Based on the forecast, we’re going to have near perfect weather in the morning, and Sundancer is bringing tunes to what might be the funniest workout of the year.
Here’s what we’re going to do:
Run the HT mile. Plank on the field behind the school in order of finish and partner up (first with last, second with second to last, etc.) for partner races with a twist…and that’s the hook. Gotta show to know.
Run the HT mile again.
That’s it.
Well, the late night plan got thrown out when it was just One Eye and myself. Barely raining at launch, and really didn’t rain much at all. So for all you hydrophobic fartsackers out there, you missed a fairly humid but otherwise great morning to get after it.
We ran the HT mile (+/- 6:40 pace) then, not knowing when the heavy stuff was going to come, we headed for the overhang by the school nearest the cars.
10 merkins, 20 dips, 30 squats, 40 LBCs x2, then run a lap around the school.
I think we got in 4 sets & 3 laps around the school before running the final mile (slower pace). Totals to 80 merkins, 160 dips, 240 squats, and 320 LBCs plus 3.2 miles per Strava.
Honestly, that’s better than I thought it would be considering neither of us really pushed it today. Lot of 2nd F – kids, schools, non-medical back advice, effects of online shopping on retail real estate market, teens lack of brand preference, etc. Just your normal stuff.
One Eye loved the idea, so next week, I’m bringing back the Dizzy Bat.
Sundancer – waterproof speaker is in the new car. Bring the tunes. It’s about to get Bat Guano crazy.
As always, an interesting morning at SOFA WIB. We kept it simple today. Running plus 3 exercises on repeat. It was not easy.
Thang
Run to Lancer and Windyrush. Right on Lancer. Run to Olde Providence Rd (1 mi), stopping at each side street (7 in all) to complete:
10 hand release merkins
20 sumo squats
30 knee ups
Repeat on the way back, plus we threw in a bonus at the end of the route, thanks to the OP sign “It’s time to pay your dues”, which seemed like it was speaking to me.
Forgot the satellite watch, but several others had 3.6 miles total plus the 150 hand release merkins, 300 sumo squats, and 450 knee ups. As intended, a full body beat down in only 45 minutes.
Moleskine
Quote of the day, and BB title, goes to Pele, speaking to Sundancer with such sincerity. Love the attitude. We’ll be at the same place next week.
YHC had a bit of a Costanza moment this morning. Sundancer was apparently upset that we weren’t doing sumo jump squats, and therefore “half-assing it”, a comment that was mostly ignored, as we were finishing when he was arriving. Only 5 minutes later the perfect reply came to mind. I hate when that happens. For the record, we will quit half-assing the exercises when you quit half-assing the runs. #JerkStore
Swiper pulled me along, yet again, managing to talk through at least 85% of the workout. He also led some gratuitous monkey humpers as we waited a bit on the six to run back to the AO.
Queen was strong out there. I believe he was the first to join us back at Windyrush followed by Red Rocks. Iron Mike wore the hoodie, and perhaps more surprisingly, kept it on. Talkbox must have had on his Nash ninja shoes. He almost snuck up on YHC in the last 100m, forcing an all out sprint to the cars. Speaking of, Sundancer may have gotten a new one, which was not discussed at COT. I thought the “CoExist” and “Eat Local” stickers came with the car, no? Swiper’s car alarm didn’t go off, but we ran by his sister’s old house – one of many things I learned this morning. Until next week…
Tomorrow might be the simplest SOFA WIB ever. No partners, no math, no planking, only 3 exercises (chosen for form), etc.
Run to corner of Windyrush & Lancer (HERE) – choose your route.
Continue on Lancer all the way to Old Providence (1 mile), stopping at each of the seven side streets for the following:
10 hand release merkins
20 sumo squats
30 knee ups
Repeat on the way back. Continue until time is called, or, as we will be spread out, whenever necessary to turn around to arrive back at the launch site at 0615.
I anticipate everyone will cover 3-4 miles plus 140+ merkins, 280+ squats, and 420+ knee ups, which should leave everywhere at least a little sore.
Where to start? I guess the beginning, which was really last Tuesday.
Wrapping up the workout last Tuesday – conveniently linked HERE (it’s beautiful if only for the use of “short fingered vulgarian” – and Talkbox mentions that he will be celebrating his 40th birthday this (last) weekend. It’s even in the announcements of the BB. So anyway, YHC knew the kids were out of town and decided that the M and I could swing by after the Hornets game. So we did – only at Legion instead of Sycamore. There, I’m told by Sun Dancer that Talkbox has the Q this week. Neither of them remember that occurring, which may speak more to the multi-hour celebration than my memory, or anything else. They did fully remember harassing me about wardrobe decisions.
YHC rolls into OP at 0525, and Sun Dancer and Talkbox are already there. Great…never saw the typical but not mandatory pre-blast, so fears allayed that we were good to go, only Talkbox has no idea. They were trying to remember the name of the WIB that has all of the lunge walks, OR 21 gun salute. That sounded better, so that was the “plan”.
The Thang
Run the “mile” the long way to Foxworth.
At the bottom, 21 merkins, 21 squats, 21 LBCs. Sprint to the top. 1 burpee (increasing by 1 each trip).
Total of 10 trips. Run the “mile” back to OP.
A little time left on the clock, so Mary to finish it out. And done.
Announcements
Church on the Street – signup link: Sign up for 4/3
There was one more – someone chime in.
The Moleskine
For a last minute idea, that was executed to near perfection. There was enough time on the clock to fit in 1 more trip, but there may have been a mutiny. 210 merkins, squats, LBCs + 55 burpees…no watch this morning, but I would guess 3ish miles with a lot of hill work.
I think 3-5 exercises is about the perfect number in this format. By the end, merkins 16-21 became…labored, difficult…choose the word. Burpees always suck, and the fact that they were working essentially the same muscles as the other exercises made them lots more fun.
Completely unrelated aside, but Pre-blasts – if not informative, don’t. Examples: “Here’s the workout / route for tomorrow”, “We’re going off campus, don’t be late”, “Gloves recommended”, “Bring your track / mud shoes” – all great reasons for a pre-blast. Nash once appropriately pre-blasted “there will be bear crawls”, and then proceeded to have 20 minutes of them, which I skipped because I read the pre-blast AND I’m not a bear (copyright Swiper 2014). End aside.
Talkbox truly sprinted the uphills. Apparently grabbed a nice PR on Strava for the Foxworth Hill #40?. Geraldo’s light may have saved all of us from getting run over at some point, and he was polite enough to switch to the non-blinding red light too. A lot of traffic on Foxworth before 6 AM – and who the heck waters their lawn in 38 degree weather at 0540? Pretty much had the water on the entire time we were over there. Very unwelcoming.
One Eye pulled away mid-way through when the talk got really weird, like “Keep Austin Weird” weird. This discussion seemed to overshadow those of ACC dominance, the Providence (Sun Dancer = Friar) vs Carolina (YHC = UNC04) game, Hornets (big win), Daisy being a new father, babies cutely (or oddly for Sun Dancer) looking at things other than faces, how kids develop personalities, oddly layered wardrobe choices #Agony, whether Semi-Gloss really is gone for good, etc.
I think that about covers it.
This was a truly wonderful morning and 7 of us started it thusly:
Partner up and run around the block. Run behind the school to concession area. 20 dips, 20 squats, and 20 jump ups
Partner 1 runs to playground on the right – 10 pull-ups, 20 merkins – then runs around the ball field and back to concession stand
Partner 2 runs to playground on the left – 15 hanging knees-to-elbows – then runs around opposite ball field back to concession stand
Repeat and flapjack until 6:05, then finished with the HT Mile.
Strava (yep): https://www.strava.com/activities/517559862
I’ll leave this here to improve morale: Make your day better
Moleskine
Ok – so let’s first address the mistake in the pre-blast. Yes, I confused my artsy, circa-2000 Tom Cruise movies: Vanilla Sky – Penelope Cruz & Cameron Diaz = / = Eyes Wide Shut – Nicole Kidman.
I realized it late last night and then spent the morning atoning for it by reading about the symbolism employed by Kubrick in the film – most interesting the continued use of rainbows and multi-colored lights to denote the “real world”, beneath that of the powerful elite. But I digress…
We had visitors today. Iron Mike described it best: “I was running by myself, and then I was surrounded by a group of people. But I saw the friendly little alien, so I knew I was good.” #tedcruzblahblahblahNOconcisesloganbutbelievesinaliens. Run / Sun / Puke Dancer wore his smelly shirt…to welcome them? Then took it off, and everyone left #apositivevisionforamerica. He was wearing in the back of his shorts on the final mile to improve the smell.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I appreciated the diversion and giving multiple explanations of how to do 3 exercises almost as much as watching Haze and Sledge fight over the low pull-up bars #littlemarco. Like last week, I think Sledge had the lead. It was great to have Hopper out to an F3 workout for the second time this year. It doesn’t get easier, but you get stronger #fightingforus. Turkey Leg slipped off the pull-up bar and cursed #shortfingeredvulgarian. As they were leaving, Alf mooned me, which begs the obvious question: where do you tan? #feelthebern.
I think the visitors completed one complete set, though Hairball complained of only getting one ball (see above). The best part is that some of that actually happened.
It wasn’t all fun and games, though. I had a good conversation with Bel Aire on the initial run, talking through children and whether a “steady state” actually exists in life once you have multiple kids. And on the final mile, Sun Dancer and I discussed the mental moving of the goal posts – how once accomplishing one goal, your mind instantly moves onto the next #makeamericagreatagain. And almost blacking out while running…so a little of both there.
Great morning, enjoyed the visitors – the incessant chatter and multiple conversations is what I miss most about 30 plus pax at WIB at Freedom. Thank you guys for the impromptu party crashing. We’ll return the favor sometime.
Announcements:
Talk Box is turning 40 and welcomes the entire world out to Sycamore on Saturday.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for Church on the Street. This is a seriously great opportunity to give back, and gain far more through your service.
Gentlemen – remember today (GO VOTE) and beware the Ides of March.
Strava map plus the play list will hopefully have this title make more sense.
Partner up and run the +/- 1.4 mile lap around the block (right on Rea, right on Summerlin, right on Abbotswood, right on Windyrush, right back to the school).
Run to the concession stands. 20 dips, 20 jump ups, 20 squats
Partner 1 runs to the playground behind the school (closest) for 10 pull ups and 20 merkins.
Partner 2 runs to the far playground beside the school for 15 hanging knees to elbows (good form, Talkbox)
Both partners run the long way around the baseball fields back to the concession area. The pathway between the ball fields to the play ground is Exit only.
Beware the Ides of March
It was a relatively warm but wet winter morning. There, five little puppies 19 men dug a hole under the fence passed the gates of SCMS and went for a walk mosey in the wide wide world. Through the meadow gates they went, over the bridge down the road to 51 and past the street lights (stopping for escalating burpees at each – 1-10), across the green grass sidewalk and up the hill, one after the other with your partner.
And went they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves did 22s on the fencing beside Davie Park with dips and derkins. But one little puppy wasn’t there.
“Now where in the world is that poky little puppy Semi Gloss?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn’t on top of the hill. He wasn’t going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a fuzzy caterpillar lady walking a dog. He wasn’t coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a quick green lizard car going 80 mph.
But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there he was, running round and round laying face down, his nose to the ground.
“What is he doing?” the four eighteen little puppies men asked one another. And down they went to see, roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there, they stopped short.
“What in the world are you doing?” they asked.
“I smell something!” said the poky little puppy Semi Gloss.
Then the four eighteen little puppies men began to sniff, and they smelled it, too.
“Rice pudding GROSS!” they said.
And home to Calvary they went, as fast as they could go, over the hill, up the road, through the meadow left on Rea, and under the fence to entrance 3. And there, sure enough was dinner 7s with backward running, jump lunges, and jump squats waiting for them, with rice pudding 33s with LBCs and Flutters waiting for dessert.
But their mother was greatly displeased. “So you’re the little puppies who dig holes under fences!” she said. “No rice pudding 33s tonight!” And (before they could finish) she made them go run straight to bed back to SCMS.
But the poky little puppy Semi Gloss came home back after everyone was sound asleep finished with bonus Mary.
He ate up all the rice pudding and crawled into bed fell over on his back as happy as a lark.
Moleskine
YHC has either been reading too many children’s books lately OR SG looks like the poky little puppy. Maybe a combination. Anyway, that little bit of plagiarism creative writing mostly covered the workout. And, some of it is mostly true.
YHC was is feeling a bit under the weather, fighting a cold…so calling cadence was not an option today. Instead, opted to go with simple combination exercises targeting different areas: burpees to warm up, dips / derkins (upper), lunges / squats / backward run uphill (legs), and LBCs / flutters (core). And we ran a little bit.
We had to cut the 33s short due to time – and not because Dollywood was about to lap me. I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea on the rationale there. Most pax arrived back to SCMS near 6:15, where Stone Cold led some OT Mary that hopefully made up for the shortfall.
Partnering up was for two reasons: 1) Knew we were covering some ground (3+ miles) and going to spread out, and partners make it harder to drop someone. 2) Dumbocrats were planned for the run back #equalopportunitysuck, but we ran out of time. Another day, I suppose.
General observations: Witch Doctor has at least college level DB back peddling skills. He was flying on the backward runs. Dollywood was out front on the 33s – may have caught Bushwood on the run back (6:30 pace I hear). Puddin’ Pop becoming a runner??? Wolfman was there – still alive – and he didn’t leave early. Win win win. First time, I think, seeing Back Office since he ran a marathon for our BRR team last year. Appreciate the help provided by Busch, Bushwood, Stone Cold, and Semi to keep us mostly together.
SG – Thanks for the keys today.
Fell asleep with the deck and cars covered in ice. Woke up to rain. No snow. And into these warmer than expected temperatures three of us launched.
Thang
Run around the block +/- 1.5 miles.
Run to the covered aka dry area behind the school. Mary for awhile.
Merkins and squats here. 7 pull-ups at closest playground. 14 knees to elbows at the far playground. Rotate between the stations until 6:05.
Run the Summerlin / Chadwyck mile to finish.
Moleskine
YHC not feeling 100%, trying not to mail it in. Now and then. What was conceived as a somewhat original take on 3-man grinders got a little sideways with the modifications due to weather. The timing just didn’t work, so it became a bit Montessori #freeplay. The worst part, if you ascribe to the Doc(k) school of backblast-writing (no creative license), is that it makes for a terrible backblast. Fortunately, no.
Nuke arrived while YHC was assessing whether the raised playground with terrible drainage was floating. It wasn’t. Nuke rocked out the entire workout. Seemed like a “Best of the Grammy’s” playlist #SwiftyNation. I have no idea how he fit into that dress, but the bare midriff was not as off putting as you may imagine #hemustworkout. He took the obligatory passive aggressive swipe at Kanye, but the best part was that he almost has the dance moves down. Very metronomic from him today – same pace and strong effort throughout.
Happy Birthday to our War Daddy today, One Eye. YHC struggled to keep up with him. Crushed it, and maybe it was the headband, but the IceMan hair didn’t move. At all. It was a little odd when he demanded that we sing while he blew out all 45 birthday candles, but we went with it. Odder still that he used trick birthday candles on himself #actsurprised.
Weather really wasn’t too bad this morning. No real rain, and it only felt cold on a few gusts.
If you haven’t, sign up for F3 is Five. Early head count is important.
YHC has the Q at Death Valley tomorrow. Plan to cover some ground.
Gents:
This is a very weather dependent pre-blast – safety first. Stay tuned to Twitter for changes to location (Landsdowne Elementary is alternate).
Based on ice, we will likely avoid pavement #noslips. There will be pull-ups and merkins and squats and knees-to-elbows. Or, we’ll just go sledding. As always, should be fun and hard.
That is all.