The morning was muggy and we were back into the gloom in full force. Had a simple plan laid out before us and it didn’t take long to bust a sweat.
WU (ShopDawg)
SSH 30, Merkin 15, IW 20, LBC 30, MC 25 – mosey down to parking lot and back to see the work ahead
The Thang:
12 cones lined the sidewalk out lining the bulk of the work to be done this morning! The plan was simple, the execution, well that was a bit more work. Suicides started at station one back to base Base was 5 Burbee’s every time! So lets go through the stations. 1. 10-Plyo Merkins 2. 30- Heels to heavens 3. 20 Burbee’s 4. 30 LBCs 5. 10 Hand release Merkins 6.25 Carolina Dry Docks 7. 20 Wide arm Merkins 8. 15 Diamond Merkins 9. 20 Supermans 10. 20 Jump Knee tuck’s. All in all it was about 2.75-3 Miles of running, Doc and Dasher lead the way with authority and lead some Mary while the rest of us caught up. We finished by running back and hitting some cones along the way. 15 diamond merkins, 30 LBC’s and 5 burbee’s, then a jail break to the lot for a quick 25 American hammers.
Moleskin:
Today was work, plan and simple, I think some of us were still working off the hangover of soreness that Snowflake put down on Saturday but as that wore off the work of Monday brought sweat of its own. First I want to give some serious props to Dolphin and Land Shark, I am impressed, they are pushing themselves and killing it! Ole MacDonald, your doing it right! Doc and Dasher, well your straight running junkies, good work, always pushing me, Posse, Bottle Cap, Shop dawg, and Legal Zoom I saw pure determination, pure fight and heart to win. For those that don’t know Dirty Bird is fighting some major pain so I am proud that he still is pushing through and has a no give up attitude! Which leaves Money Ball and Frack, so Money Ball pushing his speed and working the cones, FRACK, I think he was mis-named. We should have called him Hulk, HULK SMASH, he just kills it. Nice work done by all.
Announcements: We had to cut them short today but Posse let me know that there is a fun 2 person team (adult/child, adult/ adult, child/child) race this Saturday sounds like fun with the family. Here is the link https://www.greatamazingrace.com/charlotte.html
3rd F for Union County
Ice 9 is starting a 3rd F that will meet on Thursday nights at Brooklyn Pizza 7:30 to 8:30 (start date to be announced shortly) Please let Ice know if your interested so he can order books for those who can join.
Other than that here is a Clip from F3 Area 51 Weekly News. Money Ball thanks for taking us out!
Cookout at Alexander Youth Network
April 2nd, 2016
Please email Joker (shawn.heath@duke-energy.com) if you can join him for a cookout at Alexander Youth Network on the afternoon of Saturday April 2nd (probably around 4pm)
2016 Spring Mudrun – Deadline Approaching
April 30th, 2016
The Ultimate Challenge Mud Run is the F3 Nation “Super Bowl,” only better because it happens twice a year. The course is around 6 miles with 30 some obstacles. Obstacles are pretty evenly spread out throughout the course with obstacles about every 1/5th of a mile. Read the preblast and Signup
F3 Marathon 2016 – Kiawah Island 1/2 and Full
December 10, 2016
On Saturday, December 10, 2016, PAX and families from across from F3nation are invited to assemble near Charleston, SC, to compete in the Kiawah Island Half-marathon and Marathon. It is an opportunity for 2nd F with other PAX, 1st F for the challenge of running your first or fastest 13.1 or 26.2, and an opportunity to involve the family. For more information read the preblast.
On a balmy Spring (technically still Winter) morning thirteen men (technically 11 men, a teenager, and a six year old) gathered to move iron, metabolically condition themselves, and pay respects to a business gone asunder due to what YHC observed as abysmally poor inventory management. A fortnight ago word spread throughout F3Nation that MuscleDriver USA was abruptly closing its doors and all inventory was 50%-60% off. YHC took this opportunity to stock up on new pieces of workout gear/medieval torture devices.
Warmup:
Lap around the mini track at Olde Providence Elementary then gather around the gleaming pile of kettlebells for more civilized activities. At this time Mrs. High Tide dropped off Low Tide, which begs the question if High Tide is allowing him to drive the new Jeep Wrangler yet. The warmup consisted of four building block exercises which were instructed to be performed slowly and using good form. 20 kettlebell swings, 19 goblet squats, 18 mountain climbers, 17 merkins, 16 swings, 15 goblet squats, 14 mountain climbers, 13 merkins, and so on and so forth all the way down to 1 #PatternPower (PAX with little kids in the Nick Jr. demographic will understand that reference).
Kettlebell Work – Every Minute on the Minute:
EMOM is a deliciously evil concept in that it doesn’t sound bad when explained but after a few rounds the rest period gets shorter and shorter, and when done with full enthusiasm the intensity level is through the roof. For the next ten minutes we did 10 kettlebell swings, 2 rack/squat/presses left side, and 2 rack/squat/presses right side. The option was given to substitute a Sots Press for the push press portion of the rack/squat/press complex but YHC did not notice anyone partaking (#VeteranCrew). At the conclusion of ten minutes we moseyed to the field for gear work.
Gear Stations – Field of Dreams
YHC set up twelve gear stations on the big field directly behind the school, six of which were designed to elevate the heart rate and six of which more strength focused. Everyone pick a station that looks fun and get to work, rotating every 90-120 seconds.
Jump Rope, Steel Mace, Power Sled, Ab Wheel rollouts, Battle Rope, Slam Ball, Speed Chute, Medicine Ball squat & launch, 70 lb kettlebell swings, Sandbag clean & press, Agility Ladder + Merkins, Strength Band curls. After everyone got two turns at each station we did a slow recovery run down to the end of the field and a full sprint back. After the sprint High Tide informed us that Low Tide was gunning for YHC (#AndStill), and also off to the side maybe or maybe not #feedingthebabybirds as he so eloquently tweeted. We then moseyed back to the parking lot for around the horn Mary. Each PAX took a turn leading his favorite core exercise, or at least the first core exercise that popped into his head. We did LBCs, old fashioned situps, Freddie Mercury, plank variations, merkins (but with the emphasis on the core right Tambourine?), flutters, dollies, and one of Nuke’s yoga-esque specialties that is really difficult but really good for the core and back. Fin.
Appendix:
Upon traveling to the MDUSA wake last week YHC saw a veritable who’s who of Area 51, so deductive reasoning would suggest that we will be seeing more gear work from Fairview to Ballantyne and all points in between. The sheer volume of inventory they had on hand (except barbells of course) would suggest that the proprietors did not understand the finer points of inventory management, just in time, lean six sigma, and other assorted meaningless business jargon. YHC believes they had enough slam balls on hand for every man, woman and child in these United States. Their loss was our gain though and we have a Spring and Summer to look forward to full of pushing, pulling, and lifting stuff of all kinds. It is the year of the Meathead, huzzah!
11 PAX showed up this morning. Here’s what we did:
Mosey to basketball court for warmup – SSH X 25, Merkins X 10, Peter Parker X 10
Run 1 mi loop around school
Partner up for WIBesque workout:
A/B do 10 pullups, 25 dips, 25 squats, 25 over/unders; Run a lap and 3 dumbocrats each per corner
Repeat, adding 2 dumbocrats per lap.
Repeat for 35ish minutes.
Magee led 6-8 MoM. It was painful.
3 man grinders on the main hill. A does Mary, B does jump squats, C runs in between
Run 1 mi loop around school
Moleskin:
Strong work. Thanks for Magee and BB for letting me join in on the partner work, #oddnumbers. Welcome @Lee, FNG to Day Zero. He crushed it, duh. Welcome @T&C, FNG to F3 and T-Claps @Hairball for yet another EH.
Thanks for the chance to lead. Another good start to a Saturday.
11 PAX made the right choice and posted a The Rock, here’s out it went to down.
COP
Road Trip
Head out of the Calvary parking lot make a left on Route 51, stopping at Elm for some Mary
Mosey to Day Zero AO for the following:
Move over to the lowest benches in the Area 51 region for two rounds of circuit work
On the move to Bevington Place stopping for the following:
Mosey to Stony Hill Lane stopping for:
Move to Elm stopping for the following:
Mosey Back to Route 51 for the following:
People’s Chair
Return to the AO and Grab Some Wall, for two rounds for Air Presses x 100.
Jack Webb
Head back to the start point for a dose of Jack Webb up and down 5.
Mary
Moleshikin:
Announcements:
Spring is finally here, so short sleeves, shorts, and gloves to protect your hands, not keep them warm. It was a beautiful morning on the shortest weekend of the year (since we lose an hour tonight). The PAX gathered, were disclaimed, and off at 7am.
First, a moderate mosey around the school to the lower parking lot where everyone circled up for some standard warm up exercises…
SSH x 25 IC
IW x 25 IC
Low Slow Squat x 20 IC
MC x 25 IC
Peter Parker x 25 IC
The PAX went over to the cinder block pile and everyone took a coupon or a ticket for admission and headed out to the center light pole for a little starfish work.
At center light pole, 10 block curls, 10 block presses, 10 block squats
Drop block and run to 1st light pole for 20 merkins
Back to middle for 10 curls, 10 presses,10 squats
Run to 2nd light pole for 20 jump squats
Back to middle for 10, 10, 10
Run to 3rd light pole for 20 wide arm merkins
Back to middle for 10, 10, 10
Run to 4th light pole for 20 monkey humpers
Back to middle for 10, 10, 10
Run to 5th light pole for 20 diamond merkins (10R, 10L)
Back to middle for 10, 10, 10
Now some straight block work
Tricep extensions x 25 IC
One arm row x 20 IC
The other arm row x 20 IC
Held the Block in a block plank over the head
Help the Block out straight
Repeato
Return coupons back to cinder block pile
Bear crawl to parking lot
Off to the bus parking lot for suicide ladder
Run suicide to light pole, 1st basketball goal, 2nd basketball goal
Add the ladder, so run to light pole, 5 CDD, 1st basketball goal, 10 CDD, 2nd basketball goal, 15 CDD
Next round, 5/10/15 squats
Next round 5/10/15 LBCs
Next round 5/10/15 merkins
With a bit of planking in bettwen
Head over to the school for People’s Chair
PC + with air presses x 50
Broad jump out to curb
PC + with chest presses x 50
Broad jump out to curb
Mosey back to playground near the launch point for some circuit work
10 Pull ups, 20 derkins, and 30 Dips
Rinse & Repeat x 3
Back to the launch point for Mary…
Dolly x 25 IC,
LBC x 25 IC,
Flutter x 25 IC,
Back Scratcher x 20 IC
Rosalita x 20 IC
Russian Twist x 25 IC
10 Burpees OYO to ensure a full 60 minutes of pain (except Joker who condensed his workout to 30 minutes)…
Moleskin
As always, great to see everyone out at A51’s AO. Thanks for the opportunity to lead – it is always a pleasure. I tried to mix up the workout with a good bit of running and variety.
Announcements –
Spring Mud Run is 04/30/2016. 4 man team obstacle race. Fire Hazard and Strawberry are the SOB/Area 51 Event Co-Qs for this one. Look for pre-blast with sign-up details.
Race on April 2 to raise funds for Brain Tumor Research ( Brain Tumor Fund Raiser )
COT and send off…
17 Men, including FNGs Pogo (Todd Dunn) and Hacker (Jason Desper) posted in the UC Gloom to kick off their weekend with purpose. It went something like this:
COP in cadence
Side Straddle Hop x 25
Imperial Walker x 20
Mountain Climber x 15
Merkins x 20
Squat x 25
Mosey to Rock Pile- grab a lifting rock
Goblet Squat/Curl/Overhead Press superset x 20 in cadence
Bring rock to wall
People’s Chair, with Rock Presses x 10, Overhead x 10
Back to Circle w rock, Goblet Squat/Curl/Overhead Press x 20 in cadence
Lunge Walk to bridge, Backwards Lunge Walk across bridge
Mosey to field for Merkin Mania (No Recover), In Cadence
Merkin x 10, Diamond x 10, Wide Arm x 10, Elbow Plank a while.
Ginormous Tires beckon, line up behind tire.
Teams of 2 or 3 flip tire, head to back of line.
Move tire length of field and back.
Mosey to track. Bleacher Run for 5 minutes.
Circle Up behind end zone, Mary.
LBC x 40
American Hammer x 10
Bicycle x 15
Heels to Heaven x 15
Partner up at Goal Line.
Partner Carry End Zone to End Zone and back, Flapjack as needed.
Mosey up behind Visitors Benches
People’s Chair, Hip Slaps
Box Jumps x 15, Dips x 15, Rinse + Repeat
Mosey up to Cinder Blocks
Shrugs x 15, Staggered Merkins x 10 each side
Mosey across bridge
Supine Rows x 10, Repeat
Lunge Walk up hill towards Rock Pile
People’s Chair, Left Leg High, Right Leg High
Jail Break to start
Mary – In Cadence
LBC x 50
Dolly x 15
Rosalita x 15 ish
LBC x 10
Moleskin
It’s always great to see FNGs at Commitment! Welcome Pogo and Hacker. Also great to have Happy, Crab Legs, Marlin, Money Ball and Bottle Cap in from the East.
Very solid work by everybody today: Kevorkian crushed to Partner Carry, Transporter and Doc almost got a 360 out of the Tire Flip, Dasher pretty much killed everything.
Shop Dog and Legal Zoom really pushing the Jail Break.
The Tire Flip was a complete audible: sitting there a big and daring, YHC had to work that in. I’m sure nobody missed the laps on the track that got dropped to stay on schedule.
Announcements
Headlock the Snowbirds to come back out- #accountability
2nd F Cookout March 26- Shop Dog’s backyard in Lawson, bring a covered dish and watch hoops with your Brothers.
April 9 Spartan Sprint
April 23 Battlefrog
April 30 Mud Run http://www.ultimatechallengemudrun.org/ There are teams already formed, check the F3nation.com site for finding an F3 team.
18 on the barren fields of Outland this AM for a real dirty one. Armed with a dodgy foot, a truck bed full of man sized kettlebells, and a highly sought-after #BigCountry Rhapsody playlist – this Q was ready to deliver the goods.
The THANG (with a twang)
Chaos from the get go with a discombubulated passel of minions scrambling over the river and through the woods to the large practice field, some carrying kettlebells and one carrying a fabulous jukebox of Country Gold.
Everybody grab a kettlebell from the pile. Don’t be scared of the 50s, they don’t bite. Just me and Charlotte Johnson out here today – JUST A SWANGIN.
Warmup COP, including Time Life classics such as:
Line up facing the field – noting the cones spaced evenly out to 150 yards away
Between the rounds was a hazy, slobbering stumbling mess with some Mary and plank work led by the various pax proving clearheaded enough to perform such a service.
Finisher:
Partner up and farmers carry with a 10 merkin chaser back to parking lot. Long way back, turning this into a bit of Lord of the Flies about halfway home. This was a bit of #QFailure, as I misread my watch and thought we had 15 mins left (to my horror, cuz I was smoked like a turkey). EE very kindly and gently coached me towards the parking lot instead of the cones were we were headed.
BUCK OWENS SKIN:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Grindstone firing back up soon – Shepherd and Late Show taking over.
Union county forming some Mud Run Teams – stay tuned.
Reply if I missed anything. Getting pretty foggy at this point.
Horsehead
Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll
15 men enjoyed a beautiful Spring morning to work their legs and lungs for some interval training at Mountain Goat. With 12 checked in, we disclaimed and headed out to Strawberry Ln. As we left the SCMS parking lot, we were encountered by Nuke and Insomniac pulling in. They joined us during the warm-up run… but Insomniac wasn’t the last… that trophy was passed to The Mouth for the morning!
NOW we’re ready!!
1. Warm-up down Strawberry and back for 1-mile; Dynamic stretching
2. Starting at road hump… run at I-pace for 5 mins (2:30 out, 2:30 back), then 4 mins recovery x2
3. Run I-pace for 4 mins (2:00 out, 2:00 back), then 3 mins recovery x2
4. Run I-pace for 3 mins (1:30 out, 1:30 back), then 2 mins recovery… only once as we ran out of time
5. Cool down… return to SCMS parking lot.
DONE! 5.5-6/5 miles depending on pace.
Moleskine
This week’s program didn’t have too many moving parts… but the 5:00 min segments are tough! I could tell everyone was starting to dial in their pace through the workout as we started arriving back to the start point at about the same time. You guys did great!
Welcome to Band-Aid and Gomer Pyle as site FNG’s! You guys are welcome back ANYTIME!
Kotters to Icky and Booyah… great to have you boys back! It doesn’t look like you’ve lost too many steps!
The Mouth was fashionably 15 minutes late… great as always to have his unfiltered banter to pass the morning!
Brat and Joker led the pack as usual. Sensei was not far behind, and Voodoo was always close as well!
Geraldo, Retread, Insomniac, Nuke and Huggy Bear all continue to bring it strong every week!
Announcements
1. Red Ruck and Blue
2. Ballantyne Ballrog tomorrow on Saturday
3. Mud Run sign-ups
4. Blue Ridge Relay… start considering being on a team… Mountain Goat is PERFECT training!
The Pax eagerly pulled in the parking lot and waited for the clock to strike 5:30. Harley was nervous since I wore gloves and wasn’t sure if he needed any, but I assured everyone I only wore them because I have sensitive hands and I need to keep my hands soft for when my wife is out of town. A light bulb went off over Brown’s head when he heard that. It is really helpful to wear night gloves with hand cream to keep them soft. We took off with a mosey down to the narrow, dark street where the tennis courts are across from CDS. We circled up and made Alf really uncomfortable with the tight circle. I think he is claustrophobic.
COP:
20 SSH
20 IW
20 Merkins
Disclaimer given for the Pax to keep Brown quiet as we crossed Hwy 51 and headed over to Reid Hall Lane for some hills. Not sure if we had been there before, but we did a version of the triple nickel. Up and down 5 times with 20 monkey humpers at the bottom and 20 merkins up top. Plank at the bottom for the Pax when done.
Mosey back over to the first entrance off of Covenant Church Lane. Run down to the end of each parking row, and do 10 backward lunges on each leg. Gather back up at the front of the church. Mosey over to the benches next to the new playground for some Derkin/Dip fun. Start off with 10 military count derkins, then 10 dips. 9x of each, then 8x down to 1x. The cadence is called by a new Pax each time.
Back to the AO for the COM:
40 LBCs on your own.
10x Cross Leg Crunch each side
10x Toe Touches each side
10x Can Openers each side
Moleskin: I think Brown developed a hernia during the last part of the workout and so he asked someone to check if he coughed. Noone stepped up to the plate. Alf was worried we were going to sing Kumbaya when we circled up and then he was worried we were just wandering aimlessly the whole time. I think he thought we might not find our way back or something. Orange Whip enjoyed the new turf, and may steal some ideas for his Q next week. We determined Squid is dyslexic because he did forward lunges instead of backward. Harley’s girlfriend got up early to watch us perform the monkey humpers from her front porch. We looked like Magic Mike XL. Turkey Leg is a cyborg now that he has a knew brace, and apparently Horsehead has a toenail and couldn’t make it out.
Thanks Squid for the take out. And thanks HH and Bulldog for letting me lead.
Probably the warmest morning so far this year greeted the 8 Pax that rose to the occasion and posted at Joust today. YHC had planned to keep the Pax in perpetual motion to keep that heart rate elevated for the entire 45 minutes this morning. Made a few adjustments along the way, but I think everyone got their money’s worth. For those that slept in and missed out on a great morning to sweat, here’s what you missed.
No FNG’s – Quick Disclaimer and away we went as the clock struck 5:30
Run to the center of the football field for Warmup COP
SSHx20 IC
Stagger Merkin Left x 15 IC
IWX20 IC
Stagger Merkin Right x 15 IC
Grab a friend for a little Partner Work
P1 Runs up the stairs, around the sidewalk to the upper playground for 10 Pullups & 10 Hanging Knees to Elbows
P2 Runs a hot lap around the Track and knocks out triceps dips waiting for P1 to return
Complete 20 Partner Handslap Merkins and FLapJack
Two Rounds – Plank When done
Stadium Circuit (3 Rounds)
Up the stairs around the Announcers Both, down the stairs to the front row of the bleachers for the following:
20 Triceps Dips
20 Step Ups
20 Knees to Chest (abs)
Run it down to the Far 10 Yard Line facing the Hill for Endurance, push to Failure suicide of sorts
Starting at the
10 Yard Line – 10 Merkins, Run to far Endzone and back
20 Yard Line – 20 Merkins, Run to Far Endzone and back
30 Yard Line etc all the way to the far 10 Yard Line
Once you have completed all of the merkins, Begin same format with Squats in place of merkins
We got to about the 50 Yard Line during the Squat Round and then had to head back due to time.
Mosey back to the Parking lot for COT and Namarama
Thank you to Dollywood for taking us out this morning, much appreciated.
Announcements – have a great weekend and get outside with your family!
Moleskin:
The parking lot was relatively empty when I rolled in with 2 minutes till launch, and it would remain that way until go time. It was a strong group this morning with everyone pushing themselves along with plenty of encouragement. During the Partner Rounds, the young guns Yeti/Dollywood were pushing the pace with Ductwork/Cowgirl getting after it as well. As usual, Puddin Pop was working up a sweat and working hard as were Bounce and my partner SemiGloss. The partner merkins were a crowd pleaser which would only foreshadow the pain to come. Being that there was a 40 ft net blocking Grandmother mountain which was to be the tip of iceburg during the Suicide, YHC decided we needed some stair work in place of the hill. The Pax stayed together during the stadium circuit with Dollywood leading the group. With about 20 minutes left we lined up on the 10 yard line where YHC laid out the plan for the remainder of the workout. The Merkin round was a true grinder with muscle failure beginning at around the 40 Yardline. Several of the pax acknowledged that their merkin form was deteriorating at a rapid pace as the reps mounted. You should all be walking around a little bit swole today. That’s what a total of 370 merkins will do for you (60 in COP, 60 Handslaps, 250 during the suicide).
We ran out of time during the squat round with most folks getting to the 40-50 yard line. All in we covered 2.5 Miles.
Thank you header for the opportunity to lead.
Fletch