14 PAX posted for a humid Bagpipe beatdown. Here what we did:
The Thang:
Mosey to COP SSH, IW, Merkins, Mountains climbers
Mosey over to Crane Lake (named by my 2.0 Dash, aka small pond with the bridge) for partner work. Partner up! Partner 1 runs a lap around the pond while partner 2 runs up the hill, back down and 15 merkins until their partner returns, flapjack for 2 sets each. Next set Partner 1 runs a lap around the pond while partner 2 runs up the hill, back down and 10 burpees until their partner returns, flapjack for 1 sets each.
Then, mosey over to Lock ness (sprint up the hill along the way) for he Durkin/Dip Ladder. 10 Durkins, 10 Dips, 9 Durkins, 9 Dips, etc.
Then mosey around lock ness for 6MOM
COT
Moleskin:
The humidity was absolutely terrible and made this Q so much worse than it really was.
Announcements:
Post at Indian Land’s newest workout, Blackhawk this Saturday 6:30 am at the wallnut creek park.
16 men posted to see what Billy Goat could bring to the Gloom in his VQ. Here’s what we did:
Billy Goat:
COP – 15 SSH, 15 Imperial Walkers, 15 LowSlowSquat
Mosey up Ballantyne Commons to MetLife building with 3 stops: one at Resort for 5 burpees, 10 merkins along the way, and lastly at MetLife entrance for 10 count of LBCs and center/right/left pulses
Mosey over to the descending platform flight – exercises at each platform:
10 Derkins & 10 stepups
10 incline Merkins & 10 jumpups
10 Merkins & 10 dips
10 burpees
plank and wait for the 6 in the roundabout
Mosey back up the flight towards Ballantyne Commons, stop for 10 count Freddie Mercurys
hand off to Madame Tussauds
Mosey back to the east side of the movie theater parking deck and partner up for the punch bowl. Partner 1 run down the hill through the basement and up the hill (hence the name Punch Bowl) while partner 2 does the called exercise to 100 total. First round merkins, second round squats.
Mosey over to the wall next to Duckworths for wall climbs and 5 burpees X 3.
Mosey back to launch for Billy Goat to call 6MOM.
COT
Moleskin:
Great VQ by Billy Goat. Way to throw it all out on the line. We covered over 3.5 miles in total, which is a lot for a VQ. The punch bowl seemed like a good idea in my head, but i really regretted it in action. Those hills were terrible. Shout out to Mr. bean and Frehley’s Comet. They did a whole lot of complaining so the beat down must have been good.
Announcements:
Join your Indian Land brothers at Walnut Creek this Saturday for the new launch of Blackhawk at 6:30am.
It began in the gloom, it will probably die there… and that’s ok because all good things must end in time. Today, however, is not that time! The legacy of the greatest darn AO in all of southland began almost 4 years ago when MallCop, Hops and Runstopper began this thing we called “TheRock.” Back then the godfather was known as to be the forge in which men were smelted to strengthened steel from the unformed iron of complacency. YHC was one of those PAX, forever changed by the brotherhood and hardships of this place. Welcomed by the brotherhood with open arms, the course of my personal life has been supported and channeled by my experience as part of this crew… and now I am honored to be among its leadership.
Leadership, what does that mean? YHC believes it signifies final responsibility, total accountability, and the struggle of making the “right” decisions on a day in, day out basis. At some point in the past few months I’ve realized that I’ve not made the best decisions as site Q of our dear RockZero. By having no guidelines, we’ve begun to lose our identity. When our fearless leader posted on Slack about making your site memorable, it struck home… HARD. To that YHC worked with his co-site Qs (Boerwors and the newly minted Hooooooooover) to develop the criteria which will define RockZero 2.0. Qs will be asked to follow the following: Drum roll please…………
The formerly planned High-T convergence this weekend will officially kick off RockZero 2.0 with Hoover, Boerwors, Ickey Shuffle and Rachael will be your ringmasters.
THE THANG:
COP – TBD
Split into two groups for-
HEAVY: 5 weight stations to make you stronger, 25 minutes of grunting and lifting essentially
LIGHT: Running some laps, some hill suicides and other runny type stuffs
Finish with TUG O’ WAR!!!!!
-See you in the gloom
Flipper
7 assembled for their weekly test of strength and fortitude, known as Meathead. Though #TBQ was avoided, it came close. Here’s how:
Disclaimer
The Thang
COP:
Partner up
Round one:
Round two:
Round three:
Round four:
Fini
COT
Announcements:
Naked Moleskine:
Great job by all today. Lots of good 2nd F among the partners, as they pushed through, and everyone was getting after it. Some may have needed larger bells and YHC may have needed smaller bells, but it seemed everyone got their money’s worth by the end.
The goal was to double-down on stressing body parts with KB + bodyweight superset, while allowing slight recovery with the opposing movements yet keeping the heart rate high. It did look easier on paper, as always. With overly ambitious bell selection and a head-cold sapping available energy, YHC was light-headed and nearing #TBQ by the end. After a few minutes of rest, enough strength was available to drive home (thanks YL for checking). At least for YHC, a little more recovery would have been nice, but some were able to get in extra sets – so maybe it all balanced out. That’s really one of the beauties of a Meathead/KB workout – you’re in control of the intensity based on your bell size selection, regardless of what exercises the Q calls.
Thanks, as always for the opportunity to lead. Aye.
30ish PAX showed up for an out of character weather morning last Friday (6/16) to see what our dear friend and Kotters aficionado, RunStopper, had in store. Quickly disclaimed we mosey out the lot dodging a few latecomers. Quick audible to plank up in the street (beware of traffic) and graciously wait on our six. Altogether now, we mosey up Walsh to Carmel Corners. Quick right into the corporate parking lot and COP.
COP
In Cadence
SSHx30
IWx25
Merkinsx25
Low Slow Squatx25
maybe a few others. Time has washed away my memory of the preliminary work.
The Thang
Partner up in a row (abreast) in parking lot. Partner Wheel Barrow with swap in the middle of lot.
Run over to Panera lot. Hidden among the grass median waited a few weights intent on burning up the parking lot. 3 to a group, 1 pushes plate across lot and back AMRAP while 2 and 3 run the stairs up across and down. 2 relieves partner 1 and 1/3 run. Rinse and repeat x 2, 3 times maybe… Enough of that junk. Deposit plates back in the cut and head to CCHS for 4 rounds of 4 exercises x 25.
Derkins
Stepups
Diamond Derkins
Dips
Mosey back to lot for 3 mins of Mary.
One week old moleskin: Runstopper told us sorry and thank you for dealing with his out of shape self and indulging the ball of snakes that makes up his thoughts in order to devise a workout. I believe he also recently changed jobs, so there’s that also. Good news is we all got in a healthy sweat, and mild mumblechatter about his questionable choices.
Announcements:
Speed for Need July 4th race. American 4 miler
Looking for Q spots come this fall. Holler at Udder or Margo for dates.
Prob more things, but hey it’s a week later and I’m a ghostwriter.
(runstopper is a poopypants)
18 men gathered for low miles and high reps at this morning’s edition of Rebel Yell.
We started with a quick job from the Regal Cinema to the Michael’s parking lot throwing in some high knees, butt-kickers, side shuffle and backwards run.
COP
Side straddle hops x 15
Imperial walkers x 15
‘Mericans x 15
Arm circles x 5
Mountain climbers x 15
The Thingy
Run across the street to the cul-de-sac of Piper Station Dr. The cul-de-sac is the face of the clock. An exercise was placed at each hour position.
1 Carolina Dry Docks
2 Single-leg deadlift
3 Jump squats
4 Super Man
5 Sky Humpers
6 Mahktar N’dyai
7 LBC
8 Push-ups
9 Lunges
10 Calf raises
11 Mountain climbers
12 American hammer
Pax spread out across the clock for 60 reps of each exercise. One could break up the exericse into managable chunks, but you couldn’t move on to the next hour without finishing.
The Larry Birds who finished all 720 reps just starting running back and forth. It was great seeing leaders keep moving. (No standing around!)
When (just about everyone) finished we ran back to Regal Cinema for a time-bomb burpees.
Moleskine
The goal was to provide a traditional full-body bootcamp high reps and low miles. I hope everyone used this exercise to think about how we spend our time. Our need to pace ourselves (it was not possible to rip through 60 reps of most exercises) and how it’s better to spend time with friends.
Stay safe out there!
In an effort to be creative I presented a twist on an old favorite the triple nickel and called it the 666 Suicide which may have been my downfall. My knee gave way and had to limp the rest of the course while giving directions along the way. Maybe more thorough stretching before and after is in my future as it seems my injured knee is due to tight, locked up leg muscles.
Workout:
1. Assembly, disclaimer & start
2. Warm up: side straddle hop, imperial walkers, low slow squat, windmill, mountain climbers.
3. Partner up at fountain: 200 dips (per team) as partner runs around light pole
4. Mosey to wall behind Old Navy (plank or Mary till 6 arrives)
5. Indian run along back of building to end when it turns toward Rea Rd.
6. Triple 6 Suicide (this is my twist on the triple nickel): start with 6 Carolina dry docks run to first of 6 cones (or some other marker) then do 6 jump squats…end at the 6th marker. Mary until 6 is in.
7. Wall sit exercises for ~2-3 minutes
8. Mary Starfish at the circle
9. Mosey to square on Tolleson Ave. Break into teams of 3 (2 men exercising, 1 running at any given time) step ups at one end and derkins at other end
10. Mosey back to Chick-fil-A for Mary & elbow plank (2 minutes)
Closing circle
MOleskin courtesy of Strawberry:
– 666 Suicides were terrible. Thanks Chopper. I think those did you in.
– It was quite saucy this AM. It’s just getting hotter too.
– Great use of the AO. We traveled in all 4 quadrants, and visited the boardwalk/nature trail as well.
This morning 42 men of Anvil, Death Valley and parts unknown converged at Calvary Church for 45 minutes of work, followed by 20(ish) minutes of coffee and words from Dredd under the pavilion.
Thang
Moleskin
Schedule a convergence of A51’s two finest Wednesday workouts, call it CCC, add a promised visit and words from Dredd, then throw in some free coffee and you can expect big numbers — which is exactly what we had. Luckily (or more likely by Dollywood’s design), there is no better AO in the southland to accommodate a big crew than Calvary Church.
A few quick observations (emphasis on a few). Group 4 Whoever started with Freddie Mercury (you know who you are) needs to ditch their Garmin watches, get a good ol’ Timex, and watch the hands for a little while. If you need further lessons in clockwise vs counter-clockwise, my 5-year old is available and accepts pizza or red, white & blue Skittles as payment; Passing 10 burpees in a row sucks, every time, even if it’s only to do 15; Almost everyone missed the memo on wheelbarrows coming back and instead gathered early for coffee and hot air in the hot box. Found us doing Mary a few minutes later. Please apologize to your shoulders for denying them their full potential.
Good times watching Rachel and Dollywood race it out during the rock sets. Hairball, angry at the thought of his growing biceps creating wind resistance, called YHC out for killing time with the rocks. #AnvilVirgin. Must’ve thought he saw Jack Webb creeping around somewhere. Leading the herd took up the remainder of YHC’s energy, attention, and limited vocal cord capabilities – please add additional observations below (looking at you, Hops).
Appreciate Mermaid’s advice in planning for today and his readiness to step up and help if we needed to split the group. Mermaid EHed me a little over a year ago and has been an indispensable source of support and encouragement ever since in both F3 as well as my private life. Prime example of what it means to go beyond the easy part to have a deeper impact (more on that below).
Also appreciate Dredd taking the time to speak with those who were able to stay after (and Geraldo who came over from the Donut Run). While I definitely can’t reiterate what was said (the man has a way with words), a few takeaways for YHC personally:
To be clear, I am definitely not claiming to represent Dredd or his views. This is just a little of what I came away thinking about when Dredd was done talking and I am sure every man had his own takeaways. If you missed today, I highly recommend you do your best to make the next convergence/speaker in July. Definitely a great way to spend the morning. Big thank you to Dollywood for his leadership in organizing this (stay tuned for the next one) and for the opportunity to lead today.
Finally, in the not-tough question category, what does CCC stand for? I am going with Calvary Church Convergence, but I am certain you creative types can come up with something much more interesting than that.
Announcements
7 pax posted for the 2nd leg of YHC’s triple-down Q parade, in the cool, dry confines of the Scout Hut, for a little stretching, balance-work, and Hans Zimmer radio. After supplying the site-FNG-friendly pink yoga mat to Tulip, an ultra-brief disclaimer was given, and we began.
The Thang
Savasana
Devotional – Ephesians 4:1-6
COP / Warm-up:
Half Salutes with Chair:
Standing Hip Openers:
Standing balance flow:
Low Lunge series:
Sun Salutations with Lunges:
Sun Salutation:
Corpse Pose
Done
COT – take out by Tweetsie
Announcements:
Naked Moleskine:
So, YHC returned from his business trip to San Francisco last week with a “souvenir” he’d prefer not to have, a head cold. Nonetheless, he’s been missing Gumby lately, so with a pocket-full of tissues on hand, we pressed on. Only a single nasal interuption, although YHC’s hearing may have been compromised early on. No matter.
Today’s musical accompaniment was from a Hans Zimmer station on Slacker. Some good variety of strong movie scores. After YHC remarked that the song from Return of the King (Lord of the Rings) song was, “holy cow, ten minutes long!”, Stay Puft reminded us all of the context, “well, have ya seen the movies?” Aye…
Thanks for the opportunity to lead today. An honor, as always.
The Donuts were not soggy but the Donut Run miles were soggy. 6 ran this morning (5 on the North course and 1 on the Jello course).
Some highlights:
1. The hill up Sharonview is delightful in the fact that it never ends.
2. Semi has some major gas issues.
3. Voodoo and Geraldo launched at 3:56am.
4. I believe we snuck up on Jello finishing his bathroom break on Rea.
5. Colony and Rea sidewalks need some major tree trimming. Could be a good service day opportunity for Agony’s church.
6. If Carmel CC (or Quail Hollow) is looking for a moderately bad golfer that can’t afford the initiation fee, then please contact Semi.
All in all, it was a good run and the new route was good.