19 came to Swift this week. Some ran intervals, some tapered for Kiawah, some did a mix, none were fakers. Here’s what we did.
Thang
We followed the pre-blast almost to a T
0500 – optional warmup
0515 – leave from the Vine, follow warmup route down parking lot, across Btyne Corp Place and around loop to Rushmore and Harney
0525 – dynamic warmup/stretching on Rushmore
0532 – begin intervals (below) on loop pictured below. at end of every work interval recover to the 6, then continue around the loop for recovery and next work interval
0609 – intervals done, return to the Vine using whatever route you like
Intervals (all at t-pace)
6 x 1 min, 1 min recovery (12 minutes)
3 x 2 min, 1 min recovery (9 minutes) – 2 minute recover after the last one
2 x 3 min, 2 min recovery (10 minutes)
1 x 6 min, recover home we are done (6+ minutes) (ouch)
Moleskin
Two groups today. One group pushing through the intervals. The other, smaller group was tapering for Kiawah and ran the loop with us doing various amounts of intervals and/or strides. Made for great encouragement and 2F as we kept the six in tow with our recoveries and all stayed pretty close together. Well, everyone except Mario who was doing his own thing running around in different circles than our big loop (nothing new here).
The intervals ascending in time while staying the same pace proved to be brutal. While you were getting used to pushing for one amount of time, you got to ponder how much the next, longer intervals were going to hurt. The only drawback was that by starting with the shortest interval we all went out faster than t-pace and had to suck it up and try to hang the rest of the morning. Woodson was especially guilty as the leader of the first three 1-minute intervals — his bright orange hat a self-described beacon of hope for us to follow.
Come to Swift. It’s awesome. Fast or slow. Runner or not. We will take you in and make you a better/faster/stronger runner and will not leave you behind.
Good luck to everyone running Kiawah this weekend!!
Two men ran different pre-runs and then met at the lot to wait for One Niner, Fire Hazard, General_, Madame Tussauds, Ringer… no one else to show up.
Thang
Moleskin
Expected attendance to be light today with many of the SOBs, especially the IL PAX, otherwise engaged traveling, tapering for Kiawah, eating for Kiawah (FH), and so on. Cobbler is a bad ass for not only showing up for a pre-run, but showing up at all with a shoulder that is stamped and ready for rotator cuff surgery. We modified where possible today and looked for exercises that didn’t send the shoulder into too many fits. Too bad Foxhole is dead and Genesis dies on Monday as Cobbler found KBs to be the only thing that didn’t hurt too bad.
F3 works even with just 2 PAX. That workout was decidedly less unpleasant than it would have been alone in the cold darkness. Too bad it wasn’t as warm down South there as I expected it to be. Good times and great conversation this morning in Indian Land. Thanks for the invite to lead. Madame Tussauds on Q next week.
A Small, but dedicated, group showed up for the monthly Dromedary Wamrap today. After much convincing (and some yelling), that there is an alternate rock pile near the track, I was able to get the pax to follow me up to the school to begin our warmup. Much to everyone’s surprise, we found the covert pile allowing everyone to grab a rock and carry them to either stations 3 or 6.
The Warmup
Mosey from the launch to the school
Pickup a rock along the way and carry it to station 3 or 6
20 side straddle hops
15 imperial walkers
10 low slow quats
10 mountain climbers
10 cotton pickers
The Thang
In our normal monthly tradition, the Wamrap rules were set (without needing the aid of my handy Weinki that was tucked in my pocket for emergencies) and everyone was on there way. A special thanks goes to Goodfella for providing the outline for the workout.
The stations consisted of
1 – 20 Dips – followed by a bear crawl to the wall
2 – 20 donkey kicks
3 – 20 curls
4 – WWII situps
5 – 20 merkins
6 – 20 overhead press
7 – 1 burpee / lap
One Star led the way, finishing up with 6 full laps and 2 stations of round 7. All members of the Pax worked hard on a nice chilly morning with everyone finishing at least 4 laps. Extra credit to The Grease Monkey for carrying his rock around the track each lap and still hitting the 4+ lap mark
Results
One Star – 6.2
Boucher – 6
Boytano – 5.7
Lazy Boy – 5.7
Pocohontas – 5.7
Illiterate (FNG) – 5.6
Johnny Utah – 5.6
Dana – 5.4
Garbage Plate – 5.4
Rockwell – 5.4
The Grease Monkey 4.5 ** (while carrying a rock around the track)
Announcements:
We want to keep Mrs. Johnny Utah in our prayers as she continues to work through various back issues that continue to plague her. We also want to keep our brother Huggie Bear in our prayers as he goes into surgery next week for recently discovered brain turmors.
We also want to welcome our newest F3 member, Illiterate. If he got nothing else out of the workout this morning, he’ll certainly think twice before answering the question “what type of books do you like to read”. If ever asked that question again, I suspect he won’t answer it with “I don’t read”. Welcome Illiterate!!
A few years ago, I suggested to my oldest brother that he start doing something physically active to take care of himself. I said, “You could just skip rope to start.” He replied, “Skip rope? I need to start by skipping dinner.” For those of us older pax, we recognize you can’t outwork a bad diet; but a bad diet and fartsacking is a deadly combination.
Since Centurion apparently has the only shovel flag in central/western Area 51 (perhaps all of Area 51, but I never go east of Providence Road) – we launched without Old Glory fluttering in the humpday gloom. We launched late. #cobains YHC lost his Garmin weeks ago. Will be replacing it before my next Q. Though no need for a Garmin, neither the expense nor the functionality as I never tracked my distance anyway. #makebootcampsgreatagain
Incidentally, neither site Q (Lorax & Brushback) had a watch either. Had to call them out…again..after calling them out on the Twitterverse earlier. Mermaid to the rescue. He told YHC we launched late and told us when we were finished. Incidentally, he would have made the same announcements even if I had a watch on. Another announcement: Brushback is co-site Q of Anvil. That was an announcement to me….probably yesterday’s news tomorrow for most of you.
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On to The Thang with the Moleskinny interspersed:
COP with Squats (Low – assumed and slow – better for you…I think), IW’s, H-R Merkins (as if you should do them any other way #makeformgreatagain), Flutters, something else maybe?
Shout out to Prohibition for a few things: his flatulence was IC during the IW’s which was helpful since only Snowflake was actually counting IC. Much obliged. Also, for those of you not in the liquor business nor a constitutional scholar – Prohibition announced during some rock work that today marks the 85th anniversary of the death of prohibition. True story. December 5, 1933. Incidentally, in between trying to force everyone on the wagon (1919) and then allowing all to legally jump off if they so choose (1933) — our great nation actually let women start voting (1920). That one only took us 132 years.
Enough of the history lessons.
After COP – we ran to the hot box for called exercises on the picnic tables while one pax would jump rope (100 reps). Rope skipper = our timer. All the pax took a turn at the 100 skips. While I didn’t watch too carefully, judging from the time and assuming integrity in the count – Hammer & Scabby won awards during their elementary school “Jump Rope for Heart” fundraiser. Nice work. And Scabby was late, not that anyone assumed he was on time.
Speaking of late – Scratch and Leprechaun were late as well. This is why YHC refused the clown car invitation last night. No hard feelings fellas. Hammer refuses the neighborhood clown car because he doesn’t like us, and neither does his truck. That’s why he parks it at least 50 feet from any other vehicle or person.
We then moved on to the kitty litter and swings for some more exercises timed by the designated skipper. Got many compliments on the physical integrity of my rope. Should I be concerned that Puddin’ complimented it more than once?
Hopper is a steady, almost-worthy-of-respect pax. The “behoodied” one gets it done…but the hoodie may be steadier than you my friend.
Ickey was there, and I’m not 100% sure, but I think I heard him mumbling about a retirement MMA fight or somesuch between Urban Meyer and Nick Saban when Saban retires….assuming he does so before he dies.
After the kitty litter, we moved on to the rock work. Snuka, who still out-runs 90% of the pax who are 50% of his age, shamed YHC into grabbing a larger lifting rock. Thank you very little.
We then ran over to the gym building for some People’s Chair and some incline and decline Mary.
Then over to a parking lot where we did some merkins and dry dock work with some side plank and sprints mixed in to the recipe.
Finished with some Mary, timed again by a jump-roper.
This is when the funniest comment of the morning took place. As the last rope skipper of the day, Utah exclaimed, “If I’d have known I’d be doing so much rope-jumping, I would have worn my sports bra!” #moobs #fia
That was fun fellas. Thanks for putting up with YHC and another unorthodox Q that took us less than 1.3 miles (as per Hopper, I think?). You’re welcome.
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On a more serious note…..I typically end this way…not that anyone reads this far down as I always write far too much:
Reach out to your fellow pax who you haven’t seen/heard from in a while. We have pax going through vicious storms in their lives, such as Huggie Bear (brain tumor – Dec. 11 surgery), Hannibal’s M (cancer surgery yesterday on the heels of his father’s death a couple weeks ago), Cooter (also having cancer surgery on Dec. 11). And these are pax that have not fallen away from this fellowship. Please reach out. If someone pops into your mind, I daresay it may be the prompting of Holy Spirit (I know that’s weird for some of you) to reach out to that person. What are you afraid of? Life, friendship/fellowship can get messy, but that’s why we need each other.
I’m thankful for this unique fellowship, men. I can’t count how many times one of you reaching out to me has been more timely than you can imagine.
Iron does, indeed, sharpen iron. (Proverbs 27:17), but I often go to another Proverb when thinking of this fellowship we call F3.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
I love you guys. Yep, I typed it. And I mean it. Deal with it.
Closed my eyes at 9:34 pm and reviewed my checklist: Weinke-check, ride-check, gear-check, flag-check, workout clothes set out-check, scratch my balls for 30 minutes-double check. I then fell into a deep sleep. 1:13 open my eyes as I thought I heard my alarm. False alarm. I fall back to sleep. 2:33 am awake again. This time I start to question myself: Did I have a good plan? Would we have enough gear? Would it be challenging? Wonder what Moneyball is wearing right now? (Awkward) Fall back to sleep. 3:47 wake back up. No turning back now. The Q juice was flowing. I laid in bed like a kid on the night before Christmas until the alarm sounded at 4:25am. I sprang out of bed and was ready for Southern Belle for a 4:40 pickup. We are off!!
16 PAX posted for Chiseled today. A handful came for a prerun, and 1 said, “It looks like you set up for Soccer drills” Oh if they only knew the pain they were about to endure.
The warm up:
Was a mosey to each set of pain stations. 4 corners with 3 pain stations at each one. Disclaimer was stated at the beginning.
The Thang
We broke it into 4 corners. Each corner had 3 pain stations. PAX would hit one pain station and then run to another corner. You could not choose the same one again until all pain stations were hit once.
Corner 1:
Rope-go as long as you can
Pit of Misery-20 dips and 20 step ups
Steps-Good Mornings-20 reps
Corner 2:
2 merkin ladders with a bear crawl after each one
Overhead rock walk-walk with rock overhead down to island and back
Tricep extensions: choice of two different weighted dumbells-20 reps
Corner 3:
Run up Mount Chiseled with weight-10 times
Bent Rows 2 choices of weight-20 reps
Front arm raises light weight-20 reps
Corner 4:
Military Press single dumbbell, two choices of weight-20 reps
Curls two choices of weight-20 reps
Weighted Squats two choices of weights-20 reps
Moleskin:
We kept to our roots of using gear at Chiseled. We mixed in more running and added music to the corners. 2.29 miles covers along with some serious reps at pain stations.
Welcome Keith Burnette aka Short Circuit.
Favorite Station-Merkin Ladder with Bear Crawl. Some quotes included-“I hate you” “That sucked” “You brought the pain with that one” “That was terrible” SUCCESS!!! Thanks Southern Belle for that one.
There was not a whole lot of talking today as the PAX pushed really hard but when they mustered enough strength to actually say something, it was usually a complaint. (see quotes above) You know it was a tough workout when you get complaining from Hollywood and Old McDonald.
It truly was a pleasure to lead this group of misfits today. We had ages 16 to 59 represented today which was simply amazing to see. It appeared everyone left sore and sweaty.
Thanks Old McDonald for taking us out.
Announcements
Warm-up:
Disclaimer given and we were off. Mosey out of The Vine parking lot towards Ballantyne Medical Pl. Pull up for some COP: LSS x15 IC, IW x15 IC, 15 xSSH IC, mountain climber x15 IC, Parker Peters x15 IC, merkins x15 IC.
The Thang:
Continue mosey north on Ballantyne Medical Pl turning left on Brixham Hill Ave. stopping in the parking lot across from XPO Logistics. Instructions given to partner up, P1 runs length of parking lot (about 36 spaces) while P2 does 1 burpee per parking spot. Flapjack til all parking spots have been burpee’d. Thought about doing another round back better judgement save a possible mutiny.
Mosey across Brixham Hill to the pond (maybe this is called the Lochness?) where instructions for a deconstructed Murph workout were given:
10 hand slap merkins with your partner
P1 runs clockwise, P2 counterclockwise (Wild Turkey and Shrinkwrap are still arguing about the right direction) til you meet for 10 more HS merkins
Continue down the fitness trail to the pull-up bars for 10 pull ups and 3 squats
Run back around the pond in the direction you were going and do it all over again from the top
5x through for 100 HS merkins, 50 pulls ups, 150 squats
Time remaining was less than YHC had planned so did the Beast (6 reps at 6 stations for 6 rounds) at the 6 lights on the east side of the pond. Pain stations were:
1 CDDs
2 Lunges
3 Diamond merkins
4 Jump squats
5 Knee Ups
6 Burpees
Mosey back to launch with a couple minutes to spare so we all did Tag-along’s 6 burpees at the end of his Beast round and plankorama.
Moleskin:
YHC had been on the Stonehenge calendar back in late October but blew out my ankle 2 days before. Cheese curd stepped up and grabbed my Q which allowed me to get another date. On Wednesday, Wild Turkey messaged me asking if I was good to go but warned that the SOB holiday party was the night before and the weather might be dicey so attendance could be low. YHC had only posted at the AO once before so was relatively unfamiliar with the territory and wanted to get a pre-run in at 5:30 to scout. Wild Turkey always seems to be down for the pre-run, but I had an emergency bathroom stop as I was leaving my house this AM cost me enough time to just miss running with him. So we each pre-ran solo, although YHC finished with less than 30 seconds til the start leaving the PAX thinking they were Q-less. The pure joy disappointment on their face as I came slogging up the hill was real, but they all eagerly went out and got after it. Great work men, it was an honor to lead.
Thanks to Cooter for the takeout.
Thanks to Wild Turkey and Nard Dog allowing me to lead.
Impact of F3
F3 has made such a positive impact on my life in so many ways but it’s always amazing to hear about the impact it has on others. After coffeeteria I got to talk to Cooter for a bit about his journey. He started getting into F3 last spring and had his VQ in May with a rowdy Rock Zero crowd of 25+ PAX. Shortly after, he discovered a lump on his knee and got it checked out. Two doctor visits later and they told him not to worry about it but just keep an eye out. He got it looked at again and the 3rd doctor disagreed and wanted to take action. Now 6 months later and he has undergone surgery and radiation to treat what was discovered as cancerous all the while losing 15 pounds from working out in the gloom. He hasn’t stopped posting and has what is hopefully one final surgery next week to remove the remainder, and could only be sidelined as little as 6-8 weeks. Had he never posted at F3 he said he would not have noticed the lump. Had he not further developed the ability to push himself through discomfort at a hard workout or the resiliency it takes to get up before 99% of the world to go work out in inclement conditions, the doctor said the process and pain would have been much worse. The doctor encouraged him to keep pushing himself at these workouts and Cooter credits F3 with helping him immensely in this battle. We all do F3 for different reasons, and those reasons may even ebb and flow, but one thing is for sure… we all do F3 for the impact it makes on our life which in turn creates an impact on someone else’s life. I challenge all the F3 PAX to keep aiming to make an impact, big or small, it will pay dividends. Hats off to Cooter for continuing to push through in difficult times and leverage all 3 F’s to make a discernable impact on he and his family’s life. Thoughts and prayers for you next week.
Announcements:
Keep Huggie Bear in your prayers, he is having surgery next week to remove a brain tumor believed to be benign.
Speed for Need is getting ready for 2019 season, get in touch with Gypsy to get involved.
17 Pax joined me for a pretty good beatdown. Usually when I Q we run a lot but today I wanted to change it up. We only hit 1.8 miles, a new low for me. I went to the Exicon and pulled out a few new items that I knew would be challenging to myself and the other Pax. Would be cool if each Q would introduce one new exercise during the workout, I plan to each time I Q.
I arrived around 5:05 to scope out the distances of various parking lots and the Target lot from the front towards Pet Smart was just right.
Dana was already at the AO when I arrived but I wasn’t sure if he was catching up on GroupMe or just excited about the bear crawls, burpees and merkins to come. Pretty sure it was GM.
All the pax rolled in at 5:25 like they were qualifying for NASCAR, I almost thought they boycotted my Q – they probably wished they did! One Star and his clown car posse rolled in as we were making our first mosey. I knew things were going to get hard so I didn’t make them catch us, we turned and ran to them… you’re welcome. Let’s do this!
Warmup:
Short slow mosey to target parking lot. I wanted to conserve energy for I knew what was coming. Zin would be proud, I actually planned my Weinke today!!
The Thang:
Jingles, Posse and Knish showed some speed today as they raced me a few times, nice work!
Split into two groups. Planked up head to toe in a straight line with about a 4′ gap between each Pax.
Similar to an Indian Run, the last Pax did a weaving bear crawl in and out of the Pax to the front of the line. Continue until last Pax completes. Rinse/Repeat in the other direction. We used about 1/3 of the parking lot, enough to get a good burn.
Thanks, Doughboy for double Down! I didn’t need that extra burpee.
This is a great exercise with a large group. With 18 Pax it took us 15 mins to complete the Circle Burp and the Circle of Pain…Not bad!
40 secs to go, AYG back to COT! We didn’t really have much left in the tank but Dana decided he would turn it up so we were in almost a dead sprint back. Nice work Dana, time for you to Q again.
The Moleskine:
Planning this workout last night I knew it would be tough. Thanks a ton for the hard work today and zero complaints. I did get reprimanded by Cylent Dinners Don for high jacking the Circle Burp… I was beaten and the Bobby Hurly lover decided to pause on the Down and make us run in place, in my mind too long!!! I think the burpees were making him a bit foggy. Nice work Recalculating!
Side Note: We need to make a name tag for Krusty, he never remembers his name.
Announcements:
Clyent Dinner – Waxhaw Food Lion parking lot Thursday night 6:30-7:15 followed by Happy Hour. BC will be Qing in 2 weeks – Bring a headlamp
Prayers for Hooch and his family as his son undergoes surgury today.
EFFEES (Spell check that) Friday night Briarcrest Club House 8:00.
13 pax congregated at the largest, most expansive, and most luxurious AO in all of Area 51. That’s right, Calvary Church. Hoover was fresh off of a 4 mile ruck. Flipper and McGee pulled in on two wheels. It was all very dramatic. The clock struck 7 and a brief, yet thorough, disclaimer was given and we were off. Run all the way across the street/driveway to another massive parking lot.
Circle up for COP:
The Thang:
Line up along the first parking line and bear crawl 10 spaces, then perform 10 CDDs. Lunge walk 10 spaces, then do 10 jump squats. Repeat each once before arriving at the median.
10 count for the Q to catch his breath, then mosey out to 51 and down to McAlpine Elementary. #DayZero
Partner up at the playground in back. Partner 1 performs 5 pull-ups and partner 2 runs suicides on the basketball court. Flapjack and repeato for 3 rounds.
Mosey over to the soccer field for deconstructed burpees. Partner 1 runs to the second trash can and back while partner 2 performs called exercise. Flapjack and repeato until the required number of reps has been attained:
Mosey back to Calvary and circle up for some plank work, then mosey to the hot box and grab some wall for peoples’ chair. Everyone holds the chair and performs air presses until each pax has run to the tree and back. Halfway through, wall pax switch to BTTW. [Note: somewhere in here, Spackler asked YHC for the first time if the weinke was empty. Not really, but not enough time to do any of the additional work I had written up.]
Mosey back to the start for some Mary:
Still some time left, so line up on your belly and run out and back sprints x 2, then a single out sprint. Time
COT: thanks to Flipper for the strong take out
Announcements:
Moleskine:
18 Pax joined me for my first Flash Q and seemed to go pretty well. Its all fun and games until burpees come out.
Warmup:
Log slow mosey around the front of the school to the parking lot. Plank for 6. – Circle up
50 SSH IC
15 MC IC
15 PP IC
Leg stretch, left, right
Runners Lunge, Left, Right
The Thang:
Note: I learned about this terrible idea from a fellow Pax… no name mentioned. When I told him that it was about to happen he said,” Are you serious?” – Yep!
10 Minutes of Burpees
High Knees/Butt Kicks
Fours Corners x 2 – Running out of time
Fast Mosey to Transporter Shed – Plank for 6
Air Punch
Every other light along the concrete trail back to AO – 50 air punches while holding a squat
And Done!
The Moleskine:
All Pax worked super hard today! Big shout out to any who posted and is not a “runner”, our workout was hard and you made it! Although you only ran 2.5 miles, the 100 burpees made up for it. I mean the Ignition guys only did 105!! Big shout out to Wedding Singer and Posse, they were completely exhausted but managed to hang with the burpees circle. I think Posse did all 100, nice work. Welcome Airdrop! It’s nice to have another (the only other) local boy posting! Thanks for allowing me to lead! I will see you all at Watchtower tomorrow… I’m on Q again!
See Ignition BB for announcements.