QIC: Scratch & Win
PAX: Queen, Double Decker (FNG), Egypt, Slumdog, Bob Villa, Marge, Frosty Paws, Leprechaun, Sleepy, One Eye, Lewinsky, Thunder Road, Semi-Gloss, Puddin Pop, Scratch & Win
Lottery Tickets Sold Here – No Refunds
15 pax, including 1 FNG, gathered in the gloom for what turned out to be a challenging, yet creative beat down. I’d like to think tweeting a screenshot of YHC appearing in the lottery commercial for which he is aptly named was the reason for the big turnout. Not sure, but the buzz on twitter was enough to get Semi-Gloss out of bed. It was rumored that by attending YHC’s VQ, one might receive a lottery ticket of varying games and amounts: Power Ball, Lucky 7’s, Jumbo Bucks, 10x The Money Scratch Offs…but alas, all that was received was the satisfaction of knowing you pushed yourself to be better. And some movie references (including our new FNG’s name) – more on that later. Disclaimer given – you cannot sue anyone, including Obama. And we’re off.
The Thang:
Faster than normal mosey (YHC was amped for VQ and may have gone out a bit fast) one lap around Olde Providence. YHC extremely surprised he’s in the front and realizes his mosey has turned into a 90% jog.
COP
20 Imperial Walkers
20 SSH
20 Mountain Climbers
Quick mosey to new benches at front of school near playground and partner up.
Partner 1: Exercises at bench.
Partner 2: Run to back playground for Pull ups. Run to opposite side parking lot for Merkins. Run in front of school back to benches. Flapjack. Rinse and repeat.
Rd 1: Step Ups; 7 (the number of our Lord) good form pull ups; 15 diamond merkins
Rd 2: Low Slow Squat; 7 (the number of our Lord) good form pull ups; 15 regular merkins
Rd 3: Dips; 7 (the number of our Lord) good form pull ups; 15 wide-arm merkins
Backtrack mosey in front of school to pick up the Six. Missed 2 pax that were halfway through the back half of the circuit. #RookieMistake by YHC.
Mosey back to school for some wall sits. Very tempting to leisurely rest on the ledge that’s at perfect sitting height. Everyone declines.
Wall Sit for approx. 2 mins (10 count by 12 pax down the line). Recover. FNG slowly walks away from pax to gather his thoughts – more on that later.
Back on the wall for Wall Sit with 20 air presses IC.
Mosey back to launch point for Domino merkins. YHC could have provided better instruction here, but we eventually got it.
5 slow count Domino merkins and finish with 30 second plank.
Mary (disguised as her twin sister “Sally”). YHC throws back to late 90’s movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”. Pax listen to “Flower” by Moby (aka “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down”).
Protractor, alternating b/w 6 inches and 45 degree angle. 3 min and 25 seconds without feet touching the ground (not all made it the whole way w/o modification including YHC).
YHC realizes 1.5 min left. So, 25 merkins on your own to finish. 10 burpees for anyone who wants to push themselves (Sleepy takes the bait).
COT – thanks for the takeout Frosty Paws.
Ye Olde Moleskin:
YHC was thankful for a good turnout and honored to lead the pax, despite getting little shut eye from a mixture of excitement and fear of over sleeping. The movie references started before launch with a Shawshank reference from Puddin’ Pop, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Little did Pop know YHC was also pulling out a fav movie from high school w/ Gone in 60 Seconds. The final big screen connection was with our FNG – welcome to DOUBLE DECKER!! For those with kids you’ll recognize the invention of Emmet (aka The Special) from Lego Movie. Ask DD what the connection is at his next post. HUGE T-claps to DD for rallying to finish with the group after he gathered his thoughts (read “refunded last night’s dinner”). YHC wasn’t certain if he should feel bad for him or proud that someone lost their lunch during my VQ. In the end, YHC settled on empathy b/c he’s been there TOO many times. T-Claps to Egypt and Slumdog – who, best I could tell, put the EH on Double Decker. Thanks to Leprechaun for the clown car and Lewinsky for the encouragement. Finally, thanks to Marge and Queen for “volun-telling” me to Q.
Announcements:
A smattering of mumble chatter and general updates. Most of which can be found on the website. All of which are many months away.
FNG – Welcome to Double Decker.
11 “mature” men assembled for the launch of The Fishing Hole, an exclusive new workout designed for wiser, older, stronger, and better looking men. T-claps to Mr Bean for starting this up (especially since AO is closer to my house than any other Thursday workout). We had to make a few exceptions to our criteria (not naming names) to hit our opening day count target.
The Thang:
Mosey down by stadium and Cadillac reminds me this is low mileage workout. We promptly drop down to bear crawl and lunge walks to comply with AO criteria (PAX can thank Cadillac – I would have preferred the mosey).
COP in parking lot behind field – 1 Burpee, IW x10, 2 Burpees, Merkins x10, 3 Burpees, Squats x10, 4 Burpees, Peter Parkers x10, 5 Burpees
Mosey over to rails for 15 decline Merkins and 15 pull ups.
Up stairs to level 4 for Dirty MacDeuce – 4 sets of 3 exercises to 12 count with sprint half way down deck and back between sets
Round 1 – Lunges, Diamond Merkins, Flutter Kicks
Round 1 – Squats, Maktar Jai, Dolly
Round 3 – IW, LBC, Dirty Hookup
Round 4 – Knee ups, CCD, Burpees
Jog down ramp to level 3 and then down stairs to 1
Balls to the Wall Merkin Ladder (1 to 5) with Bear Crawl to other wall and sprint back in between each “step”
Up stairs to level 4 and back down before heading over to rails for another round of pull ups. 15 pull ups, stretching (geared to mature crowd), and 15 pull ups
Down to parking lot with six Minutes of Mary with Flutter, Dolly, High Flutter, and Box Cutters.
Down behind stadium with bear crawl and lunge walk to end of field before heading over to benches in front of school.
Circuit ladder with dips, bear crawl up ramp, donkey kicks and run back to benches with 5 reps round 1, 10 reps round 2, and 15 reps round 3.
Mosey back to launch site for 30 seconds of LBC to make sure we get our money’s worth.
Moleskin:
Great start to this new workout and T-claps to Mr Bean for his efforts. I was expecting a larger crowd based on all the marketing pre-launch but 11 was a great number (mainly because it kept the Q heckles to a minimum – Paper Jam was unusually quiet).
Cadillac may have set the F3 record for longest Kotter as he was out of F3 for over 3 years (I have not seen him since even though he lives on my street – maybe he was avoiding YHC). T-claps to Cold Cuts for EH’ing him and joining us from his normal Metro workout. Again, PAX can thank Cadillac for the bear crawls instead of mosey behind the stadium.
It was especially nice to be closer to the front of the PAX than my normal position in the back. Running is not my specialty so the under 2 mile limit is perfect for me. Also great to meet some new guys – Kirby, Cul de Sac, and Chopper. Also good to see Beaver back as he overcame his aversion to the site after tripping (Disclaimer) on the curb last time.
Mr Bean and Frehley’s Comet deserve all the credit for getting this workout off the ground. Mr. Bean expressed his passion for this new workout wonderfully during COT.
Announcements:
Bring a “mature” friend next week.
Contact YHC (pchepul@gmail.com) if interested in getting involved with First Tee and kids at AG Middle School.
Also, please consider posting to Church on the Street the first Sunday of every month or finding another way to get out an make an impact.
It was an honor to lead this group and to take us out with a prayer.
9 men posted this morning after the advertisement of being able to get “runner’s arm swole.” None were disappointed.
Warmup:
Swings OYO, Low Slow Squat, Prying Squat, Merkins, Sots Press (For Ickey), and a few more swings.
The Thing:
12 reps of each exercise, 3 sets through: Snatch, Good Morning, OH Press, & Merkin (12x each side for Snatch)
12 reps of each exercise, 3 sets through: Clean, OH Squat, Lawn Mower, Staggered Merkins – Right hand on KB (12x each side for Clean and Lawn Mower)
12 reps of each exercise, 3 sets through: High Pull, Romanian Dead Lift, Thruster, Staggered Merkins – Left hand on KB (12x each side for HP and RDL)
Grab a partner. P1: 2-KB Deadlift for 10 reps P2: Elbow Plank. Flapjack. Repeat for 5 sets each.
100 Swings OYO (Single or 2-handed). Every time you break the set you pay 5 burpees.
On your six for some over head lat pulls with the KB.
Time.
Moleskine:
I just wrote this up and it looks fairly easy. My body currently says otherwise. It was a lot of reps. Close to 900 for the entire workout.
Solid group out there today with little to no mumble chatter. Not sure if it was the cold weather (which surprisingly didn’t feel that cold), the high reps, or the awesome tunes. I think Ickey Shuffle went off into his happy place when we closed out with White Snake. Also played some Skynyrd for Ickey and High Tide and some Rolling Stones for Bulldog. I just assume all brits love all British bands. Is that discrimantory?
I think Rachel and Purell’s relationship is now out in the open. Posting 4 or 5 days a week together. Always chasing each other through the workout. Glad to see they feel comfortable with it, no need to be ashamed.
All the guys were working hard this morning. A few breather’s here and there during the sets were necessary because the high reps were a cardio burn too.
Thanks to Bulldog for the Takeout.
-Alf
Announcements:
3F opportunity with Man Cave – Friday’s, 6:30 at Arbo Panera.
Joker Q’s Cerberus tomorrow, come out to the new AO.
Hawk’s Nest Bootcamp official launch on Tuesday at 5:30 AM at Charlotte Latin. Park in middle school lot, entrance is off Raintree Lane.
Starting this Tuesday, Fast Twitch moves to Charlotte Latin. 5:15 launch and common COT at the end with Hawk’s Nest.
So…have you ever struggled naming a workout on a Backblast? I didn’t…At least not after this morning’s GroupMe explosion. It all started with an innocent question from BC- “So…what was up with the numbers this morning?” I should have never mentioned my little OCD deal with numbers and them being equally divisible. Needless to say, the 14 Gifs/Memes mocking my condition were an awesome way to start the day. Wife: “Are you laughing at your boys again?” Me: “Yep.” Wife: “Carry on.” Foundation started pushing my buttons towards the end though when he started in on Tennessee and their ineptitude. I came close to having to ask for the title of that book again, but luckily I had a gif from the movie Goodfellas to remind me…YHC digresses. Anywho, here’s today’s buttoned up, equally divisible workout – all in tidy little increments of 7:
Warm-up: Xerox (R) came in on two wheels with 7 seconds to spare. He quickly exited the vehicle and joined the mosey past Doughboy’s office and to the church parking lot.
The Thang:
Moleskin:
Great effort by the group today. Keith Jong Hill is a tyrant and merciless. Don’t tell him I said that. Bottlecap led the charge, Foundation and Button were flying as well. The Clydesdales acquitted themselves quite nicely and the (R) crew had a great showing too. FNG Spitz and 2nd time visitor Cherry Picker seemed to enjoy our mascot as well. At least it sounded like that’s what they were muttering as we went up and down KJH.
Keep the pressure on, boys. EHs seem to work quite well in our group. We’re glad to have Spitz and Cherry Picker join the fold and trust the 1 and done days of Orville are long behind us!
Announcement:
Only 1- Open Door Bible Study at the Lawson Millhouse @ 7 Sunday morning. Discussing 4th Chapter of the Book of John. A guy named Jesus says some cool stuff. Check it and Him out. Pretty good dude.
Thanks, Mad Dog for taking us out.
Sixteen men gathered at Symphony Park on March 3rd 2018 for the sixth installment of the Run Jen Run. For those that do not know the Go Jen Go foundation was started by Jen Pagani and her family in response to a need that Jen found in the community while she was undergoing her own battle with Cancer. The foundation helps identify people and families that need a little extra help while they commit their efforts to fighting cancer.
On this day we were lucky enough to get to push two track commanders that are fighting cancer. One had just undergone chemo that week and the other was one year removed from her initial diagnosis. We also got to push two classmates of Jen’s children.
All in all we had sixteen pushers/runner from Union/SOB/A51 that showed up. Some pushed, some encouraged and others ran. Of course Tolken was bouncing back and forth between everyone.
Bethany and William got the pleasure of going fast and getting lots of cheers throughout the race. William was heard asking to go faster and it looked like Snowflake was giving it all he had. Rock Thrill and Mermaid got to push Bethany.
Gumbo/Fire Hazard laid it down with Wakeelah. Wakeelah had just had chemo that week. She had a great time and was very appreciative to everyone that helped.
Doc and myself pushed Cheri. We went back and forth with her grandson but ultimately he was too much to deal with and he pushed ahead at the end.
The event/experience is always powerful. I know I get a great sense of how powerful it is when Tolken puts out the videos. Sometimes it is hard to remember during the event because there is so much going on so it always helps to look back. Tolken has turned his purpose into a cause and we are all lucky to be able to be touched in some small way when we show up.
5 of South Charlotte’s finest PAX gathered at SCMS for another edition of Area 51’s Death Valley. YHC must confess to not knowing the origination of the AO name. Perhaps the SCMS track is located in a bowl? Perhaps the site launch was instituted by a Clemson or LSU grad? YHC is somewhat familiar with the Clemson story behind “Death Valley” (someone stole a rock from that California hellhole and carried it back to the Upstate for some reason), but the LSU story escapes me. Irregardless, the stadium in Baton Rouge is known as “Tuscaloosa-West” to us Bama brethren, so why those Cajuns call it “Death Valley” can remain a mystery. RTR
Wholly inadequate disclaimer was issued to the veteran PAX. Slow mosey to Gateway Academy parking lot.
COT
Mosey to Alexis neighborhood. Mary at McPherson/Wyman intersection. Mosey to each of the 4 cul-de-sacs; 10 Merkins ea. location. Congregate at bottom of McCallum Court hill.
Triple Nickel — Squat Jacks at top, Plank Knee-ups at bottom. Mary after completion.
Mary
Mosey towards SCMS. Stop at Strawberry Ln / Woodfox. Mosey down Woodfox to Rounding Run. 5 burpees OYO. Return on Woodfox to Strawberry Ln. 5 burpees OYO.
Mosey to SCMS blacktop basketball goals.
Finish with Mary. COT. Done.
Moleskin
Solid effort by the PAX today, as requests were made via Text Message for running. With the most recent calfoidal perturbance in the rearview mirror, YHC was happy to oblige. Smokey’s After Action Report clocked the mileage at 3.1, which is not a bad total considering the amount of Boot Camping that occurred. Spackler heckled the Donut Run PAX, but they ignored him. Yell louder next time. Dollywood fell asleep in his vehicle prior to Launch due to sleep deprivation that accompanies a newborn in the house. It gets better. Dollywood also proclaimed “This workout sucks!” towards the end which YHC took as a badge of honor. You’re welcome. Smokey rocked the running portion per usual (#ageless), and Puddin’ grinded out the miles on a PF weakened foot. Oddly enough, flatulence was at a minimum today.
YHC has been frequenting Death Valley for almost 2 years, yet this was YHC’s site VQ. How does that happen?? It was a pleasure and honor to lead. Thanks to Smokey for the takeout.
Announcements
PAX Madison currently in job transition. Technical Sales. Prayers requested.
Heads up for 6th Annual “Walk A Mile in Her Shoes” event on April 28th, hosted by Safe Alliance. Great event, great organization. More info to come regarding F3 involvement.
23 men showed up to the Maul on this brisk morning to discover the The Maul was closed and the PAX were headed back to school. Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
We launched from the AO and turned right onto Elm st, crossed I-485 and turned left on Endhaven and stopped at Endaven Elementary School (1.2 miles from launch).
-Circle up for COP to wait for the 6
– Mosey over to the play set and partner up. Partner 1 does pull ups, partner 2 does merkins until 20 pull ups and 40 merkins were completed
– Mosey over to the bus parking lot for ladder sprints. Q called an exercise and a number of reps (10), reps were completed and the PAX sprinted across the lot and doubled the reps (20), reps again were completed and the PAX sprinted back across the lot and tripled the reps (30). Exercises called: Burpees (5, 10, 15), Squats (5, 10, 15), Merkins (10, 20, 30), Lunges (5, 10, 15 each leg), CDD (5, 10, 15). Head back to the AO.
People chair on a wall to wait on the 6. 25 presses IC just for fun.
6MOM (PAX Choice)
COT
Moleskin:
I wanted to try something no one has ever done, take the men of The Maul to new territory, but I knew there was a risk of ticked off PAX. Most people have devised a worked that they knew some PAX wouldn’t like. Spackler last week, for example, called the Murderhorn challenge. Most hated it, but did it anyway. When it’s all said and done, the Murderhorn has the safety net of being right next to launch. Disgruntled PAX who are tired of running atleast have the comfort of knowing they are very close to launch. That wasn’t the case this morning. Being 1.2 miles away can make those who hate running uneasy. Knowing good and well that some wouldn’t like it, I went for it anyway.
Toolbag and No Show took one for the team and hung with the 6, while the rest of us gave Endhaven what we had.
Cheddar was there, basking in the glow of announcing his new expected baby this past Saturday at Stonehenge.
Frehley’s Comet spent most of the workout EH’ing anyone oldy and moldy for his new 45 and over workout on Thursday.
Mic Check showed up at a workout, a few guys thought he was an FNG.
Announcements:
Richard Sheltra 5K in Pineville 4/28. Hoping for 10 F3 guys to push speed for need chairs.
The fishing hole launching tomorrow. Only come if you’re old.
Date night this Saturday
New workout launches at charlotte latin. Hawks nest. Tuesday 5:30. Fast Twitch is moving to charlotte latin.
So it took a couple days for Tebow to get me the backblast (because he didn’t know my real name)…and a couple more days for me to post it. Sorry. Just know it was a a great Site VQ from Tebow who brought out XC team to workout. Here you go….
On a cool Spring morning, 8 PAX moseyed on down to the scout hut to recover from the week’s beatdowns at Gumby.
Here’s what we did:
Devo: Romans 1:16-17
This passage states “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” We talked about how important the message is- the message we have. Working at the BGEA, I’ve been privileged to see the example of a man who was not ashamed by the Gospel, and who with every moment of his adult life shared that message.
I asked the PAX- who in your life can you share the message of the Gospel- or even a general message of hope with? We all have people around us that we influence. It is up to us to carry the message of hope- to be lights in this world (and be not ashamed to of said Light).
THE MAIN THANG
Mountain climbers
Merkins
Plank flow
Regular
Six inches(repeato)
Right leg high- left arm out- then cheetah (flapjack)
End in table top position
Cat/cow 5 times
Side band
Jump up into mountain.
Sun Salutations- two together increasing speed, then four OYO
Go through flow to get into warrior 1
Warrior 2
Peaceful warrior
Warrior 3
Starfish
Flapjack
Back into plank
Six inches (just because)
Mountain- begin sun salutation until Downward Dog
End in pigeon (Flap Jack)
On your six
Butterfly
Right leg out reach for toes (Flapjack)
Both legs out reach for toes
Cross arm stretch
Triangle stretch
One legged wind removing (Flapjack)
Happy baby and move back into corpse pose
Review devotions again
Devo
FIN
Announcements
Arena’s on Q
Savage Race May 19th- some of the F3 guys will be participating (Chopper will be with a Respect group) you can register for the race here: http://savagerace.com/event/charlotte-2018/
Prayers for Beaver’s friend Chris- diagnosed with Cancer
Benny is doing well!
Moleskin
I always get a little nervous when Swiss Miss is out of town. The weight of responsibility is on me to ensure that the door to the scout hut gets open and the alarm gets turned off so the one Matthews police officer who is always in downtown when you drive through in the morning doesn’t have to come and see what’s going on- and on top of that, I had the Q!
Thankfully, no issues getting in this morning- however I did immediately get my Q fail out of the way. When calling out Imperial Walkers, I actually said Mountain Climbers.. needless to say the PAX were a little confused (Lois was already in position ready to get going). Thankfully things went a little smoother after that.
I worked on switching it up this morning- added some additional cardio-some traditional F3 called exercises a la Paper Jam to get us warmed up. From the lack of mumblechatter and heavy breathing- it seemed to have worked. When we started the Plank flow I was planning on having some additional pieces- but quickly audibled as I was personally struggling not to fall over #notaprofessional.
Music this morning was a Pandora radio station of 60s,70s and 80s radio station- however it seemed to stay mostly in the 60s this morning, but I aint complaining.-
T Claps to Madison, Arena and Gypsy for the pre run- Arena rolled in a little late because he’s all about those miles (#stravadontlie)
Special T Claps to Beaver- still coming out and getting stronger each day as he continues to recover.
Thanks as always gents for allowing me to lead- twas an honor!