School is wrapping up for the kids, but 17 PAX still found time to hit The Appetizer Tuesday afternoon. YHC knows how important good study time can be so the crew set out to take advantage of being on campus on a beautiful day and do some last-minute studying for those EOGs and Finals this week and next.
WARM-UP
Mosey, especially to find YHC’s 2.0s who had gone off in search of sidewalk chalk
Circle up for some exercises
THE THANG
Head to the lower playground track for some exam prep
EOGs
E: Elevens – start with 10 merkins
O: Over the rock wall (kids) / Over yonder around the play area for a lap
G: Gas pumps
FINALS (on the track, stop at each letter that Black Widow chalked out for 10x of each arm/leg)
F: Floyd Mayweather
I: Imperial Walker
N: Newton’s Cradle
A: American Hammer
L: Lunges
S: Superman
Repeato
Subject prep!
History: The Obama (4 bear crawl steps followed by 4 merkins, to total 44 merkins)
Math: Protractor (go around the PAX for an angle)
Science: Volcano (squatting quick feet until a PAX called “Explosion!” and everyone jumped up)
Mosey to COT
English: ABCs ab work to spell EOG and Finals
MOLESKINE
There was a lot of pressure on this weinke because YHC’s 2.0s had high expectations. The Elevens were more demanding than most had expected, with a longer run than normal. Zinfandel did an excellent job of getting some pushes in for Elsa on the swing as he passed. The Obama is a beast of an exercise and thanks to High Hat for the mid-term trivia to break it up a bit. Dwight is smiles from start to finish, even when he looks miserable out there. Black Widow was disappointed that there wasn’t a merkin contest because she’s ready to throw down against ANYONE.ANYDAY.
The kids (and adults) thought they were getting a break from schoolwork today, but no sirree. “I hope there’s no math out here” — there would be. “Why do we do this exercise? When am I going to use this?” You’ll say that a lot more until you’re out of school, kid. “English? Time is done.” Teachers don’t care about the clock if they’re in a groove.
The 2.0s have been pushing YHC to the evening workouts more lately and it’s great to see more of the younger 2.0s out and enjoying the time. Kudos to Dunkin for bringing the crew up north — even if we later found out the main motivation from his M may have been so he’d stop by CAVA on the way home. And kudos to Mulligan for coming with C3PO — not direct 2.0s, but fun still the same. Twinkle Toes and Lefty with the father-son smack talk and challenges is high entertainment. This is a blast and if you haven’t been out to F3 Dads or an evening workout with the kids, make plans now because they’ll soon be a month older and 6 months older and 3 years older.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Long Haul is obviously a huge fan of the Zedd/Maren Morris/Grey song “The Middle” as he must have built his Body Shop workout around that. Pairing up, running around the school to meet for hand clap merkins — first time doing those in over a year and everyone agreed it was delightful. Rock work, suicides, some ab work to continue to work on that middle section. Another quality beatdown from Long Haul, but the highlight may have been Rudy’s attempt to commandeer yet another UCPS shed when nature called. We had already run past the port-a-potty on campus, so it seems like he just prefers to heed nature in nature.
Seven PAX showed for The Juice’s VQ at The Body Shop. He delivered a playoff worthy beatdown, but the fans are still waiting for his side of story of what really happened. The OJ theme was prevalent throughout with multiple football-related exercises and, fortunately, no concussions. Somehow several guys had OJ stories to share and when The Juice had each PAX call an exercise (look at that sneaky veteran move!), the tales were flying.
It was a good workout and The Juice was found guilty of a solid VQ.
9 of my best friends (they just don’t know it yet) came out to Skunkworks this morning and followed me into the well-lit gloom.
The Seniors of Covenant Day were working on some sort of prank so the lot was especially busy this morning.
Smokey continues to confirm the “ages like wine” analogy and opted for Hoover’s 53lb monstrosity (remember to edit this out later so it doesn’t sound weird) & killed the workout.
The THANG – doesn’t matter buuuut…..
Warmup with swings & good mornings
Hill workout – Station 1, Station 2 (bottom of hill), Station3 (top of hill)
Fishbowl strength work
Partner catch me if you can back to home
MOLESKINE
Lot’s of mumble chatter at the beginning which eventually faded. Schmedium was talking “horse racing” for a solid 5 minutes, which is really hard for anyone to do. Unless your name is Bob Baffert and you’re on the phone with your horse’s….uhhh….pharmacist.
Cage came rolling in late but was certainly a fan favorite as a hoard of raucous school boys cheered when he skipped part of the workout and went over to greet them. I thought he was going to lay down the law because they were on school grounds off-hours…… Hops asked “Do you think he’s a cool teacher?” and I said “Apparently not”, but as he approached the kids he definitely received a warm welcome. By the way, Cage crushed the workout today…
The Lois/Hoover non-running combo worked out really well and they both modified but hung with the group the whole time. Both have stress fractures in their foots. They didn’t have enough fiberglass at the hospital to wrap Hoover’s foot so they gave him what looked to be a rear bumper from a 1996 Honda Civic for a few weeks which he took off since the last time I saw him.
The aforementioned Smokey was weighing which bell to use this morning (literally and figuratively) and opted for the jumbo. He didn’t complain once and destroyed that workout. I was going to warn him that we would be working pretty hard today but I wanted to see if he could do it. I think a new 53lb $180 KB (Covid prices) is in his future. I just bought my 53lb on the black market in Voodoo’s garage for a killer deal about 2 months ago…it’s old and beat-up but that’s the way I like it.
I can tell people fake stories of all of the times I’ve picked it up, and put it back down again, then picked it back up and so on.
Stone Cold stopped me a few times mid-cadence as we were moving toward some high reps at the end. With that tank top and those guns you really don’t want Stone Cold to have to tell you anything twice. I’ve heard stories of this guy laying out young bucks on the frisbee pitch who were wandering around the end zone trying to score a touchdown (???)
Chicken Wing was the winner today as far as speed, endurance go – he never stopped. Horsehead was also steadily keeping a nice pace although I heard him say something at the top of the hill that he did “10ish” burpees. Pretty sure that only earns him 2 apple pies today.
Beer Drinking Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 530pm at SEABOARD – HOOVER is Q and A51 drinking champion
Functional Fitness Challenge – 0700 on Saturday at Old Providence Elementary. Just come and find out how strong you are.
12 pax did some repeats. 1 pax was responsible for writing a backblast but didn’t.
200m x2
400m x2
600m x2
800m x2
200m x2
400m x2
That might’ve been it. I dunno, it was a week ago.
COVID-19, the destroyer of so many things we held dear. Hospitality and Tourism industries may never be the same after the last 18 months, crowded bars and concert venues will likely feel very different when live entertainment returns in force, and Flipper’s Traveling Circus of Pain was shuttered for 18 months. But, thankfully, we are beginning to emerge from the pandemic induced miasma, and so it was with great joy that YHC buttoned up my metaphorical silver-buttoned jacket before heading into the gloom this morning. It was time for the three rings of downpainment to return to the PAX of South Charlotte, and no more fitting a place then where it was all born almost 5 years ago, Bagpipe. The Tax Man cometh, the bean counter Lorax surrendered his Q, and thus the plan was set in motion.
The Thang:
Mosey to the lot adjacent to Loch Ness and circle up for IW, LSS, Moroccan Night Club, and mumble-chatter induced Burpees.
Unload the truck then divide the PAX into 2 groups. While one group ran to the pull-up bars to complete 10 Pull-Ups per PAX (2 at a time and other PAX do Merkins while they waited) the other group would complete a circuit of:
-Front (or shoulder) squats w/ 80# sandbag
-35# KB swings
-45# Plate Burpees
-Clean & Press w/ 60# sandbag
-40# Slamball slams
-10X 20″, 24″ or 30″ box jumps (this was the timer for rotating to the next station).
Rotate through as each group of PAX returned, the other ran, flap-jack, repeato. Group Two took 4 trips to the bars, group 1 only got 3.
Mosey back to the launch point for a couple quick minutes of Mary.
Calliope Moleskine:
-I LOVE BAGPIPE. What a great AO for a Tuesday morning bootcamp. Great features to add texture to the weinke, and pull-up bars are hard not to use. I don’t get to post or Q often as often my 2nd morning of the week goes to speed work at Swift. The Silverlining of PT mandated “low intensity” running this quarter is my availability to step in when Lorax went down. I really need to find a way to make Bagpipe a feature of my routine from time to time even when I don’t have medically induced intervalitis.
-The PAX (well the 5 I could hear) grumbled mightily about the addition of weight to the workout. This just means gear needs to be used more frequently (check out Proving Ground or Swole/Meathead/Olympus boys, worth the trip). Body weight is fantastic, but we need to find more opportunities to use weight to create well rounded strength. Hopefully the sore shoulders and quads this afternoon will remind the PAX of this.
-YHC hit a 30″ box jump for the first time in YEARS this morning. Adding plyometrics back into my routine is starting to pay off and it felt good. Getting out of our boxes and creating discomfort yields results. Several other PAX also hit 30″, no small feat for white men who can’t jump.
-Frehly’s started out the morning with lots of jokes (hence the burpees in COP) but was quickly quieted. The only thing I like more than mumble-chatter is silencing it with a brutal workout. Unfortunately the circuit failed to have the same effect on his flatulence, perhaps we’ve found the real reason for the drop-off in PAX numbers at the ‘pipe
-Bagpipers were ~1 minute late to COT and our Swift brethren were already on to Name-o-Rama when we pulled up. YHC promptly Shanghaid the proceedings and forced a re-start which received no small amount of mumble chatter. “pretty sure we know how many of us there are.” “This again?” Tough crowd, but appreciated them humoring me. To me, COT is such a huge symbol of what this F3 thing is all about. No matter our size, our speed, our workout of choice, we come together at the end of our suffering and acknowledge those who struggle beside us. Not only do we acknowledge their physical struggle in the gloom, but we stand with them as they grapple with life as well. YHC knows the men of F3 because of COT, and the shield lock it emulates and reinforces.
-Thanks to Cooter and Cable-Guy for tolerating the circus on their watch, and thanks to PAX for hanging with me. It is always an honor to lead in the gloom, hopefully my lead today was worthy of that honor.
SYITG
-Flipper
Announcements:
-The return of Crane Relay (August? not remembering the date but keep your eyes peeled for announcements). This is such a great race, even Tagalong breaks out the running shoes.
-Last week to donate lightly used running/athletic shoes as we support our FIA sisters effort. Bring them to a site this week and the Site Qs will get them to the appropriate party. Or ping me and I’ll meet you and get them to Cheese Curd
-Functional Strength Challenge this coming Saturday, 0700 at Olde Providence. Deadlift, Snatch and Pull-Ups max reps for time (got it right that time Frehly’s!)
-Runs & Guns, a running focused strength workout launched this past Monday and will run all summer. 0530 (0515 pre-run) at Calvary Church (Anvil launch point).
Nineteen Pax made the 5:30 AM tee time this morning at Bushwood. After a little over two months into my journey of becoming addicted to F3, it was time for my first Q. I spent about an hour last night strenuously deliberating about the workout for my first Q trying to channel my inner Goldilocks (looking for that “just right” workout for the crew). I knew I had dialed in at least a decent VQ when nineteen Peter McNeelys emerged during our opening Thang – expressing their fear of little old Mike Tyson. Nobody got knocked out by Mike Tyson(s) in this match though so no harm done.
WARMUP
While the Mashers got going on their workout, the rest of the Pax started with a shorter Mosey around the front of the site to the large parking lot for some warmup consisting of SSH, Imperial Walkers, Potato Pickers, Merkins, and Calf Stretches.
THANG
From there we Moseyed to Turkey Hunt Ct. for two laps of alternating exercises. The first lap we did exercises at every other mailbox, alternating between 10 Merkins and 10 Speedskaters. Your VQ misjudged the number of mailboxes so the first lap was far too easy. While Long Haul led some Mary while the Six came in, yours truly modified the slated plan for lap two to make it at least a little bit harder. For lap two down Turkey Hunt Ct. we did exercises at every mailbox, alternating between Mike Tysons and Big Boys. Immediately upon calling out the name of Mike Tyson, the Peter McNeellys emerged with complaints. Your VQ smiled with delight. Everyone crushed lap two so at the end Peter took down Iron Mike in this rematch. After that second lap we caught our breath then Moseyed back to campus back into the big parking lot. The Pax partnered up and grabbed one lifting rock per group of two. We then did a 15 minute AMRAP – one partner ran a lap around the big parking lot while the other did as many reps as possible of the set exercise for that lap until his partner returned and fetched the team’s baton (aka rock). The exercises with the rock were Curls, Overhead Tri Extensions, Lying Chest Presses, Squats, and American Hammers. We had a couple of minutes left after everyone had gotten through all of the exercises so we did another round of curls then dumped the rocks back in the pile. We Moseyed back to the CoT for three minutes of Mary before 6:15 arrived which consisted of Shoulder Taps and LBCs.
After Count-O-Rama and Name-O-Rama, our FNG shuffled his pink shoes to center stage to tell us a bit about himself. Our FNG was Ty Allison, a friend and neighbor of TanyaTine and Noonan In Canterfield. Not only did he crush his first F3 workout, in a prior life he crushed the spirits of ACC soccer opponents by leading the conference in yellow cards for four straight years. He was aptly given the name of Zidane – as in Zinedine Zidane – the former French World Cup star that knocked a grown man down on the pitch via a headbutt directly to the chest. Welcome Zidane!
Announcements….
15 strong at Watchtower after Penalty Box ditched us to see which statement made last night in the Playhouse was going to be a lie:
DCCS: Recommended headlamps. YHC grabbed his phone. Mumbling disclaimer about PAX’s health
WARMUP: The usual mixed in with 2 new-ish ones
THANG: Mosey to neighborhood entrance on right
THANG 2: Partner/Team Mini-Murph
THANG 3: Wall Webb
THANG 4: Lightpole sprints
CLOSE with Mary and 1 minute of Have a Nice Day
COT:
SUMMARY:
Six men circled up at Calvary this past Saturday for their weekly does of Olympus. The weather was in the 40s as Spring takes one last gasp before succumbing to the heat and humidity of summer.
After a quick disclaimer, we warmed up with the usual fare of swings, SSH, windmills, and prying squats.
Main Thang:
Announcements:
Moleskine: