Second attempt – should’ve saved the earlier draft, which was far better.
THANG (not going to bold, as that kills it)
Ran to Old Bell, using the trail. Several near catastrophes. Foxworth 40 (RIP SOFAWIB) on Old Bell. Escalating burpees at the top with 40 merkins, 40 squats, 40 LBCs at the bottom. Audibled from seven to five, mostly for the benefit of YHC (#deep6). Red Card and Smokey led the way.
Mosey back to Charlotte Christian, slowing to lunge walk and stop for dips #filler, crossing Sardis without incident.
Finished with a true six minutes of Mary.
MOLESKINE (just imagine it bold)
Substi-Q for @SemiGloss, who “had to embrace his inner (sic) redneck at the Whiskey Myers concert” last night. Yeah…heard it was a great show and a terrible Friday morning.
Simple but effective Weinke this morning. Small amount of mumblechatter at the outset, which surprisingly dissipated as opposed to increasing. Going to blame questionable counting, but it is always a nice group of guys at Joust, moreso when SemiGloss and Gummy aren’t present. Cobains to the missing pax.
Amazing how quick the fitness level falls after taking time away. Between crappy weather, an 18-month old that can’t figure out how to sleep past 5 AM, and the flu (or insert your own excuse here), YHC is out of shape. Appreciated being back out amongst the pax this AM, even at the back. Enjoyed it this morning, boys.
Thanks,
Kirk
Same day delivery on your backblast, faster than Amazon at Christmas.
The backblast is becoming a thing of the past, sadly. Truthfully, that’s the best part of Q’ing. Or leading anything, really…telling its story.
It was colder than expected this morning. Think everyone would agree with that. Go to bed anticipating low 40s, and it’s mid 30s. It’s little things like this that bother us. Heck, it’s been those kinds of little things (cold, rain, or a bad night of sleep) that’s kept YHC from posting lately. And it’s become noticeable. Fortunately, having a Q on the calendar forces the issue.
At 0530 + a few seconds for Film Fest to mosey over (while watching in vain for a late arrival or two running in from FXE #lando), a group of 17 launched into the chilly gloom for today’s edition of DMZ.
Slower than normal start, moseying down Camilla, hanging a left onto Thornridge and a right onto Broad Hollow. Mtn Climber warm up at the bottom before a true Jacob’s Ladder. Plank for the six, then LBCs x 25 IC.
Mosey up Broad Hollow, left on Kimblewyck, left on Hartmill, right onto Sharon View, right onto Rock Creek.
Stop at the yellow fire hydrant, which we deemed the “top” to partner up. Also realized at this point that we were missing Upchuck (MIA). Cold Cuts rescue mission failed.
P1 – runs to the bottom for 10 jump lunges (each side) and backward run to the top.
P2 – 15 merkins, then squats until partner returns. Repeato.
Hill was longer going up than down, which could be attributed to the backward running uphill. Upchuck didn’t find us. More Mary before beginning the mosey back up Sharonview, turning left onto Hartmill…when Upchuck reappears. Lunges to allow him to re-join the group, then mosey back to Broad Hollow. More LBCs (51 – crowd pleaser).
Jacob’s Ladder #symmetry, with most getting to 6ish before an Omaha to return to base. Timing would’ve worked perfectly as we arrived at 0614, leaving a minute for more Mary. Fin.
Not a ton of mumble chatter today, or YHC wasn’t listening. One Eye, Cold Cuts, and Hammer led the way. Hammer seemed way out front on the final Jacob’s ladder. Total mileage of just under 3. Almost an F3Naps morning. Chappy was a little premature on the audible call. SemiGloss wore a Benjamin Moore toboggan #odd. Bunch of regulars missing and still 17 strong. Started with 17 and ended with 17 – so despite another close call, still no drops. Key is safely stashed under the mat, Aquafresh. Thanks!
If we counted correctly, which is always questionable, then there were 30 at the A51 Labor Day Convergence at Base Camp. Several shovel flags planted for Labor Day – almost forgotten what those looked like
Pax list was an afterthought (made a halfhearted effort), but you know if you were there.
Anyway, here is what you most likely missed:
YHC has long thought of Convergences as primarily 2nd F events. Goal was to at least make everyone sore today (which yesterday was tomorrow – so yeah, faux apologies for spending the day with family and not writing the B.B. yesterday). Hopefully, the only other person to do at least half of the intended workout is also sore today, but O’Tannenbaum was seemingly nonplussed, so maybe not.
Everyone else – good job taking advantage of “modify as needed”. Truthfully, YHC took advantage of that during the bear crawls and crab walks, so this is at least a case of the kettle knowing it is in a glass house, or something with mixed metaphors. By the way, that AYG half mile back sucked – much more “care to give” than “got”. YHC clearly in BRR shape (lie), finished strong (gasping for air while getting passed).
Sparklepuff managed to hang out near the front, on all the moseys anyway. Seemed disappointed in one SemiGloss, kinda sad actually. ‘Twas good to see him seemingly healthy for the first time since 2014.
The not-so-identical twins Kid Rock and Tolkien were there. One seemed ready for BRR, the asked for help adjusting his bra (bro?) strap.
There was more hilarity, but this BB has already become laborious, which given it was on Labor Day seems self-defeating and not at all in the spirit of its origination.
So with that, adieu comrades.
– Kirk
We’ll get to the title of the backblast later, but first let’s address a seeming oxymoron / paradox / bit of irony:
Cerberus Q for the morning – Kirk
Kirk, known for not venturing too far outside his ankle monitor limit at Hwy 51, was the Q at Cerberus, which is south of 485. Sadly, YHC actually looked to see if it was south of Myrtle Beach, which remains my southernmost post in 6+ years of F3.
So yeah, it happened. Go ahead and drop the Journeyman (yep, looked it up) Award in the mail.
After a remarkably brief seven mile drive in (maybe 10 minutes), YHC arrived at 0523 to find 4-5 others in the parking lot of Viva Chicken – Waverly. Transporter was drinking coffee, which seemed an odd choice. Bets were made as to the side effects. McGee ran in – questioned YHC’s attendance, more cars arrived, fist bumps, stretches, etc. Short disclaimer given, and launched at 0530.
Warm up mosey down some street to another street with under construction townhomes and a roundabout (realize this narrows it down) beside a retention pond (ah, yes…that one). Obligatory COP of SSH, IWs, and Mtn Climbers. Unnamed street is a bit of a hill, maybe 150 yards in length. Run down, 5 burpees at the bottom, 5 more at the top – 5 times. McGee and Laronda were the Larry Birds of the group, one of whom did actual burpees. The other more cavalierly flung himself to the ground, but the jump at the top was sublime. Reckon someone with catlike reflexes could slide a sheet of 24 lb paper under the soles of those shoes. Anyway, as an opener, this always delivers a swift kick to the nuts.
Mary to regroup – something from McGee, toe tap LBCs from Laronda, and Freddy Mercury from YHC, including a “half-way-there” that garnered applause and adulations, or something.
Mosey past the apartments and HUB to the parking deck. Bit of meandering to find the right overhang for pull-ups, but the group arrived safely on the 2nd floor of the deck for a little of the original “Magnificent 7s” thrown out at Casbah a few years back, which thanks to Starfish, has now made it all the way from Winston-Salem to F3Austin.
7-pullups
14 burpees
21 merkins
28 squats
35 LBCs
Normally run a lap, but in this case, take the stairs to the top (unfortunately way shorter than a lap). Original call for 4 sets, audibled to 3.
Recovered back on level 1 with more Mary – flutters, Boone LBCs.
And then, on the mosey out of the deck….it happened. Dude was “cleaning” out a row of port-a-johns on the backside of the parking deck, and…well, Red says it better:
“Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness I can’t even imagine- or maybe I just don’t want to. Five hundred yards… that’s the length of five football fields; just shy of half a mile.”
Fortunately, there was no crawling, and it was maybe 50-100 yards…but the sentiment remains the same. Bad doesn’t begin to describe it. Words are just insufficient. We stopped in front of the HUB building just to breathe again.
But we had 10 minutes left – not enough time for the original plan, but enough time for a short modification of it.
(This AO is great. Tons of stuff around, but also dense (more the hotel and apartments – lot of people)…unlike, say Uptown at 0530. BUT, it seemingly lacks a short steep hill in close proximity to launch, unless you count 485 exit ramps, which seemed a little too dangerous at 0530, mostly dressed in black. Someone needs to find a safe one. Anyway, close parenthetical thought…)
Mosey back past Viva to the Panera end of the parking lot, which does at least slope upward toward Viva. Mini version of Quadzilla:
Backwards run “up” to a solitary, sad, small tree. 5 jumping lunges each leg. Run “down” for 5 squats. Repeat 5 times.
Mosey back to Viva, and as McGee adroitly pointed out, we were 8 burpees shy of 100, so finished with 8 burpees OYO. Fin.
COT – McGee took us out.
Announcements
Gents – appreciate the hospitality this morning. Enjoyed the trip south, which remarkably took about as long as winding through Foxcroft to Sharon for Casbah or running over to Charlotte Christian for Joust. This is a really good AO with a lot of possibilities. We covered significantly less ground than most Metro / DMZ workouts, but hopefully everone got their $$$s worth. One of the interesting things with public Q sign-ups is that you may have an interloper volunteer to Q, so with that in mind, direct all complaints to Alf. Oh, and apologies to the lone missing Pax from the Pax list.
Great weather as a group of mostly regulars launched into the morning. Little semi-circle prior to launch heard the instructions to partner up. Odds. Dang. Then, Shoe rolled into the parking lot at 0529, and all was right with the world.
Thang
Mosey up Carmel to Sharon View. Little warm up in the nice soft grass of RTS – Mountain Climbers and Imperial Walkers.
Instructions given (and needless demonstration of power merkins required from the Pax #timesuck) – Run down Sharon View to River Oaks Ln with 10 power merkins and 10 WW2 sit-ups each at every side street on the left.
The pairings of Agony / Hamlet and Cheese Curd / One Eye led the way with Agony leading Mary until the six was in. Then, 20 squats OYO. Second set of instructions given to run up River Oaks stopping for 20 squats at the roundabout, at the top, back at the roundabout, and at the bottom. Time check revealed 0600 with +/- 1.6 miles back to launch, mostly uphill. Giddyup, boys (and unfortunately no time for a stop at Rock Creek). Short stop for Mary and squats to collect the six at RTS, then back to launch. Believe most made it back prior to 0616, though a couple didn’t quite make the time hack. COT with great takeout from Scratch & Win, lifting up Bout Time and Jennings.
Moleskine
It had been awhile since YHC took the group all the way out Sharon View. It remains a long freaking hill. River Oaks was a new addition for DMZ, likely as it’s on the fringe of 45-minute territory for a non-running workout. It’s not quite Horsey steep, but in the ballpark, possibly a little longer. Took SG back to the day. Looked for Ribeye to no avail (check the BB for Diamond Head to make sure he didn’t F/S). Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip up River Oaks, almost as much as the power merkins. Both those and WW2s are big boy exercises, so tried to keep the rep counts lower with the higher degree of difficulty. Squats were included for balance – got to keep it a total body workout. Total mileage was only +/- 3.7 depending on the watch. With Rock Creek included, this was initially named the Sundancer Special – largely due to the WW2s, which inexplicably cause him to spill merlot every dang time…but no Sundancer this AM, and unfortunately no Rock Creek.
Site Q was traveling today, but had one former site Q in attendance (One Eye – apparently, Bushwood only walks across the street to Q). Shoe made his 2nd post to DMZ. Chelms appreciated having a 2nd “Respect” in attendance.
Curd went for a CR on the uphill segment up Sharon View (search “Rock Creek Dr Climb” on Strava). Missed it by “that much”. He got a PR at 4:39, so he just needs to shave 1:32 off that time…
Good to see the clown car still rolling for Lewinski, Scratch & Win, Leprechaun, and Bugeater. All four of those guys pushing hard on a cardio-intensive day. YHC could not convince any of the normal OF clown car to post on a post-Derby weekend Monday.
And finally, Agony was cruising this AM… not gonna lie – it cut deep seeing the 20 lb weight vest come off post-workout. Sorry MapMyRun doesn’t have Kudos.
This was one of those morning when, as Q, there are a few ideas kicking around, but nothing absolutely decided. In short, I was torn. Sundancer was there (first bootcamp of 2017 #truthnugget), but he was without tunes….so by process of elimination, the plan was set.
As all know, the clock stops for no man, so at 0530, 11 men rolled out of the lot at Carmel.
Thang
Mosey down to Carmel Middle for brief warm-a-rama: SSH x20 and Mtn Climbers x20. Silent cadence start threw Swiper. Orlando has no idea how to climb a mountain #WTF3?
Mosey through Camp Gladiator set up, slowing to enjoy the irony and sweet tunes. Over to the rock pile to select a “rock you’d be proud of” – not running too far with it. Swiper chose a rock to make SemiGloss proud (IR #iceupson #damnskateboard #kidsneverpickuptheirtoys).
Mosey back through Camp Gladiator, pausing with overhead press x15 and squats x10 to enjoy some more of the free music. Given the music selections, this was mostly group punishment for Sundancer forgetting tunes.
Threw in some different rock holds while running – overhead, straight out…Q was inspired by the music.
Mosey with rock down to the cul de sac on at the bottom of Brandermill Pl for the main event.
5 trips to the top of Brandermill – 5 burpees at the top and 5 rock burpees at the bottom.
Swiper Kirk lead brief Mary (LBCs x50) until all were finished. Move rocks up the hill slightly to the street light.
5 trips to the top of Brandermill (running backwards) – 5 lunges (each side) at the top, 5 rock squats at the bottom.
Mosey with rocks back to the rock pile behind Carmel Middle, looking like a bunch of criminals as we passed Camp Gladiator.
After replacing rocks, more Mary – flutters x25 and partner assisted WW2 situps x20 (cough Sundancer, yes).
Mosey back through Camp Gladiator to the benches at the front of the school – dips x15, incline merkins x10, dips x10.
Mosey back to launch lot, finishing up with Boone LBCs x10 each side. Fin. COT.
Ye Olde Moleskine
Little known fact that the guy running Camp Gladiator was actually in NSYNC. No – that’s not true, but there was an inordinate amount of bad ’90s pop everytime we passed by. That combined with Swiper’s infatuation with Natalie Imbruglia to heavily influence this backblast.
Good to finally see Sundancer again #RIPSoFaWIB. Original plan (with tunes) was to run a little short-short-long partner circuit around the church with music in the middle…but no…so rocks it was. YHC hates running while carrying anything and takes an unapologetic No-post-Refusenik every freakin’ time that Chelms even mentions pavers…but it’s good to work on those weaknesses. What doesn’t kill you yada yada yada #noImentionedthebisque. Lot of dadgum leg work today – probably going to be feeling that tomorrow.
Orlando looked like he was skipping up some damn mountain instead of climbing it. Terribly distracting and can never be unseen (and yes, YHC did look like an exploded box of highlighters this morning, which could have been distracting).
Think One Eye and Bout Time were out front along with Swiper on the forward running hill work. Backward running portion saw some changes at the top. With the fancy “import pax” item that eliminated Gummy’s non-paid internship, have to go here to give Respect to Snowflake and Chelms (along with his aka Tatertot) and a hearty Kotters to Sundancer.
Enjoyed it, gents!
Charlotte, NC – MetroCharlotte, NC – South DMZ
2 Comments
Substi-Q
When: 07/10/17
QIC: Kirk
The PAX: Backdraft, Agony, Aquafresh, Lovebug, Benefactor, Orlando, Bout Time, Pothole, Dropbox, Rachel, Kirk
Late night email / tweet went out that the scheduled Q had a childhood illness pop up while siteQ was DR. YHC has been teetering on IR for seemingly forever and somehow caught a summer cold last week, but with no other plans, willingly accepted the push to be the backup.
First step – setting two alarms – was easy. Actually waking up proved a good deal harder. The FS becomes more enveloping with time, harder to roll out and get back into the routine. Thankful for the second alarm. (Reminder that the EH’ing process needs to continue on the guys that maybe got onto IR and / or are infrequently making it back out, and yeah, I’m naming a few names – Bugeater, Sundancer, Talkbox, Iron Mike, Santa Maria, Kirk – next time you see that guy, be that other guy with the friendly push to get them back out. The speed with which Dredd coins new acronyms occasionally obfuscates his “truth nuggets”, but that Accelerating Man idea wasn’t wrong. Push those guys to get moving forward again.)
First to arrive at AO. Couple of cars roll in, more runners than cars until 0529. Disclaimer given. Final count was 11, without the scheduled Q, so we roll out.
Thang
The entire workout was planned around a partner wheelbarrow up Howland, a short, fairly steep hill in Pellyn Wood.
Mosey left out of Carmel Park, past Bushwood’s, and right into crossing traffic (yikes – close call) onto Thornridge. Stop for Mtn Climbers at Drakestone. Continue mosey with a left onto Broad Hollow. Stop at Kimblewyck for IWs. Mosey up Kimblewyck, right onto Hartmill and to the end of the cul de sac. 50 slower-than-normal LBCs. Backwards run up to Kimblewyck. 50 flutters.
Mosey out to Sharonview. Hang a left and then a right onto Hardison. Stop at the stop sign for SSHs. Continue toward the Hardison half pipe, stopping at Howland for Boone LBCs. Down Howland, AYG to the top, 5 burpees and back down. Backwards run up, 5 burpees and back down.
(Now at this point, the “Q juices” were pretty much zapped. “Running on fumes” may be generous and sadly, there was a lot of time left.)
Stop the Larry Birds who were starting to plank, and head down to Walden Pond for dips and derkins on the guard rail. 10 / 6. 6 / 10. Skipped out on the 8/8. Mosey backbup to Howland for the main event.
Needed a minute to rest the arms, so 20 squats, backwards run up, 5 burpees, and back down. Partner up. Partner wheelbarrow to the top, switching as needed. At every switch, both partners do 3 merkins as penalty. Truly believe this was everyone’s favorite part of the morning.
More LBCs at the top to regroup. Then begin the mile mosey back home. Finish with an extended plank until the clock hit 0615. COT.
Moleskine
Good morning out in the gloom. Little sticky from the humidity but otherwise pretty nice. Writing this from the back deck, where it feels awesome, which may impact that assessment.
We covered exactly 3 miles with a healthy dose of core work and just enough arm work to keep some balance. Q was leading from the middle most of the day. Think everyone was ahead of the Q at various points of the morning. Benny, Lovebug, Agony, Rachel, and Bout Time mostly. File away for future reference that Rachel isn’t a huge fan of the backwards runs uphill.
Chalet – prayers that all is ok with your daughter
Thats all! Appreciate the opportunity, enjoyed it gents!
– Kirk
#Tclaps4
Edit Post
There once was a young Bushwood
who dreams of a girl from his boyhood
what a beautiful lass
with a memorable
remembered well into adulthood
It was a warm and humid morning that greeted all of us, particularly the unfortunate soul that happened to visit the Carmel Park port-a-jon after SemiGloss made his pre-workout visit.
After a legally thorough and air tight disclaimer was given to a group of 16 regulars (no FNGs), we departed at 0530.
The Thang
Slow mosey out the side lot, through the Church @ CLT Breezeway, hang a right on Colony down to the guard rails (+/- 3/4 mile). Dips IC x 25.
YHC being the only one with a headlamp (planning) lit the way for all but Agony, who blazed his own trail through the poison ivy. Rachel took a spill on the steps, of all places, at the bottom #disclaimer. Mosey across the oddly placed football field (complete with uprights) to the play ground at Mountainbrook Swim and Racquet Club and partner up.
P1 – 7 pull-ups, 14 merkins, 21 squats, 28 LBCs (no burpees)
P2 – run a lap (+/- 0.2 miles)
At +/- 6:04, slow mosey back up the trail to Colony. Dips IC x 15 at the guard rail. AYG back to Church @ CLT breezeway. 5 minutes of Mary (flutters #26, Boone LBCs a few times) to close it out at 6:15. Slow mosey back to the Carmel parking lot for COT.
Announcements
Ye Olde Moleskine
The timing wasn’t quite right on this. Pace of exercises slowed more than running pace, and as the AMRAP progressed, most partners made it back from the lap sometime in the middle of the LBCs (if done in order). Lots of folks picking and choosing when to do pull-ups or omitting them entirely. Collectively, we don’t do enough pull-ups – lots of Nibs-esque sounds from the group at the playground. Also lots of questions on time, when to head back, that’s not enough time to get back, remember it’s uphill back, etc. Nothing too egregious, though several regulars, noted fine purveyors of mumblechatter, were MIA. Bushwood also didn’t walk across the street to post, but it was noted he never attends DMZ now that his site Q responsibilities are over #marathontraining.
Relatively quiet and hardworking group once we got to the park, where we really could have used some tunes, SunDancer #batguanorap. Most groups appeared to get in 7 laps, if not more, which would work out to 49 pull-ups, 98 merkins, 147 squats, and 196 LBCs during the Main Event. That’s roughly half a Murph plus a fair amount of core work and 3.3 miles (per YHC’s watch).
Agony took an early lead, which I don’t believe SemiGloss gave up #oddcouple. Chelms with the veteran move to grab Leroy and bolt early for home base. Agony and / or Rachel seemed to make it back to C@C first, though that Colony uphill is deceptively long #falsefront #TWSS. Agony led Mary (seemingly more LBCs?) while YHC ensured all made it back safely.
Apologies for the minute of OT moseying back to Carmel for COT, and for somehow calling Aquafresh “Gas-X” for most of the workout. Thanks to One Eye for the invite to Q, and hopefully all got their money’s worth.
It’s freakin’ cold. Many of you knew that last night, apparently, as a crowd of only seven slowly detached themselves from their car’s heated seats for this week’s edition of Hydra.
Most were disappointed to learn that SemiGloss would not be leading today, but he put a call into the bullpen, which YHC reluctantly answered.
Clock struck 0530, and the greatest disclaimer in the history of disclaimers was given. It may have included, “you all know I’m an idiot with no clue what I’m doing, so if you follow me, try not to get hurt”. Check.
Following that Lombardi worthy speech, we launched into the gloom.
Thang
Slow mosey behind the school to the basketball court for warm up – 10 SSH and 10 Imperial Walkers.
Slow mosey out of the school and down not Summerlin to Foxworth for modified version of the Foxworth Forty.
P1 – Up the hill with descending burpees each trip (9)
P2 – 40 merkins (trip 1), then 40 LBCs (2), 40 squats (3)
Flapjack. Continue with descending burpees for P1 with P2 rotating through exercises.
Made it through two sets of each before calling it (to applause that apparently woke the neighbors). Slow mosey back up the long hill to the school Bball court.
COP for close to a true Six minutes of Mary – flutters, Boone left, Boone right, LBCs, etc.
Mosey through playground (head fake) to back of the school.
P1 – people’s chair on school
P2 – run to playground for 10 pull-ups
Flapjack. Think we did this 5 times mixing in a round of plank for active recovery one set.
Mosey back to launch with 5 minutes left – more Mary, including Rosalita en Espanol por favor.
Warm car Moleskine
Been quite some time since I had to lead and actually call cadence. We suffered through it. Warm up was for Gummy, who turned out not to be War Daddy (Jet Fuel), and he didn’t even do the SSHs.
Rest of this was two basic WIB workouts with Mary interspersed to break it up. Quite a bit easier that way. Foxworth Forty doesn’t disappoint, which Gummy correctly pointed out is really only 20 IC. We used to getting through 13-14 trips up that hill plus a full mile in and out, so today was a scaled back “amuse-bouche” of that main course. R.I.P. Baby WIB.
Queen was killing the hill sprints. Don’t think it was quite Strava CR, but he’d have knocked a few guys down the list. Not sure who was out front in the Gummy / Marge / Arena group.
A lot of interesting commentary today. Check out @HeardatF3
And swing by The Lodge tomorrow whenever you can to join your F3 brothers for fellowship while watching the NCAA Tournament.