24 men gathered in perfect conditions at #F3Dromedary for ~2.5 mi, 80 burpees and other festivities during YHC’s first Q in the UC. Blood and sweat were left behind, but no tears.
Thang
Dynamic stretching through parking lot (high knees, butt kickers, karaoke).
Circle up at far end of parking lot for COP:
Follow perimeter road behind high school and partner up. Partner 1 runs backwards clockwise around “globe” traffic circle, Partner 2 runs backwards clockwise around small utility building between the schools. Meet in the middle for 10 partner-slap merkins. Flap jack. Repeat. Mary while waiting for the six.
Mosey back to center of main parking lot for Starfish Burps: a standard 4-armed starfish, with all the burpees. 10 burpees in each corner (rotate between one-legged left, one-legged right, backwards and 8-count) and 10 regular burpees each time at the center. 80 total burpees. Mary while waiting for the six.
Mosey close to launch for Webbicide: a standard suicide, but instead of touching each line the pax does an increasing number of merkins at each line. Run to the first tree in the center median, do one merkin, run back to start, run to next tree, do two merkins, and so on until you get to 9. Mary while waiting for the six.
Moleskine
Since moving from the Blakeney area to Waxhaw in December, YHC has been looking forward to his 1st Q in the UC. It was a tough one today. The backwards running took a toll on the legs and the all-burpee Starfish was a gasser. Thanks to Hollywood and Fire Hazard for the push. And thanks to Transporter for finishing everything early and leading Mary.
T-claps to Bratwurst, Doc McStuffins, Hollywood, Soft Pretzel, Bunker, Family Ties and Fire Hazard for joining YHC on the 3 mi pre-run and 1 mi post-run from/to The Chimneys. Abacus joined in for a bit as well. That is something we can definitely keep going if there is interest. We can also have shorter pre-runs for those that don’t want as many miles. Hoping that some of the newer Chimneys PAX join in. There’s no reason we should be driving in from a mile away! If you wait until you think you’re “ready” it will never happen. Give it a try. You’ll be surprised by how quickly your body adjusts. But wear a headlamp 🙂 Side note: YHC has found that the best strategy when it comes to all things F3 is to consistently say “yes” and allow yourself to be pulled out of your comfort zone. If you do this, you will be amazed at where this journey will take you.
Thank you to Bratwurst and Enron for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements
LegalZoom is starting a Tuesday running workout at Cuthbertson Middle at 0515. Bratwurst is on Q for the first 2 weeks. All invited.
Union County is hosting Q School this Saturday the 29th at Sun Valley Bojangles in Indian Trail
Spring break is done. Summer vacation is still a ways off. So, 25 of South Charlotte’s finest rolled into Stonecrest for a mid-week workout. The Commish planted the Shovel Flag. A less than stellar disclaimer was given. (Regulatory relief compliments of the Trump administration. Please do something about Dodd-Frank next.) Off we went.
Warm-O-Rama:
After a quick mosey, we circled up for:
Imperial Walkers (old man wheelhouse) x 10
Donkey Kick Merkins (compliments of the M’s cardio class) x 10
Low slow squat x 10
Cliff Climbers (mountain climbers but bringing foot close to hand) x 10
The Thang:
Fully gassed from the warm-up, YHC tried to lead PAX further into the gloom.
Bermuda Triangle: Using the somewhat triangularly shaped parking lot, we made a circuit. Stop 1 = 5 donkey kick merkins. Stop 2 = molitov merkins. Stop 3 = Hip slap merkins. LBC when you are done. Round 2 with 10 each (dolly when done). Round 3 with 15 each (monkey humpers when you are done.)
Wall work: Found wall behind theater. People’s chair with 40 air presses. The BTW with 10 elevated mountain climbers. Hill was too wet, so we moseyed to find another. Look! The murderhorn!
Triple nickle b/w 2 lights on the murderhorn. One-arm burps (burpee w/out the pushup) at top. Hand release burpee at bottom. 5 x 5 x 5. Do some form of Mary and dodge cars when done.
Back to theater for rack & stack suicides. 1st line = 10 MC’s. 2nd line = 10 jump squats. 3rd line = 10 plank jacks. 4th line = 10 burpees. Do the assigned exercise each time you hit the line. (70 MC’s, 50 jump squats, etc.)
Done.
Moleskine:
Good to be back at the Maul. A fun AO with lots of options. As an old, non-trained Q, YHC tries to design a workout that can be modified by the recently injured, non-fasthole group but still challenges the studs of F3. Hard to find that balance sometimes. The donkey kick merkins and one-arm burps came from my M’s class at the Y. She can kick my rear, which is no surprise. Thanks for allowing me to introduce some new wrinkles.
The merkin triangle was tricky. What started as doable (round of 5) got nasty (around of 10) and then downright gruesome (round of 15). I had a round of 20 in my back pocket. You can thank me later.
Strong work by everyone today. The PAX were motoring up the murderhorn. Tagalong and Mic Check seemed to be way out front. I only saw their backs until they made the turn. Squid absolutely gets after it time and time again. Goonie returns from 16 days of IR. Haggis always demonstrating strong (perfect) form and an engine that does not stop. Carmen San Diego–one of the coolest names out there. I have no idea what it means and had to google it to make sure I heard it right. I understand it has something to do with video games. Learn something new every day.
Announcements:
FNG convergence. May 24 at Maul.
Savage Race. May 13. Last chance to sign up.
Thanks to Commish and Cheddar. Honor to lead. YHC took us out.
It was nice to head out without getting rained on this morning. Even if it was only to walk to the scout hut.
Disclaimer given, we got started with some sleep . . . well, not exactly. Here’s what really went down:
Meditation/Reflection: shavasana and breathe
TABLE TOP: Cat/Cow -> Plank -> Down Dog (Walk the dog) -> Half-way Lift -> Forward Fold -> (i.e. Sun Salutations) once slowly with Q, then 2X OYO – follow breath, meet in Mountain
Mountain -> Plank -> lower through chaturanga to Up Dog and hold.
Sun Salutation, stopping in Mountain
Eagle Pose – on right leg, R arm over L. Hold 5 breaths. Flapjack and hold 5 breaths
Chair to sit and then savasana
Neck stretch: right hand under hip, left hand over head and gently pull head to left and hold 10 breaths. Flapjack with 10-breath hold.
Bit of Abs: Canoe/Boat
Up to Seated. Right leg straight, left leg bent with foot flat beside inner thigh. Twist left with elbow. Back straight, head last. Hold 5 breaths, try to get bit more stretch each exhale. Release with head first then back. Flapjack for 5-breath hold.
Lie down and grasp knees to chest. Rock side to side for a bit, the rock front to back getting bigger and bigger until come to feet and hands.
Plank. Once all in, Sun Salutation 2X OYO. Meet in Mountain.
Lower down through Chair to 6. Lie down. Start hip stretches with rope:
Alternating knee to chest 5 rounds of R/L. Start w/1 breath then +1 each round
Alternating straight leg up (with towel or strap). 2 rounds w/5 breaths per side. Feet @90 to legs and toes pulled in to shin. Press through both heels. GENTLE HAMSTRING STRETCH. Total 2X/side.
Straight leg to side: Return to your right side and take both strap ends in your right hand, extending your left arm along the floor. Exhale to lower your right leg to the right. Try to keep your left hip on the floor and your left kneecap pointing up. You should feel a stretch in your inner right thigh, but no lower-back strain. Inhale to lift your right leg back up; exhale to release it to the floor. Switch sides. 5 breaths. Total 2X/side.
Inhale to bring your right leg back to vertical. With the strap around the arch of your foot, bring both ends into your left hand. Place your right thumb into your right hip crease and draw your hip down slightly so that you maintain length and space in the lower back. Exhale to draw your leg left across your body. 5 breaths. Inhale to bring your leg back to vertical. Release the strap and switch legs. 5 breaths. Total 2X/side.
Dead Pigeon. 10 breaths. Switch sides and repeat. Total 1X/side
Lie down for shavasana (revisit meditation)
Announcements:
Q-school Saturday in UCo at Sun Valley BoJangles at 6:30
Richard Sheltra Memorial 10K, 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run on Saturday. Preblast here.
Sign up to Q Gumby here.
Moleskin:
Great to welcome two new site FNGs: Mad and Elrod. T-claps for coming to give Gumby a try – AND for bringing your own mat.
We never get enough time to stretch everything, but today YHC tried to hit most. Some arm/shoulder and neck stretching, which we don’t often do, plus some hip/hammie, which we usually do, but today we went after it in a different way.
Hope the stretching helped you loosen up all the tightness from workouts – and regular work.
High Tide has the Q next week, so you know it’ll be great. EH your neighbor or co-worker – plenty of space in the scout hut for more pax.
Thrive means to grow, develop, flourish.
Well how do we know if we are thriving? We need to have a baseline to measure from.
This was a different workout, no cadence, no COP, no Mary. This is you vs you to set a baseline to compare back to at a future challenge.
It went something like this…
Perform exercise 1 using whatever time you need to still have the best form you can muster. Once complete you will run, walk or crawl (Glass Joe with your #Dusty toes) a predefined lap around the perimeter of the parking lot which was about 1/3 of a mile.
Get back and complete exercise 2, do lap, etc.
Get through as much as you can until time is called. If you cheat or cut corners you are only hurting yourself and your baseline. I don’t care if it takes the whole time to get through one or two things, that will be the baseline you will work towards crushing the next time.
Here was the list:
Mountain Climbers – 100 (count each leg as one)
Lap
Calf Raises – 150 (50 regular, 50 toes pointed in, 50 toes pointed out)
Lap
Merkins – 100 (25 wide, 25 regular, 25 narrow, 25 diamond)
Lap
Burpees – 50
Lap
Carolina Dry Docks – 100
Lap
LBCs – 100
Lap
Jump Squats – 100
Lap
Dollies – 200
Lap
Squats – 100
Lap
Rock Hoppers – 100
Lap
Russian Twists (American Hammer) – 100
Lap
Burpees – 100
Lap
Burpees – 200
This was tough, as a challenge should be, and this group of PAX did such an awesome job! Seriously proud of this group of guys.
I was going to post how far everyone got but I will hang on to the results for next time. The only person I will call out is Shepherd who made it to the lap after squats which means he did 3 miles of running also. #Beast Although I am still questioning his counting skills to be about 2 exercises past everyone. #Wheaties #SuperPastor or #O2Dep #miscounts, you decide.
We will do this again in about 2 months and track our progress.
Always an honor to lead!
Aye!
Hair Band
Tomorrow, we are running the regular route. Take the kick in the pants the first mile and deal with it. Your reward is donuts. Lots and lots of donuts.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/7470827
Launch times:
515: 830-8:45 pace
520: 8:00-8:15 pace
525: 7:30-7:45 pace
530: 7:00-7:15
SYITG
10 men and 2 turkeys climbed the pyramid at Friday’s Mountain Goat
The Thang:
Warm-up: Mile run down Strawberry and Rosecliff to Browne’s Pond. U-turn, stop on way back at Strawberry and Rosecliff for COP: IWx15, Squatsx15, RDsx15; Return to school, mosey down to track.
Partner up for CMIYC. 5 squats. continue for two laps.
Mary while waiting on the six
Main Event: Interval Pyramid. Run the following at mile pace: 400m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m. In between each run, recovery jog/walk for 400m.
After YHC completed the 1600m, we hit the time limit, finished our last lap, and returned to the parking lot for mary: flutters x20, bicycle x20.
COT
Mileage: 4-6mi
Moleskine:
Announcements:
Special shout-out to all the folks running the Smoky Mountain Relay – looked like challenging and painful event. T-claps!
.. and none were found. 14 men dared the sky to open up for a third day in a row and swung some bells this morning. All were veterans so the disclaimer was light. Here it goes:
The Thang:
Run to the rock and back, 20 SSH, Run to the rock and back, 20 IW, 20 swings OYO. Once everyone was winded we discussed the finer points of working on the field. But since the field resembled a large swimming pool filled with grass and mud YHC called an audible and moved us over to the rock. The men circled up and the madness began.
First and second set: 20 two handed swings, 20 High Pulls, 10 Snatches – 5 per side
Between sets, Line up to lunge walk to the ramp by the school entrance, plank up for the 6 and mosey back. Rinse and repeat for the second set.
Third and fourth set: 20 two handed swings, 10 Clean & Press – 5 per side, 20 Goblet Squats
Between sets: Duck walk to the ramp by the school entrance, plank up for the 6 and mosey back. Rinse and repeat for the fourth set.
Fifth and sixth set: One handed swings – 10 each side, 10 Bicep Curls, 10 Tricep Extensions, Lawn Mowers – 10 reps each side, 20 Good Mornings
Move bell to lockout position on left side walk to the ramp again. This time 10 merkins IC.
Move bell to lockout position on right side walk to the parking lot entrance, 10 merkins IC.
Move to the cars for some Mary:
Leuganis x 10 IC, Flutter press IC, Russian twist IC, Bell lean IC, and finally some pax choice for a little improv.
The moleskine:
Great effort today by all the pax. The early runners just made it back to the parking lot for 5:30, Apparently, Fletch had to go find them all and get them back. Fireman Ed has been doing double workouts, who knew 3:00 AM was good time to hit the gym? Apparently it’s just him and some guy in a trench coat. No one asked any questions.
Great to see Caddie making the regular rounds. He was an FNG at Joust only a few weeks ago but has picked up kettlebells with little trouble. Keep at it brother!
Finally, thank to Harley for the chance to lead. Workouts are challenging enough, but leading them is a new level of challenge for YHC. I say BRING IT ON!!
Announcements:
Bulldog Q’s Meathead on Thursday, Fletch Q’s Death Valley tomorrow, Come to Kevlar on Friday and get your High-T on this Saturday at Calvary (shameless advertising all around)
YHC had the take-out
4 real men (arguably dumb men) decided to show up to The Matrix this morning during one nasty rain storm. With a shovel flag firmly planted in Poptart’s backseat, without any disclaimer despite the treacherous conditions, and the rain continuing to get harder, we took off right at 0530. Here is what we did:
Mosey down to the lower lot for a quick lap and head back up the main drive to grab O’Tannenbaum. Run in front of the school and into the main teacher’s lot to circle/triangle/square up.
COP:
Mosey over to playground.
Reverse 3 Exercise ladder:
Mosey over to covered area in front of school:
Mosey back to the cars and call it a morning.
Ye Wet Moleskin:
This was a morning to sleep in. Honestly, when I started F3 over 3 years ago I loved these kinds of mornings. There was something about working out in a downpour that was exhilarating. Somewhere in the last couple years that changed and turning the alarm off when hearing the rain outside became the norm. Only reason I was coming this morning was because I was scheduled to Q. On my drive over, I kept thinking/hoping nobody would show and I would just turn around and go home and back to bed. As I’m driving down McKee I see a set of headlights in the parking lot. Thinking, let’s put my sales career to test (since I’m in the booze business, do I actually do much selling?) and see if I can talk this fellow into saying we did but we didn’t kinda thing. I pull in next to Pop Tart and we just kinda look at each other. I’m hoping he’s reading my mind about bailing. Nope, he just jumped out of the car and is standing outside…in the rain. Then Madison pulls in too. Great. Can’t quit now. In the midst of the torrential rain, I don’t hear Madison claim that he can be talked out of this workout. Damn, that was my chance! Okay…let’s mosey. As we came back up the driveway, we see OT standing out in his yellow poncho looking around for us. Had we been any later he claims he would have headed straight for the covered area thinking we would be there. And by that he probably meant back into his car before he is seen.
Having the small group forced us to keep each other accountable and put some hard work into each exercise. Madison thought he saw lightening early on. We think it was just a light turning on. Those can be tricky. Later we did see a couple of big flashes, but with the accompanying booms, it was clearly transformers blowing up. Hope they got that power back on for those unfortunate few. OT started to shortcut the counting on the second round of air presses by only counting single digits after 20, but then confused himself, and me, so we all had to count the rest of the way. When we were bear crawling, I gave the order to crawl to the end and come back. Madison quickly asked if it was to the end of the covered area or to the end of the sidewalk, to which YHC replied “just go until it gets wet!”. Take that as you please.
Overall, really strong efforts out there this morning by all 4 of us veterans. Honestly, I am happy you guys showed up and forced me to do this workout in the rain. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I did it. I still will probably turn my alarm off next time though. Until then…
Pro
Announcements:
It was a dark and stormy morning…and YHC had not Q’d a workout since February – or posted consistently since early March(!). Holy mother what a suckfest today was. I had been up since 4am basically listening to the rain, wishing for it to stop…it didn’t, so here we all are.
YHC pulls up to drop off some coupons around 5:25am…no one at the PD station…will YHC be the only one in attendance? The wheels begin to turn…
Drop off the coupons to the rear of Jack Hughes Park, come back and there are TWO cars where previously there were none…it’s 5:29a…okay, let’s get this over with. Disclaimer begrudgingly given, we set sail:
COP
1.25 mile warm up to The Hut and back to the rear of Jack Hughes Park – get them juices flowing. On approach, grab one of 4 plates (45 lbs and 35 lbs) and head to the picnic pavilion…let the record reflect that Prvt Benjamin was the only one who grabbed a 45. #LarryBird
Slow Merkins X 15
Mtn Climbers X 15
THANG
Triple Lindy’s X 15
Driving Miss Daisy’s – Biceps – static lifts X 30 seconds (arms @ 90 degree angle)
Drop ’em
15 slow dips
25 Step ups each leg
Triple Lindy’s X 15
Driving Miss Daisy’s – Biceps – static lifts X 30 seconds (arms @ 90 degree angle)
Mosey over to Parks & Rec Office, grab some wall
People’s Chair Merkin assembly line X 15 (while in ppl’s chair, one by one drops for a merkin, gets back into people’s chair, next man goes, and so on…once everyone has done one merkin = 1 rep….this sucked)
Mosey back to picnic pavilion
Triple Lindy’s X 15
Biceps – statics X 30 seconds
15 slow dips
Return the plates
Mosey back to launch point
Fin.
COT
Name-o-rama and last call for the Sheltra Run…Tclaps to Pvt Benny for a STRONG EH on Snowflake. Think we got one more on the list!
Private Benjamin / Snowflake – Thank you for being there this morning. I needed to be up and out today, and I need to put the wheels back on the bus. Thanks for being part of the first step. DF out.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 3 years and over 100 workouts of Interval running in SOB land, but it’s time to recognize it and move on. We’ll have a less structured workout this week in that it won’t be PreBlasted, but come prepared for the shorter stuff of 0:30 and 1:00 intervals. In particular, one interval that better be faster than 0:36 (but not Frasier)…
Let’s take a second to talk about the weather. If you are on your feet and running when it’s raining and above 50 degrees, wearing a long sleeved shirt, and perhaps have a visor or hat to keep the rain out of your eyes, you’ll be pretty comfortable. No excuses for the weather on this one.
Timeline: