Block Party
***POSTING ON BEHALF OF SWEATER SET***
30 brave men dug their cold weather gear out of storage for a below 30 degree workout and signed up for an adventurous morning!
Warm Up:
Mosey to the bus lot and circle up:
- SSH
- Imperial Walkers
- Low Slow Squats
The Rolling Hills of Olde Providence:
Starting at the entrance of OP, run to Foxworth with exercises at each streetlight (5 Merkins on the left, 5 Squats on the right). Lunge walk up Foxworth and then a Mosey to YHC’s house to begin the fun.
Cinder Block Relay: Break up into groups of 3 and traverse Bedfordshire to Foxworth, handing the cinder block off to your partner at intersections. Mary and plank while you wait.
Mosey down Bedfordshire to Knightswood and do 5 burpees at each stoplight on your way back to Windyrush.
Once back at OP Elementary we did a variety of partner exercises (Dips, Carolina Dry Docks, Wall Sits and Step Ups). Was it variety or struggling to fill time?…..
Mosey back to launch for some quick Mary and DONE!
Moleskin:
The most Epic move of the morning was the turnout and donations of food for Loaves and Fishes. Blown away at the impact of F3Nation and what the Lord can do as we live out Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”.
Announcements:
- Orange Whip is hosting Q school this Saturday after Rock Zero. Come workout at 7:00 then join the instruction. Whether you’ve never lead a workout, need a refresher, or want to get better, its a great opportunity.
- Great turnout to start the Area 51 food drive for Loaves and Fishes (see Udder’s picture on Slack), but it’s not your only opportunity to give:
- Next opportunity is Saturday at Rock Zero – 7:00am workout
- If those options don’t work for you, reach out to Voodoo, Cheese Curd, Hoover, Orange Whip, Geraldo, Flipper, or Udder to coordinate a drop-off.
- There is also an Amazon wish list (check Slack for details)
- There was a peaceful transfer of power as Gummy has fulfilled his reign at Hydra and Sprockets decided it was easier just to move away. I’m sure there was a big push by Gummy on who would make the introductions, but it was Sprockets displaying his poetic prowess and subtle jabs in introducing Jet Fuel and Slingshot as the new Hydra Site Q’s.
- Sprockets last Area 51 Q (until we put him on the schedule when he’s in town) is December 5th at Rock Zero. Come see him off and celebrate his birthday!
Rusty The Q
Moving to Waxhaw in August has been great. Especially meeting a lot of new guys at the Waxhaw AO’s. My first AO nearly 3 months ago was The Body Shop… so how did I get on the Q schedule after so long being absent from it? Just a driving need to give back. What everyone finds after joining F3 is the amazing support structure. Like most of you this last year I’ve leaned on a few great guys and really was feeling the need to lead again. My absence isn’t important, the important thing for everyone, especially the new guys, to understand is – no matter how great or inconsistent your Q turns out – the men of F3 have your back! No exception today.
I had a few inconsistency’s this morning…my cadence was atrocious. At the end, Longhaul said it took me 45 minutes to get it right. LOL My second was planning, these always look good on paper and I had it drawn out perfectly, or so i thought. My main issue was basic math. In a typical boot camp we get roughly 2.5 miles. That’s nearly half of the workout. I had this great idea of looping the AO twice and if you’ve ever been to Rea View Elem, you would know it’s not that big. Great AO, just bad planning. We covered 1.5 miles after two laps. Unfortunately the basic math here is i would need about 35 minutes of exercises to even get close to 45 minutes of work. This left me ad-libbing for nearly 20 minutes. Much to the chagrin of the group.
The Thang:
Disclaimers are pretty long now covering the headlamps, CPR and a phone, start early!
Mosey down and around the track… it’s not confirmed yet, but looking back, was I supposed to warm up the Mash Unit also? Was this my third “inconsistency” of the morning? Oh boy…sorry guys.
Circle up by the around track to bball court
Warmup
SS hop – cadence 25
2 burpees
Merkins – civilian 20
2 burpees
Lunges – civ 10 ea leg
2 burpees
Big boys – civ 20
Mosey
Behind school – Center building
Grab some wall for 7’s
Mike Tysons / Donkey kicks
Mosey
Parking lot
Bear crawl each parking spot – Merkin at each stripe x10
Mary – knees to chest / Amer Hammer
Check time – trouble is brewing…we burned about 10 minutes
And here’s what I left off that probably would have saved the day…dang it
Triple nickel on hill, merkins / squats
Lunge walk end of parking lot
Mosey to start / Decline merkins and plank jacks
Repeato – Mosey – around track to bball court – So we repeated the above and I still had about 20 minutes to go. Adding the triple nickel and lung walks likely would have gotten us there.
Longhaul to the rescue with a rock pile not to far away – mosey to the pile and we did three rounds of bicep curls, tricep extensions and overhead presses. Mixed in a few more burpees and some mary. Das Boots showed his juggling talents with two rocks and Sugar Daddy awarded the “Chain of Pain” for lifting the heaviest rock through three rounds.
Mosey back to start for plank jacks, mary and rounded out my cadence practice with some squats.
Great work by the crew, very little mumble chatter except during the second round of Mike Tyson’s. We worked the body and the brain today. Appreciate the opportunity to lead!
WELCOME – FNG Steve Martin – The Jerk
COT – Thanks for the take out Das Boot
Announcements:
There is a lot going on in Waxhaw and SOB. Tons of opportunities to give back. Take a look at Slack and GroupMe for ideas.
– Q School – If you haven’t Q’d yet this is a great opportunity to learn from some of the best (and a great time for a refresher if it’s been a while like YHC). Calvary Church this Sat at 7:00 AM.
– Service Project Saturday 8:30 – New Town Elementary (Watchtower AO) – spreading mulch and various other items.
Back to COT… Psych!
8 strong for The Floater this morning! That’s a light crowd for this site. I’m sure the coldest morning we’ve had in a long time contributed to a few fart sacks.
The disclaimer was given, and we were off…
Here’s what went down:
Mosey around the block with Side Straddle Hops at each corner. Just like that we were back at COT… but the workout was just getting started!
Mosey. We dodged a car that was going 70 MPH through downtown Waxhaw safely made it through downtown Waxhaw, across the tracks and to the basketball court at the elementary school.
Circle up:
Imperial Walkers x 10
Merkin x 10
Moroccan Night Clubs x 10
Mountain Climbers x 10
Plank Jacks x 10
Partner up! Partner #1 works while #2 runs two down and back sprints on the court. Then flap jack. A total of:
Donkey Kicks – 100
Mike Tysons x 50
Up and Overs (on the large concrete blocks) x 25
BURPEE TRAIN! Arrghh!
Mosey back to COT… again. But we ain’t done!
Using the picnic tables under the shelter:
Dips, Derkins and Step Ups – set of 20 each, then 15 each, then 10 each
Mosey back to COT just so we remember where it is… then head down to the bottom of the hill for ab work.
After 7 straight minutes of various ab exercises (in cadence) it was a jail break up the hill back to COT.
The trip to COT was for real this time!
Done!
That’s a Long Damn Way
YHC rolled into the Blakeney park about 5 minutes before launch and wondered if he had the day or time wrong. Where was everyone? Finally YHC noticed Mary Kay stretching over by the playground area. Hey co-site Q, we meet over here. It was about this time that YHC realized that there were several guys hanging out in their cars enjoying the last few minutes of warmth because this was one of the first “cold” mornings of the year. Clock hit 5:30 disclaimer was given and off we went.
The Thing:
Moseyed over to the Blakeney medical complex and circled up for COP: SSH, Hillbillies, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, Yoga stretch right and left leg, Morroccan Night Clubs.
Next up a crowd favorite that YHC learned from a Goonie Q at Davinci. Partner up and P1 runs down to the end of the complex at the 2nd daycare and runs back while P2 bearcrawls the same stretch doing a merkin at each parking spot. Flapjack at the spot where each partner bearcrawls to working your way to the end of the complex. The complex is looooong with the first couple of down and backs being just under a mile. It was probably about the 4th or 5th trip down when YHC passed Big Tuna who noted “This is a long damn way War Eagle”. Yes it was Tuna, yes it was…and we are all better for it. YHC called this one about 3/4 of the way through as we had gone for about 25 minutes and there were other things to get to.
Head over to the wall behind Old Navy. Partner back up with the same partner, P1 does 4 wall climbs while P2 does burpees. Flapjack for 4 sets. A few rounds of PAX called Mary exercises. Mosey back to launch but stopping at the alleyway for people’s chair with 50 overhead presses then Balls to the Wall and a repeato for 1 more set just to ensure that the shoulders are smoked.
Moleskin:
It has been a great start to Firestarter. There was obviously a need for a Monday bootcamp in SOB land. And a great mixture of SOB regulars and guys who typically post in Waxhaw so it has been a pleasure meeting new PAX. The goal of YHC was to keep things moving pretty quickly and get some distance in while burning out the upper body. Hopefully everyone got their money’s worth. Thanks for pushing hard fellas and thanks Teddy and MK for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
- Keep stamping those passports and visiting different sites in SOB, A51 and Waxhaw.
- Q school in A51 on 11/21 at Calvary Church, check Slack for further details.
I have so much to report…..
You know, sometimes when I write these backblasts I can struggle with what to say. We did this, we did that, and so on…….
But today’s workout gave me plenty of material. To start, after I sent out a Slack notice about the workout yesterday, the first response was from Snuka! Yes, Snuka is on Slack! Who knew? That alone might be enough for a backblast, but, men…..there’s more….
14 studs showed up today for a cold Anvil morning. As I pulled into the lot, I was honored and overwhelmed that Lorax and Point Break had ordered a construction lift that would raise me above the heads of all of the pax so I could offer the disclaimer like Benito Mussolini. Isn’t that thoughtful? Much to my chagrin, Point Break lost the keys to the lift so I could not be properly elevated to address the crowd…..disappointing!
Secondly, as we were stretching Lorax reported to several of us that he had to liquidate his kids’ 529 plans to pay for new headlights on his Jeep. I won’t tell you the price, but certain previously owned vehicles cost less than Lorax’s headlights.
I started to spew my disclaimer, but told the men I had woken up twice in the night fearing I had slept through my alarm….never happened to me before so I was relieved to have even been there. In terms of the disclaimer, I told them I adored them, but was not responsible for them. I am not sure anyone believed either of those statements. So, off we went:
Warm Up:
Jog to the grassy knoll courtyard in front of Calvary, for:
- IW’s
- Low Slow Squats
- MC’s
- Hillbillies
The Beast:
We sashayed to one of the lamp lights near the hot box and I instructed the pax we would be running the main thoroughfare connecting 51 to Rea Rd, stopping at six lamp lights for six stated exercises. I got to catch up with Mr Magoo on Buckeye and Big 10 football at this point, which made it all worthwhile. We repeated this four times back and forth (those lights are far apart from each other and frankly….I got tired) with:
- merkins
- heals to heaven
- jump squats
- CDDs
We circled up for some working recovery mary a la dollys, flutter and crunches.
The Tree Lane:
We yogged to the main lane that connects the outer thoroughfare of Calvary to the church. At each tree you come to, rotate through lunges, broad jumps and bear crawls until you get to the end of the lane.
Rock City:
We journeyed to the front of the church, partnered up and grabbed a lifting rock. Partner 1 runs back to the grassy knoll courtyard while Partner 2 days stated exercise, then flapjack:
- curls
- squats
- OH presses
We had about 7 minutes left so we jogged to one of the front lots of Calvary for 10 quick 40-yardish gassers. We were about 3 in when Snowflake said “Hopper, this will be reflected upon negatively in your YELP review!”. Horsehead immediately responded with “You know you have done something wrong when Snowflake talks smack to you”. Amen! Fortunately, I know Snowflake is the forgiving type and he and I will be good, but I did have to check myself after that one.
Jog to the cars to finish up! That’s a wrap!
Moleskin:
I met some new dudes today…..Chopper, Fargo, Midriff, Chastain, Das Boot. It was my pleasure boys! Funny how you can meet new dudes at a F3 workout and by the end of it, you feel like you knew them for a while. Lorax, Orange Whip and Point Break killed most everything and most of us were watching their backs for 45 minutes….strong! Snuka was his normal 29 year old self disguised in the body of a 59 year old! Fast and furious! Horse Head’s and Puddin Pop’s stand up comedy routines made my legs and lungs hurt less in the moment, so thank you for that boys! Mr. Magoo….all I have to say is “O-H…..”. Snowflake, I might have been overzealous this morning, but we share the same birthday so you have to forgive me…..#birthdaybrothers.
Lorax and Point Break, thanks a ton for allowing me the honor and Midriff…..excellent take out prayer!
Announcements:
Orange Whip is hosting Q school this Saturday after Rock Zero. Come workout at 7:00 then join the Top Gun instruction. Great way to learn the 1st F mantra and how to keep the pax moving and motivated during a workout. We have a lot of new guys who are certainly Q worthy so come out and get up to speed on how to lead a workout.
2020 Passport Challenge goes through 12/31 and includes any F3 activity
Canned food drive at Hydra tomorrow morning
Deep Thoughts Before Dinner
DISCC given
Warm Up
Mosey up hill to field, circle up for: Imperial Walker, Mountain Climber, SSH, Merkin, Plank, Stretching from plank: one foot forward, elbow down pause, arm up for thorasic twist, flapjack, up to Cossack squat down, up to Sun Worshiper, back down to Cossack squat 5reps, flapjack.
The Thang
Mosey 1 lap around the field. Circle up.
Fire Drill
PAX does high knees until someone yells “Fire”, everyone drops, roll left, merkin, roll right, merkin, back on feet continue high knees. Continue until all PAX have called “Fire”. Swap exercise as called out by PAX: butt kicker, sister mary katherine, etc. One round, well warmed up.
Sister Mary + Mike Tyson
Mosey down hill, line up at curb: 10 Mike Tyson’s, run up hill 10 sister mary katherine, run back to curb, repeat for 3 rounds. Mosey to rock pile.
Rocky Road
Travel road to top of the hill, at each light pole alternate 10 Over Head Press & 10 Bent over row. Flutter press at top until 6 catches up (nice audible by Midriff). Return home, same deal, but 10 Bent over rows & 10 tricep extension. Audible called for some Mary because we haven’t worked much abs (did I suggest we were done?), roll with it, flutter press, big boy, etc. Return the rocks. Mosey to playground
The Real Ab Work
Grab bar to hang from, and OYO 10 toes to bar (or knees to chest), 10 jump squats. Two rounds and we’re feeling it & short on time. Mosey to the COT.
5 MOM
Lead by the 2.0s: Rock: Big Boys, Johnny5: Freddie Mercury, T1000: flutter (at hummingbird pace).
Asked High Hat for 10 count, but not satisfied we’re done he wants to do it in low plank position. Finishing strong.
Announcements
Prayers for Mic Drop and his speedy quarantine and recovery. Get the word out for this AO every time you post, it is 2.0 friendly chance for Dads & Kids to have some fun together (or at least be miserable together while getting better – lead by example). Apologies if I forgot anything else.
Moleskin
Not that we’re always this deep, but here’s a taste of what we sampled at The Appetizer 😉
In the next few months, or if you’re very pessimistic (Dr Fauci), a year from now, the worst of Covid will be behind us. One way or another, we’ll go back to normal.
Not to get all political, but IMHO, it’s simply is not the government’s job to decide how many people can come over for Thanksgiving, or any day, ever. Seriously. I mean OMFG are you freaking kidding me, seriously. Considering all we have accepted in the name of fighting covid, we’re crossing lines that should not be allowed – in the name of safety.
If this is OK, why shouldn’t our leaders use the exact same reasoning to address an endless list of threats to our safety and require more actions and compliance while promising more protections and payouts?
If you haven’t heard of the Great Barrington Declaration look it up, it’s not conspiracy garbage, just a few dozen of the world’s famous epidemiologists suggesting we’re past the point of diminishing returns with these lock downs and protecting everyone from everything.
Leg Day at Bagpipe
) all along the way. The most astonishing part of the morning was when @cableguy ran off into the dark and came back as two people. @kirby busted out some heavy vocabulary talking about mitosis. Turns it out it was @Chopper, making our group of 9 an even 10.- Kirby asked that we please keep Terrence Wallace and his family in our prayers. He was a young man who worked at Discount Tire in Concord and was randomly and senselessly murdered while at work over the weekend.
- 4th Annual Turkey Jam on Thanksgiving Day at 0630 AM. Park at Improper Pig in Waverly (9855 Sandy Rock Pl. Charlotte, NC 28277)
- The Brave converges at Centurion on Black Friday — 0700 AM at Charlotte Catholic High School
Weinke
- Warmup and COP (Seal Jacks, IW, Low Slow Squat, Low Slow Merkin, Shoulder Taps)
- Mosey to Lochness
- First wall – 15 Bulgarian Split Squat each leg, 25 Step Ups each leg (complete one leg before doing the other)
- Mosey up the hill to the second wall
- 15 Jump Squat, 25 Reverse Lunge each leg (complete one leg before doing the other)
- Run around Lochness and repeat
- A few minutes of Mary
- Mosey to the field of the bulls
- 10 Merkins
- Elbow plank 60 seconds
- 10 Merkins
- Side elbow plank (30 seconds each side)
- 10 Merkins
- Stride the field, 5 burpees, stride back
- 10 Merkins
- Side elbow plank (30 seconds each side)
- 10 Merkins
- Elbow plank
6035 seconds
- Mosey to a parking lot
- Bear crawl halfway, 10 CDD, bear crawl remaining half, run back
- Lung walk halfway, 15 jump squat, lunge walk remaining half
- Mosey towards launch
- AYG up the hill to Conlan Circle
- Tagalong-lead flutter kicks until time
Do you mind if we both mount you?
PRAYER REQUEST: Tanyatine shared in COT that his brother Kevin has been battling colon cancer for a number of years. He just recently found another growth is going back in for a PET scan. Please pray for healing, peace, comfort, strength, and that he would see God moving and working through this entire ordeal.
Bushwood is a great spot offering lots of different courses. The staff is always friendly. Great to roll up and see a large crowd and even some guys with their passports in hand ready for stamping . . . Not so fast.
DRIVING RANGE:
- DCCS and we were off to the usual neighborhood
- Some exercises including Samoan fire dance (an ode to Site Q Fiji)
FIRST TEE:
- We took the cart path to the members only par 3 course on the south side of the property
- Partner up and go opposite directions
- 9 Derkins on your partner’s back
- Repeat with 9 Derkins and 9 knee slaps
BACK NINE:
- Find the uphill Par 3 to do 9’s
- 9 T-Tap merkins on the green
- 9 In and Outs on the tee box
- Play this hole 9 times dropping a stroke each time
19TH HOLE:
- Big Ben and Rudy were YHC’s partners . . . “Not the threesome I imagined” said Big Ben but he did ask if both him and Rudy could mount me during the partner work . . . #NoThanks
- Happy Birthday to Noonan . . . Who didn’t know it was his birthday until he got to the parking lot
- Good push from La Fonda today . . . Never giving up on the hills
- Kudos to Gerber for adhering to the strict dress code . . . Sleeveless collared shirt . . . Chilly
- Great to see Brexit taking his golf cart the full 12 minutes from his house to earn the passport stamp
- Let’s return the favor and head to his site, Arsenal . . . Thursday at 0530 at Indian Land Elementary
- Surprised to see Big Tuna playing solo . . . Apparently Chipotle isn’t a golfer
- Thanks to Mayhew for giving his 6th man speech today . . . The first F is important but the push should be for each of us to get more involved in the other 2 F’s
- He also had an announcement to start thinking/praying about a service project he is putting together in January in eastern NC
FORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEE
DiCCS were given
Warm up
Quick mosey aroind wallgreens, passing by Dublin and ending up at Target parking lot.
The thang
4 corners ot the Target Parking lot
Started with burpees in the first Corner total of 5 then new to Bobby Hurley’s at the second Corner total of 10 onto Mark ends at corner three ending up with 20 squats at the fourth corner. X2
Short Mosey around Target following the sidewalk to the back of the neighborhood behind Target.
Sevens
Starting at the bottom of the cul-de-sac to the top of the hill, hand release Merkins at the bottom and diamond Merkins at the top.
Nice Mosey back to Target via the rear entrance of the hood.
4 corners again
Five burpees at the first corner 10 big boys at the second corner 5 wide hand merkins at the third corner 20 squats at the 4th corner.
Finish that PetSmart with 10 donkey kicks at the wall and 10 Mike Tyson’s at the bottom of the parking lot then back to c o t.
Moleskin.
Awesome morning get some work in. Started a little chilly but warmed up quick. Not naming names but maybe a couple reversal of fortunes early in the workout. Thanks to Loafer for letting me Q ….and thanks to Posse for reminding me there is an upcoming Q school immediately after my second Q, I’m still learning dude😉! All kidding aside really grateful for shop dawg sharing, as the 6th man, his awesome journey with F3!!!!