Go Around Back

Go Around Back

9 PAX found their way to the airnaisum.

We came, we stretched, we conquered.

Those who opine that our flexibility style AO (which is now in at least 3 regions) is not a “real” F3 Workout are obviously trying to overcompensate for their own inadequacies.

Don’t worry, we are here to help you…just bring a mat.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Memorial Day Convergence: 6:30am launch, need volunteers to help set up

Blood Drive

 

Skunks got no rhythm.

The kettlebell has a long, storied and misunderstood past; but a bright future….all evidence to the contrary this morning.  After Cage watered the bushes at the end of the lacrosse field, 9 skunksters launched into the eastern Area51 gloom….with kettlebells.

Below is a smidgen of Thang and a couple helpings of Moleskineage:

Trivia is a fun thing, thus, my random comments on Slack yesterday about the kb and its rich heritage.  Speaking of trivia, Lois wants to challenge Geraldo and Puddin’ in a steel trivia cage match.  Seriously, I think that would be an awesome 2nd F event – F3 Area 51 trivia night with proceeds going to charity.  Someone should plan that.  Lois’ kb also resembles a Christmas ornament.  Did I mention my grandmother’s name was Lois?  True Story.  Lois Jean Griggs Sappenfield.  To my knowledge, she did not own a kettlebell.

Horsehead, against his better judgement, tapped YHC after last week’s skunkage – to Q this week.  He got what he hoped for….maybe.

So we did a mini-COP at the launch lot, then moseyed over to and into yesteryear at the old launch lot and pitted field with the ankle-breaking gravel track around it.

YHC brought a jump rope as the idea was for one pax to do 100 jumps as the timer for the rest.  5 pax for various reasons, some of which were undisclosed, refused to jump rope.  Funky’s reason: Absolutely no rhythm, thus, cannot jump rope.  Injuries and general disdain for the idea were some of the other reasons.  Cage, Horsehead, Baracus and YHC were the only rope-jumpers.  Baracus was doing all sorts of tricks and creative jumping #dadof3girls

So we did a few laps around the pitted field, did some Mary, swings and sundry kettlebell exercises.  Then we headed back towards the launch lot, stopping at the flag pole.  Could not remember what “True Americans” were #pagingcheckpoint, so we did Mike Tyson’s instead.  I mean…what a great American he is.

Stone Cold, looking the most kb-worthy of the bunch, was getting after it, as was Smokey.  Smokey may have jumped some rope, but don’t think so.

Hoover, still nursing the stress-fracture in his lower right leg, was putting in the work, too…and from what YHC could infer – my Q performance wasn’t nearly as disappointing to him as my last one.

A mix of conversations going on with topics including, but not limited to, the following:

South Dakota; Freddie Mercury’s real name: Farrokh Bulsara (thank you very little, Lois…actually, that was outstanding); Smokey’s upside-down/backward visor; Funky Cold’s alter ego: Tone Loc; the Ultimate pax taking up a collection to pay Charlotte Christian’s exterior lighting bill; the curious disappearance of Chin Music (YHC named him, btw); Cage’s authorship of the national AP Human Geography exam — blaming you brother if my 2.0 didn’t get a 4 or 5!

I’m sure Horsehead had some noteworthy one-liners and/or country witticisms, but can’t recall any.

That’s it.

Thanks to BA for taking us out in prayer.

one more thing…I’m asking my 2.0’s for another KB for Father’s Day.  Look out Swole, Olympus and whatever other kb workouts there are.

Armpit of the Nation

I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t discipline your kids when you’re angry.  Perhaps that a bit of what I had going on this morning.  Living less than a minute away from New Town Elementary, I was highly annoyed to find out that 1) there was a major construction project starting and 2) they were moving Watchtower to another location that makes me take the bypass around said construction project and 3) just kidding the project hasn’t started yet but we’re going to move Watchtower regardless.  So I decided I was going to make everyone else miserable with me.

Despite the new (old) location, 24 PAX showed up for a bootcamp beatdown/MASH workout/2 random guys running through the woods.  DICCS were poorly attempted by YHC and we were off.

Warmup:

Mosey around for a while

SSH

Slow Mountain Climbers

Downward Dog

Calf Stretches

The Thang:

We started with the 4 legged starfish.  20 reps of Derkins, Big Bois, Mike Tysons, Bomb Jacks.  5 Burpees in the middle, 2 rounds of everything.  I made the comment early on that I was hating my own workout, which I take to be a generally good sign.  We did some one-legged bridges in the middle which look a bit sensual but really work those hamstrings.  I kind of waited for the six (sorry Zinfandel!), then moseyed around the long way to the Elementary school lot.

The next set was a real crowd-pleaser.  We grabbed a “walking rock”, and then did 3 sets of 3 legs – lunge walk across the parking lot army carrying your rock, bear crawls back across the lot, and then sprinting back to your rock.  Sprints were looking a bit like a trot at this point, and banter was turning into griping.  Chastain definitely had the best form out there and was getting out the energy he’d been storing up for the past week.  We finished with a few of Thor’s Hammers (American Hammers with rocks). Mosey to the front of the school.

Partner exercises here.  Partner 1 ran the smallish loop, while Partner 2 did exercises.  Total of 100 hand-release Merkins and 150 Knee Slappers.  Shoulders and chest were feeling great at this point…

Finished by moseying to the lot of COT, jailbreaking home, and Have A Nice Day for a solid 90 seconds.  It would have been peaceful if Schneider could have used his inside voice, but oh well!

Moleskin:

The main banter this morning was just a continuation of the Playhouse chest-thumping about the almighty status of New Jersey.  Apparently those from there haven’t heard that it’s the armpit of the nation.  We’ve got a few good PAX from there, I’m just not sure how they haven’t figured out how much better the Carolinas are.  Of course, they did move from there voluntarily, so perhaps they realize it but just can’t bring themselves to admit it yet.

Posse and Honeycomb heard that it was going to be a doozy and decided before we started to do their own workout in the woods.

Fusebox threatened me with a tire iron I believe.  I learned early on that if I wanted to get out of a task like laundry or ironing, just do it bad enough and you won’t be asked to do it again.  We’ll see how that works out for me.

O69 has really impressed me lately.  His pace has gotten faster and faster, and it’s been fun to watch.

Announcements:

  • Mad Dog is getting ready to join the Respect crowd, so congrats on the early birthday!
  • Some idiot mom’s have been chewing out Mayhem’s daughters who are lifeguarding at Walnut Creek.  Prayers for wisdom on how to handle it.  Several PAX volunteered to throw their own pool party over there and give them a taste of their own medicine.
  • Convergence on Memorial Day at 6:30 – lots of workout options available.
  • F3 Dad Camp – Radar could use a few more volunteers, it sounds like an awesome weekend and my kids are begging me for it after hearing about it at Clyent Dinner.
  • Blood drive June 19th at Five Stones?

 

 

Bagpipe Backblast – Anyone for some Blackjack?

A small but hard working group of men this morning. Humidity markedly up. Madison promised us a FNG but alas he was a no-show and assumed to be fartsacking. Funny thing is he apparently lives about a Mickelson 3 iron from the Bagpipe start point. Maybe next time. Disclaimer given and off we went.

THE THANG:

Mosey down to Ballantyne Medical Place, hang a right and up the hill. Cross over Brixham Hill into a nondescript parking lot with some decent lighting.

COP:

  • 15 side straddle hops
  • 15 Imperial walkers
  • 15 windmills
  • 16 mountain climbers (don’t ask)

Mosey to the front of Sarah’s Y and spread out on the railings for:

  • 15 inverse pull ups
  • 20 sit ups with toes under railing
  • Repeato 3X for a total of 45 pull ups and 60 sit ups

Incredibly short mosey across the Y lot for 4 parking lines of suicides.

Mosey down to Ballantyne Corporate Place, past fitness trail and over to parking lot behind Snyder’s Lance building for a game of Blackjack. Blackjack consisted of 1 merkin at starting point, halfway across the lot for 20 squats. Back for 2 merkins, then 19 squats, 3 merkins and 18 squats… Well you get the idea. Not gonna lie – this one was a grinder in the heat and hurt a bit. Very little mumblechatter as we were in our own heads and grinding. Total of 210 squats and 210 merkins.

Time was nearing and we headed back to our start for one minute of flutters before 6:15.

Moleskin / COT:

5 from Bagpipe joined with 13 from Swift for COT.  As graduation season is upon us and many of us have worked tirelessly alongside our children to get them to this proud moment, I chose to read a quote from a commencement speech in lieu of closing prayer. I’ll leave it with you as well. From Vernon Jordan in his 2002 speech at Howard University:

“You are where you are today because you stand on somebody’s shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It’s the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give.”

Sweatin to the 90’s Grunge

Yesterday YHC took the lloonngg trek from the Bushwood/Marvin country club to Flash/Cuthbertson to say hey to some old friends and maybe pull off a little marketing for the ever-growing Marvin Location. I looked at my 5:10am Alarm setting (says Bushwood/Dromedary) turned it off and swiped Green on the 5am Cutty alarm that had been neglected for quite some time, then took the 15minute trek to Flash with Inspector Gadget’s 2nd Q. Was great to see some old familiar faces. From time to time we have get up and check out some old stomping grounds. It was like the Flash/Ignition crew had seen a ghost as I walked up. Truth be told, the Bushwood crew is closer to SOB and will often times cross county lines and hit up Firestarter on Mondays. I thought to myself it would be a nice change to head down New Town Rd and double dip by taking the opportunity to re-invite the PAX to the far West Side site to meet the many new faces of F3 in the Marvin area. Heard Gerber yell out he was Hard commit, so I knew we reached someone.

On to the Workout; 17 PAX showed up in the sticky weather for a beauty of a morning that had a huge Orange supermoon and a good ole Tanyatine Q.  I am commonly known for a pretty regimented Q that mixes a little bit of everything from stretching, Ployo’s, Running, and Rock work. This would be no different, except with a bit more mileage into the mix

Warmup: Mosey to regular Lot

  • SSH
  • IW
  • Calf Stretch
  • Up/Down Dog
  • Plank Jack
  • Mountain Climbers

Thang:

After the Warmup, it was clear we would be in a sticky situation with the 70+ degree weather and abnormally high humidity. we took a rather long jaunt to the rarely used north side of the course through the woods to MC and Arborvitae ln. At the corner of Arborvitae and Autumn blossom, alternate 10 merkins and 10 Speedskaters (2:1) at the four houses to the circle on Running horse. Mary for the 6

On Running horse, 15 Drydocks at the first circle, 15 Jump Squats at the other with 3 burpees in the middle both ways. Repeato 3x until the sweat starts dripping. This was a bit longer of a run than I think we all expected! Mary for 6 with some Big boys with Gerber and Flo in the lead.

Take the long trek back to the favorite rock pile. Crank up the tunes to Lithium on Sirius with some Social Distortion, Nirvana, Veruca Salt, and STP. Each PAX line up in a parking space ready for Suicides. Start with 10 of the exercise called out, go to short/mid/far line doing 10 reps at the beginning for 30 total reps.

  • Curls
  • Tris
  • Shoulder raises
  • Hernias
  • Chest Press
  • Bent rows

Rifle carry rock to rock pile, head back to COT where Smuggler and Long Haul decided to have their weekly sprint to the Finish; Great job fellas!

End with the Favorite-Finish-Fiji-Fast-Feet Merkins for the last 45 seconds. Say that Five-Times-Fast!

MOLESKIN:

We definitely got more mileage than this guy expected! Somewhere between 3.3-3.5 miles for some! great job by all the PAX sweating it out (YHC was dripping through the wife-beater and T).

Some general observations: Great to see Kinish back out here hopefully making it more of a habit again, Awesome to see Both Gerber and Rockwell head on over to Bushwood today and take me up on my Cross-over challange, Zidane hit up his second workout and will hopefully start to be a regular-Go to bed earlier buddy!! And finally, huge props to Deep dish for killing it before going under the knife tomorrow.

As previously stated above, look at the schedules on the F3 SouthCharlotte site, there are now over 18 locations to choose from just in Waxhaw with exercises at different times to suit your needs. Go out and check out some new sites, or visit some old ones, cross over the boundaries, see what SOB may be doing. I guarantee you will meet some new faces and the familiar ones will be happy to see yours.

Announcements:

  • Blood drive 6/19
  • Need Qs for Last Call and Bushwood—Step up fellas
  • Waxhaw Convergence on Monday Memorial Day 5/31- Waxhaw Elementary MURPH or Popeye Bootcamp. Check GroupMe for times
  • Prayer request for Deep Dish getting hernia surgery! ballsy move with me on Q, luckily you modified when I called Hernias!!

Enjoy the week fellas! see you somewhere new tomorrow!

Ignition Back Blast -Tour de Champion Forest Mail Box Mania

Ignition Back Blast 5-24-2021

DISCS

Warmup 

Mosey 0.25 miles to circle behind CHS

15 side strattle hops,

15 Moroccan night clubs,

leg stretches.

The Thang

Mosey 0.25 miles to Champion Forest entrance.

Round 1 – 1 mile run down road, alternating 30 mailboxes on right hand side 3 merkins & 5 squats.  Then, 1 mile run return to entrance – single file Indian Runs.

Round 2 – 1 mile run down road, alternating 36 mailboxes on left hand side 2 burpees & 5 (2 is 1) speed skaters. Then, 1 mile run return to entrance.

Mosey 0.50 miles back to COT

Moleskin

10 Pax put in 5+ miles taking Tour De Champion Forest Mail Box Mania.

Dasher, Gerber, Transporter, Sugar Daddy, Easy Button & Ice9 always leading from the front as the Gazelles.

Deflated, Foundation & Rubbermaid nice work pushing yourself following right behind.

Nice work fellas…honor to Q with y’all.

Announcements

5/25/2021 – Watchtower moved to Weddington, not Newtown Elementary until further notice due to road work.

5/31/2021 – Memorial Day Convergence – Murph, Mash & Boot Camp @ Nesbit Park 7am.

6/19/2021 – Blood Drive 9am-1:30pm – Five Stones Church

Base Camp via Death Valley

When YHC pulled into the parking lot several pax were already gathered, chatting it up some. Sardine greeted me first, I hadn’t seen him in some time. Floor Slapper showed up at 0529 and took his time to join the rest of us. At 0530 the pax were disclaimed and we were off for a lap around the track then circled up for COP.

COP

  • SSH x 20
  • Imperial Walkers x 20
  • Windmills x 10
  • Squats x 20
  • Merkins x 15

The Thang: We moseyed over to the bleachers used to be and partnered up. Partner 1 performs called exercise while Partner 2 takes a lap up the stairs, around the sidewalk and back. Flapjack.

  • Supine Pull-ups on the railing
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • LBCs

Circuit Work

We then broke out to the dugouts since the bleachers were nowhere to be found for some circuit work. 3 rounds of Incline Merkins x 10, Dips x 15, Squats x 20.

Starfish

We yogged back over to the track and did not heed the sign to engage in the Starfish. 10 Merkins in the middle, Flutter Kicks x 20, Carolina Dry Docks x 20 , LBCs x 20, and Diamond Merkins x 20. Repeato. Quick time check and we had a few minutes for Mary

Mary

  • Flutter Kicks x 20
  • LBCs ruck overhead  x 20
  • Rosalita ruck overhead  x 20
  • Hello Dollies x 15

Done

Moleskinny:

  • Floor Slapper wasn’t the last one to arrive, O’Tannenbaum and Semi Gloss met us down at the track after we’d finished the lap and joined us for COP.
  • Semi Gloss was giving me a hard time (I wouldn’t expect anything  else)  have recycling some of Death Valley’s older Weinke’s.  Maybe true, but I wanted to keep things on campus so classic SCMS Weinke was in order.
  • Who knew they took or removed the bleachers by the baseball fields? Huge void, not sure if its COVID related, but definitely took away some options at the AO.
  • Not sure why there’s a sign to keep off of the football field, not like it’s Charlotte Christian or Charlotte Latin.
  • Some of the Pax weren’t too keen on getting on their backs on the grass and moved to the track instead.
  • Good to see Hopper, hadn’t seen him in a while, glad to hear all is well. Looking forward to pool season at the house.
  • MAD reached out to me last night to tell me he was bringing an FNG, welcome Eardrum, their kids both go to Elizabeth Lane. Eardrum is an audiologist, so the name fits.
  • Semi Gloss was shirtless at COP, enough said. #BigHairy
  • As I looked around out COP, there’s quite a number of us that are #Respect and more of us nearly there. Phil Mickelson won the PGA yesterday at age 50, so its long from over for us.
  • Apparently the Ohio University is known for its Halloween parties according to Hopper.
  • Thanks to Semi Gloss for the take out.
  • Thanks to Mr. Magoo and Thunder Road for the opportunity to lead and please sound off with any mumble chatter.

Announcements:

14th Anniversary Edition @ The Lycan

Quotes from the Gloom (heard at various times throughout the workout):

  • “I was so excited, I read the constitution early this morning!” –Posse (explanation for why he was late coming in hot)
  • “I got some cool new Mudgear undershorts.” –Dunkin
  • “I can’t feel my legs.” –Honeycomb
  • “Is that a mouse?!” –Das Boot

Yes, the mumblechatter was riveting throughout, but on to…

The Thang

  • Warmup
    • Mosey to back of school.
    • Prime the Pump (Fairly rapid calf raises while steadying self against a wall.)
    • Merkin
    • Run a lap around the school.
    • Side Straddle Hop x14
    • Low Slow Squat x14
    • Mountain Climbers x14
    • Run a lap around the school.
    • People’s Chair while giving instructions for partner work.
  • Partner Work: Burpee Hill (x3 for each partner)
    • Partner 1: Run down the hill. Do 5 burpees. Run back up the hill.
    • Partner 2: Cut a flip (5 Merkins, 5 Big Boy Sit-Ups, keep repeating until Partner 1 gets back)
  • Head over to nearest baseball diamond for some work on the quads, shoulders, and various upper back muscles that are apparently rarely used.
  • The Perp Walk (Make your way across the outfield via walking lunges with three stops along the way. Hands behind the head the whole time.)
    • No Surrender x14 (at beginning, middle, and end of field)
    • Convict Walking Lunges in between stops
    • End with Freddie Mercuries until all Pax have made it across the field.
    • So, basically, hands are behind the head the entire length of the outfield while doing the various exercises.
  • The Cross Walk (Make your way across the outfield via walking lunges with three stops along the way. Arms spread wide like a cross the whole time.)
    • Take Me Now x14 (at beginning, middle, and end of field)
    • Cross Walking Lunges in between stops
    • End with arms still spread out wide until all Pax have made it across the field.
    • So, on the way back across the field, the arms are spread wide the entire length of the outfield while doing the various exercises.
  • Mosey back to front of school (wondering when sensation will return to quads, shoulders, etc.).
  • Plank-o-Rama (most everything x14)
    • Elbow Plank
    • High Plank
    • Low Plank
    • High Plank
    • High plank w/ right arm extended up
    • High Plank
    • High plank w/ left arm extended up
    • High Plank
    • Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
  • Six Minutes of Mary (probably only got 4 minutes in, but most everything x14)
    • Low Flutter Kicks
    • Low-litas (or Hello Dolly)
    • Heels to Heaven
    • High Slow Flutter Kicks
    • The Protractor (go around the CoP and have each person shout out an angle between 5-degrees and 180-degrees)
      • Ended at 0-degrees, which led right in to…
    • Have a Nice Day (or Shavasana or Corpse Pose)
    • Back to CoT!

Moleskine (i.e., Spreadsheets from the Gloom)

Note to self: Apparently I should have come early and spread some grass seed and/or turf across the outfield, as there was probably more dirt than grass out there while we were doing walking lunges across the field. I think I still have some pebbles lodged in my knee skin (and I’m the one who recommended knee pads, too).

Flashback: I showed up for my first F3 workout exactly 52 days ago, on a chilly Friday morning. Even though the AO was Swarm and Dasher was on Q, I still came back the next week, and every week since. I am so glad I did. It has been a great ride so far and it was a pleasure being able to have my VQ there at The Lycan with some great Pax.

Reflections: One question that came up towards the end of the workout this morning was, “What’s with all of the 14’s?” Good question. Today is actually my 14th Wedding Anniversary. For the last 14 years, MDunkin has been a great companion, an amazing light and support to me. Over the last couple of months, she has seen the good that has come from me being a part of this F3 fellowship and she loves it. I dedicated this workout to her both with the number of reps (almost always 14), as well as with the “up and down” symbolism of the specific exercises. While we were planking in pain this morning, I shared with my fellow Pax that marriage (like most relationships) can definitely be filled with a lot of ups and downs. For me, it has been about tempering those highs and lows—not necessarily being a flashy guy, but being a dependable and faithful husband and father. That is what is important to me. Just wanted to share it with all of you. Thanks for being great examples to me and my family!

Announcements

  • Watchtower – Starting this Tuesday, 05/25 and until further notice, Watchtower will be at Weddington Middle School (rather than New Town Elementary School)
  • Next Monday, 05/31Memorial Day Convergence! 6:30A-7:30A. Location: TBD (Cuthbertson Middle School? Nesbit Park? Waxhaw Elementary School?)
  • Saturday, 06/19Blood Drive! 9:00A-1:30P. Location: Five Stones Church. Sign up here: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=f3
  • F3 Dad’s Camp – Date: Late August. Location: YMCA Camp Thunderbird (on Lake Wylie). For more details, DM Radar.
  • Keep Premature in your prayers as he continues to deal with some health issues.

Flash Backblast

DICCS -given to include all the regular stuff

Warm Up

Mosey around side lot to front of middle school

  • 15 SSH
  • 10 Imperial Walkers
  • 15 Merkins
  • Calf Stretch
  • Runners pose
  • Hamstring stretch (Jimmy Dugan?)

 

Continue to mosey down to the front of the high school.

The Thang

High School Side Alcoves:

20 dips on benches

15 donkey kicks in first alcove

15 mike tysons in second alcove

back to front of high school…

 

Repeat X 3

Partner Up at Back Parking Lot:

EACH:  50 curls, 50 shoulder presses, 50 squats, 50 LBCs

One runs to end of lot, other exercises

 

“Dog Bone” Web:

7 merkins one end, 1 jump squat on the other

until 1, 7

 

skip…

Final Path to COT with Stops at Light Poles:

1 burpee, increment 1 at each light up to 5, then decrease by 1 down to end

COT.

Moleskin

Enjoyed leading this group of men from veterans to rookies.  Everyone pushed hard.  Few call outs today:

Tonyatine – great work, good to meet you, way to represent with ‘tine’ pronounced ‘teen’ (Havertine)

Snowball – welcome!  way to come out on your own and way to finish!

Elmers – great seeing you hang tough.

Chatterbox – hard keeping up with you on the partner work!  awesome job.

 

6th man – Beetle.  Thanks for sharing and I learned what Beetle Bailey is today.  Keep coming out!

 

Announcements

  • Watchtower at Weddington, not Newtown Elementary
  • FNG – Eli Noury “Snowball” joins us from New Jersey