Preblast: Devil’s Turn Tempo Revisited
The plan for Devil’s Turn tomorrow is for a tempo run out to South Charlotte Middle School and back. This workout is intended to be a complement to the speedwork on Tuesdays, LSD (long slow distance) on the weekend, and various bootcamp/KB cross-training throughout the week. A tempo run will help train your body to hold a high level of running intensity over an extended period of time (excellent for BRR training).
All PAX will leave the greenway parking lot (corner of Rea Rd. and Bevington Place) at 5:15 AM.
Since the distance to the school and back is slightly over 4 miles (total), there is an option for circling the school track for a TBD number of times (or doing some core work until it is time to return to complete a nice round 4 mile run).
The number of times around the track is dependant on the speed each PAX is running. Each PAX will need to determine when to leave the track in order to be back at the greenway parking lot at 6:10 AM.
To calculate your tempo pace, use http://runsmartproject.com/calculator, enter a race time from a recent race, click the “Training” tab, and find your “Marathon” training pace. That is your proposed tempo pace.
To see the approximate times and distances for the workout, consult the Progressive Difficulty Matrix below. It is assumed that all PAX will warmup for 1 mile at 8.5 min/mi pace and then hold their tempo pace for the rest of the workout. The important part is when to leave the track to get back to the parking lot at 6:10 AM.
See you in the gloom!
Poking the Bear, Means Bringing the Pain
A total of 24 men showed up to work for my Virgin Q and I loved every minute of it. Here’s what we did…..
The Thang:
COP:
SSH X 25
IW X 15
Mountain Climber X 15
Merkin X 15
Mosey through Target Parking lot to the hill behind Target
Hill Work behind target:
Climb up the hill in back corner lot – 3 squats at the top, 3 burpees at the bottom, repeat 3 times.
Mosey over to the first speed bump behind target.
Road behind target:
At the first speed bump bear crawl race to 2nd speed bump (Winner – Mic Check)
Crab walk race to 3rd speed bump (Winner – Madame Tussauds)
Frog jump race to the 4th speed bump (Winner – Jamboree)
Lunges race to the 5th speed bump (Winner – Jamboree)
Sprint race to the 6th speed bump (Winner – Frazier)
Mosey behind the movie theatre to the side wall.
20 Donkey Kicks OYO, then Balls to the Wall until everyone finishes, 10 Balls to the Wall Presses OYO, if you can.
Swing by Madame Tussauds’ truck to pick up the Beast Bag (80lb heavy bag)
Enter the Circle of Burn:
Pass the Beast Bag around the COB and do 10 burpees before it gets back to you.
Then, group does the called exercise, while everyone takes turns separately carrying the beast bag up the hill and returns to the COB.
Carolina Dry Docks X 10
LBCs X 20
In and out planks X 15
Sprint to the end of the parking lot and back
Peter Parker Merkins X 15
Dollies X 20
Ski Planks X 15 each side
Sprint to the end of the parking lot and back
Wide Merkins X 15
Heels to heaven X 20
Spider Lunges X 10 each side
Slow Jog around the small parking lot
Burpees X 10
Partner Wheel barrow up the hill
Backward run Uphill X 2
Slow Jog around the small parking lot
Merkins X 10
Rosalita X 20
Bicycles X 20
COT
Moleskin:
A little over 3 months after my first post at an extremely cold 16 degree Centurion, YHC finally took the plunge and Q’ed my first workout.
I originally planned a pretty easy, generic workout to ease myself into being a Q. However, at the COT after Swift/Stonehenge on Tuesday morning Frehley’s Comet was “Poking the Bear.” So later that morning I wrote a workout that I hoped would not disappoint.
The goal this morning was to do wide variety of exercises with low counts (10-20) with very little breaks in between.
YHC was SMOKED after 45 minutes. Based on the moans and groans from the PAX, I believe everyone got their money’s worth. I actually had a hard time calling cadence at the end and waited for the heckling to begin.
It was truly a pleasure leading such a great group of men this morning. I strongly encourage everyone that hasn’t Q’ed a workout to step up.
Special shout out to Mic Check. Thanks for the virgin Q mentoring Brother!
Lastly, keep Frehley’s co-worker in your payers. His/her son was recently injured in an accident.
A51 Century Club
The shovel flag was planted firmly into the soil at SCMS for another installment of #F3DeathValley. During some good-natured Twitter banter last night, the Q mentioned #CenturyClub. Here’s what it meant:
The Thang
Little baby jog around the parking lot while a few stragglers made their way in. Circle up in the parking lot for COP:
- 25 IC SSHs
- 25 IC Merkins
- 25 Slow Squats
- 25 IC Mountain Climbers
Run down the bleachers between the baseball fields for some pain stations:
- 25 Supine Pullups
- 25 Incline Merkins
- 25 Bear Squats (crowd favorite)
- 25 Decline Merkins
Some plank work…RAH, RLH, LAH, LLH…10 more Merkins OYO.
Run over to the football field. Find a partner (size does not matter) and line up on the goal line:
- 100s – Partner A does Jump Squats; Partner B sprints 100 yds & back; Flapjack until a 100 total reps are completed by team
- 25 IC Flutter Kicks; AYG sprint 100 yards
- 25 IC Freddie Mercury (5 slow, 5 fast, 5 slow, 5 fast, 5 slow); AYG sprint 100 yards
- 25 IC Dollies; AYG sprint 100 yards
- 25 IC LBCs; AYG sprint 100 yards
- 100s – Partner A does Merkins; Partner B sprints 100 yds & back; Flapjack until a 100 total reps are completed by team
- 25 yard Bear Crawl
- 25 yard Broad Jump
- 25 yard Backward Bear Crawl
- 25 yard Lunge Walk
- Pax choice…100s with Burpees or 10×10 (10 burpees a minute for 10 minutes). Pax (well Stagecoach) chose 10×10.
Run a cool down lap around the track and then up to the parking lot for COT.
Moleskin
The Pax listing at DV always reads like a Who’s Who of Area 51. So the nerves always run a little higher for the Q here. These guys are serious, as evidenced by a text message from a Brit that said “Rubbish” after YHC soft committed to the pre-KB workout. That same Brit accused YHC of fartsacking for showing up at 0515 for the last couple of sets of the KB. Plenty of guys at the pre-KB…couldn’t remember them all so no one got credit above…but sound off in the comments if you have some strong desire to be noticed for your brute strength. YHC will note that Splinter was there for pre-KB but had to leave before the workout because his M has running club on Wednesday…sounds like an excuse to me after he got the easy #Weinke banter going on Twitter last night. YHC wonders if his M is as delicate with her running shoes as he is with his. Also there early was Radar, doing weird things with his foam roller, a tennis ball and YHC’s rolling stick. Spackler joined in on that too and now YHC has to buy a new rolling stick.
We did COP at the front of the parking lot right at the entrance. Mall Cop, suffering from intestinal non-compliance this morning, came barreling in late and almost took out a few Pax. Think he had to swerve off in the grass for a bit…but it enabled him to show off the impeccable handling and off road capabilities of his new Subaru. Was he wearing #Birkenstocks too?
The Bear Squats were a crowd favorite…not just good for a Saturday night but also a Wednesday morning. If you can get past how they look, they do give the quads a good stinging. During the pain stations, YHC also heard complaints about low heart rates. So we fixed that once we got to the football field with the 100s and sprints. What soccer guys lack in manliness they compensate for with speed. Also, YHC found out that Sussudio is one fast old guy. #Respect
The 10×10 was fun as always. A tough choice between that or the 100s with burpees. Stagecoach spoke for the Pax and chose 10×10…which was probably wise, as it is never very fun to do burpees and then have to sprint. Busch did LBCs waiting for the next minute to start. On the last set, Mermaid showed off with his patented double-press, double-jump burpees. Spackler maybe did 10 burpees during the entire 10 minutes.
All the Pax worked hard this morning. There were no 10 counts. Strong effort indeed. Always a pleasure to lead this group…thanks for the opportunity Stagecoach.
Announcements
- F3Dads coming in June. Look for announcements from Header.
- Sign up for F3Golf
- Find a 3rdF near you and go. #F3Aftermath meets each Wednesday after DV at the Piper Glen Starbucks
The Merkin Wave
The Thang: Mosey to the front parking lot for COP and…..
SSH x 25 w/Merkin X 5
IW X 25 w/Merkins X10 + Plank + Peter Parker X 10
Russian Twist X 25 w/Merkins X10 + Plank + PP X 10 + Plank + Wide Arm X10
Russian Twist X20 + Knee-Ups X20 w/Merkins X10 + Plank + PP X 10 + Plank + WA X10 + Plank walk
LBC X51 w/Merkin Wave X 9 with 1 @ 6 inch for good measure
Mosey to soccer field top of hill on belly and following X3…..
Sprint length of field (audibled to half field for lap 2 and 3) + bear crawl up hill and…
Squats X20 / Jump Squat X20 / LBC’s X 30
Mosey to the pavilion and……
Peoples chair + inverted single handed planks X3
10 “recovery” burpees
Return to start point and…..
IC Dolly X25 / Flutter X20 / OYO LBC X 50
Moleskin:
A very strong effort across the board at Anvil this morning. QIC noted that Young Love, Baracus, Champaign, and Abacus were actively engaged in an intense kettle bell pre-work as the rest of the Pax arrived for an 0530 start – nice!
Abba sent us into the day with a thoughtful and meaningful reflection. Thank you Abba.
Great work was put in by ALL. Thank you for letting me lead today.
Announcements:
Barracus: Reminded the PAX that with the return of great weather to reach out to any F3 colleagues we have not seen in awhile and encourage them to return to the FOG ( FOG = fellowship of the gloom).
Champaign: May 15th deadline for F3 golf tournament; please see details on F3.com
Starfish, Bear Crawl, Crab Walk, & a tour of the Nature Trail
7 PAX gathered around the SF as the clock approached 0700. After a brief disclaimer by YHC we headed out for another round of fun at Area 51. Led the PAX on a short jog around the soccer fields and then circled up for COP:
- SSH x 25 (IC)
- IW x 25 (IC)
- Squat x 25 (IC)
- MC x 25 (IC)
Head over to light pole in center of fields for the Starfish:
- Run to 1st light pole, 20 Merkins, back to center for 5 Burpees
- Run to 2nd light pole, 20 Squats, back to center for 5 Burpees
- Run to 3rd light pole, 20 CDD, back to center for 5 Burpees
- Run to 4th light pole, 20 Sister Mary Catherines, back to center for 5 Burpees
- Run to 5th light pole, 20 LBCs, back to center for 5 Burpees
- Plank it up and wait for PAX to finish
Mosey over to sidewalk on other side of soccer fields:
- Bear Crawl to soccer goal, Run to midfield & back, Bear crawl from soccer goal to start
- Rd 2 – Crab Walk
- Rd 3 – Broad Jump
Jog over to front of school for PC:
- PC x 60 secs (w/ arms out front, air presses x 20)
- Lunge walk to parking lot
- PC x 75 secs (w/ air presses x 20, arms out front)
- Lunge walk to parking lot
Time to move and off we went to other end of the school for BTW:
- BTW wall walk x 20-25 ft
- Plank walk on the curb x 20-25 ft
- Incline Merkins x 15
- Rinse & Repeat, replacing IM with Decline Merkins
Enough of that nonsense, mosey to back playground for a little circuit work:
- Rd 1 – 10 Pull-ups/Supine Pull-ups, 20 Dips, 20 Step-ups
- Rinse & Repeat x 2
Time to take a little nature walk, so head over to trail
- Trail run
- Bear crawl up hill
- 10 Burpees
- Plank it up and wait for PAX
Wind our way around the back of the school and circle up for a little JW (DK request, YHC aims to please)
- 1 Merkin/4 Air Presses . . . 10 Merkins/40 Air Presses
6 MOM (IC):
- Dolly x 20, hold’em for DK 15 count
- Flutter x 20, Hold’em for Lobster Roll 10 count
- Rosalita x 20
- Back Scratchers x 20
- LBC x 20
Head back to SF and launch point for COT
Naked Moleskin:
- YHC took a minute to go over Disclaimer prior to start of work-out. Slapshot was a little surprised to hear that after a couple seasons of posting in the Gloom.
- Welcome to Kilowatt, friend of Header, to Area 51 site. Think he originally was looking for PAX at Covenant Day but he found us at McKee Road Elementary in time.
- Ready to see drag race between Lobster Roll and Donkey Kong (& possibly Joker) in a Bear Crawl duel. Those two were moving out there this morning.
- DK called for JW after the circuit work at the back playground. YHC aims to please and we worked in a round after a run on the Nature Trail.
- Thanks to O’Tannenbaum for taking us out.
Announcements:
- Area 51 work-out site is sponsoring a hole/tee box in the F3 Golf Tournament. Let YHC, John.Chepul@ChepulCPA.com, or Far Side, Frank.Larsen@cbre.com, know if you would like to contribute. Sponsorship is $100 per hole. Thanks to those who have already contributed.
- Sign up for F3 Golf Tournament by 5/15. Event will be held at Olde Sycamore Golf Course on 5/29. 4 man teams/Captain’s Choice. Sign up as individual or team. See website for further details.
- Looking for Qs for Area 51 for Saturdays in May and June. Let YHC know if you can take 1/2 or full, specifically on 5/10, 5/17, 5/31, or 6/7.
Our one hour is up already?
The virtual shovel flag was posted and 12 men gathered for a stroll down memory lane to remember some of the greatest hits F3 has to offer.
Ball of Man – Chelms gave the disclaimer, noting it was particularly relevant this am since his plan was still being developed. After a quick prayer, we got after it.
The Thang
Jog down to the track for a warm up lap and COP
- SSH X15
- 10 Burpees
- Jumping lunges X10
- 10 Burpees
- Squats X10
- 10 Burpees
Mini Yassou 800’s – Four sets of 800M at race pace and 400M recovery jog (4,800 meters). Reverse plank until all the Pax finish
Gather on the football field (European markings) for more hits
Four corners (run to each corner of field and perform 10 of called exercise)
- Merkins
- Jump Squats with rotation (Q audibled after 2 since I was getting dizzy)
- Jumping lunges
Modified Beast – Sprint field stopping on way down and back at 25, 50, 25 for six counts of called exercise (36 total count each round)
- LBC’s
- Turkish get ups
- Burpees
Plank after each round with some extra credit thrown in (Elbows, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Rock Hoppers, etc).
End line to end line sprints (slow squats in between each round)
- Round 1 – down and back
- Round 2 – down and backward run back
- Round 3 – Karaoke half way and sprint other half, karaoke half way back and sprint to end line
Job back to starting point
Naked Moleskin
Great work by the PAX, My legs are smoked right now as we mixed it up pretty good with different exercises in between a lot of running. PH accused me of lip synching the greatest F3 hits. My singing may be taped but the workout was live and in person.
Spackler started mumbling something about the hour being too short and needing to extend another 15 minutes. I did note he played nurse to Gummy for a round of Yassou so maybe he just needed another 15 minutes to complete the workout the rest of the PAX already finished. Leroy can join him since he disappared for a water break in the middle of the Yassou portion of the program.
As always, it was an honor and privilege to lead such a great group this am. Definitely making me stronger as the group has some strong runners. Some of the other regulars need to step up and take a turn soon. I would suggest Frasier but am worried we might run a 1/2 marathon in an hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes for Spackler and Leroy).
Announcements:
Still time to sign up for F3 Golf. See weekly email blast and web site for everything else. Lots going on.
#F3Swift – Conquering Ben Nevis
Swift launched at 0515 with 5 PAX from the Vine in Ballantyne. We dropped 1 and upon coming around at 0530 to pick up more PAX, no one at the Bagpipe COP wanted any of that.
The Thang:
- 0515 – Warm-up over to Ben Nevis to lay out the cones for the main workout. Too fast for Haggis, so he dropped back to Q Bagpipe. According to MT (or Spinner), we did some “ballerina twinkle toes” (called Giraffe at LetMeRun), heel walkers (penguins at LMR), and strides. Took too much time, so YHC had to quickly go back to try to pick up more PAX at the Vine. Upon finding no takers, we set out back to Ben Nevis for the main set.
- 0530 – 200meters,200,400 with equal recovery jogs in between on the hill going Westbound on Ballantyne Commons from Rushmore Dr towards the entrance to Ballantyne CC at Ballantyne Meadows Dr. Recorded here: http://www.strava.com/activities/138083014/overview. In the first set, all Intervals run uphill (downhill recoveries). In the second set, first 200m interval downhill, the rest uphill. In the third set, second 200m interval downhill and the 400m was done uphill on the adjacent hill back towards 521.
- Total mileage for pre-work and warm-up @ 2.5mi. Plus Intervals and Cooldown @ 3.5mi. Totals for all at 6.0 miles. Only 1.5miles of this was at individual pace. The rest at a cool 2nd F pace or much slower for recovery.
- just before COT while waiting for Bagpipe – LBCs for 1001… 1002… 1003… then Bagpipe arrived, so we “did over a thousand” LBCs.
The Moleskin:
- Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in Scotland, so it seems appropriate to give the hill on Ballantyne Commons going West from Rushmore up to Ballantyne Meadows the same name. Garmin recorded it at 300ft of elevation difference over a 0.25 mile giving a grade of 22% (not sure if we buy that, but it’s steep).
- Goal for intervals was the same effort as your 1 mile race pace. Also called R-pace at the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator. On a severe hill, the actual pace won’t factor and it’s more about effort. Strava does try to estimate the “Grade Adjusted Pace” – for example on an uphill 400m it gave a 1:30 second interval today (normally a 6:00/mi pace) a GAP of 4:25/mi. Again, not sure we buy that, but it sounds good, right? Conversely, it gave a downhill 200m in 0:35 (4:42/mi) a GAP of 6:02/mi.
- Perfect attendance to Honey Bee making 3/3 Swift events so far. That dude has the perfect shorter stride for the Uphills and Downhills. Better watch out on the BRR for this guy. Smoked it today.
- Spinner is starting his Swift streak making it 2 weeks in a row. He may prefer to rename Ben Nevis “Alpe d’Nevis” to get closer to his cycling roots, but he does want to make sure everyone knows he just doesn’t “spin” indoors – he’s a roadie.
- M. Tussauds didn’t stand still long enough to make a good wax figure today (like the PAX were doing in COP at Bagpipe). Instead, he made his FNG Swift appearance today and fought back on the hills.
Announcements in the Bagpipe backblast here.
Towel….a gift for you.
25 of the best from the south CLT area posted for a good ole fashion skunkfest with a slight twist. Who knew a little thing could make such a difference. There a lesson in there somewhere. “grab a towel, follow me”
The Thang:
SSH x 25
Goblet Squat x 20
IW x 25
Towel Swing x 20 OYO (TR demo)
Stagger arm Merkins Rt x15, Lt x 15
Mosey -racked bells
Partner Up- like size bells
Farmer’s carry Catch me if you can- wrap towel around bell handles
Combined KB weight of 70 or less: 7 burpees; >70 5 burpees
Plankarama until all are back.
Hill work (with Partners) PT #1 does said exercise until PT#2 returns from hill; flapjack until reps are complete:
50 seated should presses (alternate arms)
100 Towel swings
100 goblet squats
100 lawnmowers
Farmer’s carry Catch me if you can- wrap towel around bell handles back to Flagpole with 10 LBC’s
Mary:
Dolly press x 15
LBC x 20
Flutter press x 15
LBC x 20
COT
Moleskin:
YHC hopes the pax enjoyed the slight variation of a typical Skunk workout. Hold on to that towel for future skunks.
Here’s the link to the Towel swing demo that TR explained this am. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kec1cOmY74A Thanks TR for your help. Maybe you should get all inked up like that dude. #hellsangel
Tclaps to Cole Slaw (FNG to Skunk), strong work and to MMMBop for returning from last week. here we go with that song stuck in our heads again….
Our resident dancing Nebraskan, Bugeater, will turn 41 tomorrow. He made it a point to let us all know. So, who’s got something in store for him tomorrow when/if he posts.
Warmer mornings for the pax will get the sweat pouring quicker. Or at least that is the goal. Reach out to the guys you haven’t seen in a while and EH them back to the herd.
Great sendoff by Busch, reminder to all of us of our responsiblity as fathers to lead, especially our sons. #menofcourage
Announcements:
F3 Golf- sign up. And see Harley if you commited to contribute to the Skunkworks sponsored Hole, which will be the toughest hole on the course obviously. #fasttwitchpoke
F3 Dads- coming in June, get the 2.0s fired up. It’s a fun time for all. See Header if you would like to help Q
Where Was Market Timer???????
A sparse crowd showed up for Foxhole and noticeably absent was the co sight Q a/k/a Market Timer. Was he celebrating Cinco de Mayo really early? All is fair and love and war and Mr. Timer himself called me out for missing Stonehenge on his Saturday Q. In full disclosure, I had a little too much fun on Fri night which I tend to do sometimes but I usually post anyway. Anyhow, there was a nice workout on Monday morning enjoyed by the few who showed. Here we go…
Warmup: Lap around parking lot; SSH X 25, Imperial Walker X 25, Squats X 25, Merkins X 15 – all in F3 cadence. Mosy to jungle gym area.
Workout: 5 Sets of 3 different exercises using the kettle bell including legs, presses, and arms (15 reps for each exercise): 1st set: Goblet squats, bicep curls, 2 arms overhead press. 2nd set: Reverse lunge with kb twist at waist level, tricep extension, 1 arm press (8 each arm). 3rd set: Romanian dead lifts, bicep curls, diamond merkins. 4th set: Squats, tricep extensions, upright rows. 5th set: Romainian dead lifts, 1 arm curl + overahead pres (8 each arm).
Mosey to center of school where we broke in some brand new wooden benches with a repeat of the theme of 3 different exercises for 3 sets and 15 reps each: dips with kb in lap, step ups with kb held at waist and 1 set overhead, 1 arm bent over rows (repeated all exercises 3 times).
Used the two sides of the school buildings for a set of people’s chair (1 minute holds). On 1 end, we used the kettle bell for various exercises while holding people’s chair (sack draggers, 1-arm curls, overhead press, upright rows). Between each set, sprint to other building without kettle bell for 1 minute people’s chair with combination of overhead presses in cadence (30).
Returned to the benches for sets of Mary while lying flat on the benches with feet elevated. 20 reps each in cadence of LBC, Dolly, Flutter, Freddie Mercury, and Heels to Heaven.
Finished with a lap around the parking lot with kettle bells stopping at islands for Merkins. 50 total. With 1 minute left, finished with plank and 6 inches for a 10 count.
Bagpipe
27 showed up for the Bagpipe / Swift combo. 4 peeled off for Swift, the rest stayed with bagpipe and got a good kicking.
The Thang
Mosey to Wells Fargo for disclaimer and warm up: Plank, 30 Side Straddle Hop, 25 Mountain Climber, 20 Imperial Walker.
Mosey to parking lot for Merkin Countdown. 10 merkins, 5 seconds plank, 9 merkins, 5 seconds plank…. 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. Finish with 10 merkins on your own.
Mosey to Loch Ness wall. 12 slow durkins, 12 slow dips, 15 jump ups. Jog around lake. Repeato.
Mosey to bottom of Dunreggan Brae (the hill up to the bridge over 521). 5 burpees in a 6-count cadence. Sprint to top of hill. Plank, then 20 squats. Back to bottom of hill. Repeato with 10 burpees.
Mosey back to Loch Ness. Merkin Mary Madness. 2 merkins, 20 flutter, 4 merkins, 20 dolly, 6 merkins, 20 heels to heavens, 8 merkins, 20 rosalitas, 10 merkins, 20 right side raise, 8 merkins, 20 left side raise, 6 merkins, 20 little baby crunch, 4 merkins, 10 bicycles, 2 merkins, 10 slow bicycles.
Mosey back to Vine for COT.
Moleskin
– Chipotle 1 year anniversary today. Yeah Chippy!
– Madame Tussaud maiden Q tomorrow at the Maul. Frehley was poking the bear so we will see what happens.
– Swift starts at 5:15am with a warm up run, then circles back to the Vine for a 5:30 start.
– That’s it. Great workout.