11 fine men showed up for not-so-cold running weather this morning to tackle the hills of Five Knolls. If only the real LC had such curves and hills that show would still be on TV.
The Thang
So of course everyone is going to know what we did this morning…we ran. But, because we are such wild and crazy guys, we decided to run Five Knolls in reverse. It has been a while since the crew of DT has hit these hills…many a morning was spent here during BRR training. The route was down Bevington, up Elm, on to 51 and then into the Whitegate entrance of Five Knolls. Reverse the run out to Rea and back as many times as you can and don’t be late for COT or TigerRag will be pissed.
Skinny Mole
Nice crew this morning. 11 Pax still going strong with the running a few days before Christmas. We had some greatness at DT this morning…one HB who ran sub 3:10 at Kiawah, one HB who ran almost sub 3:15 at Kiawah, and Frasier who was knocking on the door of 3:10 at Kiawah. All three very, very impressive times…
Good group this morning…. YHC gave the direction and off we went. For the first 1.5 miles everyone stayed together and then the group started to separate. Frasier was as usual out front killing it followed closely behind by HoneyBee. TigerRag was giving guidance (or talking smack) to Hairball shortly behind the Bee… The rest of the Pax settled into a nice pace in groups of 2 or 3 for the remainder of the day. Didn’t hear to much mumblechatter to begin today…but I thank Tuck for the nice conversation about loading Kodi on the Fire Stick so I can watch just about anything, and also enjoyed talking to WildTurkey about his Reindeer Games coming up at Stonehenge this Saturday.
It didn’t really get interesting until we got back to COT. A few of us broke off early and made it back…followed closely by several other Pax. We thought we might have lost OneNiner and Utah….but 1-9er eventually showed up. No Utah. Hairball decided to go out looking for Utah to go home before COT because he had things to do. No man left behind…unless Hairball has a busy schedule. Normally TR is the first one to graciously remind me that time is up and people have things to do….today Hairball stepped up to the plate for that one.
Nice job out there today guys…hope everyone has a great holiday season.
Oh….Utah made it back. And we prayed that Hairball’s schedule isn’t too busy next week.
Announcements:
DaVinci & Stonehenge convergence on Saturday (WildTurkey and JRRTolkien on Q — should be an interesting one).
Foxhole & DMZ convergence on Monday.
This morning the crew of Devils Turn headed for the hills…Piper Glen hills that is. The weather was cool this morning…a stark contrast to the muggy, humid, burning hot days of summer we grew accustomed to at DT. The chill in the air was a nice break from the sweaty mess we usually are when we’re done.
The Thang
The main thang this morning was the Piper Glen route. Hit the apartment loop for a warmup, then head up Rea to Old Course and through the rollings hills of PG. A few of us started at 0445 for some extra miles (YHC and Frasier)….a few more of us started even earlier and got the coveted “night run” in on Strava (Both HBs…Hairball and HoneyBee).
Ye Olde Moleskine
YHC can’t say what happened with the night crew….I did that trek last week and could not be convinced to hit it again this Thursday. I can tell you what happened on the 0445 warmup though…fast running. Mental note…don’t let Frasier set the pace on a warmup. We’re laying down 7:30s on a warmup and Frasier is chatting me up like we’re eating bagels at Coffeeteria after a workout.
Not too much mumblechatter today…the Pax got spread out and YHC got a little hurt so I missed a lot of talk. Poptart started it off in stride by complaining why he showed up to a running workout when he doesn’t like to run. It was his first post at DT so congrats….and yes we do run at DT. In fact, that’s all we do unless you count the pre-run bootcamp I put on for myself. When he was finished he said it was the worst six miles of his life…i wasn’t sure if that was because he hates running so much, or because he ran the entire route with Outback.
We did find out Turkeys can fly….or at least their legs can. Turkey Leg laid down 9+ miles in a low 7 min pace. He was flying out there. Haggis was right behind him grunting the whole way. Hey..does anyone else think Haggis’ winter hat looks like a football helmet from the 1920s? Also, apparently Haggis hates Honeybee and Hairball as he absolutely refused to say hello to them on the course. #allbusiness
Tiger Rag was his usual upbeat, chipper, and optimistic self. Never any complaints or sarcasm from him. #hurryupletsgetmovingdammit #CARUP…ISAIDCARUPDAMMIT
A few of us settled into a nice pace…Van Pelt (thanks for showing up to DT), Bratwurst, Longhaul, Stone Cold, and YHC were doing a nice smooth 8 min pace. Everyone was feeling good about themselves until Bratwurst started complaining about how tired his legs were and how sore he was….so he could ONLY run at this pace. Thanks for the support brother. Longhaul was a beast on the hills today…kept powering up them and ran away from us.
YHC couldn’t hang this morning….a sore foot from all the training forced me to slow it down and turn back early. F3 brotherhood came through strong as everyone stopped to make sure I was ok….and then left me on the side of the road. #ihaveabooboo
Thanks for the opportunity to lead this morning.
Announcements:
Christmas party – sign up (yes…we are having a party in case you hadn’t heard)
Operational Sweet Tooth – buy presents for kids…do it….after you sign up for the xmas party.
Long run this weekend on Saturday at 6am – McAlpine Greenway. See Bratwurst for details.
After the last few weeks of low numbers and flat courses, things returned to normal at Devil’s Turn this week. 21 PAX showed up on a cool, crisp morning to hit the hills again.
The Thang
This morning’s route took us back to the Old Course in Piper Glen. The start takes you on a leisurely stroll through the apartment complex (during which we learned that Hairball loves to kill it and segment hunt the warm up routes), and eventually up Rea Road to Old Course and through some nice rolling hills in Piper Glen. A couple of monster hills await you followed by the lollipop route at the end, and then back to the start for some mumblechatter.
Ye Olde Moleskine
A nice big crew showed up this morning. A few of us showed up at 0445 to get some extra miles in…the Kiawah training is in full swing and several of the PAX are hitting it early to keep up with Bratwurt’s masterful plan to have us all crushing PRs in December. One thing YHC learned was to not try and chalk out a 6 mile route with only 5 minutes before you have to meet someone….I’m glad the Piper Glen security slept in that morning.
The rest of the PAX gather and at 0515 we were off. Turkey Leg, Tiger Rag, Haggis, and of course Frasier set a very fast pace out of the gate and pretty much left everyone in their wake the rest of the time. Frasier was seen numerous times on the course…he was lapping people all over the place all the while striking up conversations and looking like he was out for a Sunday stroll. We also learned this morning that Bratwurst can be late…and sometimes when he’s late, he’s actually late twice…late to the changed meeting place because he was late to the first meeting place. Mental note made.
A few of the PAX (YHC included) decided to mix it up and run the lollipop loop backwards…it can be quite frightening to see a horde of PAX coming at your with headlamps. Bratwurst complained they were on the wrong side of the road…until he realized he was on the wrong side of the road.
Several PAX ended the run down Bevington which was great to see….when YHC started at Devil’s Turn only a few runners could make the full course and get the extra mileage in. Now more and more PAX are hitting Bevington at the end to log the extra miles…you can see the training is working.
Great to see everyone out there this morning and thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
F3 Christmas Party – sign up! Preblast is here: http://f3nation.com/2016/10/11/south-charlotte-christmas-party-2016/
Sign up for Joe Davis Run – prices go up Nov 1st
Sunday LSD for Kiawah training – McAlpine Greenway. Check Kiawah channel on slack for details
The big question today was how many would show up to a RUNNING workout known as Devil’s Turn post-BRR. Numbers were huge leading up to the relay in the mountains, but 16 PAX plus 1 FNG showed up to post this crisp morning. We still have Ragnar, Tough Mudder, Kiawah, and a host of other races to train for. No need to give up on DT now.
The Thang:
YHC was on Q and decided to take it a little easy on the group this morning without going after any punishing hills. The group has had enough of them the past couple of months and tired legs from BRR didn’t need more. The plan was to hit The Village for some pacing laps. A well lit “flat” course that enabled some good pace runs. There’s a few slight hills but nothing these bada**es can’t handle.
Moleskine:
Mumble chatter was pretty quiet this morning. On the 2 small hills on the way there some guy named MT said something about “I thought you said no hills”. I wasn’t sure who it was since we were at a running workout…but then he quieted down to run his 15 minute mile pace laps. #toomanymerkins
As usual, Haggis and Bratwurst took off right from the start. YHC hung with them for the first lap and a half hanging on while they were pushing a fast pace all the while having a normal conversation…they looked over their shoulder a few times to see me and then took off. I was cramping their style.
Hairball was on his own for the run…1000m intervals. We could almost catch him on the rest periods and then off he went again chasing the girls of Run For Your Life.
Speaking of Run For Your Life…it seemed like there was a thousand of them out there. I kept running up on folks thinking it was some weird Tolkien MAF, but then I would realize they were clothed…and not Asian. I’m glad I didn’t ask about #F3hottubs.
Nice job by all this morning.
Announcements:
Operation Sweet Tooth – look for details coming soon
Southern Discomfort – Oct 22nd
Ragnar – some teams need people…if you don’t sign up it means you hate F3
MT wants people to hike the AT. He likes letters.
Great turnout this morning at Devil’s Turn. 27 strong….biggest Pax I’ve seen out there…and we were still 1 down with my bald brother Honey Bee nursing an injury (careful where you step when reaching for a beer).
Blue Ridge is approaching and it is helping the numbers, but YHC is hoping we are creating runners out there who will stick with us beyond that race. Many have Ragnar and Kiawah coming up so keep on coming out for training.
The Thang:
For today’s route we hit #TheVillage. The nice 1.75 mile loop headed left on Bevington. It’s a nice change of pace from the hills and it’s always good to mix in some tempo runs. The plan was simple as always…run the 0.7 miles out to the start, hit the loop at your own pace, rinse and repeat until COT. The loop is good and smaller groups of PAX always seem to form so no one is out there alone.
Moleskin:
YHC has to apologize that I did not post a backblast for last week’s DT. Nothing crazy happened although we almost lost a first-time participant…luckily Pebbles found his way back. But he didn’t find his way back to DT this week.
So this week, I’m doing the BB right out of the gate…screw work. I’m in charge anyway so I can do what I want.
A big group this morning….I love seeing the numbers increase as we get closer to BRR. Lots of regulars coming out and people are getting faster and stronger by the week. The usual speedsters were out front this morning…Thin Mint and Bratwurst along with a few others I couldn’t see as they were too far ahead right out of the gate.
Fireman Ed started strong on the mosey this morning…he was feeling frisky. It must have been all that beer belly stretching he was doing before the run. Poking and rubbing your belly is apparently the key to speed.
Good to see Haggis back at DT post-vacation and post-zombie flu. Get well brother.
There were many others doing many awesome and hysterical things this morning. I just didn’t see them or hear them but I’m sure they happened. By the way…these backblasts are easier to write and make fun of people when there aren’t so many PAX. I’m not creative enough for 27 people.
Great work this morning guys and thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
Palmetto 200 sign-ups are open. There are $50 ultra team discounts and $100 12 man team discounts. Frasier wants to make sure you have plenty of time to train.
Mountain goat tomorrow and Ghostrunner tonight.
Saturday was a big day for DaVinci….a 40th birthday celebration by the Q. YHC hasn’t posted to DaVinci in a while and felt bad about it…such a good AO with so many options to choose from. A nice crew showed up this morning to celebrate and get a good workout in. The theme this morning was 40 or variations of it….4 laps, 4 sets of 10, 40….anything to get people griping (only one person did and we’ll get to that later).
The Thang
Started off with a very thorough disclaimer so no one sues us.
Head towards Nakatomi Plaza for the following loop: Run up stairs, then across, and back down the stairs. 40 LBCs and run to the corner for 40 Russian Twists. Around the building to the breezeway for a People’s Chair and 40 shoulder presses and then to the last corner for 40 Freddie Mercury. Repeat 4 times for a total of 160 exercises at each station in total.
Head across Ardrey Kell to Carolina Sports Clinic parking lot. Bear Crawl approx 40 meters (or more..who’s counting but it fits the theme) then sprint the rest of the lot. Loop around for Lunge Walk plus sprints, and finally 10 merkins at each of the 4 islands for a count of 40. Repeat 4 times.
Head back to the start for 10 dips, 10 derkins, 10 full touch the toe sit-ups, and 10 pull-ups.
40 burpees to top off the hour.
Skinny of the Mole
DaVinci really is a great AO. It’s not getting the love it should…we have so many workouts in SOB land it’s hard to hit them all, but there are so many areas to hit from that site. This morning we had a good crew show up and pound the pavement. Triple 7 showed up after Stonehenge for a strong double-down…dude is flat out killin’ it. Mic Check, Bratwurst and his 2.0, and Tolkien (a little late but he worked out like 7 times that morning so I’ll cut him some slack) rounded out the crew.
The first stop seemed to go well…everyone was pretty close together and the pace was good. The LBCs seemed to get the most out of folks…Bratwurst apparently can’t count to 40 or gets lost in his own thoughts and just goes until folks are done. Whatever works in my book…
The second stop is where the complaining started….well actually it started a little earlier, but it amped up there. Mostly from our good friend Tolkien. No matter what YHC gave direction on, there was a quick “this is bullsh**” comment to follow. It was probably the bear crawls….which were included for a reason. I will give him kudos though…I saw him complete the full bear crawl exercise. Of course, I had already completed that, plus finished the lunge walk section, and was almost done with all my merkins by the time he finished one round of bear crawls, but F3 is all about getting better. Keep at it my little-armed friend.
The best part of the day was Bratwurst’s face when I said we had 40 burpees to complete after the entire workout was just about done. It was priceless….I wish I had a picture. It was a mix of anger, fear, hatred, and just plain old annoyance with the Q. Even Howie, his 2.0, got into the act by giving the Q a hard time…a chip off the ole’ Brat(wurst). He got me back though…YHC didn’t realize that several PAX were planning to wake me up post-hangover the next morning for an early run. I should have seen that one coming…but my 40 year old brain is slower.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Devil’s Turn had 23 strong this week (thanks to Voodoo for correcting YHC as we actually had 23 but had a soldier fall early hence my 22 count tweet). Honey Bee and I are loving the numbers this summer…it’s like we’re the new hot (but bald) girls at school. Everyone wants to come check us out. We realize this may be short-lived after BRR…BUT…we’ve got Kiawah coming up so perhaps the love fest with the Bald Brothers will continue.
The Thang
Surprise….we ran. A lot. Today’s adventure took us back to The Village for some pace work…which is another way of saying run fast around the 1.75 mile loop until you can’t do it anymore. YHC is getting more and more compliments on this addition to the DT rotation. It’s a nice diversion from straight hills…a nice wide and well lit street, with some subtle rolling hills that sneak up on you when laying down a strong pace. We seem to be in a good rhythm at DT right now mixing up the hill work with some pace runs…this should suit people well for BRR.
Ye Olde Moleskine
Many will be disappointed with my backblast this week…it’s hard work coming up with material for 23 PAX. It’s pretty easy coming up with ways to make fun of Tolkien, but I like a challenge. #muchlovetolkien
All in all it was a pretty straight forward morning. A handful of folks took the early lead and were laying down a strong pace. YHC was trying to keep up with the likes of Honey Bee, Thin Mint, Mr. Brady, and Turkey Leg…that crew went out strong on lap 1 and then kicked it up a notch for lap 2. Thin Mint was straight killing it this morning…he got in a full 4 laps (first time I think that has happened) and then went back to pick up the Six a couple times for extra credit. Nice job today.
Not too much happened out there…towards the end we ran into a horde of Let Me Run or Run For Your Life or whatever that group is called….there were lots of them. I was getting confused…several had yellow shirts on so I thought either I was lost or we had been running so long several of the PAX had aged significantly….or turned into women. I think I heard that a few of the ladies tried to hit on Voodoo.
The PAX settled into several groups and we had ranges of 6 to 8 miles which is a pretty good workout for a Thursday morning. Even Tolkien came out to run…doing one of his MAF (I’m afraid of what those letters stand for) runs…he kept his heart rate below 150, but basically had to walk to do it. #thatzingerisgoingtocostme
Come back next week to see what Honey Bee has in store for us…my guess is that it involves running and sweating.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements
No F3 Dads this weekend.
Ragnar is coming…see Tolkien for details if you want to join a team.
22…wait…23? No…22 PAX showed up for a little thing called Devils Turn. I’m keeping it short and sweet this week as there were too many PAX to keep track of…and because the wife and kids are out of town, I’m pretty lazy and started drinking beer so I don’t want this to get in the way.
The Thang
This week’s DT was simple…1 mile repeats on the DangerZone. The ‘Zone is a 1.2 mile stretch between 51 and the Dunkin Donuts on Rea Rd. The plan was to run 1 mile at a “comfortably hard” pace (#mywifesfavoritepace), recover for 0.2 miles and repeat on the way back. Everyone was told to be back by 0615 for COT…some listened and some did not. #pandasrunslow
The Quick Moleskin
I could go on and on about this workout…it was pretty amazing. Everyone who was there knows that one person completely dominated all morning long. This person ran his tail off and didn’t even break a sweat which I didn’t think was possible. He was running so fast and hard you almost didn’t even see him until the end….amazing performance.
Of course I’m talking about Cheddar. He was simply amazing today…no one else deserves any comments in my backblast other than him. He out-worked us all…quite a showing.
Psst…Cheddar. The workout starts at 0515…not 0615. But thanks for showing up to greet us.
As always…a honor to lead.
Announcements:
Run Stopper’s son is hiking the AT. Keep him in your thoughts.
F3 Golf
F3 Dads will continue through early August. This weekend is at Honey Bee’s pool.
Operation Sweet Tooth…toy drive this fall/winter. Watch for updates from Hairball.
13 strong men showed up for The Brave this morning. YHC was on board for his 2nd Q at the The Brave and had everything planned out perfectly. Recon a good area…check. Plan out a good AMRAP…check. Chalk out the route…check. Account for Robocop showing up during the workout……dang…missed that one. Apparently F3 has a habit of turning security guards into Dirty Harry and this morning was my first experience with that…more to come in a bit.
The Thang
So what did we do this morning….since YHC is still somewhat new to Q’ing I went with the tried and true AMRAP formula. Always a good workout, and easy on the Q.
We took off promptly at 0515 towards Bagpipe Hill…the workout started and ended at the CIA BOA/TIAA buildings.
Here’s the pain stations:
The Moleskine
Today did not go as planned. I was so happy with myself for my 2nd Q. Did a little recon before Happy Hour this week, and I got up extra early to chalk off the route this morning. I did not anticipate running into Robocop this morning. No sooner had we got through pain station 1, when we were ambushed by security. Apparently they hate an active and healthy lifestyle. I distinctly heard the security guard say, “you get out of here. This is private property. Only cookies and doughnuts on this loading dock. Muscular dudes and guys that are in shape are not allowed near this building….only Tolkien is allowed over here.” That’s the truth…can’t believe he disparaged Tolkien like that…so uncool. I will not stand for that.
The crew looked at YHC for direction (some of the stares said “way to go dumba**”), and I said let’s just keep going to the next dock. The rest of lap 1 was uneventful….Mario, Squid, Ringer, and Thin Mint setting a strong pace with Mario stripping his shirt off early screaming “Tolkien, oh Tolkien, where art thou Tolkien.”
Lap 2 – now it gets interesting…Robocop is waiting for us. He’s no dummy….he knows we are coming back. He rockets out of the door screaming, “Howard Testerman….you get off this property. You left BOA and you can go work out your fat cankle at Citi you loser.” Whoa…this guy is intense this morning.
I was a little concerned, but One-Niner was running with Fire Hazard and I so I felt safe just being near him. We tried to woo Robocop with kindness first…Thin Mint offered him some delicious cookies…didn’t work. Then we tried to gas him out by sending Frehley’s Comet his way….no such luck. Frasier just kept running around him in circles saying “ha, ha, you can’t catch me”. Squid was bench pressing a Toyota Camry trying to scare the guy….that didn’t work either. We offered him Goonie’s autograph….but the guy was too young to have seen the movie and he hates Baby Ruth bars. NOTHING WAS WORKING. We didn’t know what to do…Ringer was just rocking back and forth in place mumbling “where’s Pebbles”. New guy Burnout was like “I didn’t join F3 to get beat up by a mall cop”. Market Timer was absolutely no help….he tried to invest the guy’s money for him and lost it before the markets even opened. Nard Dog just stared at all of us…. (this sounds like an awful lot of stuff happening on lap 2 doesn’t it?)
Needless to say we solved the problem…as long as we worked out on the SIDEWALK we were ok. Apparently the parking lot is paved with the bank account and social security numbers of all their clients so as long as we stayed off the lot, there was no fear of a security breach. In the end, I think it’s all because Howard left to go to competitor….thanks a lot Howard.
So what’s the moral of the story today? SPX has less security at 0515, work out at the TIAA building instead of BOA, and always make fun of Tolkien.
Strong work out there today guys…thanks for the opportunity to lead.
23 PAX showed up this morning to a little thing called Devil’s Turn. It was hot…it was humid…most people went shirtless…sounds like a night in Tolkien’s backyard. #F3hottubs
Big group this morning…BRR is approaching so the numbers are growing…or maybe it’s because so many people like me. Mr. Bean showed up so that’s got to be it. Yellow shirts were strong this morning…more and more people are getting in the groove with the DT uniform. A few more follicly-challenged folks showed up today…we need more aerodynamic heads.
The Thang:
So what did this group of 23 do this morning…we ran! Awesome! A lot regulars today, but a few part-time DT’ers were out there so YHC became Chalkmaster again and mapped out the course. I tried it make it as easy as possible so Honey Bee could follow along and not get lost….although it’s hard to get lost when you are always out front. #beespeed (wait…is that Bee Speed or Bees Peed?).
We ran #TheVillage this morning. Down Bevington to the Touchstone Village for a nice 1.75 mile looped course AMRAP-style. YHC challenged the PAX to get in 3 laps if possible which would be a total of approximately 6.6 miles with the warm-up/cool-down. YHC also said “maybe 4 laps for the fast guys” to see who would take the bait. From the looks of Strava several folks hit 6+ miles and a few of us took the challenge to try and get 4 and almost hit 8 miles…nice job.
Ye Olde Moleskine
A big group of guys today so it was a little hard to pick up on all the chatter. The PAX spread out quickly at the start. The humidity was tough this morning and what was thought to initially be a nice “flat” looped course turned into some pain. You know the workout is good when you hate yourself for Q’ing it….several others commented about not liking YHC this morning as well. I’m going to take that as a compliment of the workout because there’s just no way people actually hate me.
Here are a few observations from the morning:
Great crew out there this morning…love to see the big numbers of runners. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.