Author Archive Purple Haze

Lost

8 men lost their souls in The Bermuda Triangle.

The Thang

1.5 mile run from DZ AO to Palatine Hill on Carmel Commons for The Bermuda Triangle.

The Bermuda Triangle: Run up the west face of Palatine; 10 burpees, scale down Palatine; run the road around the office building; at circle wall in courtyard…10 incline, 10 decline, 10 dips; run down opposite road; 10 jump squats at corner; run back to hill. Repeat until 0745.

1.5 mile run back to DZ AO.

4.6 total miles. Solid work men.

Moleskine

Nice little 1.5 mile run to Carmel Commons, home of Centurion’s Palatine Hill (you really can see all of Rome from there). Tiger Rag, Runstopper and Swiper set a mean pace for the run over. Repeating something hard over and over always sucks…unless you are Frasier. This workout was in his wheelhouse. Buttermaker spent Friday’s HH trying to match Spackler beer for beer…so YHC doesn’t even have to tell you how his morning went. Strawberry…sorry to hit you with so much running after your Brave post on Friday. Kotters to The Swede, back after giving birth to his second kid.

We looked like the new episode of the Walking Dead on our trip back. The Bermuda Triangle claimed more souls.

Pro had a legit excuse to miss…out of town for ChiMarathon. Hairball missed for yet another family trip to Virginia…#ProTip ==> you have a kid now…time to start demanding they travel to you. The mere threat of rain kept DZ regulars Spackler and Radar away…they’ve really gotten soft…probably should start posting at The Rock.

Announcements

Christianity Explored launching soon. See Simba or Haze for more information.

 

Treacherous

(Posted on behalf of Mr. Brady)

24 men came out ready to roll this morning.  Started with a nice casual mosey down to Calvary Church.  Nice and steady just to get the blood flowing.  Then we spent the next 35 minutes doing a little thigh work:

The Thang

–          Running back and forth across the field from the church to the sign at the corner of 51/Rea 3 times with 10 jump squats at each end

–          Around the building to the courtyard for a little People’s Chair with leg raises.  Each leg 4 times.

–          Out to the parking lot for some Suicides just to get a little speed work in.

–          Over to Entry 4 and running backwards up the ramp three times with jump squats at the top

–          Mosey over to the North Face for some Triple Nickel: 5 jump squats at base, up the Face, 5 jump squats at top, repeato)

 Mosey on back towards home.  Stop at Davie Park and collect the 6.  From Davie, it was an all-you-got run back to Strawberry Lane (short ½ mile).  Still had a few minutes left so we did gassers in the parking lot.

Moleskine:

This morning was populated by fast guys recovering from the BRR.  Lots of “this still hurts” being bandied about the group.  Even heard someone asking Frazier about his bonk Saturday morning.  You know it’s a good race when Frasier gets winded.  But it’s been a week and change and everyone seemed ready to roll this morning.  Tried to keep it fast paced.  The best way to know if the workout is hard enough is to listen for Spackler.  If he’s flapping his gums, you need to lift the pace.  The chatter seemed to die down during the Suicides and definitely faded away on the Ramp.

Disclaimer:  I’ve almost never seen cars on the ramp, but we had plenty today.  Sorry about that.

North Face was the only reason we went to Calvary this morning.  I couldn’t think of anything similar anywhere else.  There was a fair amount of discussion about the Face being “closed for repair” and we should stay off due to “aeration and seeding”.  Good thing Alf, Prohibition, and the other refuse-nicks were wrong.  Turns out it was open and waiting for us.  So much fun!

 Thanks for coming out today.  It was an honor to Q such a strong group.

Announcements

HH at Yellow Rose tomorrow.  Watch for a tweet

 Anson County launch on Oct 3.  Check the schedule.

 Palmetto Registration is open.  Early discount for teams that sign up before end of September.

Desertion

17 men showed up for #F3FastTwitch on the Tuesday of BRR week to work out the kinks, test out all the gear, fine tune the engine, cram in a some last minute hill work or just run a little.

The Thang

Slow jog around the parking lot to the front of the school for COP (nothing painful about it really)…

  • IWs x 20 IC
  • MCs x 20 IC

Slow mosey from the school to the bottom of Shallowood, which is a nice little halfpipe. We split up into two groups for an alternating double triple nickel…5 times up one way, 5 times up the other way…5 squats at the tops and bottoms of each.

Run from Shallowood, stopping at the bottom of Windbluff. One AYG hill sprint to the stop sign.

Run to Rising Meadow for 3 AYG hill sprints from the bottom street lamp to the second street lamp.

Obligatory Indian Run back to base.

Moleskine

With some guys already having shut it down before the BRR, 17 men showed up for work today. The plan was to keep us all together and allow for guys to go at their own pace. Same as every week, I guess.

Several refuseniks on the squats today. But the real rebellion took place at Rising Meadow, as TR proclaimed he’d had enough of hills and was heading back to the track. Prohibition followed. And with that, the one guy with a light, the two guys with phones deserted the group. Still, we finished strong…without incident, thankfully…except for Stagecoach, who laid motionless at the stop sign for a moment, unhurt as it turned out…just waiting until the coast was clear so that he too could take off for the school.

See you all next week. It’s never too early to start training for the 2016 BRR. Ironsides on Q.

Announcements

The BRR is this weekend.

Straight Up Fast Twitch

While the Skunkworks crew was singing Manilow’s greatest hits on the karaoke machine in the corner, 21 men stood at the bar and took shots of straight-up of #F3FastTwitch. And the ladies took notice, shunning Brown’s voice cracking rendition of Copacabana in favor of real men in flowing running shorts that highlight milky white thighs and tight tank tops that accentuate the rib cage.

After a manly jog around the parking lot, we circled up for some IWs, Mtn Climbers and Merkins, followed by 30 seconds or so of light stretching. Then the mosey to the top of Rising Meadow.

The Burn

Triple nickel from the top of Rising Meadow to the bottom of Windbluff. 5 squats at the top. 5 merkins at the bottom. 5 times through. That’s it…plus the signature double Indian run back to base.

Moleskine

Forced into action due to Spackler’s 19th vacation this summer, YHC went simple. No mixers. Nothing on the rocks. Just the same hills for about 45 minutes. 5.5 to 6.5 miles. Straight up. Disheartening.

TR and the aforementioned Spackler can rest easy…the pax f/k/a Gadget was renamed Swayze. Went shirtless his first post at GhostRunner. And again this morning. It had to be done.

A lot of hard work out there this morning:

  • Brady and Alf set the pace. Hairball, Header, Champagne, Glass Joe (in from Union County on a work visa), Prohibition (FT’s designated phone carrier), Hopper and Buttermaker weren’t far behind. Soul Glow made a strong push to the front as well, after sandbagging and mumbling about the Reds the first three rounds.
  • Respects Van Pelt (who was recognizable today having remembered his glasses) and Iron Horse put forth monumental efforts for old guys.
  • The Mouth had a good run in his return from his Hawaiian vacation, despite self-proclaimed soreness from surfing all week.
  • Newer or newly returning FTers Stagecoach, Swayze, Hammer, Ductwork, Huggie Bear, Ironsides and Chanel had very solid runs on what is a very demanding and demoralizing hilly Raintree route.
  • All the men got through the 5 rounds, a few got extra credit. Hence the 5.5 to 6.5 miles.

Announcements

Centurion converging at The Brave on Friday (7/3)

Saturday (7/4) convergence at The Rock.

 

Loop Physics, Mad Dog 20/20 & The Chili Cheese A Plenty

12 men showed up on Thursday in the Arbo ABC store parking lot. But, this time, it had nothing to do with purchasing some Mad Dog 20/20 for the upcoming weekend escapades. It was about Ghost Runner…and its 4 to 6 brutal miles in the nighttime heat and humidity.

Alf has set up two nasty runs. And he’s somehow defied loop physics such that the routes are uphill the entire time. Or maybe it just seems that way when your legs are barking and you can’t see from the sweat dripping in your eyes.

Some observations…

  • Mr. Brady came in late (on time for him), caught the group, then took over the lead and stretched it out. Those 70s style houses of Raintree just inspire him. Solid work brother.
  • Van Pelt had a solid run (or the runs)…fueled by his lunch at the famous Beacon in Spartanburg, SC. Lots of chili-cheese-a-plenty thurps during his strong run near the front. #Respect
  • Runstopper takes any and every opportunity to go shirtless.
  • Dolphin learned that the route he’s been running is not the route at all. But he’s gotten 1-2 bonus miles each time, earning himself extra post run recovery beverages.
  • TigerRag laced up his running shoes then stayed in the parking lot and did 750 KB swings (each hand) while everyone else ran. #Meathead
  • Soul Glow and Buttermaker ran together the entire time. Think they even shared SG’s water bottle. #Bonding. Also, SG was late to Vintner’s…pretty sure he made an ABC pit stop for a bottle of the aforementioned Mad Dog 20/20.
  • Turkey Leg kept saying how tired he was. I believed him until I lost sight of him.
  • Iron Horse wears very short running shorts. He was hit with the girls night out contingent at Vintner’s.
  • Ickey Shuffle showed up late from his kid’s K-4 graduation. Then he just wandered aimlessly back and forth on Raintree Lane until it was time for beverages. Afterwards, we found out he has a lot of pent up anger from his days supporting Cincinnati sports teams and has a deep disdain for God’s chosen football team, Notre Dame.
  • Hops showed up at Vintner’s for post run recovery. But not for the run. Ghost Runner protocol requires him to buy the first round. It didn’t happen.

Haze out.

 

Mr. Brady and his bunch

Posted on behalf of Mr. Brady:

Nineteen of Area 51’s best showed up on a beautiful spring morning for a pleasant running workout.  It seems some doubted if the Q would show, but those doubters just don’t understand just-in-time delivery.

The Thang & Moleskine

We skipped the COP, did a short warm up of toe and heel steps followed by butt kickers, then moseyed down to Rosecliff for a brief dose of Mary (20 flutters, 20 heels-to-heaven).  I can’t really do a lot of Mary, so we stopped there and got back to running.  Haze mentioned he was upset we headed in this direction instead of taking a tour of the 70’s architectural Mecca of Raintree since my namesake did his best work in the 70’s.  Too bad he made his request on Twitter – and I don’t tweet.  Much like my namesake, I stay away from social media.

We moseyed on to Coburn Court for a little half pipe action.  Slim Fast Q’ed my first introduction to the half pipe.  Several people noted his absence.  Perhaps he will attend FT again soon.  Somebody let him know we miss him.  We did a triple pipe with exercises at the top of each side (high knees one side, Turkish getups on the other) and Sister Mary Margarets each time you came to the bottom.  I was planning on a day of nothing but merkins and burpees – also known as a “Headerfest” – but changed my mind when Frasier showed up one-armed.  Thank God for that.  I do burpees and merkins as well as I do Mary.  So we burned up our thighs in the half pipe instead.

Then it was on to Bevington Place for a quick-paced out and back.  Everyone ran at a hard clip in the direction of Rea Road until the first guy reached Rea and turned around.  Take a guess who got there first.  Then the whole Pax reversed back to the start when the first guy rolled back up to them.

From Bevington Place, the herd moseyed around to 51, did a few LBC’s, moseyed on to Davie Park (where I was overruled), moseyed back to the AO, and finally ended up on the track as dawn was breaking.  A fast lap sprinting the straight and recovering on the turns while the six came in. By then it was running late and the PAX made it clear the workout was over.

I fumbled the COT and goofed up recording the name game.  My sincerest apologies.  I humbly thank everyone for bearing with me on my first Q at Fast Twitch.

Announcements:

–          Moderate Running Workout Fridays at South Charlotte Middle starting June 5th.

–          Ghost Runner running workout Thursday evenings at Arbo ABC Store starts May 28th.

–          Convergence at Day Zero this Saturday.

–          Convergence on Memorial Day at Fast Twitch at 7AM.

Back In Time

10 men went back in time this morning as Radar and YHC took the Day Zero co-Q.

The Thang

Radar Q

Run to the far side of the soccer field for COP:

  • SSHs x 60 IC
  • IWs 20 OYO

Mosey out back entrance and line up for Indian Run to the bottom of Baybrook. A pile of #FunBags were waiting. Each person grab a bag and run up and down the Baybrook hill stopping at each light post for called exercise.

  • Round 1 – Diamonds x 5, Merkins x 5, Wide-Arms x 5
  • Round 2 – Presses x 5, CDDs x 5, Straight-Arm Lifts x 5

After AYG sprint sans bags to the top and back, grab the bags again for more work. Run up Bevington and left on Carswell stopping at each light post for:

  • 5 squats, 5 side lunges right leg, 5 front lunges right leg, 5 side lunges left leg, 5 front lunges left leg

Purple Haze Q

Drop bags and mosey to front of school. Partner up similar speed then split into two teams on opposite sides of parking lot loop. We did The Chase…sprint relay races around the parking lot until one team caught the other. We did three rounds…made for some good interval running.

Mosey down the field for:

  • 10 merkins, 40 yard dash, 10 merkins, sprint back
  • 20 mountain climbers, 40 yard dash, 20 mountain climbers, sprint back

Mosey to back of Radar’s Explorer and grab the heavy bag. Time for Yellow Rose prep:

  • Heavy bag in the middle while each guy takes 1 minute rounds to punch the crap out of the bag
  • Guys in the circle did some exercises…squats, LBCs, alternate leg lunges, flutter kicks, etc.

Done. COT.

Moleskine

It was completely old school today, with Pro and HB turning the co-Q reins over to Radar and YHC. And just like days gone by, Radar brought out his fun bags and took longer than his allotted 30 minutes playing with them.

The bags are truly awful. And time has not been good to them. Heavier than ever, multiple layers of gorilla tape, sand leaking out, and the stench of 2 years of sweat on them. YHC hates them. But they make you dig deep.

At coffeeteria, we decided to name the relay race The Chase. Other names thrown out during the workout were ridiculed…the story of my life…and no, that’s not my kid-sized jacket left on the playground.

The heavy bag work was fun. Everyone watching you while you attempt to punch it. While we are tougher fighters than any other Saturday workout, we don’t seem ready for a Yellow Rose brawl.

  • Pro, wearing a purple and neon yellow wrist bands, hurt his wrist on one of his slaps. #FartKnocker
  • Dear Abby didn’t want to hurt his typing hands.
  • Soul Glow took some skin off his knuckles…too much lotion.
  • The Mouth just walked around the bag talking junk to it.
  • Garbanzo went last…didn’t give it the beating we anticipated but did flip it and give it a belly to belly suplex.

Thanks to Pro and HB for letting us lead again.

Announcements

Day Zero two year anniversary convergence next Saturday. You don’t want to miss it.

NoDa Brewing run. See Prohibition.

BRR. See Turkey Leg.

Sign ups for 2018 MudRun are open. See Mermaid.

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, or Devil’s Triangle, is a mythical section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared. As 25 men can attest, this morning’s Bermuda Triangle at Centurion was not mythical; it was indeed very real. And quite sinister. And even though all 25 Pax came out alive, many left pieces of their souls there.

The Thang

We began with a brief disclaimer, checked that at least one Pax was carrying a phone and then off we went into the gloom. We crossed 51 and traveled down Carmel Commons, stopping by Palatine Hill, in the middle of the Triangle for COP:

  • Plank for the six
  • Mountain Climbers x 20 IC
  • IWs x 20 IC
  • Merkins x 10 IC

Then the Bermuda Triangle:

  • Run the steeper, longer western side of Palatine Hill
  • 10 burpees at the top
  • Run down the face of Palatine
  • Run up the driveway around the office building to the courtyard
  • At courtyard circular garden wall: 20 derkins, 20 dips, 20 inerkins
  • Run down the opposite driveway to the corner for 20 jump squats
  • Run to the base of hill
  • Repeat as many times as possible in 30-35 minutes

Then we ran back to base for COT. Solid takeout by Chelms.

Moleskine

It is amazing how something so evil can be so pure at the same time.

This was simple plan. And it was a repeat offense from my immediately prior Centurion Q. But sometimes painful things must be done again. We get stronger that way.

YHC did not hear a lot out there this morning…too deep in my own dark place to notice anything anecdotal. So sound off in the comments with any stories, even if you have to embellish a little.

Incredibly, 7 Respects out this morning…including our War Daddy FNG from Atlanta…software guy, named him Malware. Look out @F3Atlanta, he’s coming your way.

Always an honor to lead the fine group of men at Centurion…thanks to Chelms and Escargot for the privilege.

Announcements

Pray for Bill Chepul (Chelms’ and Abacus’ brother) and family

 

 

Site Q Side Deal

17 men tuned in for this week’s episode of #F3DeathValley.

The Thang

Little baby jog around the cars to pick up the remaining straggler, with some high knees and butt kicks thrown in along the way before heading to the parking lot in front of the school for COP.

  • IWs x 10 IC
  • SSHs x 10 IC
  • MCs x 10 IC
  • Merkins x 10 IC
  • Low Slow Squat x 10 IC

Mosey from the school down Woodfox, L on Rounding Run then L on Rising Meadow, stopping at the first light post at the base of the hill. Get in groups of three for some hill grinders…Partner A exercising at the top, Partner B exercising at the bottom, Partner C running in between…keep rotating.

  • Exercises at the top: jump squats, CDDs, flutter kicks
  • Exercises at the bottom: merkins, LBCs, lunges

Line up at the bottom.

  • AYG sprint to the top, mosey down
  • Backwards run to the top, mosey down
  • AYG sprint to the top, mosey down

Mosey back to base. Partner up at the basketball goal. Partner A runs suicide; Partner B does called exercise; flapjack.

  • Rounds 1 & 2: merkins
  • Round 3: Dolly

Circle up for Mary:

  • Straight leg lifts x 15 IC
  • LBCs x 15 IC
  • Groiners x 10 OYO
  • Flutter kicks x 15 IC

COT

Moleskine

No cash exchanged hands but a co-site Qs’ side deal was made. Gloss took the #F3FastTwitch Q yesterday in exchange for YHC Qing #F3DeathValley today…and two Pax to be named later. Gloss is a fierce negotiator.

With no real strengths to speak of, YHC figured we’d just run some. Guess Spack, Hairball, Radar and Prohibition figured that as well and stayed away. Either that or their respective celebrations of Mexico’s victory over France at the Battle of Pueblo got a little out of hand. #MasCervezasPorFavor

Anyway, we logged about 2.5 miles of hard running this morning. Noteworthy from the grinders:

  • Sussidio, still dressing for the sub-freezing temps of January, woke up the neighbors with his downhill running. Just point ’em and go. YHC partnered with him and TurkeyLeg…by far the two loudest runners in Area51 (excluding Tiger Rag’s heavy breathing intimidation technique).
  • Header and Dolphin spent the whole time in casual conversation. Heard them exchange numbers after the workout.
  • Gloss (a/k/a the straggler above) came in on two wheels at launch. This means he didn’t jettison his cargo at the on-site facility prior to the workouts. That was to the Pax’ detriment on the hill. #DroppingPotions
  • Hops is a backwards running marvel.
  • Geraldo gutted out the running on a bummed ankle. #IceUpSon
  • Taking off running downhill after decline CDDs at the top of the hill has the potential to be dangerous. #Lightheadedness #Disclaimer

Strong running by the DV Pax. There are some fast guys out there. Thanks to SG and SC for the opportunity to lead.

Announcements

  • #F3CSAUP DeathMarch – PreBlast coming soon.
  • BRR – 50 of the 150 teams are from F3. Some slots are still available but see TurkeyLeg now.
  • Brothers Standing in the Gap – remember the Area51 prayer request email

 

Saving Dry Heaving Meatheads

18 men signed up for another round with #F3FastTwitch.

The Thang

Little baby jog around the parking lot before taking Strawberry Lane out to 51. Right turn onto 51 with a brief stop at Serendipity for a plank and 10 merkins OYO. Mosey farther down 51, right turn onto Raintree Lane and then a left onto Willow Point. Gather in the parking lot for the Raintree soccer field for COP:

  • SSHs x 10 IC
  • IWs x 20 IC
  • Mountain climbers x 20 IC
  • 1 minute stretch

Mosey to the first street sign on Willow Point for instructions:

  • Sprint to 1st street sign
  • Mosey to 2nd street sign
  • Sprint to 3rd street sign
  • Mosey to dead end
  • Turn back, sprint to 1st street sign
  • Mosey to 2nd street sign
  • Sprint to 3rd street sign
  • Mosey to 4th street sign

We did this 4 times. Then ran a suicide round to and from the street signs. Willow Point is about 1/4 mile in distance.

Back to parking lot for a little Mary: LBCs x 15 IC, Straight leg lifts x 15 IC

Then mosey across Willow Point to the little office building on Raintree Lane. Run up the stairs, across the top, down the stairs, merkins in the parking lot.

  • Round 1 – single steps, 5 merkins
  • Round 2 – double steps, 10 merkins
  • Round 3 – single steps, 15 merkins
  • Round 4 – double steps, 20 merkins
  • Round 5 – single steps, 25 merkins

Start the run back to base. We stopped at the base of a few hills along the way for some AYG sprints to the top. Finished off with some people’s chair, with multiple 10 counts, much to Header’s chagrin.

COT

Moleskine

Holding true to a promise YHC made to himself a while back, we did not go down to the track for our sprint work. Instead, we chose the 1/4 mile stretch of Willow Point that runs behind the Arbo. At one point, Alf noted “that’s the back of the building where I go tan”, unless YHC heard it wrong. Some fast guys out there this morning. Swift has very little chance, unless Bratwurst calls for some sort of random drug testing leading up to the speed challenge.

Some guy walking along Willow Point literally jumped into the grass as we came barreling up behind him during the sprints. Sweet revenge for Soul Glow, who remains in therapy, still suffering the effects of the bunny suit man on BRR leg 10.

The suicide may have been the longest one of all time.

For some reason, been eyeing those steps of the little Raintree office park a little while now. Figured we’d try them out…a little reminiscent of the circuit work we sometimes do at Centurion. Sorry Pro, we did not do bunny hops up the steps…perhaps you can do that, if you ever Q FT…or show up again, for that matter.

A good group of guys continue to post at FT. Speed and endurance are growing. Strong on the merkins too…after all, someone’s got to carry the dry heaving Meatheads and the beautiful models out of those burning buildings.

Announcements

  • Fast Twitch / Swift speed challenge on 4/28
  • F3 golf on 4/30. Sign up. Now.
  • Red, Light & Blue on 5/16 to benefit Charlotte Bridge Home