A New SOB Era Begins
Date: 2026-01-03 AO: chicken-run Q: tuck PAX: toolbag, wingman, HazMat, Lasso, bunker, das_boot, Green Label, Chopper, bratwurst, Doublemint, Brisket, gumbo, shrinkwrap, tagalong, Rob Rosenthal – Drive By, Franky FNGs: None COUNT: 17 17 pax gathered for the inaugural Saturday morning long run at The Bowl. With Christmas lights on Bowl St. still aglow, and light rain falling, we “kicked off” a new SOB era as we set off into the gloom. We ran a 10 mile route featuring an out/back on the McMullen Creek Greenway and a loop in Pineville using the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Not even the obscene smells eminating from the wastewater treatment plant could dampen our spirits on this morning. Some of us arrived in time to catch the end of The Super Bowl COT. A passing jogger asked what our deal was and I filled him in. He may show up next week. Our increased visibility is already paying off. Happy to report that the parking situation at the new AO is A+. We had a great turnout at Panera for coffeeteria with the Super Bowlers. The plan is to move coffeeteria to Wegmans when it opens this Fall.
The only detail left to settle is the name of this weekly run. Many good ideas were proposed on the run channel today. Immediately after next week’s run (1/10) we will hold a vote, with our beloved site Q soft_pretzel determining which names are on the ballot. Only those pax that show up and run will be eligible to vote. Be there and let your voice be heard!
Chicken Run was really good to us over the years. Countless miles were run, friendships made and strengthened, and chicken eaten. Plus there was some solid trespassing. I for one will treasure those memories. Thank you to all the site Q’s, Q’s, and runners that made it happen week in and week out.
If week 1 at the new site is any indication, we will continue to have great routes and good times on Saturday mornings. And we will have a bigger opportunity to be running / F3 ambassadors to those that need it. Let’s get after it.
The only detail left to settle is the name of this weekly run. Many good ideas were proposed on the run channel today. Immediately after next week’s run (1/10) we will hold a vote, with our beloved site Q soft_pretzel determining which names are on the ballot. Only those pax that show up and run will be eligible to vote. Be there and let your voice be heard!
Chicken Run was really good to us over the years. Countless miles were run, friendships made and strengthened, and chicken eaten. Plus there was some solid trespassing. I for one will treasure those memories. Thank you to all the site Q’s, Q’s, and runners that made it happen week in and week out.
If week 1 at the new site is any indication, we will continue to have great routes and good times on Saturday mornings. And we will have a bigger opportunity to be running / F3 ambassadors to those that need it. Let’s get after it.
Does Calvary Even Pay Its Electric Bill?
Date: 2026-01-03 AO: olympus Q: Krzyzewski , PAX: voodoo, flipper, The Worm, MARTA, Mountain Momma, Schedule C, Gapper, hoover, Emoji, Pepsi, Unplugged, ickey_shuffle, Blanks FNGs: None COUNT: 14 Cold weather? Don’t care. Rain? Don’t care. No electricity? Don’t care. Horrible beatdown of doubles with 6x reps of each element for 5 sets? Don’t care. No Dropkick Murphy’s on the playlist? Listen, buddy…now we’ve got an issue. …and so it went this morning. Despite, let’s say, less than ideal conditions, the pax absolutely dominated the worst iteration of the Clean ‘Em Up v2.0 that we’ve seen yet. However, it was false hopes of some American Celtic punk rock on the lead-in to ‘Good Times Bad Times’ that caused the most consternation this morning. Truly, it’s hard to please all the pax all the time. Today, proved especially hard with numbers bursting into the teens for the most populated hot box beatdown YHC has ever witnessed. Phenomenal to see so many of the usual suspects and always a pleasure to have weekday legend, Unplugged, join us for a weekend beatdown. Also, welcome back to Gapper, Schedule C, and Blanks – hats off for ignoring all signs of good reason and returning to Olympus once again. As always, it’s an honor that so many pax show up each week. It has nothing to do with YHC, but so much to do with the trust each man puts in to each other collectively. More on this in a bit – however in a world increasingly devoid of true accountability to oneself, to each other, to our communities, etc. this is a cool and rare thing to witness and YHC is proud to be part of it. Much of this morning was horrible, but conquering this weinke made us all that much better. Also, this was absolutely the kick in the pants YHC needed to start the day. All right, enough intro, give the people what they want…let’s get into the recap… WARMUP: Swings (10x), prying squats, hi-pulls (5x e/s), synovial circles, one-handed swings (5x e/s), slingshots (7x e/w) THE THANG: 1) Voodoo Complex (3 sets) – Voodoo complex (1x round e/s) – Voodoo complex (2x rounds e/s; ‘chain’) – Voodoo complex (2x each exercise, but 1x round e/s; ‘complex’) 2) Clean ‘Em Up 2.0 (5 sets; nice variety of chains/complex/lopsided Hydrox) – Double clean (6x) – Double squat (6x) – Double snatch (6x) – Double press (6x) – Double swing (6x) – Double renegade row (6x e/s) 3) Da Six/Eight/Ten Complex (3 sets) – Lawnmower rows (6x e/s) – Monkey-humper squats (8x) – Merkins (10x) 4) Carries – Progressive single-bell carries to farther and farther light posts with 4x goblet squats after each MARY: Classic hot box Mary where pushing benches back into place and running bells to your car post-beatdown is all you need ANNOUNCEMENTS: – THE PR:o:D – First Friday of the month – see Slack for details. Flipper gave a quick recap of the successful turnout of the first edition this past Friday. Prayers for continued success and hopes that many of our brothers, who have strayed from F3 over the years, will continue to post and come back – :pancakes: Second F Friday (1/9) – second Friday of the month at Stacks. See Slack for details. – :deciduous_tree: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” YHC has written about some variation of this in the past, but during a trip to a plantation in Charleston this past week this saying crept into his brain once again. While the origins of this quotation seems to be debated (likely an ancient Greek proverb), it’s meaning shines brightly as we embark on a new year. Standing before a driveway lined with dozens of enormous live oak trees made YHC reflect. The man who planted those had no idea of the thousands of people who would one day enjoy their shade, beauty, and grandeur. BUT, the charge for us, is how can we equally plant seeds? It’s not organizing large-scale projects or charity drives. It’s not even taking the lead of an F3 workout. Man, it just starts with posting. Be consistent. Show up. Be the reason that another man chooses to flee fartsack and get himself better so he can be a better man, husband, father, uncle, etc. Just get out there and post. YHC is a richer man because of those before him. Pay it forward and have a great week! COT: YHC took out the Olympus crew. We caught a glimpse of the gentlemen of The Rock, who seemed to be having just as much fun moseying and burpee’ing in the open elements
New AO… Who Dis? Omaha!
Date: 2026-01-03 AO: the-super-bowl Q: Roulette , PAX: taggart, Rudy, Snuka, snowflake, Hawkeye, Moth, kirby, ToeJam, war_eagle, C3P0, Starch, shrinkwrap FNGs: None COUNT: 14 Could have sworn we had 14 PAX this morning, please let me know who I missed in tagging? WARMUP: Mosey down to OMB… SSH, IW, runner’s stretch, 20x ‘mericans THE THANG: There is only one way to kick off a new site… With a two parking deck, 5k, no plan substi-Q money back guarantee…
First Deck, alternate 5 burpees/10 big boys all the way up… wait for the six on each level with some random Mary
Intermission, Five minutes of Mary on the artificial turf in the Corp complex, flutter, plank to side plank, 6 inches to 45 degrees straight into dolly… keep that core engaged
Second Deck… something a little different, lay down on your six, get up without using your arms or hands x5 at the start of each ramp… 10x two count American hammers at the top… random Mary waiting for the six… Take the stairs down and get disoriented as to where you are…
Mosey to the tunnel… decline shoulder presses, incline/decline ‘mericans of all varieties…
At this point we had about ten minutes left to squeeze in another mile through stream park and around OMB again, stopping for the six and a bunch of Al Gore and squats
MARY: Everywhere ANNOUNCEMENTS: the-prod was a resounding success, hope to see you there next month… EH someone into coming out, either and OG or FNG COT: Gratitude for being healthy and able to be out in the Gloom this morning, prayers for recovery and healing for war_eagle friend Scott…
First Deck, alternate 5 burpees/10 big boys all the way up… wait for the six on each level with some random Mary
Intermission, Five minutes of Mary on the artificial turf in the Corp complex, flutter, plank to side plank, 6 inches to 45 degrees straight into dolly… keep that core engaged
Second Deck… something a little different, lay down on your six, get up without using your arms or hands x5 at the start of each ramp… 10x two count American hammers at the top… random Mary waiting for the six… Take the stairs down and get disoriented as to where you are…
Mosey to the tunnel… decline shoulder presses, incline/decline ‘mericans of all varieties…
At this point we had about ten minutes left to squeeze in another mile through stream park and around OMB again, stopping for the six and a bunch of Al Gore and squats
MARY: Everywhere ANNOUNCEMENTS: the-prod was a resounding success, hope to see you there next month… EH someone into coming out, either and OG or FNG COT: Gratitude for being healthy and able to be out in the Gloom this morning, prayers for recovery and healing for war_eagle friend Scott…
Floaty Hammers
Date: 2026-01-02 AO: ufo-ultimatefriz Q: Spyglass PAX: MARTA, Crawdad, Fruity Pebbles, JH, Mayo, Spyglass, Yeti, Zipper FNGs: None COUNT: 15 Pregame: A collective exhale & warm feeling inside once realizing we’d have 14 pax and lights. Vibes high to start the new year.
The Game: Quote of the morning: “Man, I’m out of shape” – said by about 75% of pax. This excludes Yeti, of course, who believes slow metabolism is a mere myth. Yellow had a rather steady, strong performance. Mayo was ripping 3-story high floaty hammers. His teammates were left questioning whether they needed to signal for a fair catch on the receiving end. Dora was EVERYWHERE. Offense, Defense, metal, physical, spiritual…….it was all there. Even has a massive pull. MVP honors easily. Play drastically stopped when Brainiac went down w/ a non-contact achilles injury. It is feared to be a ruptured achilles. Shoutout to those who jumped in to get a golf cart, drive Brainiacs stick shift car, take him to Ortho Carolina, etc. Way to step up, men. In less important matters, game eventually did carry on and red clawed back to an ultimate point scenario. Yellow received and never looked back, marching down for a score to take it. Effective immediately, we will do more/ better stretching prior to gameplay.
Postgame: • Assisting w/ Brainiac • Breakfast at Stacks next Friday • Chubbs, Barbershop, Shank and others who haven’t been out in a while or receiving from injury, we miss you guys & hope to see you back soon. • Praise for pregnancy announcements from Mr. “Check the Math” Biden & Spyglass.
Brainiac, let us know if any of us can do anything for you.
Yellow (Winners): Spyglass Mayo Fruity Pebbles Peaches Crawdad Biden Dora Aoli
Red (Losers): Yeti Marta Peanut Pink Eye Zipper Wu-Tang Brainiac
The Game: Quote of the morning: “Man, I’m out of shape” – said by about 75% of pax. This excludes Yeti, of course, who believes slow metabolism is a mere myth. Yellow had a rather steady, strong performance. Mayo was ripping 3-story high floaty hammers. His teammates were left questioning whether they needed to signal for a fair catch on the receiving end. Dora was EVERYWHERE. Offense, Defense, metal, physical, spiritual…….it was all there. Even has a massive pull. MVP honors easily. Play drastically stopped when Brainiac went down w/ a non-contact achilles injury. It is feared to be a ruptured achilles. Shoutout to those who jumped in to get a golf cart, drive Brainiacs stick shift car, take him to Ortho Carolina, etc. Way to step up, men. In less important matters, game eventually did carry on and red clawed back to an ultimate point scenario. Yellow received and never looked back, marching down for a score to take it. Effective immediately, we will do more/ better stretching prior to gameplay.
Postgame: • Assisting w/ Brainiac • Breakfast at Stacks next Friday • Chubbs, Barbershop, Shank and others who haven’t been out in a while or receiving from injury, we miss you guys & hope to see you back soon. • Praise for pregnancy announcements from Mr. “Check the Math” Biden & Spyglass.
Brainiac, let us know if any of us can do anything for you.
Yellow (Winners): Spyglass Mayo Fruity Pebbles Peaches Crawdad Biden Dora Aoli
Red (Losers): Yeti Marta Peanut Pink Eye Zipper Wu-Tang Brainiac
Banker’s Hours
Date: 2026-01-02 AO: joust Q: ductwork PAX: deep_dish, header, geraldo, ductwork, spackles, @Limey FNGs: None COUNT: 6 6 vets chose Banker’s Hours and a delayed #FunFriday start at joust. Nice work today, boyz!
WARMUP: Looooooooong mosey in and around the parking lots, then onto the football field for: SSH, IW, Hillbilly, Merkins, Runner’s Stretch, Plank and LSS THE THANG: Campus tour with partner track work, corner track work, bleachers, blue door, and people’s chair with a smattering of running and exercises mixed in for good measure MARY: Attempted Flutter & Dolly, then abruptly stopped with CCS teacher traffic ANNOUNCEMENTS: Christmas Party 2026 COT: header with the takeout. Thankful for another year and prayers for recovery for Marge and 49er.
WARMUP: Looooooooong mosey in and around the parking lots, then onto the football field for: SSH, IW, Hillbilly, Merkins, Runner’s Stretch, Plank and LSS THE THANG: Campus tour with partner track work, corner track work, bleachers, blue door, and people’s chair with a smattering of running and exercises mixed in for good measure MARY: Attempted Flutter & Dolly, then abruptly stopped with CCS teacher traffic ANNOUNCEMENTS: Christmas Party 2026 COT: header with the takeout. Thankful for another year and prayers for recovery for Marge and 49er.
Field Trip to Davie Park
Date: 2026-01-02 AO: mountain-goat Q: retread PAX: retread, slim_fast, Spammer, Sensei, kilowatt, beaver, Mounds FNGs: None COUNT: 7 WARMUP: Run to entrance of Davie Park, bit of dynamic stretching. THE THANG: Loops around the dog park until 0600. Recovery pace back to Strawberry, continue to the last speed bump before returning to the school. ANNOUNCEMENTS: None today. COT: Kilowatt closed us out.
Hills Help you run fast
Date: 2025-12-30 AO: fast-twitch Q: frasier PAX: retread, Benny FNGs: None COUNT: 3 *Benny posting on behalf of Frasier WARMUP: Quick veteran disclaimer for the light group at Fast Twitch on Tuesday AM, then off we went at a moderate pace towards raintree with a stop in the country club lot for some dynamic stretching before venturing towards the raintree golf course gravel parking lot. THE THANG: Simple yet painful We ran up and down three of Raintree’s famous hills 3 different times: Raintree lane to 4 mile creek intersection, Four Mile Creek, and Windbluff. Turn around once you see Frasier turn around, on the last one go all the way to stop sign. Continue this till about 6:05 or so then make our way back to launch. MARY: None ANNOUNCEMENTS: Prod starts up on Friday, see slack for details along with Super Bowl on Saturday also see slack for details. COT: Frasier with the takeout for a safe end of 2025 and reminding us going into 2026 to reach out to pax we haven’t seen in awhile and bring them back into the fold.
Last day of the year
Date: 2025-12-31 AO: wamrap Q: Ironsides PAX: Ironsides, Alf, Orange Whip, O’Tannenbaum FNGs: None COUNT: 4 4 men posted for the last workout of the year. Ironsides took the Q. His first in far too long. Great to have him back out.
We did stuff in the parking deck and enjoyed the left over scents of last nights ganja party in the stairwell.
We did stuff in the parking deck and enjoyed the left over scents of last nights ganja party in the stairwell.
The Cleaned Up Viking Wolf (A knuckle dragger’s yearreview)
Date: 2025-12-31 AO: meathead Q: Toto , PAX: Emoji, The Worm, Unplugged, Blanks FNGs: None COUNT: 5 WARMUP: – 20 IC side straddle hops – 20 single swings, 10 e/s – Double suitcase carry to light post – 15 slow IC sharon towers – Prying squats – Around the worlds – 7 each directions – Double rack carry back to battle stations – 15 Imperial walkers, which really didn’t do much for YHC after the sharon towers and prying squats had already loosened things up
THE THANG: The Complex Clean Em Up – 5 times through – Double Cleans X 6 – D Snatches X 6 – D Jerks X 6 – D Front Squats X 6 – D Swings X 6 Active/Recover 1:2 ratio
Norwegian 4xONE (i.e., single set) – Single Cleans (1 min total; 30s e/s) – Belkins (1 min) – S Front squats (1 min total; 30s e/s) – S Presses (1 min) – Active recovery
The LONE Wolf (i.e., single set) – D front squats – 5 – D military press – 5 – D cleans – 5 – D front squats – 5
YHC had planned this workout for this Saturday so we’d have enough time for the other 2025 workouts but glad it ended up this way, that was too brutal even as a 45 minute.
MARY: Negative, ghost rider..
ANNOUNCEMENTS: F3 15 year convergence tomorrow, another event Friday that YHC has no details on but all the pax assure YHC that the details are in slack COT: Good luck to Hops while he supports a friend in need of fellowship.
THE THANG: The Complex Clean Em Up – 5 times through – Double Cleans X 6 – D Snatches X 6 – D Jerks X 6 – D Front Squats X 6 – D Swings X 6 Active/Recover 1:2 ratio
Norwegian 4xONE (i.e., single set) – Single Cleans (1 min total; 30s e/s) – Belkins (1 min) – S Front squats (1 min total; 30s e/s) – S Presses (1 min) – Active recovery
The LONE Wolf (i.e., single set) – D front squats – 5 – D military press – 5 – D cleans – 5 – D front squats – 5
YHC had planned this workout for this Saturday so we’d have enough time for the other 2025 workouts but glad it ended up this way, that was too brutal even as a 45 minute.
MARY: Negative, ghost rider..
ANNOUNCEMENTS: F3 15 year convergence tomorrow, another event Friday that YHC has no details on but all the pax assure YHC that the details are in slack COT: Good luck to Hops while he supports a friend in need of fellowship.
News Years Eve Prep
Date: 2025-12-31 AO: the-maul Q: SweetWater , PAX: patent_pending, super trooper, Adobe FNGs: None COUNT: 4 WARMUP: mosey to bank machine and do some squats, cobra, downward dog, and runners stretch THE THANG: mosey to back side of movie theatre. Complete a version of triple nickel. One PAX runs up/down the stairs while other PAX do 3 HR Merkins (watch Dark Helmet video), 3 V Ups, and 3 Bobby Hurley until runner is done with their run. All PAX ran stairwell 5 times. Mosey to wall for two sets of wall sit and 50 air press Mosey to NEW fake grass area by the office for bear crawls, lunges, planks and some running. MARY: each PAX called some ANNOUNCEMENTS: Convergence on New Years Day, PROD on 1/2 and SUPER BOWL launch on 1/3. All details on Slack COT: thank you for another year and may 2026 be a great one