“If I had it to do all over again, I’d still [run The Wiggler].”
Run The Wiggler! Corner of Foxcroft and Rothwood – 5:45 am launch. Tell your friends. Golf clap pace…
** Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy: Tin Cup
Who’s the Q?
I am sure there was strong mumblechatter the last few minutes before the start of this mornings WO. As YHC was doing about 80mph on Harrisburg rd, 13 patient PAX were probably drawing straws on who would take the Q and also wondering if YHC should ever be invited back. Unfortunately, YHC arrived about a minute late, but not too late to hold onto the reigns, so with that we took off…
The purpose of today’s WO was to get in a little bit of everything to destroy the upper body and hopefully this was a success. We shall see…twitter/SLACK comments to follow.
The THANG: Not necessarily in this order, still waking up.
Mosey 400m
- 30 KB Swings
- 4 count merkins – (10)
- 4 count wide merkins- (10)
- Overhead Press – in cadence (10 count each arm)
- Bicep Curl – in cadence (10 count each arm)
- Lying down overhead tricep extension in half table – in cadence (20 count)
Mosey 400m
- 20 KB Swings
- Plank until 6 arrives
- Military merkins – in cadence (10 count)
- Overhead Press (weak attempt by YHC but kept the count going for those manly men) – in cadence (10 count each arm)
- Bicep Curl – in cadence (10 count each arm)
- Overhead Tricep Extension – in cadence (10 count)
Mosey 400m
Pull-Ups (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1)
Plank until 6 arrives
- High Pulls – in cadence (10 count each arm)
- Lying down tricep extension in half table – in cadence (15 count)
Mosey 400m
- 20 KB Swings
- Russian twist w/KB – in cadence (10 count)
- Flutter Kicks
- Hello Dolly
- Merkins – in cadence (10 count)
- Wide Merkins – in cadence (10 count)
Moleskin:
While YHC tried to prepare himself for the Q this morning his alarm had other plans. Waking up 15min before the start of a WO is not recommended and makes you forget about half of your plans. So while Frehley’s and Mr, Bean were having their own flatulence contest, YHC was still trying to figure out how to count – I guess this also happens when you haven’t Q’d for a few months.
Anyways, things to remember:
Upcoming Indian Land/SOB Convergence at the Reservation on April 16th. 0600 for OCR then regularly scheduled WO from 0630-0730. Cofeeteria afterwards at Di-Dees or Dunkin Donuts – depending on numbers.
Always a pleasure to lead and serve such great leaders.
One-Niner
Redemption Set – Tribute to Mermaid
22 hardy souls showed up in in what will likely be the last of the cool weather. We took the opportunity to work hard. Quick disclaimer and we were off. Starting with a mosey around the football field and stopping around the 50 yard line next to the parking deck for some COP.
COP
SSH x 20
IW x 20
low slow squat x 20
merkin x 10
Then continue the mosey up to the top of the parking deck. Regroup and discuss the pain
Redemption Set
1. Start from the top of deck at Level 4 on side nearest main building. 10 Squat
2. Descend stairs to street level. 5 Burpees. Run left around the perimeter of the football field.
3. Stop at far corner. 5 Burpees. Continue around perimeter.
4. Stop at Cougar entrance to football field. 20 merkins. Bear crawl from Cougar entrance to crosswalk (approx 50 feet). Continue into parking deck.
5. AYG up 1/2 deck ramps to the top of level 4.
Repeat 4 times.
Circle back and pick up the 6 then head back to the launch area. Circle up for some Mary.
5 Minutes of Mary
LBC x 25
Flutter x 20
Merkins x 10
Windshield Wipers x 10
Flutter x 20
The Redemption set was a special gift bequeathed by Mermaid as he was heading into surgery. Strong group out there this morning. Very little mumble chatter and lots of work going on. Looked like most of us got right about 3 miles on running in. One highlight was Semi Gloss appearing during COP slightly out of breath with crazy “bed head”. Thanks for the take out Chelms.
A Few Hills
AYE. 15 of Metro and A51’s finest gathered in the Gloom for the weekly DMZ smokefest – but, of course, not as smoky as Tha Motha. It’s hard to replicate a 12 story incline without a parking deck, but YHC tried. Here’s more or less what transpired:
THE THANG
Run to Sharon View through Thornridge
Left on Sharon View to Hardison
Down to the end of Hardison and back
Right at Howland, right on Gorham to the end
Back to Sharon View and then home
3.3ish total miles
+105 burpees
+120 merkins
+untold monkeys humped
+untold squats jumped
+6 minutes of Mary
+planks
MOLESKIN
1. TClaps to all participants today. The group stayed pretty close together throughout. That last hill on Gorham spread us out a bit but we all got back in time for the final 10 burpees at the parking lot #cherryontop.
2. Larry Birds to Frasier and Agony, who were pushing the front the entire way. It’s a good thing Ag was out front so that his extremely loud footsteps could lead the pax in the darkness.
3. Also Larry Birds to Hamlet, who apologized for being the 6 even before the workout started claiming that he’s only posted twice in the last 10 months. No need to apologize, Hambone. You were right in the thick of it.
4. Frasier wanted to know “how I found this place.” Well, brother, YHC and Pellyn Wood go way back. First and only time I’ve ridden in the back of a cop car #notguilty. First time drinking a beer. First time sneaking out of a house in the middle of the night. First time driving a car without a license. I mean, if you trace all of my bad behavior going back to middle school…it pretty much all starts with Pellyn Wood. I know that place like the back of my hand.
When YHC got home, Bootsy (M) was fast asleep but she woke up to ask a very simple question – “did you kill them?” That’s a true F3 M for you right there.
#horseneck OUT
Fast Finish
At 0515 on 4/12, the PAX of SoB will launching into the final Swift workout before the 1 Mile Time Trial on 4/19.
The THANG :
- 0500 – early warm-up
- 0515 – leave the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne Corp Park and head towards North Community House. After a 15 minute warmup and drills, we’ll begin the main event.
- Sets of (2x200m R-pace with 200m jogs + 6minutes T-pace + 200m F-pace + 400m jog)
- Cooldown back to the Vine by 0615
SYITG,
BRATWURST
Backblast: Spartan Race Sprint “DAY ZERO” Edition
Apologies for the late backblast… the least I could do for my tardiness was make it a worthwhile bathroom read IMHO. Enjoy!
THE THANG:
Since the Spartan Race Sprint was being held this weekend in Concord, YHC thought it would be a great idea to make an obstacle course out of the DAY ZERO AO @ McAlpine Elementary School for those who were too cheap to sign up had family commitments and couldn’t go to the actual race. YHC promised to deliver a free Spartan Race but with NO free t-shirt, NO finishers medal, NO free beer at the finish line, NO photos, No prizes, and NO muddy female racers in lulu lemons and sports bras.
The PAX must have missed the “NO” part of the prior sentence, because 18 beasts showed up for the workout / race looking for muddy female racers in lulu lemons and sports bras beers, but got a self-imposed you vs. you AMRAP beatdown instead, perfectly fitting for DAY ZERO which is known as being a High Intensity Workout.
THE THANG:
YHC challenged the PAX to complete 3 laps of the course (sent out in preblast, and only slightly modified) and keep going until time was called, which would mean completing 900+ yards of 85lb bucket carries, 35-45lb hairburners, and 65-75lb log carries. #THISISDAYZERO
Short 5 minute instructional warmup lap around most of the obstacles, and split up into 4 groups, each starting at a different point along the course. YHC failed to disclaim “I am not a professional and exercise at your own risk” probably because YHC has been called unprofessional for most of my 38 years of life #selfexplanatory and sometimes YHC wonders if what we do can even be called ‘exercise’… I digress.
Stations / Obstacles
(0) Memorization: As PAX arrived at the AO, YHC instructed them to pick out of a bag a small piece of paper resembling a fortune cookie message. Ok, it could have been a fortune cookie message, since it had lucky numbers on it, but it wasn’t. You’ve gotta believe me, just cause YHC is Asian, it doesn’t mean YHC stole the fortune cookie inscriptions from the family restaurant Golden Duck Palace! Ok I did, but just a few. PAX had 1 minute to memorize the words and numbers, which were words straight out the F3 Lexicon (like JELLY LUBE, LEAKAGE, PEACOCK WEDGE, SNOT WOGGLE) and a random 4 digit number, which PAX were required to repeat correctly during COT or do 10 penalty burpees for failure to memorize.
(1) Bucket Carry: PAX were required to carry a 85lb Home Depot bucket filled with pavers down the bus lane to almost the end of the road from the basketball courts and back, a distance over 100 yards. PAX could not use the handle, or carry bucket on shoulder. #gripandcorestrength
(2) Hair-burners: PAX were required to push 35lb or 45lb plates across half the parking lot on THE ROCKIEST ASPHALT PARKING LOT EVER down & back, a distance over 100 yards.
(3) Log Carry: PAX carried 60-75lb logs above their head with arms extended down the second half of the parking lot, and were instructed to throw/flip (players choice) the logs back to the starting point, a distance over 100 yards.
(4) Dome Traverse: PAX were instructed to climb over a steel children’s playground dome on the North side of the AO which oddly enough ended up being one of the most treacherous obstacles of the day (refer to Strawberry comments below).
(5) Monkeybar Traverse: PAX were instructed to traverse a very low set of monkey bars, requiring them to lift their knees and bend their arms into a half bicep curl across the bars. *Touching feet to ground resulted in a penalty of 30 Spartan Style Chest-to-ground burpees.*
(6) Spear Throw: PAX had one chance to throw a shovel handle replacement spear at a target 15-18’ away and hit the target. * Missing target resulted in a penalty of 30 Spartan Style Chest-to-ground burpees. *
(7) PAX ran around the running path around the soccer fields roughly .3 miles and perform 10 box jumps on a 36-inch high retaining wall followed by 10 reverse burpees (similar to Turkish-Get-Up) on the field (squat / roll on back / roll back on feet / stand up / jump / repeat).
(8) Monkeybar Traverse: PAX needed to scale two sections of monkey bars, one with small swinging rings, and the other with pullup bars, and do 3 pull-ups at end of the rig without ever letting feet touch ground. * Touching feet to ground resulted in a penalty of 30 Spartan Style Chest-to-ground burpees. *
(9) Pull-up bar climb over 7ft tall: PAX were required to find a way to climb over the tallest pull-up bar without help and without getting injured. * Failure to complete the obstacle resulted in a penalty of 30 Spartan Style Chest-to-ground burpees. *
(10) 10 hanging Toes-To-Bar on the pullup bar: #sixpackbuilder #beachbody
Rinse and Repeat until YHC calls time! 7:05am – 7:55am
MOLESKIN:
Originally, YHC thought the most balanced PAX (speed/strength) would get 5 laps + in, but sorely misjudged the course. Well, maybe obstacles 1,2,3 had something to do with it, because the most any PAX completed was 3 laps + 2 obstacles (buckets & hairburners) in time (Frazier, Fletch, YHC, and others?) while most completed 2 laps which was a strong achievement. The big guys dominated the heavy carries, and even did an admirable job getting over the ‘more nimble’ obstacles.
– Hairball (DZ site Q) showed up promptly and scouted the AO, noticing all the orange cones, as a good site Q should but he had a funny look on his face (not his face!… the LOOK on his face). After the workout started, I think he saw there were no females in lulu lemons, ran around the AO to double check twice and went home disappointed before COT. It’s ok Hairball because you are gonna crush theRacefest Half Marathon this weekend in 1:35 or less… YHC challenges you before all of A51/SOB. There will be lots of lulu lemons there, YHC assures you.
– Snowden showed up looking for the free beer, and after a while left also before COT. YHC thinks Snowden was disgusted there were no water obstacles, and left for daughters swim meet to find some.
– Outback rolled up right at 7am for what would be his THIRD workout of day, #1 was running a fast 5k at 5:30am, #2 a difficult Stonehenge Champagne Q AMRAP at 6am, and #3 taking on the DZ Spartan Race challenge at 7am back-to-back-to-back. Unlike Dikembe Mutumbo (remember him?) who says he is 47 but is really 74, Outback’s states his age is late 40s, but his fitness is more like mid 20s. Keep up the good work young fella, but start using that wrinkle cream.
– Mighty Mite powered through much of the course, both strength AND agility obstacles. At one point, YHC saw he climbed over the monkey bar with ease and my initial thought was that he was bending the bar like Superman to get over, but that was not the case. Apparently he saw a tiny mouse next to the obstacle, and leapt like a cat up over the bar to get away.
– Spackler did 10 perfect burpees in COT before we got to his turn, for not remembering the lexicon phrase & number during COT. The course police were a bit surprised, since they did not see many proper burpees for failed obstacles on the course, which may or may not be true.
– In the excitement to start the workout, YHC remembered I forgot to give the standard safety disclaimer, and started to do it on dome traverse. But literally, no less than 2 seconds after starting it, Strawberry fell and bloodied his shin on one of the bars #nearcompountfracture #manupprincess. Being the warrior he is, he kept on pushing through the course solidly, without ever getting a Hello Kitty Band-Aid.
– FACTOID: The bucket carry was an estimated 63% of Frasier’s 135lb body weight.
– Fletch was an absolute animal pushing hair burners. Every time YHC would pass him, he would blow by YHC at the hair burner obstacle. It was a familiar sight, and YHC is getting used to seeing Fletch’s backside all too often, like at the finish line of the Joe Davis 5k earlier this year where the man easily broke 20min 5k.
– YHC has a pretty good memory and remembered Beeker didn’t run the Charlotte 10 Miler Race in Ballantyne a month or two ago on account of a sore throat the flu. But he looked fully recovered out on the course today, and even better at the coffeeteeria after!
– “I don’t know who you are dude, but I hate you.” – McGee, just before COT. Nice to meet you too brother.
– Apologies for not being able to troll the rest of you in the Backblast because YHC wasn’t able to match a name with a face, or you were too fast and YHC did not see you on the course, but YHC promises to do my best next time.
It was a pleasure meeting some new F3 Brothers in A51, and working out with the regular guys in A51/SOB. Looking forward to throwing DZ in the mix of workouts where YHC posts, and getting to know you brothers more as well. Special thanks for Hairball and Prohibition for giving me the keys to DZ, as YHC truly enjoyed it, and very much appreciates the support from all who posted.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Lots of races coming up… F3 Fast 5-5k (see pre blast on website), Charlotte Racefest Half/10k/5k next weekend, Battlefrog OCR weekend after, Quarry Run, GoRuck, SC Mud Run at end of month, the list goes on. Sign up for something to push and measure yourself, and join your F3 Brothers in doing them.
- If any of you are interested in running in the Ragnar Trail Relay on 10/7-10/8 at Anne Springs Greenway, let YHC know. Worth reading the link below to see if this is something you would like to be a part of… A lot more 2nd F than running (16 miles 3 legs) IMHO. YHC is not officially coordinating this for F3, but garnering interest and definitively forming a team. https://www.runragnar.com/event-detail/trail/carolinas_sc
SYITG ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
5k Run for a bootcamp
10 men including 2 FNGs made it out on the last day on winter/first day of spring hopefully. YHC determined via Google Maps that a nice running circle around the neighborhood next to the AO exactly equaled 1km, so it was decided this workout would include a 5k, broken up in 5 laps.
The clock struck 7, disclaimer given and mosey to the park parking lot.
SSHx25
It appears the park was busy at 7am on a Saturday with cars coming though so we mosey down to the soccer field to continue.
IWx25
Merkinsx20
Low slow squatx25
Mountain Climberx25
Now for the 5k – 5 laps with planking after each lap until the 6 returned and called exercises in between.
Lap 1
LBCx25
Lap 2
CDDx25
Lap 3
Jump squatsx20
Lap 4
Wide Arm Merkinsx25
Lap 5
5k total
Since the number of PAX exceeds the number of cinder blocks left, mosey to the rock pile to grab a lifting rock. Some chose wisely, others didn’t.
Arm Curlsx20
Overhead Pressx20
Goblet Squatx20
Bear Crawl to middle of field, lunge walk back, without our rocks
Rinse and Repeat
Bear Crawl to middle, lunge walk to parking lot
Circle up for the encore with Mary
LBCs
Flutter
Rosalita
Russian Twist
Thanks to all for coming out – this was the first time I raised the shovel flag helping Abacus as co-site Q. Good to see two FNGs – Huskie and Steele. Also, welcome back Croissant now that the new born is no longer a new born. As always great to see Beaver, Joker, Cold Cuts, Picasso, Slap Shot and Dig Dug.
No announcements. COT and send out.
Ballantyne 4 Corners
It was a colder than normal this morning in the Gloom but that didn’t keep the faithful from posting Stonehenge this morning.
17 MEN decided to take on the Ballantyne 4 Corners this AM and got better because of it.
16 regulars and 1 FNG were ready to launch so a full disclaimer was given and off we went.
Quick mosey to the parking lot next to the Ballantyne Village parking deck.
COP
IW x 15 in cadence
Low Slow Squats x 15
Slow merkins x 10
Tony Horton
20 small arm circle forward, 20 small arm circles backwards
10 large arm circles forward, 10 arm circles backwards – to get the arms and should warmed up.
The Thang
Directions were given for the 4 corners.
There were 4 stations on the circuit and the plan was to rinse and repeat the circuit for the duration of this morning.
Station 1 – go to the basement of the parking deck and run up the stairs, 5 burpees at the top, back down the stairs, then up the ramp to the top 5 burpees, then back down.
Station 2 – Fountain – 20 split squats (Right and Left Leg)
Run down to the corner of Ballantyne Commons – Station 3 – 20 merkins
Then run back up to the driveway to Ballantyne Village – Station 4 – 20 jump squats
due to the size, divided up the pax into four groups, to start at one of each of the stations.
Then continue thru the cycle over and over until time called.
Regroup and head back to launch
Enough time to do some mary
Flutters x 25 in cadence
Protractor
6 inches, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 45 degrees, 6 inches – about 4 minutes
Finished
NMM
Good solid group today and everyone was working hard and pushing it. FNG Ricardo Relego – aka Mr Jingles pushed it hard the entire time too, and didn’t back down from the challenge.
This one was a grind of a workout and everyone did a great job. YHC has a love hate relationship with these kinds of workouts – but they do make you better. They are great mudrun prep.
Thanks Wild Turkey and JRR Tolkien for the opportunity to lead today. Its always a great group and its a great AO.
Shout out below if YHC missed anything – was in the pain cave for a lot of this workout.
Announcements:
Guys still looking for mudrun team members – if interested reach out to Fire Hazard.
Steeplechase coming – if interested contact Market Timer.
Thats it.
Champagne Out.
The Chunky Monkey
16 at the Outland this AM, filled with either redemptive expectations or sheer morbid curiosity after reading the preblast. At a minimum, most were hoping that this workout would be like one of those palate-cleansing gari pickled ginger slivers that you are supposed to eat between sushi rolls, perhaps enough to completely eliminate the lingering taste from last week. Speaking of sushi, I stopped at the Quick Trip on the way home and they were all out . . . but we’re getting off track here. Anyways, after blasting a little Haggard in the parking lot we rounded up everyone and were off and running. EE and GJ claim to have completed a prerun, but all I see on Strava is a 30 min trip to Bojangles. Kiefer also ran something like 17 miles doing marathon training, and gave us a little flyby.
Thang:
Longish mosey to the Shiloh Elementary front parking lot for COP, including IW, LSS, and maybe something else that nobody cares about.
Not sure what to name this next one, I considered the “Jackie Robinson”, but we could also go with “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” Either way, it’s 6 sets of 7 reps of a rotating exercise, as we run a loop around the lot stopping at each light pole. So 42 total reps of each exercise. We did LBCs, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, Jump Squats, and Burpees (ascending count on the Burpees). It was delightful.
Then we headed over to the drivers-ed dragstrip for a little thing that has now been named the Chunky Monkey. This is a variation on the awful theme of a mid-workout timed mile race that was originally named the Scalded Monkey (I have no idea why I called it that) and has been resurrected a few times now in several variations. I think this one may be the worst yet.
We split the group up 5 ways based on 1-mile pace. Each group was assigned a burpee handicap, with the idea of making this an actual race since the faster guys had to do more burpees. You had to race one mile and also do the burpees, any way you want to split them up.
- 5-6min pace – 40 burpees
- 6-7min pace – 30 burpees
- 7-8min pace – 20 burpees
- 8-9min pace – 10 burpees
- happy to finish pace – 0 burpee
After that puke fest, I blacked out for 5 mins or so while somebody led something – who knows what actually happened. At some point, we headed back to the picnic table area for some Merkin Mania.
Alabama Slamma – partner up and do sets of decending merkins with your partner. Start at 15 each, and count down to 0.
Head back to launch point for a comical 10 burpee closer, as most pax had non-functioning arms at this point.
Moleskin:
Kiefer looking strong with the marathon training – putting in some high miles now. I think he’s getting up to the 20 mile range, which I hear is the worst part of the training. Probably a good move to skip the boot camp and just keep with the running at this point.
The Monkey burpee race was originally named the Burping Monkey, but after I threw up in my mouth at the midpoint I felt that Chunky Monkey was a better fit. EE won this pretty easily, even doing 40 burpees. Short Circuit did 30, and came in 2nd. I did 30 myself, and finished just ahead of Glass Joe and Donut Hole, but I think they both did 40. This thing was pretty awful for everyone involved.
Good to have The Bus back out, even though he was 37 mins late. We almost missed the Bus, and then Dad would have to take us to school and be late for work – nobody is happy when that happens.
Glass Joe was apparently unhappy with my modification suggestions for the pax during the Slamma, so he cursed me in dwarfish yiddish.
My foot has exploded again after this disaster, so I may just have to cut the thing off and screw in a peg.
I’m sure there were some other humorous and noteworthy events, so bring on the comments.
No Pancho and no Lefty. I think they both went to a Trump rally in Wingate.
Horsehead
Ranger Rascals
Rascally Ranger Fit Test
The Ranger Fit Test is a F3 staple and great way, perfect for OCR season and a great way to benchmark for future goals.
Event / Ranger Goal*
Push-ups – 49
Sit-ups – 59
Pull-Ups – 6
5 mile run – 40 minutes
*The goal is just to get in the door of Ranger School. Once you’re admitted, it becomes exceeding more difficult including three more phases – Fort Benning, Mountain phase and Florida (swamp) phase. Soldiers need to lead while navigating, with little sleep and food. Our little test is just a tiny fraction of the physical and mental strength required.
Moleskine
I’m thankful for the great weather and good turnout. Thanks to site Q Tuck for helping me with setting the 5 mile course. It was a perfect one mile loop, no traffic and slight uphill and downhill section. Tuck also put up big numbers on the sit-up and push-up tests. Soft Pretzel crushed the 5 miles running sub 7 minutes miles. It was also great seeing General, the pull-up king, Icicle and Early Bird. Unfair was on his best behavior, but he may still have been hung over. YHC did not complete the 5 milies in less than 40 minutes, but I did manage to shave more than 9 minutes of my time from the first time I took the test nearly a year and a half ago. F3 works!