It Ain’t Easy

It Ain’t Easy

10 PAX showed up for another installment of F3 Mountain Goat.  Temps were mild and allowed everyone to really give it all they had!  2 other brave souls… Geraldo and Scott Bradford, indulged in a Spearhead Ruckfest, and joined us for COT.

The workout was pretty simple… but not easy.  It went something like this:

Mosey to track.  Some quick stretching, followed by 1-mile warm-up at fellowship pace.
Mosey back to Strawberry Ln and head to the second speed bump.

Once everyone was there we started the following sets of 30-30-1:
1.  30-seconds “I-pace”, then jog back to starting point for recovery… recovery time wasn’t important.
2.  Rinse and repeat 30-seconds “I-pace”…. try to keep same pace.  Jog back to starting point for recovery.
3.  1-minute “I-pace”… jog back to starting point for recovery.

We did 5 sets… total of about 4.3-ish miles.

Finished with cool-down lap and stretching.

Moleskine:
Everyone did great… as usual!  The PAX continue to be strong on setting their target pace to maximize the amount of time at max heart/O2 capacity.  As stated, the time/pace to recovery is not  the focus… it’s that you DO recover between each segment.

The Mouth, Joker, Simba and Steinbrenner brought it strong, especially as the sets went on.

Pele, Sony, Freedom, Booyah and Huggy Bear also brought their A-games… the beauty of this workout is everyone gets to push themselves, then regroup so we were always back together.

Lots of heavy breathing between segments… and I believe everyone was glad when the 5th set was done!

This continues to be a great workout for runners of all levels!  It’s always an honor to lead this group of men!

Geraldo and Scott (non-F3) joined us for COT.  Maybe we can continue to EH Scott to join us… he looks like he would be strong!  Geraldo will have to sound off on the punishment he dished out today… something like 100 miles bear crawling… with 120 pounds of weight… or something like that!

Freedom took us out with a great prayer.  We mentioned Sensei and the passing of his Grandfather…. keep them in your prayers!

Announcements:
1.  Convergence on Saturday 7/4 at The Rock 7:00… Stonehenge will remain at 6:00.
2.  Southern Discomfort 8/1… several levels of discomfort available.
3.  F3 Dads on Saturdays.

Respect The Brave Centurion

The men of Centurion converged at The Brave for a pre-July 4 workout.  Solid crew of men arrived, ready to conquer this expansive AO.  Brushback disclaimed our group of 27 that included 2 FNG’s brought by Scabby.  Old Glory prominently waving nearby.  Wheels up at Brushback’s command.

Thang

17 Merkin OYO

Shortish mosey through some parking lots to nearby corporate building courtyard.  Bear crawl approximately 100 feet to concrete square lined with benches.

Bench Set

17 Incline Merkin/7 Jump Up/6 Hand-Release Burpee.  4 repetitions

Mosey to the corner of Brixham Hill and Ballantyne Corp Ave.

Hill Set

AYG from corner up the hill to the bridge.  17 HR Burpee.  AYG down the hill to corner.  76 Flutter.  Round 2: AYG to top.  17 CDD.  Back down.  76 Flutter.  Plank-o-rama.  0.38 mile each way.

Mermaid Q starts with mosey from corner of Brixham and Bally Corporate corner up Brixham.  Cut through parking lot to Corporate 1 and 2 buildings next to Loch Ness.  Pick up concrete loop path and cut through parking lot back to Bally Corporate.  Cross over and mosey past the Vine up to the closest parking deck.  Enter the parking deck at ground level.

Short rest belly start sprints x5.  Started each rep with an exercise prior to belly start.  Merkins/Jump Squats/Can’t recall the others.  Sprint 5 to the stairway on the roof level.  Run down stairs to basement level and AYG back up to the roof.  Plank-o-rama.

Mary

Flutter x 25 IC/Hold/Heels to Heaven x 20/Hold/10 count

Mosey down 1/2 level.

Triple Nickel

Sprint up 1 incline deck.  5 Jump Squat.  Back down.  5 Burpee.  5 repetitions.

Mosey back down to ground level and exit parking deck and back to Vine lot.  0615 arrival.

COT

Moleskin

Thoughts and prayers for the Chepul family.  Chelms and Abacus lost their brother Bill Chepul after a long and hard fight with brain cancer.  Glad to have Abacus out with us today.  You and Chelms know that the men of A51 will support you with continued prayers and with anything else you may need.

Brushback brought his A-game as usual.  YHC saw the plan prior and knew the Brixham hill set would be brutal.  1.5 miles with HR burpees, CDDs, and 76 flutters in about 15 minutes.  Nicely done today as always.  Pleasure to split the Q with you brother.

YHC’s F3 journey started at Centurion.  Each post at The Brave feels like I am cheating on Centurion.  Awesome to have the 2 workouts converge today.  Strong crew of men who all worked hard.

Ages today ranged from mid-20’s to mid-50’s.  Five Respects out today and they all crushed it.  YHC enjoyed chasing Checkpoint up the parking deck ramps.  BOG posting Wednesday and Friday. Great to have you back out with us.  Easy to see you are getting stronger.  Van Pelt, Frehley’s, Triple 7 all pushing hard.  Respect, gentlemen.

T-claps to Scabby for bringing 2 FNG’s, Beekeeper and Spelling Bee.  Welcome, men, strong work today.  Keep on posting at workouts.  Group stayed tightly bunched today, which was the objective. Great work all.  Enjoyed getting passed in the deck by Mr. Bean who is crushing it as of late. A pleasure leading this group today with Brushback.  4.38 miles on the Garmin. Thanks to MT and Champagne for the opportunity.  Thank you to Checkpoint for taking us out.  Prayers and well wishes to Maverick and all other brave appointees at the US Naval Academy.

Announcements

July 4 Convergence at The Rock.  0700 launch.

10/24/2015: Ultimate Mud Run Challenge.  Details to follow for sign up.  Work on getting your 4-man teams together.

8/1 Southern Discomfort.  Clear your morning schedule.  See preblast from Hops.

 

Hardstyle the Meathead Way

I tweeted a warning that YHC had consulted a HKC certified instructor for this workout and 20’pax still decided to show. That goes to show you, once you’ve tasted a kettle bell,workout with no running and curls, there’s no going back.
Warmup with some SSH and Merkins.
Part 1: 10 min AMRAP
10 windmills (5 each side)
5 pull ups
15 good mornings

Part 2: ladder down from 10 by 2’s
1 swing, 1 clean, , 1 snatch
10 rt side, 10 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell
8 rt side, 8 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell
6 rt side, 6 left side. 5 hardstyle squats with bell.
4 and the 2

Part 3: AMRAP until I say stop
20 2-handed swings
20 Merkins

Stop with about 2 min for 20 V-ups with bell and Russian twist with bell

The idea behind this workout was to involve strength and endurance. Hopefully this was successful. Part 1 should have been slow and methodical and a warmup for part 2. Part 2 was the strength piece. By the end, your forearms, grip, arms should be yelling. Part 3 was for the endurance. No stopping. A full out go from the beginning. If you felt the burn, then let it be Known that the HKC Certified instructor was none other then M Crabcake.

Announcements
Convergence Saturday, July 4 at The Rock
Charlottes rescue mission Saturday workout 9am. Tweet Flo-rida for info

Thanks for allowing me to lead you today.

CLYDE calls and the hunt begins…

It was a cloudy morning @Peak51, the PAX were growling, scratching and awaiting the hunt for CLYDE that would take us Every Which Way But Loose and all over the place, well at least Matthews.

theThang:

@5:29am,Matthews Elementary PL, the journey begins…

Mosey to back parking lot of FBC Matthews.

30 LBC’s oyo

Circle Up… preamble given for the 2 FNG’s and off we go.

Moderate run to Sadie Drive Park

Plank o Rama 60 secs/ recover

SSH x20, IW x20, LSS x15

Moderate Run to corner of Deer Creek and Clearbrook Rd

Plank o Rama, elbows, right/left leg high, regular, repeato, recover

15 Sumo Squats

Moderate Run to Greenway (Clearbrook Rd Entrance)

Moderate Run to StoneCity. (AKA Stonehenge on the Greenway)

Plank o Rama (thx Header), regular/6 inches x4. right/left leg high, x2, recover

Rock Work Supersets:

Incline Merkins x10

Step Ups x20

Dips x15

Plank o Rama

Repeato

Plank o Rama, elbows, right/left leg high, regular x2

20 LBC’s oyo

Mosey to backside of Matthews Elementary on Greenway.

Hill Sprints:

Partner Up

Partner 1 – LBC’s

Partner 2 – sprint to the top of the hill and back (aprox 110 yds)

Repeato x2

Plank o Rama (thx Header), regular/6 inches, right/left leg/arm high, x2, recover

 

High Knee Skip uphill to Matthews Elementary Greenway Entrance (aprox 110 yds)

 

Mosey to Matthews Elementary

Peoples Chair/ 45 secs/ recover

Peoples Chair/ 30 secs/ YHC saw Geraldo Pressing Ruck and decided to blame him and called an audible of 30 air raises/recover

We finally spotted CLYDE in a near by bush, he looked lonely, so we asked him to join.

Peoples Chair/ 30 secs/ then pax passed CLYDE (36lb Kettlebell) up and down the line while doing a 1 inch lower position. X2/ recover.

At one point DT got a little to close to CLYDE and refused to give him up. YHC quickly amended the situation. (you’re welcome)

YHC hoisted Clyde and we all did a quick mosey back to parking lot for COT.

Thx to Slimfast for finishing with 4 mins of stretching movements.

Always an honor to lead !

Moleskin:

Special props to Slimfast, Sinsei and Header for doing the pre-5k. Strong and fast. Also to Geraldo and DT sporting Rucks and working hard.

A Special Welcome to two FNG’s. Dickens and TammyFaye, both strong contenders and welcome to thePeak.

The flash of light at the beginning of the morning ended up just being Insomniac breaking every traffic law in Matthews to skid into the lot just in time. During a 10-count, about halfway through the BC, (in his 02 deprivation) we discovered that he can count forwards or backwards at any given time and in no apparent order but he did eventually land on zero… or was it ten??.

Great to have SwissMiss back at the peak. Strong as always.

For me, its always cool to see a tall guy out there working hard, Tawny was bustin it up.

Drive By, relatively new to F3, working hard and running fast. Welcome!

YHC thanks all of you for your hard work. YHC really tried to make things a little different but also challenge all PAX, wherever they are in their journey. Also, thx for working hard with YHC today BooYa.

Thx Header for taking us out.

Anncts:

Convergence, 7 AM @theRock  7-04

Southern Discomfort, Aug 1

Prayers for Sinsei and his family in the recent death of his Grandfather.

Ghost Runner – Preblast – 4 mile route time now at 7:45

Ghost Runner is on tonight at Arbo ABC.  There was a motion to move the 4 miler start time to 7:45 and keep the 6 mile crew starting at 7:30.  This way everyone finishes at the same time and we get one COT.  We’ll try it this week.

Here are the maps, as the 6 mile crew will be gone before the 4 milers launch.   When in doubt, just run up and down Rain Tree Lane a bunch.

6 Mile route – http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/723568587

4 Mile route – http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/723571175

A Little over on the time

22 Pax-ish went out for a BRR type run and time went a little short.

Mosey from AO to the ARBO

COP
20 Squat – CAD
20 MC – CAD
20 IW – Cad

The thing

Run from ABC to other side stopping at every speedbump for 10 merkins.
It comes out to about 120-130 merkins

Partner work
1 runs while other does dips
1 runs while other does derkins

Run back Windbluff #Crowdpleaser

COT

Moleskin

Had to Sub q for Flutie Flakes and I decided to do a little BRR Training and had the pax join me. Before we began and the disclaimer was given I mentioned where we were going and what we were doing. There was a little push back but we stuck through with it. The jog over to the ARBO was a pretty good clip and everyone was pushing themselves which was good to see.
After COP when the merkin call was made everyone was okay because its a long way before the first speedbump. I thought I counted 12 but Busch or Header counted 13. I trust their count more so we will stick with that. The partner work went well but YHC didn’t realize the length between the end and where we were. Audible was called.
Decided to go back Windbluff for those that don’t go to Fast Twitch that is a good up and down run back. There was discussion with respects to time and if we had enough to get back. Well……we didn’t. everyone was doing well and working hard. Proud of everyone out there. Great work.
got some negative feedback from Fireman ed about coming back via van to make sure they were alright. Probably a good call. I hope you can forgive me. #ISI?
Gummy continues to force his vendors to come and post. Welcome Danny – Button Up. There was talk about a rename so Gummy shout out if need be.

convergence at the Rock – Saturday
Convergence at the Centurion – Brave

Lookin’ for a dime that’s top of the line

It’s a good thing Mike Jones didn’t post at RY today. Looking for dimes, he would have been disappointed- we only had nickels. Lots of them. 21 top of the line fellas posted under the lights and got after it, real fast.
The Thang:
Little baby mosey around the theater lot.
COP
-IW x20 IC
-Merkins x15 IC
-SSH x20 IC
-Peter Parker x11 IC
-Parker Peter x10 IC
Half pipe triple nickel. Top= Top of the big hill on Elm Ln. side of the theater lot, Bottom = Top of the hill on Rea Rd side of the theater lot. 5 burpees at the bottom, 5 deck squats at the top, 5 times. Hit it.
Then we did some merkins and Mary.
The grumbling started when we crossed Elm to pay a visit to Olde Murderhorne. On the trip down we banged out 10 merkins at each street light. When we hit the bottom, we enjoyed a nice AYG sprint back up. Next we moseyed down at a medium pace and took a left at the bottom into newish territory for another AYG up Shining Rock Ct. This hill actually might be murderhorn’s little brother, but not by much. We speed moseyed back to base of the ‘Horn and hammered down for another AYG to the top.
Beaker, Margo, and Bucky were leading the way all day with Go Daddy, Wild Turkey and Van Pelt close behind.
Lots of guys out there grinding the hills – Goonie, Offering Plate, Ladies Tee, great work out there. Looking forward to seeing you guys out again soon. BOG – great seeing you out there brother.
It’s been a shade over a year since my VQ at none other than Rebel Yell. This AO has a special spot in my heart *tear*. I told you we’d do running and hills. And we did. And it was awful. Murderhorn takes no prisoners. Great work out there today gents. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
T-Claps to Go Daddy for taking us out with a thoughtful prayer.
Announcements:
**SAVE THE DATE- Southern Discomfort – August 1st. This will be Area 51’s inaugural signature #CSAUP event. Stay tuned for a preblast in the next couple days. This will be one for the ages- do not miss out!
Ghost Runner tonight launching from Arbo ABC at 730p for a double deezy opportunity. Hang around after for some frosty refreshment and 2nd F at Vintner. See you there.
Centurion and The Brave converge tomorrow at 0515 at The Vine.
4th of July Convergence at The Rock on Saturday. 0700 at Calvary Church. Word has it we’ll have a drone flying over taking pics. Make sure to get up 15 minutes early to do your hair and makeup. Also, wear your F3 gear or something patriotic. Pretty sure @CloydRivers has a sale going on every day.

Starfish at the Hydra

11 of South Charlotte’s finest, including 2 FNGs, showed up along with the humidity to slay the Hydra. Started with a jog around the school and to the field – circle up –

  • 25 x SSH
  • 25 x IW
  • 25 x Low slow squat
  • 20 x Mountain Climbers
  • 15 x Merkins

Mosey over to the center aisle for concessions and the main event – Starfish
Center of the Starfish was the concession area and 10 jump ups
Station 1 – near the far woods – 25 x wide arm merkins
Station 2 – playground – 15 x pull ups
Station 3 – batting cages – 25 x jump squats
Station 4 – football field – 15 x double merkin burpees
Rinse and repeat 3x

Mosey back to the field near the parking lot for some Mary

  • 25 x LBCs
  • 20 x Flutters
  • 20 x Back scratchers
  • 15 x heels to Heaven

Time called. Intense exercises and just over 2+ miles.

Thanks all for the solid effort on my first Q. I appreciate the effort. Shout out to Tiger Rag– Hydra was my first F3 workout a year ago, and for my first Q, I borrowed Tiger Rag’s agenda from that workout. Great to see Pic n’ Pack and Lord Stanley for the first time – keep it up!

Announcements:
Centurion converging at The Brave on Friday (7/3)
Saturday (7/4) convergence at The Rock.

Preblast: July 4th Convergence at The Rock

I’ll get right to it. There will be a drone flying overhead with a GoPro. A drone. Thanks to Spielberg for bringing the fancy toys – he’ll be taking shots throughout the workout, including a sweet overhead of the COT. Should be cool.

For the workout, we’re going to take advantage of the space this AO has to offer and keep the PAX together rather than splitting up into smaller groups. It will be cool to have such a big group and get to see everyone – and it will provide some cool action for the drone.

We have a few guys lined up to Q in a few places around campus:

I (Gummy) will start us off with something on the field in front of the church at the intersection (gotta look good for the traffic).
Mermaid will take us on a tour of the vast Calvary parking lots.
The Day Zero guys (Prohibition and Hairball) have something easy planned for us from their normal repertoire over on the big soccer fields. It’ll be a nice cool down.

Follow the Leader

Union County men are tough. They tend to squint and spit. This comes from a hard-bit life under the deep Southern Sun, and rage at the McMansions taking over our land. So it can be scary to lead. Each man squinting and spitting in the Q’s general direction had obviously been in his share of cow fights (uncharitably called “tipping”), and was not afraid of a ginger on two legs.  So we got to it.  This is what we did:

Follow the Leader. Run around the big parking lot until the man in front calls “halt” and leads the pax in an excercise of his choosing. Repeat until every man has cried (out loud) “halt.”

Twenties.  Perform 20 supines, 20 dry docks, 20 merkins, and 20 knee-ups. Then 19 of each, then 18, all the way down to 1.

We also did some other stuff as we traveled between these stations, and back home.

MOLESKIN

  • MopTop sprints like the Tasmanian Devil, all swirls and speed until he stops, and then ends up on the ground, bloodly and slobbering. My bad brother. Hope you didn’t discover any wounds beyond the surface after the adrenaline died down.
  • Transporter apparently got lost on the way to the 20s. This was suprising since he is the Transporter, after all, and the Transporter in real life film always seems to know where he was going. One difference is that this Transporter wears a parka on top of seven other layers when working out in the summer; apparently it helps his inner zen. But when you stop to take them off you can get dropped, being that the parka has to cover your eyes when you pull it off your head. Glad you found us brother.
  • Bear Naked is a beast. Dude seemed to be at the front all morning, and was knocking out knee-ups like he had done it on a stage in New York. I’d say he is a BRR top free agent, but sounded like our German Site Q already laid claim to him.
  • I had never met Mr. Bean before, and had not heard that he was controlling and evil, so was a little surprised when he called a set of 11s during follow the leader. But then i realized he used a fake accent, and that took some effort, plus it made him sound smart, so i let it go. Luckily, he realized he was Q-jacking and cut it short on his own about halfway, showing that he is truly good.
  • Nutter Butter is coming along.  Watch out for him — the speed is there.
  • Bananas was some kind of refusenik this morning. Something about not feeling safe doing swinging supines under a triangular bar. Weak fruit. You were only a few feet off the ground, man!
  • Bratwurst, on the other hand, was strong meat. He pulled a couple leads during Follow the Leader (though he should have had them all), and was manufacturing supines in some kind of weird yoga move that made them look much harder.
  • I always wondered why Soft Pretzel had that name, because he isn’t soft at all, but now i know.  He bends well around metal, and when you unloop him he is tasty, as in tasty fast, okay, maybe there is another reason.
  • Abacus was pretty quiet this morning. In the dark, he looks a lot like a killer I saw on a movie once. Kinda creepy.  Don’t let him sneak up on you.
  • I’ve worked out with Crabcake a bunch, but don’t think i realized how strong he was until we did the 20s today. Worse, he was smiling the whole time.  Strong brother.
  • Grease Monkey is showing that he is more than just transportation for enormous biceps. The guy is moving at about double-time from where he was a couple months ago, and he never quits. Watch out. When i jumped on his back for a partner carry, though, he laughed, which made me feel insubstantial. I didn’t like that.
  • Snowflake, my dear friend, just turned 54.  Wish him a happy birthday.  And no, since you are not as strong or fast as him now, you will not be as strong or fast as him when you are his age, no matter how often you say, “I want to be like Snowflake when I am his age.” Sorry.
  • In all seriousness, one of the many blessings I received during my wife’s chemotherapy was to develop this family each Wednesday.  Thank you.  I am blessed to have you as my brothers.  Hope to see you more on Saturdays at #Commitment, and look forward to other opportunities.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • DREDD and OBT will be leading a workout July 27th at Stonehenge, followed by a free botox cafeteria.  Come to Commitment instead to keep it real and get 30 minutes more sleep.
  • New Workout #Flash starts Monday, July 13th, 5:30 at Nesbit Park (near Kensington Elementary).  Dasher will be Site Q.

OUT