficient amount of pain was administered by Bananas and YHC. The merkin ladder is sneaky painful – good call Bananas for some early pain and O2 deprivation.
Announcements:
F3 Dads camp for 2.0s of both genders – Aug. 16-18. Plenty of room, so sign up. Info on website. Cost is very reasonable – ~$85 per attendee includes all meals, activities, A/C-equipped cabins, etc.
Psycho T’s farewell tour (moving to Colorado) makes stops at DMZ and DV this week with Psycho T bringing his unique brand of pain to the pax. We’ll miss you brother.
MallCop still has 20ish Area51 shirts if you’ve not gotten yours yet.