Charge post BRR

Charge post BRR

Three pax showed up for a small gathering of friends at the Charge as the BRR recovery time is taking its toll on F3 this week. it went like this:

SSH X 25

IW X 25

squats X 20

merkins X 20

LBCs X 20

 

Mosey down to the PDS track for a lap and line up on the goal line for some field work.

1st run: run to the 25, 50, next 25 goal line. do hand release merkins, 5, 10, 15, 20

Lunge walk back to the 50, mosey back to the goal line

2nd run: same run, jump squats 5, 10, 15, 20

bear crawl to the 50, mosey back to the goal

3rd run; same run, Carolina dry docks 5, 10, 15, 20

Broad jump to the 50, mosey back to the goal

Mosey to the stadium steps.

1st set

Bottom: dirkins, 5, 10, 15, run the steps after each set. Top: merkins, 5, 10, 15

2nd set:

Bottom: dips, 5 10, 15, run after each set Top: LBCs, 5, 10, 15

Mosey around to picnic tables

10 step ups each leg

10 inclined merkins

Line up on the wall for people’s chair: 20 air presses, 20 air pumps,

Balls to the wall. 5 hip slaps each side.

Mosey to the parking lot for some Mary to finish up:

flutter kick X 20

Oblique crunches x 20 per leg.

COT.

Naked moleskin:

Just a small gathering of friends today but well worth the time! YHC was thrust into the “Q” role but picked it up nonetheless. Something fun about taking on unplanned leadership. Makes you better! Had actually thought about taking the day off but something said “go”. I guess the bush burned and for good reason. Lesson learned: Follow him and not you.

 

 

Goats Back to Work

9 Goats refused to use running 15-25+ miles last weekend… or knowing someone who did… as an excuse to stay away from the greatest running workout in Area 51 as voted on by readers of the F3 Mountain Goat Magazine Goats and Guns…. check it out some time!!

Anyway, the program was pretty simple

0500 – Warm-up jog (Slim Fast and Dumpster Fire)
0515 – Main Event:
1.  Quick warm-up and stretching on the track
2.  Perform the following at I-Pace:
1600m – 6 min rest
1200m – 5 min rest
800m – 4 min rest
400m – (closer to R-Pace!!)
3.  800m cool down; final stretching… DONE!!!

The group covered 4.75-5.25 miles total, and 2.5 at I-pace… STOUT!

Moleskine:

Always an honor to lead this group of men!  I wasn’t sure how many rounds we would get in… next time we will go with a little less recovery time between intervals so we can get at least one more 800m in, if not another 1200!  I figured that rest would be welcome, especially for those that are on the back end of recovery from BRR…. YOU’RE WELCOME!!

The Mouth pretty much let me know all morning that this was a hard workout for being the week-after BRR… and of course, he then ran the last 400m at a sub 6:00/mile pace!  The Mouth may not stay at this level all year long, but when he is in race shape for the BRR, he can run some miles!!

Great to have Icicle out… he is also coming off of BRR and as always STRONG running!  Icicle and Tweetsie joined us late on the track.  Tweetsie keeps brining it strong!  He is starting to prepare for his inaugural BRR in 2017!

Nomad and Booyah were boasting their BRR completion stories and didn’t show any signs of wear OR tear!

Draino did a great job despite showings signs of Malaria, Spotted Mountain Fever, or something like that… at his request, fist bumps were virtual!

Dumpster Fire keeps bringing the fire… from EXCELLENT virgin yesterday to pre-run and strong showing today!  The shirtless Yeti still has his picture up in the neighborhood, so we have to hang low… but since we were on the track, we didn’t have to dodge too much!

Always great having Early Bird… who is already HC for BRR… congrats!   You are going to have a blast!!!

Announcments:
1.  Gumby workout on Wednesdays at Matthews United Methodist Church Scout Hut… be there, or be… tight!!

Hydra – Stranger Things

9 regulars showed up for Hydra this am. We stretched it out a bit and were off for some running.

Warm-Up
– SSH
– IW
– Good mornings
– Jog to bottom of large hill on Summerlin (Summerlin and Abbotswood)

Suicide Hill
– 10 Merkins at first speed bump, run back down hill, 10 squats
– 10 wide arms at second speed bump, ditto
– 10 diamonds at third speed bump, ditto

Run to Foxworth Drive, lunge walk along the way

Run the smaller hill
– Round 1: run up, 10 dollies, back down
– Round 2: backwards up, 10 flutters each leg, back down

Run through the very dark woods to the football field for some field work
– Jog/sprint
– Karaoke
– Broad jumps
– Bear clawl / crab walk
– Run to benches

DDJ
– 20 Dips, run to light pole and back
– 10 Derkins, run around baseball field
– 10 Jump ups
– Mosey to pull up bars

Pull ups
– 10 pull ups x 2
– 10 old school situps x 2

Finish
– Mosey back to parking lot
– LBC
– Freddy Mercury forwards and backwards

Solid group out there today. Lots of chatter for just 9 of us. We covered over 3 miles with plenty of elevation change, group stayed very tight the whole time although Spackler was killing the hills. The run through the woods was VERY dark. Strange that we did not see the giant harvest moon that was out on the drive in. Bounce and I consoled each other about the fears that the Neflix series Stranger Things has created, thankfully there was no blood as we tried to find our way through the woods. It was an honor to lead. Thanks for the takeout Side Car.

— Harley

5 Years is a long time, but not really — Area 51 Convergence for 5 Year Anniversary

WARNING: Long backblast but hopefully worth the read and colorful commentary will ensue.

Mermaid, our current Area 51 Nantan, hatched this idea for a 5-year celebration of F3 in Area 51.  After date and AO selected (of course Anvil/The Rock AO was the obvious choice), Mermaid tapped 5 old farts of Area 51 to Q this convergence, including the 2 former regional Nantans – Joker & Tiger Rag.

After the pax rolled into 3 or 4 different lots at the AO and delivered KB’s to Stone Cold, food to Mermaid for Calvary pantry, etc., we all converged in the middle lot for a Runstopper Q’d COP.

Hopefully, the 106 men who posted got their morning’s worth of pain from Runstopper’s COP and the 4 stations.  YHC heard mumblechatter in COP about too many burpees and who calls 20 merkins in COP?  The usual suspects did not disappoint – Gummy, Semi-Gloss, Swiper, Spackler, Udder, and others for sure.

 

The Thang & Ye Olde Moleskine:

COP:

Merkins, MCs, Burpees, LBCs

Quickly split the pax into 4 groups and give instructions as to stations and rotations.  Most of the pax were listening, with the exception of the aforementioned knuckleheads – Semi-Gloss, Spackler & Swiper.  More than one Q remarked that those 3 seemingly arrived about 5 minutes late to the 10-11 minute rotations, if at all; but were generally roaming around at their leisure.  Don’t remember seeing Spackler or Semi-Gloss at my station?  Heard Swiper for sure.

Saw a lot of familiar faces in the gloom, and a lot of unfamiliar faces, too — both great things!

** Joker’s station:

The workout consisted of the following

·         200 meter warm up lap

·         Find a partner

·         Partner 1 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 2 does merkins

·         Partner 2 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 1 does merkins [total merkins varied by group… 100 – 200]

·         Partner 1 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 2 does squats

·         Partner 2 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 1 does squats [total squats varied by group…. 150 – 200]

·         Each group did a medley of planks and/or LBCs

Joker:  “By the time guys got to my station [after having done kettlebells and/or hairburners] they were wiped out pretty good”

“There were three guys at the workout today that were also at the first Area51 workout on September 10, 2011…. Joker, Slapshot and Ocho Cinco”   T-claps for the 3 original Area 51 pax!!!

YHC’s 10 cents: Grateful to Joker for the courage to start this thing in Area 51.  I feel confident YHC can speak for hundreds & hundreds of men in saying “Thank You” for your willingness to lead and start something which has positively impacted us in many ways, some of which many don’t even realize fully.

Hops’ station:

Pax did a bunch of different plank and mary exercises, including (I think) but not limited to the following:

CCVs….of course!  Funniest comment of the morning was when Rev asked Grapevine if he did CCV’s at Curves

Makthar N’diaye’s, Very Slow Flutters, Knee-Ups, American Hammers, Elbow Plank w/Leg Lefts, Dolly, LBCs, etc, etc

Prairie Fire Mary – in the 3rd group, Fire Hazard helped YHC demonstrate and by then the abs, hip flexors, etc. were shredded.  Fire Hazard pert near severed some stuff in YHC’s gronoidal region #withauthority

Old school sit-ups with partner 2 in plank on partner 1’s feet. Flapjack

When YHC noticed Nibbler among the pax, I remarked I hadn’t heard any audible “encouragement” from him; the other Q’s did hear Nibb’s customary commentary I’m sure!

Tiger Rag’s station:

·         3 man – 1/4 mile hairburner loop.  Partner 1 push, Partner 2 and 3 5 burpees each and CMIYC.  Rotate until complete.

·         ¼ mile mosey

·         3 man inchworms.  Partner 1, Inchworms x 5, P2 & 3 5 squats. Rotate until each Pax does 5 rounds (or until time).

TR’s Observations: “None.  No one had fun.  No one talked.  Everyone left abruptly.”

YHC’s observation: Very thankful for all of the time, energy and thought TR has put into making F3 Area 51 what it is today — which is a much healthier, stronger & well-organized entity than it was 5 years ago and well-positioned for the next 5.  Aye!

Stone Cold’s Station:

KB Tabata:  1 min ON, 20 sec rest
Good Mornings
2 hand swings
Cleans
Squats- goblet or tea bag
Clean + Squat + Press
High Pulls
Viking
Alternating 1 hand swing
KB Crunches
There was a mixture of that in each group.
Stone Cold’s observations:
Kept getting “where’s the music?”  Q fail
I think we had more KBs show up than Pax- didn’t use half of them but thanks to those who brought em out.
Runstopper liked my socks but has requested them in tights.  #christmaspresent
Voodoo and High tide tie for the best KB form in Area51.
The Area51 Runners (#skinnyarms) stared at the bells for awhile until they figured out that you pick it up by the handle.
Q:  Who did the most mubblechatter out there today?  Gummy, Swiper, or Semigloss?
I must admit the Pax came to my section a little beat up…complaining of hairburners.  They seemed not so eager to swing the iron and had a little tough time hanging in for the full minute of ON time.  But all in all they did well.
*** FINAL Commentary:
I’ll start with restating TR’s prayer request for Frasier: Please pray for Frasier and his family as his dad is very ill.  Frasier is one of the pax, along with many of you, who has poured himself into the pax in many ways.  Let’s lift him up brothers.
Only one life to live on this big ball (as Dredd calls it).  Steward it well men.
It was a pleasure to be part of the Q team for this 5th year convergence for Area 51.  Among many faults YHC has is a tendency to be a bit verbose….shut up Alf, Gummy, Ickey, TR, and a host of other quick-witted pax who are now roasting me.
But since I drew the short-straw to write the backblast, I’ll close with a few observations of my own:
* Men are not good at forming what I call community.  But I firmly believe we are all hard-wired for it.  106 pax this morning are living proof that F3 has gifted us a community of men that want to struggle well together through life – physically, relationally and spiritually.
* While I sit here unemployed, wrestling with the accompanying anxieties and fears with a wife and two boys and all the “stuff” of life; overall I’m encouraged and hopeful.  That hope certainly has a lot to do with my faith; but it also has a lot to do with the encouragement from you guys.  I’m not saying I’d be in a really bad place without F3, but glad I don’t have to test that hypothesis.  What I am saying is that I’m thankful for the fellowship, moreover friendship that I have with you knuckleheads.  I need F3.
* OK, I’ll shut up now after closing with this quote that I think captures what F3 has meant to so many of us who find ourselves struggling with a lot of the same challenges in our lives.  And a community of men who help us realize that we’re not alone.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

 – C.S. Lewis

 

Re-entry

Eleven PAX gathered in the Gloom hoping for a post-BRR soccer arms cure. Here’s what we did

The Thang:

COP: SSHx20, IWx20

Mosey to the COC for Pyramid work –Burpees / Merkins / Dips / Squats / LBCs.

  • 10 Burpees then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Dips then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Dips, 40 squats then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Dips, 40 squats, 50 LBCs then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Dips, 40 squats then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Dips then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins then run a lap around the back of the church;
  • 10 Burpees then run a lap around the back of the church;

Mary while waiting for the six – Over/Unders; Heals to Heaven

Mosey to the bottom of the parking lot for a little hill work.

  • Bear crawl / Crab walk to the first light pole
  • Backwards Bear Crawl / Backwards Crab Walk back to the bottom
  • Backwards run to the first light pole and mosey back to the bottom
  • Backwards run to the first light pole and mosey back to the bottom
  • AYG to the end of the parking lot

Mary while catching our breath – Freddie Mercury; Low Slow Flutter; High Slow Flutter

Mosey back to Carmel Road Park Parking Lot – finish with 10 Burpees OYO

COP

Moleskin:

YHC had a couple of things in mind for the first post BRR DMZ workout: 1) a solid full body beat down; 2) keep the heart rate up; and 3) keep the mileage low. Mission accomplished – 100 Burpees / 140 Merkins / 150 Dips / 120 Squats / 130 Mary (various forms) and only 2.2 miles. Mumble chatter was at a minimum as most of the PAX were deep in the pain cave. Swiper and Benefactor set the pace but strong work by all the PAX. Thanks to Swiper for the take out. No announcements.

As always thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Aye.

One Eye

Beat the Clock

Warmup:

SSH IC x 20

IW IC x 20

MC IC x 20

Partner Up

P1 20 2-handed presses w/ bell

P2 20 swings

19,18,17…down to 0

Run lap. Mountain climbers while waiting on the six

The Thang:

40 seconds of exercise, 20 seconds recovery

Clean R

Clean L

Lunge w/ bell

1 handed press R

1 handed press L

squat w/ bell

lawnmower R

lawnmower L

Deadlift

Swings

Run lap

Mary

Fluttler IC x 20

10 LBC OYO

Dolly IC x 20

10 LBC OYO

Rosalita IC x 20

10 LBC OYO

Freddy Mercury x 20 IC

10 LBC OYO

Run lap

Done.

Moleskin:

Great work by everyone today. This was designed to be post-BRR friendly, and the few runners in attendance seemed to be appreciative.

We didn’t cover much ground, but put in a lot of work. That 20-second recovery seemed especially short following shoulder presses.

Not too much chatter out there today – even when it came to naming our FNG. YHC was forced to pull the trigger on a name or we might still be standing there staring at each other. Welcome Hot Yoga – great job today!

Announcements:

Convergence for Area 51 anniversary tomorrow.

What’s in the bag?

As we did a few Hairband miles to warm up there was a little anxious chatter about the contents of the bag slung over YHC’s shoulder.  I assured them it was nothing more than a phone.  At which point Jabberwocky informed us he had a phone tracking his mileage.  I then quickly deposited my bag back in the truck.  As we circled up for a warmup I explained that Jabberwocky just saved us all from carrying a rock around campus.  (If I had to carry a phone, we were all going to carry something).  They quickly began to speculate what they could do to eliminate other parts of the workout.  Speaking of which, here’s the layout….

We warmed up with a variety of the following:  Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, low slow squats, merkins, side lunges, windmills.

Then over to the buses for a little cheese weave, pausing along the way for some plank work.

We cruised over the elementary school for a quick seat on the wall and a rundown of what was next.

Over to the playground, with some lunge walking along the way, for the following:
(5) rows on the swings
(10) merkins
(15) squats
run 1/2 lap
repeato for max rounds till Q calls time

To the parking lot for some lunge walk work, then an indian run to the gravel drive behind the middle school.  Out into the field for some animal crawls… bear crawl approximately 25 yards, mosey back to start line, then panther crawl.  (coordination is not our strong suit).

Mosey to the courtyard wall to catch a seat and our breath, then to the hill in front of the middle school for some 5’s. 
Bottom of hill 1 squat, top of hill 4 pike pushups
bottom of hill 2 squats, top of hill 3 pike pushups
bottom of hill 3 squats, top of hill 2 pike pushups
bottom of hill 4 squats, top of hill 1 pike pushup

Over to the covered patio for more 5’s, this time with rows on the handrail and pushups.

Over to the grass for some bananas and superman work. #crowdpleaser

Done.

Moleskine
Solid work this morning by everyone, not a lot of chatter, just straight to work.  Kudos to Squiddy for sticking our FNG with a classic:  The Church Lady. 

TLS out.

When the lights go down…

The pain begins.

We showed up to the AO in the cover of darkness wondering who in Indian Trail is not paying their taxes. This is about the 3rd week now that the lights have been out.

Quick mosey over to the tennis courts to see if we could find some lights to turn on to no avail, oh well let’s make this work.

COP
SSH x 20
IW x 20

Enough of that let’s mosey to the dim lights of the bathrooms.

The Thang!
We are doing the B.O.M.B workout, it’s like Dora 1-2-3 but worse
Partner up, P1 runs to Carolina Courts building (be careful in the darkness) P2 does exercise, flapjack until combined you are done with the exercise and move on to the next.

50 Burpees
100 Overhead Claps (basically SSH)
150 Merkins
200 Big Boy (WWII) Situps
250 Squats

Next ATM (I’m on an acronym kick today)
Alternate shoulder touch plank x 15 IC
Tempo Merkins, 3 down 1 up. 15
Merkins 15 OYO

6MOM
Flutter x 30 IC
Rosalita x 20 IC
Back Scratcher x 30 IC
Freddie Mercury x 10 IC

Done!

Moleskin
The plan was pretty simple, the process just sucked. Great having Nomad and Glass Joe back out after the BRR. Strong work by everyone this morning.

Announcements:
Sign up to Q for any of the local AOs we need you to step up, no more moochin’ it’s time to give back.
Prayer for Woody’s mom.
Prayer for Paige (GJ’s M.)
Prayer for my job search

Always an honor to lead,
Aye!
HB

The Beast of Willow Point

12 gathered for a post-BRR #F3FastTwitch.

The Thang

A little run from base up Strawberry to 51, hanging a right towards Raintree. Right onto Raintree Lane, then left onto Willow Point. Circle up on the launching pad.

  • IWs x 15 IC
  • MCs x 15 IC
  • Merkins x 15 IC

Mosey to the first street sign for introduction to and explanation of The Beast. Run the length of Willow Point (1/4 mile), stopping at each street sign (3 total) for called exercise, then run back, again stopping at each street sign for called exercise. 6 times through.

  • Round 1 – Merkins
  • Round 2 – Squats
  • Round 3 – LBCs
  • Round 4 – Jump Squats
  • Round 5 – Flutters
  • Round 6 – Burpees

Mosey back to launching pad for Mary.

  • Dollies x 15 IC
  • Straight leg lifts x 15 IC
  • LBCs x 20 IC

Run back to base via left onto Raintree, right onto Rounding Run, right onto Woodfox (alternated AYGs and moseys), then to the parking lot. Still time…a couple of parking lot sprints.

COT

Moleskine

BRR recovery week meant low numbers. But the 12 that showed were hungry and we did some solid work with a little old school, back to our mission Running/Bootcamp #F3FastTwitch. Speaking of old school, the promise of no hills brought out some guys who hadn’t been in a while…Champagne and Floorslapper. Floorslapper looked less like a doctor and more like a hobo…but appearances are deceiving as he made a solid push at Cane on the burpee round. Cane clearly sandbagged every round so he could show off during the Round 6 burpees #VetMove. Champagne starred as himself…busting VP on his squat form, telling him he looked like one of those desktop water birds. It’s true…VP did. He was probably practicing his toilet approach for post-The Beacon activities.

Drago is 18. The rest of old. It showed. Except for BA, who stayed up front for all the rounds. Pretty sure BA will be “randomly” selected for testing soon #PEDs.

Hairball made a cameo for the second week in a row…keeps mumbling something about appearance fees and not touching the ground. Poptart kept mumbling complaints about every round…but then redeemed himself by suggesting the hilly route for the return back to base. He also suggested the sprints at the end. Pax suggested potential name change to #DBag.

The ironman Madison was having nothing of a slow mosey, taking off and leading us on the run back to base. Utah was solid as usual. And Grease Monkey keeps showing up…putting in the work each week and keeps getting faster.

Enjoyed it men.

Announcements

  • Area51 5 year anniversary convergence tomorrow at Calvary Church. 0515 launch.
  • #F3Olive toy drive. Stay tuned.
  • Ragnar Relay. Sign up.

SOFAWIB BB – Recovery Day

5 gathered for a recovery day, of sorts. Even Semi Gloss was there. Voodoo – “Hey Semi, feeling FOMO for not doing BRR?” Semi Gloss – “No. Unapologetically no.” We were off.

Run to the cannons and back. Partner up-ish (5 ppl).

One partner runs to school entrance while the other does 7 pullups, 14 derkins, 21 dips. Flap jack. Repeat.

At 6:05, run to cannons (again) and back.

Skin:

All this time and I never noticed this. Voodoo has a Tesla with a 32″ big screen GPS device on the dash. How he sees traffic, pedestrians, stoplights, I have no idea.

SG has 99 problems, knees being one of them. He’ll be at the convergence tomorrow at The Rock (5:15-6:15) with both his bad knees and his commentary. Don’t miss it.

High Tide ran in and out of the workout. He lives in Ft. Mill and insisted that the BRR has turned over a new leaf. Hammer LIFO’d though his consistency for SOFAWIB is noteworthy and respectable. All others should take note.

Sun Dancer was absent and therefore we had no music. Tisk Tisk.

Kirk was sleeping I’m sure.

Talk Box, Iron Mike, Belair, they were all absent. Everyone gets demerits today.