When I told Margo and Mermaid I would Q Centurion a month or so ago I was thinking work would still be in that busy but not hectic stage yet. We are approaching hectic, so I knew this weinke may not be by most studied and researched one. I also knew that both Site Qs were on IR with Mermaid sick and Margo with a bum knee. Mermaid did Q Anvil Wednesday after a puke and rally before the workout so not much I can say there. I also knew Brilleaux and Point Break are at Disney, not together but I’m ok if we start that rumor. I was hoping one of them would have been on the Jungle Cruise boat that took on water yesterday that made the news but to no avail.
But the show must go on. So yesterday while checking how the markets were doing after a rough week on Wall Street an ad or some pop-up was showing me the best of the Office. Not sure what I googled to deserve this but I’m glad I did and it had my attention. My favorite scene has always been when Michael was selling calling cards explaining the pyramid scheme. Oscar even gives Michael a this sounds like one of those get rich schemes to which Michael replies yes! This scene made the cut and I had my bait. Had been a while since Centurion had headed to the Bermuda Triangle and figured it would be an easy weinke to make up on the go.
Temps dropped again, below 30 at launch. 4 others joined and off we went.
COP
Windmill x 10 IC
IW x 15 IC
Mountain Climber x 15 IC
Peter Parker x 15 IC
The Thang:
From the top of Palantine Hill the Pyramid Scheme would begin. We would run the Bermuda Triangle with the following:
Round 1 – 10 diamond merkins at the top of Palantine, 10 derkins at the benches, and 10 monkey humpers at the road.
Round 2 – Same sets of 10s, but add in 15 wide arm merkins at the top of Palantine, 15 dry docks at the benches, and 15 squats at the road.
Round 3 – Same sets of 10s and 15s, but add in 20 merkins at the top of Palantine, 20 dips at the benches, and 20 walking lunges at the road.
Round 4 – Drop the 20s, same sets of 10s and 15s
Round 5 – Drop the 15s, same as Round 1
Mosey back across Carmel Commons stopping in front of Tropical Cafe for some Mary.
LBC x 15
Flutter x 15
Dolly x 15
Mosey across 51 to the rock pile on McMahon, grab a lifting rock. Same 5 round scheme as above, no running.
Round 1 – 10 tricep extensions
Round 2 – Same 10, 15 push press
Round 3 – Same 10s and 15s, 20 curls
Round 4 – Drop the 20s, same sets of 10s and 15s
Round 5 – Drop the 15s, same as Round 1
Mosey back to launch for the last round of Mary.
Heels to Heaven x 15
Boxcutter x 15
Over/Under x 15
American Hammer x 15
Hold plank for the last minute.
No announcements and YHC with the take-out prayer
Moleskin:
Easy group today, all well versed vets, and even friendly with the mumblechatter. I think the worst I got was Escargot saying he misunderstood my “last round on the way up” before Round 3 at Palantine with Rounds 4 and 5 still to come on the way down. He is doing some strong work in Nicaragua by the way. Funding is coming in for a 40 x 80 pre-fab building that will be shipped to Nicaragua next year for storage for supplies, etc. Sounds like some serving opportunities coming down the road for the Pax to get involved. I asked Ickey when Meathead 101 Kettlebell day was to which he replied they are on week 8 of a 12 week set. I took that to mean, no. Snuka seemed interested in some Champagne private tutoring. Bout Time and Snuka set the pace today but the group stayed together. Bout Time with 4 young kids still finding time to run in and stay in shape. Snuka is still hogging the fountain of life of it’s treating him well, fast dude. Hope everyone else heals up and travels safe, thanks for the Q spot Mermaid and Margo.
20 of Area 51’s finest PAX assembled on a clear and somewhat chilly Thursday morning in the Olde Providence ES staff parking lot to tackle the behemoth known as Hydra aka Where Legends are Made. Singing her siren song, Immortality beckoned the PAX into the gloom (after a brief and wholly inadequate disclaimer was delivered by YHC to the veteran crew).
Mosey to the OPES Bus parking lot aka The Asphalt Jungle.
COP
The 17 rep count represents the age of YHC’s middle daughter as of today, 27 February, in the Year of Our Lord 2020. YHC is currently a Father to 4 teenage children which is mystifying, exhilarating, frustrating, and wallet emptying all rolled into one messy package called LIFE. Are there times when YHC would rather ship his children to boarding schools in upper Montana? Absolutely, yes. Are there times when YHC is rendered an emotional, blubbering idiot incapable of speech because his children acted with tenderness and love towards one another and/or me? Absolutely, yes. Would YHC trade being a parent for all the Korean Kimchi in the world? Absolutely, not. Point being, especially for the younger PAX, it all goes by SO FAST. Savor the journey. “Life moves pretty fast.” – Ferris
Back to the epic Weinke…
Mosey to Church rock pile. Partner up, grab 1 running rock per pair, and get ready for greatness.
Partner A w/ rock – runs Rea-Windyrush-Edinbridge loop CW
Partner B sans rock – runs same loop CCW
Transfer rocks at meeting point. Continue the loop.
Mary
Flapjack loop
Mary i.e. excuse to catch our collective breaths
Mosey to baseball fields. Starfish to 4 ea. Center field fences. 17 ea. Merkins, Jump Squats, LBCs, and Plank Knee Ups. 16 SMC’s at the launch.
Mosey to rear of school for People’s Chair. Overhead Press x17 IC. BTW x10 secs.
Mosey to basketball court. “He’s going to do those stupid basketball drills again…” You damn right, son. Bear Crawl, Reverse Crab Walk, and Burpee Broad Jumps baseline-to-baseline.
Fast Mosey to Rea Rd and back to Launch per Spackler’s request.
Mary
Done
Naked Moleskinny
The 2nd rock carrying loop caused significant wailing and gnashing of teeth. Phrases such as, “Don’t do it!”, “Who does he think he is?”, and “Bad, bad, bad call Jet Fuel” were slung amidst the PAX directed at YHC. Running with rocks is somewhat challenging and it had been years since YHC Q’d it; as a result, today was the day. As Sargent Barnes says in “Platoon” to the severely wounded soldier, “Shut up and take the pain!!” You are all better men for the double rock loop, simply admit it and thank me later. Or better yet, thank Foghorn for sporting the man tights with tucked-in workout shirt. Untucked be damned! Foghorn was YHC’s partner for the rock loop extravaganza, and he absolutely crushed it in both directions, thus earning street cred to wear those camel toe tights.
Solid effort by all PAX today. YHC was in survival mode, trying very hard to perform all exercises with laser-like intensity while not passing out. Henceforth, YHC missed most of the banter and looks forward to the PAX filling in the blanks below. And yes, YHC did hear the flatulence. YHC reckons that 4 trips to Korea, 1 trip to Japan, and 1 trip to Maui since October have rendered my body clock inoperable until sometime in 2023 and wrecked my fitness level. The only way to recapture physical fitness is to get out of bed, grind, repeat. “The only way out is through.”
As a general comment, all of today’s PAX are exemplary citizens who pay taxes (mostly) and respect their elders (sometimes). YHC typically has comments for each PAX, but the size of today’s crowd coupled with YHC’s mental banter block have eliminated individualized comments from this BB. You are all awesome in your own special way, so don’t change a thing. On the other hand, “You’re all worthless and weak. Now, drop and give me 20.” – vicious mother
Always an honor to lead the finest AO in Area 51.
JF
Announcements: None suitable for print
Everyone should love a challenge, if you don’t. Skip Floater. I am unable to make Floater much except in the summer, don’t love Floater. It is just the lameass prelude to the best two workouts in the county that take place at Cutty. Best part of Floater, it is rarely an easy workout with all hills our little town provides. But 16 men rocked it and kicked KJH butt.
DICCs, Disclosure, Head over to DC
SSH, MNC, IW,Plank Stretch,Merkins w/ some counting issues
The Thang
20 Monkey Humpers each light to Price St – 5 total
Head towards Laundromat and down to the stop sign for 10 burpees a minute for 5 minutes
Head down KJH for 7 cones of Keith Jong Hell
-7 Cones, 7 Exercises up KJH, and Sprint down
-Exercises: 10 Plank rotation Merkins, 10 PJs, 10 Speed Skaters, 10 Scorpion Dry Docks, 10 Smurf Jacks, 10 MCs, 10 Squat Jumps
Head to bottom of KJH for planking with some bird dog planks
Sprint up KJH to stop sign
Catch breath and sprint to church
A minute of mary while a car wanted to come through
Moleskine
It was a morning where you could shout out to each and every pax because everyone pushed hard. Form police were out on watch while Rudy managed to keep things in, except air. (Holy Moly)
The exercises got tough with PAX out in front changing periodically. Rest of the PAX stayed together without there truly being a 6. It was great to see everyone push it to the limit.
BC, EB, CL, Deflated and Swimmers seem to overall lead the way. Scheider still seems to be improving becoming stronger and faster. He is becoming an impressive OG, just needs to complain a whole lot more to reach Recalcs (prowess/curmudgeon) level.
It is truly amazing to see 0-69 out there doing his thing, early in the morning, just bettering himself. Takes a HUGE amount of dedication, well done.
Was nice to finally meet the guy given the name Man Touch, was too scared to ask why he had the name so just left it as is. Nice job pushing Man Touch.
Supporting cast of PAX all killed it this morning in a workout that seemed to go by quickly. Smithers, Doughboy, BoG, Foundation, Rudy and the Instructionally challenged Damascus grabbed KJH by the balls, twisted and then just killed the workout like everyone else. DW would have been proud as there appeared to be not a single slacker.
Announcements
Ultimate Frisbee at Swarm with Foundation and Amazing Race at Impromptu with Recalc
Dads camp coming soon.. (refer to GM)
Christ Closet Folding for Give Away in April (refer to GM)
How’s your post-workout meal?
Cold cereal?
Sugary patstries?
Greasy sausage?
Vroom
Run down the Murderhorn to Elmstone Park
Typical warm-up ‘hops, walker, Steve Earls, mountain climber and plank jacks
Stations
5 pull-up/5 knee-t0-chest
10 burpees
5 incline/5 decline ‘mericans
5 Rounds
Big Rock
Well, our group was really too large for this, but into the dark we went. Such a great space, but it’s super dark and not easy to find exercises that really really fit. Anyway…
Find some granite for 40 air press, 10 donkey kicks and 10 shoulder taps
Rinse and repeat
Up the ‘horn
20 Bobby Hurlies at the street lights
Probably too many reps, but I have a sense that there was a lot of “modifying”.
Relay Races
4 groups, 2 teams – everyone wins. Crowd pleaser!
Friends start your day right. Open a can of beans – refried and black beans are my favorite. Whip up some eggs in a skillet. I recommend topping with your favorite salsa or hot sauce. I’m partial to Herdez Guacamole Salsa Medium. Protein and fiber will have you full until lunch.
The night before, I checked the weather forecast and it was pretty much all rain all night but then clearing up around launch time. So I wasn’t sure whether (no pun intended) to draw up a Weinke for wet weather or a Weinke for dry weather. So I did both. I mean, you never can go wrong with 2 Weinkes right?? But as I pulled into the parking lot it started to pour down rain so I knew which one I would use. It was definitely a game time decision. I’ve never Q’d an entire workout in the parking deck so here goes nothing…
6 pax and 1 FNG were ready for a good workout so disclaimers were disclaimed and off we went. Here’s what we did:
Mosey to Ballantyne Village to the mouth of the parking deck for COT where we were joined by Fallout who appeared out of thin air. YES!!! He was running late so he parked in the deck and joined right in. Now we had an even 8 pax. I love it when a plan comes together.
-LSS x 10
-IW x 15
-Windmill x 10
-Merkins x 10
-MC x 10
Partner up for some Dora where P1 runs to top of stairs for 3 burpees and back down while P2 starts out on 100 merkins. Flip flop until all done and then switch to 200 LBCs and finally 300 calf raises. Ouch!
Now that we’re all warmed up we moseyed to the parking deck for 20 donkey kicks followed by the Tagalong Run-A-Long (I stole this one from one of Tagalong’s previous Q’s) where we ran up 1.5 levels for 10 jump squats and then back down to bottom for 10 burpees. Rinse and repeat for a total of 4 laps.
Although I had about 8 more exercises on the Weinke, we were getting pretty close on time so we headed back to launch for COT. We got in 2.8 miles all in the parking deck. Plus my calfs were screaming at me after the 300 calf raises. Bad idea.
Moleskin:
There was only 8 of us, due to the rain, but it was a great group! Everyone put in a solid effort. Bucky lead the pack (per the usual) in the Tagalong Run-A-Long. That dude runs like a deer. Mighty Might worked up a sweat and was forced to shed some layers once in the deck. I think I saw a kettlebell fall out of his jacket pocket. Kirby hung back and kept me company – for official site Q precautionary safety reasons of course (😂). Fallout made his grand entrance about 5 minutes into the workout and then was all business the rest of the time. Glad you could join us, Brother! Circuit City is turning into quite a regular these days and keeps getting faster. Keep grinding! Tagalong keeps on crushing it and was right on Bucky’s heels during the Tagalong Run-A-Long. Then there’s Cherie Berry (our FNG) who looked like a veteran pax out there. His hospital name is Otis so the pax landed on the name, Cherie Berry which is awesome. Keep posting Cherie Berry!
It’s always a pleasure to lead!
Announcements:
-need pushers for Run Jen Run on 3/7 in SouthPark. Contact Frasier for details.
-Soft Pretzel told us about a Sandbox event this Saturday helping a family move from 10a-12p. It’s located in CHARLOTTE. Contact him for details.
-Bagpipe is having Respect Month for the month of March, ending with a Double Respect when Chopper takes the Q. Don’t miss out when our senior pax take the wheel.
-Bratwurst and Tigerrag are putting together a 1 mile race during the months of March and April. Hit them up for more info.
-Mighty Might is planning an NCAA watch party – details to come.
A few of the regulars for WAMRAP were out of town but the Kirchoff Krew never disappoints and posted to join me on a mild morning for a not so mild WAMRAP.
6 loops which included between 10 and 35 reps of lunges/RDL’s, run a hill, Situps/Heels to heaven, elbow plank jacks, stairs, and decline merkins. Finish early enough for a 40 burpee cool down.
Job always pushing hard to stay in front of his old man. He did on the exercises, but Astron laid down the heat on the runs and caught back up every time.
WAMRAP the best/hardest Wednesday workout you aren’t doing. Come out and give it a try. Fun is guaranteed or your money back.
A fantastic takeout by Job.
-Alf
Didn’t expect too many pax this AM but with the rain and the fact that a lot of guys get soft in the winter and hibernate, especially on the rainy days.
Disclaimer and launch into steady rain. Run around campus and circle up in the original Hawk’s Nest lot. Standard COP types of things.
Run over to the hill at the end of Raintree Ln up to Providence. Triple Nickle up the hill with burpees and jump squats. The rain stops so head back to cars to drop off the rain jacket.
Some mary types of activities for the core. Then hit the track for 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m sprints with 40, 30, 20, and 10 merkins after each sprint. We had to stay on the outside lanes so it might have been a little bit longer runs. The Fast Twitch pax was slowly rolling along the inside lanes and clogging up the works.
Then run up to LAX field bleachers for some step ups and dips. Back to launch and done!
Moleskine:
Seems like the PAX never make their way up the hill on the North side of campus. Lots of good stuff over there, you should try it. Hops wasn’t there, but virtually complained about 3.1 miles on a bootcamp. I Q what the PAX needs, not what the PAX wants.
Sprockets started off by making fun of the Q’s hair which is never appropriate. Good thing he was able to back it up as he smoked through the workout.
Cobains to Geraldo who we somehow left on the track with the Fast Twitch guys. He hung in there for some extra laps. Hopper went to go “check on him” and then never came back to the workout. Pro move, I guess.
Thanks to Sprockets who took us out
Sing up for Merkin/Pull up challenge
-Alf
We find ourselves midway through the eighth week of the twelve week strength program, and today’s workout was particularly awful. The program currently has us in the throes of snatches, several rounds with little rest in between. Six of us bid adieu to our Anvil friends and got to work as they disappeared into the South Charlotte fog. This morning’s workout consisted of:
5 rounds of press ladders (1, 2, then 3 reps per arm)
5 rounds of puke inducing snatches (10 reps per side) with a scant 15 seconds of rest in between (#Absurd)
4 rounds of 90 second farmer’s walks (Old McDonald can kiss YHC’s posterior)
60 second plank hold, 60 second hollow body hold, 90 second glute bridge hold
Swings until our Anvil friends return
Now for the part of the backblast that people will actually read. Fair warning however, there will be some tangents as there are several subjects I have thoughts about. First of all, while I love kettlebell workouts, why on Earth are we doing a program designed by the Russians? Did we lose a war? It feels especially wrong this week as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, when a group of scrappy American college kids defeated the Soviet Union team who for all intents and purposes were professional players who had not been defeated in twenty years in Olympic ice hockey. As an aside (you were warned) Kurt Russell was absolutely snubbed for Best Actor for his portrayal of Team USA coach Herb Brooks. I can’t be bothered to research who actually won the award that year, but I’m just going to assume that it was some artsy highbrow schlock that nobody actually likes. Probably foreign too. If you can watch the pregame scene where Coach Brooks tells the team that they will not only skate with the Russians on that particular night, but they would do the unthinkable and beat them, and not want to run through a brick wall, then I suggest researching real estate in Toronto because you don’t have a patriotic bone in your body. Anyway, back to the Russian designed workout thing, again I’m not going to actually do any research, but I hope the person who designed this program defected from the USSR, because it feels like an insult to the great Americans who helped topple the Soviet communist regime such as President Reagan, Hulk Hogan, and Rocky Balboa.
The #BlameVoodoo portion of this backblast’s title stems from the fact that our New Orleanian friend was not among us this morning because of his travels home for Mardi Gras, then to Las Vegas. While the rest of us did rounds of snatches. With 15 seconds of rest in between.
The other portion of the title is inspired by Unplugged’s wardrobe choice this morning. About midway through the workout, Unplugged peeled his outer layer to reveal a Golden Girls t-shirt. Not just a shirt with text that read “Golden Girls”, but a picture of Blanch, Dorothy, whatever Betty White’s character was named, and whatever Estelle Getty’s character’s name was. To take my mind of the multiple rounds of high rep snatches with little rest in between (which Voodoo missed because he was gallivanting among New Orleans and Las Vegas) I tried to recall as much as the theme song as I could, and I think I got about 80% of it. I’m solid on the first and last verses, but the middle has a couple lines I’m not sure of. Anyway, another aside…
What happened to the TV show theme song? If you’ll allow me an Old Man Yells at Cloud moment, the TV show opening theme song has been relegated to the dustbin of history, and in YHC’s opinion, society is poorer for it. Theme songs used to either provide the viewer with some background and context about the show through it’s verses (sometimes to the point of overkill, think the older dreck before most of our time like The Brady Bunch or Gilligan’s Island) or laid down a sweet instrumental track that set the tone for the viewing experience. Into the dark recesses of my mind (a truly horrifying place) I went, trying to think of some examples of top quality TV theme songs, and here is what I’ve come up with (again, you were warned):
Cheers: Perhaps the gold standard, balancing a lively piano riff with poignant lyrics
Hill Street Blues: I don’t remember much about this show other than my dad watched it, but I do remember that piano groove interspersed with an electric guitar solo that didn’t really fit, but was required by law in the 1980s
Growing Pains: Decent lyrics, decent melody, and Alan Thicke, so a solid option
Full House: Recently my 7 year old has been watching the Netflix show Fuller House, and I have to say that DJ Tanner still has her fastball
Night Court: The sax interlude made this theme much funkier than it needed to be, which we were all richer for
The Facts of Life: A home sick from school staple for YHC, a bouncy beat and fun lyrics with the added bonus of spurring one of the great debates of our time. I firmly believe that men can be separated into one of two categories, Blair or Jo. #TeamBlair
Perfect Strangers: I don’t remember much about this theme, but it had Balki and the Dance of Joy
Family Ties: Alex P. Keaton is one of the great protagonists in television history, as he was the moral compass of the family, which aside from him was comprised of filthy hippies
The Golden Girls: As mentioned above, an absolute banger of a theme
Married With Children: Al Bundy plus the Chairman is a winning combination
Friends: A serviceable though unremarkable Rembrandts song, it fit nicely with the show’s aesthetic
The Office: Perhaps the last show with a memorable theme
I’m sure I have forgotten several, and I’m also sure I will remember a couple immediately after hitting the Publish button. I expect to see you all on Saturday as we continue our kettlebell workouts at Olympus.
We had a total of 5 runners this morning. Many other times we head out I can keep up for a bit or we break into groups a fast group and a slow group. From the lets go I just saw the others get further away until they were completely out of sight. The next time I would see them is when they were headed back. I am not the fastest runner and it did not help that the other 4 are all some of the fastest runners in Waxhaw. I think they were pushing each other as well. It was foggy the trail was sloppy but it was good to get back out again for the first time since the trail got flooded. Deadwood did warn Dasher that it was slippery then proceeded to demonstrate by falling down. The swinging bridge is still closed.
#morningwood as its still not in categories
3 PAX for a foggy run through Lawson. Couldn’t decide on mileage so we just ran. We got a little crazy today and did the standard loop in REVERSE (just ran the other way, didn’t actually run backwards). Foundation is getting pretty fast …. and his motivation? Literally just to watch the Flyby on Strava and see how far he can pull away from us slower guys (someone should reach out to him and see if everything is okay up there).
Announcements:
The Rooster on Saturday! DW bringing the firepit to keep us warm