Snow Beast
7 men pushed aside common sense and posted this morning for the always high intensity #F3DayZero. The original plan to run off campus was scrapped. It’ll keep for another time. Instead, we stayed at base and chose some old school suck.
The Thang
Mosey down the to the proving ground for COP:
- SSHs x 20 IC
- IWs x 20 IC
- MCs x 20 IC
Mosey to the rock stone pile. Pick a good one. Back to the proving ground for some work.
The Beast – Run down and back, stopping at each trash can (6 stops) for 6 reps of called exercise for 6 rounds.
- Round 1 – 20 curls with the rock stone. Drop the rock stone. Merkins at each stop.
- Round 2 – 20 presses with the rock stone. Drop the rock stone. Jump squats at each stop.
- Round 3 – 20 tricep presses with the rock stone. Drop the rock stone. LBCs at each stop.
- Round 4 – 20 curls with the rock stone. Carry the rock stone. Squats at each stop.
- Round 5 – 20 presses with the rock stone. Drop the rock stone. Flutter kicks at each stop.
- Round 6 – Carry the rock stone. Burpees at each stop.
Two rounds of suicides, sans rock stone.
- Round 1 – To each trash can and back, starting with closest.
- Round 2 – To each trash can and back, starting with farthest.
Rock Stone sprint grinders – Divide into two groups. Perform called exercise at each end. Guys alternating sprinting between ends while carrying the rock stone.
Return the rock stone. Back to the proving ground for some Mary.
- American Hammer x 20 IC
- Straight leg lifts x 20 IC
- LBCs x 20 IC
- Freddie Mercury x 20 IC (5 fast, 5 slow, 5 fast, 5 slow)
- Elbow plank – Hold while we went around the circle for everyone to do a 10 count.
Mosey back up to school from a few rounds of People’s Chair. Done. COT.
Moleskine
As YHC ran up to the school parking lot, Philmont was already there waiting, having moseyed from his house. He described its location as in back of the Touchstone center, made it sound like he lives in the Tuesday Morning stock room. Then Frasier arrived. He noted that there was some guy sliding around in the front parking lot. Yep, forgot to tell Icicle we parked on the side. Then Rachel came running in, another Touchstone neighborhood guy. Then up drives HighTide, in his Jeep…the old one, not the new one. Last to arrive was CrotchRocket, coming in with all the pomp and circumstance worthy of F3 royalty. Turns out he just moved South, settling somewhere close to TR’s house. Yeah, good luck with that.
Rachel and Frasier are skinny dudes. They stayed out front the whole time. Philmont noted that the skinny guys don’t even break the top layer of snow/ice. The rest of us, well we trudged along. On the far end of the proving ground, it was like running in that thick beach sand. HighTide reminisced about his summertime Speedo sprints on the island’s white sands. Icicle did not hold back on sprint grinders…the man was flat out totin’ the rock stone…did a Heisman pose each time before handing it off.
We tried coffeeteria…but Starbucks was closed. Weak.
Solid work men. Thanks for posting. It was an honor to lead.
Announcements
- Join Frasier for a 5K for a great cause. Check it out at gojengo.org.
- CR noted that Expansion is exploding in 2016. Plenty of opps to get involved in taking what we have to other men around the country. E-mail Expansion@F3Nation.com to see how you can help.
- #KeepPounding
The three beard a teers for fun in the snow/ice
With no idea what to do with a 30 minute Q and waking up to the message that my other half was not going to be there made for an interesting hour Q Turnpike Style and the weather could have not Ben more perfect for a Tour de Turnpike!
7:00 am hits and it’s time to mosey!
Mosey to the virtual shovel flag
COP
SSH IC X 20
IW IC X 20
Mosey to the small track and let’s lunge walk halfway around.
When we get halfway around time for stop 2 of the tour for a Turnpike special of Four Corners!
Starting at the first corner with 25 Carolina Dry Docks and then run to the next corner and add 10 CDD and continue that patern until you reach the fourth corner which would equal 55 CDD. Not only was this a favorite of the PAX this morning but my shoulder in which I have been experiencing a lot of discomfort on the past few weeks really enjoyed it!
Mosey to the practice field.
Butt kickers to the dip bars and then 25 LBC’S OYO
Karaoke left to the tower and then 50 LBC’S OYO
Karaoke Right to the dummies and the. 75 LBC’S OYO
Run (carefully I may add) to the start and then 100 LBC’S OYO.
Let’s mosey to the road behind the practice field for the next stop on our tour. But wait first let’s do 15 of the best and worse idea Burpees OYO that we have ever done! Once complete we got to our next stop which was the field across the road. This stop was simple let’s just run to the top of the hill there. Once on top of the hill we ran halfway around the parking circle.
We then lined up for a three man Indian run to the next stop of our tour towards the wall next to the school.
Grab some wall and drop an inch to get comfortable!
Peoples Chair W/25 Air Presses
15 Squats OYO
Peoples Chair W/ 50 Air Presses
30 Squats OYO
PC W/ 75 AP
45 Squats OYO
PC W/ 100 AP
60 Squats OYO
Mosey to the buses!
Bear Crawl cheese weave through the first five buses then run the rest! A lot of fun slipping and sliding on these.
Mosey Back to the wall and grab a block for some safe station work
25 Step Ups
25 Dips
25 Decline Merkins
Let’s mosey to the hill by the parking lot for some 7’s!
1 Merkin on the bottom
6 Squats on top
Continue until you reach 6 Merkins on bottom and 1 Squat on top!
Mosey to entrance of the school for 3 MOM:
Flutter IC X 20
Rosalita IC X 20
Freddy Mercury IC X 20
Done!
Thanks to Glass Joe for taking us out!
Hope I didn’t disappoint in our tour this morning! There was a lot of great bad ideas out there this morning just glad you joined me in the fun.
Turnpike
Two to Tango
The weather guessers were right on with their forecast. It was an icy and snowy mix last night and into this morning which resulted in a pretty crusty white surface along the 51 corridor. Leaving the house this morning I actually didn’t expect anyone to show given the pretty sketchy driving conditions and several AO’s closing due to inclement weather. I did one donut in the parking lot to check the running surface and to my surprise there was a decent amount of grip. 5:15 struck and it was just me in the lot with thoughts of heading back home creeping in…at about the time I was going to put the truck in drive, headlights began to show from around the bend. On Two wheels comes Mr Brady and that was more than enough to begin.
The Thang and the MOleskin
Quick but thorough disclaimer was issued and away we went. What Mr Brady lacked in illumination he more than made up for with bright colors and a hat with Bells. YHC had new batteries in his headlamp and a blinky so we felt pretty visible heading into the gloom.
Warmed up around Strawberry Lane to Woodfox. Got it moving a little faster on Rounding Run and settled into a nice pace for the remainder of our trip. No stops as it was windy and sleeting the entire run. Nice 2nd F along the way as we hauled up Windbluff to Providence. Made the decision not to run near providence due the possibility of cars fishtailing at the sight of two nuts running on the icy sidewalk.
Turned around and headed back to Raintree, sharp slippery left turn on Raintree and all the way up to Providence yet again. A Few near spills, but we made it back into South Charlotte Middle with 5.5Miles under our belts. The miles Felt a lot more difficult this morning, likely due to the extra concentration on footing.
Quick COT and take out for safe travels and health and we were officially done.
Snow, Sleet, Freezing Rain, Oh My
On my drive to SV Middle, I experience snow at first, sleet and then freezing rain by the time I got there. Saw one guy spin out on the way. Averaged about 35 mph. Figured it was going to be worthy of some laughs. But then no one else pulled in the parking lot so the moment of decision: To Post or Not To Post. It’s F3. We post. Off I go….
The Thang
Moseyed to the grass as the pavement was, well, slick
COP
Do you cadence out loud when you are solo is the question I’ve always wondered? So, I did the 3 count in my head and the rep count out loud.
SSH IC x25
IW IC x20
Windmill IC x10
I did have an idea for what I wanted to do but after COP, I figured why not go through the obstacle course a couple of times. On the way, I remembered why that was a bad idea. It’s in a bottom and my feet were now soaked.
Two times through Obstacle course. The 7-8 foot wall was a beast with a layer of ice on top.
Mosey to the baseball field beside the middle school for what was my idea coming into this thing.
Bear Crawl to 1st base. Lunge walk to Second. Crab Walk to Third. Lunge Walk to Home. Had intended many rounds of this with various combos. But after Round 1, I had soaked the two layers of gloves I had on and now my fingers were as cold as my toes which I hadn’t felt since the run to the obstacle course. Time to Q-Jack my own Q.
Lap around the Middle School
Decide to do a circuit workout:
Round 1) Rail Walk, Step Ups x20, Dips x20, Decline Merkins x20, Lap around Middle School
Round 2) Rail Walk, Step Ups x25, Dips x25, Decline Merkins x25, Lap around Middle School
Round 3) Rail Walk, Step Ups x30, Dips x30, Decline Merkins x30, Lap around Middle School
4 MOM:
Flutters IC x20
Dolly IC x20
LBCs until 6:15
DONE!
COT:
I prayed. God listened. It counts.
Moleskine:
It was cold. It was wet. It was nasty.
I tried to do some things I didn’t like such as Decline Merkins. I was sweating and glad at the end that I did it.
Thankful half the lap around the school was on a gravel drive. It was easier to run on than the pavement. Didn’t bust my butt a single time which is surprising given I normally fall when it’s dry. The laps around the middle school added some mileage but it was definitely slow mileage in the conditions.
These are the moments that will test you. Do we quit when no one is watching or do we do a full workout? It really becomes a matter of character at that point. I am convinced our families and the world around us need us to be consistent even when no one is watching.
Glass Joe
A little Ice and Sleet Sent the SOB’s Running to the Garage
The Thang….
The clock hit 5:15 and we grabbed a pair of 50lbs sandbags and a 60 lbs sandbag and headed from the Vine to our favorite parking garage in Ballantyne Village. Once there, we headed down to the basement and circled up.
COP – in cadence
20 – SSH
20 – IW
15 – Windmills
15 – Merkins
Here we split into 2 groups (a 2 man and a 3 man) one group stayed in the basement and completed bent over rows. The other ran to the top of the covered part of the deck and back. Then we flapjacked.
Once we completed that fun we did a bear crawl for about 80 yards with 10 civilian count merkins/CCDs every 10 yards.
We then did a belly start sprint back over to the start point
At this point we circled up for 1 minute of each of the following exercises. Rotating until the 5 PAX completed each exercise.
– Cleans w/ 60lbs sandbag
– LBCs
– Curls w/ 50lbs sandbag
– Flutter Kicks
– Overhead Press w/ 50lbs sandbag
We then took a rest with the Peoples Chair with arm flutters and Balls to the wall. Rinse and repeat
Once this was completed the PAX headed to the top of the deck and completed 20 Low Slow Squats in Cadence. Then back down to the basement with 20 Sumo Jumps OYO.
At this point we headed back, as it is a slow mosey with a sandbag on your back in the snow.
The Moleskin –
Over the last week, Tolken, Champagne, Madam and YHC have been working on a great gear workout for the dedicated PAX of the Brave. As this AO started out to train people for OCR’s YHC thought it would be a good idea to get stronger for the obstacles. It was going to be a beatdown of epic proportions. Then Thursday morning came around and the Snowpacolypse was upon us. For safety’s sake we decided to move to the garage and postpone the epic gear workout. So keep your eyes open for the reschedule date.
When YHC pulled up about 3 minutes prior to the start time there were 2 lone cars in the parking lot. YHC thought about the possibility of talking Outback into just heading back to our Fartsacks and pretending this never happened. Fortunately, Tuck pulled in and YHC new that there was no way we could peer pressure all 3 pax to do the wrong thing. #ACCOUNTABILITY. The 3 PAX grabbed the 3 sandbags YHC happened to have in the back of the SUV and headed to the garage. Right as the Mosey began Wingman pulled into the lot and quickly caught up. The conversation on the slow mosey was around the PAX that did not show up (Tolken, Bean, MT and Champagne). Champagne had a great excuse as he was helping with The Stand today (and yes I will check the backblast to ensure he didn’t fartsack). Madam was having some sickness issues he didn’t want to share with the PAX (which we appreciate). That leads us to JRR Tolken he had been on Slack this AM and HC’d last night. Where was he???? Then about ¾ of the way through the mosey he caught us and had some flimsy story about being stuck behind a “snow truck”. So the only one left was Bean. He had texted me the night before saying we should clown car to stay safe. I agreed and I texted him at 4:55. No reply. What a shameless fartsacker (if you see him give him a hard time). Anywaaaaay. YHC thought the PAX got a pretty good beatdown that was the opposite of the usual Brave running heavy MO. YHC really appreciated the 4 PAX that posted with him today and pushed hard. It was a pleasure. Also, a big thanks to Outback for taking us out.
As usual it was an honor and a privilege to lead this group of men in the gloom.
Announcements:
-Family Hike on Jan 23rd at Anne Springs greenway is CANCELLED
-Come out to Stonehenge or daVinci in the morning if you can make it out
Watch the patch of Ice!
After YHC sent out a tweet yesterday confirming the pre-run and the main event’s activities, Slim Fast inadvertently sent out a tweet with the exact opposite information. Who doe he think he is – a site Q or something?!! Needless to say, 3 showed up for a pre run and 1 for a pre ruck.
the thang – mosey to bottom of parking lot for COP… 5 burpees, SSH x 20, LBCs x 20, IW x 20,
partner up – partner 1 runs to top of hill and does called exercise while partner 2 stays at bottom of hill doing an exercise until partner 1 gets back. flap jack, rinse and repeat. exercises – lbc’s, heels to heaven, Freddie mercury’s, and rock hoppers.
Mosey to stairs for circuit work. 20 dips, 15 merkins, 10 calf raises. rinse and repeat.
mosey to big parking lot. partner up – partner 1 runs distance of parking lot and does called exercise at every light pole while partner 2 does called exercise. flap jack, rinse and repeat. exercises – peter parker, parker peter, rockhopper, plank
mosey to playground for circuit work. 5 pullups, 10 merkins, 15 lbcs. rinse and repeat
mosey to wall for wall sits and 101 air presses
mosey back to parking lot for some Pax led Mary
It was a great morning – certainly not as cold as it has been the past few days. As we gathered to enter the gloom we noticed Freedom was AWOL. This is unacceptable as he lives less than 100yrds from the AO. Some thought was given to running to his house to crank up his #jukejeep and swing some KB’s – we might have helped ourselves to whatever was in his refrigerator as well. Knowing that Freedom lives in a house full of women – causing a ruckus @ 5.30am was not in anyone’s best interest. We decided to stay in our designated area and Freedom eventually showed up mumbling something about his phone not waking him up…
Had a good time talking it up with Short Circuit – funny to listen to a dude from Denver Colorado on his perspective on a potential Charlotte snowstorm… Huh?!?
Sensei – what an inspiration you are! It was a privilege to run with you this am. I’m stressed out of my mind that I don’t pull a Geraldo yet you are cool as a cat as busses go by on Hwy 51!
Thanks for sending us out Smokey – you lead well through your actions and influence!
Meathead masher
11 heeded the call and came out to the madness we call Meathead.
THE THANG
SSH x 10
IW x 10
20 two handed swings plus 20 merkins, 19 two handed swings 19 merkins and so on down to one.
Pair up. Partner 1 does upright row squat press and hands KB to partner whos just done a burpee. Ten each.
KB combo – 5 x one handed swing, 5 x snatch, 5 x high pull, 5 x clean, 5 x rack squat repeat on other arm. Repeat with 4 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps, 3 reps, 4 reps, 5 reps.
Jack Webb – KB merkin x 1, lawnmower x 2. Repeat up to 10 merkins and 20 lawnmowers.
Mary time
10 Louganis, 10 seated OH presses, 10 flutter presses. Repeat with 8 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps, 2 reps.
COT
YE OLDE FASHIONED MOLEY MOLEY
Strong showing today. Tried to switch up the tunes with some “Throw Back Thursday” on Spotify but it got freaky two songs in which was when Fletch joined us. Switched to the old chestnuts of Rocky, Kanye, and U2 which was when Insomniac jumped in. Hard work today and Browns heart about exploded two thirds in due to the cardio factor. Saw High Tide feeling it today too as he lounged on is new Wrangler which it seems is now the official car of F3!
Hats off to Turkey Leg for keeping MeatRunner going and to Insomniac for lasting through a tough one.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Stone Cold leads Kevlar tomorrow and Fletch has Mountain Goat.
Ascent converging with Olympus at OP on Saturday.
Keep an eye on the weather and enjoy the snow.
Go Panthers and if anyone has extra tickets just knocking around let me know!
Mountain Goat Lucky 777’s Pre-Blast
The plan tomorrow was for a heaping helping of Track intervals tomorrow to work on those fast-twitch fibers and increased speed over shorter distances. However, there is a very good chance that the track is going to be too slippery for sprints in the am based on the forecast. So, tomorrow we will be pulling the handle and hoping for Lucky 777’s on three of the best hills in Raintree.
Fletch
Just good, clean fun
11 posted at Hydra, just ahead of the certain snowpocalypse in Charlotte. Get yourself to HT and buy some milk. YHC still nursing a sore knee so running will be limited….that’s a shame.
The Thang:
No newbies, No Disclaimer – You’re on your own. Slow trot around the front of the school and circle up in the parking lot.
COP:
- IW x 20 IC – – wheelhouse
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Squats x 15 civilian count, slow cadence
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Merkins x 15 civilian count, slow cadence
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Mountain Climber x 15 IC – don’t remember if we actually did these? Could have been LBC’s. (Age)
Mosey to the concession area and split in 2 groups to minimize crowding.
A little Circuit:
Run to end of fence, then
- 5 Burpees
- 10 Donkey Kick
Run to playground
- 5 Pullups (or 10 if supine)
- 10 Squat
Run to front of lot
- 5 Bench jump-ups (or 10 if Step Up)
- 10 Dip
Run back to Concession area:
- 5 Jump squat
- 10 incline merkins
Keep going for 20-25 minutes-ish
Circle up in Parking lot for Mary:
LBC x 20 IC
Ski Abs x 10 IC
1 Leg Crunch x 10 IC each leg
Ski Abs x 10 IC
Russian Twist x 20 IC
Ski Abs x 10 IC
Line up for Grinders – we sprint like Ted Gynn for 5-ish minutes
Circle up and back to your 6 for more Mary
Dolly x 20 IC
Groiner x 10 IC
Flutter x 20 IC
Groiner x 10 IC
Mosey back to front parking lot and that’s it.
Moleskin
Good work by all this morning. Just trying to keep moving in the midst of the stifling heat and humidity.
T-claps to Grapevine (my homebrewing mentor) for making the drive from Metro to support YHC’s Q. Also to Champagne, Purple Haze and Spackler…..oh yea, they weren’t there. Brothers.
No Announcements.
That is all.
No Sprinters Track
#F3Swift this week was all about the Sprinter. Run hard then jog a lot. While we probably could have done more reps, sometimes you just have to start over somewhere, and this was a great way to get back into the buildup to prepare for the next challenge.
The Thang:
- a fractured early crew departed at 0500. Even while stragglers drove in, PAX were seen chasing others to catch up. Gumbo and Bratwurst were watching this show as they drove in, so instead of running to catch up, as they have done before (should get their clocks checked), they took off in a different direction to set up some cone staging.
- 515 and there were a couple more takers in the parking lot. The early crew didn’t stop too long in the cold, so all departed for the warm-up run almost immediately and just made sure that car door of a late arriving PAX wasn’t going to be opened. Must be a Bagpiper.
- Warm-up through the Corporate Park is done, flashing cones spotted, so the dynamic exercises commence with heel walking, toe walking, high knees, and butt kicks. On to the “track” of Rushmore Dr.
- Main set run at 1 mile race pace (a.k.a. Repetition Pace or R-pace from http://runsmartproject.com/calculator)
- 4x200m with 200m recovery
- 3x400m with 400m recovery
- 4x200m with 200m recovery.
- Mosey back to home.
Moleskin:
- With a promise to improve the 1 Mile Time Trial times this Spring, we have to get back to setting that base pace and working from it. It will likely seem too easy a pace for 200s, but we’re going to build from it and make it so the 400s (at the same pace) seem like cake.
- It’s still fun to push on the 200s a bit, and some of them got pretty spicy. Fortunately, none of the PAX ended up with a popped Achilles or torn Hammy. However, as seen from race photos by JRR Tolkien, Bunker, and Tuck, they were flying:
- Great to have Heisman and Bounty Hunter out from the South Carolina reaches of SoB land. Still seems like BH only posts when OneNiner, WWL, or Ringer don’t show. Weird phenomenon. Almost like YHC swore for a while that Gumbo and Beaker were the same PAX, but that Myth has been busted. The IndianLand PAX avoiding each other Myth is still probable.
- StrangeBrew was wearing his Luge outfit from his appearance in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Sleek and aerodynamic in those tights. Just leave the helmet at home next time. I bet it was hard to run and see out of that thing.
- YHC didn’t check the Runner’s World site What to Wear for Tuesday morning, but probably should have. Still, an extra sheddable layer is not bad to have around. Just have to make sure you remember where you drop it.
Announcements:
- You’ve heard it here first. There will be a “Destathon” for F3 this year – Egypt of F3Metro translates this as “Destination Marathon”. In previous years, PAX have gathered to travel to Chicago and San Francisco, but this year will be more accessible to most PAX and Ms. Stay tuned for details. Bratwurst is on Q.