With no disclaimer (the HORROR!) and little baby jog across the street.
Side-straddle hops
Squats
Little baby crunch
Loch Ness Laps
10 steps up patio 1, 10 derkins patio 2, 10 dips picnic tables
20 steps up patio 1, 20 derkins patio 2, 20 dips picnic tables
30 steps up patio 1, 30 derkins patio 2, 30 dips picnic tables
20 steps up patio 1, 20 derkins patio 2, 20 dips picnic tables
10 steps up patio 1, 10 derkins patio 2, 10 dips picnic tables
Little baby jog to the bull statues
10 squats
10 lbc
10 ‘mericans
Lake Laps
10 lbc, run a lap
8 lbc, run a lap
6 lbc, run a lap
4 lbc, run a lap
2 lbc, run a lap
Little baby job and jailbreak back to the Vine.
Moleskine
Like the end of every episode of He-Man, here’s the moral of the story – you can start a legacy. Five years ago, a group of guys just like you decided the workouts, fellowship and service projects they were too special not to share. They decided to bring it F3 to Ballantyne. (Haggis, Honey Bee and Dolphin helped scout the area that become the AO that is used by Stonehenge, Bagpipe, Swift & The Brave.) That workout grew into a new region and impacted hundreds, maybe thousands, of men, their families our community.
Let this new year be your opportunity to start something positive. It can be a new tradition with your family, a new project at work or volunteering at church or a community organization. It doesn’t need to be big, at least not right away. Legacy requires consistency. Greatness requires commitment – a discipline to repeat and improve.
See you next Saturday, and next Saturday, and next Saturday…
Long live Stonehenge.
EPILOGUE:
written by Dolphin
It’s amazing to see how SOB has grown form a single workout (Stonehenge) to its own region with multiple workouts on every day in just 5 years. It’s a testament to strong leadership of F3 Nation and every HIM that leads or takes part in all three f’s in the region. Thank you to all who have helped drive this growth over the past five years.
A special welcome to FNG Fokker. Thanks for coming out and hope to see you again soon.
F3 holds a special place in my heart and although I don’t get out like I used to, it is still very important to me. YHC was very humbled by this workout and it will serve as motivation for me to get my butt back into “fighting shape”.
Last night, a jet-lagged Ickey Shuffle called out for a replacement at Anvil. I took on the lead and we all learned some valuable lessons.
Like a kale-chip, the conditions were crisp, dark but good for you.
COP:
Side-straddle hops x 15
Imperial Walkers x 15
Low, slow squats x 15
Mountain climbers x 10
‘Mericans x 10
Mountain climbers left-hand high
‘Mericans x 10
Mountain climbers right-hand high
We left campus from Rea Rd to Pineville-Matthews. I had planned a circuit through Challis Farms. Upon reaching the neighborhood, we learned it was gated. And with that my Weinke was ruined. We ran back to Calvary and here’s what we did instead.
Catch Me If You Can
P1 – 3 burpees
P2 – Run
Switch and repeat
Triple Nickel on North Face
‘Merican & Jump squats
Repeat with Jump squats & ‘Mericans
Planter Partner
100 combined Derkins
Wall Sit
Mary ‘Merican Ladder
10 ‘Mericans & 10 LBC (IC)
thru 1 ‘Merican & 1 LBC
1-minute elbow plank
We covered nearly 2.25 miles and along the way we sprinkled in some additional Mary & ‘Mericans, but that pretty much covers it.
Mo’ skine, Mo problems:
I have been to Anvil a few times in the past, but I really don’t know the AO well. (That’s coming from someone who doesn’t know my regular AOs too well either.) Foolishly, I thought I could run to a neighborhood street for an out-and-back and not get lost. I did not count on a gated neighborhood. I learned you can run the Rea Rd. Calvary entrance. For being very confused most of the morning, the PAX were pretty helpful and understanding. Thank you.
Flipper and Rachel dominated the North Face segment. Udder provided some guiding chatter to keep me on track and Purrell and Snowflake never complained and hustled all morning.
Cut off your head! ~Heyyyyyyyoooo!
Seriously, folks in addition to a healthy diet – interval training is a sure fire way to fire up your metabolism and shred pounds. Today’s Foxhole was power-packed with opportunities to ramp up the heart rate and get swole. Here’s what was served up –
Run the long lap around the school.
COP
Side straddle-hops x 15
Halos x 10
Imperial Walkers x `10
Around the World x 10
Low, Slow Squat (no bell) x 10
Figure Eights x 10
Catch Me If You Can
Partner 1: both bells, farmer carry
Partner 2: 3 burpees, ran to tag your partner
Repeat around until you complete the parking lot circuit
Tabata 1 – Two-handed Swings
20 secs of swings, 10 secs rest, Eight rounds
Bar Work 1
10 Pull-ups or jump pulls
Tabata 2 – Thrusters (squat + press)
Bar Work 2
10 Pull-ups or jump pulls
10 Knees-to-elbows
Tabata 3 – Rows
Bar Work 3
10 Burpee to pull-ups or jump pulls
10 Knees to elbows
Tabata 4 – Bell on chest, crunches
Bar Work 4
10 Pull-ups or jump pulls
10 Knees-to-elbows
Five – all-you-got-pull-out-all-the-stops-don’t-quit-push-yourself-go-go-GO-SPRINTS!!
Announcements
Sign -up for the following –
F3 Christmas Party
Jingle Bell Run
Joe Davis Run
No curves, just down and back. Actually, I ran it twice if you count the pre-run with Cul-de-Sac and Lex Luthor, plus Bratwurst and Frasier who were heading to a track workout. (More on that later.)
With the Great Wolf Lodge event redirecting 40+ men, a convergence was the right call. 13 guys with no kids (Mighty Mite), grown kids or kids with other obligations, turned up at the Blakeney Chik-Fil-A for a nearly 4 miles.
From Chik-Fil-A, we went west down Audrey Kell Rd.
1311 Main Warm-Up
Side Straddle hops x 15
Imperial Walkers x 15
Arm circles x 10
‘Mericans x 10
Low, slow squat x 15
Amazing Lash Studio
Circling the parking lot and stopping at each park-insula for 5 of the called exercise. Then loop around and plank for the six.
R1 – ‘Mericans
R2 – Bomb squats
R3 – Heels to heaven
R4 – Carolina Dry Docks
R5 – I can’t remember :/
We summited Peak AK. At the top 10 Merkins, run between telephone poles
Telephone pole 1 Regular, Diamond, Stagger right
Telephone pole 2 Wide, Stagger left
Amazing Lash Studio – The Sequel
Parknisula Burpee ladder start with 1, then 2, then 3…5 take a lap.
6, then 7, 8…10 lap optional.
1311 Main – The Sequel
LBC, ‘Merican ladded
10 LBC (IC), 10 ‘Mericans single count
thru…
1 LBC (IC), 1 ‘Merican
Audrey Kell & Rea
50 calf raises. Some laughed until they realized your calves will burn after running hills.
Mary Calling
American hammer x 20
Dolly x 20
Rosalita x 20
Moleskine
I got a chance to talk to quite a few of the crew today.
Mighty Mite has traveled so much, he’s only had a chance to take his garbage out four times since April.
Cul-de-Sac has run four marathons and once running at night with no headlamp fell off the curb. (He was sporting a light on the pre-run. #runsmart)
Gruden grew up in the northeast, then spent time in the midwest. Today he is running the Eggnog Jog at the Speedway. He’s planning to run a few half-marathons this year.
Frasier is sick and Bratwurst is hurt. They gave up on the track work and joined us for the second half of the workout.
McGee can spot the subtle differences between Mercedes models.
Lex had to leave early, but he got a full hour with the pre-run. That’s dedication.
I haven’t seen Crab Cake in a while, but he had no trouble keeping up with the speedsters.
Toolbag almost forgot his name at COT.
Mary Kay is trimming down. It’s working!
Announcements
Sign up for a Christmas Party!!!
Sign up for Jingle Bell Run (Dec) and the Joe Davis Run (Jan).
On Sunday, I checked the handy-dandy f3southcharlotte.com website for a heads up on the Foxhole Q. Seeing nothing, I checked in with SiteQ Argonaut asking if he needed some assistance. Thus, I became your Foxhole Q. Lesson #1 – Don’t wait to be asked to do something, step up.
Warm-up
Short track jog around the school’s front parking lot.
Side straddle hops x 15
Halo x 10
Imperial walkers x 10
Around the world x 10
Low, slow squat x 10
Figure 8 x 10
The Clock
12 exercises (hours) 60 reps each (minutes). The only rule is that you can’t leave an hour until all the repetitions are complete. Rest as much as needed. If you finish, it’s 720 reps!
A half-sheet of paper marked the spot for PAX to complete the listed exercise.
Stagger ‘Mericans on bell (30 each side)
American swings
Alternating swings
Squat
Curl
Lunge (30 each side)
2-handed swing
Snatch (30 each side)
Skull crusher
Shoulder press (30 each side)
Burpee w/ bell swing
Row (30 each side)
Moleskine
First, bonus points to General, Argonaut and Cobbler for the pre-run. Plus, it was great to see Foxhole newcomer McGee and out-of-towner, but frequent poster, Yogi. (Both Yogi and McGee showed up sans bell, but Soft Pretzel and Frehley’s shared their extras. Thank you!!)
The workout is tough. I don’t think most finished. (General def did.) The burpee with bell-swing definitely caused the greatest delay. If I do this again, I’ll take that out. I originally had pull-ups but feared it would be too difficult. Lesson #2 Go with your gut!
Soft Pretzel seemed to be in his own world far from most pax. We could keep an eye on him and he was powering through. Argonaut lost his shirt 10 minutes in. Frehley was the first to complain about the music. (He’s not a fan of NIN.) McGee dispensed some music trivia and puzzled over Spotify’s algorithms.
More wisdom from the Clock –
We all get a day to complete our task, use your time wisely.
It’s ok to take a break, but not too long – there’s work to be done.
It’s better to work together than independently.
Music helps.
Swearing (a little) helps.
Time flies when you’re hard at work.
Announceements
Balrog II – this SATURDAY!!
SOB Christmas party
If I wanted, I could write a lazy backblast. We ran to the Murderhorn and back. (Most of us.) However, F3 is not for the lazy.
After a 2 mi Pre-Run with Billy Goat (runner!), I dispensed the disclaimer and warned that we going farther than usual today.
From the CVS parking lot, a typical warm-up
Side straddle hops x 20
Imperial walkers x 15
Mountain climbers x 15
‘Mericans x 10
Thus began own trek down Ballantyne Commons toward the SOB’s infamous summit. Sensing we may have some Refusnik’s, I asked our regional Nan’tan to watch the six. (My spidey-sense was right. He was needed.)
We stopped a few times en route for ‘Mericans, burpees, bear crawls, assorted Mary and a few weird ones like the crunchy frog and low country crab.
In the end, most of us made the nearly 5 mi run. Kudos if you made it. If you didn’t Madam Tussaud, likely kept them busy.
Moleskine
My favorite part of most workouts is the mosey. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s a chance to check in with the PAX running by your side. It’s a 2nd F opportunity. You hear about upcoming kid’s soccer games, the latest thing at work driving someone crazy, jokes about the M and planned races. Use this opportunity, to introduce yourself to someone new and check-in with old friends.
Announcements
Next week, Nov 11 – BALROG II CSUP – https://f3southcharlotte.com/2017/11/01/preblast-balrog-ii/
Rooms still available for Great Wolf Lodge. See Madam Toussaud for details.
SOB Christmas Party – https://f3southcharlotte.com/2017/10/27/2017-sob-holiday-party-pre-blast/
Warm-up
Side straddle hops x 15
Imperial walkers x 15
Low, slow squats
Bull riders (mountain climber with one hand high) x 10
‘Mericans x 10
Bull riders x 10
From the school, we ran down Woodfox to Rising Meadow Ln for a Triple Nickel. Despite the fact that Cheese Curd tried to persuade me that jump squats and burpees were too similar we went with the original call five at the bottom and five at the top. It wasn’t a race, but I finished first. Good push Floor Slapper! Next, we ran back to SCMS for some wall work.
Wall Work
People’s chair w/ air press x 20 IC
7 Donkey kicks
People’s chair w/ Y press x 10 IC
14 Donkey kicks
People’s chair with T press x 10 IC
21 Donkey kicks
Partner Party
P1 Runs down the parking lot backwards and back to P2 running forward
P2 ‘Mericans
Switch & repeat until total = 100s
P1 Runs down the parking lot backwards and back to P2 running forward
P2 LBCs
Switch & repeat until total = 200s
6MOM + ‘Mericans
LBC x 20
5 ‘Mericans
Regular crunch x 20
4 ‘Mericans
Side crunch R x 20
3 ‘Mericans
Side crunch L x 20
2 ‘Mericans
Chippy cross x 20
1 ‘Merican
Moleskine
Welcome back Bananas! Glad you are healthy!
Announcements
F3 Golf
Speed for Need – Isabella Santos Run on Sept 30
Monday are for kettlebells. Six plus I did the right thing and came to Foxhole for a weekly dose of iron.
Warm-up lap around the school
COP
Side straddle hops x 15
Figure 8s x 10
Stretch the hips / Cossacks
Mountain climbers x 15
Around the world x 10
Peter Parker x 15
Halos x 10
Cobbler exits to find a restroom.
Main Event
Elon Elem Corner 1
20 two-handed swings
20 ‘Mericans
20 Goblet squats
Weighted carry to next corner.
Corner 2
10 R-hand swings
10 L-hand swings
20 atomic ‘Mericans
20 tea bag squats
Weighted carry to next corner.
Corner 3
10 Alternating swings
20 Man-maker ‘Mericans
20 Thrusters
Weighted carry to next corner.
Corner 4
20 American swings
20 ‘Mericans with kick-out
20 Clean & press
Weighted carry to back to start
Cobbler returns. The is increased tension with the other group of men who may or may not exercise at the same time. What is the deal with those dudes?
20 two-handed swings
20 ‘Mericans
20 Goblet squats
Grab a partner. (Argonaut is so strong he is both partners.)
P1 – 3 broad jumps & sprint
P2 – 5 rows (each side) 10 Sumo-deadlift, high pulls until P1 returns x 2
then
P1 – 3 broad jumps & sprint
P2 – 5 snatches each side x 2
A stellar crew came out today. Aside from one minor dissenting voice about the opening lap, everyone was game for the Cossacks, atomic ‘Mericans and even the b-boi style of the ‘Merican kick-outs. (Maybe because the latter were so difficult and require concentration.)
It is mornings like this when I reminded of the writings of Marcus Aurelius who in Meditations penned, “So you were born to feel “nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?In essence, we are here to work with purpose to make our selves and our world better. Aye!
Fight Club, typically a boxing workout, switched things up this week. We traded jabs and hooks for takedowns and pins. YHC was the only person with any wrestling experience and my “career” ended (gulp) 22 years ago. With each segment, I did my best to recall and explain the goals and rules for each phase in scholastic wrestling.
An even four men gathered and ran a lap around the school and straight to the athletic field.
Stance & Shuffle
Down the mid-field line
Takedowns (2 points)
Double-leg
Single-leg
Sprawl defense
Snap-down
Up position/breakdowns
Elbow chop
Cross face
Down position/Escapes (1 point)
Stand-up
Pin/”Falls”
Half-nelson
Half-nelson defense
Sparring
3 rounds, 2 minutes each
Skinned knees
After each mini-lesson on movements, PAX would drill the moves for a few minutes trading off the role of offense and defense. Wrestling is a whole-body workout and it was not long before everyone started to appreciate the strength, endurance, and flexibility needed to sustain the effort. Moreover, I tried to make the point that just like boxing, wrestling is a mental sport. You can’t just think about your next move, you need to consider the reaction of your opponent. If done correctly, one can force an opponent to over-commit or lose leverage that will provide an opportunity. There’s a life lesson in that.
I truly appreciated everyone’s willingness to try something new. I hope it was fun!
After a few days in the semi-sunny Outer Banks, I returned to F3 with a Q at the semi-popular Fat Camp. This AO is designed to emphasize strenght & speed. The 5K pre-run provided the speed training. The rest of the morning featured strength.
Roaming COP
We took a lap around the school, stopping at each corner for one called exercise
20 Side-straddle hops
15 Imperial walkers
20 Mountain climbers
20 Plank jacks
100 Swings
At each of the four corners of the school, we called 20 swings
Corner 1 – Two-handed swings
Corner 2 – 10 right arm/10 left arm
Corner 3 – Alternating hands
Corner 4 – American swings
Corner 1 – Two-handed swings
100 swings!
Main event – Swing, ‘Merican & Burpee ladder
Round 1 – 3 swings, 2 ‘Mericans & 1 burpee
Round 2 – 6 swings, 4 ‘Mericans & 2 burpees
thru
Round 10 – 30 swings , 20 ‘Mericans & 10 burpees
Potato Skins
I left for the OBX last Thursday with running shoes in my suitcase. Well, the shoes didn’t get used. I did totally swim in some pretty fresh waves, but nothing Strava worthy. I saw the Bat Signal for a Q and figured the best way to get back in the groove was to lead. I was mostly right. I huffed and puffed through the pre-run and didn’t finish the ladder until after COT, but I did finish. Argonaut and Fire Hazard made the ladder look easy. Not-so-new anymore Cobbler put in 2 miles prior to the official start and after a brief departure came back to slay the ladder.
Some pretty awful nonsense went down in Charlottesville this week, including a woman who was mowed down in the street while protesting facism and white supremacy. It has weighed on me significantly. I can’t properly express how disgusted I am with the actions of those, albeit few; nonetheles emboldened and vocal minority. Maybe that’s ok. Actions do speak louder than words – and I’m proud to be a member of an organization that promotes action on and off the the AO.
First, F3 is open to ALL men. Moreover, it encourages men to participate in service projects and community leasdership. The Fort Mill Paradise outreach is a prime example of pushing past one’s comfort zone to reach underserved communities. In addition, the I’mPossible AO (at the CLT men’s Shelter), Alexander Youth Network AO and volunteer projects, Alexander Graham Middle School Bulldog mentorships, Project Sweet Tooth toy and school supply drives, plus Speed for Need are just a fraction of the work F3 men are doing to improve the community. Plus, many of the races we support fund worthy causes. While it’s good to take inventory of what we’ve done, let’s keep working, improving and sharing our love and leadership.
Announcements
Give to Get Expansion Campaign
I still need 1 runner for Ragnar Relay. Contact Wild Turkey for details/HC.