One of the foundational A51 F3 locations, The Matrix on Mondays, has been creeping back up in the ratings as many F3 vets have rallied behind the iconic AO to see if they can save it.
A great group of 8 randos showed up today. I can say, I have rarely seen these guys all post together in any normal cadence but today it all came together.
Promising low mileage and more strength building we did just that….
The Thang
Run around the school to lower parking lot for SSH, Low Slow Wide Leg Squats, Merkins
Starfish in parking lot (short run)
Lifting Rocks
Shoulder Press/Curl combos – 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, etc.
Other exercises in cadence with final overhead rock hold for a 10 count by all 8 PAX
Playground
Partner work
P1 – Pullups (10, 8, 6, 4, 2)
P2 – Big boy sit ups (waits for P1 & flapjack)
Wall work
Partner 1 holds feet on wall, Partner 2 bear crawls to line and does 5 merkins & walks back and taps Partner 1 (3 rounds
ABstacles
5 minutes of various ab exercises to wrap things up
Moleskine
Announcements/Prayer Requests:
Paper Jam’s mom sadly passed away unexpectedly over the weekend, please keep them in your prayers
A51 Q School November 21st at the Panera at the Arboretum – 7am workout followed by instruction – contact me for more details juliusmilani@gmail.com or Slack
12 immigrants looked to get their lower back Passport stamped at Ignition.
WARMUP:
THANG:
MOLESKINE:
PRAYER OF THANKFULNESS . . . LET’S LIVE THAT OUT BY SEEKING OUT THAT 1 PERSON TO IMPACT EACH DAY.
9 joined us today for this weeks installment of Base Camp led by YHC a former Base Camp Site Q. After a through disclaimer that was highly enjoyed by most of the pax, with no FNGs present after a short run around the bus lot we began right by the Staff lot for a quick cop.
COP:
10 IW IC
10 LSS IC
10 Windmill
Following completion of the Windmills, instructions were made to run towards the intersection of Strawberry and Rosecliff. Upon reaching each speed bump(3 in total) pax were instructed to perform 5 jump squats. Leaders were also instructed to collect the six upon reaching Rosecliff. After a quick 10 count by Mr. Magoo instructions were given for the main event.
Triple Nickle:
Top of the Hill( Intersection of Strawberry and Rosecliff) 10 Merkins
Bottom of the Hill(first neighborhood intersection off of Rosecliff) 10 Diamond Merkins
Rinse and repeat 5 times for a total of 100 merkins
After a quick round of LBCs and a Thunder Road 10 count, off we went back to launch. Stoping at each speed bump for 5 monkey humpers, facing traffic after a fellow pax asked which direction they would be faced(you’re welcome). After stoping right before the entrance of SCMS, instructions were made to run back to Semi’s Office. Upon going over the mileage amount YHC had originally planed it was time to bring a good friend back to visit after picking up a lifting rock.
Jack Webb
1 slow merkin
4 air presses with lifting rock
We went up to 4 slow merkins and 16 air presses then worked our way back down
Following a Hoover 10 Count, we went over to Semi’s office and grabbed some wall for 2 rounds of 25 air presses on YHCs count.
Mary:
10 Flutters IC
10 Rosalita IC
10 American Hammer
Protractor till time was called
Done.
Moleskinny:
-YHC realized on his drive home from Columbia yesterday that he was the QIC for Base Camp on Monday, Thunder Road remembers this beatdown from my December 2018 q at Base Camp only it was about 30 degrees colder outside
-The plan was for around 2.5 miles today, YHC underestimated that the Triple Nickle was probably closer to a half a mile each way than the 0.4 miles each way YHC had measured. YHC had us clocked at 3.24 miles, miles varied from 3.08-3.24+. A bit higher than what Base Camp traditionally is however, everyone crushed it out there today
– Air Wolf was out in front most of the workout followed closely by Way, no surprise there as Air Wolf has gotten faster since posting at Fast Twitch
-With this being Makeshift 10k/Half Marathon/Marathon Taper week YHC broke his usual limited Merkin usage to be taper friendly(you can still get upper body in while running in workouts)
-Its been quite awhile since YHC had visited Base Camp, probably close to a year. Thank you for Thunder Road and Mr. Magoo for brining me out of Base Camp retirement
Announcements:
-Makeshift Marathon Saturday 11/14 7 AM, preblast here
-Saturday November 21st Orange Whip be holding an A51 Q school at the Panera in the Arboretum at 0700. 45 minute workout followed by instruction from some veterans(30-45 minutes). If you haven’t q’d in awhile and are looking to step up and lead a workout this is a great place to learn the basics in leading a workout and F3 Site
-Thunder Road with the strong takeout
Benny out
A small(er) group of men gathered for a Monday meltdown.
90 seconds each set
10 two-handed swings
4 thrusters
4 push-ups
10 single-arm (weak side) swings
4 thrusters
4 push-ups
10 single-arm (strong side) swings
4 thrusters
4 push-ups
10 alternating swings
4 thrusters
4 push-ups
10 American swings
4 thrusters
4 push-ups
x 5
Waiter, rack and farmer’s carries
Elbow plank 1 min
Glute bridge (almost) 1 min
Moleskine
After Van Halen and KISS playlists, I decided to push the sonic boundaries and play one of my favorites bands – The Pixies. It’s not likely that you’ve heard them, but your favorite alternative bands love them. They wrote guitar-based songs with hooks, but mixed artsy noise and cryptics lyrics that would alternate between breathy whispers or full-throated shouting. They were among a handful of 1980s bands that provided a contrast to make-up and spandex rockers. (Other notables include REM, Replacements, Husker Du, Jesus & Mary Chain and Sonic Youth.) Over the years, a few songs have made it onto soundtracks and even commercials. You can find their best loved “hits” here.
History has shown… at some point, all great empires fall. NO. YHC isn’t talking about the results from the elections. But what’s up with Maxine’s parking lot bootcamp outpacing us for # of PAX this morning?!?!? Haha, good to see people exercising outside, even if it still costs $30 a class when it’s free over by the Viva Chicken. Just sayin. Anyhoo… 11 compadres showed up at the 3-headed dawg for a beatdown. Here’s what transpired..
0530 GO!
0531 Wait… come back to the lot for One Star
0532 – 0614 run up and down 2 decks, lunge, crab walk, bear crawl, pull-ups, knee ups, wall sits, single leg squats, and dragon flags oh my!
0615 FINITO!
Good group of guys as usual this morning, and lots of solid mumble chatter. Has been a while since YHC has been to the site, so great to see some familiar faces and some new ones. YHC has been working like a dawg lately, and haven’t gotten a good routine for posting. But this was 3rd Q in 8 days, so small acceleration. Thanks Alf for voluntolding me on the schedule a while back. Taking the easy way out on BackBlasts since time-constrained, but posting the BB for my lead at MIP Saturday. A good reminder for all F3 Nation PAX to remind ourselves of what being in F3 Nation means. Have a great Sunday all.
WHO PUSHES WHO ~ JRR Tolkien
YHC has been doing a lot of the same things recently… wake up, figure out what to do with my day, read news about stupid politicians (yes, all of them), read headlines about covid spiking, deal with realities of unemployment in the a time of economic uncertainty… to say life has been challenging of late is a gross understatement. Yet I have an amazing outlet for my frustration, a safe place of solidarity where I can vent both physically and emotionally and so I am leaning in. F3 is saving my life on a daily basis, even on days I don’t post, which has been a bit more frequent this week. So when Prohibition took to slack looking for a substi-Q for this weekend, YHC jumped on it because I knew it would get me out of the Fartsack and with my brothers on a Saturday morning, something I desperately needed. Ironically, as Hoover observed, the last time I Q’d RZ was a subset-Q for… you got it… Prohibition. So as things in my life, the country, and the [F3]Nation go round and round in a time loop, I set out to bring forward a “greatest hits” style workout for the PAX, they’ll tell you how I did.
THE THANG:
Mosey to grassy knoll court and circle up for COP
-10 SSH IC, 1 Burpee, 10 IW IC, 2 Burpees, 10 LSS IC, 3 Burpees, 10 LSM IC, 4 Burpees, 10 Peter Parkers IC, 5 Burpees.
-Mosey to rock pile by the rotunda, grab a shmedium rock, mosey to rotunda. 10 Triple-Lindys, run around far median (by 51) and back to your rock. YHC originally planned a “pass the rock” type circuit forgetting about shared coupon moratoriums but several PAX gently reminded me of the need for social consciousness and I obliged. As such we completed a circuit of 10 curl, 10 press and 10 crusher combinations involving runs around the rotunda after 10 of each, then 20 of combinations of them, then 10 10 10. After running the rotunda and returning to your rock, 5 burpees (after each set). There was much grumbling about burpees. Finally wrap up with 10 more Triple-Lindys and round the median by 51 again.
-After returning our rocks, back over to the ‘knoll for some elevator merkins with forward-backward ‘crawls mixed in… always a crowd pleaser
-Mosey to hill by the fields for 11s of Sister Mary Katherines and Jump Squats
-Mosey to outside wall of Hotbox for peoples chair sets intermixed with Balls to the Wall Walks. sets of left leg up hold, right leg up hold, alternating leg lifts and air presses in between BTWs.
-Move to interior of the Hotbox for Little Hazes, Dips and Incline Merkins. We did 25 of each, then 15, then 5.
-Mosey up to rocks by the baseball diamond. Grab a Shmedium rock and line up abreast at the close light pole. 5 Triple Lindys, AYG to the second tree, AYG back, 4 Triple Lindys and so on… AKA “Chase Alf”
-Indian run around the outside and over to the Olympus Lot, circle up for Mary. LBCs, Freddy Mercuries and thats that.
MOLESKIN and Other Sundries:
-Lots to say about a strong group of PAX today, but you guys know the drill. Proehl’s 20 years are an unfair advantage in well… everything. YHC is salty about losing a footrace, but we’ll not get into those details. Alf continues to benefit from shorter ranges of motion in most exercises, but Kudos to Joker for beating him out in last OYO sets of the morning. Glad to see Horsehead back in the gloom after dealing with a bit of an injury. Boondocks just got it done. Hoover and Geraldo are the strongest big men on the block, no questions asked. Runstopper wore tights on a 60 degree morning… why??? YHC was blessed by strong efforts, and even stronger mumblechatter, from the PAX today which reminds me I need to get back to RockZero more frequently.
-During COT I shared my heart relating to the state of the world today. As I shared a bit of my journey in the preamble today, those around us in our every day lives are living their own struggles. There are dark days ahead of us as Covid flares, the election results will undoubtedly upset half the nation, and our economy teeters on the brink of another potential disaster heading into the holidays. If you are reading this message, you are blessed with a support structure which most of the world doesn’t access. The way we support and prop each other up makes us stronger, which is a gift we can leverage to support our communities in turn. The SkyQ guided Dread and OBT to make F3 for moments just like this, so that we can lead as servants while the world burns around us. I need you guys every day, so that I can lead and support my family, and I am so damn grateful I can continue to draw on your strength else I might not be able to get out of bed some mornings. I challenge you all to be the change you want to see in the world, give of yourself with wreckless abandon, and serve as a light house in troubled waters. We were made for this boys. Aye!
-SYITG
Flipper
11 men started and 12 men finished Centurion this morning. None of them were Chelms or Margo.
Gather up for a somewhat proper disclaimer that ended about 45 seconds early and left and awkward pause before the workout started. #PrematureProclamation
Mosey on over to the highschool for COP in front of the stadium. SSH, Merkins, Lunges, Squats, Mountain Climbers. The 12th pax sneaks in at this point from the OG parking lot at Catholic. He must have missed the memo on the new launch point.
Head over the parking deck.
Up one level of stairs, one burpee, sprint to middle stairs. Up one level, 2 burpees sprint back. Up one level, 3 burpees, sprint to middle.
Do some Mary while the six comes in. Run back down the ramps with stops for 15 Mike Tyson’s, 15 Floor to ceiling tap jump squats, and 15 donkey kicks.
Repeat with 4,5,6 burpees, and 7,8,9 burpees.
Last lap reprieve, we ran the stairs and sprints with no burpees.
3 stops for shoulder taps and hip slaps on the way home.
Plank Jack Web while we wait for 45 minutes to be up.
Moleskine:
Unfortunately Centurion is too far out of my comfort zone to attend regularly. And by comfort zone I mean I have to set my alarm 7 minutes earlier AND pass several workouts on the way there.
Not sure why Bout Time was wearing a hat as it wasn’t that cold out. But he ran in, ran out, and still smoked everyone on the burpee/sprints so I guess that hat works. I had to push just to keep ahead of Snuka who is somewhere between 10 and 150 years older than me. Some combo of Limey, Sable, and Clover were chatting it up this morning. Way to much talk for the burpees and sprints. Next time more burpees.
Buckees either has a bad shoulder or doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. Every time we did a plank he pulled out a rubber and stretched it. Better than fake stretching when you modify (not calling out any PAX, but you know who you are)
I appreciate the opportunity to lead a fine group of men this morning. Thanks for letting me speak a bit at the end. Go out there and check in with those around you. Be an impact in your local community as it will be felt far more than the impact of any national election.
-Alf
Starting the morning at 37 degrees can always be painful but feels like heaven after 10- minutes. DiCCS were given two minutes before 5:30 started with a 600M Mosey which is only makes sense for 6-year anniversary. PAX ten completed the warmup:
20 SSH
15 Imperial walkers
10 downward and 10 upward dog
Calf stretch 15 seconds per leg
Left and right runners stretch
The Thang
PAX divided up into 2 teams and was introduced to the 6-station circuit which were equally spaced around the 600M loop.
Team one started with the right-hand side of the circuit while the second team started on the left. The teams were tasked to complete the circuit 5 times with a 600M run after loop. Being a six-year anniversary, only makes sense to do multiples of 6 reps at each pain station. Round one started with 30 reps and the next round was reduced by 6. Rinse and repeat, three more times. Well we did not complete 5 rounds but did get through 4 which equated to 84 reps at each pain station and logged 3 miles.
Team one had the honor of starting with 30 Burpees while team two started with 30 Dry Docks. Team two completed 4 stations while team one was only on second station. One Star said, something must be wrong with team one guys. Zinfandel said wait until you guys get to the last station. Reality hit them quickly how much fun it was to complete 30 Burpees! One Star stated during Namarama, I now understand and that was not nice!
Everyone pushed hard today and got in a good workout F3 style! I wanted to give a shout out to Goodfella for all he has done to assist with building up Dromedary and in our thoughts!
Announcements
Service project, Hot Wheels, downtown Waxhaw to build a ramp for a nine-year girl in a wheelchair Nov 7th.
Chicken Little will lead a Turkey Trot Thanksgiving Day and post info on The Playhouse and News Channel.
Makeshift Marathon 2020 Nov 14: complete marathon by creating a relay team, run a 10k, run ½ marathon, or run complete marathon by yourself. Please makes sure you go to link and register.
Prayer Request
Kelli Niro (premature wife) decided not to take the medication and need our Lord to guide her.
When: 11/52020
QIC: Premature
PAX
Sugar Daddy (R), Ex-Lax, Smithers, Shake-n-Bake, Deflated, 0-69 (R), Schneider (R), Rockwell, Fredo, Rigley (R), Card Load
Playing with Deck of Cards
Starting the morning at 45 degrees can always be painful but feels like heaven after 10- minutes. DiCCS were given two minutes before 5:30 and the team was introduced to a deck of playing cards.
Four PAX were assigned suits with a corresponding pain exercise: Rockwell spades Bonny Blairs, Schneider diamonds LBC, Carb Load clubs Spiderman Merkins, and Rigley hearts for Big Boi sit-ups. PAX started off with a Mosey to Dreamchasers not for a beer but “simple” warmup.
20 SSH
15 Imperial walkers
10 downward and 10 upward dog
Calf stretch 15 seconds per leg
Left and right runners stretch
Mosey to the large open parking lot to start the THANG
The Thang
Paula Abdul for ½ mile – run two poles and back one andflipped a card to determine the suit: PAX did the number on the card. No one should be shocked I told PAX Aces are 15 since I cannot figure out how to take a picture on MY phone. Wrigleyasked where did 15 come from? I said it is obvious, King is 14. He said, King is 13. I started laughing. PAX, went through 10 cards and many turned up clubs aka Spiderman Merkins.
We ran another ½ mile and flipped 10 more cards in a row. At this point, the PAX wanted to flip more cards, NOT!
My plan was to lead the PAX to the hill where the new condoswere built. I was running with Shake and he asked where we are going? I said to the hill. Surprise, surprise, we ran past the entrance and we had to back track. We finally entered the new road and headed to the new parking lot to flip 10 more cards. Thankfully many hearts and diamonds as Carb Load prayed PAX ran halfway up hill and flipped 10 more cards and this time a surprise, Joker. Of course, this means 20 Burpees. I could not understand why people were groining, its only Burpees on a hill???? PAX ran the rest of the hill and flipped more cards. What else to do after running hill? Yes, run four corners and flip more cards. We arrived back at COT but still had 5 minutes which is plenty of time to run down and up the high again. When PAX reached bottom of hill, flipped a card and what do you know, spades of 11 Bonny Blairs. PAX ran back up the hill to flip one more card and headed to COT. PAX logged over 3 miles and almost completed the full deck.
Everyone pushed it today and got in a good workout starting the week of right and stayed safe. I want to give a special shoutout to Ex-Lax. He pushed the entire time. Great job!
Sugar Daddy loved it so much he expressed how it helped stretch his hamstring!
Smithers, Rockwell, and Fredo did a great job pushing on the hill and helping the 6.
Deflated and 0-69 logged some serious steps!
Announcements
Service project, Hot Wheels, downtown Waxhax to build a ramp for a nine-year girl in a wheelchair Nov 7th. Volunteer money through Venmo and/or help build.
Chicken Little will lead a Turkey Trot Thanksgiving Day and post info on The Playhouse and NewsChannel.
Makeshift Marathon 2020 Nov 14: complete marathon by creating a relay team, run a 10k, run ½ marathon, or run complete marathon by yourself. Please makes sure you go to link and register.
Prayer Request
Kelli Niro (premature wife) and decided not to take the medication
TL:DR – Earlier this year I had a goal to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes. I accomplished that this morning, but only with the help of many. Here’s how it happened.
The Warmup
As you can see from the sheet, I (and others) had several goals for the year. I encouraged others to look at that list to see where they could help someone else. That help could be in better defining the goal, shared experiences with a similar goal, or help in achieving the goal.
In those pre-Covid months, Chastain would saunter up to me on long moseys, look at his watch and say, “You’re running at a 10:22 pace. You’re going to have to go faster to hit your goal!” At which point, I would slow down like a d-bag. It’s one thing to have a goal; it’s another to be public about it and invite others to hold you to account for it.
I like to run; I’m just not fast. So going to Pursuit for 5 or 6 miles isn’t painful for me. I thought I’d use that & Strava to work on speed & endurance. Overtrain. I was running, but not seeing consistent improvements. Turns out that’s not how anything ever works. Good days. Bad days. Horrible hills. Mental battles. It’s always something.
Fusebox picked up on this goal, too. Instead of running with me at Pursuit, he decided to virtually race me. My best 3.1 miles at Pursuit against his best 5k running through his neighborhood. I lost consistently. Even when I could see he walked sections & I didn’t walk at all.
Started going to the completely unsanctioned Waxhaw Express. Depending on the drill that week, I could feel some improvements. Sections of the workout where I felt a good combo of breathing, stride, & effort. And those times rarely came at the beginning, which told me I had to run up to a half mile before being loose enough to hit those strides. Great crew there, as well.
I had several 5k’s I planned to run throughout the year to gauge my progress. Of course, they all were canceled.
So when the Waxhaw Launchvergiversary™ offered a 5k option, I took it. I was incredibly humbled when Tuck showed up just to run with me. He asked what time I was looking to make, and he set his watch to that pace. When we started, he immediately said, “You’re going too fast!” Something I’d NEVER expect to hear him (or anyone else) say. Sure enough, within 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in, I slowed way down, & not by choice. And I kept getting slower. I ended with a time somewhere in the 35-minute mark. Chastain also ran this, finished WAY sooner, came back along the route and found me. He tried to speed me to the finish, but I had already mentally given up. I was just trying to not walk.
But afterward, Tuck took the time to talk to me about pacing, which I clearly had never considered. It was why I could start off fast, crash in the middle, and make a small but insufficient comeback at the end. I had to change the way I was running. He suggested Runkeeper as a good app to help with that. I did use it at Pursuit several times afterward. It made it abundantly clear how much my pace would change throughout the run. This was such a gamechanger for my goal.
Then a few weeks ago, Weasel-Shaker-in-training Fuse comes back around, asking how that 5k goal is coming along. Why haven’t I knocked it out yet? Uh, I kinda gave up on it, maybe?
Chastain gets in the mix, too. They had put in the early work to let me know they refuse to let me give up on my goal. Do you have friends like that? How do you know? Have they proved themselves? Or has it been just talk?
Chastain has the fanciest watch of the 3 of us. He’ll be the robotic laser. Fusebox will be the cheerleader, skirt and all.
1st mile goes great; 2nd shits the bed; 3rd wallows in it. Time somewhere in the 33rd minute.
Great! Clearly that proved to them that I need time to train on my own. I’ll notify them later when I’m ready to try again. Probably in a couple of months.
Fusebox looks at Chastain, “So we’ll do it again same time next week? Maybe cut that hill off at the high school?” Chastain agrees. Then they look at me.
“We’re doing this every Thursday until I get it, huh?”
“Yep.”
Fuuuuuuuu……
Here’s where it gets interesting. Now that I know these guys aren’t giving up on me, it becomes clear that I had given up on myself. Yeah, you probably saw that too, huh? I was happy to have a goal, happy to occasionally work on it. But I was tying my identity in the pursuit of the goal. Who am I if I actually ACCOMPLISHED the goal? Then things would change. And that’s scary. I may have to reevaluate how I see myself. But I’m so used to seeing myself this way; it’s just easier if I stay in this “struggle”.
If all that’s familiar but confusing, check out this recent podcast for a better explanation: https://soundcloud.com/artofmanliness/657-why-you-dont-change-but-how-you-still-can
The Thang
This morning, with the help of my friends, & all those mentioned above, I did it. I know there would have been plenty of others who would have happily run with me – in all sincerity – thank you, too. 1st mile was great; 2nd mile was not near as bad as before; 3rd mile was a struggle. I still had mental barriers in mile 2 & 3. I told them how to talk to me, and they did. I told them what does & doesn’t motivate me. And they did it. I hit several WXWXpress strides in different spots.
I wanted to cry, but there was no humidity in the air. I hugged Chastain with a gratitude I can’t put into words. Fuse knows I’m a hugger & has stayed 20’+ from me since we hit the finish line. Even now, I have had to work hard in telling myself that an accomplishment has been met.
Moleskine