…or an exercise with math? I’m not sure. A lucky 13 of us launched into the gloom with no real intentions of figuring it out. The mumblechatter started early with rumors of a half-asleep Q after a rousing disclaimer. In reality, YHC was still trying to catch my breath after running in. The wet blanket morning was not doing any favors.
The Thang
Mosey around Carmel Commons to the office parking lot in the shadow of Palentine for COP:
SSH x 25 IC
Imperial Walker x 15 IC
Mountain Climbers x 15 IC
Peter Parker x 10 IC
Head over to the base of Palentine for the main event: run up the hill, 25 merkins at the top, run the triangle route to the outdoor tables, 10 diamonds, run the next leg of the triangle to the stop sign, 25 wide-arms, run back to base of Palentine. 5 total rounds.
Round 1 – 25, 10, 25 followed by LBCs to regroup
Round 2 – 20, 8, 20 followed by flutter
Round 3 – say it with me, class (math is fun!) 15, 6, 15 followed by dolly
Round 4 – 10, 4, 10 followed by rosalita
Roudn 5 – 5, 2, 5 followed by American Hammer Russian Twist (the infiltration is complete)
Mosey back over to the outdoor tables and partner up, no sweat swapping. Partner 1 does 30 dips, Partner 2 does 30 squats, run opposite ways around the triangle route with 10 merkins where you meet. Back to the outdoor tables for some Freddie Mercury to regroup. Flapjack partner exercises and repeat. Boone LBCs to regroup.
Mosey back to launch, stopping at each speed hump for 10 squats.
Done.
Moleskin
First post-COVID Q for YHC. Thanks to Mermaid for hitting me up, even if it was while I was on vacation. He really topped it off though by publicly shaming me into writing this backblast. A sly, veteran Site Q move. These humid mornings never seem to get any easier, but it was good to sweat out some of the damage done during a week of vacation. Great to see Donk back out for the second time in his first week and good to see Cain making the EH.
My lovely M, Lauren, is running for Woman of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There are still 3 weeks left to give. She is running a great campaign and has raised a lot of money so far. Her goal is to finish at (or very near) the top both in the local Charlotte campaign and nationally. The idea is to raise enough for LLS that she has a platform with them to advocate for advancing pediatric research. You can donate through my fundraising page here: https://pages.lls.org/mwoy/nc/clt20/jpalmer and you can join us for the virtual finale on July 18th by registering here: Text MWOYCharlotte20 to 76278. We are so grateful for F3’s support – both for this campaign and during our son’s battle with AML.
Thanks to Mermaid for taking us out.
A great afternoon to lead 10 strong dudes for a little sloppy seconds at the famous buy-one-get-one-free site “Clyent” Dinner. I don’t know why I don’t post here more. I think it is proximity to my workplace bc I need to sneak out leave early any time I want to post here. Always a good time and get to see some guys that don’t post in the morning due to other obligations, so totally worth it. Today especially bc the early mornings don’t really appeal to my bonus child 2.0, Draedyn Carlton “John B.” named for his favorite Netflix series’ “Outer Banks” main character. I was finally able to bribe convince him to join me for a workout by offering Chick-fil-a for an after workout meal. (Probably would have ended up getting Chick-fil-a either way…)
Warmorama – Moseyed from COT around front of MS and then far side of the bus circle, stopped for Imperial Walkers, returned to the sidewalk by Rudy’s shed and then up to the intersection to no where for some stretching. Calf, Jimmy Dugans and Upward and Downward Dog.
Thang – Ran to rock pile and grabbed a lifting rock for 3 circuits including 2 sets of 5 exercises done 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 with run to the intersection to no where between each set.
| Warmup – IW, JD’s (C, L, R), CS (L, R) U/DD | ||
| Circuit 1 | Circuit 2 | Circuit 3 |
| 5 X Burp 6C IC | J.Lo IC | Burpee Press |
| 10 X Lunge IC | Superman | LSSq IC |
| 15 X BBSU CC | Curls CC | 1MT / 2Rows |
| 20 X Lunge IC | SSkaters IC | Flutters IC |
| 25 X Dry Dock CC | PJ CC | E.Plank 25 sec |
| Repeat | Repeat | Repeat |
I had lunges listed twice in the first circuit and didn’t realize until we got into it but we continued and got through it. Way to push!
I kept everyone together by counting most of the exercises and starting each set at the same time. I had everyone turn around when the “Gazelle’s” passed them on the way back.
Everyone was pretty quiet during the workout and I personally was able to get the heart rate up into the max-burn-zone for several minutes.
Great to see some PAX that I haven’t seen in a while and lead a fine group of men and 2.0’s.
Announcements:
Spartan Race this Saturday – will be separated into groups of no more than 25 to abide by restrictions from Governor of N.C.
Moving AO’s for Friday to alternate sites due to Activities at Cuthbertson – look at GM for site changes
I took us out
Cocktails were served afterward
As part of my DiCCS, I added that I had no Plan B if the rain picked up beyond the drizzle we felt at the start.
The Warmup
None. No opening mosey. No stretching. Just getting after it (with MASHers joining in).
The Thang
We’ve all done Webbs before. Even some workouts that were just going from one station to another doing webs. I wanted to spin that one more way. I took all the Webbs I knew and combined them. All the 10 & 40 reps are done at station 1; all 9 & 36 done at station 2; and so on. In planning this, I thought I needed a plan B in case we ate through all that before 45 minutes was up. But I was wrong. We only got through 3.5 rounds. Don’t think we even clocked a full mile.
Merkins (10)
Air Presses (40)
Squats (40)
Lunges around the World (40)
Bear Crawl (40)
Dry Docks (10)
Big Boy Sit Ups (10)
American Knockouts (40)
Mike Tyson (10)
Donkey Kicks (40)
Bobby Hurleys (10)
Speed Skaters (40)
Heels to Heaven (40)
Rosalitas (10)
Burpees (10)
If there was a (10), then we took one rep off at each station; (40) had us take 4 reps off.
For merkins, I added some variety: round 1 = low slow; round 2 = T; round 3 = hand release; round 4 = wide arm
Stations 2 & 3 had rock piles (there are a bazillion rocks at The Body Shop!). So when possible, we added rocks to the above exercises.
Stations 1 & 4 were with the MASHers.
Moleskine
Virtually no chatter because practically everything was done in some kind of cadence. I was prepared to do exercises over again to ensure Pax respond to my cadence calls. Thankfully, though, Site Q’s Point Break & Das Boot were leading by example. Still, if you’ll allow me a
<SOAPBOX>
If you are not responding to the Q by not counting “1” to his “1, 2, 3”, I would encourage you to change your ways. I would also assume you don’t Q that much, either.
* This call & response is a way for the Q to hear that you are engaged and you are with him, even when he can’t see your face. If everyone starts strong & the voices fade, the Q can tell the exercise is working and he knows when to wrap it up.
* If you have a Q who’s pushing himself by pushing you, your responses give him the energy he needs to keep going. This also applies to the man next to you. If he hears you answering the Q, he is likely to have more energy to complete more reps than struggling in silence.
* Being able to speak (even if only a single syllable) while exercising will build your aerobic capacity while helping you control your own breathing.
</SOAPBOX>
Afterward, I asked DB & PB to give me some feedback on my Q. They pointed out that some of those exercises were counted out too fast, resulting in bad form. They were absolutely right. I had internally felt like some of those exercises went on too long, so I was speeding the cadence to hurry it up, thus resulting in bad form. This gave me something concrete to change for next time. When I do this again, the lunges, donkey kicks & speed skaters will start at 20 & go down by 2’s to help with form.
Giving feedback is a difficult but necessary part of the Site Q / Q relationship. We’re great with giving attaboys, but that rarely improves our Q-bility. This was difficult for Das Boot because he asked me to Q 2 days ago. Maybe he feels like he owes me, so he can’t give me full, honest feedback? This was difficult for Point Break because he came to Q School last quarter. Maybe he felt he couldn’t criticize one of the guys who taught him how to Q? Yeah, it’s difficult. And they did a good job when I put them on the spot like that. As Site Q, it doesn’t matter if the Q is way more fit than you, or has more years of F3 than you do; you owe it to him, to your site, and to your region to make him better for his next Q. Maybe he has a blind spot that no one has ever called him out on (in love)? Maybe he thinks he’s doing better than he really is because no one will give him feedback?
Giving feedback is a skill, not a talent. It can be learned & it can be improved. See Site Q School announcement for how to start or how to improve this valuable ability.
While it is still a work in progress, this weinkie will now be my Plan B whenever I need to step up to Q at the last minute. That’s gonna save me some time on the BB writing, too!
Announcements:
Last time I attempted the 521 challenge was about 1 year ago, Frasier (from SOB) was on Q and it was no problem for him
I thoughts this morning’s rain would hold back some PAX, but we had an influx of SOB guys that kept our Pursuit numbers up. Have to say, I did feel a little out numbered, but was glad to see them join us.
Diccs given and Bratwurst offered up mini maps to anyone unfamiliar with the route, nice touch Bratwurst!
Todays goal was to run to 521 and back with in our 1 hour time, cutting thru the neighborhoods, experienced plenty of hills along the way. Along the route we worked in the Freedom to 5K training plan (most of it anyway). Warm-up, then 20 min at T-pace and 4 – 200’s (which did not happen)! Over half the PAX made it to 521 and the others were very close, so great effort by all! We made it back to COT right on time, well except Endo, he made it back during COT. We knew he was right behind us. I tried to get PAX to make a tunnel for him upon arrival
Tiger Rag left some left kneecap skin on the concrete islands at the round about, guess he glanced at his watch for a second and that’s all it took to go down, but he came right back up and ready to go quickly. We may not see TR in UC for a while
Near the end, we connected with Transporter and a new FNG he brought, now known as “Animal”.
Announcements
There will be a 5k charity race in Ballantyne. Hit up Kirby on Slack for details if your interested. It will be a couple weeks after July 4 weekend.
100 PAX Challenge on-going, charities selected, hit up Posse for details.
Thanks for taking us out Bratwurst.
After last week’s mileage-fest, YHC made a promise to keep the miles down. A group of 22 strong eventually rolled in (even though it was sprinkling) to see if I would keep my promise. With total miles under 3, mission accomplished?! If not, complain to management, but since neither site Q’s were present, good luck! After a brief disclaimer, we took off.
Warm up run- head towards Evelyn’s hill, stop to wait for the 6 and hit the basics- SSH, IW and some merkins interrupted by the paper lady (who stalked us briefly).
The Thang
Triple Nickle- Monkey humpers at the bottom / Hand release merkins at the top/ Backwards run up- normal run down
Finish with some marry while we wait for others to finish
Mosey back up Evelyn’s hill to Wesley Church for some lifting
Grab a lifting rock and do the following:
Bi’s , Tri’s, Overhead press and Squats x15 per exercise – upon completion, hold rock overhead and head to dumpster (rinse and repeat), then to the end of the driveway for the last round.
Place rock on the shoulder (switch halfway thru) and put rock back in the pile
Mosey to Baseball diamonds
Instructions were to do the following exercises x20 each and then run around each field (4 total fields)
Incline merkins, decline merkins, Jump ups (step ups), Dips and Pistol Squats (one leg up)
Few more Mary, head back to launch and DONE
Announcements:
Ye Olde Moleskin
-Thank you for the opportunity to lead, I was tapped on the shoulder by the energizer bunny (Sprockets) and of course happy to jump in
-Welcome FNG- Huddle House. Is it creative? Does the Hydra Pax struggle to create names? Was I given the authority to confirm the random suggestion? Did IHop bring him out? No, Yes, Yes,Yes
-I struggled with a plan today. Although Hydra is like home court for me living so close, I feel like we have done it all. Also, not being able to grab sandbags, fire hose or even use monkey bars, it takes a few thing from the play book. Either way, happy with the plan
-Few guys out front today, I am not saying that anyone is cheating, but if you are in the 6 but doing all the reps (with good form) keep it up. At the end of the day it is about you (and that fine beach body). However, Proehl is always out front…damn kids! But I did notice some old guys keeping him honest.
-I don’t think many finished the last round around the baseball diamond, ran out of time…sorry
-Many of you hate running backwards…noted, we will do it again
-Not sure what the chatter was behind me, feel free to chime in. I had a plan in my head and could not think of much else
Love this site and always excited when I get a chance to lead. Back in the day when we first launched this site we stayed pretty close to the downtown area – then came the gazelles and we started to find new gems a bit further out. I wanted to pay tribute to the Glory Days. So I put $2.50 in the pay phone and placed a call across state lines to MoneyBall for some direction. “Man – you gotta stay close to downtown that’s where it all started – The Hill must happen, get that bridge involved and use the short wall for some work”. The plan was in motion.
Warm up – Mosey to Sweet Repeats – I heard rumblings ” are we headed to Lawson? Millbridge”. Nope – I wanted to bring our charity efforts into focus – Ray of Hope is housed in Sweat Repeats – make the connection so that when we do some of the planned activities (back pack give away and Xmas party help) everyone will know where to head. We circled up and did the normal warm ups in the parking lot –
SSH, Merkins, LSS, Plank Jacks dugan and demonstrated the Burpee with a Twist (on return jump 180 degrees)
The Thang – today’s theme would be 10, 15, 20 – reps – (paired with 2 exercises) I tend to use this cadence a bit on my Q’s. I do it because I am not a big fan of the “do 200 merkins…..3,000 squats.’ No way you can keep form for those amount of reps.
First stop Parking lot next to Sweet Repeats
Round 1 Broad Jump and Merkins – do 10 Broad Jumps & 10 Merkins, followed by 15 broad jumps and 15 merkins, followed by 20 broad jump and 20 merkins. – lap around the building
Round 2 – Bobby Hurley’s and Speed Skaters (10/15/20)
Mosey to short wall in town
Round 3 Dips and Declines – lap around the block
Round 4 Step Ups and SSH – Hot lap around the block
Mosey to Bridge
Round 5 Jump squat on one side of bridge and then Plank Jacks other side
Mosey to Wall across from church
Round 6 Donkey Kicks and Mountain Climbers (this was a shoulder smoker)
Mosey to KJH The Hill
Round 7 Burpee Twist and Plank Jacks – we made 10 and 15 – and only 1 trip up the hill.
Mosey to COT
All in all we covered about 2.4 miles – timing could have been better to do more hill work next time.
Shout out to Popeye – good to see him during the week – we did some running and he just pushes through even with a bad knee.
The LRC was strong this morning – Deflated had an extra hop in his step and was out in front with Smithers and Foundation.
Rockwell – aka “the silent assassin” – he doesn’t say much during the workouts – but he’s there at every turn leading the way.
Deadwood – i could sense a Q jack coming but it never came – he was out pushing the pace in front. well done.
Carbload – joining the shirtless gazelles – a site to see – but I only saw the bare-back as he was out in front. No thong gate here.
And Schnieder – we’re not the fastest in the group – we seem to have the same pace -so when I see Tom making moves to the front of the line I get going as well. Way to push me.
Prayers up to CarbLoad’s B-in-law – Cody – hit by car and having some surgeries today (back,,) – Schnieder’s friend – his wife Karen is going through chemo and the Big C.
Announcements:
Keep an eye out for workout site changes for tomorrow. Impromptu may be moving…
Spartan Race – still on?
We couldn’t use any gear so I decided to use the cinder blocks! 19 brave men came our for lots of heavy lifting and running (the bear crawl was for Doughboy). We also would like to welcome Big House to F3 Waxhaw! I do have to say, the workout looked a ton easier on paper than it was in reality. Based on the chatter, I didn’t make too many friends today.
The Warm Up – After diccs were given we did a quick mosey around Mt. Chiseled and a quick look at the location of the beatings to come. Took a quick mosey down to pick up cinder blocks for the guys who needed one. Warm up included:
We proceeded to Mt. Chiseled with our cinder blocks over head and did lunges and also what I call “Frankenstein” to the base of Mt. Chiseled.
The Thang – Partner up. Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 bear crawls up to the top of Mt. Chiseled and runs over to the other side to perform 10 Bomb Jacks. Run back over to the other side to relieve your partner. Partner 1 started with Burpie Press – 100 of them as a team! That hurts! The next exercise was 200 curls (might have to call an audible!) followed by 100 Rows – bent over or upright. Top that one off (arms now really hurting) with 100 Keddle Block Swings closing off the workout with the Chest Press with the blocks. After running out of time we circled up for our finish.
The Moleskine – That was a tough one but I appreciate Fuse giving me the opportunity to be able to lead such a great group of guys. All of you are really fantastic and I appreciate the support of all. We did have one FNG today and because he likes Ohio State, he was giving the name Big House. Welcome Big House.
Announcements – Fuse is looking for help at Five Stones Church for today, Thursday and Friday of this week. Please Contact Fuse Box for more information. Posse spoke about the Spartan Race this Saturday! 100 PAX Challenge – We still need more support – Let’s donate now! Tickets are being sold for a raffle to win a Lazy Boy Chair. Friday is graduation at CHS and it might impact the morning workout at Cutherbertson, be on the lookout.
Well it was time for Dromedary to take a field trip to Bushwood to check out the back 9 after the front was played yesterday. As I pulled into the parking lot 5 min till lift off one other car was there, would people show up? Did they remember the change from other announcements, only time will tell. As cars began rolling in and 6am hit it was time to start going.
Warm-Up:
The Thang:
Announcements:
Prayers:
Ok that title has been used before and probably like a thousand times. I couldn’t think of anything else. Please read on.
11 PAX this morning at The Maul.
Warm-up: Mosey lap around the lot with high knees and butt kicks thrown in. Circle up for: 10 MCs, 10 windmills, 10 merkins, 10 squats, all IC.
Rotate 90 degrees and face the hill. For 3 rounds, YHC calls cadence for burpees at the bottom and then everyone sprints to the top for 15 merkins OYO. Round 1 = regular burpees and regular merkins. Round 2 = one leg burpees (right leg) and diamond merkins, Round 3 = one leg burpees (left leg) and wide arm merkins.
Mosey over to the next hill located behind Jersey Mikes. Partner up, no touching please. P1 runs the hill while P2 does the exercise and flap jack. In total, do 50 CDDs, 100 squats, and 150 LBCs.
Mosey to the front of the shopping center. Karyoke one way to the first stop sign, 10 merkins, karaoke to the second stop sign, 10 merkins, run to the Target, 10 merkins, plank for the six.
Mosey to the church parking lot and grab a lifting rock. IC, 10 Romanian deadlifts, 10 squat thrusts, 10 curls. Run to the second speed bump for 10 seal merkins, and back. Repeat one time.
The mosey home was long so we broke it up with stops for Mary called by different PAX. YHC was smokes and Mic Check and Wingman pushed the pace home. With two minutes left, we did an abbreviated, a capella version of “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down” and 5 burpees OYO.
Announcements: Be on the lookout for news of a pop-up 5k/10k June 18th to benefit local Foodbank. Kirby on Q.
Taking the liberty of posting a backblast; Slingshot laid down a solid Q, and if he lays down a solid backblast as well, then there will be one solid one, and this weak entry. Pretty sure I’ve seen multiple bb’s from some workouts in Waxhaw, so not unchartered waters.
Anyhoo, Slingshot gave a disclaimer, but no one heard him as the mumble chatter was already deafening. We did have one car honk to clear the lot as the pax was mustering. They were on a beeline for their morning shot of cholesterol and fat at Dunkin’ Donuts. Never, ever get in the way of a person and his/her donut(s).
Off the pax went after circling back for some pax who got out of his vehicle with no shoes on. Can’t remember his name, and in COT he couldn’t remember his own age. Mumblechatter was again overwhelming so I couldn’t discern his nickname amidst the cacophony. Also missing another pax in the list. We had 24, but I could only come up with 22. So, for the shoeless one and the other — #cobains
we did Jacob’s Ladder (aka 7’s) on some hill in Stonecroft. I ran into Geraldo & someone else during those and pert near went down. my comparatively low center of gravity (lots of gravity, at that) spared me
pax then ran to Hope OP for some running and rock work. Good find by Slingshot – we’ll be back there again soon. If Latin never lets us back on campus, that may be the next AO location for Hawk’s Nest. Knowing about 50 people that go there, including Sprockets, Spackler, Queen, among other pax — we might well get the “go ahead”.
then over to the bank for some people’s chair and then over to the launch lot. I’m a 5/3 certain that bank has been closed for 3-4 years.
Ye Olde Naked Moleskinné:
just random bullet-point observations
Other stuff happened, I’m sure. Sound off if so inclined.
Solid Q, Slingshot. Thanks for stepping up. IHOP on Q next week at the Nest.