There’s just over a week to go until the Kiawah marathon/half marathon and the hay is pretty much in the barn. Bratwurst’s calendar shows 8 miles for December 1 with no details how to get there. Let’s assume that means run at an easy pace.
There are two options for start times.
1) 5:00 am – Meet at corner of Rea Rd and Bevington Place. Run on Bevington out and back for 14 min.
2) 5:15 am – Meet at same starting location and run north on Rea Rd until across 51. Repeat out and back on Rea Rd between 51 and the start of Colony (the stoplight) until it is time to return the 0.7 mi to the start point by 6:15 am.
So there’s the plan. If you have alternate speeds which you would like to run, there is plenty of flexibility for that.
Posted on behalf of Ductwork
9 men decided to get their Fast Twitch on, even with a VQ at the helm and few rain drops and slick leaves on the roads. We kept it simple today… running several hills for several miles.
The Thang:
After a quick disclaimer, we completed a Fast Twitch mosey down Woodfox, to Rounding Run, to the bottom of Rising Meadow. Knocked out a quick set of IW x20 (for Gummy), and dodged the paper delivery driver 2 times. Completed a backwards run up Rising Meadow to the light pole and the fun began:
Triple Nickel from the top of Rising Meadow to the bottom of Windbluff. 5 squats at the top, 5 merkins at the bottom, 5 rounds. Plank for the six, then one more backwards run up Rising Meadow for good measure. 2nd F pace back to the school and done. Simple yet brutal.
Moleskin:
Purple Haze asked YHC to Q several weeks ago and after internally debating several options for the morning plan, I thought it best to pay homage to Haze and duplicate the torture of my first-ever post to Fast Twitch; when the Haze-led PAX completed this same disheartening weinke.
Strong work by the entire PAX and not a lot of mumble chatter… except for Gummy reining-in YHC as we headed down Woodfox. Must have been the VQ adrenaline.
Turkey Leg set the pace and didn’t let up, with Van Pelt not too far behind. Pop Tart was a beast and has become full on runner (BRR 2017). Soul Glow, Madison and Gummy were getting after it the entire time. And Mermaid and Utah made the hills look easy. The PAX made it through, logging anywhere between 5.5 and 6.25 miles, maybe more. Again… simple yet brutal.
Purple Haze… you missed a good one and we hope to see you back at FT soon. Thanks to Turkey Leg and Haze for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
· F3 South Charlotte Christmas Party – 7pm-11pm, Friday December 2nd. DJ, great food, cash bar. Country Club attire, no jeans. British accent optional.
· Operation Sweet Tooth Toy and Supply Drive – bring your gifts, toiletries, clothing, etc. to the AOs this week or bring them to the Christmas Party on Friday. Check out the list of needs on Twitter (@mermaid_F3) and help support Alexander Youth Network.
· Sign up for the Joe Davis Run in January.
12 pax posted at Providence Day School for the last day of November. YHC had pre-tweeted that the pax should wear running shoes because the plan was to go off-campus for some miles.
After a quick disclaimer, 10 of us rolled over to the motor court for COP.
Warm up:
The Thang:
Mosey to the main road running through campus and make a right toward Sardis Road. At this point, Monk and Chowda came jogging up after not finding us at the stadium. The 12 of us made our way up to Sardis Road and made a left.
Loop 1:
Run to Renwick Drive on the opposite side of Sardis Road (watch for cars! #frogger) and partner up by speed.
Partners run in opposite directions on Sardis until they hit Livingston Drive, turn in and run to the back of the loop. When they meet, perform 20 hand slap merkins and continue along the loop back to Renwick for 20 WW2 sit-ups each.
Run to Glen Oaks Road back on the PDS side of Sardis and make a left. Run down to the intersection with Whitestone Road.
Loop 2:
One partner runs to Canyon Trail and makes a right. The other partner runs down Whitestone and makes a left on Post Oak Road.
When partners meet, P1 performs 10 dumbocrats with feet on P2’s back then P2 performs 15 WW2 situps while P1 planks on his feet, then both partners continue their loops and return to the starting point, where P2 performs 10 dumbocrats with feet on P1’s back. P1 then performs 15 WW2 situps while P2 planks on his feet.
Run to the intersection of Glen Oaks Road and Canyon Trail.
Loop 3:
One partner runs to Robmont Road and makes a right while the other partner runs down Canyon Trail and makes a left on Robmont Road.
When partners meet, each partner performs 10 burpees, then returns to the starting point for 10 more burpees.
Return to the launch lot for Mary:
COT – Thanks to Baracus with the take-out
Announcements:
Moleskine:
Our core group of PAX took shelter from the storm this morning and were treated to several new flavors of downpainment – Gumby style.
Disclaimer, Savasana and Devo,
Warmup:
Hug right knee 2B, release. LEFT 2B, release. Repeat 3X.
Lift both knees and fold to right side, arms “T” and head left. Hold 5B. FLAPJACK.
Swing around to TABLETOP: Cat/Cow 5X, follow breath.
Plank, Updog (hold 5B with small shifts to deepen stretch), Downdog (WALK THE DOG) 5B, step/hop to top and start sun salutations with extra breath at each pose until back to top. Then 2nd time from mountain all the way through OYO, follow breath.
The Main Thang:
Pyramid/Ninja series:
Together: forward fold, half-way lift, lower to plank then inhale to Updog, exhale to Downdog.
RIGHT leg straight out. Bend knee and draw very large circles, 3X clockwise, 3X counterCW, then draw knee to chest and place foot between hands (may need to tent fingers) and come into WARRIOR 1. Hold 5B
Straighten front leg and PYRAMID. Start bend with hips, finish with back. Hold 5B.
Shift torso and feet to face left for WIDE-LEG FORWARD FOLD. Shift right and left slightly to deepen stretch. 5B
Squat on left foot for NINJA STRETCH. 5B.
Back up to WIDE-LEG FORWARD FOLD. Use breath to deepen stretch. 5B
Back to PYRAMID over RIGHT leg. 5B
Back to WARRIOR 1. 5B Step up to Mountain and 2X Sun Salutations OYO, meet in Mountain.
REPEATO Pyramid/Ninja series, opposite side. Then:
Raise RIGHT leg for TREE. Place foot into left thigh, not on knee. Hands together at prayer center. Hold 5B.
Grab RIGHT big toe with first two fingers and straighten leg in front, then slowly swing to side to open and stretch. Left hand out straight from shoulder parallel to ground. 5B Slowly release and lower foot back to mat.
2X Sun Salutations OYO, meet in Mountain
REPEATO TREE, left side.
2X Sun Salutations OYO, meet in Mountain
Half-way lift, take arm bind and use right hand to pull left elbow for folding side stretch. 5B. Back to neutral and up to Mountain. Repeato LEFT side for 5B.
Lower down to catcher’s squat on your toes and use slow and slight movements to stretch toes and Achilles. 10B
HALF-SPINAL TWIST: Down to six, Right knee up and over left leg, left leg folded under so heel touching right thigh/butt, twist right with LEFT elbow on leg and LEFT hand holding left knee for support, hand open, fingers up. Right hand reaching around to touch mat. 10B
Repeato LEFT side. 10B
Savasana and closing.
No new announcements
Moleskin:
YHC was glad to bring some new material to Gumby. I’m sure Booyah will add even more to our smorgasbord of stretches next week when he’s on Q.
I don’t know about you, but the Ninja stretch really takes me as close to pain as I want to go – obviously I need to do it more to loosen whatever it is that’s so tight. And it’s a cool looking stretch – pretty sure not part of orthodox yoga (bonus).
YHC did have some killer music on tap, but stopped it for the opening savasana, then forgot to turn it back on. If anyone is heading to the north pole, ask Santa for a smart-watch for YHC, so I can start and skip music from my mat, like High Tide demonstrated a few weeks ago.
Stay safe and healthy this week, gentlemen, and thank you for the privilege of leading.
Here’s the devo if you want to re-read it or share out.
-SM
I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. Psalm 119:14
Perhaps you’ve seen the TV ad in which a person answers the door and finds someone who hands over a check for an enormous amount of money. Then the amazed recipient begins shouting, dancing, jumping, and hugging everyone in sight. “I won! I’m rich! I can’t believe it! My problems are solved!” Striking it rich evokes a great emotional response.
In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, we find this remarkable statement: “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches” (v. 14). What a comparison! Obeying God’s instructions for living can be just as exhilarating as receiving a fortune! Verse 16 repeats this refrain as the psalmist expresses grateful gladness for the Lord’s commands. “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”
But what if we don’t feel that way? How can delighting in God’s instructions for living be just as exhilarating as receiving a fortune? It all begins with gratitude, which is both an attitude and a choice. We pay attention to what we value, so we begin by expressing our gratitude for those gifts of God that nourish our souls. We ask Him to open our eyes to see the storehouse of wisdom, knowledge, and peace He has given us in His Word.
As our love for Jesus grows each day, we indeed strike it rich!
Dear Father, open our eyes that we may see wonderful things in Your law. Thank You that Your instructions give wise advice.
In the balmy Cuba-esque breeze, 13 PAX gathered in the gloom. The virtual shovel flag flapped it the breeze. A less-than-adequate disclaimer was given (forgot about the dental disclaimer, which would be needed later) and off we went.
Warm-O-Rama
B = Body builders (8 count burpees) x 10
I = Imperial Walkers x 10
R = Rock Skippers (like a side to side mountain climber; feet together) x 10
T = Tempo Merkins x 10 (or 20—YHC doesn’t recall)
H = Humpers, monkey style x 20
D = Diamond merkins x 10
A = Abe Vigoda x 10
Y = Yogi Berra (he was a catcher; low, slow squat) x 10
The Thang:
Death Triangle. Run to point in the distance. Scorpion merkins x 10. Run to second point. Rock Skippers x 10. Run back to start point. Double merkin burpee (#crowdpleaser) x 10. Flutter.
Repeato with 15 reps. LBC’s
Repeato with 20 reps. Dolly, Freddy Mercury.
Mosey to the sweat box. Partner up (intelligence and looks do matter). Dora 1-2-3.
Partner 1 runs to light pole and back. Partner 2 does called exercise. Flip Flop.
Together, each pair completes 100 derkins, 200 LBC’s, and 300 squats.
Step ups/irkins as rest of PAX completes.
Peoples Donkey Balls—Peoples Chair with 20 air presses, 15 donkey kicks OYO, Balls to wall with 10 hip slappers. (that’s where the dental part comes in. See below). Repeato with 10-count BTW instead of hip slappers. Repeato for Round 3 with another 10-count BTW.
Mosey to start. Circle up as we pass a burpee around the circle until we reach 53 Burpees.
Finished. BOM. YHC took us out.
Moleskine:
Nice of the PAX to come out and celebrate YHC’s b-day. Trying to catch Iron Horse. Tuna and YHC were only ones there for a while. There is only so much banking you can talk in the gloom. Luckily, the PAX began rolling in. Alf claimed there was a stench in the air. Could have been Tuna.
Weather was downright balmy for a November day. Death Triangle was quite fun, esp. as we added reps each round. Luckily, other PAX were offering words of encouragement b/c YHC could not catch enough breath to talk.
Needed a “Y” exercise for warm-up. Not a bunch of Y exercises out there. Had to modify squats into Yogi Berra’s.
The Peoples Donkey Balls is best performed in dry, non-leafy conditions. Alf, known to have the prettiest teeth in Area 51, had hand slippage on the hip slappers. Luckily, no face plant, and the chompers are still intact. Omaha on rounds #2 and #3 with 10-count. Not sure disclaimer covered new dentures.
During Round #2 of PDB, somebody (don’t know who… hearing is the first to go) stated, “I thought Fidel Castro was dead. Why are we subjected to this torture?” Or something like that. Sorry—no celebrations or dancing in the streets at Anvil…just hard work.
Thanks for opportunity to lead. Have a piece of cake this morning.
Announcements:
Bring toys, clothes, cash for Operation Sweet Tooth to an AO this week or to the Christmas Party.
Joe Davis run.
Christmas Party is County Club Casual. Wear a jacket and bill your drinks to the Underhills. Tell them John Coctosan told you to do it.
17 fine men showed up in the balmy 65 degree morning.
Warmup –
The Thang:
Partner with like size bell
P1 – run a lap around track.
P2- Do called Double KB exercise
Complete 3 Rounds each, then do 10 Burpees each with your partner
We threw in some Mary in between each Set
The NMM:
14 pax found their way to basecamp to deposit the daily downpain-ment. YHC glossed over the disclaimer as no FNGs were present, drew attention to “Old Glory” flying on SCMS front lawn and away we went. (hops would be proud)
COP modified
quick stop by Drano’s jeep?? door left open, he opted to close it. Mosey out to Strawberry and down the Lane to gravel. Stops at speed humps and lights for 10ish IC count exercises. Merkins, SSH, IW, LSS, CCD and 2 others.
The (multiple) Thangs
Partner up. Size/Speed dont’ matter. Catch me if you can to SCMS driveway. Partner 1 does 10 merkins then catches P2. Repeato to SCMS. Plank up and wait on the 6. Mosey over to Semi G’s Office. Peoples chair w/50 arm raises. Donkey kicks x 20 IC. Mosey down to the lower baseball fields. Partners still apply. catch me if you can animal version. P1 bear crawls bases. P2 does 10 merkins and runs to catch P1. Swap/Repeato around bases to home. plank. repeato with Crab walk. #crowdpleaser. PC on backstop fence waiting on 6. (might have called a 10 count) Mosey up to upper baseball fields and bleachers. Grab your buddy again. P1 AYG to stairs, up and left down ramp back to bleachers. P2 derkins to failure. Swap. Repeato x 2 with dips and suppine pullups. plank and air chair while waiting on 6. Fireman Ed attempted to jack the plank with a 6 inch 10 count. Quickly broken up with a mosey back to SG’s office. More PC with air presses.
There’s something about Mary:
circle up in the lot. Russian… I mean American Hammer x 25 IC (chatter was strong in the beginning and non existent around 18-19 – Proud papa 🙂 Bus decides to come thru. Goonie warns we are in it’s direct path and we mosey to sidewalk. Mary aborted. We circle up shoulder to shoulder for a Ring of Fire. Boy was it ever. After getting the PAX agreeable to the idea we started to find a rythm. Said rythm was propmtly disrupted by a Pax with a sleep disorder and his rotting lower intestine. Gladly we all made it out alive.
Moleskine:
YHC may have seemed a bit more confused than normal but that was due to not planning a workout, intentionally, to get myself into a bit of an uncomfortable place and “Wing it”. Let me tell you, it’s kinda fun to come up with a WOD on the spot. I had a loose idea going in but that quickly faded as O2 deprivation set in and my brain had to manifest exercises on the fly. Try it some time.
Fireman Ed tried multiple Q jacks. Denied easily by getting up and running. 🙂
Mumble chatter was on point as well, until the exercise count increased and YHC heard voices trailing off only to become wheezing and disdain.
Insomniac violated the circle of trust with something dead inside him. #muchrefusnik
Kotters to Cotton Mouth – I have not seen him in a long time. Maybe it’s the other way around. Glad to see you out and kicking it in high gear.
Simba mentioned something about running more often. So we did.
The lower BB fields have some amazing sand. Feels like a carribean beach.
Come check out Dranos VQ next week.
Announcements:
VQ Drano @ basecamp – 12/5
Last min gear order – yesterday was the last day. sorry
Xmas party 12/2 @ firethorne – http://f3nation.com/2016/10/11/south-charlotte-christmas-party-2016/
– Dress Code – https://twitter.com/Bean1968David/status/803403613351579648
– Bring things – https://twitter.com/Mermaid_F3/status/803392265582415872
Joe Davis – http://f3nation.com/2016/10/13/2017-joe-davis-run-for-recovery-5k10k-pre-blast/
YHC with the take out
Oh, Hoodie has them on his feet! Expecting a down-pour, Hoodie came prepared with a plastic bag on each foot! The rain did not come, but Hoodie’s feet stayed dry!
A little HB mile to get us warmed up.
THE THANG
COP:
No FNGs, but disclaimer provided.
Slow Windmill X 5 IC
Slow 3-count Merkins x 10 IC
IW x 20 IC
SSH x 30 IC
Mosey to the circle with the ‘future public art’ sign.
Main Event:
We partnered up for a little Dora 1,2, 3
Round 1: Partner 1 begins with merkins while partner 2 runs a pre-determined lap on the parking lot.
Flap-jack until 100 total between the partners
Round 2: 200 squats between the 2 with interchanging laps
Round 3: 300 LBCs between the 2 with interchanging laps
Mosey to the rock steps facing the volleyball courts
2 rounds OYO: 10 Derkins, 20 dips, 30 step ups
Over to the main road:
Lunge walk to the first island – 10 CDDs
Bear-crawl to the 2nd island – 20 CDDs
Backwards run to the 3rd island – 30 CDDs
And a jog back to the starting point.
Shout-out to Shepherd as he flew through this circuit.
Once the crew was back – all you got to the end of parking lot.
Nomad was picking them up & putting them down!
Now for a little wall-time.
Everyone in the people’s chair – 50 air-presses, a short break, then another 50 air-presses civilian count
Recover
Back on the wall for another 100 air-presses, followed by an additional 2-minutes with arms held straight out before recovery
6MOM:
Can-openers (jack-knifes?) x 20 each leg – a repeat of what Madison introduced this past Saturday
Dollies x 30
LBCs x20
Protractor – with PAX calling degrees – 2x through
And that’s a wrap!
Few announcements: Joe Davis Run, Christmas Party, pray for Count’s M-i-L and especially the family as the last couple of weeks have been a roller-coaster. Thanks HB for taking us out! Also, should’ve prayed for LumberJack as he’s about to have surgery on his foot and will be out an extended period of time.
Great job by entire crew today – obviously some fart-sackers thought the rain would be too much, but I’m sure Hoodie came with extra bags to hand out!
Posted on behalf of The Count – HB
12 or so men headed out to into the gloom for a quick warm-up and some garage work
Warm-up:
SSH x 20
Windmills x 10
Merkins x 10 IC
Head to the garage for the real THANG…
Head to the bottom of the only garage in which we are officially allowed to better ourselves.
All the way to the bottom and partner up.
Partner 1 heads to the far wall and back while partner 2 is doing some Merkins. Flapjack until 200 total Merkins are accumulated.
Next do the same thing but with 300 squats.
Run up a couple of flights with some Mary to get everyone caught up.
Partner up again with a different partner. Same style workout but with an accumulated 100 burpees.
Head back down to the parking garage and back to the AO with Merkins, a lot of plank work, and some Mary to until we got to the CVS then all you got to the Vine.
Moleskin:
There was a solid group of guys giving full effort. The one thing I learned today is that if you team up Frehley’s and Nard Dog you will have a very gaseous adventure. Be warned future Q’s.
I appreciate Bucky and Morning After letting me Q this fine group of men. Great to see Kirby and Jillo (if that is his name) out and pushing to get better today. Per the usual Mic Check and General are always fast and strong. Also, I wanted to note that Market Timer only had on one shirt which is confusing. I think we should start counting how many times this happens. Also, fallout appears to be much faster than I remember so my guess is he has been pushing wherever he has been posting. Great group of men today.
Announcement
Bring toys to your Q this week or to the Christmas Party.
Sign-up for the race (5k/10k) or even the Fartsack version.
The orders had been handed down from the supreme leader Brat. The instructions seemed simple on paper but this would prove to be false in the end.
The preblast went out the day before and people actually read it. We had eight including myself come to the early, early portion that started at 4:45am. The early, early crew ran for ten minutes and then did five minutes of chit chatting while doing Brat inspired warm ups. This was followed by fifteen minutes of T-pace. The early crew set out at 5:00 and were seen while the early, early crew finished up the T-pace. Both the early, early and the early groups reconvened at 5:15am to pick the regular Swift runners. Strange to think that 5:15am is the normal times. Feels like that hasn’t happened in a long time.
2nd F pace was the instruction for thirty five minutes. We left the Vine and headed toward Sara’s YMCA where we took a right heading towards Ballantyne Commons. The group ran left on Ballantyne Commons to Community House. Down Community House for a few tenths of a mile and then back through the office park to Ballantyne Commons to turn home. It was at this point that I realized that some of the pax was not with us. Completely my fault and luckily Tolken volunteered to go back and retrieve them. 2nd F finished at the intersection of Sara’s YMCA and the start of the Bull Ring. This is where we did our second T-pace run finishing with five minutes to spare. We collected the six and headed home. We got in two minutes early. Tolken and Tuck felt cheated and asked for their money back but when they were told no refund they ran away for two minutes. Haggis, Long Haul, Honey Bee and one other decided to do plank for two minutes. The rest of us just sat around and watched in awe. Tiger Rag checked form.
NM: I haven’t led a workout since August with all of this running business. I was a little rusty. I have taken it for granted to just show up and listen. Brat has spoiled us all this fall. I know I have really appreciated all of the help and instruction from Brat since he got traded from Metro to SOB land.
I was a great morning for running. Felt like the summer again with the humidity. Lots of Sun is out Guns are out guys this morning. Maria showed up in a tobbagin but quickly realized he was over dressed. Hopefully Kiawah will be much cooler next weekend.
We missed Bunker. Heard he went home early Monday. Hopefully everything is okay.
Good to meet Depth Charge and good on him for finding F3 on his own. Hopefully he will keep coming back to the running workouts once a week.
Everyone seems primed and ready for Kiawah. I know people are excited that all of this running is about over.
My bad again on the 2nd F pace out there. I apologize to Strange Brew, Rock Thrill, Outback and Wild Turkey.
Hope your cold gets better Outback.