F3 stands for Fitness, Fellowship & Faith. We train our BODIES for Fitness daily by doing merkins, monkey humpers, and mary during workouts. We train our HEARTS in Fellowship by investing in each other and challenging each other to be better fathers, husbands, and friends. And we train our SPIRIT in discussions about Faith and serving a greater being/purpose than ourselves. Each of these three facets of F3 share something in common… they all require a high level of MENTAL TOUGHNESS to achieve success in them. The correlation is simple, the STRONGER your mental game is, the better chance you have to achieve these goals (all goals, really). The WEAKER it is, well, leave it to lady luck to take you to where you want to be. So before we put a lid on 2016, YHC has one question for you…
But save your answer… Don’t tell me, YHC doesn’t want to hear it. In fact don’t show me either, YHC doesn’t need to see it. But do YOURSELF a solid and answer the question for yourself… How MENTALLY TOUGH are you? When’s the last time you pushed yourself to the absolute limit in a F3 workout without needing a Q to motivate you? Do you have the mental fortitude to meet the ambitious goals you have set out to achieve in 2017 or do you expect them to just happen all by themselves?
The phrase “mind over matter” means the ability to use willpower to overcome physical problems. After all, it’s proven the brain controls the muscles. YHC isn’t the only one to believe it. Read this:
SO WHERE IS YHC GOING WITH ALL OF THIS? It’s simple… Friday @The Brave this week isn’t about who’s the fastest, fittest, or strongest, it’s about the opportunity to measure where YOUR mental toughness is, providing an arena for the challenge (Ballantyne Village Parking Deck), in the best workout format for a test, the AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible). With the AMRAP it’s YOU vs YOU, and you’re not limited by anyone else’s desire and abilities, but your own. Too easy? … Push yourself harder. How bad do you want it?…Only you will know.
This Friday @ The Brave happens to be the 6-month anniversary of the decommissioning of the TOUGHEST workout in all of F3 Nation, Metro’s “THE MUTHASHIP”, an AMRAP 12 story parking deck workout crafted to develop/test mental toughness. Some of you probably have heard YHC rant about that 12 story concrete behemoth of a parking deck that lured men of all regions Uptown every Monday. YHC won’t rant anymore about it… you can read the link to the BackBlast from the last time we did a workout like this here: http://f3nation.com/2016/06/29/the-brave-tribute-to-the-muthaship/
We’ll simulate The Muthaship workout as best as possible in the 4-story Ballantyne Village Parking Deck this Friday. YHC did this workout in the Summer on the 1yr anniversary of YHC in F3 Nation, and 6 months later we’re doing it again. Pebbles called it the toughest workout he’s done in F3, Frasier liked it so much he requested we run it back in cooler weather, and everyone else hated it so good. YHC aims to please so it’s baaack.
This time, we’ll run this SOLO… (unless you really miss the 3X partner carries up the hotboxes staircase)
1) 5:15am START: 25 Spartan-style chest-to-ground burpees in Vine parking lot
2) Sprint to lowest level of Ballantyne Village Parking Deck (enter down the steep grassy hill on the left leading to the base of the parking deck, not through main car entrance): 40 Hip Slappers on garage wall (20 each side)
3) Run all levels up to top of deck alternating BACKWARDS RUN FIRST on first ramp, then FORWARDS RUN on next.
4) Down the staircase on the LEFT (farthest from Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down… just like driving around 485
5) At top of the deck: perform 5 BURPEES + CRAB WALK the straightaway + 5 BURPEES (head towards the stairwell closest to the movies)
6) Down the staircase on the LEFT (closest to Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down… just like driving around 485
7) Back down staircase to the bottom, run to the TOP of the grassy hill you initially ran down and start step #2 again. That’s 1 Lap… how many can you complete? #REPEATO #AMRAP #YOUvsYOU
8) 6:12am – stop wherever you are and head back to The Vine parking lot for COT, and Virtual Trophy Award presentation.
*This time YHC will provide ORANGE CONES to help since these steps are soooooo complicated*
YHC hopes to see you all out there Friday. Hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas.
5:26am. Crickets. Will anybody else post after Panthers MNF and in the thick of holiday party season? Damm it, yes. 2 regulars roll up and 1 guy jumps out of the woods. The plan: 5 pain stations on the premises in a star circle pattern.
The Thang:
Start with the Figure 8 mile (Edenbridge, left on Windyrush, right on Sheffingdell, left on Jasmin. return however you like)… Station 1: jungle-less gym for 10x pullups. Station 2: concesion stand for 20x derkins. Station 3: between back baseball fields for 30x plankjax/makhtar ndiayes. Station 4: over by batting cages for 40x squats/lunges. Station 5: in the shadow of the pullup bars for 50x LBC/russian twist… rinse/repeat 4x with bonus 4th quarter of AYG in stations 1,2, and 5 for pullups, derkins and freddy mercurys to exhaustion. AYG squats is not a good use of time… Finish with another Figure 8 mile.
The Moleskin:
Where to start? I’ll break it down by contestant.
1) Kirk- in today’s Larry Bird voting, he was the only one to receive zero point zero votes. The quantities listed above were more of a guidleine than a rule for him. But there are 3 F’s in F3 and Kirk excelled in 2nd and 3rd. The Miller Lite hat and tales of his former assistant totally redeemed his morning. And great take out.
2) Pele- was unaware that there were 7-figure houses across the street from his domicile. Bonus neighborhood recon: some of those houses must house strippers. All the signs are there: “interesting” location for building, that loop smelled like strippers (I’m told), and street name mis-spelled (Jasmin!). Pele will now re-route his dogs from crapping on the OPE fields to his new favorite building site.
3) Swiper- YHC felt a war coming: a flatulence battle. YHC prepared with an assortment of pre-game fruit. The battle started as usual- crop dusting in the first mile. After that, Swiper took over. Derkins- boom. Mary- bang. Final mile- still going. I had no answer. Like the Subject line says, it was a cloud of gaseous ass… Something you might not know about Swiper- he has combat training. He performed a perfect barrel roll after a sniper picked him off in the fields.
4) YHC- my dog woke me up at 3am as a raccoon taunted him outside our house. I have a really awful winter hat, which I will wear the next time you come to SoFaWiB. I know i’m forgetting a lot from the morning and yes, my kids were probably late for school as a result of it. Thank you for the opportunity to lead.
Apparently there’s a new star wars movie out. 20 guys lined up at Cinebarre, a measly 6 hours before the first show time. The media was there, it was a big deal. A few guys got interviewed. Check out Alf’s and Tolkien’s interviews here.
After the letdown to many that we were most certainly not there to see that movie, here’s what went down. We ventured up the small hill from the cinema parking lot to the sidewalk along the eastbound lane of 51 with an initial plan of making a safe crossing at the Providence intersection. From somewhere in the rear, Horsehead grumbles “if we cross 51, I’m gone.” With immediately banged a hard left across 4-6 lanes of 51. Horsehead hung around. #emptypromises
Mosey up Providence toward town. Brief rendezvous at the Beverly Crest entrance. Against Gummy’s advice of getting out of traffic, we did +/- 15 low slow squats in the street to get the blood pumping. We moseyed deeper into BC and took mental note of three chalk markings on the pavement. After partnering up with someone of like speed, we met back at the 2nd mark. From there, P1 gave a AYG hustle one direction towards the club house and took a left or right on one of those side streets. P2 ran the opposite direction and turned on another of those side streets AYG til it ended. At the tips, they might have done 10 HR-merkins and hustled back to the 2nd mark. After most guys stood around for a couple minutes while a few guys did merkins, we flapjacked.
Most guys ran hard. It was about a half mile from the mid-point to the tip of each leg, for a hidden mile, of sorts. After we collected erybody, we jaunted back through Beverly Crest back to 51. We turned left towards Matthews and were greeted with collective groan that I’m betting was loud enough to wake Haze, 4 miles away in his bed.
Here’s where things got interesting. The plan was to run to Providence HS (which we did), and do a long lap around the campus (which we also did). When we hit the campus, fear and anxiety became palpable in several folks. A peppering nervous mumbling about there being lots of traffic, general questions about safety, there being too many people around. Instead of ringing the doorbell at PHS and asking if we could use their 2016 election results “safe space” to fingerpaint and talk about our feelings, we ran the damn loop. Sure there were buses and a few students around. Most guys appeared to use common sense and their own judgement to stay out of harm’s way.
We ran dual indian runs back to campus to wrap things up.
Tha skinny:
All y’all have a Merry Christmas. Always a pleasure to run with this crew. Enjoy the time with your families and friend and be thankful for what you have. We’re all blessed to have this strong network of guys to lean on one another through tough times. This season bring’s lots of joy, but can also be tough on folks that may have recently lost a loved one. Reach out to someone this week you haven’t talked to in a while – make sure they’re doing alright.
Convergences the next two Mondays: 12/26 at DMZ (Carmel Neighborhood Park), 1/2 at the Matrix (McKee Rd. Elementary). Check the world wide web for start times.
16 of South Charlotte’s finest gathered for the annual 12 Days of Skunkmas
Warm-Up
Day 1: one dozen burpees
Day 2: two turkish getups (KB optional)
Day 3: three snatches each side
Day 4: four renegade rows each side
Day 5: five lunges each side
Day 6: six shoulder press each side
Day 7: seven goblet squats
Day 8: eight Louganis
Day 9: nine Russian twists each side
Day 10: ten one-handed swings each arm
Day 11: eleven single handed Romanian deal lift each leg
Day 12: twelve clean and press (six each side)
Ladder up adding each day to the previous set (12 exercises on day 12)
Christmas is about traditions, and the Skunkworks 12 Days of Christmas tradition is a fine one. Straight punch to the face that does not let up for 45 minutes. We modified the burpees to ladder down so that we could get each day in on time. Thanks to TR for starting this tradition several years ago, hoping he enjoys his new life as a skinny armed sprinter. Thanks to Brown for the Christmas tunes. Merry Christmas!
6 PAX, including 1 FNG, converged on The Big House’s shovel flag this gloomy, wet, cold morn’ in search of gifts…but the greatest gift of all was what they found inside themselves. Also, there’s probably a pill you can take for whatever you have, Udder.
Disclaimer was given for said FNG (friendly new guy) Tim, who YHC, Cinnamon, and Private Benjamin all knew from our neighborhood. Once YHC was convinced that errrbody got the message, we were off for a 1 mile run from the AO lauch pad (Pineville PD) to Pineville Lake Park for some 12 pains of Christmas, but not before some of the following:
COP.
Windmills x15
Low slow Merk x15
The Thang
On the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th/9th/10th/11th/12th day of christmas my brothers EH’d me…
(into)
One F’ing bur-ur-urp-ee
Two Lunges Lunging
Three Low-Slow-Squats
Four Freddie-Mercs
Fiiive Box-Cut-ters
Six Peter Parkers
Seven Parker Peters
Eight Merkins Merking
Nine Floyds (Mayweathers…see F3 dictionary) a’punching
Ten Carolina Dry Docks (too many syllables, can’t Christmasize it)
Eleven Wide-Arm-Merkins
Twelve Makhtar N’Diayes (Pronounced Mak-tar JAI…see F3 Exercise dictionary…really sucks after all that)
Time to mosey back to base via Indian Run…for a mile.
Mosey past launch point over to Concrete Tree Farm for 12 up, 1 down.
11 Step Ups, 1 Dip
10 Step Ups, 2 Dips
etc etc etc
…………1 Step Up, 11 Dips.
Done? Done. Mosey back to base…RIGHT ON TIME! Great success.
COT
Name-o-rama introduced us to Tim, who DF first met when they were both going through new daddy boot camp over two years ago. Small world, brother. Tim’s wife is in residence right now in town, and Tim travels a lot for work and was looking for something to smack him around a bit. YHC observed he seemed to handle most of the pain, but is pretty certain that Makhtar got the better of him. Given his M is on her way to full-bird MD status, so he was dubbed Patient Zero. For those among us familiar with Max Brooks’ World War Z novel, this means something. For the rest of us, it was the most suggestive thing available short of something like “Hellooooo NURSE!”, which in retrospect, might have worked as well (fair comment, Utah). Welcome Patient Zero!
Other Observations:
– TCLAPS to Udder for leading the way for most of the workout and for attempting to sing the 12 pains all the way through to himself. Only made me want to end it quicker.
– Cinnamon and Private Benjamin…hands down are regulars at The Big House now. Pvt Benji was a game-time decision thanks to a nice game of dodge-rock played at RockZero on Sat. Glad you made it out Brother.
– Utah – Good to see you back out at the Big House w/us!
– About to send an APB out for Tramp Stamp and Alice, who we haven’t seen in a while…gotta EH dem boys back out.
– White Collar planning to return once he stops smoking – just kidding dude, stop trying to get sick so you get to skip the winter workouts.
– Banana Boat being worked to death by Tuck (I’m guessing). Filing a complaint w/Labor Dept tomorrow.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Joe Davis Run for Recovery – The run this year will be on 01/07/2017. Sign up (I’m looking at you, Cinnamon & Pvt Benjamin)
*****THE BIG HOUSE WILL RETURN ON MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017*****
(Alternate options MIGHT be available for Monday 12/26 workouts…check the Q schedules and the Twitter for any deets)
MERRY CHRISTMAS F3 PAX, and PAX of The Big House. This AO was launched during the least opportune times, but it’s survived and thrived thanks to men pushing themselves to become better than they were the week before. Thankful for all of you.
23 pax definitely felt the clean, cool chill of the holiday air this morning. Luckily, there was no @$$hole in his bathrobe…. just Spackler. With 4 FNG’s present and a crisp 40-degree morning (more on this later), we were off to do the following at 5:30 sharp:
Thang:
A few warm up laps to catch Steinbrenner coming in hot. Stop by Semi-Gloss’ office for a quick COP:
SSH x 15 IC
IW x 15 IC
Merkins x 10 IC
LSS x 10 IC
Head down to the track for the main event. See the track is covered with precipitation. Call an audible and head back up to the parking lot for the 12 Days of Christmas:
1 Burpee
2 lunges each leg
3 squats
4 merkins
5 diamond merkins
6 WW2 sit-ups
7 CDDs
8 LBCs
9 MC
10 American Hammer
11 Plank Jacks
12 Burpees
We ran back and forth in the parking lot between sets to break it up. We ripped through that quicker than anticipated, so YHC started winging it. Head back over to Gloss’ office and choose a lifting rock.
15 overhead press
20 bent rows
25 curls
Did 3 rounds of this. First and second round interrupted with a 90-second People’s Chair. Rounds 2 and 3 interrupted by a 70-second PC. Still a little time left so we headed down to the bleachers for one round of partner work. P1 ran up the stairs and down the ramp while P2 does step ups on the bleachers. Flapjack. Mosey back up to the lot and finito.
Moleskine
40 degrees my butt. It felt like 20. Thankfully YHC grabbed a hat and sweatshirt before heading out this morning because those saved my rear end. As a side note, don’t weather people have the easiest jobs in the world? You can screw up half the time and have total and complete job security. Unreal. But I digress…. It was cold. That sweatshirt stayed on the entire time.
4 FNGs on a morning like this is awesome. Thanks to Drano who brought 2, Beaker and Early Bird who brought a co-worker, and Rapper’s Delight and Drago who brought a buddy. We hope to see all of them out again soon, even the dude from Venezuela.
FNG Dario from Venezuela is now Cabrera. Named after the best right-handed hitter in the game, who happens to be from Venezuela. This one took YHC approximately 14 nanoseconds to come up with.
FNG Caleb Friend became Bestie. Simba wouldn’t leave without this being the case.
FNG John became Blue, because he’s like 80. Actually, he’s about 67, which is absolutely amazing to see him out here. I hope he comes back, mostly because the name is perfect (credit to Spackler).
FNG Raymond became Lab Rat. He claimed to be Beaker and Early Bird’s lab rat, so he unknowingly named himself.
Thanks to all for bringing them out. Now make sure they come back!
Other observations:
Spackler and Bounce talked the entire workout, and did about half the exercises. They still burned as many calories, if not more, for the constant flapping of the gums. We learned that Spackler may take January off from drinking, and that he really doesn’t like F3 THIS much. He also found a new vodka that tastes just like Tito’s but is $8 less. His wife told him to watch the budget this month. Bounce just grunted and rolled his eyes.
Beaker has a 4-year F3 anniversary coming up, yet was unaware that some F3 workouts involve lying on the ground #damnrunners. He was quite perturbed by getting the back of his shirt wet.
If ABBA is at your next workout, please provide him with clear, concise, handwritten instructions. He can’t follow such simple directions as “run UP the stairs,” even when there is only one set of stairs.
I didn’t hear Puddin Pop’s rear end once this morning. I’m convinced something is wrong – please check on him if you see him.
Announcements:
Joe Davis run 1/7
Look for convergences for next week.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Shitter was full.
Hey – Don’t post at SCMS tomorrow at 5:15. You’ll miss all the fun.
Instead, meet in the Cinebarre parking lot at the Arboretum to watch Poptart run the 1st annual egg-nog mile, sponsored by Courvoisier (thanks, Pro!)
Everyone else who’s not Poptart: We’ll be going places you’ve never been – a whole new world, per-say.
We’ll cover most of the “how to Q Fast Twitch” checklist:
It’ll be a wild one – don’t miss out.
HB
Soon after I rolled in, Nard Dog and Voodoo appeared avec headlamps from thier pre-run. (Strong.) Last night I asked Voodoo to lead a clinic on the Turkas, err Turkish Get-Up, but the wet pavement gave me pause. Voodoo reminded me F3 isn’t for clean and comfortable (strong again). Our trio did some warm-ups in the open parking lot, but marking the smart move to reconvene under cover at the school main enterance. Joining us was Escobar (site FNG?), Frehley’s Comet and Loogie.
Warm-up
20 SSH
15 IW
15 LSS
10 merkins
12 Days of Kettlebells
Day 1 – Turkish get-up
Day 2 – Figure 8s
Day 3 – Goblet squat
Day 4 – Push press (each arm)
Day 5 – Snatch
Day 6 – Russian swing
Day 7 – American swing
Day 8 – Curls
Day 9 – Alternating swings (each arm)
Day 10 – Cleans (each arm)
Day 11 – Thrusters
Day 12 – Burpee/high pull
Moleskine
After crusing through day 7, I thought to myself, I’d need to come up with some extra exercises. However, it wasn’t needed. We did make it to day 12, but ran out of time on our way down the ladder. The crew was in good spirits, minimal bitching and everyone made an effort to complete the exercises (in thier entirety) in good form. Voodoo, no surprise, moved the most weight in the least amount of time. Nard Dog didn’t let the pre-run slow him down. Kudos to Frehley for pushing through the Get-ups, Loogie for posting to rehab that shoulder and Escobar for learning the moves on the fly.
Soapbox
Each Christmas, we all (myself included) get caught up in the commercialism and buy our loved ones a lot of stuff that they don’t need. Here’s 12 acts of kindness you can do this holiday season that will have much more impact.
Day 1 – Give to charity (pick a cause and give something)
Day 2 – Sign up to run a chartiy race, how about http://joedavisrun.com/
Day 3 – Leave a big tip (server earn less than $3 per hour)
Day 4 – Call a loved one.
Day 5 – Bake cookies for your neighbors
Day 6 – Take walk or hike with your kids
Day 7 – Complete a chore or project for your M without being asked/reminded
Day 8 – Compliment your boss.(Supervising people isn’t easy.)
Day 9 – Sign up to Q.
Day 10 – Go through your garage, closet or shed and donate stuff you don’t use.
Day 11 – Donate your old gadgets.
Day 12 – Say a prayer to forgive someone (or yourself).
The weekly speed workout known as #F3Swift will launch from the Vine Restaurant in Ballantyne at 0515 on Tuesday morning. There will likely be some PAX out there at 0500 for some Early Bird 2nd F running.
With 3 weeks to go for the 5K or 10K at the Joe Davis Run, we’ll work on getting the legs sharp with some fast turnover speed with 200s and 400s. No need to program in your watch, we’ll use a measured course on the Bull Ring.
An even dozen on a chilly, but not cold, misty rain morning at the Matrix.
2nd visit to the site, so kept everything close to the street lights, since YHC
has no idea where to go (universally)
It’s always a bit odd Qing outside of one’s normal region; odd in a good way.
There’s this odd sense of mystery when one leads a group of men he’s never met.
When one Q’s on home turf, it is natural to want to mold the plan
around the PAX that are present: are there fast guys, strong guys, new guys,
old guys, regular guys ? One could suppose that a similar sense of mystique
presents itself to the PAX. “Who is this guy Qing today?” “Is he a runner ?”
” A lifter ?” ” Has he even Q’d a workout before ?”. It seems that some of those
thoughts play a role in driving us to want to perform well: The Q to honor the PAX
by giving them clear direction to follow, the PAX to honor the Q by following
and giving their all. The guys at Matrix certainly held up their end of that
grand bargain between Q and PAX. Hopefully, YHC provided enough direction and
energy to keep up the Q’s side of the deal and get a decent workout in and keep us warm.
An honor to lead you guys this morning. If it wasn’t for Site Q duties at another
awesome Monday site (The Foxhole, 5:30a Running/Instruction/Kettlebells #shamelessplug),
you’d certainly see YHC post at Matrix more often.