22 Pax (3 F3 dads and 19 2.0’s) set out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for an animal style workout. All 4 F’s were enjoyed on this day, Fitness, Fellowship, Faith, and Family.
The Thang:
Horse Gallop through the woods
Bear Crawl
Crab Walk
Ostrich Stance (head in the sand)
Bunny Hop
Gorilla Walk (drag your knuckles)
Sunning Lizard Stance
Piggy Back
Panda Bear Shuffle
Fence Climb
Monkey Bars
Resting Alligator
Crawling Gator
Dolphin Dive
Floating Otter
Crouching Tiger/Flying Chicken
Leap Frog
COT
The Naked Moleskin:
A great time was had by all on this day as about 15 families congregated at YHC’s home to enjoy each other’s company and share the love with our families.
This was supposed to be an F3 Dads style workout, but most of the dads left the heavy work up to their 2.0’s and mumbled some lame excuse like “I’m too sore from this morning” or “It’s too hard with this beer in my hand”. Needless-to-say, the 2.0’s did not disappoint and tackled the course with much enthusiasm and gusto.
Strongest, Bravest, and Most Horribly Unlucky pax – Gamer, who did the swan dive with his legs over and onto the fence post. Ouch!
God Bless the 4th F – Our families.
This month’s twist on our 4/6 mile run – Spartan burbees. 10 each mile.
Moleskin:
Welcome to two Devil’s Turn FNG’s: Harley and Ichabod. Glad to have you among us.
Dora is still working his way up on the mileage and did just 3 this morning. However, he decided to compensate by doubling up on the burpees. Somehow, he still ended up doing 100 of these. Either his count is off or he was just overeager, or both. Either way, strong work.
Did I hear a call for 20 burpees each mile next week from 49er? That can be arranged. Interesting to note though that 49er will be out of town next week. I hope he’s prepared to get his burpees in down in Aruba!
Don’t forget the Charlotte South Family gathering at The Shore’s house this Saturday at 4pm. Bring the whole family – workout and COT (nickname’s!) to kick the party off. All are welcome.
11 pax set out in the early morning gloom to set a ferocious pace and push for a new PR.
The Thang:
6, 4, 3 miles, or anywhere in between. We’ve still got pax working their way up the milage chart.
Moleskin:
Today were our time trials, so all were expected to push themselves to a new PR. This did not work out for everyone. For one, only Donkey Kong and YHC made it to all the hill training this month. For another, being inexperienced, many (Joker) set out much too fast, burned out and couldn’t keep pace in the end. Better to go hard early, than never to go at all!
It was nice to have pax stretched out all over the course (due to the different paces). I for one flet like slowing/quitting at the 0, 3, and 5 mile marks, but each time came across a F3 brother whose words of encouragement kept me pushing my limits. Suffering is best done with friends.
Don’t forget our Charlotte South F3 family gathering on October 6th at 4pm. At YHC’s abode, 7345 Kennington Ct. Be there on time with the 2.0’s and their nicknames.
9 pax posted to chugg through the pitch black of the McAlpine woods.
The Thang:
4 or 6 miles into the woods and up a hilly loop. The course definitely requires a headlamp so as not to end up in some ravine or stumbling over some form of wildlife. It does reward one with a good hill interval though with which to test the strength, stamina and mental fortitude required to “sprint” up the hill.
Moleskin:
With plenty of pax out on the course this morning the 5:30ers looked like a well-oiled pack of locomotives tunneling through the woods. Alas, distance and endurance soon spread the locomotives up.
Tiger Rag posted for his first run at the Devil’s Turn today, and ran strong up the hills, setting the pace and pushing the pack.
With the cold weather, the insects are gone and so too the spiders. A special treat for the 5:15ers as we no longer have to clear the trail of the webs spun overnight.
What we smelt last week, Mall Cop saw this morning. Skunk alert!
Bug eater seems to be getting faster by the week. And Pretty Boy QB is no slouch either. Both were working especially hard this morning.
And much thanks to Donkey Kong this morning for helping Q and lead the late group through their paces. If 49er wasn’t comotose in his fartsac, I’m sure he would have been much appreciative.
7 pax showed up for some hillwork, fellowship and fun.
The Thang:
4 of us ran the 6 miles through the woods and around the mile loop that included a rather large hill.
The other 3 did 4 miles around the same loop.
Headlights were flashing everywhere.
Naked Moleskin:
With the cool weather, the insects and spiders disappeared, but we did spot 2 deer, 2 bunnies, and smelled a skunk.
One deer we actually woke up from his cozy leafbed. He must have been up late partying as it took 3 loops for fear to actually overcome pure laziness and for him to actually drag himself out of his personal farthole and scamper on into the day. Next time we’ll sick the bunnies on him.
Welcome to the Devil’s Turn to Bird Hole (Charlotte South FNG) and Bugeater (DT FNG). Good to have you aboard. Hope you enjoyed the variety and soft path the McAlpine Trail provides. Add in the dark night, and it is a great way to vary a monotonous distance.
One more Hill Week next week. If your quads weren’t burning, you weren’t there.
YHC sent out a request for any dads to man up in the 45 minute wait before our sons play soccer on a steamy Friday night. One FNG showed.
The Thang:
Run to Field
Warm Up – Side-Straddle Hops, Imperial Walker, In a Squat (arm forward/backwards, arm up/downs, arm circles forward/backward)
4 Corners – Run, Jump Knee Tucks, Run, Merkins, Run, Mountain Climbers, Run, Burpees
Run to Pavillion
Alernate – Pull-Ups/Dips, then Toes-to-Bar/Diamonds
Rinse and Repeat
Run To Grass
6 Minutes of Mary – LBC’s, Flutter, Dolly, Slow Bicycle, Rosalita
Plank-O-Rama – Elbows, Peter-Parker, Parker-Peter, Right-arm-high reps, Left-arm-high reps
The Naked Moleskin:
– A weekday was probably not the best time to try this out. Several dads emailed their desire to join in the future, but only one showed up today. Strong work by FNG, Kettlebell. Not sure he knew what he was getting into, but posted strong nonetheless. Next week, I expect more victims.
– Quote of the evening: see title.
– Kettlebell: 1) a particularly stout and sturdy (and short) device used build strength and stamina. 2) ex-professional weightlifter not used to running.
4 Pax and one straggler set out over the river and through the woods (and up a hill) for a good workout in the dark gloom.
Naked Moleskin:
– Distance covered: unknown. Hard work done: we know.
– It being a new month, 4 of us set out on a new trail, which included lots of woods and one big hill. Ray Charles meanwhile was still comforting himself in last months routine. Join us next time brother!
– We were worried about Sparky, who seemed to be taking too long finishing up his 3 “laps”. When we finally found him, we realized his extra time was spent doing 4 laps! Not sure what he was thinking, or if he even was, but either way, strong work!
– Donkey Kong always brings it strong these days, so not much else can be expected.
– At one point we could see Sparky’s sparkler up on the top of the ridge that served as our hill. It gave a unique perspective to the distance and height we were tackling.
– Near the end we spotted a particularly large spider web (with a particularly large spider) over the trail we were running. Thankfully it had situated itself just above our own height.
– Not sure where the rest of the pax were this morning. I know they weren’t tapering for the BRR. Perhaps they were up too late catching the DNC? However lame the excuse, YHC refuses to believe they were intimidated by the prospect of running up a mere hill early in the morning. We expect to see them all out next week!
The Thang:
12 Pax met at 5:15 or 5:30 to run 3-6 miles. This being the end of our first month at the Devil’s Turn, we timed ourselves to gauge our progress. Of course, since we hadn’t timed ourselves before, we all set personnal records. Here are the official times. Presumably, there’s plenty of room for improvement:
The Shore (6 mi) 46:08, Jetski (6) 47:08, Ray Charles (4) 36:14, Stone Cold (4 miles) 29:22, Joker (4) 29:15, Donkey Kong (4) 30:16, Pretty Boy QB (4) 31:39, Hops (4) 32:50, Deep Dish (4) 33:17, Dora (4) 42:22, Thin Crust (3 miles?) 41:26, Mall Cop (3) 33:15
Naked Moleskin:
We have survived the first month and have a strong core of Pax who make the journey most Thursday mornings. Strong work by all.
Dora went exploring this morning and found himself straight out into the wilderness of the Greenway. His headlamp was flailing about looking for the right path when he was directed toward the 2 mile marker. With the help of his mental mapa he did make it back to the start, though he might have actually run 4.2 miles.
Our first month ended with today’s time trials. Our second month, next week, begins with woods and hills. Bring your headlamp!
Today is the last day to sign up for the group discount for the March Spartan Sprint through F3. The entire Shore clan is signed up. From what I saw this morning, so should be all from the Devil’s Turn grounds. Get on it!
12 Pax set out for an early morning jog on the McAlpine Greenway.
The Thang:
6 miles for those who set out at 5:15. 4 miles for those leaving at 5:30. Or anywhere in between for those who felt like doing their own thang.
Moleskin:
Bratwurst was kind enough to show up down south this morning and take it easy on us novices. Our comfortable pace brought some us in at a 7:30 pace.
It’s nice to see more pax showing up even if they are not completely comfortable with the running thang. Guys were scattered all over the greenway at different distances and paces. The more the merrier. And it all beats dreaming about your sub-spartan effort in the fartsac!
Then there are the regulars, along with your QIC’s, Ray Charles, Joker, Callaway, and Donkey Kong have made all the rounds so far. Strong work men.
8 pax gathered in the nightime gloom of the greenway. Shadows were our only companions.
The Thang:
Ray Charles and The Shore set off at 5:15, while the others arrived at 5:30 for a shorter jog. Distances covered ranged from 3 miles to 6.
Moleskin:
Variety was the rule of the day. Most creative goes out to Ray Charles who just seems to weave his way back and forth on the greenway for 45 minutes or so. Most persistant is Thin Crust who works hard to cover 3 miles or so. He’s definitely carrying less pounds every week though. Strong work brothers.
At 5 in the morning on the greenway, you either bring a headlamp or follow the faint moonlit glow of the trail. There are no other lights. It’s a great way to start the day.