For my final Q at Blackhawk, I decided to change it up a bit. After a solid showing for the pre-run on the trails, all PAX gathered at the launch ready to embark. 13 showed up today including new comer to SOB, Happy Meal and the reappearance of Bounty Hunter. Welcome to Happy Meal and keep at it Bounty Hunter. After a less than satisfactory disclaimer (as pointed out by Fire Hazard, it sounded like my first Q), we did a short mosey around the soccer field and stopped to warm-up.
Warm-up – SSH, Imperial Walker, Mountain climbers, Windmill, Low-Slow Squat, and Moroccan Night Club
The Thang
I gave some more confusing instructions before we started for the trail head. There were 5 stations spread down the trails at which we would stop and complete exercises: 15 Burpees, 20 bear crawl strides, 20 merkins, 20 bear crawl strides, 15 burpees. Some PAX moseyed to collect the 6 while others stayed for some plank variations. After all PAX completed their burpees (or so I was led to believe…not fooling me Posse!), we turned around to head back out of the trails. We stopped for some more bear crawls at the next station, followed by more merkins, 10 count in-cadence burpees, and lastly diamond merkins.
After everyone made it out of the trails alive, we moseyed to the soccer field, did a little marry, and then completed 5 sets of the following: 10 squats and 10 merkins at each end of the field with running to each end. After 20 dips to catch our breath, we moseyed to the playground for some more fun.
Break into groups of 4 (Ringer joined in after a quick trip to the can to make one group of 5). We had 3 stations here: Pull-ups, diamond merkins, and Freddie Mercury. Each group rotated through the stations with pull-ups being the timer: sets of 8, 6, 4, 6, & 8. Finally, we finished with a couple minutes of marry.
Head to Cruzin Reubenz for breakfast!
Moleskin
It was tough keeping the PAX in line today as there was a lot of mubblechatter. I was a bit bossy as noted by a few, especially at the playground. However, all-in-all everyone worked hard today and kept up with my poor instructions pretty well. I thought the trails were a nice change of pace compared to parking lots and fields. Glad it turned out okay. I am definitely going to miss posting in SOB/Indian Land and all the PAX that I have had the pleasure of meeting over the past 15 months. I will see soon how it compares to Knoxville! Thanks for the opportunity to Q and to everyone that has helped push me along the way.
Announcements
Isabella Santos and Susan G Komen Speed for Need runs coming up
9 PAX, including 1 FNG, made the questionable choice and posted at #F3 Ascent and here’s how it went down.
COP:
Take a warm up lap around the track then circle up in the parking lot.
The Thang:
Mosey out of Olde Providence make a right on Rea and then another right on Summerlin Place, stopping along the way at each street for called exercises
Turn right on Abbotswood and stopping at Windyrush for called exercises
Turn right at Windyrush stopping at Foxworth, partner up, size and speed does not matter. Partner 1 runs up and down Foxworth while Partner 2 performs called exercise, flapjack.
Mosey back to the AO via the trail through the woods, stopping at the benches by the baseball fields for two rounds of circuit work.
Head over to the school and grab some wall for the People’s Chair, with two rounds of air presses.
We started to mosey to the start point but then Fireman Ed had the fever for pull-ups as we passed by the playground. He subsequently Q-jacked and others followed along. We moved on once Fireman Ed had his fill.
Mary:
Moleskin:
Announcements:
Once upon a time, there was this very smart Greek fella that said that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Well, I can tell ya right now that that fella had never been to Hazzard County.
– Waylon Jennings – Dukes Of Hazzard, 10 Million Dollar Sheriff
A half-dozen showed up this morning to celebrate the 5 year mark of Outland, the OG Union County workout. We told tales of yore and re-enacted some famous scenes from battles past. Some of us even exercised a little.
Thang:
Warmup at the original shovel flag hill, which despite several attempts was unable to be obtained. We made do.
Mosey to the High School track to discover a new mini-sized fence has been installed on top of the mini-sized wall, blocking entrance in the traditional fashion. We’ll take the long way, a theme which persevered throughout the morn.
Traveling circus around the High School with some oak tree merkins and other assorted things as we made our way to the track for several circuits of 4Cornerz. Nice railslide option along the way. Pax had the option to choose burpees or something easier for the last set, and made the hard call.
Move to the field house for some air presses and BTW. Headrush. Option for bathtub exercises using the mysterious tub was not taken.
Ark Loader on the practice field – bears, crabs, wheelbarrows, and some lounging. Punch the new tackling dummy on the sled in the face and run back. Disturbingly therapeutic.
Meander over to Middle School for circuit of railslide, derkins, step ups, and LBCs while we ran a stair loop. Run this until 7:57 or so.
Option for a short run or long run back to the cars – both AYG. All pax took the long route.
Mary finisher at the cars. 3.something miles and a smoked out Q.
Skin:
Outland was my first F3 workout. I started just after the site had opened up, which was right at 5 years ago. After this amount of elite training, you too can look and perform like me. I recommend tempering the training with repeated injury and the diet of a 12 year old middle schooler to avoid public shock and awe.
We tried to relive some of the glory days, including the railslides and BTW sequence. The old rails have been fenced off; namely the one that was just too wide for Hairband to stretch across, not too wide for him to try, and perfectly wide enough for us to hang out and mock. Since we’re talking about Hairband, he had another appointment and was not present. Perhaps he was riding around on Madison’s bike carrier, who elected to go and hold up Charlotte traffic this morning instead of rolling the dice on this workout.
We tried to keep things moving this morning, and covered quite a bit of ground. TClaps to everyone for hanging on. Double TClaps for choosing the hard options when presented.
Some of the other fond (and not-so fond) Outland memories that come to mind include:
It’s time to consider the next wave of men who will run this site and continue the legacy. Bo and Luke must decrease while Vance and Coy must increase. Just don’t let Daisy leave Enos at the altar like she did in the 1997 reunion.
Until next time,
– HH
Join your F3 brothers on Friday, October 26th at 9 PM in the Ballantyne Corporate Park for The Crane Relay, straight from the mind of Frasier himself.
The Crane Relay is a Ragnar style running race (everyone based at the same location running 3 loops), but with shorter loops run on roads/paved greenways and, most importantly, teams picked in a draft. Total distance is 12 miles over 3 loops.
If you can get through a boot camp, you can (and should) do this race. More details are below or you can jump straight to the sign-up sheet here: . We need all signups by August 25th, no exceptions.
What
When
Where
Why?
Now that you are convinced and ready to sign up, here’s what’s next:
Warm Up:
The Thang:
MoleSkin: We were all a little surprised to see Bottle Cap out so soon after his fateful Monday injury, but although we were encouraging of his quick heeling, we might have made some additional comments in support (or not). A lot of complaining was going on while doing sevens on the hill. Feet got wet and shoes got heavy early in the sequence of events. Bearcrawl 100 had the PAX asking questions, so my instructions of “bearcrawl to a step count of 100” must not have been clear enough. All in all, we had a good mix of speed, a few 2.0s and one FNG to share the not-so-humid Saturday morning.
FNG came out with Fuse Box and lasted the entire workout. It was tough be he stuck it in there to the bitter sweet end. Welcome to the group Zinfandel.
Announcements:
21 men (1 FNG – Sir) couldn’t fade the A51 Slack channel hype all of Thursday afternoon and showed up to name an FNG, and do a few merkins and burpees.
Warm-up:
Disclaimer given, thorough enough by my standards, definitely not Mermaid approved.
Quick mosey down Covenant Church Ln to the back of the school circling up where all sidewalks meet in between all the buildings.
COP: 13x Hillbillies (these were awkward), 13x SSH IC, 13x Low Slow Squats IC, 13x diamond merkins IC, 13x Mountain Climbers IC, 13x wide arm merkins IC, plank-orama, 10 burpees
The Thang:
Mosey through campus to the LAX/soccer field to make use of the plush grass. Line up abreast for:
20 Merkins
Bear Crawl to first line (see Bulldog for what these lines are called)
Lunge walk to second line (midfield?)
20 Merkins
Plank and wait for the 6 – which was always Squid because the man has impeccable form, has to be the best in all of F3
AYG to end the end of the field
Repeat once
Mosey to front of church for the Beast: 6 exercises (at each of the 5 medians and last stop top of the hill), 6 reps, 6 times through
Exercises were:
Mosey to the rock pile at Covenant Church Ln and Pleasant Hill Dr. 13x OH Press, 13x curls, 13x tri extension, 13x RDLs each leg. Run to hot box for 13x dips and 13x derkins. Repeat once
Throw the rocks back, head back to camp. 90 seconds to go – plenty of time for 13 burpees. TIME
Moleskin:
Area 51 Nantan Mermaid was originally on Q for today but was out of town and asked me to take his lead. YHC was more than happy to, only posted there twice and always happy to Q a new spot. I knew I had big shoes to fill as Mermaid’s 125ish Q’s are not for the faint of heart. The A51 slack channel broke the internet yesterday because Gypsy posted that he was bringing an FNG out(who was a Navy SEAL) and was wondering if Kevlar would be ‘friendly.’ Immediately several PAX representing other AO’s clamored out like vultures on fresh roadkill to sway Gypsy from Kevlar, but Horsehead had already spoken for Kevlar and it was a done deal. At that point the name choices started flying. Fast forward to this morning and after the dust was settled, YHC had to defer to what HH stated was the A51 naming rules: Vets and pastors get cool names, kids pick their own names, pre-existing athletes who ‘still got it’ get girl names, and everyone else gets stupid names. ‘Sir’ seemed fitting… also did I mention he is 6’6”? Also, I’m pretty sure a former SEAL can handle any F3 workout, friendly or not. Except maybe Gumpy… that is my Kryptonite. Seriously. Waking up at 5am to go stretch in ways the body isn’t supposed to. I tweaked my neck trying to put right heel behind my left ear lobe on my M’s pink yoga mat while listening to Yani and trying to ‘be relaxed’. I think it was called the happy rotisserie chicken pose. I know it’s probably good for me but I just can’t, much respect to you all that are good at that and go week in week out.
Mermaid texted me this AM asking how the Q went. I told him we bit off more than we can chew. I don’t think I’m alone on that analysis. It hurt, too many burpees, merkins, sprints, and the hill at the end of the beast right before burpees was a swift repeated kick in the pants.
Solid crew out this morning, with most of the top mumblechatters in the game in attendance. Mumblechatter peaked on the Hillbilly call and when lining up abreast on the field but was stifled quickly. Other than Busch, that dude can rap anytime, any day.
Impressive work out there by everyone, thanks for following my lead and getting your weekend started right. Hope to see Sir back out soon, that was a tough F3 opening workout, baptism by fire.
Thanks to Cottontail for the takeout and thanks to Orange Whip and Faultline for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
Speed for Need: VA beach, Aug 18th. First race in VA beach for surfers against autism. 7:30am race launch. See Gypsy for more info.
Church on the street: been going on for 20+ years, every Sunday. Under 12th street overpass at N Tryon serving the homeless. 2.0 and M friendly (Strawberry recommends over 2.0s be 8+ years old). Schedule open after August, clown car available at 6:20, usually home around 8. See Strawberry for more details.
A dozen assembled for Track Day at the The Brave for a simple, but not easy workout.
Disclaimer then disembark! Head west 1.5 miles on Community House Road to Community House Middle School with brief stops to collect the six and do ‘mericans.
At the track –
800m – go fast
400m – go fast again
200m – time for fastness
100 – fast-er-est you cant!!
At the basketball hoops, do five Bobby Hurleys (jump shot/squat). Run back with brief stops for ‘mericans.
‘Merc/Mary ladder
10 of each
9 of each
8 of each
7 of each
6 of each
5 of each
We ran five miles and did a lot of push-ups. (Sounds like F3.)
Field notes & observations:
Canadians invented basketball
Muggsey Bouges lives in S.CLT, someone EH him
Wingman may or may not have been accessory to murder.
One Niner shows up 30 minutes early to set up a yoga/roller station for himself
Mary Kay needs to overanalyzing the Brave and show up
Madam T needs to get to The Brave more often
Strange Brew was at The Brave launch. It was good to have him back. #F3OG
Hollywood placed sixth in the mile at the first (really second) BROlympics #glorydays
Even mid-summer, the Centurion faithful still showed for this humidity filled workout along with some new faces. YHC was talking with a friend last night about 24 Hours of Booty coming up since he had never done it before. I asked him when is it again, and realized that I was only 2 weeks away from riding 100+ miles on a bike that I had not been on since last 24 HOB. Maybe we’ll get bikes at Centurion one day, but for today, some Freddy Mercury and leg day would have to suffice.
Margo planted the Old Glory shovel flag. Disclaimer was given, not my best, but had the PAX ready to modify and not sue. Chelms was given the opportunity to start up the hill early but declined.
Mosey to the shopping center at Carmel and 51 for COP.
COP
The Thang
We ran the stairs of the shopping center with 40’s of squats and lunges at the bottom of the stairs. First run was 30 squats and 10 lunges, then 25 and 15, 20 and 20, 15 and 25 and 10 and 30. Some plank work and 6 inches (with obligatory “thats what she said” commentary) done while waiting on the six.
Mosey to the picnic tables at the front of the AO. 10 each leg step ups, 20 dips and 20 derkins first round followed by 8 each leg step ups (Haze couldn’t handle the combined 15, so we added 1 so he wouldn’t be unbalanced all day), 15 dips and 15 derkins.
Mosey to Tartarus ground level middle stairs and partner up. PAX ran up separate sides of the parking deck to meet in the middle of level 2 and did 10 hand-slap merkins. Down the stairs in the middle to the bottom and 10 LBCs, calf raises and jump squats. Up the separate sides of the deck to meet in the middle of level 3 and did 15 hand-slap merkins. Down the stairs in the middle to the bottom and 15 LBCs, calf raises and jump squats. Up the separate sides of the deck to meet in the middle of level 4 and did 20 hand-slap merkins. Down the stairs in the middle to the bottom and 20 LBCs, calf raises and jump squats.
After Udder and Snowflake completed their game of Hide n Seek in the deck, Udder led some people’s chair with leg raises and air press.
Mosey to the top of the deck with backwards run on all of the inclines.
Mary
Mosey to back of football field for 3 AYG sprints and called it.
YHC took us out in prayer
Moleskin
Great group today, very little waiting around and everyone getting after it. Haze informed me we hit the Centurion Big 3 of Panera shopping center, picnic benches and Tartarus deck. I guess that’s a thing, so we’ll go with it. Both Site Qs were present in Margo and Udder (might have met for the first time today), and Udder even turned down some Ultimate Frisbee to come. I told him he could run with a frisbee, but then he started reciting the no running in Ultimate rules and I rescinded the invitation. Some site FNGs in Spanx and Sister Act, who I found out go to Forest Hill church along with Tagalong, Brilleaux and I. Great church if anyone is looking. The War Daddy combo of Snowflake and Snuka always leave me impressed. Haze, Chelms, Brilleaux and Snuka were out front for most of the workout. Leprechaun, Spanx, Cheddar, Cadillac, Shrink Wrap and Tagalong must have been holding back all workout, as they still had a lot left in the tank for the 3 sprints at the end. The Bugeater and Brushback resurrection tours continued, both back posting. Thunder Road can be the inspiration here, as he has got in shape and kept it up. Dr. Belding kept me honest on the parking deck set, as I knew he was crushing up the other side of the deck so YHC had to as well. Apparently the instructions could have been better on that set, which led to the Udder/Snowflake game of Hide n Seek in the deck. But most everyone picked it up after the first round. I think the goal for the day was met, legs got stronger (or weaker, then stronger). Appreciate the opportunity to lead and F3 Nation.
Prayer Requests
Continued prayers for Bout Time and family, and Chelms’ friend Debra and her son with new cancer diagnosis.
Warmup
SSH x 25
Mountain Climber x 10
Merkin x 15
Imperial Walker x 10
Squat x 10
The Thang
Run down Ramblewood Lane to the oval parking lot
Parntner up and head in opposite directions:
Run around parking lot to meet partner, then 10 handclap Merkins
Then backwards run around parking lot to meet partner again, then 10 handclap Merkins
Repeat x 3-4
Mosey to tennis courts
4 corners – Lunges in between corners
Burpee x 10
Rosalita x 10
Plankjack x 10
WW2 situp x 10
Repeat x 2
Plank exercises
Bataan Death March (Indian Run / Burpee “Catch me if you can”) to bleachers near Burnt Mill Road
Dips x 10 in cadence
R leg step-ups x 10
L leg step-ups x 10
Run back to Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School
Mary
Plank
LBC x 25
Plank
Moleskin:
It was a beautiful morning in the Valley. A hardworking group of men broke sweats with a mix of running and upper/lower body and ab workouts. YHC’s cadence could still use some work, but the pax were, as usual, quite generous.
Announcements:
F3 Dads on Saturday at 9am
Gravedancer QIC at Black Widow on Tuesday 7/17
COT
In honor of the World Cup, YHC thought of no better way to capitalize on the excitement than to go Fun Friday at Joust! Not much planning went into this Q – aside from ordering a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee earlier in the week (and I’m know skeptical of the glow-in-the-dark aspect).
At 0530, the PAX of 11 moseyed to the football field for a quick COP: SSH, IW, LSS, Merkins, Burpees. A quick lap around the corners of the field to set our end line cones (thank you, Header) and then gather at midfield to choose teams. 5 vs. 6 made it a little tough, but nonetheless we went Shirts vs. Skins:
Shirts – Header, Slumdog, Schmedium, Sloppy Seconds, Puddin Pop
Skins – Stone Cold, Yeti, Tulip, Smokey, Funky Cold, Chin Music
The Rules: 2 steps allowed after the catch, offsides enforced (no cherry picking!), opponent’s goals resulted in 10 merkins. If consecutive goals were scored by one team, add 10 merkins to the previous count.
The Game Recap: It was a fast start by the Shirts, jumping out to a 2-0 lead even though visibility was a bit of an issue. YHC had two key drops for the Skins – with one being in the end zone and the other on the 5-yard line. Hey, I was a pitcher and not a catcher!! However, I did find myself feeling like the streaking WR Feathersone in Unnecessary Roughness— speeding past folks only to clank the disk off my hands! More stick ‘em, please!
As daylight inched closer, the Skins mounted a furious comeback and pulled ahead 3-2 with some nifty passing from Yeti and Stone Cold.
At the halfway point, YHC switched teams to try to even up the time disparity of being a man down in numbers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t provide the spark that was needed as everyone was starting to slow! Those fast bursts were becoming more irregular and forced some extended recovery periods!
With a final score of 5-3 in favor of the Skins, the PAX headed back to launch for some Mary before calling it quits.
The takeaway: Ultimate Frisbee is really good exercise! Full of quick bursts and sprints that are much easier to do when having fun chasing after a flying disk. There were some skilled guys out there and some sure-handed ones too (YHC not included). Schmedium was DE-like, long & rangy and tough to maneuver around his wingspan. Puddin Pop, Smokey and Stone Cold were the sure-handed veterans controlling their teams around midfield, Header showed flashes of our memories of 89 on the football field, and Tulip was the energetic fly pattern guy who actually could catch!
Lots of fun out there today. Thank you to Yeti for the opportunity to lead with a creative workout!! Hope this event returns…