We’ll launch at 0515 from the NEW Ballantyne Corporate Park parking area across from Duckworths and in front of the OrthoCarolina Urgent Care Ballantyne. We’ll be running on familiar roads, but some are dark and without sidewalks, so you should wear reflective/visibility gear and have lighting like a headlamp or flashlight.
Continuing on the goodness of August/September that Gumbo and Bunker brought to the Swift workout in the areas of targeting 5K/10K paced intervals, we’ll shift into longer intervals at a slower target pace to continue to build Strength. These intervals will be run at “MP-10”. This means at your goal marathon pace, minus 10 seconds per mile. If your goal marathon pace is 8:00/mile then your goal pace for this workout would be 7:50 per mile.
Don’t have a goal marathon pace? Well then use this Race Calculator (click for link). Enter a recent race effort (Distance, Finishing Time), click Calculate, go to the Equivalent tab and look at Pace/Mi on the row for Marathon.
More on Marathon Pace minus 10 (“MP-10”). If you’ve been a Swift regular and recall Threshold Pace (aka T-pace, aka Comfortably Hard, aka Lactate Threshold), MP-10 ends up being slower than Threshold and somewhere near half the difference to Marathon goal pace.
Here are some other thoughts about the target effort for this MP-10 Strength workout, “So, usually through a combination of running too fast and not maximizing the recovery jog, they get to the 3rd or 4th one and realize they’ve dug a hole they can’t get out of. Remember, speed work usually brings acute discomfort. It’s usually an eye opener from the get go. Strength workouts should sneak up on you. The same effort for the last few should feel fairly hard compared to the first one or two. That’s when you’ve done it right- think slow cooker. You are slowly building that lactic feeling. Never fully recovering from the repeat prior and letting the discomfort slowly add to each successive repeat.“
The Chicken got called out of the bullpen today in relief of Recalculating having a hurt back, hoping for a quick recovery bro. When I pulled up today I saw that the numbers were lower than normal for a Flash workout and I started to think…….were they down due to the holiday? poor marketing on the site Q ( uhmm that’s me and Rockwell opps) ? The IPC challenge this past weekend? maybe it was none on the above and it was the GIGANTIC SPIDER in the darn parking lot had us BIG OLD BAD F3 guys a tad scared while also being intrigued like we were school kids…. YIKES that was one big spider.. At one point during the workout I might have overheard a PAX member say we should get a saddle for that spider so Goodfella can ride him…..
DICCS/Disclaimer
Cellphone ( We are know Mad Dogs code for his watch now– auction starts later on GroupMe to the highest bidder) , CPR, and do not sue me, the school, or F3 and modify as needed especially if you did the IPC ( GoodFella)
The Warm Up
Mosey around parking lot to in front of the middle school and circle up
15 Low Slow Squats-
15 Imperial Walkers
15 Potato Pickers
Calf Stretch
and we are off…..
The Thang
Mosey from the school lot to the start of the path carefully making sure we do not come anywhere near the BIGGEST SPIDER EVER…
Bear Crawl Ladder–At start of path break into 2 groups 4 PAX in each group and start in a plank position in a straight line facing forward. The PAX member up front says down all member of his group does a merkin, once finished the Pax member in the back Bear Crawls to the front- rinse and repeat process until each Pax member Bear Crawls 3 times– No a good way to start- Yikes!!
AB Monday- Mosey to midway point of path for a little tummy work
15- Flutters in Cadence, 15 crunches in Cadence. 5 Big Boy sit ups OYO, 15 Heels to Heaven in Cadence- Rinse and Repeat 1 more time
Mosey to transporter shed for some little wall work
100 Air Press single count, 50 air jabs- then run to first light up trail for 3 double merkin burpees- rinse and repeat 1 time – then this strange unidentified object was hobbling down the path towards us like a weird walking old man — what is it everyone ask????—– ( BAMMMMM ENTER DEADWOOD after the IPC this weekend)
25- heels to heaven in Cadence and 5 Big Boy Sit Ups
Mosey up toward bus lot stopping at next path for some more ab work
15- Flutters in Cadence, 15 Crunches in Cadence, 5 Big Boy Sit ups OYO, 15 Heels to heaven in Cadence
Mosey up path to circular island for some merkins on the curb-Plank up on the curb for some merkins slide overs– hands on curb in a incline position then do a merkin and slide over on curb ( 10 times right then 10 times left).
Mosey to the middle of the school to the benches for some Dips baby Dips.
50 dips and run to school then lunge walk halfway back
40 dips with right leg out- run to school then bear crawl 1/2 way back
40 dips with left leg out- run to school and run back to bench area
15 Flutters in Cadence, 15 crunches in Cadence and 5 big boy sit ups
Mosey back to circle island for some merkins on the curb- 5 to the right and 5 to the left.
Mosey back to transporter shed area
15 heels to heaven, 5 big boy sit ups
Mosey up path with few minutes left stop 1/2 way up for 10 merkins before getting back right at 6:15 so we can hurry up and wait on the Ignition crew for 2-3 minutes
Moleskin
Today I wanted keep mileage fairly low but keep moving while throwing in some goo ole fashion tummy work. Although our numbers were low today the group pushed through and for Deadwood and Good Fella to even show up after what they complete this weekend is insane- nice work fellows. It is great to see Big Ten back in the mix on regular occasions as I think the real reason he is back is he missed us. Schneider you continue to push yourself at every workout and dang dude you were sprinting at the end, nice. Thanks for allowing me to lead this group this morning..
Announcements
Many Pax’s are sore this morning- has anyone ever seen Deadwood and Good Fella being the 6’s? 6 of the 8 people at Flash today can say this was true so if they deny it we have proof– If these two guys were this sore I can only imagine what the others fell like- Hell of a job to all who participated.
Thanks to Good Fella for taking us out as well as sharing a truly inspiring Hope Challenge about where he was in life 10 years ago verse were he is now and how F3 and finding religion has help him tremendously. Heck of a way to bring Hope Challenge to its end…
Five of the 7 current F3 Waxhaw Board PAX gathered to discuss a long list of items including events happening in the last 3 months of 2019, as well as what 2020 looks like for our new Region. New Region! New Standards! We want to recap the “meeting minutes” (shout out to Bottlecap for putting this on paper) in order to give full transparency of the meeting.
Since there are a lot of new and/or curious PAX, we also want to provide a general overview of the Board…What is it? Why do we need it? Who is on it? How do PAX participate in it? Etc, Etc.
REMINDER:
F3’s Mission is to: Plant, Grow, and Serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
F3’sCredo is: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.
THE BEGINNING:
THE LAUNCH:
THE FUTURE:
Hopefully this gives everyone a better understanding of F3 Waxhaw Board, what the Board has been doing, and will be doing moving forward. More importantly, hopefully this gives a very clear realization that there is a LOT to still be done and WE NEED YOUR HELP, fellas! If you are willing (we will figure out the able) to help, or if you have an idea, or just have a question, please don’t hesitate to grab one of the current Board PAX at a workout and talk to us. Thanks to everyone for their effort and support in making the F3 Waxhaw Region a reality in 2019! Let’s Keep Growing!
Choo! Choo!
PAX: Thumper, Sardine, Smokey, Houdini, Sensei, Slim Fast, FoxTrot, Jello
Disclaimer was given. Lois (sick and absent) is not responsible.
Run to back in long parking lot behind church.
Warmup:
SSH x 15
IW x 15
Hillbilly x 15 – I think Dorothy’s Uncle was a Hillbilly
Mountain Climber x 15
I think a Tornado hit so we ran to the back of the school
Windmills X 15 – get the tie in with the Tornado?
Take a lap around the track and get low for the Lollipop gang:
Sumo Walk
Bear Crawl
Crab Walk
We needed to follow the yellow brick road. At each Lightpole, LSS x 10 and LBCs x 10.
I was about to give instructions for meeting the Main Event, but Sensei reminded me that we had to do battle with the Monkeys. I was happy to comply Monkey Humpers x 15.
3 Witches – this was a bit like a Starfish. Get into groups of 4 (there were 8 of us), then head to each of the Witches (Cones). Under each cone there were exercises. Do 30 of each exercise, then head back to the middle for 5 burpees for the Wizard.
Glinda – Good Witch of the South
Jump Squats
American Hammer
Speed Skaters
The Wicked Witch of the West
CDD
Supine Pull-ups
Rocky Balboa
The Wicked Witch of the East
Dips
Derkins
Step Ups
As we headed to a grassy area by the trailers, the big question was asked, “Who did the Wicked Witch marry?” The answer… Jack Webb!
Some discussion if it was 5 air presses or 4, but it was 4. So we did Jack Webb up to 20 and then back down.
Long run back to Kansas, behind the school, behind the church, take a Left on Main Street and turn into Church Parking lot.
Mary
Heels to Heaven
American Hammer
Protractor
All done!
Moleskin
Great work by all. I always enjoy this AO. Glad that I was given the chance to Q! As always, an honor to lead. And Shamless Plug… Charlotte Youth Ballet is doing the ballet “Wizard of Oz” on March 14th and 15th. I won’t be staring in this one. But, I will be staring in Nutcracker on December 6-8
Announcements
Let them Soar Oct 12th. SFN looking for Track Commanders
Race for the Cure
9 men showed up in the gloom to see if the non-bootcamping JRR Tolkien could make it through a bootcamp… his own. Here’s what they did….
Thang:
Moleskine:
Rough morning for YHC. Have been sick, not sleeping much, and with plantar fascia as of late… all excuses that don’t help improve fitness. The bigger problem is attending no bootcamps, just long runs (thanks Tuck). But, Inspired by the 81 men who finished GrowRuck 16 in Naperville, IL this past week, YHC promised to give a good effort today whether it meant spilling merlot or not… (dry heaved twice).
The plan was to do some version of the same PT test the GRW16 guys did, which was 75 squat thrusters, run 1 mile, 35 squat thrusters, run 1 mile in under 30min using their 40+lb rucksacks. Yeah right…. that was ridiculous to witness. Thankfully, YHC forgot my 30# rucksack. So we did some other stuff.
Couple of other musings…
And here are a couple of lessons from GrowRuck that I was reminded of. 1) To lead effectively, you must be willing and able to follow. 2) When you think you’re gassed, you always have more in the tank 3) Form matters. If the leader is willing to cheat, then the followers will as well, and there is no standard.
Announcements:
WHO PUSHES WHO ~ JRR Tolkien
8 men finished the final week of IPC this week at WAMRAP.
The challenge:
Round 1: 100 Combined merkins/squats. Run 200 yards with cinderblock
Round 2: 100 combined Sister Mary Catherine/Block Swings. Run 200 yards with cinderblock
Round 3: 100 combined walking lunges/cinderblock thrusters. Run 200 yards with cinderblock
Repeato 2 more times, for 9 total rounds – for time.
Fun Fact!!! That’s over 1 mile carrying the cinderblock.
T-Claps to the guys who finished all four weeks. It was a grinder and leg smoker each week.
Thanks to Wolverine who brought the tunes in week 3 and the flashing cone of death showing the 100 yard turn around point for the block carry.
WAMRAP Sale Pitch:
We chose to host the IPC because the workouts were similar to WAMRAP each week. A cycle of exercises repeated as often as you can for time. Simple in theory, painful in reality. The beauty is that it keeps all the PAX in relatively close proximity while affording the fastest guys and the six to all get in a workout that pushes to their limits. So if you like the IPC and want more workouts like that, come out each Wednesday. It will be hard each week and you will get better.
The AO is big and affords us lots of parking lots, 2 parking decks with stairs and ramps plus the Green Monster with 2×100+ yard sections of flat grassy area.
-Alf
Job was on Q for Cerberus this week and he called me with and injury report so frustratingly he had to make the call to heal up before taking the 3 headed dog on a tour. I hadn’t Q’d in a while so I wanted to offer my services as a fill in Q. Alf made the Job announcement on Slack but redacted as he learned that I was the fill in, he also quickly stated that I lacked youth as well which added a little extra desire of beat down level from me:)
The Thang: 43 straight minutes of up and down our new empty parking deck in Waverly. It’s a low incline so the work is easy at first but then creeps up on you. Mosey to top for WU, basic stuff. Mosey to base for beginning, each workout included the following at each turn. 20 Squats, 20 Forward Lunges (meant walking for Turkey and ALf??) 15 CDD, and finish with 6,5,4,…Burpees. I think it was solid, you have to ask the pax.
Moleskin: Uncle Leo, O Tannebom went to town today saw them out front on the last two rounds. Alf and Turkey led the pax, great to have Doc back, Chipotle, Boytano and Shop never gave up and pushed themselves. Quill! How about this new guy, stepping right in, Iron Pax this week and posting again to the triple dog. Das boot and Figi are steady and always positive have have a smile on their face, much like our brother Astro. Big Tuna posted with me twice this week and is always encouraging as I watch him push himself. Pitchfork also dug in and pushed through the hills as well.
All and all a great morning, fun to work out with this group.
Announcements:
Susan G Komen: Jump in our our team and/or show your support here:
10 pax circled up in the gloom yesterday (yes, this backblast is posted over 24 hours after the workout, the horror!). 5 (YHC, TR, HT, Header, and Chin Music) chose to pre-run the #SpamRunner route starting as early as 0450.
Warm-up:
Main Thang:
Single arm pyramid:
Do 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2 reps of each exercise
Perform various carries to the second island and back (suitcase, racked, overhead, bottoms-up).
Partner doubles pyramid:
Do 2, 4, 6, 4, 2, reps of each exercise and rest while your partner works.
Bodyweight time-waster (yeah, I said it):
Mosey down to the kitty litter (unless you’re TR or HH) for 1 round of:
Return to the parking lot for 10 snatches per arm, then 5 snatches per arm.
Thanks to High Tide for graciously accepting my invitation to lead the take-out.
Announcements:
Moldy-skinny:
(written by Fault Line) So finally Homer gets his opportunity to Q for the very first time. He was scheduled a few weeks back but life got in the way with travel, etc. So here we go…group of veterans circle up which I’m sure made Homer feel good…so he calls time at 530 on the dot, basically says he’s the Q started running…after some coaxing, he finally exclaimed, “you can’t sue me…” as he mosey’d down the road. Disclaimer check!
Circled up in lower lot where it got real for the VQ (as it does with most first-timers) when he called the first exercise, SSH, IW, Merkins, Mountain Climbers. He made an honest attempt to count in sync with his movements but when we started and finished was a little vague. Anyway, we moved on.
After some suicide/exercise partner work near the main lot, we hit the rock pile then gazebo for some Good Mornings, Derkins, Overhead Press, Bent Rows. Split those up with a run to the playground where we did pull ups, dips and squats. Returned the rocks and made it back to launch.
Overall, great VQ by Homer. He took a little heckling but had a plan and executed the plan like a pro. Thanks to Puddin Pop for the takeout prayer. Upcoming Need for Speed race at Covenant Day October 12 and F3 Camp October 25th…look on the web for more info. Cheers!