What a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday, it was raining, temps were in the mid 30’s, the PAX numbered 7, and we worked the track. None of that today. 17 strong PAX rolled out of the warm confines of the fartsack – some fresh off of the Kiawah 26.2 – to join YHC on his virgin Q at Fast Twitch. More on that later. The clock struck 05:15 and something close to a disclaimer was give and we headed off school property for the beat down.
The Thang
SCMS to Wm R Davie Park for COP
Mosey to first light pole. Perform called exercises at each light pole adding 5 at each along the way (6 poles total)
Mosey back to Hwy 51, hang a left, and continue to Cary Ridge (gazelles return for 6)
Left on Cary Ridge to Coburn (gazelles return for 6)
Left on Coburn to Brownes Pond (gazelles return for 6)
Left on Brownes Pond to Rosecliff (gazelles return for 6)
Right in Rosecliff to Strawberry (gazelles return for 6)
Left on Strawberry to SCMS (gazelles return for 6)
Regroup at SCMS. Head to lower fields for stair work.
Mosey to parking lot for gassers in 2 groups. #1 AYG approx. 50 yds to #2. #1 AYG back to starting point. Reapeato 5X’s facing front, 3X’s rear facing and 1X stride it out.
COT
The Moleskin
I’m not sure about you, but a VQ always leads to a sleepless night before. I’ve been planning today’s workout for weeks and on paper it looked solid. Believe it or not, I was initially afraid of running out of time before we returned back to the AO. For the 16 PAX who joined me at So Charlotte Middle this AM, they saw first hand how quickly the best laid plans can go awry. It’s always good to see so many FT veterans show, especiallly on your VQ, but I’m not gonna lie…it was a little intimidating too. #dontscrewthisup. Chatter was light – maybe everyone was just being polite. The Merkin exercises (after the COP) smoked me and things started to go south from there. The weinke was planned well in advance and I was sure I knew the route, but I must have been oxygen deprived by the time we reached the 3rd rally point. I was headed right when we needed to go left. TClaps to all the PAX who know the neighborhoods behind SCMS better than I do, because if not for them, we may still be running into dead ends and cul-de-sacs. Fortunately we made it back to the start. I thought the workout was timed out perfectly, but HorseHead quickly let me know we had 15 more minutes. YHC was forced to think on my feet, and we headed to the lower fields for stair work. Several comments were aired — something about that being a Death Valley workout…. Everyone attacked the stairs and the accompanying Merkins. Only 10 more min! $#@F&*^! More quick thinking but poor explanation ensued. The PAX somehow figured out what I was attempting and fell in line. Only 1 spill during the backwards runs. #gladIgavethedisclaimer Being given the honor to lead such a strong group of men is truly a humbling experience. Thanks to Turkey Leg & Purple Haze for the opportunity
Announcements
Joe Davis Run – Jan 7. 111+ F3 Brothers signed up. Sign up today!
Gumby = Stretching/Yoga style workout on Wednesdays at Matthews UMC Boy Scout Hut
We had 5 at SOFAWIB this morning, a 150% increase over last week’s 2. #comeback
No disclaimer given or required (or remembered) for this bunch of savvy veterans.
The Thang: Consistent with the preblast.
13 rounds were completed, which equates to 91 burpees, 200 merkins, 160 squats, and 160 LBCs. YHC’s mileage was 3.6, but your results may vary.
Announcements:
Moleskine:
Knew a few guys were out. The cold surely didn’t help. But a few brave men ventured out into it.
Pre-Thang
EE and I frosted over for 4-5 miles.
The Thang
Gloves gathered as YHC knew what was coming. #mercy
Mosey to the bridge.
COP
SSH IC x20
IW IC x20
Low, Slow Squats IC x20
Grab a rock. Not too small. Not too big. Make it good for tossing. Mosey to the field with your rock
Squat, grab your rock, curl it up, press and toss the rock. Going all the way across the field to Hot Dog Hill.
At Hot Dog Hill, 7s.
Round One: Merkins/Squats
Round Two: LBCs/Lower Leg Lifts
Back up Hot Dog Hill
Bear Crawl down steep backside of Hot Dog Hill
Run back up and repeat
Back to our rocks for a walk around the park with some stops for exercises.
Lunge Walk with Rock to benches
At benches, Dips x25 & Step Ups x25
Walking Rock Press to tree
10 burpees OYO
Upright Row walk with Rock to Wall
Flutters w/ Rock Press IC x20
Walking Rock Curl to Bicycle
Skull Crusher w/ Leg Lift IC x15
Squat/Curl/Press/Toss w/ Rock to Concrete
Finished with the walk
Squat Thrust IC x15
And let’s put the rocks back. Nekot complains his arms are useless and I’m cold so let’s run
Run up the entrance to the park and continue up to Railroad Hill Bridge and then back down.
Flutters IC x20
DONE!
COT
YHC took us out. Thanks for prayers for Paige
Moleskine
– YHC always has extra gloves in his truck. For good reason this morning as it was 20 degrees and we are using rocks.
– The rock walk was long and terrible. Arms were useless by the end.
– Bear crawling down the backside of Hot Dog Hill is terrible on core.
– Good push in the cold.
Thanks for letting me lead.
Glass Joe
Warm-up run around Carolina Courts.
COP:
– SSH (X21 IC)
– LSS (X20 IC)
– WM’s (X20 IC)
The Thang:
Mosey to Shelter:
– Donkey kicks (X20 OYO)
– Dips (X20 OYO)
– Step-ups (X20 OYO)
Rinse and Repeat.
Mosey to side street, then IR to next corner:
– Dollies (X20 OYO)
– Bear crawl to 2nd lamp post
– Lunge walk to next lamp post
– 7’s on the hill: Carolina DD’s at the top, LSS’s at the bottom
Mosey down to bottom of hill – side of soccer field:
– LBC’s (X20 OYO)
– go across quarter of the field, 5 Burpees (OYO)
Rinse and repeat, add 5 to each exercise, half-way across, 3/4 across, then to far side.
Mosey to the wall:
– Peoples’ Chair with 50 air presses
– 5 Burpess (OYO)
– Repeato with 100 air presses
– Burpee fake out, then mosey to parking lot for a little Mary:
– Dying cockroaches (X20 IC)
– Rosalitas (X20 IC)
– Dollies (X15 IC)
Moleskine:
The PAX offered plenty of whine with the rain, but Shepherd was serving up no cheese! Nothing like a few good exercises on your six in the puddles on the road and on the wet soccer field!
It was a chilly and damp morning for 9 men to show up and work like they’ve never worked before. It all started with a bit of a warm-up.
– Quick little jog around the lower parking lot
– Circled up for some Side-Straddle-Hops, Imperial Walkers (I guess Mcgee heard burpees), and Merkins
Once Mcgee was done trying to impress us with all his burpees we headed over the field for a five point “star”.
– Starting at the middle light post we ran out to the individual light post surrounding the field and back to the original starting light post. At each light post was 10 of a called exercise. After completing the called exercise, we ran back to the original light post for 3 burpees (for my boy Mcgee) before heading out to the nest light post.
Round 1: 1) Merkins 2) Squats 3) LBC 4) Lunges 5) Carolina Dry Docks
Round 2: 1) Diamond Merkins 2) Jump Squats 3) Flutter 4) Sumo Squats 5) Wide-arm Merkins
After that we headed over to the track for a little something new. We did an Indian run but with a twist. Instead of the person in the back running to the front of the line, the person in the front of the line had to run around the track to try to catch up with the end of the line. This was not for the faint of heart and there was no judgment on those that cut across the field to catch the end of the line.
Once everyone had a chance to catch the line we went over to the playground. We got into groups of two, one person did a called exercise while the other ran around the island and back. Flap-jacked and continued for 2 or 3 rounds each exercise.
Round 1: 10 pull-ups and plank until partner came back
Round 2: Tri-dips until partner came back
Round 3: Derkins until partner came back
After the three rounds we had just enough time for some Mary to close things out.
Great workout to start out the week!
Thang
Moleskin
Cobains on the delayed backblast. No excuse, just didn’t do it. First sub-freezing post of the year so we got off to a quick start with plenty of burpees to get the heart pumping. The call for 15 burpees OYO was the first (but not last — burpee box jumps, hariburners, burpee broad jumps) time this morning that Frehleys cursed YHC. Starting to like this guy.
The Brave serves up a minimum 4 miles of running every week and YHC had the intention of getting most of those miles out of the way early. No better place to do that than Ben Nevis. If you haven’t run this hill, come give it a shot. The thing just keeps going. Strava segment called Ballantyne Soul Crusher is right on. It was Mermaid (and I think Utah’s) first time on Nevis and Mermaid left a 5 star review on Twitter.
Kotters to Fahvra who returned this morning 3 weeks post-hernia surgery. If we thought Fahvra with a hernia was trouble, healthy Fahvra is a nightmare. Led the way up and down Ben Nevis (and through the entire workout) without breaking a sweat. Welcome back!
Things went a little off the rails in the basement of the parking deck due to the arrival of a 9th person (aka – the Qs inability to count himself). Much dismay over hairburners in the deck being too loud for all the sleeping folk nearby as well. Worries possibly a little overblown, but getting us kicked out of the last deck available to us didn’t seem like a good risk one week into my newly minted Site Q duties at The Brave. Audible called with the benefit of the plates being carried back to my truck saving me some gas. We will call it a q-jack win-win.
Thank you for coming out in the cold to post and thanks to Mermaid for the take-out. Everyone pushed hard and put in the requisite 4+ miles at a healthy pace. If you would like to Q at The Brave, we have some open dates in early 2017 so please step up and give a shout out to myself, Fire Hazard or Mario.
Congrats to all the men (and Ms) who completed the Kiawah Half or Full marathon this weekend.
Announcements
YHC will be your Q at SOFAWIB tomorrow and we’ll be running a SOFAWIB original: the Foxworth Forty.
Partner up and run to Foxworth (right out of OP, right on Summerlin, right on Abbotswood, right on Windyrush – stop at Foxworth +/- 1 mile)
Foxworth is a short, steep hill. It’s also a Strava segment, and one of the steepest in the area at 6.3% grade: Foxworth Hill on Strava
Partner 1 runs the Foxworth Hill (up to Bedfordshire) with 1 burpee per trip at the top (for example, on the 6th trip up, 6 burpees).
While Partner 1 runs, Partner 2 does 40 reps of each exercise: merkins (during 1st trip), squats (next), LBCs (next), then repeat.
At 6:07, stop and run the mile back the way you came (NASCAR style, all lefts).
The weather will be perfect (~40 degrees and dry). Get after it!
14 pax braved the cool temps this morning to stare down the barrel of the KB Pentathlon. This test was devised by Tiger Rag in March 2015 as a standardized test for meatheads. Original preblast can be found here.
No time for warm up, so let’s get to it:
Score = (#Reps) x (Adjusted KB Size) where Adj. KB Size = Wt of Bell (in kg) / 8.
EX: 100 swings with a 24 kg bell = (100 reps) x (24 kg / 8) = 300 pts.
Scoreboard:
| Name | Date | Score |
| Argonaut | 12/12/2016 | 1,841 |
| Voodoo | 12/12/2016 | 1,452 |
| Ickey Shuffle | 12/12/2016 | 1,144 |
| Gomer Pyle | 12/12/2016 | 1,055 |
| Nard Dog | 12/12/2016 | 1,033 |
| Wild Turkey | 12/12/2016 | 953 |
| Frehleys Comet | 12/12/2016 | 911 |
| JRR Tolkien | 12/12/2016 | 733 |
| Band Aid | 12/12/2016 | 667 |
| Kirby | 12/12/2016 | 535 |
Announcements:
Moleskine:
13 men started their morning right at Carmel Park. Here is what went down:
Mosey to Carmel Middle bus parking lot. SSH x 20, by popular demand IW x 10, Merkins x 10. Rail walks up the ramp and plank for the 6. Mosey to the back corner of the school and partner up. Partners run in opposite directions around the school. Partner Handshakes x 20 when you meet, burpees x 10 at the start/finish. 3 rounds followed by a little Mary – LBCs, Dolly, Freddie Mercury then mosey to the benches in front of the school for dips x 20 and step ups x 20. Mosey to Broad Hollow where one partner stays at the top for called exercise while the other runs to the bottom and back. Called exercises were squats, jump squats, lunges, squats again, LBCs and Swiper led over/unders. Mosey back to the bottom of the church parking lot for reverse run to the second light. Mosey back to the bottom for an AYG to the top. Mary – Heels to Heaven, Russian Twist, LBCs.
Moleskin
Pretty standard bootcamp today with 3.3 miles logged and a good mix of legs, upper body and core. Swiper and Cold Cuts were out front all morning and I saw Rachel edge Cold Cuts on the AYG at the end. Thanks to One Eye (who we learned actually does have two eyes) for letting me have the reigns.
11 men gathered in the safest AO parking lot in the city, were properly disclaimed, then proceeded thusly.
Yog out of the police department visitor’s lot into the dangerous streets of Pineville. Not really. Just down the park driveway to the entrance for a high-visibility warmup COP near the road. #advertising. We did the usual (SSH, IW, etc.), then moseyed back into the park down the driveway, interrupted by lunge walks, burpee broad jumps, carioca, etc. AYG back to the park entrance (quarter mile). A little Mary recovery, then AYG back. Amble over to the little walls nearby for some 10x derkins, 20x step ups, 30x dips. Repeat.
Partner up and gather at one end of the parking lot. Partner 1 does an exercise while partner 2 runs to the first median. Flapjack, but run to the second median. And so on. Three sets: 100 HR merkins, 150 jump squats, 150 LBCs. Udder bullied Cinnamon into a faster pace on the last lap to get the win, just as Alf’s PEDs were wearing off.
Meander over to the nearby grassy field. Mary. Then line up abreast for wind sprints across the width of the field. 10 sprints with a countdown from 10 between each one. Mermaid was nervously looking at his watch the whole time. It was a little longer back to the cars than I remembered, but we were only about 30 secs over.
This is a great new AO out in Pineville. Tons of space in the parking lots and fields, lots of picnic tables, walls, etc. Get out there and support the westward expansion of SOBs and Area 51.
Joe Davis Run signups still open. We’re trying to get to 1000 guys registered, and we’re around 500 now. See the newsletter for details.