Monthly Archive December 2016

#Preblast – The 400m is the Spice of Speed

Swift will launch at 0515 from the Vine Restaurant lot in Ballantyne on Tuesday.  We’re headed towards Rushmore Dr where the cones will guide us to the start and stop of 400m intervals.  Some will be flat, some will not be flat.  All will be at Repetition Pace / 1 mile Race Pace (find yours here at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator) with an equal distance recovery. Show up early at 0500 for some extra 2nd F Running.

 

 

Back the Basics on the Bull Ring

10 PAX launched at 0515 on Tuesday to get back to some speed and interval basics at the loop around Ballantyne Corporate buildings (13860 – Chandler, 13850 – Hixon, and 13840 – Simmons), otherwise known as the Bull Ring.

The THANG:

  • 0500 – Several PAX head out from the Vine parking area for an early option of 2nd F running.
  • 0515 – 10 PAX head out on a slightly deviated warm-up loop toward the Bull Ring, passing through the Brixham Green (not because Q got distracted, just because…) on the way.
  • 0525 – Warm-up drills with the heels, toes, high knees, butt kicks, and B-skips
  • 0530 – Explain the layout of the Bull Ring with the 200m measurements to the drives in front of the buildings and back at the stop signs.  Workout is promised to be at least 3 rounds, perhaps 4 of:
    • 200m at 1mile race pace (find your pace here from an equivalent race result http://runsmartproject.com/calculator), 200m jog recovery
    • 200m at 1mile race pace, 200m jog recovery
    • 400m at 1mile race pace, jog to regroup the PAX and recover at least 400m
  • time check showed we at least had time for another round, and seeing the Bagpipe PAX fill in to the inside of the Bull Ring validated we had time for the 4th and final round.
  • 0610 – Head back to COT at the Vine.  Elbow plank until the six of Bagpipe is in.
  • 0615 – COT

Moleskin:

  • Great to get back to a regular start time at 0515, but there were still some PAX eager to get started earlier or trying to figure out the weather.
  • Repetition Pace (1 mile race pace) seemed pretty nice on the opening 200m to feel the quicker turnover on the legs, feet, upper body, etc, but YHC was reminded that 400m at that pace is no easy task.  Definitely felt the last two 400m going out of the aerobic zone.
  • Haggis was strong all morning and showing very little outward effects of the mileage of marathon and ultra training.
  • Nard Dog definitely challenging the pace on the intervals and opening up his powerful stride.
  • OneNiner (who says all he can do is run) definitely won the mileage prize for the day by keeping it rolling and never seeming to let up.
  • Can’t just do 200m or Mario would smoke the PAX.  Showed good restraint today, albeit perhaps the last 400m where he was in a heap on the ground afterwards either checking the treads of his shoes or mopping up merlot (which might have been from Haggis).
  • Das Boot perhaps his first taste of #ludicrousSpeed, but we’ll guide the newer PAX towards this Swift, short, and Sweet.
  • Abacus, noticing that the PAX weren’t going to be running a zillion miles, showed up to get the speed in.  #kotters
  • FireHazard and Bunker were there.  They ran.  They got the inside tract.  #insiders
  • Welcome to a Swift FNG, but don’t recall the name at this point.  Stayed well with the group and should be back.

 

Depressing 12 Days of Christmas

I made it to the parking lot close to 10 minutes early somehow and got my poster board, i-pad and speaker out for the workout and waited on the Pax. At first Squid was the only one in the parking lot and I thought we would be cancelling the workout and just going to get our weekly Dilworth coffee. Then the rest of the crew showed up, and we were off.

Mosey around the back parking lot and back to the cars for warm-up:
20 x SSH
20 x Chinooks
10 x Merkin

The Thang:
Mosey over to the rock pile and grab the biggest lifting rock you can handle, and head back to the cars. I got my tools out with the poster board, timer on the i-pad and Christmas music going on the speaker and we did the 12 days of Christmas below. After each exercise, run a lap in the parking lot.
1) 1 minute plank
2) Burpees with Rock
3) Pull-ups
4) Toes to Bar
5) Diamond Merkins
6) Greg Louganis
7) Tricep Extensions
8) Merkin
9) V-Ups
10) Squid Curls
11) Arm Raises
12) Crucible Merkin

Moleskin: For the first time every Lobsta Roll was late to the workout. We started off on the warm up as he was still pulling into the parking lot. And I think Squid fell asleep on the asphalt because he was still laying there when we took off. LR tried to blame me for starting to early, but I doubt my 12 year old Timex has the wrong time. I tried a new warm-up, the Chinook, and it was totally a Q fail. Then there was a lot of mumblechatter when we got the lifting rocks because the guys couldn’t handle running 150 yards with the rocks. They were very confused. And once we got started on the 12 days, Ocho started getting depressed from the Christmas channel I selected so we had to switch stations so he and LR didn’t got home depressed and start crying over Christmas. It seemed everyone was in a better mood once I found the upbeat channel. Great work out there by everyone. It was nice to stay together as a Pax the whole time. I enjoyed the workout and Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for the take out Ocho.

Announcements:
Convergence 12/26 at DMZ
Convergence 1/2 at Matrix
Joe Davis run 1/7

RockZero Christmas Concert

15 of Santa’s little helpers made the decision to get a strong workout in after a long season of building toys in the workshop.  It’s Christmas Eve.  Time to sit back, relax, and have a cocktail or 12. So a good beatdown was in order so their little elf britches still fit come Monday. With no shovel flag in sight, but a healthy Christmas playlist ready to rock on the iBomb, we set off.  Here’s what we did:

Mosey up and around the parking lot and circled up at the far lot closest to 51 for COP:

  • 10 Burpees OYO
  • SSH x 25
  • Imperial Walkers x 20
  • Low Slow Merkin x 15
  • Mountain Climbers x 25
  • Low Slow Squat x 15

Mosey over to the big rock pile and pick out a running friendly rock/present.  Mosey with rocks over to the shelter near the big field.

  • Little Haze’s (similar to step ups, but only lifting one leg while the other leg stays on bench) x 15 with rock – repeat with other leg
  • Derkins x 15 in cadence
  • Dips x 15 in cadence
  • Repeat everything 2 more times
    • Derkins & Dips move to 10 reps for rounds 2 & 3

Grab rock and mosey to field.  Line up for suicides with pain stops all while carrying rocks. 4 stops all 25 yards apart

  • Round 1: merkins x 5 at each stop and base line (total of 40 reps)
  • Round 2: jump squats
  • Round 3: burpees

Circle up at baseline for 10 rounds of Jack Webb with rock.

Line up for Indian Run with rocks back to cars.  Pause.  Continue Indian Run around church back to the rock pile.  Drop off the rocks as the little elves were tired of carrying around their presents.  Mosey to the area of Calvary with the fake grass and find a spot on the wall for some modified mary:

  • People’s Chair w/ hands out (or clapping to Mariah Carey)
  • LBC x 20 in cadence
  • Flutter x 20 in cadence
  • People’s Chair w/ toes up
  • Dollie x 20 in cadence
  • Freddie Mercury x 20 in cadence
  • People’s Chair w/ heels up

Quick mosey/all you got back to the cars.  We Done!

Moleskinny:

Great veteran crew out there this morning to start the Christmas celebration.  I appreciate the enthusiasm for my music.  I mean, if Bing Crosby singing a Hawaiian Christmas song doesn’t put you in the mood to workout, I don’t know what will.  When I saw I was scheduled for Christmas Eve, I had to wonder if it was just a coincidence or if Buttermaker knows me better than I thought.  I’m going to go with the later.  Speaking of coincidences, anyone else catch that Jingle Bells started playing just as I put the iBomb down my pants during the Indian Run?  That was exciting!

McGee was seen substituting burpees for merkins throughout the morning trying to get to his 100 per day in December.  I’m sure you’re ready for this month to be over.  I know we are just by watching you.  He, Rachel, and Nemo were out front all day per usual.  Not sure if they were just trying to stay ahead of the music or what. Flipper started off complaining about the music and said if he hears Mariah Carey, that we were going to have a problem.  But by the time Mariah came on, he was clapping AND singing All I Want For Christmas Is You.  #closetfan

Lots of mummblechatter this morning per usual.  It picked up quite a bit with the Little Haze’s.  Is it a step up? Is it a step down? Shouldn’t you call down? Shouldn’t you call up? How about you guys figure it out and come back to me in the new year.  Alf and the Area 51 board can work on that decision over the holiday vacation.  The chatter picked up again during the Jack Webbs.  Lots of trying to get me to cut short of 10 rounds.  Lots of form corrections being shouted out by Gummy.  Truth be told I realized this was a bad idea after round 7, but I knew I had to keep going.  Great seeing Fletch out on a Saturday!

Thanks to site tri-Qs for letting me lead today.  It’s been a great almost 3 years of F3 for me (12/28/13).  Lots of incredible friendships and bonds created.  Thank you all for being a part of this experience.  Welcome Shoe to Area 51.  He moved down from Isotope a couple months back and is still getting acclimated to the south.  Come on out to RockZero any time.  Great work by everyone today.  Thanks to Gummy for the takeout.  I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  Be thankful for everything you have and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

-Pro

Announcements:

  • Monday 12/26 – Convergence at DMZ: 0700
  • Monday 1/2 – Convergence at The Matrix: 0700
  • Joe Davis Run – Jan 7th
  • Convergence – Jan 7th at RockZero

 

The Brave BB: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger DECK!

Well, If YHC had one movie quote to describe The Brave workout Friday, it would be:

“We’re gonna need a BIGGER BOAT DECK!” – Movie JAWS …. (that’s what she said).

SUMMARY:

Thursday night, YHC didn’t get much sleep… WEIRD dream after WEIRD dream kept on popping into my head, with one of the stranger being a memory of YHC’s ancestors from China, who coincidentally had the same names as the pilots in the Asiana Flight 214 Crash last year… check this out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1JYHNX8pdo . Call YHC superstitious but this dream meant something… but what? Then a great beautiful cuddly and intelligent Panda appeared to Tolkien in the next dream to translate…. The Great Panda (we’ll call him “Po” #KungFuPanda) said, “Little Panda, if only 2 PAX show up to your Brave Q after all marketing efforts, the numbers will be ‘Wi Tu Lo’.  If Fireman Ed can’t get enough oxygen in the stairwell, he will fall down the stairs and you will hear many ‘Bang Ding Ow’.  If you don’t mark the course off with orange cones there may be ‘Sum Ting Wong‘, and if more than 30 PAX show you will be screaming ‘Ho Lee Fuk‘ in disbelief…

The next morning… 33, yes THIRTY-THREE men of F3 Nation from 7, yes SEVEN, different areas (SOB / A51 / Indian Land / Union County / The Fort / Metro / MECA) traveled down to Ballantyne for The Brave Muthaship Simulation Parking Deck AMRAP workout and and shirtless JRR Tolkien could be heard for miles screaming his great Uncle’s name at the top of his might “HO LEE FUK!!!“… just as the Great Panda had forewarned.  (Yes, YHC is an idiot… but please read on)

Honestly, YHC had no clue how many men would post to this kind of workout… a parking deck AMRAP with nothing but elevation, right before the holidays. But, YHC DID know, that whomever did post would serve themselves a self-inflicted beatdown and walk away a better man for it.  So whether it was to pay your respects to the Muthaship workout (R.I.P.) that died 6 months ago, because you came for the “Tolkien Pity Party” as Voodoo labeled it, were a Brave regular, or took the pre-blast (http://f3nation.com/2016/12/20/the-brave-preblast-how-mentally-tough-are-you/ ) to heart and wanted to prove to yourself your Mental Toughness level was high, it was great to have you this morning, and YHC truly appreciates your attendance and the support today.

One last thought… then on to the shenanigans. The Brave workout is designed to be THE toughest SOB workout, heck many claim it’s one of the Top 5 toughest workouts in all of F3 Nation, and you’ll hear no disagreement from YHC here. But what really makes a workout tough is not the AO, Q, region, etc. It’s your individual ability to push yourself to the limit when it’s that time… which requires, the theme for the week, MENTAL TOUGNESS.  Truth is, we all HAVE to be mentally tough to do F3. It starts with waking up a ~4:15am in the morning to deliberately work out in the rain & cold when 99% of everyone else on the East Coast is sleeping.  To be completely out of shape, and not give a $h!t that others may be obviously thinner, faster, or stronger, but to know that YOU will be like that person if you keep up the hard work.  To step up and lead other men first at a workout, then a site-Q, organize a coat drive, a road race to end addiction, collect hundreds of turkeys to hand out to the community, or raise money and collect toys for charity. Or in COT to humble yourself before GOD in front of other men, and pray that he will use us to do his good will. So the question of “How mentally tough are you?” was already answered in my mind be fore the workout even started… we men of F3 Nation are ALREADY MENTALLY TOUGH!

THE THANG:

This time, we’ll run this SOLO

1) 5:15am START: 25  chest-to-ground burpees in Vine parking lot

2) Sprint to lowest level of Ballantyne Village Parking Deck : 40 Hip Slappers  (20 each side)

3) Run all levels up to top of deck alternating BACKWARDS RUN FIRST on first ramp, then FORWARDS RUN on next.

4) Down the staircase on the LEFT (farthest from Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down

5) At top of the deck: perform 5 BURPEES + CRAB WALK the straightaway + 5 BURPEES (head towards the stairwell closest to the movies)

6) Down the staircase on the LEFT (closest to Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down

7) Back down staircase to the bottom, run to the TOP of the grassy hill you initially ran down and start step #2 again. That’s 1 Lap… how many can you complete? #REPEATO #AMRAP #YOUvsYOU

8) 6:12am – stop wherever you are and head back to The Vine parking lot for COT, and Virtual Trophy Award presentation.

NAKED MOLEY:

That’s a wrap! Everyone got in 4-5 laps of this behemoth which would amount to 100+ levels of stair climbing and backwards running. Then add in two of the most un-cheatable hardest exercises in crab-walks and elevated hip-slappers. VT# goes to Thin Mint with a close 2nd Fishwrap… although both are too modest to tell us who really won, and no-one else was in sight either. Most everyone got to cross each other on the course today, and while it was a lactic acid leg party, there was time for good fellowship and no-one was left behind.  A few musings:

  • Voodoo has too many vacation days around the holidays.  He has been silently taking smack talking level to a new high on Slack, not in person.  He didn’t have much to say during the workout though… come to think of it, Voodoo reminds me a lot of Smoky in the Holiday classic “Friday”… Listen to Voodoo here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmbO6s1DmU
  • Who the heck named Escobar? Is it because he’s Colombian? That’s just inappropriate. It’d be like if we named the next Korean guy Kim-Jong-Un…WE SHOULD DEFINITELY NAME THE NEXT KOREAN GUY KIM-JONG-UN!!!
  • Was nice to meet Buckeye this morning. Dude has had two ACL reconstructions in the past year, but still did a thousand plus steps. Some were likely done with his arms though… dayumn, you seen those guns!!!
  • Site-Q’s Mario, Fire Hazard, and Thin Mint (#VT) were feeling downright giddy about 33 PAX at The Brave, which has to be some sort of a record. But then reality set in, and they decided they’d rather have 10 PAX or less if it meant YHC was never allowed to Q The Brave again.
  • Nard Dog and Soft Pretzel looked like they were Making America Great Again, since from across the top deck they looked like spitting images of the Trump/Pence tandem.  Nard Dog is a bond trader, and YHC has seen Soft Pretzel’s neighborhood, so both duos do have something in common…. $$$$$$$$
  • Wild Turkey looked especially determined out there today.  Determined to find a way to get the PAX at Stonehenge to do Leg Wrestling as one of the exercises #PAXmutiny #NOchance
  • Goonie wanted bear crawls substituted for crab walks so YHC would not be able to complete 2 laps.  Don’t hate brother, YHC will pick you for partner carries next time #moveoverMario Mad props to Goonie for having done a hotter version of this workout before & STILL showing up today.
  • Frasier ate something at coffeeteeria! We all witnessed it. Whether he regurgitated it when no one was looking is the question. Either way, if YHC could have an engine like that man, you can rename me the Bulimic-Breakfast-Barfer too.
  • Udder was pretty focused this morning… YHC thinks he was playing Pokémon Go! and was tracking down a Picachu in the stairwell, but YHC was mistaken it was just Fireman Ed’s plumbers crack showing (get it? peek-at-you? Never mind…
  • Longshanks and Geronimo represented The Fort well, crushing the Fort competition, coming in 1st and 2nd place for The Fort participants… Heck YHC got 1st in the Asian category (thank goodness Napster wasn’t here) #podium.  Thanks for making the trip fellas!
  • Astrovan’s first post was in SOB-land at YHC’s 1st Q at Stonehenge. Was great to have him come down all the way from MECA, but i guess if you want a F3 workout with the average age under 47 you need to driveway from The Tradition AO.
  • Ever hear the phrase “safety in numbers”? Well that’s the Union County guys… you never see just one of them at a time. Good thing Doc McStuffins, Transporter, or Frack didn’t need to drop a deuce this morning… all of them would have needed to Indian run to the CVS. Great having you work horses at The Brave.
  • Flipper‘s very first post was a callout of young padawan Mario on Slack last night over who would finish first on the AMRAP #respect. And Flipper backed up his talk if AMRAP stands for As Much Rest As Possible…. but it doesn’t. Looking forward to your Brave Q Flip.
  • Mighty Mite was seen rounding the ramps singing Guns & Roses “Sweet Child of Mine”, and another mystery song that he was going to bust out in karaoke nexy HDHH. If you want to talk to Mighty Mite, don’t talk… sing. It’s his love language apparently. #KaraokeChampion
  • My boi Fishwrap made the trek from Uptown to SOB-land to take back the strap from Fahvra from the McHorsey 10k, and take home the #VT from the day’s workout.  After being only 1 of 2 to complete 5+ laps, it was nearly mission accomplished except for the Girl Scout cookie he choked on… #ThinMint 
  • Squid made Poptart show up. He told me on Twitter. YHC would do what Squid tell me as well. What Squid probably didn’t tell Poptart was to cheat so badly that he would be on his 8th lap, when the leaders were on their 5th. SMH
  • Pebbles only posted to borrow YHC’s bubble machine, he ran the opposite direction in the parking deck, and left before COT… we may never see Pebbles again…. man YHC is gonna miss Pebbles that cheap bubble machine.
  • When YHC saw ALF actually show up in The Vine parking lot after saying he definitely would NOT be there (hates crab walks) YHC was shocked. But ALF doesn’t always mean what he says…. just like Champagne who HC’d and didn’t show.
  • One Niner‘s shoulder injury seems to be getting better since he powered through the crab-walks. Had we done bear-crawls we would not have been able to see how healthy his arm really was #questionableBearCrawlForm
  • The always vocal and aggressive Fault Line and Beaker were heard discussing after The Brave how pathetic it was that YHC would post at Fast Twitch to promote such a ridiculous workout. It was so out of character, YHC is convinced they were paid off by Tiger Rag to say that #feelingsNOThurt . Nevertheless great posting with you guys.
  • Kirby did not die….In fact, he actually showed great mental toughness to fight through the workout especially being sick. Thanks for coming brother, keep after it, and congrats on the 1st Q at FC Wednesday.
  • Turkey Leg descends from hills faster than anyone YHC has seen in F3.  Which is why there were NO descents today other than that short tiny unsafe grassy hill.
  • Hairball is the man… he will not be trolled. YHC is still in amazement over the beatdown he served YHC at Kiawah by about 1 minute, and will graduate from his terrible F3 nickname, a cat, to the one his M gave him and his margin of victory.. “The 1-Minute Man”.
  • FNG Sunshine traveled all the way from San Fransisco the night before to attend a F3 Nation workout with YHC. Sunshine is a bad@$$ triathlete who has done some crazy races like the ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ Triathlon and several marathons.  He “ran” his first Spartan Race with YHC and waited for YHC at near every obstacle. Held his own out there today, and even was quoted to say “had a few more rounds in me” after the workout. It must have been the Lulu Lemon Hot Yoga pants he wore in the 40 degree weather which gives you stamina. Welcome Sunshine!

BONUS…HOLIDAY HATE MAIL:

Bunker said his vagina foot was swollen from three days of posting and also needed to shave it … his HEAD you sickos! YHC understands because one of those was a 45min boot camp, so his non-muscles were probably in total shock.  Since Bunker wasn’t there, naturally Tuck didn’t show #solidarity. There would have been excessive screeching, scratching, and slapping going on in the Mr. Bean vs Strawberry matchup, but neither could agree to the location of the showdown, Bean wanting it in his fartsack and Strawberry wanting it at a FIA AO.  After HC, Haggis decided he’d play Uncle Scrooge and said BAH HUMBUG! to The Brave despite living less than 800 meters from the parking deck. He was later seen doing derkins on the second floor of the Sara’s YMCA in his native kilt showing his ‘Stone Man Rocks’.  Goonie scared the $h!t out of the chatty Gump on Slack telling him The Brave was the toughest workouts he’s ever experienced, which caused Gump to skip town and impromptu vacation with the self-proclaimed “slow and chunky”, SOB Nantan, who works at a major accounting firm starting with P and ending in WC, who raises chickens & HATES AMRAPs, who is terrified of snakes, and who for privacy reasons will remain confidential and unnamed.  Anyone been to a famous wax museum lately? Dolphin was asked to post, and YHC thought he just might… but in the last minute committed to his go-to holiday workout, 12 Days of Christmas Eating. Another old fart, Frehley’s Comet, is normally a regular at The Brave, but thankfully he was not present today… after all… can you imagine what the stairwells would have smelled like had he been there #gaschamber #deadbodieseverywhere.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • T-Claps to Fire Hazard for recommending PAX donate to The Wounded Warrior Project. If you would like to make a donation, please do so here: https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/
  • Sign up for Joe Davis 5k/10k to end bad addiction. This race is in memory of Rock Thrill‘s brother, and over 150+ F3 Nation PAX will be in attendance. Run your first race, PR, or beat me in 10k and YHC will do 10 burpees for each of these #goodluck. Deadline for T-shirt extended so sign up now! https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/
  • Convergences the next two Mondays… check the newsletter and/or schedule for more details, or pester Poptart about it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your families. God Bless F3 Nation!  It’s been a great year getting to know ALL of you better and looking forward to a greater 2017.  If you would like YHC to Q a workout at your site, even if not SOB, hit me up! That will be a goal for 2017 to connect with more PAX across different regions.

Sound off with any omissions/corrections although the accuracy of this backlist should be spot on.

SYITG ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Nothing up our Wizard Sleeves

Christmas eve sledding party

Christmas Eve- What better to do than have a sledding party.  After the terrible beat down at Brave yesterday, Frack says to me, “you know there’s football sleds at Weddington.”  Oh really, I reply, thats going to suck, you take that part of the party.  So here’s how it went.

WU: Mosey to the side lot, quick disclaimer then the fun begins- 30 SSH, 30 MC’s, 30 LSS, 10 Merkins.  Mosey to the back of the school for a continued supine warm of of 10 supines on each of the 3 railings in cadence.

The thang:

Mosey over to the opposite side of the school where (2) 45 Pound plates begin the work.  This was  a great exercise glass Joe showed us at our site around a year ago. Simple, break up into 2 teams,  1 person pushes the plate while the rest rotate between 10 Merkin, 10 Squats, and 10 LBC’s.   After each set one takes over and the next person on the team takes the plate, till we made a full round around the parking lot.  Two obsevations stand out during this exercise but Ill save it for the moleskin, but lets just say the Meyers were on opposite tracks.

Next exercise, after I figured out how to count, or at least have the group count off,  break into 5 teams of 3 and head to the practice field.  Sandbag on one sideline, kettle bell on the other.  The exercise was 50 sandbag burbee press lunges, the timer was the runner swapping with the person on the other end swinging the KB.  This went on for a while until the teams finished.  In the mean time Doc and Ice led some Mary while everyone finished.

Next was the sleds. Frack took over and decided to used a similar format but instead of running back  and forth we broke into 3 teams of 5 and the 5 man sled became the timer.  Each team had to push the sled 3 times.  This was a leg killer.

Last for a bit of fun was the “tug of war” battle between two teams.  This was Happy’s idea and I liked it.  3 rounds while evening them out to make it more difficult was a fun finish to the work out.  Mosey back take the gear back, hit some mary while the pac came in Finished!

Moleskin:

To have 15 of our Pax show up on Christmas Eve is so encouraging to me, it goes beyond my standard thought process that 15 decided they would get their butts out of bed on Christmas Eve and challenge each other for an hour.  Moses made his F1 Debute and put the work in,  realizing he wanted to work on both the spiritual and physical aspects of himself, 6:30 was no obstacle.  Snow, Ice, and Doc are the cornerstone of our group always pushing, encouraging and lifting everyone up.  Popeye still carries his “no quit” attitude, and although those were not Shop or Dirty Birds specific 2016 words of the year to live by, they certainly have as well.   Goodfella is earning his stripes quickly and with out hesitation stepped up for Monday’s q, can’t wait.  Gator, have you seen him 50 years old this year, he with-out question is in better physical shape than he was a year ago, he has put the work in.  Maple Syrup and Troylette, like Goodfella always have a smile on their face and get after it in every work out.

Which leaves us with Bolt, I had heard this young man had made his debut a couple weeks ago,  heard he was fast, heard he was strong, heard he also has a no quit attitude. Well, it is true,  6 years old, he was on my heals the whole time (I’m guessing he didn’t pass me out of respect), fast, check,  strong,  mmm, for sure, he didn’t hesitate taking on that 45 lb plate and gave it all he had.   No quit, for sure,  Popeye tried to instruct him how to modify something so it would be a little easier, nope not Bolt,  he decided to modify and make it harder, so instead of KB swings he added burbee’s to the mix.  Awesome, but what would you expect he’s Ice’s son, Ice works hard, so Bolt would naturally work hard too.  So here’s where they differed today.  While pushing the plates around the parking lot, Bolt got on it  and gave it his all, no issues, a little help and he was around the corner.   Ice gave it all he had as well,  but,,, his was just a bit on the drunken worm burner kind,  he decided to miss the corner and run the plate toward the island. Next time will give Ice a ticket:)

So with that, again, thanks for giving me the opportunity to lead, I appreciate it more than you know.  Oh and Popeye and Shop, I owe you one, (defiling Packers attire is a capital offense). Hugs around! Merry Christmas!

 

Announcements:

Flash this Monday is at 6:30

Joe Davis run- Google for times and location

F3 Sanctuary is on this Monday at 7:30 in the Brooklyn Pizza in Wesley Chapel

Abba’s Christmas Cheer!

Feeling blessed this season and this morning came together nice with some unexpected visitors to cap off the welcome party.  Nice to have Carrier, Cracker and Abba at The Valley.

The THANG:

Circle up

30 x SSH’s

20 x squats

10 x windmills

20 Burpees OYO

Mosey to four corners for clock rotation of merkins

Cruise to Greenway for 1/4 mile jog to basketball court

2 rounds of

lunge walks and raccoon crawls

1/4 mile run to hill

300  yard partner carry

Indian Run back to AO

Partner up:  People’s chair and High steps for 3 rounds

1 minute of Mary

COT

The MOLESKIN:

Grateful for this men!  Thanks to Abba for taking us out.  Reminder of the reason we celebrate this season.  Peace men!

In him,

GOP

Mountain Goat Backblast

The Thang:

Twas the night before the night before Christmas, with neither phone nor fax, four mountain goats were running and were called the Pax.   OK, so you can see why I am not a poet…

Having gathered up 4 goats at 0515 we head off for a warm up run.  Given the temperature in the 30s with a light breeze, warming up was easier said than done.  We then did our normal routine of dynamic stretching (on the toes, 20 steps each with toes pointed out, in and straight; followed by the same routine on heels, then high knees and butt kickers).  Having reached the proper level of warmth and limberness we proceeded to main event.  Round 1:  30 seconds uphill at I-pace, recovery back to starting point, another 30 second I-pace run with same recovery, then 1 minute I-pace with recovery back to starting point.  All that equals round 1.  Then did 4 more for 5 total rounds.

Cool down jog back to parking lot for stretching, count off, name-o-rama and prayer.  My watch recorded 4.32 miles.

Moleskin

I wondered if any goats would leave their warm caves to run in the chill and gloom on a near holiday.  I should not have doubted my brothers.  They specifically came to ensure that I would not be alone on this fine morning that God granted us.  Drano even delayed leaving town to be there.  I appreciate my F3 brothers more than mere words can convey.  Great to have Ironsides and Kilowatt join us today and of course great to have Drano, a MG regular, too.  All PAX put forth great effort throughout the 30, 30, 1s and were consistent to the end.  We were grateful too that Drano was able to postpone a potential emergency Nature’s Call.  We have called EPA and let them know the potential ecological disaster has been averted. Thanks to Slim Fast for the opportunity to lead.

I pray that all F3ers can rejoice in the arrival of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior.  May we all continue to pursue Him and reflect to a hurting world around us the love, grace and forgiveness we have found in Jesus Christ.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The 12 Burpees of Christmas

21 (including an FNG) gathered on the Eve of Christmas Eve to burn some calories to justify the mass consumption of food that will occur this weekend. YHC tweeted that there will be some burpees throughout the workout. Starting with 12 and going down to 1 for a total of 78. After a through disclaimer (after all we had an FNG) off we went.

COP
12 burpees OYO
Mosey over to parking lot off McMahon Rd and circle up
11 burpees OYO
Imperial Walker X 15 IC
Slow Squats X 15 IC
10 Burpees OYO

THANG
Mosey to intersection of McMahon and Little. Partner up and get 1 lifting rock per group. Partner 1 repeats of 10 curls, 10 overhead presses, 10 tricept extensions while partner 2 runs to 51 and back. Plank while waiting for six
9 Burpees OYO
Partner 2 lifts rock while partner 1 runs to 51 and back
Rinse and repeat one more time
8 Burpees OYO

Mosey to front of school
7 Burpees OYO
Bench work – 15 jump ups, 15 dips, 15 decline merkins (Repeat)
6 Burpees OYO

Mosey to bottom of parking deck
5 Burpees OYO
Run up short ramps of parking deck with 5 merkins at each turn.
4 Burpees OYO

Mosey back to launch spot for the Centurion Mile!

5 MINUTES OF MARY
Flutter X 20 IC
Freddie Mercury X 20 IC
3 Burpees OYO
American Hammer X 20 IC
LBC X 20 IC
2 Burpees OYO

Mosey back to launch spot for the grand finale! 1 last “ULTIMATE BURPEE”. (Burpee with 12 merkins). Don’t know if the term Ultimate Burpee has been taken but it sounded like the right thing to call it.

MOLESKINE
Great turnout today and strong effort by all! 1 FNG (Welcome Merkel!) and 1 Centurion FNG from F3Isotope (Welcome Shoe!). Not sure exactly how the name “Merkel” came about. It went from mini vans to fish to something German and all of the sudden it was Merkel. YHC was at a Christmas party last night and woke up this morning not in the mood for burpees. Then again, when is anyone in the mood for burpees? Had to persevere and stick with the 12 days and Christmas theme. 5 “Respects” in attendance today as well! Only 1 more Centurion posting of the year and Chelms has promised 0 Burpees. It was an honor to lead today. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Need Q’s last weeks of Jan & in Feb. Contact Margo or Chelms

Mentoring Opportunity – Contact Chelms pchepul@gmail.com – See link Interrupting Hope

Serve at Ronald McDonald house 2/22. Need commitment from 4:30 – 7:30. Contact Margo ptharbin@gmail.com

Joe Davis – 1/7