Memorial Day Popeye Special!

Memorial Day Popeye Special!

27 Pax paid their respects on Memorial Day.

Warmup mosey to the standard Popeye warmup.  10x Merkins, mountain climbers, imperial swawkers, etc, broken up by 10x SSH each time (God bless the SSH).

Start the workout, incoming rules apply (yell incoming, everyone does a burpee)

Move to the hill.  Bear crawl up the entire hill.  Medal of Honor reading, RIP Mike Murphy.

Mosey to the bollards.  LAC (legs, abs, chest) on stoplights, 10 reps each, to the soccer fields.

Low crawl (low, not bear, face dwn, everyone is wet) for 50 yds.  Medal of Honor reading, RIP Desmond Doss.

Mosey with intermittent Mary to the high school football field.

Mogadishu Mile run back to the parking lot.  Medal of Honor reading, RIP Gary Gordon and Randy Shurgart.

Gold star reading, RIP Ronnie Winchester, USNA football #73, class of 2001, Marine Lieutenant.

73 burpees, 10x each time broken up by variable Mary each time, in honor of my classmate Ronnie.

Bottom line, four veterans laid to rest, four primary exercises to honor them with random pain in between.  Thanks for letting me honor four heroes, one of them a friend.

 

Chainsaw, Frack (fellow OG), Rockwell, Buckshot, Boytano, Rudy, Blades of Glory, Fuze Box, Flash, Goodfella, Pickett Fence, Bo Knows (FNG, 2.0), Back of da (sp?,) Swimmers, Ice 9 (fellow OG), Posse (a.k.a Sargeant Hulka, The Big Toe), Premature, Bottlecap, Heisman (Beat Army, dude!), Wack, Shop Dog (fellow OG), Oh-69, Ricky Bobby, J-wow, Chicken Little, Popeye

 

Rocks and Running are like Peas and Carrots

YHC pulled into the parking lot with a few minutes to spare At 0530 the 12 Pax was properly disclaimed, and we were off. 

The Thang:

We took a nicely paced jog over to the parking lot with all the islands and construction equipment. 

COP:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
  • Low Slow Squats x 15
  • Windmills x 10 
  • Eight Count Body Builders x 10 IC (Crowd pleaser)

Hot Box Set

We jogged over to the hot box and partnered upPartner up, Partner 1 performs called exercise while Partner 2 runs and touches the church and back, then flapjack.

  • Dips
  • Incline Merkins
  • Step ups

Rock Work

We then moseyed over to the rock pile, making sure we don’t leave our rocks on the ground in the way of passing cars, of which there were a couple at that hour. Choosing a lifting rock for the follwoing.

  • Curls x 20
  • Tricep Extensions x 20
  • Overhead Presses x 20
  • Run to the rock and back
  • Squats with rock x 20
  • Flutter Kicks with rock overhead x 20
  • Louganis with rock overhead x 20
  • Run to the second lightpost on the right and back

Repeato, except I called an #Omaha and we didn’t run to the rock but to the light post instead. 

We headed back to the launch point stopping for an AYG run before working on our abs/”stomache”

Mary:

  • Flutter Kicks x 15
  • Dollies x 15
  • One more AYG run
  • Heels to Heaven
  • LBCs 

Done.

Moleskin:

  • 2/3 of the #Trifusnik were in attendance, and they exercised the #refusniks early and often starting with the SSH. Maybe Semi Gloss was resting himself for Hydra tomorrow.
  • Clover can’t keep count or intentionally tries to cross up the Q during cadence.
  • Pudding Pop correctly guessed we were stopping at the hot box but the box were disappointed that the run was to touch the church and back rather than the usual light post. There were several groans of “that’s far”, oh well. 
  • Mr. Magoo was getting some grief from Haze for making him work harder to keep up with the Pax on the runs to the church wall. 
  • Lorax and Spackler were giving it a go with the AYG sprint, looked like Spackler got the best of that one. The second AYG was a time killer, #Cobains. Pudding Pop noted that he only had one in him #TWSS
  • Jet Fuel put in his solid effort as usual, and was dressed appropriately with his shirt tucked in.
  • Spackler was out front as usual #LarryBird, he admitted that he’s a lot faster at 185 than 195. All those OTB workouts have done him good. 
  • Point Break was out there pushing it during the runs, nice job.
  • Haze provided some commentary during COP with the windmills, something to the effect that we’ve gone soft. Poke the bear and you get 8 count bodybuilders as reward.
  • TCLAPS to Haze for the extra credit 1.5 miles running in and running out. 
  • Spacklers new truck does everything including mixing drinks and blasting La Vida Loca from the tailgate speakers. Sweet new ride. 
  • Thanks to Lorax for the opportunity to lead and please sound off with any mumblechatter.

Announcements:

  • Hydra triumphantly returns tomorrow, officially at OPE with at later start, 0600, for those who like to sleep in some. Spackler has the Q for his 40th birthday. Join us, it promises to be a chatty one, and maybe there’ll be some White Claw at the end. 
  • Anvil needs Qs signup by reaching out to Lorax. Spackler on Q next week. 

By Design: Small Workout Groups for Men!

After a very successful Memorial Day convergence yesterday, Easy Button put the S.O.S. out to the Pax for a last-minute Substi-Q for Watchtower.  Quickly realizing Easy Button just stepped into the co-Site Q role of Watchtower, it was an easy decision to step up to help a brother out.

A wise F3 OG once told me “you owe it to your brothers to take the time to prepare a solid workout” and don’t just wing it, unless you have to. Today would be no different, as the plan happened quickly yesterday while going about the day. Speed + Strength + Core is always the foundation for a solid Q.  Mix in some coupons, Merkins, Burpees, a Starfish and magic happens!

We had a total of 11 men show up today, with 7 posting for the full bootcamp + 4 in the M.A.S.H. Unit. A little planning between YHC and Centerfold would have the M.A.S.H.’ers join the 7 of us for two specific rounds of work.

The Thang:

Today’s running warmup took about 15 minutes as we ran around the school, stopping at (6) locations, adding an additional exercise to the previous. It looked like this:

  1. Stop #1 = SSH x 10 (IC)
  2. Stop #2 = SSH x 10 + Plank Jacks x 10 (IC)
  3. Stop #3 = SSH x 10 + Plank Jacks x 10 + Low Slow Squat x 10 (IC)
  4. Stop #4 = SSH x 10 + Plank Jacks x 10 + Low Slow Squat x 10 + LBC’s x 10 (IC)
  5. SSH x 10 + Plank Jacks x 10 + Low Slow Squat x 10 + LBC’s x 10 + Flutter x 10 (IC)
  6. SSH x 10 + Plank Jacks x 10 + Low Slow Squat x 10 + LBC’s x 10 + Flutter x 10 (IC) + 10 Burpees OYO

Done!  Time to mosey to the Flag Pole circle at the front of the school where our 4 M.A.S.H. Unit brothers joined us for a nice Merkin Ladder (starting at 10, decreasing until 1…55 Merkins in all).  Done!

Leave the Mashers, mosey to the back field/track making a pit stop at the wall for (40) Air Press in a Squat + (20) Donkey Kicks OYO.

Continue to the Track/Field for the Starfish/4 Corners segment consisting of:

  • (20) H2H + (3) Burpees back in the center
  • (20) Jump Squats + (3) Burpees back in the center
  • (20) Dry Docks + (3) Burpees back in the center
  • (20) Speed Skaters (total) + (3) Burpees back in the center
  • Done!

Mosey to the parking lot to retrieve our own individual, Corona-Free Cinder Blocks for the next segment, along with our M.A.S.H. brothers.
*Note…when we arrived at the lot, YHC noticed a certain Pax seemingly/disturbingly “going to town” on the side of Brutus’s car. After a second glance, it appeared this Pax was doing some sort of wheelbarrow action with a rubber band…

Now back to the workout…Grab your Coupon for:

  • (25) Bicep Curls + (25) Overhead Press…run a lap
  • (20) Bicep Curls + (20) Overhead Press…run a lap
  • (15) Bicep Curls + (15) Overhead Press…run a lap
  • (10) Bicep Curls + (10) 3-count down Bicep Curls…run a lap
  • (10) Overhead Press…run a lap
  • Done!  End of Workout!

Moleskin:

A nice, quick, 3-laps around the school pre-run with Dasher on a humid day really got the blood pumping today. That man is Fast!  Great work today by Mad Dog on his 49th Bday (but he didn’t tell anyone to avoid having to do 49 Burpees!).  Fuse Box is noticeably faster than he once was. Easy Button killed it as usual. Popeye pushed himself hard after a solid and memorable Q on Memorial Day. I was also happy to see our (and YHC’s) 1st F FNG, Picket Fence, post again today after a good beating at the Memorial Day convergence. Keep showing up, brother. It never gets easier…you just get stronger!

Our M.A.S.H. brothers weren’t just going through the motions (except for the “motions” we saw beside the car!), but were working hard despite their injuries. It is so encouraging to see guys adapting to the situation, not making excuses, and getting in a good workout. Well done, Centerfold, Brutus, Chastain, and Mayhem!

As we all know, the design of F3 is “small workout groups for men”, with 10-15 Pax being the optimal group size. Today, we had 11 total, and it was perfect.  One thing we have seen through the SIPO is the value and blessing of a small workout group. Guys have challenged each other more, commiserated more, educated more, shared more, supported more, planned more, achieved more, respected more, enjoyed more…and Led More! ALL BY DESIGN!

We are planning more AO expansions in Waxhaw soon to thin the crowds at our workouts, and have identified several locations that may work well.  This will ensure we don’t creep back up to the 30-40 Pax per workout we saw prior to the last expansion/splits.  If we see the numbers increase again, we will add more AO’s and workouts and give more Pax a chance to lead as Site Q’s.  Our goal is to see the next group of leaders step into the role God designed them for, and we will be right there by their side when their time comes.  ALL BY DESIGN!

Announcements:

  • 100 Pax Challenge has raised ~$4,500 already. Keep it up, fellas!
  • Prayers for Centerfold’s wife as she undergoes some testing, and for his family friend going through a tough time. Pray for Mad Dog’s father-in-law and family, as he is in a tough battle as well.

YHC took us out in prayer.  #CradleToGrave.  As always, it’s a blessing to be able to lead my brothers today, and the strong friendships and bonds we have formed can not be taken for granted. I find great strength and courage every day in this group and it means so much to me and my family.  I know you have my back, and I have yours. Looking forward to seeing you boys in the Gloom again this week!

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

Goodfella

Do Not Read This

4 men and 3 2.0’s split the Q at the latest installment of Garage Band.

Pyramid

  • 2 minute run into our respective ‘hoods (1 min out / 1 min back)
  • Pax 1 calls an exercise
  • 2 minute run
  • Pax 2 calls an exercise
  • Pax 1 calls his exercise again
  • 2 minute run
  • Pax 3 calls an exercise
  • Pax 2 calls his exercise again
  • Pax 1 calls his exercise again
  • 2 minute run
  • keep building the pyramid until time expires

Here are the exercises that each PAX chose as we built the pyramid:

  • Tuck – merkins x 10 (90 total)
  • Fire Hazard – overhead press w/ weight x 10 (80 total)
  • Flutie Flakes – Squats x 10 (70 total)
  • C3PO – Plank w/ 10 toe touches (60 total)
  • Johnny 5 – Freddy Mercury x 10 (50 total)
  • Odd Boy Out – LBC’s x 20 (80 total)
  • T1000 – Burpees x 10 (30 total)
  • Tuck – Slow curls w/ weight x 10 (20 total)
  • Fire Hazard – Dips x 10

Moleskine

Appreciated the group participation.  Is a Tuck Pyramid an easy button for the QIC?  Yes.  Is it a fun and solid workout?  Also yes.  It also tends to be a well balanced one because of the variety of exercises selected by the PAX.  The best thing about this format is that whenever you use it you are guaranteed a unique workout, never to be repeated again.  We got in ~2.5 miles which is pretty good for a 45 minute bootcamp.  T-claps to the 2.0’s (Odd Boy Out, Johnny 5 and T1000) for doing a great job picking their exercises.  Especially T1000 w/ the burpees.  Pretty ballsy!

We will continue Garage Band as long as there is demand for it.  Who knows- maybe it’ll become a permanent addition to the schedule.  YHC loves the 0630 start time which allows for a pre-run w/out waking up super early.  And being virtual, you save driving time on both ends.  For you runners it’s a great opportunity to get some running and cross training in on the same day, while still getting a decent amount of sleep.  For the non-runners you get even more sleep.  Everyone wins.

Announcements

Keep checking Slack and the SCLT F3 site to keep track of all the virtual and in-person workout options in SOB Land.  Some start times are being modified as we transition back to the gloom.  The Maul is in-person tomorrow @ 0600.

Waxhaw Express

Waxhaw Express is your weekly dose of a speed workout.  It’s an hour and it’s also a great way to teach your body to run faster and get uncomfortable and progress.

DiCCS (Disclaimer, Cell phone, CPR, Safety) and 10-10

Warm Up:

  • Run .5 Mile
  • SSH x 15 IC
  • Imperial Walkers x 15 IC
  • Stretching including the calf stretch

The Thang:

  • 5 x (4 minutes at interval pace w/ 3 min jog)
  • Basically we started at the side of the high school and ran hard until about Rudy’s shed (which ended up being about 4 min).  We then jogged back to the side of the high school which took about another 3 minutes to start every lap.

Mosey back to AO

Done!  Another 6+ miles in the books.

Thanks for taking us out Nails.

MOLESKIN:

A little light on the train today.  Apparently Deadwood has a new puppy that keeps him up at night, Dasher and Bottlecap took another form or transportation, and Hollywood was MIA.  However, we did have one pax hear the call and didn’t want to lift anything after yesterday wanted to work on getting faster.  Welcome Recalc, first time caller.

Those that came saw Tool Time crush it, Glidah break through some mental barriers, Nails continue to get faster, and Recalc getting uncomfortable and faster.  Well done everyone.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • 100 PAX challenge is here. 100 individual pax donate $100 so that we have a fund to make some impactful local donations in the very near future.

What’s a CCV??

HawksNest at Dunkin

COP

Side straddle hop x20

Arm circle

Low Slow Squat

Merkin

IW

The Thang

Mosey to Wesley Church

Get a lifting rock

Count off 1s & 2s

Group 1 curl and press in sets x10

Group 2 run to back of lot and return

Flapjack until total of 160

Mosey to front lawn

Jack Webb w / rocks to 5&20

Mosey to OP

Line up

Squat/curtsy lunge sets x10

Hollow Holds

Bear Crawl/Jogs

Animal crawl 4 forwards/backwards 30sec

CDD

Mosey to Dunkin

Mary

Rosalita

Plank

Freddie Mercury

Back Scratchers/OYO Burpees (1,2,3,5… yes, skipped #4 to end at 6:15)

COT

Counted off 17

Namorama: Hopper, Sir Topham,  Circuit City, Deep Dish, Marge, O’Tannenbaum, Orange Whip, Bounce, Puddin’ Pop, Snuka, Hops, Jet Fuel, Limey, Snowflake, Flojo, Thunder Road, Cottonmouth

Moleskine

Nice showing of 17 on a humid but dry morning.  Welcome, Sir Topham, for joining us this morning. Great to see new faces in the gloom. After a brief warm-up we got down to business with a quick mosey to Wesley Church. YHC was easily persuaded to drop the rock count of 200 down to 160. The Jack Webb on the front lawn was ‘fun’ only to be followed moments later with a mosey to OP to smoke the legs with a squat/curtsy lunge set followed by bear crawls, a few other things, then a mosey back to Dunkin finishing off with Mary.  Total 3 miles.

Thank you Hops and Hopper for the opportunity to lead! Looking forward to soon returning to Latin campus.

Hydra opens at Olde Providence MS this Thursday at 6 AM!

Bushwood CC Back Nine, Long Course

A Ten-some took to the back nine at the Bushwood long course and crushed it!

Warmorama

SSH X 18 IC

IW X 18 IC

Plank for 30 count

Merkin X 9 IC

Calf Stretch

Runners STRETCH

Up/Down Dog

THANG

Start each hole with 1 burpee X hole No.

  1. Bear Crawl Around Circle
  2. Crawl Bear Around Circle
  3. Duck Walk Around Circle
  4. Mike Tyson X 18
  5. Dry Docks X 36
  6. Squat X 36
  7. Lunge X 36, 18 each leg
  8. Heels to Heaven X 36
  9. Side LBC X 36, 18 each side

Long Mosey back to clubhouse.

Not much to say here other than to apologize for getting us back to COT a few minutes late due to some unforeseen flooding of the Marvin Creek walking trails. Everyone worked hard, got a full body bashing and some cardio in today at the finest CC this side of 12 Mile Creek.

Announcements

100 PAX challenge is still going. Donate if you can.

Dromedary, CTT and Chiseled are on the menu for tomorrow. Pick your pleasure.

Shop Dog leading Q-Source immediately after Swarm/Impromptu on Friday from 7:00 – 7:30.

YHC took us out

Modified Murph

Memorial Day is always special.  It’s humbling to pay homage to those that have died defending the freedoms we enjoy in the amazing country of ours.  On the F3 front, Popeye runs one of the best Qs of the year, there is beer and BBQ, family time, and pools officially open.  Last year, someone got the crazy idea to introduce the Murph to F3 Waxhaw.  It was brutal, but memorable.  With all the craziness this year around ‘shutting down’ (even though we never really did), social distancing, and limited group sizes, it looked like the Murph as 1 and done.  However, it was revived in the last minute with some slight modifications to address the current concerns.

 

For those not familiar, the Murph is a Crossfit workout that includes – a 1 mile opening run, followed by 100 pullups, 200 merkins, 300 squats, just to conclude with another 1 mile run.  All of this is supposed to be done as fast as possible, wearing a weighted vest!

 

This year, pullups were out of the question due to concerns around sharing gear, so YHC and Brutus teamed up to come up with a way to keep the level of effort required high, while respecting the new rules.  Hence, the Modified Murph was born, consisting of:

  • 1.5 mile opening run
  • 200 merkins
  • 300 squats
  • 400 bent over rows with a cinder block coupon
  • 1.5 mile closing run

 

All the participating PAX did an amazing job.  One freak (Zin) actually accomplished the full event wearing his weight vest.  I’m not sure if anyone actually verified it contained weights, but it looked impressive.  Well done sir!

 

Congrats to all who completed the journey.  And thank you most of all to the families of our fallen Vets!

 

Let’s Run a Marathon Relay…. virtually

Another week and another virtual race.

This week the race is a virtual marathon with 4 team 5 mile legs and 1 team 6.2 mile run.

One thing was for sure, we were going to have to take a field trip if we were going to find a course that wasn’t all hills.

The greenway was an option but with all the recent rain it was under water and muddy.

Providence CC has a nice 1 mile downhill start and a pretty flattish 1.7 mile loop. That was our only option decided on and it was a go.

The five mile crew would do two loops and a little extra to get 5 and the 6.2 leg would do two loops and then a a longer out and back.

Easy Button is still on the IR and we hope to see you back out soon. Dasher no called no showed, Deadwood was picking up a new dog in Hillsboro, and Glidah went to White Lake searching for a flatter course.

That left YHC, Bottlecap, Hollywood, and Wolverine as the possible runners.

A car flew by me on the way up to Waverly this morning that looked to be Hollywood. However he wasn’t at Waverly when I arrived so he either ghosted us or it wasn’t him.

So then there were three.

Here’s how it went down:

The first mile was great going downhill and fast splits were handed out like party favors to everyone.  The rest of the miles went by pretty quickly as there are 6 left turns on the main loop and 12 left turns total keeps things super interesting less miserable.

– Bottlecap ran his 5 miles at a 6:48 pace, great job.

– Wolverine ran his 5 miles at a 6:42 pace, excellent.

– YHC ran his 6.2 mile leg at a 6:40 pace.

Great job everyone.  This was my first 10k for time in years and I personally needed the push to get out there, thank you.  Next week it gets real as EVERYONE is running 6.2 miles.  It’s also our LAST virtual race weekend so let’s see a good showing.

A Good Day for Some Well Rounded Work

Thank you gentlemen for letting me take you on a little adventure around Nesbit and Kensington.  The guys who show up at
Commitment are very supportive, which I appreciate very much.

Warm-up

  • Mosey from the parking lot past the circle half way to the bridge and back to the circle
  • 20 Side Straddle Hops
  • 20 Merkins
  • Calf Stretches
  • 20 Imperial Walkers

The Thang

  • Mosey to the first street corner and back to the 6, repeating until the 6 was at the corner
  • Mosey to the rock pile for 2 rounds of fun.  Everyone grabbed a rock that they can do 30 reps with, multiple times.
    • 30 curls
    • 30 overhead triceps
    • 30 overhead press
    • 5 burpees
    • Run to the far curb and repeat two more times
  • One more set of exercises before we left the area.
    •  30 Standing chests presses with the weight
    •  2 minute plank, well we had some complains from breadbowl and it became 2:15, well we had more complaints
      from breadbowl and it became 2 minutes 30 seconds, but the guys did it , excellent job.
  • Mosey to the corner heading towards the school
  • Crawl Bear (Reverse Bear Crawl) 3 parking spaces,
  • Broad Jump 3 parking spaces
  • Lunge 3 parking spaces
  • Repeat the 3 above until the school entrance.
  • Next 5 minutes around the parking lot run 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.
  • Break set
    • 20 big boy sit-ups
    • 20 heels to heaven
    • 20 flutter kicks each leg
    • 20 lbc’s
  • Mosey to the bus parking lot for Ladder work, start out 1 exercise and 15 seconds off, then do exercise
    1 & 2, 15 seconds off, 1, 2, & 3 , 15 seconds off, up to 6, then back down

    • SSH
    • Merkins
    • Bobby Hurleys
    • Big Boy Situps
    • Dry Docks
    • Burpees
  • Webb for Squats.
    • Squat (1 – 10)
    • Squat Pulses (4 – 40)
  • Mosey back to COT

The Moleskin

I don’t take anything for granted when I Q.  I realize that everyone has different abilities and you can see what are someone strengths and
weaknesses from a physical or  mentally challenge for a particular day.

My hat goes off to Chainsaw today, after quietly turning 61 the other day, as he had some injuries, pushed through and never complained.

Turnbuckle showed up already having walked about 2.87 miles and cut it off to make sure he made commitment.  That is real commitment.

Frack started the warm up mosey at a good pace, then finding out the next mosey we would be circling back for the 6, suggesting maybe he would slow down, but he didn’t.

Deep Dish continues to fight through some injuries , but continues to show up, super good job.

Doughboy coming straight back from bourbon country did well, as the alcohol came out of his pores as he sweat and he became stronger.

Breadbowl was called Redbull by me about 6 times, apologize for my NJ accent, but he hung in there and continue to fight through when pushed after our 2 minute 30 second plank.

Rubbermaid must have run the whole site prior to everyone showing up to check it out and when it was time to start, barely looked like he worked up a sweat.

Popeye looked like he had tears in his eyes when I told him the set of 30’s for the rocks were named after him, from the last time I did it.

Fusebox had to leave on time today, but he was running faster today, like he wanted the clock to go faster.  He was leading the 5 minute push with ease.

Thanks for keeping me honest gentlemen.

Announcements

Continue to send money in to support the Pax challenge of $100 towards charities in Waxhaw, even if you can send less.