It was soggy but there was no rain delay this morning for the first ever Bushwood AMHAP (as many holes as possible). 11 men decided “tee it up” to see just how many holes they could finish in roughly 35 minutes on a rather balmy early March morning. We teamed up in groups of two, DiCCS given not given (Disclaimer, Cell phone, CPR, Safety)… doh!
Mosey through the first nine holes while stopping to complete the following warm up exercises at hole 3.
Since it was wet, the course was laid out as follows (do the exercises below per hole and then run to next hole, run the opposite way when you make the turn at the 1st/18th and 9th/10th holes)…
I “cradle to graved” it. Done!
MOLESKIN:
The rain held off this morning and it was actually a perfect temperature for “golf.” Everyone pushed hard and managed to finish at least 36 holes. The One Star/Bottlecap team led the charge and finished 39 holes (they actually could have done more)… well done guys! Thanks to everyone who showed up this morning and thanks for allowing me to lead. For those of you who haven’t posted at Bushwood it’s always an open invite.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Every time I queue a workout, I try to come up with something new or different as part of the workout. the PAX has so many great ideas and life brings you so much inspiration to be creative in your plan. Today, the introduction of the Tyson Fury Mile based on the fact that a heavy set boxer put on weight intentionally to handle the punches of Wilder who was taller, skinnier and punched harder than Mike Tyson.
The Thang
COT
Thanks to the PAX for the opportunity to lead the group and be a light to the world. Great workout and I look forward to seeing everyone in the gloom as we wind down the diet competition.
3rd F:
Thank you Madison for taking us out
2nd F:
March Madness is moving forward: Contact YHC or see Slack for more details on how to get involved
Numbers are down across many of the AOs. Try to reach out to pax you have not seen in a while and get them back out in the Gloom.
NMS (Naked Mole Skin)
Word went out late yesterday for a Q at the Matrix today.. Fresh off a Q in Charlottesville over the weekend and knowing I was going to put in some work today, I figured why not.. Someone has to .. Its how F3 works.
YHC figured we needed to knock out the items in the March Madness CSAUP anyway, so we could quickly get those knocked out and toss in a few extra items to round out a 45 min of F3 fun.
Swamped at work today so no time for picking at the pax. Just going to cover the basics of the 1st F.
WARM UP: BLIMPS
Burpees: 5 OYO
Lunges: 10 each leg OYO
Imperial Walkers: 15
Merkins: 20 Civilian Count
Plank Jacks: 25 OYO
Squats: 30 OYO
Mosey to Track: and do one round of Indian Runs to get the cardio going.
Lightning Q: 1 Pax calls out an exercise then runs a lap around the track as the other pax do called exercise. Two rounds so everyone has an opportunity to get a few good sprints in.
Time to mosey: We got work to do.
Back to the AO start location for a round of 4 corners or “X” or starfish missing a leg.. Whatever you want to call it, I call it Awful
Awful “X” 4 corner thing:
Center is 10 Merkins.
4 Corners are: 10 Big Boy situps, 10 squats, 10 pull ups, 10 Heels to heaven.
After each corner, you run back to center for 10 Merkins then go to the next corner until you have completed them all.
Rinse and repeat for round 2
Time to mosey to the rock pile
Little game of gypsy rock: all called exercises to 30 count and pass your rock right
Put the rocks down and run back to launch location to perform 10 knees ups on the monkey bars and return to your rock for all called exercises to 30 count and pass your rock left
Mosey back to AO
5 mins of Mary
v/r
Gypsy
What does it say about me that I can be on the back of a horse in the Poconos and think, “I bet I can make this into a workout”?
Pre-Warm Up
Text from BC: “Can’t make it to Clyent Dinner because I’m stuck in traffic.” But he’s playing hoops in his driveway when I swing by?
Scout the place, even though I know I’ve seen every place there is here. Little pre-run to loosen the hips and see what events are going on at Cuthbertson that I will need to audible around. Fortunately, nothing happening at the middle school.
I return to the start to find ZERO cars. Huh. The mind and body both present their options: go home or do the work. I opt for the work.
There’s a guy in a green Blazer on the far side of the parking lot, but he’s on his phone. Not stretching or anything. Assume he’s waiting for someone. Another truck pulls up – “Great, Carb Load is here!” – nope. It’s a couple bringing their dogs to school to walk?
At 5:31, Floppy Disk pops out of the Blazer & yells, “Is this where Clyent Dinner meets?” I say yes, but think, “I’m dressed like this, stretching in front of your car like a slo-mo scene of the cheerleaders’ charity car wash, what else did you think this was?”
“Great! Come on out kids, this is the place!” I get to meet the famous Orange Justice, who had a dance named after him, and the soon to be named Backbend (a great gymnast).
The Warm Up
Since this is a Yuletide story, I had to get in the 12 Burpees of Christmas.
Mosey to the alcove that we have NEVER been to (because I’ve never seen it before [also because there’s too damn many of you at Cutty to use the alcoves; figure out where Asylum & Diesel meet, people!]) for 12 burpees at one end, 11 at the other, 10, 9…At the 6 burpee mark, we added a burpee marker in the middle of the path to speed up the burpees. The 2.0’s finished early as you’d expect. So I taught them Balls to the Wall; just didn’t teach them the name, since Backbender is a smart young lady who would ask more questions than I wanted to answer in front of her Dad.
The Thang
Mosey to the lacrosse(?) field behind the MS cafeteria. It was an absolutely perfect day to be on the grass! Pointed out the 2 giant light poles. At one pole, do 29 SSH, making sure to get the overhand clap in there; at the other pole, 23 CDD. Repeat 4 times.
While spending post-Christmas (Kwanzaa?) in NJ with in-laws, we watched the Clemson / Ohio State game. Score: 29-23; Clemson is 4-0 all-time against OSU. I wish Rubbermaid had been there, but I love Dasher too much to have done this if he had attended.
Mosey to the HS steps. Pause about halfway for some Pick Up the Squats.
Run up the steps, touch the door at the top. Where the sidewalk splits, do 10 Dolly’s. At the bottom of the sloping sidewalk, do 10 Heels to Heaven (but not before yelling “Whee!” all the way down). Run back to the steps for 10 Supermans. Repeat 3 times. We just pretended we were on a water slide!
One night the youngest & I went to the indoor water slides of the Kalahari. This was better than Great Wolf (sorry Hollywood) & Massanutten. Made even better that it was a fraction of the people I expected. The downside is that as soon as you finish your slide, you can run back up 5-7 flights of stairs to go right back down again. We did that for about 5 hours. It was brutal but fun. And great 1:1 time with my youngest, who I often feel doesn’t get the same amount of my time & attention as my oldest did at the same age.
At the beginning of the water slide night, my 2.0 was just sticking to the kiddie slides and wasn’t even considering the bigger slides. Partly out of getting him out of his comfort zone (& mostly for not feeling like I wasted cash having him go down kiddie slides for 5 hours), I was able to convince him to try a bigger ride. He loved it, and we kept trying bigger rides throughout the night. At one point, he saw a FlowRider & said he wanted to try that. We headed over to stand in line together. I’m just keeping him company in line until it’s his turn to ride. I can tell he’s a little nervous when he asks me if I’m going to ride it after him. I don’t want to. I don’t like to try new things, especially if I can’t guarantee a high probability of success (or low probability of humiliation). But I can do the #DadMath – how can I encourage him to try new things, even when you’re scared, if he never sees me do the same thing?
The boy hops on and does really well; much better than I thought he would!
My turn. I’ve seen other men bite the wall hard. They pop back up with a bruised ego (the hardest injury to overcome). I hit the wave, and it doesn’t hit back! Almost enjoying it, the instructor mimics what tricks I should do next, including merkins on the board. I do everything he asks, and still no wall! He points to his watch to signal my time is up. I’m utterly astounded. Still, just typing that, I can recall all that pride in myself and my son. I’m going to need to remember that in future days of fear.
But that is also a tribute to you, brothers. There’s a ton of really stupid stuff I have done with y’all that lowered my barriers to risk. Then there’s a ton of really smart things I have read, seen and heard from y’all that raised my necessity to be a better role model. A better dad from being around better men.
Mosey to the alcove at the front of the middle school. Again, a place many of you have never seen because there’s too many of you (not asking you to stop showing up, but to try another site). I can be a jackass on a trip, so we can do a JackAss Webb: 1 Merkin, 20 Donkey Kicks; 2 & 18; 3 & 16; 4 & 14; 5 & 12. Kudos to Floppy Disk who really found another gear to lead him & his family (& me) through that. That sucked.
Mosey back to the start with a few minutes left. The whole point in us going to the Poconos was to take the boys skiing for their first time. The lack of cars gave us plenty of room to do mogul jumps across the parking space lines. Finished with curb agilities to simulate shaking the snow off the skis after a long run.
Moleskine
Announcements
Mark This Moment – Father/Daughter dance Ballantyne Hotel – Friday, March 6 http://www.markthismoment.com/
Shop Dawg is starting up a new Q Source on Friday, May 1. For those who came to Site Q School, you received a free copy of the Q Source manual. This would be the time to either use it or give it to someone who has an interest in going. The entire manual is here, too: https://f3nation.com/q-source-index
While you can hop in at any time, some think they need to start at the beginning. OK. So it will start with the first topic at the Cuthbertson McDonald’s from 6:30 – 7:00 AM. Some can’t make it so early on a Monday, like at Asylum. OK. If you have a more casual Friday schedule, he’s built it for you. As I go through this for the 2nd time, I still learn something each time. There is always a gut punch that stays with me throughout the week. But reading the book or blog will only get you 1/3 of the way there. It is the other men who open up, and those who allow me to open up; that’s what makes this Q Source special.
It’s Speed for Need season. What’s that? Only the best thing you’ll love coming in second place for, after giving it your all. Listen to this podcast (https://soundcloud.com/f3nation/roundtable-nash-scabby-talk-speed4need), then go to the calendar (http://speedforneed.org/calendar/) to pick a date you commit to. Most of the first ones are within 30 minute drive times. Ask for a show of hands who’s done one during COT. Then talk to them.
Want to run in a cheap 5k or 10k for purely selfish reasons? Try the Laps for Lancers at USC-Lancaster. March 21. With pancakes & sausages as your reward! https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Lancaster/LapsforLancers
How’s my job search going? Pretty good, I’d say. Several Pax have really been great, all in different ways. Bratwurst, Rudy, Delta, Fuse Box, La-Z-Boy, Damascus, Recalculating, Hooch, just to name a few. Some have been outright job leads, others helping with my resume, and others with connections. You never know which one is going to fall all the way through the search funnel, so everything is chased down as far as it can. As a reminder, I’m looking for titles like Solutions Consultant or Pre-Sales Engineer in the software industry. Think about the software you use at work (other than Microsoft, Google, or Apple), then let me know. If you haven’t connected to me on LinkedIn yet, that would be a great boost as well. www.linkedin.com/in/abrianstephenson. It’s not who I know, but who YOU know, that helps.
When YHC arrived on site, WT was jumping rope as usual.
6 pax eventually assembled at 0530 for a quick warmup.
Windmill X 10, Arm Circles X 10, Backward Arm Circle X 10.
The Thang
The biggest press ladder to date 5 X (1-2-3-4-5) each arm
1 H Swings, 16 rounds of 10, 20 seconds of rest between sets
Farmers Carries 4 Rounds of 90 Seconds
COT
Moleskine: As the pax finished the last round of Farmers carries, the clock read 6:15. No need to cut out any sets or fill up the last few minutes with Mary.
Being 9 out of 11 weeks into the strength program, Voodoo and I are working on a plan to move into after week 11.
Mid 40’s, clear skies. Couldn’t ask for a better start to March and 15 PAX apparently agreed.
DiCCS were given (Disclaimer, Cell phone, CPR, Safety)
Time to move as the goal was to keep moving today and log some miles.
Mosey down the front road to the side high school lot.
Mosey up to the light to cross Cuthbertson. Random bus exiting at the same time. Safe, orderly crossing of Cuthbertson Rd.
Time for the Burpee Mile. Mosey down Waynewood to the intersection with Dobson
Mosey to the pool parking lot on Dobson
Mosey back to the Waynewood and Dobson intersection
Safely cross Cuthbertson (this time)
Done!
MOLESKIN:
I love Champion Forrest for Ignition. Usually low traffic (although today seemed a bit higher than normal), is uphill both ways, and is easy to gauge distance due to it’s symmetrical layout.
Perfect day to log some miles which was great for Foundation and Smithers because they have been slacking in that department lately. Great job both of you. Not sure I would have posted at Ignition if I had run a half marathon 48 hours earlier.
Goodfella, Bottlecap, Glider, Legal Zoom, and Carb Load looking strong out there and in the front pushing all morning.
Mad Dog peaced out after the Waynewood/Dobson loop but since he made it all the way through Champion Forest, we’ll still give him credit for the post.
Dasher, Recalculating, Zinfandel, Deflated, and Rubbermaid were all killing it out there today as well.
Easy Button was hanging out mid pack but it’s cool. We know how you roll show up when it’s time to race.
3/5ths of the Waxhaw Express team made it out to post today. Hollywood has an excuse being at Great Wolf Lodge. But Deadwood? Texted me mid workout that he overslept. At least that didn’t happen last Saturday as I would not have wanted to run the Rooster as a 4-man team.
Seriously, great job everyone. No way this group could have collectively logged that many miles with those same exercises within an hour a year ago. Just wouldn’t have happened. As a region we are continually pushing ourselves and getting stronger. Well done.
Thank you for the opportunity to lead today.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Swift will engage in a March and April training program from the mastermind of Tiger Rag.
A lot of this comes from the Training Program here: https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/blueprint-master-the-mile/
Here is a summary of the intro:
“Think back to your elementary school days and the first race you probably ever ran: the gym-class mile. Fast-forward a few years, through the countless 5Ks, dozens of 10Ks and the half-marathons and marathons you’ve completed. Racing the mile has likely been an afterthought unless you ran track competitively in high school or college.
Fortunately for those of us who weren’t on the track team, or who would like to return to the simpler racing of our youth, all-comer’s track meets are catching on in the U.S., and most meets offer that famous four-lap footrace. It’s also noteworthy that stand-alone, one-mile road races take place all over the country, offering an alternative to long-distance racing and a different way to connect with the sport.”
We’ve adapted this program to have a Tuesday Swift workout, and then a second weekly workout that you can do OYO or hijack some other F3 workout to do during the week. Once you have a baseline Mile Race goal from the first workout, you’ll go here to get an equivalent pace to train at when the plan calls for 5K pace or something similar – http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
THANG: 11 brothers defeated the fartsack and posted at Stonehenge on a chilly morning. A few preran the workout (Wild Turkey, and Cheese Curd?) and the others rolled in right on time. Plan was to keep mileage low and get an all-around total-body workout. So we went to the rockpile by the lake, and integrated that rock for most of the workout. Did some other stuff, but for the purposes of this backblast, really not that important.
REFLECTION:
Frehley’s and WT reminded me of the first time YHC Q’d Stonehenge, which had to have been ~5 years ago. Can’t find the backblast, but YHC brought freshly cut tree logs and buckets of rocks to incorporate in the bootcamp way back then… pretty cool these guys still remembered. That’s a long time ago… and some things have changed, but other things have remained the same. No coupons from home were brought, but we did use the stone pile that was by the fitness trail. We used the same grassy area as 5 years ago. And many of my same F3 brothers still post, maybe more, maybe less, but we all come out because F3 has been a big positive part of our lives. That hasn’t changed.
Obviously YHC hasn’t been in the gloom as much for the past year. It’s been tough. Starting a new business, and going to sleep at midnight make it tough to answer the bell at 0430 day after day. And while the 1st F may be suffering, there’s a reason there’s 3 F’s, and in this season, and thankfully because of the guardrails YHC has worked hard to install, the other two F’s have been going strong. How things have changed… before F3, if my fitness was shot (injury, laziness, etc) then YHC would have nothing to fall back on. Now? there’s a few more pounds on the belly, and a little slower average pace on a posted Strava LSD, but life isn’t a downward spiral. And that’s the power of F3. Now YHC isn’t making excuses for hitting the lack of workouts. The point here is to ask yourself if F3 is just a workout FITNESS, or do you have the Fellowship and Faith to bolster you when times get tough? Do you have it for others, if not yourself? YHC hopes so.
So as we lifted stones / rocks this morning, and it seemed like an unintended metaphor for life, and what through F3, we have to help us through life. Just a couple observations / thoughts that you can relate to your life however you like (may make more sense to the guys who did the workout).
Borrowing from the QSource which Dredd wrote, the Stone is the instrument that refines a Blade. The mentor to the mentee. And so in this case, it’s fitting so much can be learned from the stones from the rockpile we used this morning.
Life is tough. Make sure you have someone in your life who can help you persevere in all seasons, and do the same for the next person.
ANNOUNCEMENTS : asking all pax to support just 1 SPEED FOR NEED race this season. 1-2 hours of a morning one time. Race Schedule on www.speedforneed.org and first race is 3/7/20 RunJenRun 5k at Symphony Park with Frasier on Q. We’ll be pushing cancer fighters and survivors in a race benefitting them.
Thanks Wild Turkey for inviting me to Q in the old stomping grounds.
XOXO ~ JRR Tolkien