SF’s are apparently extinct in Area 51….alas. Nevertheless, 19 hearty souls mustered for another Monday morning addition of Base Camp. After a disclaimer that was short on detail and really short on legalese, YHC led the pax immediately off campus. Full disclosure – not a fan of the most-used AO in Area 51 so we ventured away. Here’s what we did, or close to it anyway.
The Thang & Ye Olde Moleskine:
Jog 0.8 miles (according to Semi-Gloss) to Davie Park. Ran with Simba most of the way. The capable site Q, obviously questioning YHC’s choice to start with a run to Davie, asked if we were going to stop midway. What? In the middle of Rt. 51? We proceeded.
Circle up on the real grass pitch, not the artificial pitch with the carcinogenic rubber pellets, for COP.
IW x 15 IC
Slow Squat x 15 IC
H-R Merkin x 10 IC
Jog to parking lot.
Partner up.
P1 runs to gate and back while P2 does jump squats. Flapjack.
P1 runs to gate and back while P2 does LBC’s. Flapjack.
P1 runs while P2 does CDD’s. Flapjack. Semi didn’t do the CDD’s, rather, he looked like he was going to spill merlot; but he was running hard, so….
Mosey to the playground for a couple circuits of:
10 Donkey Kicks, 10 step-ups (each leg), 10 Derkins
Some of the pax wanted to do LBC’s (again) but YHC prefers plank-o-rama. LBC’s are the lazy man’s active recovery, right Spackler?
We then jogged back to the pitch for 6 MoM:
Flutter x 13 or 15? IC
Rosalita x 13 IC
Makthar N’diaye x 10 IC
Cumberland County Viaduct x 10R & 10L IC
6-count burpee x 10 IC
Jog back to Base Camp AO.
So more Mary waiting on the six…think it was Freddy Mercury.
Squat hold, aka Al Gore, with overhead press x 20 IC
SSH x 25 IC
Buses started arriving, so we moved to the sidewalk.
Merkin x 13 IC.
Done.
COT
Good work this morning by the pax. Perhaps the first freezing downpainment of the fall/winter? At any rate, always a good crew at Base Camp. The pax struggled with a nickname for our FNG Brad H.; but YHC came up with what hopefully is a solid choice with Candy Striper. Great to see some faces I’d not seen in a while and some pax I’d never posted with like Jailbreak, Constanza, Man Bun (great nickname by the way….sort of), and Gaffer. Good work by my partner Gaffer out there. He’s new to F3 (couple weeks); it gets easier but should never be easy…unless you’re named Spackler. Thanks to Simba for tapping YHC to Q, and for the takeout prayer.
Much for which to be thankful men. Let’s not limit our gratitude to one time of year. Grace can be defined as getting a gift that you don’t deserve, and I know I speak for all the pax in saying all of us have been given gifts we don’t deserve. It’s not about earning it fellas, it’s about giving thanks for that which you could not possibly earn. Aye?!
First off, thanks to SiteQs, Dumpster Fire and Cheddar for the invite to Q the newly christened AO – The Big House. We’ve been chatting about a Pineville expansion for some time and it’s great to see it hatch. The team even provided me with a review of the site complete with map and AO goals. #bestpractice
The STREETS:
We began with the “long lap” a 1/3 mile jaunt around the park/baseball fields and COP.
Side straddle hops (jumping jacks) in cadence (IC) x 20
Imperial Walkers (think AT-ST, not AT-AT #wookiepedia) x 15 IC
Merkins (this is a derivative of American push-up) x 15 IC
Mountain Climber x 20 IC
Low slow squat x 10 IC
Plank Jack x 20 IC
The MEATS:
We finished the long lap and after re-orienting myself we found ourselves at the cones I placed earlier.
Beast (6 cones in a line, 6 of a called exercise at each cone, mosey back to start, wait for everyone to return, repeat 6 times)
Round 1 – Hand-release merkin
Round 2 – Bomb Squat
Round 3 – Carolina Dry Dock (Scorpion, if you’re a badass)
Round 4 – American Hammer (bear crawl to first 3 cones)
Round 5 – Freddy Mercury
Round 6 – Burpees
A variety of plank exercises were called while the vets waited on the newbies. Run back home.
The DEETS
A few observations –
1.) It’s getting to that point in the year when bros tend to stay in toasty cars until the last possible second. Just be sure to warm-up and socialize a bit, too!
2.) I had a LOT more planned for today, wall work, a derkin/split squat/step-up ladder and catch-me-if-you can. A combination of an unfamiliar sites and lots of new fellas prevented that additional work. (If you feel ripped off, you could have run with Dumpster Fire at 0500.)
3.) It appears, we were just shy of the 2.0 mi AO site minimum. Argh!
4.) Solid effort by seasoned vets Tuck & Fire Hazard. They were neck and neck for the lead all six rounds.
5.) Soft Pretzel may want to reconsider the poop avatar after dropping a deuce in the field. #Policecams #kidsplaythere
6.) Thanks to Snowflake who came from deep in Union County to support the new AO.
6.) Props to ALL the PAX for pushing through all six rounds. Tramp Stamp, White Collar, 1andDone, Cinnamon, Pvt Benjamin, Alice — KEEP COMING BACK. We like to say it doesn’t get any easier, you just get better!
7.) The AO is awesome. The place has a nice flat layout with benches, curbs, playground aequipment, baseballs fields, meadows, nature stuff, water slides, orange Fanta in the water fountain. (Ok, maybe not the last two, but it’s a great place.)
Announcements:
Joe Davis Run, 1/7/2017– F3 is involved because our brother, Rock Thrill, lost his brother to addiction and this race was founded in order to raise awareness about the effects of addiction. Read all about it at the link. Also, if/when you sign up…make sure you sign up for the 10K. You call can do it.
Operation Sweet Tooth – As most of you know F3 Olive’s daughter died suddenly about 6 months ago. He is from Isotope. Operation Sweet Tooth is a non-profit organization created to honor her memory by bringing joy to other kids. We are pushing a drive for donations of toys for Operation Sweet Tooth to benefit Alexander Youth Network. Specific details to follow regarding what to donate.
This week will mark a slight return to the more sensible early start times that those of the past 2 weeks. If you post at regular start time of 0515, you won’t get thrown in to a sudden sprint, and you just have to post at 0500 to get the Early Bird start.
The THANG:
So let’s get the obvious out the way…losing hurts, but losing to Metro after bragging to them for a full year hurts even worse than when you were a kid and you got your twig n’ berries trapped in your zipper. If Area 51 are the working man’s Hillary Clinton, then the Metrolytes are most certainly the Donald Trump in the relationship…..and boy did they grab us by the pu$$y.
THE MOLESKINE
The weather was perfect (except for the 90mph winds)…. The 3 squads were looking great in their brand new Nike jerseys…. And SoCal was on time, so I knew it was going to be a special event! After a quick gathering to explain the very basic rules and format, we gave the tournament FNGs of The Fort the opportunity to pick their poison and decide which order of games they wanted to play. We were off….
First up, The Fort vs Metro.
The tempo from the first minute was set. Watching from the sidelines, it was very quickly evident that the standard of play was a notch (or three) above last year’s. Some new faces were on show, and these were game-changers for sure. After a couple of early goals, the game was tied at 1-1, but as the cream rises to the top, Metro ran away with a solid victory, rounded off with a fine goal from Knack, smashing home after what seemed like a 400m breakaway (not a typo…that field was huge!).
Next up, Metro vs Area 51.
This was, is, and always will be the grudge match. It was this love-hate relationship that stemmed the original idea of the Soccer-Arms Cup. Pride was very much at stake here, especially after last year’s trophy was settled only after a penalty shootout. A solid 22 PAX wandered out to the field, cracked their knuckles and the referee was on high-alert. Next thing I knew, we were 4-0 down before half-time (not a typo). WTF. This wasn’t in the script. A more evenly competitive second half meant the scoreline wasn’t quite as embarrassing, but still it was nice to have this one over and done with…tails between legs is an understatement.
The Consolation game, The Fort vs Area 51.
So, the result of the tournament was settled. Metro were taking the trophy home, but there was one last game to play. With the pressure off, this game probably produced some of the best free-flowing soccer of the day from both teams, with plenty of end-to-end attacking. Area 51, with their much larger squad able to use fresh legs more often, ultimately came out on top, with the scoreline not a true reflection of the close game. SlimFast rolling back the years with a midfield maestro performance.
On a serious note, huge Congrats to TML and his Metro squad. They came ready to play and made very light work of their opposition in both games with a couple of exceptional performances from the likes of Ringer and Mary Kate in particular. I guess those bi-weekly training sessions really paid off J Huge T-claps to FunHouse (and FreeBird on the day) for venturing East with their Fort boys and bringing exactly the right ‘never say die’ attitude. Goals of the day go to you guys, for Wrecking Ball’s free-kick, bettered only by DryZizou putting the icing on the cake of a brilliant team goal. Welcome aboard and we look forward to having you back next year.
On a more serious note, the event was not just for fun and giggles. Dollywood and his Charlotte Eagles staff (including Sweeney Todd who was out there) do an unbelievable job in terms of supporting local soccer at both the highest mens’ and womens’ playing level, as well as with 1000’s of our community’s youngsters, many of whom reside in some of the very poorest Charlotte neighborhoods. They are able to achieve this by bringing in strong role models to act as players and coaches for the late spring/summer months – part of the logistical headache that comes with this is finding host families who are willing to house them for a month or two. That’s where F3 comes in. If any of you would like to learn more about the idea of hosting next year, or know another family that might, then please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or Dollywood for more info….you’d be doing a wonderful thing for the Eagles, but from the success stories that were shared, it sounds like your own family will become closer also. Win-Win. P.S. Check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLNKmckDCE
So, that’s it. Thank you to everyone who made the effort to take 3hrs out of their Saturday for this. This is a fantastic organization we are a part of, filled with the highest caliber of men you could ask to be surrounded by…and to see so many of us out there with the shared passion for helping others via the beautiful game is superb, something I’m very proud to be involved with….long may it continue. Just leave the short fuses at home next time….cheap shots after the play, two-foot tackles, throwing balls at people and red cards, all in a ‘friendly fundraiser’….classic!
I’m counting down the days already for next year’s revenge TML.
14 PAX showed up this morning for a workout, before we started Snowflake told us that a few days ago was the two year anniversary of Commitment, and recently was YHC one year anniversary with F3. Thank you Snowflake and Ice9 for bringing F3 to Union County, and Thank you again to Ice9 for EH me into F3.
The work went like this:
COP
40 SSH IC
30 Mountain Climbers IC
10 Plank Jacks
10 Merkens IC
10 6 inches Plank Jack
20 Imperial Walkers IC
20 Squats IC
30 LBC IC
Mosey around the school to the first court yard:
20 Step ups
20 Derkins
20 Dips
15 Step Ups
15 Derkens
15 Dips
Mosey to the Bottom of the steps behind the school and did Seven’s, starting with 1 Burpee at the bottom and 6 Derkens at the top, working or way up to 6 Burpees at the bottom and 1 Derken at the top.
Mosey to the snack shack and grabbed some wall, did air presses IC x 30, then 20 donkey kicks IC, then did some plank work using the wall, not sure how many reps, since YHC was keeping the cadence and the crowd grew quieter and quieter until nobody was longer counting, I think this move was a little more challenging that they were expecting.
Mosey to the small wall in from of the shack and did over the wall burpees, burp on one side jump over the wall burpee on the other side= 1 rep, did 10 reps, then did some Mary while waiting on the PAX to finish.
Mosey to the track, sprint to the opposite goal did 10 Burpees and then sprinted back to the first goal, the moved to the field for some frisbee fun.
Divided into 2 groups, one person would start on plank position with both feet on frisbee and use arms to move forward while rest of the group would do 10 Merkens then catch up to the first guy and switch, at every switch the PAX would do 10 Merkens and continue to do this all they way to the opposite goal, then Frack had the diabolical suggestion of tracking back to the first goal by doing hair burners.
Mosey to the rock pile and grabbed a friend:
10 Curl Ups IC
10 Shoulder Press IC
20 SSH IC
10 Curl Ups IC
10 Shoulder Press IC
20 SSH
5 Curl Ups IC
5 Shoulder Press IC
20 Elbow Plank Jacks
Finished with:
10 LBC
10 Flutter
10 Heals to heaven
Mosey to the front of the school for COT
Moleskin:
Really enjoyed leading today, didn’t hear any mumble chatter throughout the workout which tells me was a good one.
What a great group of men, It is amazing the progress that I have seen in every one of this guys over the past year, getting stronger and faster #FlyOrFight
Announcements:
Sanctuary every Monday 7:30 pm at Brooklyn Pizza Parlor in Wesley Chapel, Third F, Pizza and Beer.
Beautiful morning at Joust as 11 studs went to work.
Mosey to the field
20 Side Straddle Hop
20 Imperial Walker
Jack Webb 1-5
Merkin + Air presses
Dry dock + flutter
From the middle of the field, run to the 50 yd. marker and do 5 burpees. Return to the middle and run to the 40 yd. marker and do 4 burpees, etc. Finish with 10 burpees in the endzone.
Jack Webb 6-10
Merking + Air Presses
Dry Dock + Flutter
Repeat burpee workout
Mosey over to the playground, find a partner
Exercise 1: Partner 1 does stairs while partner 2 does dips. Switch when runner gets to the top his 5th time.
Exercise 2: Same as 1, but replace dips with incline Merkins
Partner 1- run to the parking lot crosswalk
Partner 2 – low, slow squat
Repeat (replace squat with alternating lunges)
Exercise 3: Same as 1, but switch after 3rd time
Exercise 4: Same as 3, but replace dips with decline Merkins
Partner 1 – run to the upper playground and do 10 pullups
Partner 2 – Freddy Mercury
Switch
Jog up to the parking lot, final gasser to the finish line.
So excited to be taking over Joust as the Q-site! My new Yeti hat fits perfectly, but my pride still needs to recover from Grizzly Adams aka Jace Roberston aka ZZ Top aka Stonecold questioning my ability to grow a beard.
Thang
Moleskin
Glad our LIFOs were able to find us in the expansive Stonehenge AO. Cheddar came in hot a couple minutes late and didn’t miss much of the good stuff. Frehley’s literally appeared out of nowhere. I’m still not sure when he arrived or where he came from, but I would just as soon not know.
YHC was prepared for some mumblechatter today (it is Stonehenge, after all), but when Tolkien is only the 4th loudest guy there, you know you are in trouble. Burpee broad jumps shut it down for a little while but only until we hit the starfish. So much dismay and confusion among grown men over a starfish with only 4 legs. Yes, they usually have 5 legs, or more, but we are F3 and we can adapt to the unexpected, right? After calls for changing the name and further confusion over whether the dips should be every time or EVERY time, the PAX finally realized the rest of us were exercising and got back on the ball. In spite of posting at Tuck’s Burpee/Merkin/Pull-up fest at The Brave yesterday, Frehley’s, Cheddar and Nard Dog summoned up the chest and shoulder power to make it through Round 1. T-claps.
To sum it up, everyone got work in, some more than others. The real losers today were all the poor people trying to sleep in the townhomes surrounding Costigan Park. On to the deck to let them get back to their dreams.
Had planned for less running. But, one can only take so much chatter so we got to spend a full 30-ish minutes in the deck. (Cobains to Fire Hazard’s hamstring). Burpees and deck sprints did the trick and finally quieted the PAX. Should have started there. First time meeting Billygoat today and although we gassed him towards the end of the ramps, he refused to quit and brought it home strong. Great meeting you, brother, and look forward to seeing you out more often.
TR was especially yappy today. YHC thinks he is still unsure of what to do with all the oxygen his lungs can process now that he has become a runner guy. Poor guy can’t help the constant release of hot air. Lungs came in handy on the deck work though — TR was out front pushing the PAX and making it look easy all the way until the end. Thanks for showing up and keeping YHC on his toes. Appreciate the solid takeout.
Loogie is coming back slowly but surely. YHC did inadvertently crack a smile in COP when I saw the broken-wing SSH, but the arm is getting up higher than the last time YHC saw you -#movinonup. Loogie was even spotted doing a few push-ups today – hope things continue to recover quickly, brother. Tagalong’s consistency is starting to pay off and he is moving closer to the front each time. He did admit to blatantly skipping accidentally missing reps in the starfish, but progress is progress. Nice work! Cheese Curd was kind enough to mention that this workout was way easier than he expected. Next time YHC Qs, if Cheese Curd is there, I would advise you to run the other way because I plan to make it up to him.
Between TR’s Q-jack attempts and forming the majority of the weinke on the fly, YHC was unable to catch much else today. Comment below and let me know what I missed. Best part of the day — almost everyone stayed for coffeeteria. Cheese Curd had to roll out but we picked up Mario for a solid 14 taking over Einstein. Great 2nd F and YHC had a great time Qing today. Thanks to everyone for coming out.
Announcements
Also
4-legged starfish do exist. Just because they are different doesn’t mean we should reject them. Just saying.
http://img12.deviantart.net/dc22/i/2006/152/4/9/teenage_mutant_ninja_starfish__by_aquafox.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N7SsPki46Y4/T1tlyuiS68I/AAAAAAAAAjE/-xe75u-L110/s1600/04.jpg
COP
Disclaimer and procedure clarified (thanks to Squid) we get things going….
Windmills in cadence
Rock Star slide practice
Lieutenant Dan field goal practice
Side lunges
Merkins, slow down then up
Merkins down then slow up (backwards cadence count is confusing)
Slow Squats
Stuff We Did
Over to the handrail for a grinder.
(5) supine rows
(10) pushups
(15) squats
repeat till the Q calls time
Chatter = not working hard enough…. Even though the Q decided to throw in a joke about a cardiologist playing God or golf, depending on what your selective hearing allowed you to hear.
Then over to the tires.
Tire puller is the timekeeper. Row the tire to yourself, drag it back to start position.
Meanwhile the PAX are on the wall for coconuts over banana.
Switch tire pullers.
PAX on the curb for some split squats (Kudos to Squid for loading up with some db’s to knock these out.)
All the PAX take a turn on the tire.
Sticking at the tires….
Battle Hose setup anchored by one of the tires and EE’s epoxy plates.
Battle Hoser is the timekeeper. (30) slams while the PAX do other stuff.
Other stuff = KB swings.
Switch Battle Hosers.
PAX do crawl of choice towards the flagpole.
All PAX take turn Battle Hosing.
Farmer carry weight of your choice an undetermined distance and back. Maybe 40 yards down and 40 back?
Time for some Mary…
Did a little Cat/Cow to ease some low back ailments, then turned it over to the PAX to call a core exercise (I quickly questioned my judgement in doing so).
LBC’s and Dolly’s for infinity.
COT
Counted off and welcome to Post-it Note, friend of Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer took us out with prayer.
Moleskine
This was a bit different for me. I’ve been out of swing for 3-4 weeks getting a handle on a chronic issue and came back with the news that I have to hang up my running sneaks. I decided to get right back in the saddle with a 0.0 Q. My thanks to the PAX today for their patience. I do 0.0 work on my own during the week but have never Q’d a strict 0.0 workout.
Solid work by everyone today.
12 Goats… um, Turkeys, showed up for a pre-Thanksgiving edition of Mountain Goat! Being a cool morning in the 3’s, YHC was sure to be bundled up for an Arctic expedition!
As everyone trickled in…(Joker seemed to be last, but Nomad came in on 2 wheels…) we disclaimed, and set out for the following:
Excellent job out there… approximately 5 – 5.5 miles covered!
Moleskine:
Simple program. We used the road humps for our distances, although we finally have proved that the humps are just slightly shorter than 200m…. but close enough for Mountain Goat work!
Also, it took a few intervals for everyone to remember how many road humps we needed to run past. We reversed direction, which added to the confusion. But by the 3rd and final iteration, I think we had it down!
Joker and Turkey leg led the way. The Mouth was not far behind… and especially when the young ladies ran past us, I think The Mouth would have beat Usain Bolt on the 200m sprint!!
Retread, Dumpster Fire and Draino were hanging close to the front, and Nomad also was close behind!
T-claps to Pvt Benjamin. This was his 3rd post… The Big House was his first post on Monday, which was the inaugural launch for The Big House!! It is a great AO… DF will pay me later for the plug!
Tweetsie, Benny and Insomniac were giving it 100% as usual!! Excellent job, boys!!
We missed Lois this week… he’s fighting the crud, but should be back on 12/2.
QUICK BRO HUG… I really am thankful for you guys! You make my Friday mornings great! Thanks for making the site fun, but also your friendships and your encouragement.
Announcements:
DF took us out with a great prayer. Everyone have a GREAT Thanksgiving… and safe travel for those that will be heading out of town! Enjoy that extra piece of pumpkin pie on Slimmy… you boys deserve it!!
A baker’s dozen posted at Meathead for a somewhat random workout devised by YHC. After a brief yet thorough disclaimer (don’t sue me), we got down to business.
Warm up:
Main event:
Partner up for 3 rounds of:
Next, partners move down to the playground for 5 rounds of:
Split back up into singles for 5 rounds of:
Finally, 5 rounds of:
Pax-led Mary finisher:
DONE
Thanks to Bulldog for taking us out in COT.
Moleskine:
Announcements:
