I’m moving on from Chevy Chase quotes as backblast titles for a bit. I was inspired by The Princess Bride the other night, so we’re going with that for a while.
Nice crowd for a gray, moist morning. Semi ran all the way from Calvary to SCMS to use his private bathroom as a pre-run, then joined us just after a great disclaimer. Believe me. It was great. Really good. Have you heard the term “disclaimer”? I just came up with that this week. It’s great.
Slow mosey through the parking lot. Circle up for a cursory warmup – none of this clock killing burpee ladder stuff that you may have seen at other workouts this morning. Then over the rockpile near the ballfield. Partner up and pick a really big rock. CMIYC to the big Calvary sign at the corner of Rea and 51 – partner 1 runs with the rock, partner 2 does 7 HR merkins then catches partner 1. Flapjack and repeat to the sign.
Mosey down to Davie Park. Gather in the driveway. Run to the clubhouse, stopping at each light post for 10 squat jumps or 10 CDDs. Run back with the same thing. Over to the playground for partner hot laps. Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 runs the hot lap around the median. Four laps each by the end. Mosey over to the field (the real grass one; I had my eyes on the proturf field, but a soccer team beat us to it). 10 reps in cadence of the called exercise, then AYG to the other side. We did about 10 reps with a new guy calling the exercise every time. Clock killer? No way. The weinke clearly said, “Warmup, CMIYC, go to Davie Park, do stuff, back to CMIYC at Calvary, Mary”. Perfectly planned and executed.
Notes and observations:
I tagged Birmingham because we had an FNG (guest of High Tide) from Birmingham. We gave him a solid nickname, Jessup (former Marine), so he could take it home with some Charlotte street cred. F3 is just getting started in Birmingham; Jessup said he’d post down there.
Semi Gloss spent the first half of the workout panting and stretching after his pre run, then the rest complaining.
Lots of RFYLers out this morning. I think we bothered them on the run back to the church. Or maybe it was just me when the tree branch I pulled to get Geraldo wet got them too.
No children? No elephant books.
19 men gathered in a middle school parking lot at 5:30 on a Monday morning. Well, 18 gathered, Simba showed up exactly at 5:30, post-disclaimer. Good thing he didn’t get hurt. I got there myself at 5:25 and thought I was late because Insomniac was already there doing Tai Chi in the parking lot. Everybody’s second favorite Canadian, Strange Brew, (Michael J. Fox is obviously first) questioned the pre-workout, standing still, old man stretching a few guys were doing, then off we went.
Circle the lot to pick up Simba, then down to the track. 1/2 lap warmup, then circle up in the middle on the rugged, public school football field. IW (no SSH), HR merkins, Mountain Climbers. Over to one sideline, line up abreast, then back and forth across the field with various things to finish the warmup.
AYG 400. Then gather on one end of the track. Do the exercise in cadence, then run as a group 200m to the other end of the track. We did that for probably 4 laps total, including a direction change to keep Horsehead from cheating.
Gather on the sideline, partner up, then wheelbarrow across the field. No time for the sack race. Sprints back and forth (11 total) with 10 counts in between. Back up to the parking lot for 10 burpees. Done.
Moleskine
Good time out there this morning. Perfect weather and a good crowd. I don’t love the track, but options are limited at SCMS. So we made the best of it. I think Floor Slapper arrived at 6:14. I never saw him during the workout, but he was in COP. Strange Brew has gotten fast with his garage gym and sprints down the street (we all know who painted the distance markers on the road). Haze seemed a little grumpy at first, but he was crushing the 200s from lane 3, and calling out my bad form on the Dolly, which I respect. Horsehead needs an IT band transplant.
Announcements
BROlympics this Saturday morning.
BRR season looms. If you’re already on a team, see you at Fast Twitch tomorrow at 5:15. Alf is Q, so we’ll probably do Triple Nickel with SCMS on one end and Providence Rd on the other. If not, there are a couple of teams looking for a runner.
Thin Mint messaged a group of about 8 guys early in the week looking for a sub – a few guys pretended not to see it, a few claimed “injury”, Hops played the “groinal protuberance” card for the 37th time. So I took it and roped Jet Fuel into splitting it with me. He warned that he’d be coming off a big night of bar hopping. We call that “Saturday” at RockZero, so all good. Of course it was raining. Still 10 men (including Horsehead’s 2.0) gathered, I gave a meager disclaimer, and off we went.
Meander around the parking lot, circle up for a quick warmup (no SSH), then over to the island parking lot. Horsehead started talking early, but we couldn’t really understand him. Line up (abreast) for The Beast. 6 reps of the exercise at each of 6 islands, then run back to the start. Yes, we finished with Burpees. Ugh.
Over to the Hotbox where we met the Calvary soccer boss. Soccer was not cancelled today – let them play! We did a couple of things to kill the last 5 minutes of my half, then I turned it over to Jet Fuel.
Over to the rock pile in front of the church. Grab a rock and a partner. CMIYC down 51 to the other entrance, then to the fake grassy knoll. Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 runs the aggressively long lap around the parking lot. Flapjack and repeat for a few exercises. People’s Chair while each PAX does 10 merkins. Return your rock.
Run over to the North Face. Jet Fuel ignored all the protests, and called for 3 laps (all the way around the trees) with squats at the bottom. Back to the cars and finish with a bit of Mary.
Selected quotes:
Horsehead “Don’t feel bad if I do better exercises than what you’re doing.”
Ickey Shuffle “If we are ever attacked, and the survival of our nation depends on me, then I may do a Ruck.”
Boondock (Horsehead 2.0) “Can I do People’s Recliner?”
No announcements, let’s go get some coffee.
18 men gathered in the heretofore thought to be safe parking lot of a closed movie theater. The opening shift at Chic-fil-A and the Park-n-Ride commuters are serious about their parking, and less serious about staying in the designated traffic lanes.
Interesting wardrobe choices this morning – the 45-50 degree range can be tricky. I’d rather be cold before we start than shedding layers later. Purple Haze eschewed my advice to wear reflective gear and posted in all black. Semi Gloss wore a fleece pullover, apparently trying to make weight for a big match later this week. Runstopper and Joker sported tights; Joker looked like a stunt double for Spiderman. Anyways, mediocre disclaimer since I was already being heckled, and away we went.
Yog around the Chicfila and back up 51 away from SCMS to the road behind the banks. Using Google Maps like a CIA spy, I had ascertained that there were four speed bumps on the road. Suicides – to first bump and back, 5 burpees, second bump and back, etc. About 1.25 miles overall. But oh my, the complaining – “Burpees? I’m not wearing gloves.” “I’m wearing running shoes, not burpee shoes.” “This pavement is so rough.” Geez. Also, there was a surprising amount of banking traffic at 5:30 in the morning.
Exit the road, left on Providence, then left into Hembstead. New territory. AYG to the second stop sign (about 0.5 miles, although my measurements were off all morning. I’m going to ask management to buy one of those rolling distance measuring things and some cones.). Mosey down the road to the right and stop at the waterfall. Fancy. I called for a Triple Nickel down the hill and back up, but audibled to 4 trips after running all the way down (again, further than I thought), then to 3 trips (motion made by Chelms, seconded by me) after going back up. Ugh. That hill isn’t as severe as some of the other usual hills, but the double hill feature was rough. I heard a few not-so-nice comments from Hannibal and Mermaid, two of the nicer guys out there, so the hill was clearly effective.
AYG back down that road to the stop sign (maybe 0.5 miles). Mosey over to the left. Find a partner – one runs down the one road to the cul-de-sac and back, the other down the other road. Only time for one leg – exit the neighborhood onto Hwy 51 (Margo was happy to see 51 since he didn’t know where we were and it was 6:05). AYG to the 51/Providence traffic light. Find a “safe” way across Providence, cut through Taco Bell’s yard (Alf: “I’m wearing my nice shoes”). Done
As is customary at Fast Twitch, we ended with COP while dodging a bus.Thanks to the guys for joining me on the field trip.
Announcements:
F3 Dads campout this weekend at Anne Springs Greenway. Contact Honeybee today if interested.
F3 Dads Knights game 5/26. Details
Savage Race 5/13
Centurion starts at 5:15 this week only.
Rachel has the Fast Twitch keys next week for his VQ. Normal launch from SCMS.
Field trip! Bring your signed permission slip and a sack lunch. Regular launch time at 5:15. Wear reflective gear or vest since we may be around busier roads than normal.
16 men gathered in a middle school parking lot at 5:30. I quickly took heat for my Jeep compared to Header’s. Mine is perfectly outfitted for the rugged roads of South Charlotte. Header is clearly compensating for something. What does that say about Tiger Rag’s Great Pumpkin? You decide. I delivered an adequate disclaimer, including a warning that we were going into Raintree where the pre-dawn drivers accelerate when they sense weakness, then off we went.
Yog out to 51, turn right to continue to the field at the entrance to Raintree. We fell right into the HOA’s trap for trespassing on that field when we slogged through a giant mud pit between the sidewalk and the field. I heard the usual groaning from the aging Area 51 crowd who doesn’t like to get dirty anymore. Quick warmup then over to the road that runs behind the Walmart (I’ll be using the names that I have in my head for the Raintree roads, not the real names that I’d have to look up).
Run down to the end (which Skywalker helpfully pointed out is not a cul-de-sac), stopping at each drive on the right for 10 HR merkins. Quick LBC recovery, healthy discussion of farting by Puddin’ Pop and Spackler, then run back the other way with 10 Jump Squats at each road.
Partner up in the strange Raintree shopping center (has anyone ever done business there? I don’t mean the kind of business that Joker does in Raintree, I mean has anyone spent money?). Partner one runs the staircase loop while partner 2 does an exercise. Flapjack. 4 laps each.
Mosey down to the road with the really big hill that has a golf course tee box on the left at the top of the hill. AYG down the hill to the bump, 20 monkey humpers, AYG back up. Freddie Mercury recovery.
Yog over to the hill on the way back to the school where we often do triple nickel. No time for that, partner 1 runs up while partner 2 does Peter Parker. Flapjack. The jog over to the stop sign where you turn right to go back to the school. Parker Peter. Run the terrible Fast Twitch Finish back to the starting place. Ugh. I saw a few guys who regretted their brisk starting pace and had to walk it out on Strawberry. There’s no shame in that. Finished with 5 solid minutes of Mary #MakeMaryGreatAgain.
Done. One of the worst count-offs I’ve ever seen. Also, no donuts.
Happy Birthday to Flutie Flakes who found no takers to do his 45 birthday burpees with him.
Ascent was the site of my VQ a few years ago – that was Hopper’s FNG post, so I bullied him (via text message) into joining me in a reunion tour. My boy, Taffy (15), defied the odds and got up at 6:30 on a Saturday to test his mettle against old men. I was in front of him the whole morning. 10 men total, an adequate disclaimer, then off we went. Swiss Miss was in full winter rain gear. I think he even wears that at the bro-ga workout.
Yog to the front field for the usual warmup, including some back and forth across the field. Lots of groans when I called for Bear Crawls, then outright refusal by a couple of guys (cough, Gullah, cough) for crab walk. Taffy quickly regretted his no-glove decision and left the circle to break into my car and get gloves. Amateur.
Mosey over to parking lot that we don’t park in. Plank indian run (stolen shamelessly from Dumpster Fire) the length of the parking lot. Then jog over to the rockpile at the church. Partner up. Partner 1 runs down there while partner 2 does the exercise. Flapjack, etc. for six laps total. Mary mixed in for recovery.
Over to the benches around the tree in front of the school. Would the tree be majestic without the benches? There was some debate. 10 jump or step-ups, 10 incline merkins, 10 dips. Repeat (more groans). Jog down into the neighborhood, stopping occasionally for merkins or mary. Gather at the bottom of the hill whose name I can’t ever remember. Triple Nickel with CDDs and squats.
Jog through the spooky forest (less spooky in the daylight than on Thursday mornings at Hydra). Gather on the field, find a partner for military situps, then prairie fire mary (with a run across the field between each). Up to the front field for a few sprints, then done.
Good group of guys this morning, all working hard.
Gumby on Wednesdays. Indoor bro-ga with your F3 friends. Check the website for details.
Costanza has his VQ next week. Contact Sony if you want to get on the Q list.
12 grown men gathered in an elementary school parking lot this morning at 5:15. It was good to have several guys back out who haven’t posted much lately – Haze (fresh off 6.5 miles at Fast Twitch), Radar, Wolfman and Hopper. With that crew of #kotters, we expected Stage Coach or Bugeater to come rolling in. The Union County rolled in after their 2-hour drive from the hinterlands. After a tremendous disclaimer (trust me, it was great, yuge), we proceeded thusly.
Quick mosey to the front field (Haze: I didn’t know we still worked out on grass). Fair point – we prefer our dry pavement these days, but the field was dry, so on we went. SSH, MC, IW. Then line up abreast on the sideline for back and forth warmup (jog front and back, carioca, broad jumps, bear crawl, crab walk).
Gather at the far end zone for Here and There. Run over “there” (100 yards) and do 5 HR merkins, then back “here” for 15 jump squats. Then 10/10, then 15/5. End “there”.
Mosey over to the pile of rocks at the church. Choose a partner and grab a manly rock. CMIYC around the church with a 10 merkin chaser. Mary recovery Repeat. Radar was my partner and picked a nice, small rock – veteran – then took off at full speed. He’s been doing something to keep in shape.
Mosey over to the benches around the tree. 10 derkins, 10 jump ups, 10 dips. Run over there and touch that pole. Repeat with 15 and 20 reps. Over to the wall behind the school. Partner 1 BTW while partner 2 runs to the playground over there and back. Flapjack. Repeat with People’s Chair. Radar is out of practice on the partner low-5. We looked like Tiger Woods and his caddie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_gvg89sbQA
To the front field again for 10 sprints from one end to the other. Queen was flying until he realized we were doing 10. Semi, Radar and Haze talked like school girls the whole time. I checked on Arena on the jog back to the cars because he was limping – apparently that’s just how he runs. Oops. Done.
Good work by the guys this morning. 2.5 miles with plenty of merkins for me. Oh yeah, Semi Gloss wore one glove. #michaeljackson
17 men gathered at Death Valley to celebrate our nation’s champions. Sadly, the SCMS field actually retains water instead of draining like the fancy system they have in Clemson. Seriously, it’s like the whole area drains to the track and football field and stays there. So, with more rain than I expected, we’d be modifying the original plan a little. After an excellent disclaimer, away we went…
Jog down to the track for a warm-up lap, after dodging the mud at the bottom of the ramp. That’s a service project opportunity for current and former site Qs. Circle up near the gate for a standard warmup. Then line up abreast on the line near the gate – AYG 400. Here come the complaints about not being warmed up enough (maybe because you stood still during the whole warmup, Semi Gloss) and the aforementioned puddles. Recover with some walking lunges halfway down the straightaway. Then 800 AYG. Recovery lunges again. 400 AYG.
Yog over to the bleachers. Mary for a little recovery. Choose a partner you don’t know well (I heard lots of introductions, so success – vets need to partner with guys you don’t know sometimes to help pull them into the PAX). Partner 1 does the exercise on the bleachers while Partner 2 runs to the foul (fair) pole on one of the fields. The Swiper/Hannibal/SG group got a little mouthy – clearly their foul pole was closer than ours. Repeat with Incline merkins, step ups, derkins and dips.
Mosey over into the ball field to the edge of the infield on the baseline b/w 2nd and 3rd bases. After a quick safety recon run to make sure the other end of the sprint was clear, we did a bunch of back and forth sprints. Usually do 10-20 of an exercise, then sprint to the other side (baseline or outfield fence). This may have been the thing I added when the rain flooded the football field. We did HR merkins, CDDs, LBCs, heels to heaven, etc. for about 10 minutes. Done
A couple of other notes: Skywalker was a no-show after suggesting to both me and Swiper that he’d be there. Joker and Smokey were dressed for 10 degree ice workouts. Actually, Joker looked (and ran) like a valet.
Announcements
Joe Davis Run is this Saturday. Convergence at RockZero for those not racing. McGee is your Q.
10 men ran three miles in an icy church parking lot this morning. What did you do? We had better conditions than was predicted, but it was still dicey. After a thorough disclaimer, we got after it thusly:
Little baby jog around the parking lot to test things out. I had no idea what conditions to expect this morning, so I had to do some just-in-time recon work and come up with a weinke on the fly. There were patches of ice and big puddles, and it wasn’t cold enough for the grassy areas to have frozen. Alright. We headed into the covered entrance near the fake grassy knoll for a standard warmup (SSH, IW, MC, Squats).
Partner up. Partner 1 runs around the median route we had tested during our recon jog (maybe 250 yards) while partner 2 does the exercise under the roof. Flapjack until the partners reach the total reps specified. HR merkins (150), Squat jumps (150), CDDs (200), Lunges (100 each leg). We switched partners halfway through. #swingers
Yog over to the hotbox. We did another recon run down the little hill with the trash cans. No good. In the hotbox, 10 incline merkins, run somewhere about 100 yards away and back – lots of variations here as guys modified to find a safe route. 10 one-leg raises on the bench. Run. 10 derkins. Run. 10 other leg raises. Run.
Mary. Repeat the merkin, leg raise thing without the running. More mary. Stagger out into the cold and gather on the main road around the parking lot. Run from here to the top of the forbidden hill entrance, stopping at each road hump for 5 burpees. A few of us ran down the hill and back up – mistake. Mosey over to the cars. Done.
Moleskine
I’m not ashamed to say that I hoped nobody else would be there this morning when I rolled in. No luck. Of course the guys were there. Although, as Flipper pointed out, none of the #highintensity guys made it. I’ve never shown up to Q with this little of a plan – I didn’t know if we’d be able to get around in the parking lot or what. Turned out that we got 3+ miles in running loops around a (mostly) ice-free parking lot. There were enough patches of ice that a muscle pull was never far off – except for Flipper who had his Swedish Spartan Race cleats on. It was good to see Fragile make a visit from Charleston. Snowflake ran in. Geez. Good stuff from the guys this morning. It was not easy to post today, it was cold when we got out of our cars, it was really cold when we started moving – the wind was rough. So tclaps to the men who got there and put in work.