YHC strolled into the parking lot a few minutes early to find a substantial assembly of some of south Charlotte’s finest. By the time we launched, we had full double deuce. For those keeping score at home, that is more than Tennessee put up against the Mountaineers and damn near double what South Carolina managed over perennial powerhouse Vandy. #secsec Impressive for a holiday weekend, but alas, there are no off days for the grizzled pax that frequent Centurion. Into the gloom we went.
The Thang:
Mosey to up to the top of Tartarus, the shelter from the storm that never came.
COP for SSHs x 25 IC followed by Mountain Climbers x 15 IC
Mosey down stairs to the base of the ladder.
Merkin ladder up and down Tartarus – 20 merkins at top of first ramp, 19 at second, and so on down to 1. Completed 2 trips up the deck, 1.5ish down.
Mary at the bottom: LBC’s x 30 IC, Flutter x 20 IC
Mosey to the office building parking deck south of Panera for some work between the light poles:
-Bear crawl from pole-pole, mosey back, plank w/ 10 count right arm high
-Lung walk from pole-pole, mosey back, plank w/ 10 count left arm high
-Repeat-o w/ 6″ plank and elbow plank.
Mosey to the picnic table in front of school:
-20 step ups each leg, then 20 dips
-15 jump ups, 15 dips
Mosey to Tartarus and partner up.
-P1 runs up stairs to top over to next stair and down back to P2 who is doing an assortment of Q-less or Q-jacked Mary exercises
-Flapjack
-Repeat-o
Done.
Moleskin:
Great work by all the PAX, no surprise with the group of regulars at Centurion. It’s been great to be back out with you fellas over the past month and was an honor to lead this morning. Thanks to Chelms and Margo for the opportunity. Not too much chatter out this AM, at least that YHC could hear over my exhausted breathing. Might have been a lot of day-dreaming about how much more fun they were having this morning than they will be one week from today. Chelms and Mermaid thirsting for more at the end engaged in a gentlemanly foot race duel. I could not discern the victor from 200 yds back.
Announcements:
Labor Day convergence Monday, check twitter & website
Convergence at Calvary tomorrow
Area51 5-year anniversary on 9/14
F3 is about leadership and that includes serving others – find a way to get involved.
11 Goats disregarded the urgings of Jim Cantore to shelter in place from the impending apocalyptic rains of Hurricane Hermine, and instead said #NoTaper to run 4-3-2 intervals at #F3MountainGoat.
As we gathered, it was reported that Rosecliff was being deluged, but no rain at SCMS… so we set out. Having disclaimed, here is what went down:
1. Warm-up mi on Strawberry, then dynamic stretching
2. On Strawberry, we did 4-3-2 Intervals at I-Pace… with 3-2-1 rest in between. For each interval, we turned around at the halfway point (2, 1.5, 1) so that we ended each interval approx. together, then recovered together.
3. We got 2 full iterations in, then a 4/3 and finished with a 2-min run back to Strawberry.
Excellent job! We completed 5 to 5.5 miles depending on pace.
Moleskine:
For those who thought we would taper in preparation for BRR… call the home office for a refund! YHC did have us run uphill for the first half of each interval, then downhill for the second half… YOU’RE WELCOME!
Turkey Leg and Fletch made welcome appearances, and upped the average pace! Thank you guys for running with us, and increasing the credibility of the workout! We will have to move the start line back so you don’t run out of “runway” on the 2-minute segments!
Joker was solid as always, and The Mouth was never far behind, plus leading on the warm-up sprint… looked like Bolt!
Sensei keeps getting stronger! Always a pleasure to run with him!
Draino… great to see you back out! Excellent work!
Nomad always commanding RESPECT… plus an additional mile warm-up… definitely BRR ready!
High Tide is so much of a runner… the 0.0 is a distant memory! Although we had to get him to put the kettlebell away!!
Dumpster Fire is becoming a regular, and it is showing… STRONG! The neighbors did post a picture of you on a BEWARE sign, so you will have to be incognito for the next couple of weeks… but it will blow over!
Speaking of BRR-ready… Pele is READY! I can’t wait to see you shred those miles!!
Announcements:
1. Labor Day convergence at Stonecrest 7:00 AM.
2. Area 51 5-year convergence is Wed 9/14 somewhere… I’ll try to figure out where!
14 men showed up for great Ab and Merkin workout.
Warm Up-Slight jog to Parking Lot beside Target (disclaimer)
The Thang
Great work by all today, not a lot of talk other than Pop Tart typical comments. Hope everyones abs hurt this morning.
Always a pleasure to lead.
Chippy
All veteran crew so quick disclaimer provided
Easy jog around the school back to the practice field behind the school to warm up the legs.
COP
SSH x 15 in cadence
IW x 15 in cadence
Low Slow Squat x 15 in cadence
Slow merkins – civilian count x 10
The Thang:
Number off 1-4 and mosey to concession stand area for directions.
Starfish time – a consistent theme in YHC’s Qs at Hydra
Stop 1 – 10 pull ups at the playground
Stop 2 – burpee broad jump across outfield then run back
Stop 3- Football field, 20 tuck jumps
Stop 4 – Other batting cages – 20 CDDs
After each stop, run back to the middle for 10 jump ups. Only did one cycle, so a total of 40 jump ups.
Al Gore while waiting on the 6
Headed off campus thru the woods (luckily YHC remember a headlamp because it was dark) and didn’t get lost and made it over to Foxworth Dr. hill.
7s were in order
Burpees at the top and jump squats at the bottom.
Mosey back to the school and back to the practice field.
Partner up and size matters.
Fireman’s carry your partner across the field one way, and partner drag back. Then flapjack.
Next line up on one sideline on belly for some sprints:
Called by Good Hands, Buttermaker, Jet Fuel, and Queen.
6MOM
Flutters x 25 in cadence
Rosalitas x 15 in cadence – Puddin Pop
CCV x 15 per side in cadence. – Deep Dish
Finished.
NMM
Solid effort all the way around today. And it was definitely the gloom, as an eerie fog rolled in as COP was underway
YHC gets called out for form police a lot, but today most people were spot on – and anyway, its you against you – keep pushing and getting better.
Everyone was crushing the starfish and the 7s and even the partner carries, even though they were such a crowd please. Thanks for the great effort and work everyone put in.
Few notables from this am –
Bounce doesn’t know what civilian count meant, but was a quick learner. Maybe in the military too long – just a guess.
Also, during 6MOM, some reference to wet / grassy field and prom night were made, but will not expound on this – ask Bounce.
Frosty Paws has some serious ups as could be seen during the jump squats, plus his burpee form rivels Chelms.
There was also discussion about Puddin’s emissions during the 7s smelling like playdough and pax were worried he may have been spending too much time around preschools.
Also there was some discussion during 6MOM that deep dish may have violated some sort of patent or something since he Q’d CVV up to 15 instead of the standard Hops Q’d 13. Research is underway.
Lots of great chatter – a big part of why we get up to do this each morning – thanks for helping make it fun.
Thanks again for the opportunity to lead, and thanks for the takeout Harley
If YHC missed anything, shout out in the comments below.
Announcements:
Young Life mud run – coming up Sept 7th. – WWC:
https://charlotte.younglife.org/Pages/Mud-Run-2016.aspx
Look for more info on a F3 Mtn biking trip first weekend in Nov – DuPont Forest.
Champagne Out.
19 men, including FNG Soprano assembled in the parking lot of Matthews Elementary this morning to get in some good work. Since it is the first week for CMS and some folks are starting to taper for BRR, YHC wasn’t sure how many PAX we would get. 19 is a good number. Once the disclaimer was given, we did the following.
Mosey around the front of FBC to the side parking lot and circle up for COP
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Merkin x 10
LSS x 20
Burp & Merk x 5
Mosey over to the low wall for circuit work
Incline Merkins x 10
Dips x 15
Step Ups x 10 (each leg)
Decline Merkins x 10
Dips x 15
Step Ups x 10 (each leg)
Wide Arm Merkins x 10
Dips x 15
Step Ups x 10 (each leg)
Mosey over to the greenway and partner up at the bottom of the hill. Partner 1 does called exercise while partner 2 runs to top of hill and back. Flap jack.
Round 1 – Flutter
Round 2 – Dolly
Round 3 – Freddie Mercury
Mosey to the front of the school and partner up. Partner 1 does 10 Merkins while Partner 2 does 10 LBCs. Flap Jack when done.
Repeato counting down from 10 to 1 for each partner.
Mosey over to the side parking lot for some sprints. AYG to one end and recovery jog back.
Repeato x 4
Moleskin:
Great work out there today. I wanted this to be a good mix of upper and lower body for those of us who are starting to taper for BRR. I for one am starting to notice a slight reduction in the humidity and it is much appreciated.
I’ll drop by the school today and apologize for the smelly sweat angels we left at the front door of the school. Hopefully we will not hear about unexplained sicknesses at Matthews Elementary on the news tonight.
Welcome to FNG Soprano. Hope to see you again next week. There are several new faces making appearances at Peak lately, and they keep coming back. Keep’em coming.
Blue Tiger pulled up right at the end of the workout. Hope it is nothing serious and that we will see you back soon.
Thanks for the takeout by Jello.
Chime in with any other mumble chatter.
A Tribute to F3 Leaders
After taking it easy during most of the workouts for the past month or two (MAF’fing it), YHC decided to honor both of the site-Q’s, Pebbles & Mario, who are tough as they come, by throwing down one of the hardest workouts YHC could put together at their site. You can always count on Pebbles to step up and Q a strong workout at a number of locations week-in and week-out, and he has been the face of F3 Indian Land for some time now. Pebbles challenges others to give their best effort during workouts, leading by example, and you always see him competing at the front of the pack. He has revived the Black Diamond workout, helped start Fat Camp, and challenged PAX from several regions to test their boundaries for several years now in The Gladiator Games (which may or may not be skewed to his strengths). We need more leaders like Pebbles in F3, we just prefer they don’t stare down the PAX with crazy eyes, to keep men coming back to the workouts.
Mario might just be the youngest SOB despite turning 25yrs old, but if you were to measure leadership by age, Mario would be a RESPECT. I looked up what it means to be a Leader in the F3 Dictionary and here’s what I got:
A leader shows up to an F3 Dads Workout without being a dad and plays with so many 2.0s that an FNG might think you’re the father of more kids than Antonio Cromartie (13 known 2.0s). A leader steps up to be an active site-Q for multiple AO’s The Brave, Fat Camp, and F3HotTubs. A leader volunteers to manage the never ending Twitter responsibilities for SOB workouts while having a full-time job and full-time grad school. A leader doesn’t just sign up for the Whetstone Mentorship Project but coordinates and markets the program so heavily because he sees that other men can and should strengthen each other, and acts as a mentor or mentee when possible at all times. A leader puts more value on a F3 Spartan Team going #1 rather than beating anyone individually. A leader moves forward through obstacles and adversity with positivity and purpose, even when it’s the inexplicable loss of a your father, or some d-bag stealing the bike you worked so hard to pay for.
Mario is the definition of a leader. Buddy know we will be here by your side as you go through this tragedy and lead your family.
We have tremendous leaders in F3 Nation, and YHC sees them every morning from 5:15am-6:15am daily, reads about them in backblasts, sees them in action in community service projects, and knows F3 Nation is a big reason why there are more and more leaders in our communities. Great work men, continue your leadership. Today, YHC just wanted to publicly recognize two of many for their leadership contributions.
Summary
YHC had the week off from my regular Wednesday men’s group, and volunteered last minute to lead ‘Fat Camp’ for the first time, as a tribute to the Fat Camp Site-Q’s (Pebbles & Mario), and openly promised to make it the HARDEST workout of their week on reduced Twitter marketing (are you happy Twitter followers?!?). 14 men answered the bell, but you’ll need to ask them if YHC delivered on that promise…as for me, it’s Thursday Morning and YHC is flat-out car-accident sore.
The Thang
YHC arrived ~30 minutes early to unpack the truck and set up the field with tons of gear. Several witty PAX like Wild Turkey assumed a 60minute MAF run was in the cards for Fat Camp, but there would be NO running today (or low heart rates) other than a half-hearted mosey around the parking lot to pick up the final two PAX coming in hot with their vehicles. The PAX were looking for the Q at 5:13am and apparently missed the bright headlamp and giant truck parked next to the field. Quick disclaimer was given recommending modifications as necessary given the nature of the planned workout #HEAVYstuff #cantsueme
The workout of the day was a TABATA format: 4-min @ 7 different stations w/ 15 seconds of transition time in-between. The 7 stations were done for two sets, for a total of 13* 14 stations. 2 men started at each station, one man rotating clockwise and the other man rotating counter-clockwise at the completion of each 4-min segment. So of the two men at station #1, one would move to 7>6>5>4>3>2>1>7>6>5>4>3>2 while the other man would move to 2>3>4>5>6>7>1>2>3>4>5>6>7 at the conclusion of the 4 min period. To YHC instructions seem so simple, but for whatever reason… listening to instructions seem to be the hardest exercise of any workout #noonelistenstotheQ . Aside from Exercise #7, YHC threw out some of the toughest exercises that could be done for 4 minutes straight, out of respect for the Fat Camp Site-Q Leaders Pebbles & Mario.
*Apologies for YHC’s FIRST, and likely LAST, Q-fail ever, and despite having supernatural genetically infused math skills, YHC miscounted the number of stations by 1, so only 13 4-min rounds were completed not 14*
COT…. load the gear back in to truck, be inspired by a great heart-felt takeout by Bubble Boy, peace we outa here!
Naked Moleskine
Back to the Workout… To YHC surprise, 14 men showed up to Fat Camp, which was a larger group than YHC expected. Lucky that 7 stations were in order, and that we had an even number of men which made for a perfect rotation.
Fire Hazard pumped his knees higher than a marching band drum major, and pulled like an ox during the partner resistance band exercises. Peppermint apparently wasn’t getting enough of a workout farmers carrying 90lbs of deadweight, that he carried two paver buckets (170lb) around the cones #ridiculous. After basically smashing everyone* in the Horsey Hill Race Monday, Fahvra proved he’s got more than just speed and and sexxxy ripped body (direct quote from Flint), but enough power to go toe-to-toe in tug-o-war with pound-for-pound one of the strongest guys in F3 Pebbles. Speaking of Flint, he’s made great strides in such a short time in F3 and YHC is very proud of him for stepping up to lead Foxhole Monday (despite YHC missing the VQ on account of the “poo-drips” #TMI). Wild Turkey always gives his all, and YHC observed him gassing out his forearms on battle-rope swings like he was back in wrestling camp… wait was that a called exercise (NO)? Despite a busted shoulder, One-Niner beasted the workout and YHC bets could go all day walking on his hands in partner wheelbarrows. Argonaut has ridiculous strength, choosing to carry the 45lb KB above his head for farmers carry, just as he carried the 70lb log above his head up Bagpipe Hill during one of YHC’s Brave Q’s. While the heavy sled would barely budge for many Pax, Mighty Mite had no issues pushing the lowest bar (hardest), and even was seen pulling the weight sled backwards without using the tow rope. Firemarshall Bill dragged YHC across the field in tug-o-war faster than Harambe the silver-back gorilla did with the kid at the Cincinnati zoo a few months ago. YHC is sending him the bill for a new pair of workout shorts and butt-bandaids from the turf-burn YHC incurred after only a few minutes. First time meeting Bubble Boy at a workout, but the guy is legit, and will be pushing for the lead in any workout he posts at. Good to see Kirby show up and work hard at Fat Camp, after YHC invited him after meeting him at Bagpipe the day before. Hope to see you at more workouts. Bourne is a grinder, and showed it’s not the size of the dog in the fight… it’s the size of the fight in the dog (or something like that). JRR Tolkien’s apparently just a runner now…a slow one at that, and struggled through everything 🙁 But it was a pleasure to lead a different workout, and serve my F3 Brothers. Thank you Pebbles & Mario for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements
SYITG ~ JRR Tolkien
Workout Summary
Appreciate all the PAX that showed up for the virgin Q. The first of many. I think this time @jrrtolkienF3 was kidnapped on his morning prerun. He would never miss a #flintcommitment. His absence only made us think about calling Liam Nelson to chase down the kidnappers…nah. The rest of the Flint committee was off.
The Thang:
Theme of the day… Death by “11”s
Warmup:
Workout:
Cool down:
Moleskin
A good group of PAX for the virgin Q. Wasn’t too many to keep up with. Voodoo flaunted the 60lb KB. Argonaut lapped most people, it wasn’t even close. Marlin needs a new clock.
Announcements
*Backblast posted verbatim by JRR Tolkien on behalf of Flint… SMH*
10 pax wisely chose the meathead option this morning, ignoring calls for more running (except YHC who, contrary to form, arrived so early he got in a few laps before the workout). With AC/DC blaring, here’s what we did to get stronger than you:
The Thang
COP
Doubles
Partner up, like size bell, choose wisely for volume
Singles
Extra Credit
Done
COT
Announcements
Naked Skin Gets Ripped Off Your Hands:
Great group assembled this morning, as YHC finished his hot laps on the track (got there too early and had nothing else to do). Last week’s FNG, Lulu, returned for another dose. Site FNG, Costanza, came out after several posts at Olympus and other A51 sites. Welcome, guys! Glad to have you among us.
YHC disclosed early on to the group of his soreness, achiness, and general lethargy, and reminded the pax to modify up or down in intensity as desired. YHC would be modifying down, because of the above but also because of the squat volume planned, but you are encouraged to do what best meets your needs/goals.
The alternating swings in cadence, mixed along with standard A51 COT fare of IW, SSH, etc., seemed to go pretty well, so that’ll likely make a reappearance. It was an “easy” way to warm-up and get 100 swings under our belt while keeping the pax together.
The double front squat + seesaw press was planned for 15 rounds. YHC’s sore hammies & glutes were screaming, so while I wasn’t counting, it was audibled out at about 10-12 rounds, I’d guess, although your mileage may vary. That seemed to be a pretty good pairing of exercises, but I may have to play with the 5:1 ratio, as the presses didn’t seem to be quite right. 5:3 or 3:1 might be better next time.
The snatch ladder was tough for all, it seemed. It looks so simple on paper – each ladder is “only” 15 snatches & 5 swings, with a momentary rest before doing it on the other side – but it seemed much harder. Perhaps it was because it was later in the workout. Regardless, we got our met-con in for today.
Extra credit work was an audible as we were ahead of schedule, likely due to cutting short the squats, although that doesn’t quite fully explain it. Probably because of Awesome! Regardless, we got another 100 swings and some loaded carries in, so that’s a bonus. Good thing the weinke always carries a few audibles, just in case of such an emergency.
Lots of small group 2nd F today during the partner work. That’s one of the best parts of doubles work, IMO. Thanks, Blazing Saddles, for partnering up with YHC. (BTW, I watched the video, but I didn’t see anything of note. Bagpipes were cool, though. What’d I miss?)
Playlist – AC/DC, inspired by YHC’s concert attendance over the weekend.
Thanks for the take out, Freedom. Let’s all remember Destiny; he needs our prayers.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead, gentlemen. It’s always an honor.
Aye.
22 men gathered on the GREEN fields of Ballantyne on Tuesday morning for a weekly dose of some SPEED. Here’s what went down.
PreBlast: http://f3nation.com/2016/08/29/preblast-green-with-speed/
The THANG:
Moleskin:
Announcements: