Disclaimer: Frasier, being down an arm had Siri dictate his portion of the backblast. Let the record reflect for any spelling/grammar issues. YHC typed his own and has no excuse for any errors/omissions.
Anyways, 12 men made the right choice on this fine Saturday and brought the heat to #F3DayZero. Old Glory was flying proudly on Garbanzo’s Apollo Creed-esque chubbies shorts long before the tip of the shovel flag was planted firmly (kinda) in the scorched earth. After a notably awkward disclaimer, we were off.
Here’s how the thang-a-lang went down:
Mosey to the soccer fields for COP:
-LBC x 25 IC
-Merkin x 15 IC
-Peter Parker x 20 IC
-Imperial Walker x 25 IC
-SSH x 31 IC
Lap around the school. Butt kicks, high knees, backward run.
Merkin clock: Circle up in plank position performing merkins at each position of the clock face: 1 merkin at 1:00, 2 merkins at 2:00, up to 12 at 12:00. Form began to deteriorate around bedtime between 9:00 and 10:00. Solid work gents, 78 merkins for those counting.
Mosey to the playground and partner up
Dips x 200 between the partners. Bear crawl up hill, crab walk down.
Supine pull ups x 100 between partners. Bear crawl up hill, crab walk down.
Mosey to wall – donkey kicks x25 OYO
Mosey to sidewalk ramp to soccer field. Line up along ramp. The pax planked between railings creating a tunnel arch that would make an engineer proud (maybe). Pax at bottom gorilla hop to top under the arch. Keep your arch high fellas #hangingchads. Pax on bars shift down one position. Repeat until all pax complete gorilla hop.
Repeat tunnel arch with bear crawl. Audible before full circuit due to a gas leak.
Mosey to basketball courts. After another round of the merkin clock in military time was vetoed, we hit 10 burpees OYO.
Handoff to handoff to the one-armed man.
Circle of pain:
The idea was to stay on the move while we work together as a group. Four corners around the track stopping at each corner for a pain station. Mosey and all you got in between the pain stations.
Round one:
Mosey to the first corner with a running rock. 5 to 10 pounds. First called exercise was the goblet squat. AYG to corner number two. Calf raises and cadence to 30 while holding the rock above your head. Mosey to station three where we did step ups x 15. Extend your rock at the top of the step up. AYG to pain station four. 20 Turkish get ups with rock. AYG back to the start of turn one.
Round two:
First called exercise was to tap crunch with rock x 40. Mosey to turn to where we did Russian twist x 20.
AYG to station three. There we did hip thrusters a.k.a. the “Saturday night special” to 20 then alternated right leg left leg up to 10. Mosey to station four. There we did up down in a circle as a wave while holding a rock with their feet. Probably easier. AYG back to the start.
Round three:
Jump squats with rock over your 20. AYG to station two. 20 jump lunges with rock over the head. Mosey the station where we did 15 jump ups. Audible to step up or jump squat unable to do the jump up. AYG to station four. Put your rock on the ground and jump over your rock back-and-forth 30 times. Then jump 30 times sideways over your rock. Mosey back to station one.
Round four:
Dying cockroach x 20 with your rock. AYG back to the basketball court. For some Mary.
Combination flutter dolly times 20 with the rock. 100 LBCs to finish.
Ye Olde Moleskinne:
Announcements:
Joker noted that F3 Area 51 started almost 4 years ago and had grown from 1 workout to >30. T-Claps to the leadership of the men and growth of F3 in South Charlotte.
Two races coming in June with several Pax already signed up:
Quick spin cycle around the lot to scoop up the late arrivals.
So last Saturday whilst several of Area 51’s finest were jogging to the bottom of a rock quarry, YHC split the Q at DZ. In an attempt to bring patriotism back to youth sports, YHC flew Old Glory with pride as the minivans and soccer moms rolled into McAlpine. Shortly thereafter an accusatory tweet went out from a “soccer dad” claiming the SF had been “left behind at Day Zero.” As a “punishment” it was suggested YHC carry the DZ SF when posting next. So, yeah.
The THANG-A-RANG:
SSH (w/ SF if you have one) x 15 IC
CDDs x 15 IC
Low Slow Squat x15 IC
Turbo mosey toward 4 Mile Creek Rd.
-Circle up at Rising Meadow. Merkins x20 IC. -Continue brisk pace to speed bump past clubhouse.
-Air chair until 6 arrives. Squats x15 IC.
Continue to 4-way stop at 4 mile creek Rd.
Partner up CMIYC (10 merkins) to flashing light. Plank until 6 arrives.
CMIYC back to the “bridge” at the bottom of 4MC Rd.
Backward (or Spackler’s) run AYG to the 4-way stop at Raintree Ln.
Hill repeats on 4 mile creek opposite side of Raintree Ln.
1- AYG backward to top, mosey down
2- partner 1 carry to top, mosey down
3- AYG backward to top
80% run back towards campus. When fastest pax reaches Rounding Run, begins lunge walking. Each pax continues 80% run until they reach the pax ahead of them lunge walking. Halt when the six begins lunge walking.
Two steps forward, one step back – suicides on Rising Meadow. Forward AYG to street light 2, backward run to street light 1, forward AYG to street light 3, backward run to street light 2.
Indian run to campus
Moleskin:
-Great group of guys out there this morning killing it. YHC led from the rear for a good portion of the workout. #nomanleftbehind. So as expected (or unexpected) carrying a shovel with a flag attached to it is legit. Lots of Lee Greenwood’s in the house today serenading YHC as we trekked through the Tree of Rain.
-Backward running was a hard. Next time we’ll run the full 5+ miles backward.
-A couple pax took a tumblerooksy on 4MC. YHC isn’t a headlamp guy, but it was dark over there. Hope you guys didn’t get too dinged up.
-Somehow we completely lost Dear Abby and his FNG Jeremy…for the entire workout. #QFail – still wrapping my brain around how it happened. Jeremy- come back again. Not sure if you’d consider DA a “friend” bringing you to FT as a FNG.
-YHC missed a lot of the chatter today. Sound off on the lowlights.
-Oh, and Radar posted.
-Always a pleasure leading (and following) the pax at #F3FastTwitch, a.k.a. “The Fastest Hour in Area 51.”
-I know I’ll be asked to “get a room”, but feel compelled to share anyways. Today marks my 1-year mark with F3. It’s truly been a life-changing experience and I’ve met some awesome guys that are an inspiration to me in all areas of life.
Announcements:
Fast Twitch converging with Swift and SIB at Community House Middle School next Tuesday at 0515 for mile time trials. Come show off your speed.
Sign up for F3 Golf on 4/30.
Pray for BOG
For one reason or another you decided not to do the mud run. How come? You didn’t find a team in time? You’re just not really into obstacle races? You had one too many Bud Light limes last night, overslept and missed the bus to Columbia? Your wife just had a baby? You don’t want to get your new shoes dirty? You’re on the mend from a “procedure”? Your kid has a football game at 10 and you won’t make it back in time?
Well partner, you’re in luck – there’s a Saturday workout designed just for you. Ascent, Day Zero, Olympus, and The Rock are converging on the Ascent AO (Olde Providence Elementary) at 0700.
FAQs:
Q: “Geez, I don’t know, I was kinda looking forward to sleeping in.”
A: Don’t be a Sally. Come post.
Q: “Bro, convergences sound a little soft. I’m really only into checking out my biceps and swinging heavy balls of metal.”
A: KB work will be heavy in the rotation. Come get your swings on.
Q: “Metal balls? That sounds a bit intimidating. Moderate workouts are more my thing.”
A: This workout will cater to all – moderate up to the most extreme. Come post.
Q: “Will this workout be hard enough? I usually post at Day Zero.”
A: See above.
Q: “OK, yeah, I get it. But what if I typically just show up to workouts, refusenik half the exercises and talk trash the entire time?”
A: Radar, you’ll fit in just fine. Come on out.
Q: “The BRR is coming up. I figured I’d take the day off and do a sad clown run.”
A: There will be running. Don’t be a Sally. Come post.
Q: “But I usually only post at [fill in the blank].”
A: There will be a great mix of pax and Q’s from varying workouts. It will be awesome.
Q: “Get a room.”
A: Touche.
Swiss Miss, Gullah, and YHC have a wicked weinke planned. Bring your A-game and any kettlebells you have to the Ascent AO on Saturday at 0700. Don’t have a KB? Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty to go around. See you Saturday.
9 men made the right choice the first time and posted at the grittiest Saturday workout in town on what may have been one of the last cold mornings of the year. 2 additional men got it right the second time after initially posting at The Rock and corrected their error by yogging to Day Zero. See below for details. With the SF firmly planted, Semi Gloss took the reins and away we went. Here’s what you missed:
The Thingy
Rock Stone work with a partner.
Curls. 30 cadence
Circuits on the playground
Mary
Peoples chair. 100 arm presses
Mosey to the benches in front of the school.
25 dips and 30 step ups.
Sprint a lap in the front.
Plank.
SG tags out the Mouth and hustles to uptown for the Corporate Cup.
The Mouth Takes over-
Indian run down to the Monster Loop for the Circle of Terror
The loop is a slightly longer than 1 mile with instructions already laid out.
So much fun, rinse and repeat with 7 reps this time.
Jog back to the basketball court, circle up, Elbow Plank to last man standing. Once you fail LBCs until all are complete.
Notes from SG:
Notes from The Mouth:
As always great honor to lead such a great group of guys… even if it was from the back of the PAX today!
Announcements: F3 Golf, go sign-up Prohibition wants you if you don’t golf!; Go sign- up for BBR, you’ll thanks us later.
15 men (including 2 – 2.0s) showed up this morning ready to work, and to dish out “supportive” feedback on a new era at #F3DayZero. The #F3DayZero Challenge is a tradition that began on 7/20/13, shortly after the initial shovelflag pierced the turf on the toughest AO in town. Despite an outside chance, slight odds, probable forecast, 100% guarantee of getting grief from at least one of the former site Q’s, the new kids in town brought out a modified version of the Challenge, paying tribute to the difficulty, and you-vs-you mentality of the original DZC. #CarolinaDryDogs
It almost felt balmy out this morning in the mid-20s as the faithful fleets rolled in to the not-so-smooth parking lot of Day Zero Elementary. The Day Zero Hawk was nowhere to be seen, probably got smart and flew south for the winter. With the shovel flag firmly planted and the crowd favorite tunes pumping, the men moseyed to the basketball courts where it all went down.
The Thang:
3 minutes per exercise. AMRAP. Begin.
The not-so-skinny Moleskine
Great seeing some newer faces to DZ- POP, Les Mis putting in work out there today. Prohibition made the wise decision to butter up one of the former site Q’s with some treats yesterday morning before dropping the bomb that the DZC weinke would look a little different this time around *GASP!* After roughly 60 “sharp” text messages chastizing and belittling the decision, the former site Q must have settled into said treats, or been watching Frozen and was able to “let it go.” For the night at least… Rolling up promptly at 0703 said former site Q settled into usual spirits and the refuseniking feedback was underway. Other pax chimed in showing their “support” and had lots of “really nice things” to say about how much fun they were having. As expected, the burpees were got lots of “cheers.” A little over mid-way through the Challenge, the running distance was audibled to give the pax more strides to loosen their legs #safetyfirst.
Other observations:
Prohibition’s tunes continue to get rave reviews. The best part about it is you never know which direction the next genre may go. Iron Horse lived up to his name. Despite starting on Team “We Hate Change” he crushed the workout, but no one was really surprised. Teddy and Frasier were not phased and nearly lapped the pax on the 1-lap circuits around the track. Purple Haze showed his 2.0s the way. One unnamed pax (noted above) shared a life lesson with Unitas and Johnny Mac saying “I got straight C’s on my report cards in school and look how I turned out.” Difficult to tell the angle here… Both 2.0s managed to show up their old man on nearly every exercise – by sheer coincidence finishing only 1 or 2 reps ahead every time. Sweetness came ready to work today, even after he and IH enjoyed a few of the best local 10.4% ABV beers in town yesterday #hopcakes Spackler and POP kept the conversation going the entire time. Not sure on the accuracy of their exercise counts though. A true DZ regular, Garbanzo wore shorts over his tights again today, which is always appreciated #RunStopper Les Mis probably had the best form in the bunch today. While some pax focused on quantity this dude put on a form clinic. Great having you out brother – come back next week. T-claps for a strong take-out today. Radar showed off his dominating speed and true support of the new weinke by performing exactly 1000 of each exercise. The guy works for a bank, who’s going to question his counting accuracy? Fresh off the CLT 10-miler, The Mouth was back in full effect at DZ. Living up to his nickname, he reminded YHC several times how much fun he was having.
Thanks to the pax for the opportunity to lead. Weekly, this group posts, rain or shine, puts in strong work, and never lets a Q get overconfident about how a workout is going.
T-claps to the pax that stuck around (and came from other AOs) to pick up trash around the AO today. Mermaid noted how appreciative the school administration is and that a little work goes a long way. More opportunities to come in the future.
Site Q’s – continue to challenge each other and look for ways to give back to your AO.
Announcements:
Sign up now for @F3Golf and the Mud Run
0700 – McAlpine Elementary
Day Zero Challenge. 60 minutes. You vs. You.
Post tomorrow to challenge your physical and mental capacity for a tabata-style AMRAP power hour. Show by 0655 as we will tee off promptly at 0700.
Stats will be kept for each round. Set your baseline tomorrow to track improvement over the year.
Following the Challenge, Day Zero will be hosting an AO clean-up starting at 0830. Feel free to join from other Saturday AOs for some 2nd F and to give back. Coffee and a lean playlist will be provided.
Bring your own work gloves. Trashbags, rakes, other tools will be on hand.
See you at 0700.
9 of South Charlotte’s finest got a jump on some V-day activities and posted at Saturday’s meanest workout for a St. Valentine’s Day massacre. Boombox in tow with love song requests loaded and we were off. Here’s what you missed:
Mosey through the woods past the YR
COP
“The Circle Derkin”
Circle up with your feet on shoulders of pax to your left- create a ring. Derkins in civilian cadence x10. On paper, this looked hard, and awesome. In reality, the logistics of forming a ring with 9 men was challenging – when the majority of the DZ regulars (and seemingly most of A51) opted to fartsack and save a little energy for Valentine’s evening festivities…but I digress. The circle derk turned in to more of a line derkins. x10 was no joke depending on whose hooves were planted on yer shoulders.
Mosey lap around the school.
Partner work:
On small, steep hill on Carswell. Partner up for some and over the hill and back.
On each side of the hill do the following exercises
Bench-o-Rama
Mary intermission
Handoff to Prohibition
Mosey to main field and partner up. Partner 1 grabs a mosey-friendly yet manly rock stone.
Prohibition’s Cupid Shuffle (Trademark):
Lap 1 – catch me if you can. P1 runs with rock stone, while P2 does diamond merkins x10. Flapjack until getting back to starting point.
Lap 2 – Partner carry around track. Switch as needed, but 10 hand slap merkins at each switch.
Lap 3 – CMIYC again
Over/ Under Tunnel of Love:
Line up in straight line arms width apart and get into plank position.
Mosey back to rock stone pile and everyone grabs a rock stone. On outside of track (the non plush normal grassy area that doesn’t get the love) everyone lines up side by side with stones.
-Throw your rock stone as far as you can
-Mosey to rock stone and perform 2 burpees
-Repeat for 4,6,8,10 burpees
-Turn around and go back 8,6,4,2 burpees
Return rocks stones and head back up to parking lot for Mary:
Doneski
St. Valentine’s Moleskinny
– The love jamz were rockin’ all hour long. Pro keenly ignored the eye rolls, and usual complaints on his taste in music from Radar, but overall excellent playlist!
– Welcome Pitino to the far south as he usually stays further north in the Metro, but he owed Prohibition a showing.
– What seemed as endless and excessive amounts of man-touching with all of the partner carries, truly brought us closer…literally. Going to have to put the clothes in extremely hot water tonight. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
– Purple Haze looked like a tiny backpack when on Mighty Mite’s back. Not sure MM even knew he was carrying him. (And you thought you got out of a small-person joke…)
-Spackler now apparently takes his business clients to The Rose for lunch. #sealthedeal #closer
-Future workout Q’s- make a special weinke for Spack and Radar. They’ll refusenik whatever you have planned.
-Upside down wheelbarrows have a place; perhaps in the bedroom, just not at DZ
-Lots of mumblechatter about if workout ideas had come from the Kama Sutra. #thankmelater
– Site Qs were hoping for an even number today. Odd numbers made for a makeshift 3-some and/or a lonely V-day for one of the pax all morning.
– Great group today. Made us all very appreciative of our significant others.
Announcements:
Day Zero AO cleanup day 2/28. 0830 after the workout. Bring your own gloves, rakes, etc. Trash bags, coffee, and Prohibition’s playlist will be provided.
With a week until pitchers and catchers report for spring training, it was time to get a little work in on the diamond outfield. YHC got the call from the dugout yesterday morning that a pinch hitter was needed at #F3DeathValley. 25 sluggers made the final roster this morning and made the right call to post. The bases were juiced when we stepped into the batters box at 5:29:59. Here’s what we did:
The THANG:
Warm-up lap around the lot whilst the pre-KBers put away their bells. High knees, butt kickers, karioca L/R.
Circle up
Fast mosey to the other side of Strawberry Lane in to #F3FastTwich territory.
Circle up at the bottom of Woodfox for 15 low, slow squats in whisper cadence.
Fast mosey to the bottom of Rising Meadow for a set of hill suicides to the 3rd light post. Circle back for the six before moseying back to campus. Stop at each street light on the way back for 5 burpees. 9ish lights = 45ish burpees
Tread through the slop to Spack’s block pile. Grab a partner and a block and head to the diamond.
Quick surveillance of the infield and the grounds crew gave us the heave-ho. We settled in shallow centerfield just outside of the dirt for some partner work.
Partner 1 run to left foul pole, Partner 2 complete called exercise, flapjack
P1 run to centerfield fence, P2 exercise
Repeat to RF foul pole, dodge the mud in RF if you can.
Rinse and repeat full LF, CF, RF cycle for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th exercises.
Called exercises:
Mosey back to deposit the blocks and a quick round of flutters x15 IC.
The Moleskinny:
A little rain this week left the fields a tad soggy. Fortunately the cold weather froze the mud a bit.
Requests to throw in more running were obliged. Fast Twitch recruiting was in full effect on Rising Meadow. Lots of speed and endurance out there. TL will contact your agent about your next Tuesday workout.
Multiple collisions between YHC and the pax on the ball field today. @Susudio, @DK – hope you still have all your teeth. Headlamps often have that moth to a light effect.
Lots of work being put in today. Great to see some new faces out there today at #DV, @Marge, @VanPelt. Always good seeing @Starfish back as well.
Thanks @SG for the prayer and takeout.
@StageCoach, @SG – thanks for the opportunity to lead. Always a pleasure leading such a fine group of gentlemen.
Announcments:
F3 Golf – sign up now. Rumor has it the tourney is 80% full
Multiple CSAUP events in the next 3 months. See website/twitter for details.
17 mountain goats got a jump on BRR training and torched the hills of Raintree this morning. It was a cool, dry morning – perfect conditions for some hill work and not a peep about deflated balls. Here’s what we did:
The THANG-A-LANG
COP:
Fast Mosey to the base of Rising Meadow
-Merkin x15 whisper cadence
Fast Mosey to the base of Windbluff peak for some grinders. Group up in 3’s. Mumblechatter of it being “too early in the year to run Windbluff” was blatantly ignored.
– Round 1- Top: Peter Parkers/Bottom: Bear Squats
– regroup at the base – Merkin x10
– Round 2- Top: Squat/Bottom: Nipplers
– regroup at the base – Merkin x10
– Round 3- Top: LBC/Bottom: Flutter
– regroup at the base – Merkin x10
We bid farewell to one of the finest hills in Area 51 with a suicide AYG to the peak.
Fast Mosey to the base of Rising Meadow for a set of 7’s. Forward run up the hill on odd number trips up, backward run up on the evens. Start with 1 Turkish Get Up at the bottom and 6 Hand-release Merkins at the top. Continue 2 TGU/5 HR merkins until completing 6 TGU/1 HR merkin.
– Plankorama
– Indian mosey back to campus.
– Head to the track line up for some 100 yd gassers – avoid tomatoes and ice patches
Ye Olde Moleskinne:
– Lots of BRR race jerseys in attendance today.
– Alf and Spackler shared an intimate moment at the base of windbluff that turned some heads. Mixing bear squats with pillow talk is a recipe for disaster. If you missed it, ask someone who was there – the quote ain’t making the backblast – YHC enjoys posting privileges too much. Oh, and #getaroom.
– Clouds of mustard gas were being dropped in the streets of Raintree today. YHC was fortunate to be a few steps ahead, but heard choking/gasping from the fumes. Something about a cleanse diet…
– Winner of most complimented pax goes to Runstopper on wearing shorts over his tights today. TClaps, RS – bear squats in tights would have crossed the line.
– Quick trip to the track for some gassers turned into olympic speed skating. Cheese curd looked graceful in his moon shoes gliding around the curves. #wherewasBOG?
– YHC was conducting the train from the caboose today – Lots of #smokeboots out there today.
-Tclaps to Slim Fast for a meaningful take out today.
– Always an honor to post and lead the toughest workout in A51. Great job, great effort this morning gents.
Announcements/Upcoming Events: Tis the season for CSAUP events. Check the website/twitter and sing up.