After a strong baseline beatdown last week, the pax was looking forward to a more moderate workout this week. Little did we know, a Beast awaited…
The Thang:
Warm-up lap on the track (1/8 mi)
10 merkins leaving the track; jog to open field
COP (in cadence):
The Beast then reared its head:
on the 60 yrd, lined field, stop every 20 yds (down & back for 6 stations), and complete 6 reps of the called exercise. Plank at endline for all pax to complete and await next called exercise.
Mosey to Playground for Circuit 1:
Mosey to far baseball field for Circuit 2:
We had planned to return to the open, lined field, but it was now overtaken by youth football (expanded from only the far football field last week). We stayed put on the ball field, working from left field fence to the centerfield fence.
Jack Webb (up to 5)
By this point, YHC expected to be moving on to Mary. However, the pax had made such quick work with the planned exercises, we moseyed to the playground for a little Cindy. Same rotation as last week, except only 5 min vs 20 min.
5 MoM (in cadence):
COT:
Strong work by the pax today! YHC had planned a more moderate workout this week, after last week’s strenuous baseline with Cindy; however, the pax continued to put the pedal down, quickly blowing through the planned exercises and providing us all with quite a workout. YHC had to call for several standing 10 counts for us to catch our breaths, esp after the runs on the ball field. Jack Webb also made an appearance before the second set of runs, just to help prevent merlot spillage! Crazy!
In summary, the Ascent pax continues to push themselves, striving to better themselves physically and mentally. It’s an honor to lead such a group. Aye!
The shovel flag was planted and another flag was hoisted about 40 feet in the air by Down Range who was in town again from Fort Bragg. 36 non-fartsackers then took off for a full trek around the enormity of The Rock campus.
Pretty Boy Quarterback’s Q (his 1st Q!):
Side straddle hop x 25
Slow squat x 15
Imperial walker x 20
Merkin X 15
Run to front field
Starfish -4 stations
20x- merkins, squat jumps, diamond merkins, Carolina dry docks
5 burpees in middle
Run to top of entrance 4
Everyone grabs a rock
3 rounds
Overhead arm extension lunge walk up hill
Overhead arm extension backward lunge walk up hill
Sprint up hill w/rock extension in front
Hops Q:
Indian run to pavilion
People’s chair for 90 sec.
10 decline merkins on the wall
People’s chair for 90 sec.
Rock Hill Triples (diff. version of Jack Webbs): 4 Dips, 1 Decline merkin; 8 dips, 2 decline merkins; 12 dips, 3 decline merkins; 16 dips, 4 decline merkins; 20 dips, 5 decline merkins
10 Jump Ups, 10 Flutters; Rinse and repeat 3x
Mosey to bottom of hill at end of pitch
Bear Crawl up hill, 5 burpees at top, Jog down, 5 wide arm merkins
Repeat with 4 burpees, 4 wide arms, 3 burpees, 3 wide arms, etc
Mosey to parking lot
Karaoke, switching 1/2 way
Jail brake to main lot
5 MoM
Dolly x 13, slow with good form; hold when finished
Freddy Mercury x 13
Ski Abs x 13 in cadence
High Slow Flutter x 13, very slow with good form
COT
Moleskine:
Lots of wrinkles in the playbook at The Rock this morning. First one was Down Range bringing a flag and hoisting it 40 feet in the air (some sort of beach flag thing)…rolled his right front tire over it to hold it in place. Nice addition to the morning’s festivities.
Also, Ray Charles (still technically on the DL with a knee, but did what he could – T-claps) saw a dead buck laying just down from entrance 4. Apparently it was a 6-point, so he calls Pretty Boy Quarterback to bring a saw to liberate the antlers from the beast’s skull after the workout. Strong! That’s going above/beyond for the QIC! See twitter pic posted by Salt Lick.
Great group this morning at The Rock. T-claps to Checkpoint for the DoubleDown, and one of our other 3 (respect) 50+ pax – Iron Horse led the gear pre-work from 6:15-6:45 – Aye!
Saw some strong efforts today – Blitzen is bringing it with smoke boots on the indian run. Joker and Salt Lick were out front on the Starfish work. PBQB had the pax silenced with that one early on. Some of the Area51 regulars felt right at home at The Rock with the Starfish. By the way, how many piled out of the Area51 Clown Car? Impressive.
Also – a few of the pax disappeared prior to COT: Donkey Kong, Busch and his 2.0’s, others? Sound off in comments as to your whereabouts?
T-claps to Pretty Boy Quarterback on his first Q. Nice work brother – the Starfish and hill work were unsavory – much mumblechatter, especially from Bugeater who was moaning about this oversized rock.
Announcements:
Signup for F3 Dads camp at Camp Thunderbird today!
Area51 T-shirt orders (2nd round) due soon – order one or two today.
This morning’s muggy gloom called forth 8 strong brothers for a wet, grassy beatdown to be remembered.
The Thang
Big League Chew (QIC)
COP
Mosey to lower 40
Rock Pile for coupon
Deposit coupon
Line up in the Endzone (Infantry bounding drills)
Countertop (QIC)
COP 6+ MoM
Ark Loader
Up against the Wall
COT
Molelskin:
This morning’s gloom provided the added challenge of 97% humidity. A bonus for sure if you’re training to invade a small South American country or getting ready for one of the many upcoming mud run / obstacle races.
Big League Chew was channeling Gunnery Sergeant Hartman this a.m. and kicked the workout off at a pace that had YHC gasping for breath starting with the “warm-up” and on through the pull ups, squat jumps, tunnel of love low crawls and infantry bounding drills. On the bright side…The beauty of performing bounding drills on a water logged field with good turf is that you can get an extra few yards for each dive #F3SlipAndSlide.
Outland has been officially chistened: A milestone was reached this a.m. as Outland demanded it’s toll from a PAX , who will remain un-named, spilled Merlot during the Ark Loader. Way to push youself brother. #missionaccomplished
Welcome new #F3PAX:
Vila (Dave Kaminski) origin: Robert Joseph “Bob” Vila is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House, Bob Vila’s Home Again, and Bob Vila
Francis (Rob Ginas) origin: Francis from the movie Stripes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMtvnAmfuf8
Shark Bait (Scott Lyons 2.0) origin: Nemo’s initiation at into the club at the base of mount “Wannahockaluggi” in the fish tank
10 men showed up in the gloom on a muggy Saturday morning aspiring to complete multiple missions of pain. Before they could be sent into the field, the pax had to complete their special operations training led by Champagne on his virgin Q.
The Thang
COP
Count off into teams of 3, and each head off to their pain stations for field training. When complete, rotate to next station.
Pain station 1 – 30 burpees, 30 dips, 30 decline merkins
Pain station 2 – 30 burpees, 30 peter parkers, 30 dive-bomber merkins
Pain station 3 – 30 burpees, 30 pull-ups, 30 hand release merkins
Mosey to “Mission Control” for field deployment – Baracus on Q. There are 5 missions marked by orange cones. Run to the cone, read the mission in the envelope left at each cone, complete the mission. Each team must complete all 5 missions.
After a short recovery, redeploy teams to the field for the next round of missions (side b of the mission cards at each station).
Moleskin:
Champagne did not disappoint in his maiden Q. When YHC first saw his workout plan, I fell out of my chair when I saw the number of burpees he had planned for the “special ops training” portion of the workout. He was determined to deliver some serious pain. He did dial it back a bit, only for time purposes though, because there was still plenty of punishment delivered. Fine work Champagne – even if you still haven’t worked out the art of breathing and counting at the same time!
YHC lead the operations side of the workout – deploying the teams on their “missions”. He brought the tunes with him this time as well…all James Bond theme music, which apparently some problem have a problem with (ahem…Radar). Since we primarily worked out in teams, I don’t have much intel on what transpired among our other teams, but feel free to sound off in the comments if you have stories to share.
YHC was teamed up with Radar, Haze, and Unitas (Haze’s 2.0). With 3 teams formed from 10 pax, someone had to be the odd man out, and I guess it was me. When I headed to join them, Radar was quick to point me toward the other groups. “No Baracus, you’re with those guys.” I guess Radar and Haze wanted some “alone time”. After explaining to Radar that 10 divided by 3 leaves a remainder of 1, I was finally allowed to join.
I must say, Radar was in rare form today…but instead of the angry Q we got the bellyacher. “I shouldn’t have posted this morning…I already started my vacation last night….I’m still tired from GoRuck.”. He did demonstrate some interesting form on a few of the exercises though. Instead of the Hindu Squat, we saw him demonstrate the Vacation Squat. Oh, and PH was the poor recipient of some close range flatulence. I was able to impart some revenge though during the partner wheelbarrows. Speaking of partner wheelbarrows…great job by our 3 man teams figuring out how to do partner wheelbarrows.
Strong work by Unitas (Haze’s 2.0) on the bear crawls and gorilla walks…he put us all to shame. Despite the humidity, a great job by all the pax today – even Radar.
You never want to leave any valuable time on the clock. While we had a serious smokefest today, YHC aims to please and all Pax deserve to get their 64 mins worth. Here is how it went down:
COP @ Northwest Stonehenge
SSH x 25
Mountain Climbers x 25
Imperial Walker x 20
Mosey across 521 to Northeast Stonehenge
Jack Webb ladder up to 5, back down to 1
Jog to soccer field with 20 yd lunge walk and 20 yd broad jumps on the way
On the field:
10 merkins, sprint across field, 10 merkins, sprint back
20 plank in-&-outs, sprint across field, 20 plank in-&-outs, sprint back
30 mountain climbers, sprint across field, 30 MCs, sprint back
To the Premier deck:
Peoples chair; hold, then press x 50
Bear crawl across and back
Crab walk across and back
Burpee Mary ladder:
2 burpees, sprint up ramp, Russian Twist x 20
jog around corner
4 burpees, sprint up ramp to level 2, LBCs x 25 (w/ audible by Frehley for 10 merkins)
jog
6 burpees, sprint to level 3, back scratcher x 20
jog
8 burpees, sprint to level 4 (fresh air at top), rosalita x 20
Field work + parking deck combo was a total smoker. #crowdpleaser
Down the steps, mosey to Aloft Hill for 6s:
Merkins at the bottom, squats at the top
Long jog back over bridge, through the woods to Loch Ness Field, Bratwurst runs planks until regroup
Loch Ness Lap:
Partner 1: dips, derkins, squats all x 10 on repeat until partner returns
Partner 2: run lap around Loch Ness, stopping half way at wall for 10 jump-ups, back to tag partner
Flapjack
#mumblechatter and groans as I call out last exercise with 4 mins to go and within sight of coffeteria
YHC agrees, at this point we had logged some serious lung burn, but we rock until 7 o’clock
Mosey back to home, slightly into overtime by 4 mins
COT, Tclaps, and out
Moleskin
Legs & lungs were on fire today. All hit it hard. Jamboree was tearing it up on the field. As always, Bratwurst on the runs. Tclaps to Big Gulp for pushing through on his first visit to Stonehenge; with a calf injury. We covered serious mileage as usual, and first time visitors have to adjust to the huge campus…. way to push it BG. Hope you are back to 100% soon.
Announcements
Final day for round 2 order for Area51 shirts
Camp is filling up, check site for any vacancies
MT
9 pax jumped out this morning to enjoy a solid beatdown in the dog days of summer at Area51
The Thang:
TL on QIC:
Warmup jog around field, followed by COP:
jailbreak to trail in the woods
Mosey to front of school
Quick run over to rockpile along McKee, grab a rock for various exercises
Line up on field, full-out sprint to other side
Tag over to O’Tannenbaum on QIC:
Mosey to F3 Lighthouse park
Back to parking lot for COT
Moleskin:
Gotta love these dog days of summer when you can cut the humidity with a knife. Everyone looked like they had been dunked in a pool by the end of the workout, no doubt helped by YHC’s extra pinch of running thrown in to support #BRR training.
After all this rain and lack of maintenance, our trail run through the woods feels like it is turning into a trek through a dense Brazilian jungle. In addition to getting clothes-lined by a several tree limbs, YHC seemed to clear out about a dozen spiderwebs with his head. Not a good idea to be the front-runner out there in the woods these days.
Inverted wall-walking was a great change of pace and a real #crowdpleaser, despite a few skinned knees and shins (for YHC at least).
Great to see Hairy Dog out there today – haven’t seen him much all summer. Despite almost throwing up a couple times he pushed it hard – nice job out there brother and hope to see you out again soon. Alf was out in front for most of the stations today… looking forward to his maiden Q next week at the Matrix.
Tooth Fairy came out disguised as an FNG, and somehow ended up with the new Curious handle in COT. YHC was probably a little too easy on supporting the rename – may need to revisit this one in the future. Good to see you out there and looking forward to seeing you at some of the weekday morning workouts.
Good times by all out there – pushing it hard. Thanks for letting me and O’Tannenbaum lead today.
Announcements:
6 ruck maniacs emerged from the gloom at Carmel Middle School for the launch of F3’s first and only ruck-focused workout, SPEARHEAD.
THE THANG
We kicked off the launch of SPEARHEAD by evaluating each pax’s baseline fitness using the Army’s Basic Fitness Test (ABFT). Here’s how it went down:
COP Light Warmup led by Bob The Builder:
– 20 Side Straddle Hops in cadence
– 20 Imperial Walkers in cadence
ABFT led by Dora
– Partner Up
– 2 minutes AMRAP Push Ups (Merkins to you)
– Flapjack
– 2 minutes AMRAP Sit Ups (Sit Ups to you)
– Flapjack
– 2 minute rest for run instructions
– 2 mile run for time
Extra Credit
– Selection Burpees* for each run finisher after 60 second rest
– 5 more Selection Burpees* for everyone
* A ‘Selection Burpee’ is a normal burpee with 5 push ups instead of 1, followed by 5 single-count mountain climbers before bringing the legs back in for the jump.
COT
Moleskin
Congratulations to all the men for completing the ABFT this week. We will revisit this test on an ongoing basis to track our progress and set improvement goals. No rucks this time because you don’t do the ABFT with bricks on your back — that’s next week.
The older you are the easier it is to pass the ABFT. A minimum score of 180/300 is required to pass, and it’s nearly twice as hard for a guy in his 20s to pass then it is for a guy in his 40s. War Daddies got it easy this time, but if you passed, you are probably going to take 5 years off the clock for next test.
If you plan on coming to SPEARHEAD in the future you’ll be encouraged to do the ABFT on your own and send Dora or Bob The Builder your scores. We’re keeping track of them for everyone.
Here’s the strict instructions for the ABFT. Follow them to the letter: http://army.com/info/apft/basics
ABFT Standards Guide: http://usarmybasic.com/army-physical-fitness/apft-standards
Next week the rucks come out and the bricks go in and the pain comes down. Future custom F3 GORUCK events will be harder than ever. This is the place to come to get ready.
Pre-order your kickass SPEARHEAD shirt here: http://f3.mudgear.com/F3-Spearhead-American-Apparel-Soft-Tri-Blend-Tee_p_121.html
Follow @SPEARHEADf3 on Twitter for workout and event updates: http://twitter.com/SPEARHEADf3
22 Pax entered the squared circle and took their shot at the #F3Centurion World Tag Team Championship belts on this very humid Friday morning. Mall Cop and Purple Haze on the tag team Q. It was not pretty. Here’s how we slammed our heads into the turnbuckle:
The Thang
Purple Haze Q – Mosey to the parking lot to the right of the football field:
Tag into Mall Cop…into the ring and ready to go – Mosey from CLT Catholic School to the Aquatic Center with some lunge walk mixed in for good measure.
Tag into Purple Haze…a jump from the top rope to finish this thing. – Mosey to the Hospice Center parking lot for some Mary.
Mosey back for COT.
Moleskin
Announcements
Iron Horse has volunteered to run the Pre Rock Gear Workout this Saturday due to YHC’s absence while DR. T Claps to Iron Horse for this. No one has more gear than Iron Horse anyway (except maybe TR, get them both out and the PAX can really have fun). 6:15 start, 6:45 end to allow for those to get to Day Zero and Ascent (don’t forget to EH folks for Ascent).
Those PAX that show up, need someone to also organize/Q the following Sat 8/17 so step it up and talk to Iron Horse in case he is unable to do it, grab the gear and have fun!
I’ll be missing it.
15 PAX posted for a workout that was pre-blasted as “prepare for motion”. Recognizing it has stayed darker longer in recent mornings, the Fall gloom is lurking now and reminded YHC that soon we will begin and end our workouts in the sweet dark gloom as the summer light is fading. To that YHC says “Bring the Gloom”. And to add to the beauty of the gloom there was a light misty rain dropping on us as we started our paintourage.
Warm Up:
1 Lap around track
Merkins x 25
Mosey to field behind school for COP:
SSH x 25
Merkins x 20
MC x 20
Diamond Merkins x 10
IW x 20
Merkins x 20
The Thang:
Time for some Motion:
Indian Run to Harris Teeter (.75 miles)
Merkins x 50
Indian Run back to Olde Providence (.75 miles)
Total Mileage: 1.5 miles
Mosey to field behind school:
Merkins x 20
Plank-o-rama for 3 minutes while wait for all to return from run
Mosey to Concessions:
30 x Dips
20 x Jump Ups/Step Ups
10 x Burpees
Rinse and Repeat
Mosey to Playground and Partner Up:
Old School Situps/Partner planks on feet x 25
Heels to Heaven x 30
Pull ups x 20
Rinse and Repeat
Mason Twist x 15
Mosey to Field behind School:
Sprint Field (50 yards) and Return
100 total yards
Circle Up
Moleskin:
As promised, we moved. The PAX performed well under pressure. The Indian Run forces a good pace and the run from back to front sprint keeps the wheels turning at good clip. Nice job PAX. Way to go Philmont for pounding away and finishing strong!
There was some mumble chatter at the playground. YHC was accused of being too aggressive with the rep counts called out. I won’t name names (49er) but for those of us in mid-life form who are NOT built like long distance runners – some core work around the mid-section is needed.
There was also comic relief offered up by the PAX along the way and is the preferred method for pushing through the pain, as opposed to crying, whining, complaining, or anger. We actually had none of those but internally who knows what some of you are thinking. YHC thoughts are to stay positive and keep pushing.
Great group effort, great individual efforts and super to see new faces in the Hydra gloom. YHC actually recognized several folks from in and around OP neighborhood and Windyrush: Insomniac, Pudding Pop, Gordon Gecko – nice work and keep coming.
As usual, keep hydrating, modify where you have to, keep pushing, and keep coming back!
Strong send off by Iron Horse – respect and thank you!
Announcements:
1. New “Ascent” moderate intensity workout Saturdays 7 – 8 AM at Olde Providence Elementary
2. New 3rd F workouts – Wed & Fri mornings
3. HDHH (Hump Day Happy Hour) – Wednesdays at 6 – 7:30 PM – Arboretum @ Vintners Wine Market. Some of the PAX make break away for some fun and play elsewhere, but will always have landing spot. Some PAX went to Yo Yo Ma’s for cornhole games. All PAX welcome!