Variety is the Spice of Life
Disclaimer x1
Lap around the school x 1
COP:
Diamond Burpees x 10
SSH x 51
1 legged Burpees x 10 (R)
IW x 30
Double Burpees x 10
Slow Squat x 15
1 legged Burpees x 10 (L)
LBC x 30
Regular Burpees x 10
Lap around the school x 1
LOP (Line of Pain):
Mountain Climbers x 20
Plank walk left
Shoulder taps x 20
Plank walk right
Mountain climbers x 20
Lap around the school x 1
Upper body circuit on bleachers:
Round 1: derkins/dips/incline merkins x 20 each
Round 2: derkins/dips/incline merkins x 15 each
Round 3: derkins/dips/incline merkins x 10 each
Round 4: derkins/dips/incline merkins x 5 each
Lap around the school x 1
Playground:
Pull-ups x 10
Heels to Heaven x 15
Jump Squats x 20
3 rounds
1 minute of plank-o-rama
COT
Moleskin:
– Perfect weather for a workout…40 degrees at the start, but by everyone was warm by the second round of burpees
– Great work by all. Hope you enjoyed the variety today.
– What is it with Hydra? Is everyone afraid to show up before 5:28?
– YHC enjoyed some of the mumble chatter this morning. Cheese Curd was especially chatty. He even called for more 1 legged burpees.
– Couple of moments where YHC had the pax off-balance with my head fakes. A couple claimed I was making up the weinke as we went along. Come on, man!
– The LOP is no fun. I think my shoulders are still numb.
Announcements:
– Welcome to our FNG Switzer (OSU alum) who is visiting Backdraft from Atlanta this week
– Keep collecting used athletic shoes for donation to Charlotte Rescue Mission.
#F3MarvinRidge – Starting a #Dromedary
12 of #F3Area51’s finest PAX took to the new AO at Marvin Ridge HS/MS on Wednesday morning. As this is an official #bootcamp, work needs to begin on the #ShovelFlag. As for now, the #VSF was planted.
Here’s the THANG:
- Mosey to the Middle School track infield.
- SSH x 20 IC
- Imperial Walkers x20 IC
- Good Mornings x 20 IC
- Hand Release Merkins x 20 (single count) IC
- Short Mosey to the Middle School “picnic” area and courtyard. Partner Up
- P1 – 5 Jump Ups onto , P2 – 5 Mountain Climbers (4 steps = 1) and plank until P1 done; Flapjack
- Repeato up to 10, then 15, 10 , 5
- Extended Mosey to front of Middle School by Wall
- P1 – Get over 5ft wall, run up drive, around flagpole, and back to wall; P2 – Start Team count of 100 HR Merkins. Flapjack. Repeato until 100 HR Merkins (or each PAX does 2 laps)
- P1 – Run Lap; P2 – Squats until P1 returns. Flapjack. Repeato until each PAX does 2 laps.
- P1 – Run Lap; P2 – Low squat hold (sort of like doing #2 in the wide open woods). Flapjack. Repeato until each PAX does 2 laps.
- Mosey to Football practice field
- P1 – Squat jump shuttle run. 5 @ 10yards, 10 @ 20 yards; P2 – Parker Peters. Flapjack. Repeato
- Indian Run back to COT
- 6 MOM in cadence
- Dolly, LBC, Flutter, Rosalita, Freddy Mercury, Mason Twists
- 1 minute to go – 15 Burpees OYO
Moleskin:
- Objective today was to introduce many existing PAX to the Marvin Ridge AO and show off some features, keep it simple (because it was a #VQ), and test out some exercises that are FNG friendly for next week’s full launch. We only scratched the surface of the AO and barely used 1/3 of the space and few of the features. Still untapped territory.
- Tiger Rag made his way down south of I-485 for the 2nd day in a row. This was a little further, but it’s actually not that far. Just ask most of the PAX there today, who live within a 5 mile radius, it’s not that far out there – why else would they live there?
- There are a lot of PAX and potential PAX surrounding this AO. Apparently, Mr. Bean and Soft Pretzel live so close that they actually ran there. No sidewalks, so wear blinkies if you are going to run in.
- YHC met a ton of new PAX today that live right around the corner. Proves how F3 has grown (and how little we break our routines sometimes). Another buddy told me that he lives in a neighborhood nearby (Barrington) and sees at least two F3 stickers on cars there. Don’t know who those guys are yet, but they are sure to help spread the word.
- #Dromedary – a 1 hump camel. We work out on a #humpday, you can ride it (like the MRHS/MRMS Mavericks mascot), and it’s quirky enough to past the test of relevancy. Not exactly a Wild West or Top Gun theme, but this AO will have plenty of opportunities for naming other workouts in the future.
Announcements:
- JoeDavisRun – 5K/10K/Fun run on January 10th – http://f3nation.com/2014/10/17/2015-joe-davis-memorial-run-preblast-registration/. This year we will not have a workout beforehand, but we will have an opportunity to gather, enjoy a coffeteeria and then warm up together for the race before showing York County what F3 Nation is all about!
Preblast: Devil’s Turn Hill Week
Devil’s Turn faithful: It is that time again. Let’s head to Piper Glen for a tempo run through hills. We will launch from the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area http://goo.gl/maps/Whecl at the corner of Rea & Bevington on Thursday morning at 0515. There are 4, 6, and 7+ mile options available. See below for the options:
1) Blue Pill (standard) – Run 0.75 mile apartment loop, out to Piper Glen, run the Old Course loop and back to lot (perhaps with a little makeup distance down Bevington Place). All this done at a comfortable pace.
2) Blue Pill (aggressive) – Do all the above, but instead of a consistent pace, run 1.5 mile at “easy” pace, 1.5 miles at “marathon” pace, and 1 mile at “easy” pace.
3) Red Pill (aggressive) – Run the standard Piper Glen 6 mile route (too complex to list here). Run 2 miles at “easy” pace building to 1 mile at “marathon” pace, 1 mile at “threshold” pace, 1 mile at “marathon” pace, then cool down with 1 to 2 miles at “easy” pace.
Find your applicable paces using your new 1-mile race pace in the following link: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
A quote is included below from www.halhigdon.com on the idea of tempo runs.
A Tempo Run of 30 to 40 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, building to to peak pace for 10-20 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. (You don’t need to maintain peak speed for more than a few minutes toward the middle of the workout.)
Changing of the Guard
Late October is starting to bring in the brisk temperatures… perfect for an early morning workout at Calvary Church. This particular morning the curiousity was peaked by YHCs tweet the night before that there would be a special announcement…but that will have to wait until the end. So we got to it and here is what we did…
Warm-up jog around the parking lot (high knees, butt-kickers, karaoke).
COP – Burpee Countdown
- SSH x 15 IC
- 10 burpees OYO
- IW x 15 IC
- 9 burpees OYO
- Squats x 15 IC
- 8 burpees OYO
- Seal jacks x 15 IC
- 7 burpees OYO
- Merkins x 15 IC
- 6 burpees OYO
- LBC x 15 IC
- 5 burpees OYO
- Wide arm merkins x 15 IC
- 4 burpees OYO
- Flutter x 15 IC
- 3 burpees OYO
- Jump Squats x 15 OYO
- 2 burpees OYO
- Dolly x 15 IC
- 1 PERFECT burpee OYO
Mosey to bottom of Entrance 4 for TRIPLE NICKEL
- 5x Merkins at the bottom, run to the top
- 5x Jump Squats at the top, run to the bottom
- Repeat 5x
Mosey to the picnic shelter
- Peoples chair for 1 min (air presses x 15 IC)
- BTW
- Peoples chair for 2 min (air presses x 30 IC)
- BTW
On to the picnic tables at the shelter
- Jump ups x 20, tricep dips x 20, derkins x 20
- Jump ups x 15, tricep dips x 15, derkins x 15
- Jump ups x 10, tricep dips x 10, derkins x 10
Mosey to soccer field for Jack Webb
- 1 Merkin / 4 air press
- 2 Merkin / 8 air press
- …
- 10 Merkin / 40 air press
Mosey to parking lot for Mary with various pax leading the exercises
- LBC, Knee-ups, Rosalita, Russian Twist, Flutter
COT
Moleskin:
- As the men arrived at Anvil, you could feel the buzz this morning. The suspense was killing the pax to know what the big announcement was. Well, not really…but I’m sure a few were curious. They would find out later.
- Quiet group during the COP…burpees tend to have that effect on the pax.
- YHC finally has perfected execution of the Triple nickel – this has become a staple at Anvil. Seems simple enough, but my simple mind had a hard time figuring out where the triple and the nickel were. Sorry guys…a little slow on the uptake, it only took me three times to get it right.
- Great job by all the pax out there today! It is always an honor to lead this group of men. What makes me even more proud is to hand off leadership to one of Anvil’s own emerging leaders in Mermaid. I know this site is in good hands with him and Young Love, ensuring that it continues to fulfill the mission of F3 by serving the men of Anvil and continue to invigorate male community leadership!
Announcements:
- F3 Area 51 Christmas Party – 12/6 at Sugar Creek Brewery (Thank you Prohibition for being our Q for the event!)
- Aftermath – 3rd F workout immediatly following Anvil at the Piper Glen Starbucks (near Trader Joes)
- HDHH – The Lodge 6pm
- Nice start for Anvil on the shoe drive for Charlotte Rescue Mission! 8 pairs this morning – already 20% of our site goal! Drive ends 11/22, but don’t wait…bring your gently used athletic shoes next week! Boutique is our Shoe King
- Joe Davis 5k/10k on January 10th. Mark your calendars! You can sign up through the website https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/ , also look for Paypal link on the website to make donations.
3 Man Band
—Posted on behalf of Puddin Pop—
16 men this morning decided to trade in their mild-mannered habits to become rock stars…in south Charlotte. As the theme states, we were mostly in teams of three (except one team of four), and wanted to have some fun with the best 3-Man band of all time…Rush!
Had one FNG this morning so the disclaimer had to be spot on, “work out at your own Freewill, modify where possible, yada yada”, Stagecoach helped to fill in the gaps. #thankssiteQ
Pick up Cheese Curd on the way to field, and we’re off!
The Thang
Mosey to track for ½ lap fellowship pace, sidestep right, sidestep left, backwards, butt-kickers, high knees, then to middle of field for COP:
- SSH x 30 IC
- Slow Squat x 30 IC
- IW x 30 IC
- Mountain Climbers x 30 IC (hold it)
- Parker Peter x 30 IC
Group up into your band and decide on who is Geddy Lee (partner 1), Alex Lifeson (partner 2), and Neil Peart (partner 3), hit the football field
- Geddy is on one goal line doing Burpees
- Neil is running 100 yards tagging out Alex
- Alex is on opposite goal line doing Turkish Get-ups
- Repeato for 15 mins +/-
Let’s increase the distance in between runs
- Geddy is on 50 yard line of football field doing:
o CDD’s x 30
o Jump squats x 20
o Dive bomber merkins x 10
- Alex is in bleacher area between baseball fields doing:
o Dips x 30
o Jump up/step ups x 20
o Derkins x 10
- Neil is running in between stations tagging out
- Repeato for 20 mins +/-
Five mins o’ Mary
- Flutter x 30 IC
- La Rosalita x 30 IC (en espanol)
- Protractor round robin
Done
Moleskin:
- So, once the 3 – man band idea was given to the group and YHC asked, “if I said Geddy, Alex, and Neil to you guys, what would you say?”, crickets were louder than the PAX. Gotta say, I was a little miffed at the idea that Rush is not part of Area 51 as it should be. Where is Strange Brew when you need him?? Oh well, we got into it anyway. With the exception of one four man group of Stagecoach, Uncle Leo, Hopper, and Busch…I think they went with Motley Crue. You’ll have to let me know who was Vince, Nikki, Mick, and Tommy another time.
- Halfway through the first group exercise on the field, Alf let YHC know that we could audible off burpees and TGUs anytime now…news to me as Alf is a burpee machine. His line back to me was, “being good at them and liking them are two different things.” I’m negative on both fronts then.
- DK took his sweet time calling out the next angle during Protractor, only to keep it at 10 degrees, my abs are thanking you right now.
- Welcome FNG Back Office, great to have you part of the band today with Pinstripes. Keep on coming back out, great to have you!
- Great work by all today with varying speeds, strength levels; always a pleasure to lead DV!
- Sussudio, thanks for the sending off prayer. And thanks for praying for everyone’s husbands…totally joking with you dude.
Announcements
- Shoe drive – bring old shoes to Kevlar this Friday, Sussudio is shoe-Q and will be collecting for Men’s Shelter. Or bring them to Death Valley any Wednesday before Nov. 12 – see Stagecoach.
- Or post at Joust so TR has to come off the hip
Murderhorn Madness
The F3 Shovel Flag was planted and 16 men decided they needed to improve their body and minds with a large, painful helping of The Maul. Here’s what we did.
The Thang:
COP:
SSH X 20
IW X 20
Merkins X 20
Mountain Climbers X 20
Run to the Rock pile at the bottom of the Murderhorn, upright rows to wait for the six.
Everyone Grab a rock and Curls X 20, Squat X 20, press X 20
Run to the top of the Murderhorn, merkins to wait for the group and Burpees X 10 OYO
Run to the Rock pile at the bottom of the Murderhorn, upright rows to wait for the six.
Everyone Grab a rock and curls X 20, Squat X 20, tricep extensions X 20
Run to the top of the Murderhorn merkins to wait for the group and Burpees X 10 OYO
Run to the wall on the back of the movie theatre for Wall work – Donkey Kicks X 30 OYO; People Chair with press X 30; Balls to the wall press X 10
7s with backwards run up the hill – Burpees at the top squats at the bottom; Backwards bear crawl up the hill with Carolina Dry Docks X 5 at the top.
6MOM – Flutter, Dollies, Rolsalitas, Heels to heaven, Bicycles
COT
Moleskin:
The weather was perfect for the Murderhorn. The legs got a workout today.
Great work by everyone today. It was a please leading the men in The Gloom.
Announcements:
Bring your old shoes to The Maul to donate to Charlotte Rescue Mission.
Hydra Double Challenge: Step 1. Post Step 2. Bring used Shoes
Okay Hydra pax a challenge has been submitted to F3 Charlotte. Joker has been designated our fearless leader to gather shoes across all of A51 region. He has tasked designated shoe Q’s to put on tireless campaigns to gather shoes from all pax. We are supposed to gather 500+ across A51. Tiger Rag has challenged shoe Q’s to gather lots of shoes or we will be embarrassed in some manner. I do not know what is more embarrassing than the title of shoe Q. I think Joker and Tiger Rag would even have me pull them from your feet if necessary. My preference is to be a tad more civil and instead have you bring as many pair of used athletic shoes as you can to our Hydra workout.
This is a double challenge:
1. POST HYDRA: If it has been awhile since you have posted Hydra, then I invite you back out. If you are a regular, thanks for posting, and posting, and posting.
2. BRING USED ATHLETIC SHOES: yes, just men’s athletic shoes is all we can accept.
WHEN? Bring them to the 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13 workouts
Thanks Hydra Pax for posting and for supporting this cause,
Bugeater
Some Q & A based on instruction from Joker is below:
What are some of the details? What are we doing and why? Area 51 is supporting a broader effort across the F3 Charlotte regions [and slightly beyond] to collect at least 1,000 pairs of used athletic shoes to be donated to the Charlotte Rescue Mission [CRM]. CRM is a Christian-based recovery program focused on the homeless and those battling addictions [for more information, see http://charlotterescuemission.org/]. F3 has an existing relationship with CRM, including a Saturday workout [“Mission I’m Possible”] done with men at CRM.
What about men’s dress shoes, or women’s shoes or kids’ shoes? Nope.
When you say, “used”, how used can they be? It’s a judgment call, but the shoes should be functional. If they are completely falling apart, that’s not what we need at CRM.
What if the shoes are dirty and/or they stink like feet? Please wash them.
What else? Tie each pair of shoes together… this will make it easier on us when we consolidate everything and I deliver it to CRM.
#FastTwitch clips #Swift’s wings – all PAX better for it
19 PAX took on unfamiliar territory at a Fast Twitch / Swift convergence. Location was the Community House Middle School track. In the End, 18 PAX had Personal Records in the mile today. Amazing! It takes a lot of guts to come to a workout where you get “rated”. In the end, it’s all about #ironsharpensiron.
Here’s the THANG:
- Mosey to track for 1 mile 2nd F pace.
- 6 Drills (30m of drill, 70m accelerations), 2 x 100m accelerations over to Start/Finish line, 5 min stretch / get into zone OYO
- 1 Mile AYG
- 2 Mile Progression Run – goal is to run each 400m 5 seconds faster than the previous lap
- COT
Moleskin:
- Could not blame this performance on the weather. Not too cold, very little wind, and nice and clear.
- Could not blame this performance on not being warmed up. The extra drills are probably unfamiliar to those that do SSH, IW, or Merkins in an opening COP, and they probably feel silly. They are, but YHC thinks they work well. You may even feel out of breath doing the Drills and accelerations. You’ve got to have warmed muscles to run AYG. Otherwise, you’re asking for stiffness or snap / crackle / pop.
- Could not blame the performance on not having a fancy GPS gizmo. Turkey Leg setup the Start / Finish line with a professional clock, finishers tape, and bell. Well, some of those things.
- Could not blame the performance on not having a strategy. Run the first lap mentally below your target pace, get up to speed on the 2nd, hold on for the third, and then AYG for the 4th. Some PAX may have done that in reverse looking back at lap times, but it takes experience to race smart. Keep practicing for other events. They pretty much all work the same. See #TheThird500 (Freed To Lead, P.138).
- Could not blame this on your short shorts or dropping the baton (apparently that’s what Bulldog thinks we do).
- The 2 Mile Progression Run took too much Math for some. Don’t worry, it’s tripped up Harvard boys like OBT. The goal is to run 8 laps of the track (3200meters total) with each lap (400m) run 5 seconds faster than the previous one. Last lap should be faster than your 5K pace. It is good after the 1 Mile Race because it allows you to ease into something else, but still get back to near top speed you ran the mile in. Examples:
- Run the first lap in 2:00 minutes (8:00 minutes per mile pace), then the 2nd lap should be 1:55 (7:40/mi pace), third lap is 1:50 (7:20/mi pace), …, 8th and final lap would be 1:25 (5:40/mi pace).
- Run the first lap in 2:15 (9:00 minutes per mile pace), …, 8th and final lap would be 1:40 (6:40/mi pace).
- Run the first lap in 2:30 (10:00 minutes per mile pace), …, 8th and final lap would be 1:55 (7:40/mi pace).
- There will be a prize for most accurate 2 mi progression run that is posted to Strava. Half of the battle is getting on Strava and joining the “club” F3Run – http://www.strava.com/clubs/f3run
- What’s next and Why the Mile? It comes down to training for your next test (Mud Run, Joe Davis 5K, running with your 2.0 or M) and a premise that it’s best to train as fast as you need to, no more. Take your Mile time (which is an easy test to do) and go here = http://runsmartproject.com/calculator. Read these instructions and watch the video here http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/instructions/. Perhaps then the training plan ideas for the Joe Davis 5K (that we will publish) will make more sense.
Announcements:
- 10/22 – Soft launch for new Marvin Ridge bootcamp. Check twitter feed of @pwuerslin for details. Full launch on 10/29.
- 12/6 – 3rd annual Area 51 Christmas party will be on 12/6 at the brand new Sugar Creek Brewery.
1 Mile Time Trial Results:
Click Here to get full results
Team Competition – scored XC style with Top 5 scoring from each team. Lowest score wins.
| FastTwitch | 38 (wins by 2) |
| Swift | 40 |
| Top PRs | MIN:SEC under PR |
| Stump Hugger | |
| Geraldo | 0:01:28 |
| Picasso | 0:00:52 |
| Abacus | 0:00:49 |
| Chelms | 0:00:33 |
| Long Haul | 0:00:32 |
| Soul Glow | |
| Frasier | 0:00:21 |
| Checkpoint | 0:00:21 |
| Prohibition | 0:00:21 |
| Coldcuts | 0:00:16 |
| Top Predictors | MIN:SEC over/under Prediction | |
| Bratwurst | 0:00:00 | – |
| Prohibition | 0:00:02 | Under |
| TR | 0:00:02 | Over |
| Honey Bee | 0:00:03 | Under |
| Soft Pretzel | 0:00:04 | Over |
| Frasier | 0:00:06 | Under |
| Turkey Leg | 0:00:09 | Under |
| Horsehead | 0:00:09 | Under |
| Chelms | 0:00:13 | Under |
| Boomer sooner | 0:00:14 | Under |
| Top Sandbaggers | MIN:SEC Under Prediction |
| Geraldo | 0:01:08 |
| Picasso | 0:00:52 |
| Abacus | 0:00:34 |
| Soul Glow | |
| Checkpoint | 0:00:21 |
| Top 5 Overall | |
| Bratwurst | 0:05:10 |
| Frasier | 0:05:14 |
| Honey Bee | 0:05:27 |
| Soul Glow | |
| Boomer sooner | 0:05:36 |
| Top 5 Masters (40+) | |
| Checkpoint | 0:05:39 |
| Turkey Leg | 0:05:41 |
| Long Haul | 0:06:13 |
| Chelms | 0:06:27 |
| Coldcuts | 0:06:44 |
| Top Big Guys (220lb+) | |
| Geraldo | 0:06:52 |
| Stump Hugger |
Preblast – Marvin Ridge – soft launch on 10/22
We are undertaking the “southern most” AO in Area51 / Union County starting tomorrow on 10/22 @ 0530. This will be a soft launch with an ACTUAL Bootcamp Workout Q’d by YHC (#VirginQ). Full launch with FNGs on 10/29.
This location is less than 10 minutes from Blakeney Shopping Center, Indian Land, and Weddington.
Address is Marvin Ridge High School – 2825 Crane Rd, Waxhaw, NC 28173
We will be parking at the STAR in the image below. This is in the High School Parking lot near the main stadium entrance. Use the driveway indicated by the Green Arrow. Do not use entrances marked with the big red circles because they won’t allow you to drive where you need to be.
Big Bells or Boosterthon Fun Run?
17 pax opted for the sleeveless shirts of Skunk Works rather than the tight runners shorts of the Swift/Fast Twitch mosey convergence. This was an olde school Skunk Works beatdown using rusty metal contraptions rather than shiny relay batons.
THE THANG
No pansy warmups.
45 secs two handed swings
45 secs alternating swings
45 secs clean and press right
45 secs clean and press left
45 secs good mornings
Catch me if you can with 3 burpee chaser to east entrance of church. Two laps of the church for catch me if you can – Aye? Aye? Viva? No takers. Over to the outside gym.
1) Pull ups
2) KB thrusters
3) Crash mat burpees
4) Clean and press
5) Goblet squats
6) Alternating swings
7) Tractor tire flips
8) Snatches
9) Two KB firemans carry
10) Decline merkins
11) Clean and press
12) One handed swings
13) Deadlifts with 135 lbs
14) Big ball ab rollers
15) Upright rows
16) Box jumps two footed
17) Tea bags
Jack Webb style KB press with 4 swings up to 5 and 20. back down
Jack Webb style upright rows with 4 diamond merkins up to 20 – back down with wide arm merkins
Louganis x 10
KB ab crunches x 15
KB flutter press in cadence x 10
KB dolly press in cadence x 10
COT
YE OLDE MOLESKINE
Before the introduction of the KB’s Skunk Works was all about the gizmos such as tires, weight plates, sleds etc so today was a throwback to the good old days. Meathead is 0.0 but Skunk Works is not and when the pax were told that catch me if you can was to encompass two laps of the church and the faces were priceless! Of course Brown chimed in with his distaste for running and you know its a bad idea when even Tackling Dummy and Header look at you with evil eyes! A short mosey over to the outside gym area was where the true pain and a set of big balls lay in wait. Pandora tunes (need to upgrade according to Harley) wafted through the crisp morning early and the grunting and sweating began. Drop Thrill took an early spill off the box jump and Susudio looked like Mr. Olympus pumping out the barbell. Pudding Pop was busted stretching out in the shadows instead of doing his pull ups but all in all the pax dug in for 45 secs at a time. According to Alf one can do nearly anything for 45 secs! Hats off to Freedom for his first post at Skunk Works and he was getting some good encouragement from fellow musician Hairband.
Hope you enjoyed it and sorry for forgetting about the ball o man at the end.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bring shoes on Friday to put in Susudios truck.
Alf on Q for Kevlar this Friday. Skywalker on Q at Joust. New Union Co workout at Sun Valley Friday too.