Every day, we each get an opportunity to step up and help someone whether it was the great group of guys who stepped up to load the Christ Closet Truck, Volunteering for setting up the Holiday Party or simply filling in when Popeye was stuck in New York. For the unfortunate 13 people who decided Commitment was the place to be this Saturday, I had been wanting to try a 60 minute coupon workout to see how it would go.
The Thang
Run up to the entrance of the school to get a view of what you will be seeing all morning. Run back down to the circle to start the workout.
Circle up around the Coupons with one man between a block and one man on the block. Do a Merkin, rotate to one hand on the block, merkin, both hands on the block, merkin, one hand on the block, merkin. Keep rotating until we completed 21 Merkins.
Grab a Partner and a Coupon
Now for some wonderful upper body exercises
Circle up for a calf Web
COT
Everyone got a full body workout with coupons. Everyone pushed it and will be feeling the calf raises for the next week. Six ounce curls will be difficult for the remainder of the day. I always love the opportunity to lead a great group of guys and find joy in the conversation and challenge. Shout out to the CSUP group for taking on the 6 mile or 13 mile challenge.
Announcements
Picture this:
Three clowns driving away from Watchtower after a pretty solid beatdown.
Clown one: “Man, this knee injury isn’t all bad, I told Chicken Little I couldn’t commit to Q’ing because I’m not sure if it will hold up.”
Clown two: “Aren’t you Q’ing Impromptu on Friday?”
Clown one: “What are you talking about? Wouldn’t I know if I were Q’ing?”
Clown two: “That’s what I read.”
Yada yada yada……..clown one checks back through groupme and his text messages to find out he committed to Q’ing back in like June. And here we are. I am Clown One. From that moment on, I spent my time preparing a weinke like no one had ever seen. By that I mean I moved on with life and forgot about it again. Good news, crazy rain coming through I’m sure not many will show. Have some ideas on how to keep dry………No rain? Like a hundred PAX pulling up one by one….what could possibly go wrong? DiCCS given, we got what we need and I’m going to keep us out of where they’ll be traffic alive? moving.
The Thang
And they’re off, the three horse is in the lead with Gerber and Deadwood right beside him. Opening mosey at a 7 minute mile pace….oops….circle up at Rudy’s Rumble Room the bathroom house…..not enough room….do better
Circle at the circle, imperial walker, Jimmy Dugan, calf stretch, and dry docks…..mosey
Head to the stadium parking lot, LBC’s ……mosey
First alcove, grab some wall. Air presses in cadence and Mike Tyson’s on your own……mosey
Front of the high school, dips on the benches…..mosey
Now let’s run around the high school drop off with parents and their children walking up right to where there’s no path and it’s either wet grass (uh oh Moneyball) or jump in front of cars to the side gym entrance. We’ve got calf raises then more Mike Tysons……mosey
Heading back toward Rudy’s Poop Palace the bathroom we stop for LBC’s again and squats until the 6 and Zinfandel because he always circles for the 6, why can’t you all just get this part right? We’re here for ourselves and each other so circle back and be a better person catches up. We do the squats in cadence then….mosey
Head toward the middle school, grab some wall and do air jabs. Heading towards the front of the school we stop at the alcove and…..MORE MIKE TYSONS. Yes, Banjo I under stand we’ve done these already….thank you …..mosey
Step ups at the picnic table then LBC’s until we’re all done…..mosey
Out to the front of the building we find some bench for incline merkins, ok and more dips. Ugh forgot there were a thousand of us and there clearly isn’t enough benches. Channel your inner Deadwood, AUDIBLE …..mosey
Head towards COT, a sharp right into the alcove closest to it. Let’s do some air presses and you guessed it more Mike Tysons note to self, maybe come back to this because I’m not sure it’s true I may have blacked out by this point of the Q
Back to our original starting point for a variation of the Paula Abdul going three lights forward and one light back three steps forward because opposites attract on the way to Rudy’s Stool Saloon the bathroom we did speed skaters and on the way back LBCs is that right? are people still reading this?
This brought us back to COT with a minute or two to spare. And that was for all of us because here in Waxhaw we circle for the 6. Why do I have to keep telling you people this?
We did some Mary and called it a day.
Moleskin
Thanks for letting me lead. Strong push by all involved. Welcome to the FNG, Flip or Flop. And thank you to Dough Boy for taking us out.
Announcements
4 Prerunners on the hills, 2 on the flats. Shout out to One Niner and General for pushing me to run the hills, and One Niner for slowing his pace to roughly half his regular and running with me. I PR’ed the damned thing and he was barely even breathing hard. That hilly prerun is something else. You’ll get about 250 ft of elevation in the mile down and back Point Carpenter.
Back for the main event YHC popped the tailgate to reveal several stacks of pavers, roughly 10 pounds each. PAX grab a paver each and make sure to treat it nice because you’re spending the next 45 minutes with it. Disclaimer given and we’re off.
Warmup
A mosey to the basketball court. PAX are thinking, “These pavers aren’t so bad. This will be a piece of cake.” At least that’s what I think they’re thinking. So, on my call we lift them above heads and hope nobody drops them on their skull. We’ll pull this trick for every mosey during the workout. Arrive to the courts and the first 3 exercise are the only time that paver was put down.
The Thing
Mosey to the front of the baseball field, alternating pavers overhead and held in front. 7’s on the hill with
Mosey to the playground, with a little backward running with a paver overhead, and partner up. Dora with running PAX holding the paver overhead, and exercising PAX using the paver for core work.
We had about 5 minutes left so a mosey back to the launch, picking the pavers overhead again.
Finish time with 4 rounds of Jack Webb with the paver.
COT & Announcements
Moleskine
This might have been my most fun Q yet. I feel like I say that every time, but this one I prepared for with practice laps and exercises with the pavers around my hood the night before to tweak the beatdown just right. The Newton’s cradle was a tough one and worked well for 7’s because you do max 6 of them. I’m glad to be able to give back to this group with not only this Q, but taking over as site Q as well. Thank you all!
Moleskin:
A moleskin is a fabric that’s used to prevent or treat injury. In the backblast its an opportunity to wax poetic about the events of the morning; kind of like a moleskin for the soul. Generally we put the moleskin last but today I wanna put it up front for anyone that gets bored easily and quits reading.
For those of you unaccustomed to gear workouts, they’re a bit different than your typical bootcamp for a variety of reasons, but a big one is how much time you need to set up and tear down. Between the coupons, dumbbells, tire, slam balls, etc. it takes a bit to lug it over to the workout area and arrange it for the PAX. So I’m always impressed by the guys that get there early and stay late to help set things up even when it isn’t their day to Q. This isn’t to call out anyone who hasn’t done that, but rather to thank those that have. It is noticed and it is appreciated. Plus, it’s a nice little bonus workout you didn’t know you were getting!
The Thang:
Typical Diesel station-based workout, done with a partner for the mumble chatter:
We did two rounds each of the timer then moved on to the Coupon Webb. Lots of groaning…before, during, and after.
1 Squat Thruster / 4 Bent Over Rows
2 Squat Thrusters / 8 Bent Over Rows
…
10 Squat Thrusters / 40 Bent Over Rows
Back to the station work from above for another two rounds. A little slower on the Farmer’s Carry this time for some reason…
Did I mention the groans? Big 10 was excited when I described round 2 of the Coupon Webb:
1 Merkin (on the Coupon) / 4 Calf Raises (on the Coupon)
2 Merkins / 8 Calf Raises
…
10 Merkins / 40 Calf Raises
Back to the station work where I’m pretty sure everyone intentionally tanked to make sure we didn’t have time for another Coupon Webb.
Gonna feel it tomorrow!
Moleskin:
Wait, another moleskin? Well, it’s best to apply before and after to minimize injury and speed healing.
Thanks Catfish for taking us out
Announcements:
YHC pulled into the parking lot with a few minutes to spare where I found Slim Fast and Sensei back from the Slim Fast 5k looking pretty warmed up. At 0530 the Pax was properly disclaimed, when we see Dora coming in hot. We completed some merkins while Dora jumped out of the minivan and joined us.
The Thang:
We Moseyed over to the bus parking lot, YHC almost turned left to the church parking lot but quickly digressed.
COP:
Feeling warmed up, we headed to the little hill behind the ball field for Sevens, Merkins at the bottom and Squats at the top.
Now that we were really warmed up, we moseyed over to the track for a quick lap then gather back at the bus lot. Time for an oldie but a goody, the Gopher. Partner up, size and speed does not matter. Partner 1 runs a lap around the track, while Partner 2 runs back to the bleachers behind the ball field and complete the circuit of 10 incline Merkins, 15 Dips, and 20 Step-ups (10 each leg). When finished, meet your partner halfway for 10 handslap Merkins, then flap jack. We go until time is called.
I think we managed to get three rounds when I looked at my watch and it was time to head back to the launch point for some Mary. If I remember correctly we completed Flutter Kicks, Hello Dollys and, Rosalita. Another quick look at the watch and we had time for 5 Burpees OYO.
Done.
Moleskin:
Announcements:
11 men gathered at Cerberus for some Friday morning festivities. YHC is the co- site Q at Centurion with Mermaid. Last night, Mermaid sent a pre-blast for his Centurion Q this morning. The pre-blast referenced a conversation last week when YHC requested a FAMRAP this week since YHC would not be in attendance. This left YHC no choice but to bring the FAMRAP to Cerberus. Challenge Accepted!
COP
Mosey to the south side parking deck for a warm up. LSS x 20 – IW x 20 – Mountain Climber x 20 – Usain Bolt x 10 each leg
THANG
FAMRAP – Begin at top of parking deck for 20 jump squats. Run down staircase for 5 burpees at the bottom. Run around block with 5 burpees at far corner. Run back to parking deck for 20 merkins at 2nd sewer drain. Bear crawl to cross walk and back up staircase. Repeat As Many Reps As Possible.
5 MINUTES OF MARY
Flutter kick x 25 – Freddie Mercury x 25 – Heels to Heaven x 25 – LBC x 25 – American Hammer x 15 – Run back to launch site and DONE!
MOLESKIN
Beautiful weather for my virgin post at Cerberus. It was fun to venture out of YHC’s comfort zone to see some new faces. This is a fantastic site with many options. YHC will be back. Thanks Alf for the invite to lead!
Announcements
Holiday Party 11/22 – $30 per person and deadline to sign up is Sunday, 11/10. Look for the preblast or find Mighty Mite on slack to sign up
Vagabon (sp?) – Hickory Tavern 0630 on 11/9 – 13ish miles among 6 AO’s
West Side Whoopin’ – Stratford YMCA 0630 on 11/9 – Shorter running options than Vagabon
PAX: Brilleaux, Lorax, Champagne, Thunder Road, Mr. Magoo, Snuka, Bout Time, Fallout, Tagalong, Lambeau, Mermaid
11 men posted for a Centurion FAMRAP. YHC put out a preblast that is below. Disclaimer given during the initial mosey to make sure of 0530 start. Couple of the crew pulled in at the buzzer. Off we went.
A couple of weeks ago, A51 Nantan, Alf, brought a taste of WAMRAP (Wednesday As Many Reps As Possible) to Centurion. It was brutal. A swift kick in the teeth. Just what the men of Centurion needed. Margo, Centurion co-site Q with YHC, has requested that this be a monthly occurrence at Centurion. At least in November, when he has the Cerberus Q tomorrow, and will not be in attendance. We will do a warm up mosey, COP, and then run a modified Redemption Loop for approximately 35 minutes. It will go like this:
Start at Level 4, Stairwell 1 (closest to the Tartarus entrance)
20 Jump Squat
Descend stairs to ground. 5 Burpees. AYG clockwise around the football field. Stop at Scoreboard (far left corner from Start). 5 Burpees. Continue AYG around field to Visitor Entrance (2nd Entrance on your left).
20 Merkins. Bear Crawl to the crosswalk. AYG up Stairwell 1.
Repeat as many reps as possible. Stay to the right on stairs. Men will be going up and down.
So the above preblast was the plan. We got through 5 loops before the traffic picked up on campus. There must have been a field trip or something. A bus pulled in, students, staff, even the garbage truck. All cruising through the thoroughfare between Tartarus and the football field, which happened to be part of our loop. Q called for a stop at the end of the 5th loop. Quick Mary to regroup.
Continue with FAMRAP theme.
Start at Stairwell 1 Level 4. 20 Jump Squat. AYG to Stairwell 2. 10 Heels to Heaven. Descend to ground. 5 Burpees. AYG to Stairwell 1 up to Level 4. Repeat until 0614. Mosey back to launch. We got 4 of these in.
COT
Skin
Fallout had the prototype Garmin GPS tracker on his wrist. He called it a great triathalon watch. Tagalong referenced Back to the Future. Sure enough, on the ride home, saw a kid on a hoverboard cruising down Carmel. Shit you not, really happened. Couldn’t figure out what the kid was riding until I got close. Marty McFly shit there. Must be a sign that it is time to introduce my 2.0’s to the cinematic genius of that movie. Guarantee my son will want a Delorean after watching. He’s into cars right now. Probably will be putting the hoverboard on the Christmas list if I had to guess. We’ll see. Keep you posted on that.
Magoo had on his signature hi-vis warm-up jacket, complimented with pants. The rest of us had on shorts and t-shirts. Just saying.
Simple plan this morning. You really can’t go wrong with an AMRAP. Get that heart rate up and spend some quality time in the pain cave. Solid crew getting after it. Missed our co-site Q, Margo. He was over at Cerberus on Q. Sure he put a good one together for those men. Time for a garbage pickup at Catholic. The deck was littered.
Thanks to Thunder Road for the takeout.
Announcements
Vagabond is Saturday. Awesome CSAUP opportunity. Preblast HERE
Veteran’s Day Convergence on Monday 11/11 at South Charlotte Middle School. Thunder Road and Hopper on Q.
Pax – Joker, Gypsy, Arena, Cage, Christmas, Full House, Retread
Workout: 5ish miles of running, with a few LBC, merkins, squats, dollys, flutters and planks.
Good group of guys this morning. As usual, the PAX were entertained by my multiple layers of clothing. As far as I’m concerned, 52 degrees in the dark is very cold.
A couple of weeks ago, A51 Nantan, Alf, brought a taste of WAMRAP (Wednesday As Many Reps As Possible) to Centurion. It was brutal. A swift kick in the teeth. Just what the men of Centurion needed. Margo, Centurion co-site Q with YHC, has requested that this be a monthly occurrence at Centurion. At least in November, when he has the Cerberus Q tomorrow, and will not be in attendance. We will do a warm up mosey, COP, and then run a modified Redemption Loop for approximately 35 minutes. It will go like this:
Start at Level 4, Stairwell 1 (closest to the Cerberus entrance)
20 Jump Squat
Descend stairs to ground. 5 Burpees. AYG clockwise around the football field. Stop at Scoreboard (far left corner from Start). 5 Burpees. Continue AYG around field to Visitor Entrance (2nd Entrance on your left).
20 Merkins. Bear Crawl to the crosswalk. AYG up Stairwell 1.
Repeat as many reps as possible. Stay to the right on stairs. Men will be going up and down.
First bootcamp Q in a while…and it was at the Mumblechatter mecca that is #F3Hydra…so the nerves were at an all-time high. The plan was a little loose too, but I was enjoying the freedom from my normal super-structured long tempo run. So thanks to the Pax for sticking with me.
We did a little bit of everything, which I roughly remember as the following:
Mosey around the front of the school, around the other side to the basketball court for COT: IWs x 15IC; MCs x 15IC; Merkins x 15IC; LSSs x 15IC; Flutters x 15IC.
Mosey across Rea to the church rocks for a rapid fire rock set: 10s of curls, triceps and presses; 15s of curls, triceps and presses; run around the church; finish with 20s of curls, triceps and presses. Return your rock.
Mosey back across Rea to the bus parking lot that used to be a hazard for twisted ankles and torn ACLs, but was paved once the new site-Qs took over. We did various things while sprinting back and forth, including suicides, burpees, backwards bear crawls, and the like. We then planked up on a line for some merkins and plank walks…1 merkin, plank walk to next line, 2 merkins, plank walk back…up to 5 merkins. We ultimately did 2 sets of that.
We moseyed to the benches for a 10 and 15 bench set of step-ups, dips and derkins. Then back to the parking lot for a triple nickel of merkins and jump squats. Throw a couple of laps around the school somewhere in between all that and some closing Mary on the basketball court. That was about it.
Gummy texted me incessantly leading up to this…making sure I didn’t forget. Wanted me to stir up the App fans with some Gamecock trash talk in my Q advertisement. I know he thinks it’s cute when Gamecocks try to trash talk anyone…yet I obliged. The App gang didn’t disappoint, showing up en masse to represent the Sun Belt powerhouse. Ironsides sported the gym shorts that he slept in while in the dorms. Puddin was wearing a shirt that he clearly had borrowed from a petite co-ed during a “study hall” back in the day. HIPAA came down the mountain to talk of the superiority of @F3Boone while wearing short running shorts and a tank top. And Gloss, well let’s just say his shirt and short combo left little to the imagination, often times revealing his tramp stamp tattoo of Yosef, whose beard was enhanced by the Gloss back hair…and you don’t even want to know about the pipe.
The mumblechatter and refusenik ratio was high, as expected. Much of time, no one heard or paid attention to instructions and it was absolutely hopeless keeping up the rep counts…so everything noted above is pure estimation. Only Foghorn gave 110% on every exercise and every rep. Everyone else got what they paid for and Gummy’s Strava Relative Effort was surely lower than average.
It’s now basketball season for some…so Clover was in the Duke attire, having put his Notre Dame gear away. He swears he’s not wearing it again until Brian Kelley is fired.
I had heard rumors of his return, but it was good to lay eyes on Bounce and confirm that the stories of his death were indeed fabricated. It seems he’s chasing the years of Day Zero’s past, even though he repeatedly mumbled something about a lady named Barbie from Orange Theory. Apparently Gloss’ midriff just doesn’t compare.
Jet Fuel was matched up and tucked in as usual. But his normal Bama gear was missing. I think he’s nervous about the game with LSU and is playing it pretty low key. Don’t think I heard even one “Roll Tide”.
Big JV football game tonight at AK, as the young Knights take on Providence. 6pm kick. Hopper and I have a beer bet on the game. Pretty sure that’s against NCHSAA rules, and probably a violation of moral code. Nevertheless, I shall enjoy that winning beer. And I’ll be wearing my Gamecock attire after Saturday night’s victory, supporting the best 5-5 team in the nation.
Thanks to Gummy and Sprockets for the opportunity to lead. Thanks to the Pax for playing along.