20 men answered the call at Skunkworks for what I hope was a good old fashioned throat chop.
Here’s what we did.
Warmup
– Avoid the early trash truck
– Mosey to the dark alley
– SSH
– IW
– 30, 20, 10 two-handed swings
– Merkins: 10 left hand on bell, 10 right hand on bell, 10 diamond both hands on bell
Farmer Carries (you know it’s coming when we go to the alley)
– Partner up with like size KB
– Partner 1 carries both KBs
– Partner 2 10 merkins, chase and switch
– Feel exceptional burn in forearms
Mary (aka recovery)
Hill Suicides
– Bottom of hill in front of church, first set of excercise then run to first median and back, second set then run to second median and back, third set then run to street at top of hill and back
– Stated goal was to focus on form with KBs and go hard on runs, turned into more of just trying to survive (at least for me)
– Set #1: Snatches – 5x each arm, 7x each arm, 10x each arm
– Set #2: Goblet Squats – 10x, 15x, 20x
– Set #3: Burpees – 10x, 15x, 20x
– Set #4: Swings – 10x two handed, 10x right hand, 10x left hand
– Set #5: Push press on ground – 5x each arm, 7x each arm, 10x each arm
Farmer Carry back to parking lot
I’ve been getting a bit complacent (old, fat, lazy) and wanted to get back at pushing it hard at Skunkworks this am. Mission accomplished, although the pack was moving way faster than me. I had a couple of moments of hoping not to pass out or throw up. Strong work out there today.
A few notables:
– Witch Dr.: took off like a rocket carrying the KBs, PEDs?
– Fletch: runs like the wind…and carries a 45 lb KB, #beast
– Channel: killing it today, where you been?
– Frosty Paws: getting ready for winter with the head to toe covered look in 50 degrees
– Brown: talks a big game about not running but he’s not slow
– Stone Cold: perfect merkin form even at the end
– Pop Tart: many thanks for carrying your partner
– Horsehead: pushing it hard on the run
– Under 30 crowd very strong: Sanka, Peacock, Dollywood
– Over 50 crowd also pushing: Hacker, Destiny
– Early Veteran’s Day celebration from Drop Thrill
– Good to see the #s back at skunk…but a few notable absences: where you at TR, Bananas, Bulldog, Arena? #soccerarms?
New schedule for Skunkworks going out ASAP, let me know if you want in.
Fletch is going to co-lead the site, so average fitness level just went up significantly.
Convergence workout tomorrow at Anvil (Calvary) for Veteran’s Day, 5:30, 45 minutes.
— Harley
Disclaimer: This is not for everyone. If you are not ready to get out of your comfort zone please move on.
If you are looking for a CSAUP that can push you to the edge, you might want to keep reading. In my humble opinion a triathlon is the best way to go deep into a pain cave and to find moments of clarity to pull you out.
YHC and 4 others in Metro competed in a Half Ironman in September (3 Hates, 1 Aye, 1 Respect). Each and every one of us will tell you how awesome/terrible it was. YHC beat my expected time by racing the F3 men that were with me, and I was fortunate to finish first #ISI. Experiencing the race with my F3 Brothers was the highlight of my CSAUP year! Backblast here: F3 70,3
We are going to sign up for another one or two in 2016 and want to give you an opportunity to join us for some beers/food to discuss some plans. We will also discuss how to trained with F3 workouts weekly to prepare.
We will be meeting 8pm, Wednesday (11/11) at Bricks located 7814 Fairview Rd (near Ben & Jerry’s).
If you have done or are interested in learning please join us. YHC hopes to see you there!
#F3Swift will launch at 0515 on Tuesday morning from the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne AO. Extra credit option at 0500 for extra easy 1mile. Short enough that those doing the Thunder Road 13.1/ 26.2 or Spartan Beast will even find some friendly options.
The Thang:
To find your R-pace or I-pace, use the run pace calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator or download the VDOT Calc app from iOS App Store or Google Play.
Let’s be buddies.
Partner up. Yes, speed matters.
Run the AYG mile to HT (Right onto Rea; run to HT; loop the first pillar; back to OP)
With your partner (never leave him behind/ahead/too far to the side)
–Run to the playground and do 10 pull-ups and 30 dips on the Buddy Bench (Buddy Bench is required)
–Run to Concession Stand and do 20 squats and 20 incline diamond merkin
–Run to the Field and do 30 Russian Twists and 10 dumbocrats (partner 1 planks and does power merkins while partner 2 does derkins, flapjack)
–Run through the woods and to the top of Foxworth hill (at stop sign) and do 10 partner derkins and 30 Flutters (single count)
Run back to field, concession stand, and playground and do exercises. That is 1 round.
Complete as many rounds as possible until 6:05.
Run the mile to HT and back.
Olde Providence Elementary. Rally at 0520, we catapult into the gloom at 0530 sharp.
Let’s go.
I’ve never been one to check the weather ahead of time for anything really. From a young age growing up in England, you learn not to trust the weather-man anyway, so you might as well just wait and see. With that being said, I wish I had checked the forecast today, as I would have conveniently forgotten to set my alarm and I would have told Alf he may need a new Q. It was wretched.
Either way, my 4 alarms went off (usually only one, but when you’re Q’ing and bringing an FNG, AKA people rely on you, it’s better to be safe I suppose), and I strolled to my car in my short-sleeve shirt at 5:10am (too tired/lazy to head back into the house to grab a water-proof after I realized the weather was not on our side – https://youtu.be/1hZySbS2_Dw).
Matrix is about as Gloomy as the Gloom can get….something about the tight, dimly-lit parking lot with nothing but open blackness behind it as you peer into the presumably water-sodden fields. I was first to arrive and feared I may be doing the workout by myself, AKA going back home to bed. But I should have known not to question the PAX – of course those guys would show. That’s what F3ers do. Cars steadily made the turn onto the school property, and there was no heading back. It was particularly pleasing to see the FNG I had EH’d roll in, and give me that “what the hell have I signed up for” look from his driving seat.
THE THANG
Warm-up (or try to at least) with a gentle Mosey on down around the parking lot and then back to the entrance so we at least had some light shining on our wet miserable faces.
Partner up, 8 rounds of exercises:
Round 1: 15x Partner Dips, 50yd Partner Carry, 20x Partner Clap Merkins, 10x Partner Squat, 15x Partner Derkins, 10x Partner Leg Push-down, 20x Knees-to-chest, Scrum Down (it was at this point, I heard Alf whisper to the FNG, “it’s not normally like this” – I took it as a compliment). 100yd shuttle run at 90%
Round 2 thru 8: repeat removing one exercise randomly each time. Always finishing each round with 100yd shuttle run at 90%.
Circle up, tummy-tucking Mary workout to finish – 15 counts: Flutter, LBC, Freddie Mercury, Rosalita. Plank it out.
MOLESKINE
It takes a different level of PAX member to come out on a morning like this morning – especially with it being a Monday. I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. The very first round of exercises led to OT taking a painful-looking tumble on the tarmac, but he made up for it by throwing me around like an ADHD-ridden Orca playing with a baby Seal during our Scrum-down.
Ultimately, there were 8 real men out there, getting their week off to the best possible start. Smiles n’all. Apologies for my lack of cadence etiquette, but between laying in a small pond while having Squid pretty much throw my legs against the gravel, and then having to squat Prohibition’s muscle mass, I knew counting out loud would become hard for me to do.
Huge T-Claps for the FNG Chris = ‘Bozo the Brown’. This morning was as ugly as it gets, and he pushed through it and lasted to the very end. Onwards and upwards, easy-pickings from here, mate.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
I’m not gonna lie, I can’t remember if we had any (don’t think we did) – my mind just wanted to get to the hot shower that awaited me in the hope of getting some feeling back into certain extremities. Thank you Alf for the mandatory Q appointment – looking forward to Madison’s next week.
Great send-off from Paper Jam. Always a pleasure working out with this crazy gang.
Haze damn near bumped YHC from the Q rotation. Retaliation’s a B – with a nasty little treat on tap for FT tomorrow. We’re going to run hard and fast. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Warmup pace down Woodfox. Left on Rounding Run. Right on Raintree Ln.
Quick COP at gravel lot
Turn on the jets, continuing out Raintree Ln.
Rendezvous at 4-way stop (Raintree Ln/4 Mile Creek)
Mosey down 4-MC to Whitethorn (blinking light)
Suicides up 4MC (AYG on the uphill)
Speedsters lead a round of Mary at the 4-way stop til the 6 gets in
Mosey back down Raintree Ln
Quick COP at gravel lot
Rendezvous at the top of Windbluff** (Mod 2 option)
Mosey down Windbluff til you hit the bottom, AYG up backside, stopping at Shallowood, about face
Mosey back down Windbluff to the bottom, AYG up to Raintree Ln. (Strava segment)
Rendezvous for Indian Mosey back to campus – 2 lines if necessary
Total distance: 6.24 miles with no mods
Haze told me I couldn’t use the #dropcity hashtag in this preblast. So…
*If you need to modify, on leg 2 of the suicide, continue to Raintree Ln instead of stopping at St. Croix
**Mod 2: Instead of running up the back side of Windbluff to Shallowood, turn around at the bottom and head back to Raintree Ln.
This was my 6th week at Anson and time to give it away to the men of Anson to do with it as they wish. A few last things to show and then a quick Q school to make sure they got cadence down was the plan for the day. And off we go.
The Thang
Hairband Mile around the parking lot
COP
SSH IC x 25
IW IC x 20
Mountain Climbers IC x 10 (stopped because I had no footing on the oil slick asphalt)
LBCs IC x 20
Mosey down to the track.
Lunge walk down a quarter of the track
Somehow we missed showing ‘Catch me if you can’ so here we go
Round 1:
P1 takes off and P2 does 10 merkins. P2 then runs to catch P1. Flapjack until a full lap is completed.
Round 2: Repeato w/ 5 merkins
Mosey to the football building
PAX looked smoked so The People’s Chair for a minute and then Air Presses x 30 for some active recovery
Mosey to the practice field.
Series of back of forth across the field:
Partner wheel barrow across the field. Flapjack as needed./ Run back
High knees across/ ButtKickers back.
Karaoke Left across/Karaoke Right back
Bear Crawl across/AYG run back
Grab a running size rock from the ditch nearby.
Back to the field going long way this time for about 70-80 yards
Devin Hester’s. Flapjack back.
Return the rocks and mosey to the end of the field
Series of plank exercises while I give a quick speech/story of why F3 matters to me and why I hope they continue it.
Q school explaining why each of the cadence pieces matter then it’s the PAX’s turn:
Viper: SSH IC x 10
OMB: Merkins IC x 13 (I think that’s the right count – definitely merkins)
Flash Card: IW IC x 20
Tie Strap: LBCs IC x 10
Mosey back to the parking lot.
3 MOM:
Flutter IC x 20
Dolly IC x 20
Protractor
DONE!
COT
Thanks to Flash Card I believe for taking us out.
Flash Card also took the Shovel Flag promising to return next week with it and other PAX said they would be back as well and keep it running.
After a quick discussion, Flash Card/OMB/Viper splitting the Q next week with each doing 20 minutes for their Virgin Qs. Some chatter about a name as well.
Moleskine
Here is what I love about the #getbetter. When you see it, you know it. During the Devin Hesters, I was tagging along with Flash Card and OMB due to an odd number. Flash Card takes off and then we start chasing after him. I’m starting to close in and I holler at him that he better not let me catch him. I literally see another gear kick in and I didn’t catch him. That’s it right there. That’s the push that you will never get solo. Great job brother!
OMB went right to those merkins during Q school. I have a feeling that their arms will be smoked next week for his 20 minutes.
Viper continued to push and encourage all the guys forward. Great job EH’ing Tie Strap as well. No better HC than picking him up on the way.
Tie Strap came out for the first time and you can definitely tell there is a runner in there which he later said he’s been doing 3-4 miles a day running/walking combo. He took off on the track so much that Viper mentioned there is that whole catch me part of Catch me if you can. I think Tie Strap took the ‘If you can’ literally which is great. That is how we get faster by chasing faster men.
I could tell the cardio got to some today as Viper calls OMB ‘OMG’ afterwards and Flash Card goes ‘OMG was about 10 minutes ago.’ Well done sir!
Some conversation on the administration going forward. Look for a Google Calendar possibly from Flash Card.
Thank you guys for letting me give this away. I will be coming back on a first Saturday of the month for a while to guest Q to help spread out the Q load some. It is now yours. Do with it as you please but my hope is that you continue to stay faithful to meeting and grow guy by guy as they see the evident impact F3 has had in your lives.
For the three VQs next week, watch this video from Dredd/OBT about how to cadence and practice before next week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRTitxnE-mI
Glass Joe
4 absolute lunatics posted for #F3BaseCamp this morning.
The Thang
Mosey from SCMS down 51 to the office/retail building in Raintree. Stop in front of the dry cleaners for COP (which was more of a line underneath the cover):
Stair circuit…run up the left side stairs, across the top, down the right side stairs, the stop in front of dry cleaners for called exercise.
Time for some Mary.
Mosey back to base via Rounding Run and Woodfox.
COT
Moleskine
When you have the Q on a morning like this one, two thoughts run through your head…1) I hope someone else shows up so this workout isn’t a bust and 2) I hope no one else shows up so I don’t have to do this workout. I pulled up to see one car in the parking lot…site Q Fireman Ed. While we discussed breakfast plans, Gooney pulls in, then Smash. Well, guess we’re on.
My plan was to keep us dry during most of the workout. Problem was, we had to run about 8/10ths of a mile to get there. Still, it was nice to do the stair circuit completely out of the elements. I don’t think that makes us soft…just smart.
Maybe a little more running than usual for BaseCamp…but I’m trying to get back into running shape…so thanks for obliging. Fireman Ed mainly skipped and danced in the rain anyway, all jazzed up from his Tigers being No. 1. It’ll be sad when the Cocks crush his dreams later this month at Willy B…but at least he’ll get his BCS playoff ticket deposit back. Gooney did solid work on the stairs in spite of an MCL sprain, which he probably sustained during a Brian Kelly like tirade over some alleged poor officiating call during this weekend’s ND game. Smash also did solid work and didn’t seem slowed at all, despite being all decked out in his North Face pants and jacket rain gear.
A pleasure to Q this morning…thanks for the opportunity Fireman Ed and Simba.
Announcements
For the second week in a row, the men of Foxhole took to the covered area behind Elon Park Elementary to dodge the elements. The great thing about KBs is you don’t need a lot of real estate to get the job done. Here is what we did.
The Thang: Loosen up with some halos and prying squats then warm up with: 5 two hand swings, 5 merkins, 10 two hand swings, 10 merkins… 15 of each, 20 of each.
Form 3 stations – one with 2 bells, one with 1 bell, one with no bells.
Set 1 = Double bell squats, one bell Good Mornings, backward lunges with no bell. 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest, rotate through and repeato x3.
Set 2 = Double bell cleans, one bell overhead press, merkins. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest, rotate through and repeato x3.
Set 3 = Double bell plank for “toy soldier” (lift feet off the ground in alternating pattern), one bell flutter presses, no bell full situps. 40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest, rotate through, repeato x2.
Snatches: 10, 8, 6, 4 each side (10 count after each set).
Hammer curls x15, KB merkins x 10, Curls x15, Upright rows x 15…. and we’re done.
Announcements: Sign up for Joe Davis Run.
Moleskin: Thanks to Voodoo and Wild turkey for making it out in the tough weather. Second week in a row that Foxhole was a quagmire… no fun but we made it work. Pleasure as always to lead.