Cape Town is Jo-burg’s Daddy!

Cape Town is Jo-burg’s Daddy!

Both Site-Q’s were gametime scratches, so no SF, but we launched at The Rock after brief disclaimer.

The Thang:

Jog over to one of the lots near 51 for COP

IW x 20 IC

Slow Squat x 20 IC

H-R Merkin x 20 IC

Flutter x 20 IC

Run off campus, across 51 and into some neighborhood…can’t recall its name.  Made our way to Five Knolls for some hillwork.

5 Jump Squats at bottom, Run up the hill, 5 burpees at top.  3x.  Plankorama when all finish.

Run back to The Rock and over to pavilion.

People’s Chair for 1 minute

Jump-up x 10 on benches; Incline Merkin x 10 OYO

Jump up x 15; Incline Merkin x 15 OYO

Jump up x 20; Incline Merkin x 20 OYO

People’s chair with Overhead press x 25 IC

Run over to playground

10 Donkey Kicks on swings OYO

10 CDD’s IC

15 Donkey Kicks on swings

10 Wide-arm Merkins IC

18 Donkey Kicks on swings #BenZobrist

8 Diamond Merkins IC

Run to rocks next to baseball diamond, grab a lifting rock

10 Overhead press IC

AYG run from left field line to centerfield fence

10 Bicep curl IC

AYG run from left field line to CF fence

13 Louganis IC

AYG run to lightpole in middle of lot

Mosey to neighboring lot

Backwards run to median

Jog back to launch lot; still time for 6 MoM

American Hammer x 13 IC

Elbow plank w/Leg Lifts x 13 IC

LBC x 25 IC

6-Count Burpee x 10 IC

COT

Ye Olde Moleskine:

Small but hearty crew.  Got a brief geography and cultural lesson on Johannesburg and Cape Town – South Africa…so that was helpful.  Also good to learn that most of the rest of the world can’t stand France either.

Sledge, Hammer’s 2.0, rode into the lot with a towel over his head….every 13-year old wants to start his day with a 3.2 mile, 84 degree/84% humidity beatdown, right?  Good work Sledge.  And appreciate the prayer in COT from Hammer.  #davehuberesque

Despite my rather unorthodox Q at Anvil Wednesday, both Deep Dish and Hammer came back to same AO and same Q this morning.  #muchobliged

Deep Dish, Cubs fan that he is, appreciated my shout-out to Ben Zobrist again on the 3rd set of donkey kicks.  #LETSGO

Always appreciate our South African brothers and their hard work and good attitudes.  Boerewors paid YHC a compliment by saying this hour long downpainment had the intensity of a 45-minute workout.  Couldn’t possibly have been as #highintensity as Purple Haze’s DZ Q today, could it?

Glad it was worth the effort to post men.  Five Knolls, as advertised, is no joke.  YHC’s first time on that monstrosity.  Always a privilege to Q, especially at the finest AO in Area51.

Announcements:

Sign up for F3 Golf – Friday July 29th – 9am start.  Tiger Rag & Bananas guaranteed a high temp of less than 84.

Keep your antenna up for 5th Anniversary of Area 51 — likely a Saturday convergence after BRR in September.

 

 

July Rocks

14 dudes ready to start the weekend out right posted at one of the finest AO’s in the nation, either due to excellent marketing or habit. I love the month of July, humid mornings and 100 degree afternoons. Here’s what happened next:

NOTE: We had a new face, so for anyone new reading this, IC = In Cadence. 1 count sequence (1,2,3,#) is 2 reps. i.e 20 SSH IC = 40 Side Straddle Hop (i.e Jumping Jack). OYO = On Your Own, 1 rep = 1 rep, performed at your own pace. Mosey = jog.

The Workout


The Warm Up
  • Mosey to the East side parking lot.
  • 20 SSH IC
  • 10 Merkins IC
  • 20 SealJack IC
  • 10 Low slow squat IC
  • Mosey to the West side upper parking lot.
The Rock

Grab a rock as “thick as your thigh”, this little guy was your partner for the remainder of the workout. Choose wisely

  • 15 Curls IC
  • 15 Press IC
  • 15 Tricep Extensions IC
  • Mosey down to the Track (Rock held in various positions at Q command: right shoulder, left, out front, overhead)
  • Plank for the 6 and explain the AMRAP
The Rock and the Track

Hold that Rock Squat during Q’s instructions about the AMRAP to follow:

  • 25 Merkins
  • 25 Low Squat with Rock)
  • 25 LBCS (with Rock high on chest)
  • Run a lap around the track
  • Repeat 4 Times
  • Plank for the six.
Indian Rock Run
  • Line up, holding rock in front rack position.
  • Line of men walks at a brisk pace.
  • Runner holds rock overhead as he runs to front of the line.
  • Upon arrival to the front of the line, calls “Press” and everyone does one press.
  • Mosey to the outside of the track
  • 20 Ground to Overhead OYO (however you want to, Rock must touch ground, then go overhead while standing)
  • Run up up the hill (0.2 miles, 70ft of elevation change). Run up hill 150 yards and come back.

    NOTE: the route I’d mapped out on Strava included a .2 mile run here, but there was a newly erected 12 ft chain link fence (or newly locked fence) had other plans for us. #qfail

  • 20 Ground to Overhead OYO (however you want to, Rock must touch ground, then go overhead while standing)
The Rock and the Pile
  • Mosey back to the Rock pile (Rock held in various positions at Q command: right shoulder, left, out front, overhead)
  • 50 LBC (with Rock) IC
  • 20 Flutter with Rock Presses IC
  • 15 Slow Russian Twist with Rock IC
  • AND… put the rocks back in the pile.
The Finisher (sans Rock)
  • Mosey back to start for ENDEX… psyc !

    NOTE: Hat tip to Transporter for the heads up on the time. YHC was about to start COT at precisely 7:15. Closing out a workout at quarter past the hour is all YHC has ever known. Knew it was an hour workout, lost track of the fact that we started at 6:30 somewhere during the indian runs. #qfail #cobains

  • Run over to the front lot
  • Backwards run over to the West side of the front lot.
  • 11s with burpees and merkins
  • 10 burpees, run 80 yards, 1 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 9 burpees, run 80 yards, 2 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 8 burpees, run 80 yards, 3 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 7 burpees, run 80 yards, 4 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 6 burpees, run 80 yards, 5 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 5 burpees, run 80 yards, 6 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • 1 burpees, run 80 yards, 10 pushup, run 80 yards backwards.
  • Stop where you are when Q calls time and mosey back to start.
  • Circle up for Outback’s 5 Minute Plank
    NOTE: any plank will do, just keep feet on the ground, no knees touching, and body in a stright line.
  • done.

ENDEX

  • Nameorama
  • Welcome FNG -> Trail Mix
  • Closing Prayer from Short Circuit. A solid word for our country and the difficulties with violence in the past week.

The Moleskine

Solid effort from all despite the collection of Q fails on the hill run and YHC’s attempt to terminate the workout at 45 rather than 60 minutes. Transporter was quick to point out that he paid for a 60 minute boot camp, and that’s what he was getting. No arguments here. Solid group of guys out there, hard to remember all the individual efforts, but here are a couple notes:

  • Doc McStuffins has got some wheels, he led the way in the AMRAP track session, and somehow conned Transporter into doing partner slap plank for the last 2 minutes of the 5 minute plank. Well done. Perhaps the speed is due in part to the opening sprint the good Dr. does after coming in on two wheels on Saturdays…
  • Transporter & Shop Dawg may have tied for the lead in the “least advantageous rock selection” competition. Both of those beasts were lugging around massive boulders for the duration of the rock efforts.
  • A couple folks forgot (or refused) to say “Press” at the end of their rock indian runs, but several PAX chimed in to say it in their stead. We all heard Kevorkian say it, with that booooming voice of his. He was flying out there.
  • Short Circuit was pushing the pace during the track portion, he was on YHC’s 6 the whole way on the AMRAP as we both tried to catch Doc and Transporter. Quality take out Short Circuit, and good luck and godspeed in Denver, CO.
  • Camacho, Frack, Gator Cub, Posse had a solid performance out there. Way to push yourselves on the running, we covered almost 3 miles today.
  • Uncle Phil (Site FNG) & TrailMix (FNG) both did really well despite the unconventional workout today. Trailmix going metro for the plank-o-rama was classic, suns out, guns out. Uncle Phil made the drive from Ballantyne to post, and post he did.
  • 40 years between the oldest (Shop Dawg, 51) and the youngest (Ranger, 11) of the group today. That may be standard Union County fair, but it was cool to see today. Ranger had the highest rock weight to body weight ratio, and clearly has been working out often; it’s not everyday you see someone completing the boy to man transition that early. Well done young sir.

Chime in below with anything I missed. For YHC, that was both miserable and fun. I guess that’s what makes F3, F3. Next week, another guest from the Ballantyne crew, JRR Tolkien, will be Qing. I’m sure he has a good plan in the works; and if anyone is keen on finishing well in the Spartan, you’ll probably want to be there. JRRT has posted some really competitive times and placed in the top ten in several Spartan races.

The Announcements

  • Fort Bragg Spartan, Sept 9-10
  • Bacon is delicious.

Argonaut Out.

Champagne started it…

4 PAX posted this morning for a jump start to their Saturday,

They know what we did and how tough it was, ask them if you like to know.

Announcements:

F3 Dads and F3 Golf

Is it 7, 8 or 15?

12 men posted in the heat and humidity for good old-fashioned beat down at Joust. YHC decided to mix it up a bit with counts or reps of 7, 8 and 15. The math was a little confusing at first, but the PAX quickly figured it out.

Warm up:
Mosey around upper lot, stop for 15 Derkins on the hand rails. Off to the field for the main event:

COP:
Squats x15
Mountain Climbers x15
IW x15
SSH x15

The Thang:
Starfish / Four Corners
Round 1:
Middle: Burpees x8
Corners: Wide-Arm Merkins x8, Heels-to-Heaven x8, Squats x8, LBCs x8
Plank for the 6

Round 2:
Middle: Burpees x7
Corners: Low-Slow Squats x7, Flutters x7, Diamond Merkins x7, Monkey Humpers x7
Plank for the 6

PAX recovery run around the track with 8 Merkins at each corner

Grandma 7s – Pull-ups at the top, Big boy sit-ups at the bottom
Plank for the 6

To the goal line for some combo work:
Lunges for 50 yards – sprint the remaining 50
Gorillas for 40 yards – sprint the remaining 60
Bear Crawl for 30 yards – sprint the remaining 70
Broad Jumps for 20 yards – sprint the remaining 80
Crab Walk for 10 yards – sprint the remaining 90
100 yard gasser

Mosey back to the COT, stopping for 15 more Derkins on the handrail just for good measure.

Moleskin:
YHC didn’t know what to expect for numbers but a solid showing of 12 during a typical vacation week. The PAX got right to work and shared lots of mumble-chatter about the burpees being called right out of the gate. Even more crowd pleasing was the second round, although the rep count had been reduced by 1. By this point the heat and humidity felt like it had tripled, along with the heavy breathing… great time for a recovery lap. And what Joust event is complete without Grandma? We had to show some respect to her and the pull-up / sit-up 7s were no joke. The final sprint combos were very well-received, especially the Gorillas. A “must see” exercise that looked much better on paper for 40 yards than in person. I think some of the PAX asked for this to become a permanent fixture at Joust?

Strong work by all. Square Root and Lobstah Roll are absolute machines. Uncle Leo, Chin Music and Yeti still have silly strides on the sprints. Gummy is a fresh off a 2 week vacation and didn’t miss a beat. Hammer and Sledge (2.0) were a dynamic duo. Stone Cold, Buttermaker and Waterfoot were dragging YHC around all morning. It is always an honor to lead this fine group of men. Thanks to Header for the opportunity. Thanks to Chin Music for taking us out.

Announcements
F3 Golf – spread the word, we need a lot more!
Olive – F3 brother that lost his daughter. Keep an eye open for a benefit function later this year. Hairball is leading the charge.
Prayers for the events in Dallas and for our Nation in general

MinuteMen Unite

One minute seems like such a short time….. that is unless you are swinging a KB.

Warm up:
HB mile to get loose

COP:
– SSH (25)
– Imperial Walker (20)
– Windmill (15)
– Merkins (20)

The Thang:

4 Stations for one minute of each exercise with 10 seconds recovery between. Rotate through the stations.
Station 1: 2 Hand KB Swing; Goblet Squat
Station 2: Curls; Tricep Extensions
Station 3: Squat/Curl/Press; Skull Crushers
Station 4: Squat Press; Bent over Row (Sandbags)

HB Mile with Karaoke

Repeat Stations

HB Mile with Backwards run

One minute each of Inclined Merkins, Supine Pullups, Dips

Mary:
– LBCs
– Rosalita Wip
– Dolly
– Freddie Mercury

Moleskine:

The objective of the timed exercises was to focus on form and not just knocking out high number of reps. Believe it worked well as guys pushed themselves hard (insert TWSS line here). There were frequent challenges from the pax as we got around the 50 second mark as to whether the Q had actually started the timer, which only added to the Q’s enjoyment. Apologies for dropping the ball on the music. Didn’t realize how disappointed the pax would be to miss out on some good southern rock and blues. It was great to see 10 strong show up in the heat ready to go and I appreciated the honor to lead today. Thanks to GJ for taking us out even after I trampled on his name-arama. Continued prayers for Paige and her appt at Duke on Thurs, for HB, and for Woody’s family that is traveling to TX.

Coupon Day at Centurion

Thang

  • Mosey to the lot on Walsh for COP (Seal Jacks, IW, LSS, Merkins)
  • Partner up, size and speed don’t matter
  • One partner come with YHC to grab a lifting rock across the street while the other partner alternates 5 burpees / 5 squats until we return stands there wondering where the heck the Q went
  • Rock sets – partner with the rock does called circuit while other partner runs around the stadium, up stairs to top of the deck, across deck to the close stairs and back down to the lot. Tell your partner the exercises they are to do (#delegation) and flapjack. After the first set, YHC added 3 burpees at each speed bump (3 bumps total) to buy us some more time with the rocks.
    • Set 1: 20 OHP, 20 Curls, 20 Lunges
    • Set 2: 20 Merkin Left Hand on Rock, 20 Tricep Ext, 20 Goblet Squat
    • Set 3: 20 Merkin Right Hand on Rock, 20 Curl and Press, 20 Tea Bag Squat
  • If you have the rock, take it back to the pile while we do jump squats then mosey to the deck for some People’s Chair variations for a few minutes
  • Purple Haze count down to an AYG sprint halfway across deck, 10 CDD, AYG to the end
  • Mary for a bit
  • Triple Nickel on the short ramp (jump squats / merkins)
  • AYG back to launch
  • Various planking throughout the morning, much spent at 6 inches, while waiting for the 6

 

Moleskin

For those who arrived a few minutes early, we were treated to some yoga deep stretching instruction by Mermaid. The parking lot at Charlotte Catholic is so dark these days that no one actually knows if we did it right.

YHC twisted his ankle up a little last week and has been going light on the mileage for a few days so the original weinke was pocketed for next time (be warned) and the plan was for a full body workout instead. From the complaints compliments YHC received afterward, we were at least somewhat successful.

Only one new (to me) face in the darkness this morning and it was none other than Foul Ball. YHC learned quickly that he is even faster than everyone says he is. He and his partner Maverick were the ultimate Larry Birds today and YHC considered doubling the speed bump burpees for their team so the rest of us stood a chance of keeping up. T-claps to Checkpoint for accidentally doing extra burpees at each speed bump.

Alf (and anyone else unlucky enough to be at Anvil 5 or 6 weeks ago) probably recognized the rock sets that I shamelessly stole from his Q. Those rock sets killed YHC that day so it seemed a good idea to bring them back but with a little less rock and a little more running. Unfortunately for Fault Line, his partner Cane thought “lifting rock” meant the biggest possible rock you can lift without collapsing and they both were treated to some tough rock work. Mermaid took the prize for 2nd biggest rock and YHC is not sure who his partner was but is guessing it will be a guy who does not choose Mermaid next time. #chooseyourpartnerwisely

Thanks for coming out for YHC’s second Q and hanging through the occasional hiccup. Most of the jeering mumblechatter died off by the 3rd rock set so mission accomplished there. Lots of anxiety about “only left hand on the rock” was relieved when we reached the 3rd set and got to use our right hand (you’re welcome). Everyone pushed hard today as the men of Centurion always do and the group stayed relatively close together the whole morning. Great work, men.

Happy recent Birthday to Snowflake who was our official Centurion War Daddy. Thank you for the excellent take out, Paper Jam.

Announcements
– Sign up for F3 Golf before time runs out (F3golf.com)
– SOB F3 Dads is meeting this Saturday at 9 AM for workout and pool fun. Please let Honey Bee know if you are going to be there (PB: http://f3nation.com/2016/07/03/preblast-sobdads-pool-times/)

Barney & Bartles

Fight Club ain’t fancy. No warm-up. Get into your stations and work as hard as you can for 2 minute rounds.

Stations #1
P1 Pads / P2 Gloves
P3 Heavy bag
P4 Jump rope
P5 Kettlebell
3 cycles

Stations #2
P1 & P2 sparring
P3 Heavy bag
P4 Jump rope
P5 Kettle bell
2 cycles

Moleskine
Fight Club came alive today with five in attendance! I believe that may be a record. Lots of great chatter today, but the king of chatter is Philmont! Grabbing the jump rope, he says “I know a jump rope song, but it’s from a Barney video.” He follows that up celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Bartles & James wine cooler and his memories of Myrtle Beach. His final quotes were about camping with a seeing-eye dog in an air-conditioned tent. You can’t make this stuff up! Philmont is hilarious. Keep posting!!

Announcements
Prayers for Marlin on his mission trip.
Chipotle is out next week. Wild Turkey and Loogie will take the lead.

 

Penalty Day

I saw a quote from a very famous person saying, “The Brave, where boys become men, where the weak become strong and where Tolkien never post – unless he has to Q”. Never truer words from a very wise man.

Today there were a lot of burpees, a lot of lunges and a lot of running. Also a few 90sec hang from bars. Total of around 4 miles. Included in the second half of the workout, we ran through two sessions of 30 burpees to mirror being penalized for missing or failing an obstacle – lesson learned, don’t fail an obstacle as 30 burpees straight are terrible.

10 strong made it through and all shared in the 5 burpee penalty at the end.

Remember to wear RED on Fridays in remembrance of those that have deployed and allow us to workout at such an ungodly hour.

Honor to Q the brave and look forward to the next opportunity.

Timekeeper – Legacy, Leadership Book Study

Timekeeper
Every Tuesday
Einstein Bagel Bros in Ballantyne
6:30am – 7:30am

Starting on Tuesday July 19th, Timekeeper will be reading the book Legacy, 15 Lessons in Leadership by James Kerr. I have read the book in the past and it’s one of my favorites.

Summary:
Champions do extra.
They sweep the sheds.
They follow the spearhead
They keep a blue head.
They are good ancestors.

In Legacy, James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the World’s most successful sporting team, and revels 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business. Legacy is a unique, inspiring handbook for leaders in all fields, and asks: What are the secrets of success – sustained success? How do you achieve world class standards, day after day, week after week, year after year? How do you handle pressure? How do you train to win at the highest level? What do you leave behind you after you’re gone?
What will be your legacy?

We will read 2 chapters per week and discuss how the 15 lessons in the book we can be applied to F3, work, our families and our faith. On Tuesday July 19th we will discuss the book at a high level and the section called “The Challenge.” One July 26th we will cover chapters 1 and 2. You can buy the book on Amazon using this link:

Back to the Track

Goats,
Huge apologies this BB has taken this long to get out!  Nothing short of poor time mgmt on YHC’s part!

13 Goats (+ Mash’s Dad providing ground transportation) gathered at South Charlotte Middle School for another humid edition of Mountain Goat.

As indicated in the Pre-Blast, we did the following:
1.  Warm-up mile down and back on Strawberry Ln and finish at the track
2.  Dynamic Stretching
3.  I-Pace Ladder:
100 x (2) with 100 recovery in between
200 x (2) with 200 recovery in between
400 x (2) with 400 recovery in between
800 x 1 with 400 recovery… then reverse the ladder starting with 400 x (2)… this was an audible as we were running out of time.

Everyone finished close to the “bottom” of the ladder.  Great job on a very humid morning!

Done!!  My watch showed 5.6 miles… so between 5.25-6 miles total!

Moleskine:
Excellent job! T-claps to Mash for coming early for the pre-run… and thanks to Mash’s Dad for bringing you!  I know he is proud of you!

Brat and Honey Bee led the way, as you would imagine!  Great to have Honey Bee join us… he has guest Q-d, but great to have you giving Brat some company!  For the record, both went “guns out” about 1/3 of the way through the workout!

Great to see Tiger Rag out!  He is getting his BRR interval training in!

Strange Brew, Daisy, Retread, Nomad and Pele are all putting in the miles in preparation for BRR.  These intervals will definitely build VO2 capacity that will be needed at about 2:00 AM on Saturday Sept 9!

Early Bird and I had the opportunity to discuss how his I-Pace now seems so much easier than several months ago!  That is called improvement!

Great to have Insomniac and Dumpster Fire with us!  You guys keep getting stronger!  Your determination is evident, and is what makes Mountain Goat so  special!

Announcements:
1.  F3 Golf July 29
2.  If you are interested in being a driver for a Blue Ridge Relay Team, see Slim Fast or Strange Brew.
3.  F3 Dads… check the schedule.