52 patriots showed to celebrate America’s 239th birthday and put in work under the stars and stripes and the buzz of a drone documenting the whole thing flying above. With 3 shovel flags planted (kinda) firmly in the soft earth of The Rock’s turf, we paused for the National Anthem [Carrie Underwood version not Carl Lewis or Rosanne Barr (audio), we were off. Here’s what went down.
The Thang:
Gummy led the pax, shovel flags flying, around the back side of the church, up the pitch of the North Face to the front lawn of the church for some COP.
COP all IC:
Merkins, Imperial Walkers, SSH
With the shovel flags replanted, the pax split up for a starfish.
At the center: Makhtar N’Diaye x 5
Leg 1: CDD x20
Leg 2: Merkin x20
Leg 3: Jump Squats x20
Leg 4: Lunges
Mosey behind church to rockpile and grab a lifting rock.
15 curls, 15 overhead presses, 15 tricep extensions. AYG ~150 yards around shovel and back. Rinse and repeat x 3.
Mary: Flutter x20 IC, LBC x25 IC, HTH x20 IC, Dolly x 20 IC, Protractor, Hold 6-inches for a BOG 10-count.
Merkinator: x5 IC each – Regular, Wide arm, Diamond, Offset left, Offset right.
Drop the rocks, grab the flags and head to the soccer fields. Count off in 1s & 2s. Teams line up abreast facing one another – line up with a partner. Hand-slap merkins x25.
Plank – on the whistle, AYG to your own goal line, 10 hand-release merkins, AYG back to the flags at midfield. Losing team got 10 burpees. Winning team got 10 merkins. After team 2 threw the Belichick Flag on their distance being “longer” than team 1’s, we swapped sides. Round 2 was close – probably still under review at HQ – yet team 2 took the victory.
Circle up for the Ring of Fire – birthday edition. In celebration of America’s 239th birthday, each pax performed a merkin, counting up by 1. Rotating clockwise around the circle, the rest of the pax held plank until 239 was reached. Prior to starting, YHC announced the lucky pax who got merkin 239 would get a special birthday treat – 50 monkey humpers in the center of the circle. The Mouth was our lucky winner today, although it’s hard to say who was more embarrassed. Fortunately, the drone had run out of steam (how are these things powered?) and was grounded, not filming the event. The rest of the pax knocked out some LBCs until The Mouth was finished.
Line up in two lines for an Indian Run around the church. Man in the front holds the shovel flag. After a little snaking and weaving, we were on track and ended up back at the lot at 7:59:59.
The Red White and Blue Moleskin-
Lots of ‘Murica pride out there being worn by the pax. IH was rocking a stars and stripes bandana – fortunately, this took the attention off his presumably short shorts. Checkpoint had a legit USNA shirt and probably looked the most official of the bunch. Prohibition brought out the gunshow with his South Myrtle beach American Flag tank top. Horsehead and Tootie had the comic book look with Captian America racing jerseys. Several other guys came in various assortments of red, white, and blue, however Beaker, perhaps won the ‘best dressed’ award with his flowy, short, silky, Stars and Stripes running shorts #strong.
The drone Spielberg brought was awesome. The dude was running and flying at the same time throughout the whole workout – it was impressive. The buzzing overhead was a little erie at times and made you hope he charged the batteries the night before. Young Love will have to review the fine print, but I don’t recall injury from a UAV is covered. Can’t wait to see the video. Keep an eye out for this thing on your next Amazon Prime delivery.
Tiger Rag rolled into the lot pumping patriotic tunes. Shortly after the flyover following Carrie’s National Anthem, the TRuckster rolled out in haste – something about a leaky roof at the pool. Hope everything’s alright.
Lots of guys had their 2.0s out today. It was a tough workout and we covered some ground 3+ miles. Hard work everywhere you looked.
We ended the COT with the Lord’s Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
T-claps to everyone that posted today. It was a great way to kick off the holiday. Enjoy the celebrations with your families and stay safe with those South Carolina Fireworks tonight.
Announcements: Save the date for Southern Discomfort – Area 51’s signature CSAUP event – August 1st. Preblast to go out later today.
USNWT watch party tomorrow at Yellow Rose – 7pm. If you hashtag #USA on Twitter, you get a maple leaf with the American flag inside. And some nasty comments about being un-American from some of your “friends.” Today, stick with the American Flag emoji.
Usually not much story to tell on a Ghost Runner backblast. A dozen+ guys show up on Thursday evening and run. It’s hot, hilly, and apparently filled with hecklers.
The jury may be out on how TR’s effort to align the finish times worked out. We’ll have to hear from the 4-mile group. The intent was for the 6 milers to take off at 7:30 and the 4 milers at 7:45 so that everyone finished at the same time, no one skips out on COT, and no one gets named Gadget.
10 6-milers – the largest group this summer headed out at 7:30 leaving Iron Horse and Dear Abby to wait 15 more minutes for any other guys showing up at 7:45.
The Thing:
Run
COT
Moleskine:
At a minimum we had drive by heckling by Fireman Ed, Dolphin and Busch. I think Busch even swung around again so he could roll down his windows and let his kids have a turn bashing our form and pace. Not sure what their excuses were for not running tonight, something about having to take care of the kids I guess. Parenting 101 tip here: Leaving your kids in a crowded parking lot, in front of a liquor store, for 45-50 short minutes while you go run is perfectly A-OK in the eyes of child protective services. What could go wrong? Besides, they have a hill and a busy street to play on.
6-milers – Easy pace only lasted for about a mile until Brady took off, then Fletch gave him chase on the Providence Rd down-hill. Solid finish by Purple Haze, Buttermaker, and Hairball, who motored up the hill on Raintree at the end. The rest of the 6 milers weren’t far behind.
I think the 4 milers ended up taking off closer to 7:40 and leaving Tootie solo coming in for the 7:45 start. Hopefully the 2F at Vinter’s afterward made up for it.
Thanks to Brady for the send off.
-Alf
10 PAX showed up for another installment of F3 Mountain Goat. Temps were mild and allowed everyone to really give it all they had! 2 other brave souls… Geraldo and Scott Bradford, indulged in a Spearhead Ruckfest, and joined us for COT.
The workout was pretty simple… but not easy. It went something like this:
Mosey to track. Some quick stretching, followed by 1-mile warm-up at fellowship pace.
Mosey back to Strawberry Ln and head to the second speed bump.
Once everyone was there we started the following sets of 30-30-1:
1. 30-seconds “I-pace”, then jog back to starting point for recovery… recovery time wasn’t important.
2. Rinse and repeat 30-seconds “I-pace”…. try to keep same pace. Jog back to starting point for recovery.
3. 1-minute “I-pace”… jog back to starting point for recovery.
We did 5 sets… total of about 4.3-ish miles.
Finished with cool-down lap and stretching.
Moleskine:
Everyone did great… as usual! The PAX continue to be strong on setting their target pace to maximize the amount of time at max heart/O2 capacity. As stated, the time/pace to recovery is not the focus… it’s that you DO recover between each segment.
The Mouth, Joker, Simba and Steinbrenner brought it strong, especially as the sets went on.
Pele, Sony, Freedom, Booyah and Huggy Bear also brought their A-games… the beauty of this workout is everyone gets to push themselves, then regroup so we were always back together.
Lots of heavy breathing between segments… and I believe everyone was glad when the 5th set was done!
This continues to be a great workout for runners of all levels! It’s always an honor to lead this group of men!
Geraldo and Scott (non-F3) joined us for COT. Maybe we can continue to EH Scott to join us… he looks like he would be strong! Geraldo will have to sound off on the punishment he dished out today… something like 100 miles bear crawling… with 120 pounds of weight… or something like that!
Freedom took us out with a great prayer. We mentioned Sensei and the passing of his Grandfather…. keep them in your prayers!
Announcements:
1. Convergence on Saturday 7/4 at The Rock 7:00… Stonehenge will remain at 6:00.
2. Southern Discomfort 8/1… several levels of discomfort available.
3. F3 Dads on Saturdays.
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.
I tweeted a warning that YHC had consulted a HKC certified instructor for this workout and 20’pax still decided to show. That goes to show you, once you’ve tasted a kettle bell,workout with no running and curls, there’s no going back.
Warmup with some SSH and Merkins.
Part 1: 10 min AMRAP
10 windmills (5 each side)
5 pull ups
15 good mornings
Part 2: ladder down from 10 by 2’s
1 swing, 1 clean, , 1 snatch
10 rt side, 10 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell
8 rt side, 8 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell
6 rt side, 6 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell.
4 and the 2
Part 3: AMRAP until I say stop
20 2-handed swings
20 Merkins
Stop with about 2 min for 20 V-ups with bell and Russian twist with bell
The idea behind this workout was to involve strength and endurance. Hopefully this was successful. Part 1 should have been slow and methodical and a warmup for part 2. Part 2 was the strength piece. By the end, your forearms, grip, arms should be yelling. Part 3 was for the endurance. No stopping. A full out go from the beginning. If you felt the burn, then let it be Known that the HKC Certified instructor was none other then M Crabcake.
Announcements
Convergence Saturday, July 4 at The Rock
Charlottes rescue mission Saturday workout 9am. Tweet Flo-rida for info
Thanks for allowing me to lead you today.
It was a cloudy morning @Peak51, the PAX were growling, scratching and awaiting the hunt for CLYDE that would take us Every Which Way But Loose and all over the place, well at least Matthews.
theThang:
@5:29am,Matthews Elementary PL, the journey begins…
Mosey to back parking lot of FBC Matthews.
30 LBC’s oyo
Circle Up… preamble given for the 2 FNG’s and off we go.
Moderate run to Sadie Drive Park
Plank o Rama 60 secs/ recover
SSH x20, IW x20, LSS x15
Moderate Run to corner of Deer Creek and Clearbrook Rd
Plank o Rama, elbows, right/left leg high, regular, repeato, recover
15 Sumo Squats
Moderate Run to Greenway (Clearbrook Rd Entrance)
Moderate Run to StoneCity. (AKA Stonehenge on the Greenway)
Plank o Rama (thx Header), regular/6 inches x4. right/left leg high, x2, recover
Rock Work Supersets:
Incline Merkins x10
Step Ups x20
Dips x15
Plank o Rama
Repeato
Plank o Rama, elbows, right/left leg high, regular x2
20 LBC’s oyo
Mosey to backside of Matthews Elementary on Greenway.
Hill Sprints:
Partner Up
Partner 1 – LBC’s
Partner 2 – sprint to the top of the hill and back (aprox 110 yds)
Repeato x2
Plank o Rama (thx Header), regular/6 inches, right/left leg/arm high, x2, recover
High Knee Skip uphill to Matthews Elementary Greenway Entrance (aprox 110 yds)
Mosey to Matthews Elementary
Peoples Chair/ 45 secs/ recover
Peoples Chair/ 30 secs/ YHC saw Geraldo Pressing Ruck and decided to blame him and called an audible of 30 air raises/recover
We finally spotted CLYDE in a near by bush, he looked lonely, so we asked him to join.
Peoples Chair/ 30 secs/ then pax passed CLYDE (36lb Kettlebell) up and down the line while doing a 1 inch lower position. X2/ recover.
At one point DT got a little to close to CLYDE and refused to give him up. YHC quickly amended the situation. (you’re welcome)
YHC hoisted Clyde and we all did a quick mosey back to parking lot for COT.
Thx to Slimfast for finishing with 4 mins of stretching movements.
Always an honor to lead !
Moleskin:
Special props to Slimfast, Sinsei and Header for doing the pre-5k. Strong and fast. Also to Geraldo and DT sporting Rucks and working hard.
A Special Welcome to two FNG’s. Dickens and TammyFaye, both strong contenders and welcome to thePeak.
The flash of light at the beginning of the morning ended up just being Insomniac breaking every traffic law in Matthews to skid into the lot just in time. During a 10-count, about halfway through the BC, (in his 02 deprivation) we discovered that he can count forwards or backwards at any given time and in no apparent order but he did eventually land on zero… or was it ten??.
Great to have SwissMiss back at the peak. Strong as always.
For me, its always cool to see a tall guy out there working hard, Tawny was bustin it up.
Drive By, relatively new to F3, working hard and running fast. Welcome!
YHC thanks all of you for your hard work. YHC really tried to make things a little different but also challenge all PAX, wherever they are in their journey. Also, thx for working hard with YHC today BooYa.
Thx Header for taking us out.
Anncts:
Convergence, 7 AM @theRock 7-04
Southern Discomfort, Aug 1
Prayers for Sinsei and his family in the recent death of his Grandfather.
Ghost Runner is on tonight at Arbo ABC. There was a motion to move the 4 miler start time to 7:45 and keep the 6 mile crew starting at 7:30. This way everyone finishes at the same time and we get one COT. We’ll try it this week.
Here are the maps, as the 6 mile crew will be gone before the 4 milers launch. When in doubt, just run up and down Rain Tree Lane a bunch.
6 Mile route – http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/723568587
4 Mile route – http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/723571175
22 Pax-ish went out for a BRR type run and time went a little short.
Mosey from AO to the ARBO
COP
20 Squat – CAD
20 MC – CAD
20 IW – Cad
The thing
Run from ABC to other side stopping at every speedbump for 10 merkins.
It comes out to about 120-130 merkins
Partner work
1 runs while other does dips
1 runs while other does derkins
Run back Windbluff #Crowdpleaser
COT
Moleskin
Had to Sub q for Flutie Flakes and I decided to do a little BRR Training and had the pax join me. Before we began and the disclaimer was given I mentioned where we were going and what we were doing. There was a little push back but we stuck through with it. The jog over to the ARBO was a pretty good clip and everyone was pushing themselves which was good to see.
After COP when the merkin call was made everyone was okay because its a long way before the first speedbump. I thought I counted 12 but Busch or Header counted 13. I trust their count more so we will stick with that. The partner work went well but YHC didn’t realize the length between the end and where we were. Audible was called.
Decided to go back Windbluff for those that don’t go to Fast Twitch that is a good up and down run back. There was discussion with respects to time and if we had enough to get back. Well……we didn’t. everyone was doing well and working hard. Proud of everyone out there. Great work.
got some negative feedback from Fireman ed about coming back via van to make sure they were alright. Probably a good call. I hope you can forgive me. #ISI?
Gummy continues to force his vendors to come and post. Welcome Danny – Button Up. There was talk about a rename so Gummy shout out if need be.
convergence at the Rock – Saturday
Convergence at the Centurion – Brave
11 of South Charlotte’s finest, including 2 FNGs, showed up along with the humidity to slay the Hydra. Started with a jog around the school and to the field – circle up –
Mosey over to the center aisle for concessions and the main event – Starfish
Center of the Starfish was the concession area and 10 jump ups
Station 1 – near the far woods – 25 x wide arm merkins
Station 2 – playground – 15 x pull ups
Station 3 – batting cages – 25 x jump squats
Station 4 – football field – 15 x double merkin burpees
Rinse and repeat 3x
Mosey back to the field near the parking lot for some Mary
Time called. Intense exercises and just over 2+ miles.
Thanks all for the solid effort on my first Q. I appreciate the effort. Shout out to Tiger Rag– Hydra was my first F3 workout a year ago, and for my first Q, I borrowed Tiger Rag’s agenda from that workout. Great to see Pic n’ Pack and Lord Stanley for the first time – keep it up!
Announcements:
Centurion converging at The Brave on Friday (7/3)
Saturday (7/4) convergence at The Rock.