It was brisk, barely above 40. There was sparse attendance, just three PAX. Nonetheless, we still put all three elements of F3 to work.
COP
Halo x 10
Around the World x 10
Figure 8 x 10
The Thang
The Clock – 12 stations, 60 repetitions per station.
American Swing
Squat
1-handed Swing (30 per side)
KB ‘Merican, one-hand on ‘bell (30 per side)
Clean (30 per side)
Snatch (30 per side)
Greg Louganis (sit-up & press)
Skull Crusher AKA Tailbone tenderizer
Row (30 per side)
Shoulder Press (30 per side)
2-handed Swing
High Pull (30 per side)
If you finish, 720 repetitions
Swole Mole
Do you know anyone who says something like, “watching a sunset is my church.” PUKE! Watching a sunset may be an awesome reminder of the beauty and power of God, but church requires membership, participation and a responsibility include time, talent and treasure. Same goes for F3. F3 is free, but we are called to be more than just observers or passive participants. We have a responsibility to work hard, lead and serve. This may seem like a lot for a workout club, but here’s the thing – because we all work at this shared purpose we all benefit. In fact, the benefits are far greater than we can achieve alone. There were only three people today, but I if was asked to do the above alone, I couldn’t do it. I would give up. In fact, I ran out of time and was 90 reps shy of finishing. Voodoo volunteered and Racheal stepped up and we finished my reps together. I know I really didn’t finish it on my own, but I left that workout knowing that our success was my success.
Thank you.
INTRO
The PAX of Union County do not fear the Polar Vortex, nor an AMRAP, nor a Holiday Jukebox, but only the 9 toughest wake themselves early during Spring Break in order to endure the mentally demanding workout YHC brings as he tries to incorporate new and strange activities from the Exicon. One of those fine men is StubHub who revealed that he – well, more his M – is less than three weeks away from blessing the world with a tiny new ticket vendor. The rest of the PAX warned him that he should be sleeping at 5:30 AM while he still can, but he continued and the teachings of the wiser older PAX became less useful.
DOO WOP (That Thing)
(Warning: YHC’s dog ate his Weinke, so this is recounted from a highly questionable memory.)
1 x Disclaimer
Warm-up:
During Indian Run, Q would shout halt at speed bumps and light poles and the PAX in front would call out an exercise for 15 IC.
PAX moseyed to the hill for Clock Merkins, a new-found YHC favorite. All 9 called a time and the men shifted and did 5 merkins at each point on the clock.
PAX then moseyed to the… facilities management building (?) for a round of Walls of Jericho. 7 reps of each exercise, followed by a lap around the building and then regrouping for the next exercise in the set. The set ended with an AYG run around the building, but no shout.
Mosey to the middle school entrance and partner work.
Mosey to the lunch area for Dips x 25 IC.
Mosey home for Monkey Humpers x 10 to finish up.
NOTHING EVEN MATTERS
The pre-workout mumblechatter was good and revealed that the StubHub family is soon to grow. The conversation could have veered towards important fatherly suggestions and tips such as bed times, how to change diapers, 529 funding and when are 2.0s ready for their first sporting events, but that was not the case. Instead, StubHub was educated on who Tammy Wynette was and her signature song, “Stand By Your Man.” Soon after, he was introduced to Partner Plank Curls which is, frankly, an unsightly exercise that YHC vows to never attempt again – and this comes from the guy who isn’t afraid to throw monkey humpers into the workout. YHC and Bratwurst completed the 30 each, but there were many refuseniks. The final educational element was a later conversation around Gladys Knight (minus the Pips).
TELL HIM
The drop in temperature did not dissuade 10 PAX from taking a trip to The Fishing Hole where they discovered the answers to the questions: who would Q and what would he would be wearing. Little did they know that about half way through they would receive a special treat from one of our site Qs. But first, a disclaimer was given and we were off.
COP:
Since The Fishing Hole caters to the more mature, sophisticated crowd, a new twist to the COP was added. Dynamic warm up exercises to begin the morning. Over the gate, toy solider, knee ups and butt kicks.
As expected, it was well received as demonstrated by Chelms, Mr. Bean and Frehleys Comet’s eloquent mumble chatter that ultimately led to some burpees in a more traditional COP.
LSS x 10, IW x10 and 10 burpees OYO.
THE THANG:
Mosey to the third level of the parking deck for two more dynamic warm up exercises. Swinging one leg at a time front and back and from side to side.
Partner up and stand in a parking space. Find the number of the parking space as it represented the number of merkins the team would perform. While 1 PAX stayed and did merkins, the other PAX lunge walked to the other side of the ramp and moseyed back. We were all in the mid 120s. One round was clearly enough.
Mosey to the far stairwell and down to the street towards the back lot where the handrails are located.
3 rounds of 10 supine pull-ups and 5 burpees.
Leave there, cross the street to the small parking lot next to the practice field and pick up a lifting rock. Down to the practice field and line up on the sideline for rock work.
3 rounds of curls, presses, extensions and triple lindy x10, x15, x20. At the end of each round mosey to the other sideline and return.
This was followed by field of plank. Take 5 lunge steps towards the opposite sideline and then perform the called plank. Elbow plank, right arm high, regular plank, 6-inches, left arm high and mosey back to the sideline where we started for makhtar ndiaye x10.
Return the rocks where we found them and back to the hand rails for more supine pull ups and incline merkins. This part of the weinkie was prematurely interrupted (more about that later) and we quickly left to seek fresh air and do some leg work at the benches.
Split Squats, Step Ups and LSS. 2 rounds different reps.
Then we performed some flexibility exercises to loosen up the hamstrings, IT band and calves. Just enough time left for a return to the launch and 10 merkins OYO.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A great 3rd F opportunity for you and 2.0s over the age of 15: https://f3southcharlotte.com/2018/04/05/partnership-with-first-tee/
MOLESKIN
This morning we welcomed site FNGs Nard Dog and MAD and they were not disappointed. The runner Paper Jam morphed into the #notarunner Paper Jam and kept it to under a mile. It was time to work on soccer arms and do some core work.
Anytime a workout includes three senior citizens like Chelms, Mr. Bean and Frehleys Comet, you can expect a lot of hot air. It began emanating from the mouth but then it took an awful turn through the gestational passage way. Those who posted may never look at brussel sprouts the same way again. It was fortunate that Charlotte Catholic was not in session, otherwise the hazmat team would have been required to make the area safe for children.
Yes, we stretched at an F3 workout not named Gumby or Blakovery. It is important at any age.
This is one of the most enjoyable workouts in the South Charlotte region. A great mix of men.
I was humbled to lead them this morning.
I have never had the pleasure of Qing the new, Sparta AO! I have also never received so many texts leading up to a leadership experience for an F3 event. The bulk, ok – all, of the text came from Hair Band. He seemed to be concerned with whether or not it was going to be a true running workout. I include this quote so you may get the gist of our conversation where he said, “are you going to run 6 miles and let me die in a ditch on the side of the road Thursday?” After three long text (each containing about three sentences) about how I should structure the workout, I assured him that we would do something where we would be all together in case we needed to call for back up to resuscitate him.
The thang…
After a disclaimer was given and we were off for a mosey around to the main building of Socrates Academy where we found “the board.”
No time for the usual… so we headed straight to the menu of pain.
Instructions: Do #1 and run a lap. Upon return, do #1 and #2 and run a lap and so on and so forth all the way through #12 and then run a lap…
We made it all the way through. We started over and made it back up to 5 before moseying back to the COT.
Moleskin
Even though there were a lot of exercises, we still got in over 3.5 miles. I never lost sight of HB for more than 45 seconds and he never ended up in a ditch. Joker, balked on most burpees, but sprinted every lap. I cannot keep up with him and he is my nemesis – there, I said it. Arsenal rolled with Hair Band. Arena is the definition of consistency! I only once heard him mumble something about destroying the board. Really – Arena? You are a family man. How could you even think about doing that to my kids’ board!
The board lives on! And, thankfully, so does HB!
#F3Outland is converging to #F3TippingPoint Saturday.
Pre-run at 6, main thang at 7
Get rid of Shake-n-Bake at 8 (also known as helping him move). If you have time help would be appreciated!
#F3TippingPoint is located at Belk-Tonawanda Park across from Farmer’s Market in Monroe.
After a couple of days of decent temperatures, the cold settled in over Matthews Elementary this fine Thursday morning. Apparently, Slim Fast’s voodoo weather doll that keeps the rain away at Peak 51 doesn’t control the temperature. We gotta see about getting him an upgrade.
Anyway, slightly chillier temps did not keep 10 hearty PAX from making the best first choice of the day by showing up to Peak.
After a decent disclaimer, we took off, heading to the back church lot by way of the front of the church. Let’s circle up at the top end near the church and get this thing started:
COP w/SMELL OF MAC’S WAFTING IN
THANG
First up, let’s line up for the Peak 51 staple of suicides. Wait, don’t we usually start these at the bottom of the hill? Yeah, but we’re changing things this week. You get the final return leg going uphill! You’re welcome.
Three sets of suicides to get the blood flowing, with some planking in between.
Next up, mosey to the bus lot and the track. YHC starts explaining our main event while the six rolls in. Today, we’re doing something a little different — a mini-Murph.
Now, the full-on Murph consists of a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats and another mile. Oh, and it’s timed.
Given that the lower half of YHC’s body is still not quite fully recovered from Thrive a couple of days ago, the running part is definitely getting cut down. And given that YHC missed his timed mile goal by 3 seconds at Mountain Goat a few weeks ago, timed things are still a sore subject.
So here’s what we’re going to do:
1 lap around the Outback Trail (TM) track
Then, 5 sets of:
Once you are finished with your 5th set, 1 lap around the Outback Trail (TM) track.
Regroup in the parking lot. Plank until the six comes in, then do some LBCs.
Next up, let’s mosey to the hill by the baseball field.
Now apparently there was some #mumblechatter that we would not do any sort of hill work, because apparently YHC has a reputation of avoiding hill things at all costs.
Actually, that’s pretty accurate.
But, again, we’re changing things up today. So let’s do a triple nickel:
Once that’s done, mosey back to launch. Find a spot on the sidewalk next to the wall, where the pavement isn’t “bed of nails” quality, and let’s do some Mary.
Annnnnnd … we are done.
COT
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, announcements, takeout by Tweetsie
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Richard Sheltra run — Saturday, April 28 in Pineville. 10K and 5K options. I’m sure the Right Honourable Lord Spiritual and Temporal of Pineville Dumpster Fire would love to have you come out.
Also — want to Q at Peak? Yes, you do. Please get in touch with me and/or Sensei, before we sign you up. The calendar is wide open.
MOLESKINE
First up, an update — I got up with Benny earlier this week. He and I checked out “Ready Player One,” which I highly recommend. Engaging story, interesting commentary on the role of reality vs. digital reality and a metric ton of 1980s pop culture references.
He is doing well — currently he has a walker, but he can scoot around, and is working toward a cane. His spirits are predictably high and he sends his best to all y’all. Shoot him a text, or, better yet, find a time to go pay him a visit.
Anyway, so with today’s workout — we started off with a pleasant surprise of Early Bird and Entourage. Good to see those familiar faces.
We technically started 30 seconds late because of #mumblechatter regarding the end of the NCAA Tournament and whether a perfect bracket existed. Bullwinkle I think got the idea that one did exist from SportsNewsComrade.ru, but I can’t be certain.
The chatter was still strong such that people stopped counting during COP, well, except for Slim Fast. Thanks for maintaining some degree of F3 decorum.
We had to split up amongst two playground sets for the bulk of the mini-Murph. I know there wasn’t much chatter on our end, aside from a lot of grunts and groans and such.
During the triple nickel, Slim Fast and I were talking BBQ. He apparently is trying his hand at making some pulled pork this weekend, so, he will be rubbing a butt on Friday at some point. Wish him luck in all of his butt-rubbing endeavors.
I hope everyone enjoyed our mini-Murph. I feel like breaking it up into sets makes it a little more digestible. After a couple of weeks of run-heavy, off-campus work, I wanted to keep us close to home, and, seriously, my abs and quads are still a little off-kilter. Note to the wise, if you venture into Union County and find Glass Joe on Q, just go somewhere else.
It is a privilege to lead this group as Co-Site Q and it’s always fun to lead a workout here as well. You guys make it awesome week after week.
Sound off with any missed mumblechatter in the comments!
We are partnering up with First Tee to bring their program to the kids at AG Middle School (and potentially other schools in the future). First Tee uses golf as a way to teach nine core values and the web site states:
“The First Tee is a youth development organization introducing the game of golf and its inherent values to young people. Through after-school and in-school programs, we help shape the lives of young people from all walks of life by reinforcing values like integrity, respect and perseverance through the game of golf. And it’s making a difference.”
We have a training session at the AG Middle School Gym on April 14 from 9am to noon. Any PAX looking to get involved (#IMPACT) can join us. No golf skills required (if you have seen me play you will know this is true) and the only ask is that you commit to volunteering a few times each quarter. We can also explore expanding this to other schools/locations. Finally, this is 2.0 friendly (great service opportunity) for those 15 and older.
Contact me at pchepul@gmail.com/via twitter @pchepul/ or 704-236-8576 if interested. Or just show up on the 14th and check it out.
PAX will launch from the Clubhouse at Millbridge at 0515 on Thursday to run for the border on the weekly workout known as Pursuit.
Tuck’s original PreBlast calls for 3 x 12min at Threshold Pace with 3min recovery tomorrow.
Here’s the plan:
See you in the Gloom,
Bratwurst
While waiting for Cheddar and other late-comers including Private Benjamin who had just woken up…after getting out of his car — YHC did not leave adequate time for suitable disclaimer, but Tool Bag did plant the shovel flag, and off went 15 hump-day warriors for another assault at The Maul.
Below is what the pax did with some other commentary interspersed.
The Thang & Ye Olde Moleskine:
Before we launched, War Eagle asked if he needed gloves since YHC did not have any. I said ‘no’, but after seeing most of the pax with gloves, he went back to his vehicle. His indecision may have been due to the fact this was the first Wednesday post for War Eagle since joining the F3 pax? M. was out of town on spring break with the kids, thus, FiA did not take precedence. Good to have you brother. Seems to me an HDHH of some kind is in your near future.
The pax jogged over to the lot in front of Firebird’s for COT. On the way, I explained to Chunder how Merlot is the F3 synonym for his Scottish nickname meaning vomit. Young and willing to learn – thanks for listening.
Slow squat holds x 10 IC
IW x 15 IC
Rockhopper x 15 IC
Carolina Dry Dock x 15 IC
Flutter x 15 IC
I think that was it, but not sure.
Partner up.
P1 does jump on wall with 2 squats while P2 runs a lap around the lot. Flapjack. Repeato.
P1 does H-R merkins while P2 runs a lap. Flapjack. Repeato.
YHC changed the lap distance 3 times during this segment. Why? Because I was already ad libbing the Weinke. That’s why. I also had no partner. The Q is the last kid picked. Always.
Enron, Frasier and Squid were flying around the circuit runs. Hadn’t seen Enron since meeting him at my only Donut Run post several months ago.
Pax then jogged over to the far back corner of Target. Cheddar and Frasier were making sure the six was well secured. Team players.
More partner work.
P1 runs up the hill for 5 jump squats while P2 does LBC’s. Flapjack. Repeato but with 10 jump squats.
P1 runs up the hill for 10 jump squats while P2 does Dolly. Flapjack.
At this point, The Commish complimented me on the Q thus far, but I think he was really giving me grief. He has coached football before, and it was obvious I was audibling everything. Nothing but “Omaha’s”!
Mosey to back of Target for some wall work.
People’s Chair with overhead press x 25 IC.
BTW’s
More People’s Chair.
More BTW’s. Mic Check said he had to get closer to the wall for his BTW’s….who was I to argue…or anyone else for that matter. Yikes.
We then did some lunge walks for about 45-50 yards; and Fredo explained to YHC why it was not a good idea to cry during a downpainment. Quite certain I’ll be crying during some workouts if the good Lord still enables me to do this after age 50! Fredo, on the other hand, still crushes these workouts.
Various plankorama throughout the workout including the always-effective Dancing Chilcutt’s.
We did one 50’ish yard sprint, and No Show, Mic Check, Chunder and several others took off like they just shoplifted electronics from Target.
We made our way back to the front of the multiplex for some burpees. 5 at each of 4 lampposts on the way back to the launch lot. You guys didn’t think this would be a burpee-free beatdown, did you?!
Chunder was mumble chattering something fierce at this point.
We got back in time for 6 MoM including (maybe?) the following x 15 or 10 IC:
American Hammer, Freddy Mercury, Rosalita, and we moved over to the grass (You’re welcome!) for Mahkthar N’Djaiye’s.
Done.
COT w/announcements including Richard Sheltra 5K/10K in Pineville on 4/28 and Savage Race on 5/19 somewhere in the nether regions of Cabarrus County.
Also Cheddar and Zeke Face told us the derivations of their nicknames. I think a rename is in order for Zeke Face as it’s too kind for a Cowboy/Duke fan.
Thanks to Squid for taking us out in prayer.
…..Shrink Wrap was there, too….and while I didn’t see him refusenik anything, I’m confident he did…especially the burpees.
That’s it fellas. Thanks to Tool Bag and No Show for giving me a slot to Q at The Maul. Solid pax this morning. Good work men. And it is a privilege to Q.
7 men ignored the call of Spring Break and posted at Anvil for some mid-week fun. There was still plenty of chatter to make the morning interesting (more later).
The Thang:
Mosey over to grassy area next to Pavilion for warm up:
Mosey over to parking lot for start of the ladder (head-fake the PAX when I called out a pyramid of 5/10/15/10/5 but was pretty sure we didn’t have that much time). Run to stop sign by playground for 5 burpees and back to start, run to rock pile and carry your rock back to the start and do 5 squats with push presses, run to large rock on other side of parking lot (dropping off the rock as you pass the pile) for 5 merkins and then back to start. That was round 1. Round 2 we did 10 of the called exercises and round 3 we did 15 (YHC was pretty smoked at this point – I called an audible from a pyramid to a ladder after round 2 although I wanted to keep it a secret from Purple Haze so I only told the rabbit – Rachel). Mary while PAX waits on the 6.
Mosey down to parking lot near launch point for some sprints, dips and merkins (30/15 and then 15/5) more sprints and finish with bear crawls.
Naked MS
Gummy acted liked he didn’t hear my disclaimer when I added that form didn’t count this morning and thus he proceeded to try to bust my chops for squats that didn’t meet some standard he set (and which he has never achieved). Purple Haze left me alone because I allowed him to carry his pebbles instead of a real rock. Rachel was where you expect while Lewinski was proud of keeping up with Rachel on round 1 of the ladder but then realized Rachel was only in 1st gear for round 1.
Heard at F3 should have been there this morning. First act:
Purple haze – My stones are pretty small
Gummy – Mine aren’t much bigger
Second act:
YHC – I take a pill when gout flares – not the blue one
Scratch and win – we should do a workout at the Y where all the PAX take a blue pill before the workout.
YHC – WTF?
Got nothing after that
Announcements:
Christine Latini Memorial run (8k) on April 21 in Huntersville in memory of Olive’s daughter who passed away from a rare disease in 2016. Shoe and I will be driving a clown car if anyone wants to signup and there are over 200 F3 pax signed up. https://racesonline.com/events/christina-latini-memorial-8k
Church on the Street can always use volunteers on Sunday mornings at 6am. This is a great volunteer opportunity and YHC highly recommends.
Speed for Need has several runs planned – check out Slack/Twitter/Billboards/etc (Tolkein is a marketing machine).
Take out – Great take out by Scratch and win, thanks brother.