The alarm went off at 5:10 the only problem was it was not my alarm but my wife’s alarm to get up for work. Despite my dog getting up at 2:00 I cannot even use that excuse because my alarm still would not have been sent. Sent a quick text to Brat, who did not get it till later, about the plan. He must have read my mind because when I pulled up to the turn lane on Johnston he was headed to where I was going to go. The pax was so involved in giving me grief about being late to see that the turn lane I was in had a green arrow.
After running faster than I wanted to catch the pax I finally caught up with the tail end at Ballantyne Country Club entrance off of Ballantyne Commons. We caught the rest before they made the right turn. Everyone was scattered at this point and the theme of the morning was me feeling like I was herding cats. We did stop and do some warm up drills i.e. tip toes, heels, butt kickers and B skips.
Once we had finished our warm up and Paper Jam had decided to set sail himself the instructions were given. The workout was jog two minutes, run a 10k pace for one minute and then go hard for thirty seconds. I did not do a great job of communicating this or we just had some refuseniks. After the thirty seconds of hard you were to circle back and run with the shirtless wonder Strange Brew. We did this through both sides of Ballantyne Country Club being careful crossing Johnston Rd.
Somehow we finished in the parking lot with one minute to thirty seconds to spare. That promise of stretching did not occur one more failure in the plan today. The idea was to mix it up with a long recovery followed by some harder running. Not all that was promised in a recovery run as Paper Jam ran by me calling me a liar in a polite way. I know a lot of us are still recovering from The Crane Relay with some fantastic performances. Guys were running hard this morning, in particular One Niner, Polly, Brat and Fleetwood who participated in the Crane. Hope to see more of you out there next year.
The moral for today is make sure you not only set your alarm but turn it on as well before Qing a workout. Side note if anyone wants a dog that does not sleep very well at night and is prone to whining please let me know.
Announcements: No Swift at Swift next Tuesday. We are converging at Fast Twitch at Charlotte Latin for a topic secret hard fitness test.
It’s been a few months since I started with F3 and I am grateful to Transporter for pushing me to attend. It was all going swimmingly as the 6 until a comment was made that the 6 is temporary housing not a permanent location. Since then I have been pushing myself to become faster, and now is my time to lead a group of PAX. I attempted to not slow the Gazelles down to much while a challenge for the Clydesdales. After the highly detailed pre-blast from yesterday evening its time to get it done.
Warm-up:
As announced yesterday this would be one of the shortest moseys (yes beating B10’s). We completed some SSH, Potato Pickers, Plank Stretch stuff, and Merkins.
The Thang:
Due to the short warm-up and everyone chomping at the bit to begin running, we ran around Petsmart, in front of Target, past the soon to be Dunkin Donuts, went around the bank to check the traffic on 84. Then we took a right after Chick-Fil-A and ended up in the back of the Target parking lot.
We then completed 4 corners till everyone completed 4 laps (20 LBC, 10 Merkins, 10 Squats, 20 SSH) did I mention I guaranteed no Burpees?
From there we proceed to the pee palace parking lot (Petsmart) for some team building wall work, Jabs, Air Presses, Donkey Kicks, and Mike Tysons (yes still no Burpees) while the partner moseyed around the lot.
We then attempted to complete an Indian Run to the start, note to self no Gazelles in the front of an Indian Run as it turned into a Jail Break.
From there we had 2 minutes to Mary until the time ran out (Heals to Heaven, Situps, American Hammers
Closing:
Money Ball took us out in prayer.
Moleskin:
While it was fun to lead my first Q, I was nervous at the same time. Was I going to push the Gazelles while allowing ample time for the Clydesdales? Ten minutes in and there was some complaining which I figure is a success. I had a hard time hearing people talk as my ears were beating like a speaker at a Snoop Dog concert. Will I be asked to VQ again, only time will tell? This workout was not without the Form Police as well calling out the Q on the wall sits.
** Special shout out to all that helped me verify all Pax were accounted for after my video did not save.
Announcements:
10 men gathered in a middle school parking lot at 5:30 on a Monday (Actually, 9 gathered. Insomniac joined us at about 5:45. Really. I mean, to show up that late, most of us would have to leave the house after the workout starts at 5:30. I would absolutely go back to bed. Not insomniac.). It was a strangely veteran (old) crew. Until Mailman joined us right at the bell, Thunder Road was the most junior of the PAX at 3+ years. Everyone else in the circle had over 5 years in F3. Interesting.
Perfect workout weather this morning. Right at 50 degrees with clear skies. Since you asked, here is my wardrobe chart for the next 5-6 months.
Above 50 degrees: maybe sleeves, no hat, no gloves
40-50 degrees: sleeves, maybe gloves, no hat
30-40 degrees: sleeves, maybe two layers, hat (which I usually regret), gloves
20-30 degrees: two layers, hat, gloves, still in shorts
Below 20: warm blanket, soft pillow
I gave an adequate disclaimer, including a brief discussion about whether or not any of us were really there of our own free will, or had it been pre-ordained? Regardless…
Mosey a bit, then circle up near the dugouts for the usual warmup (no SSH). Wolfman and Mall Cop obviously hadn’t seen each other for a few days and had a lot to catch up on. Next, we wandered out to the baseball infield grass. Inchworm across, lunge walk back, burpee broad jump across, lunge walk back, burpee broad jump across, lunge walk back.
Yog down the ramp past the railing. Partner up. Partner 1 runs up the ramp to the usual bleachers for 15 monkey humpers, 10 merkins and 5 jump ups. Partner B holds plank. Repeated a few times subbing CDDs for the merkins.
Up to the stairs, bunny hop up the stairs then choose a lifting rock. Gather at one end of the parking lot, lined up abreast. With your rock, 10 curls, 10 overhead presses, 10 tricep extensions, then run to the end of the parking lot and back to your rock. Move the rock up to the next basketball goal and repeat (slightly shorter run each time). A little Mary, then walk the rocks back to their home while doing various lifting things. Huh, still only 6:07? Let’s go down to the track. Hops said something like, “Not my favorite place to kill time”. Noted. I let everyone catch their breath with some Freddy Mercury, then AYG lap. I think I heard Wolf Man say, “I thought he was kidding” as I ran away. Nope. And Hops felt like running hard, so I stupidly tried to hold him off the whole time. AYG 400 sucks.
Other commentary:
– Insomniac has a creepy mustache.
– Lazy Boy and I rolled in at 5:20 to find Fireman Ed standing around looking at his kettlebell while his Jeep was running. Apparently it had been idle for a few days and “needed to run to move the oil around the engine”. I don’t think that’s necessary, but maybe.
– Hopper kept a hoodie on for the whole workout. Seems a little much for 50 degrees, but he is pretty old.
– That was a good start to the week. Thanks for posting, guys.
It’s been over a year grinding at the sweat factory without every trying a go at being foreman. Try as I might to continue this streak, my will was finally broken and I found myself leading a group of 20 (7 for 54 seconds, the other 13 for 45 minutes) around the Cuthbertson campus. By using the term “leading”, I mean I ran in front (for the most part) of them and mumbled incoherently my plans for the next exercise. Much to my dismay, the only time anyone heard me was when I couldn’t count to three.
Warm-up:
Pretty uneventful, just some Big 10’s (SSH) and seven random dudes crashing your party. One had a flag celebrating the World Series win of a certain professional sports team last night another with a toddler echo microphone to shove in my face in hopes to amplify my whispers. I considered doing the Fuse Box v. Exercise Dice, but thought of the small child who’s day I might ruin.
Cliff notes version:
25 SSH, 20 Imperial Walkers, Jimmy Dugan’s, Plank Stretch stuff, then Merkins
The Thang:
We started with some stuff and then did some more. Not enough? Ok:
Determined to make these guys run we went a full 50 feet to the first lamp on the back side of the middle school. We Paul Abdul’d it with Merkins and Burpees over to Transporter’s shed, followed by some Mary as the 6 filed in. Upon their arrival we moseyed on over to the cul-de-sac next to the football field. The (well spoken and clear) announcement was made that we’d be doing 3 sets of deep fence squats at the top and jump squats at the bottom. We began to run again and I heard many a “What did he say we’re doing?”, they must’ve been joking let’s just go. 2 sets in I decided to audible down to only 2 sets, then proceeded to head towards a third. Ha! Suckers, just proved that you guys only pretend not to hear me. Like that episode of the Brady bunch when that awful Mr. Duggan faked those injuries and damages when he had that small fender bender with Mrs. Brady. Thank goodness for Mr. Brady throwing his briefcase and foiling his plan.
Sorry, that’s something I do. Just randomly start talking about things and going on and on….and like REALLY loudly.
We moseyed some more over to the benches for a dip ladder where the counting problems spread to the PAX on this bus. We fuddled through and ran over for some step ups. Apparently Dana went to the Moneyball Q school because the old “For each leg?” question reared it’s ugly head. We ran some more found a wall for some jabs and air presses. We ran some more and did light to light merkins. We ran some more and ran some more, rounding the first lot Indian Run style. Some tried to slow the bus down but we did two laps at a fast Clydesdale pace. From there we circled up to Mary until I could say that I was officially done with my VQ.
Moleskin:
Is it inappropriate to use the term “butt holes” in a backblast? Asking for a friend. Anyhowser, a special thanks to that small group of dudes that I hold so near and dear to my heart for continuing to “encourage” me to step up and lead. It really wasn’t that terrible, at least for me, I can’t speak to the poor PAX who tried to figure out what I was suggesting. It was great to see Fuse Box nowhere near the 6 all day and everyone else push throughout the post. Foundation promised to keep his knee out my back and let me get some sleep now that I’ve Q’d Flash (I’ll believe it when I see it). I only finally broke down because of how great you guys all are.
Let’s not hold our breath waiting for my next one though…..
Announcements:
‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I’ll give ya shelter from the storm
– Bob Dylan
(BB from Kevlar on Friday). Great song by Dylan. Cold, rainy and miserable is how the morning started. 4 guys had mistakenly pre-committed to come to my Q the day before, one (Big League Chew) just came on his own because he’s BA. Fortunately Kevlar has a lit shelter that we can use on days like this.
I thought I may be running solo and a few guys were texting on the way asking if I was going to cancel the workout. We ended up having an awesome morning.
The Thang
Run around church, warmup with various exercises ending in a “side bear crawl merkin circle” – I’ll use it next time but it was good group to test it on.
Benches – 10 derkins, 10 dips, run to rock and back 3x
Grab a lifting rock, a partner and head to the pavilion
P1 – Did exercise with Rock (timer)
P2 – Did exercise without rock
One guy was the counter (ex. P1 did 20 curls while P2 did SSH)
Basically 20 sets or so of this (step ups, chest presses, louganis’s, shoulder press, etc.) until we ran out of time. Total strength workout with lighted pavilion away from the rain. Somehow it even got a little hot in there.
Moleskine
Mile High came back out after a 6 month-ish hiatus. I met him on an airplane initially and he posted (hence his name) then after not seeing him for a long time I saw him on a cross country flight to Seattle last week. He knew he had to come back out. After that he posted on Saturday (A51) and today (Matrix), 3 times in 4 days!
Solid group of guys did not regret it!
-Out
8 Pax finally experienced the colloquial grandfather’s tale of trudging uphill both ways in the snow to school. We trudged uphill to and from school alright, but exchanged snow for dark. Here’s how:
Warm-up:
Ignition gets a 15 minute head start on Flash. We made the most of it. One loop to far entrance of High School and back to far entrance of Middle School. One hot lap around Middle School front parking lot and arrive just in time for Deflated’s VQ. Approximately 1.5 miles as appetizer. Quick sidebar:
From the past year we learned a couple things about Deflated:
One can only imagine the sweet nothings Foundation must have whispered in his ear to get him to take the plunge and Q today. It’s most likely not Backblast appropriate so we’ll have to be content to speculate.
Ignition crew did 24 SSH and perfectly cadence counted IWs. Once Deflated nailed the counting I decided it was time to go.
The Thang:
Proceed back up the school drive to the far Middle School entrance and on to Old Lawson. Dodged several cars (“might need to make headlamps and reflective apparel mandatory for Ignition” -great recommendation by Dasher…)
To the Mill House Stop Sign. Was to be a triple nickel, but YHC guessed wrong on timing and distance and Pax were beginning to grumble. Wound up with a 3×3. Mill House Stop Sign to next stop sign (Easy Button and Dasher confirmed it was uphill both ways). Dry Docks at the smaller uphill and Merkins at the larger uphill. This pushed us north of 4 miles.
Long mosey down Lawson. “Can we at least do 1 merkin?” -Dasher.
Let’s do 10 at each light pole (poles on the right). Did this all the way to back of Lawson and then moseyed on to the trail through cemetery that leads to Champion Forest.
Survived dangerous cut through and paused to gather our thoughts. From there we to the first stop sign for a 10 count. This had us over 5.25 miles. Home stretch! After the 10 count we ran all the way up the big Champion Forest hill to the stop light. We cut down Moneyball hill (was a risky move by the Q), and hustled back to the start. On the long school straight away we eclipsed 6 miles which was my goal all along.
We had 3 minutes to spare. Quick Jack Webb. “This is the only NON-RUNNING part of the workout.” -Bottle Cap. We made it to 8 as time expired and joined back up with Flash.
Moleskin:
Ignition crew absolutely killed it this morning. Great work by all. If memory serves, we climbed at least 5 hills numerous times. 6 miles was the goal and 6 miles with hills and a few upper body exercises was achieved. Hollywood is super human. Apparently 12 miles on an overnight CSAUP event this past Friday was what the doctor ordered to slow him down enough for the rest of us to see him. Bottlecap complained about his beer and pizza diet compliments of the Sox (did you hear, Boston won a title…again). All those carbs served as jet fuel as he was still out front. Chunder has a Legal Zoom quality about his stride in that he moves very quickly and you never have a doubt who’s fast approaching behind you. It’s possible Chunder was intended to be Thunder, but his naming group just decided to stick with it. Great effort, man! Oh to be 20 again!
Dasher, Easy Button, and I manned the middle with Hooch and Deadwood hot on our heels.
Circle Time:
Expect Deflated’s VBB later this afternoon.
Announcements:
Joe Davis Run – See Posse for more details
#Clyent Dinner – Thursday evening workout at Food Lion in Waxhaw. Bootcamp and Brews is the theme
Bible Study at 5 Stones – Wednesday mornings after Chiseled
Bone Fr…- just kidding
Earlier this week 11 pax showed up to Hydra a little bummed about not winning the $1.6M Mega Millions, but as promised, everyone’s a winner when YHC is on Q. In keeping with the tradition of always bringing some creative element to a workout, YHC would harken back to a piece of cinematic genius from 1992. Note: Entry of a new exercise in the Lexicon is needed. More on this later. Disclaimer given. Now shut up and skate.
The Thang:
2 laps around small track w/ high knees and butt kickers
Merkins 15x IC
IW 15x IC
Wide-arm Merkins 15x IC
LSS 15x IC
Diamond Merkins 10x (modified b/c it was brutal) IC
Mosey to back playground
Partner up
Partner 1: 5 pull ups; jog to concession stand for 20 step ups; 20 dips
Partner 2: 1 lap around OP Elem
Flap Jack; Rinse and Repeat 3x
Mosey to Wall
Wall sits for 10 count by each pax (110 seconds if my public school math is correct)
Back on the Wall for Air Presses IC 20x
Mosey to open field next to playground
Jack Webb Ladder: factor of 4 to 5/20; Back down ladder to 1/4
Mary:
Pamchenko twist (explanation and demonstration required) 20xIC. Russian twist on count “1-2”, extend legs and tap fists on ground back behind your head on count “3”. YHC’s 2.0 “Reader Frog” created this new exercise. YHC and Hydra pax were all fans. I think we’ll keep it.
Freddy Mercury 20x IC
Flutter 20x IC
Dolly 20x IC
Protractor
Mosey back to launch
COT
Moleskin:
YHC almost had to bail on his Q, but cleared the calendar and convinced himself that his only posting twice in the past 2.5 weeks wouldn’t stand in his way. Anticipating being in the back (even more than usual) YHC laid out an “on-campus” beatdown that would keep all pax together and not allow YHC’s poor fitness to affect the herd mentality. A consistent amount of mumble chatter throughout which culminated in the group bordering on mutiny during Jack Webb. In an effort to regain control (and because Gummy straight up called the Q out) YHC required a repeat of a few counts until all pax counted in unison and the balance of authority was restored. Highlights for YHC were actually finishing the workout and introducing some new Mary – the Pamchenko twist, the nearly impossible figure skating move proposed by the Russian coach of Kate Moseley and Doug Dorsey. After modifying the Russian Twist – this name seemed like an obvious go to. A nod to the brilliant sports/Rom-Com movie of the early 90’s, there were many calls of “Toe Pick” before and during the new exercise. YHC’s 2.0 Reader Frog gets credit for the modification and YHC for the naming rights.
Announcements:
Check Slack for Christmas party details in early December. PRAYER NEEDED: Revlon’s dad, David, underwent partial leg amputation and is recovering well. Pray for rehab and continued healing. Most of all David needs prayer that he maintains his joy and emotional, as well as physical, healing.
Low 40’s, steady light rain on a Friday morning. Both Site Q’s DR due to other commitments. Chelms out, per prior evening text, as he had to take his 2.1 to get her Driver’s Permit, or at least that was his excuse. Not sure what to expect as I headed to Charlotte Catholic to Q at Centurion. No worries, 9 other PAX arrived in time to join me for another weekly beatdown.
With Cheddar rolling in at 0528 hours after not finding anyone at The Brave, we had a total of 10 ready to roll. YHC gave a heartwarming disclaimer which did not seem to make Lorax feel all warm and fuzzy. Just wanted to remind everyone they were out here of their own choosing and that though I would be suggesting exercises for them, they were responsible for choosing to participate or not.
Here’s what we did:
Nice easy jog over to Tartarus and up the ramps to the top and then back down Stairwell 1 for COP on the ground floor of the parking deck.
COP
Head over to the bottom of the Ramp on the 1st Level for a little warm-up:
With everyone properly warmed up, time for a little deck work up all 4 levels. With a nice cool rain making conditions outside not the best, decided we would spend the morning making good use of Tartarus. 2 rounds up the deck as follows:
With everyone back at Level 1 after finishing R2, time for some wall work.
Time for a little Partner work up the stairs. With 10 PAX on hand we had 5 teams of 2. Instructions provided as follows:
Just enough time left for a variation of Jack Webb and a little Mary:
Back to launch for COT
NMM:
Announcements:
13 pax joined me for a Commitment work out that quickly turned into Ignition! Planning my Weinke for a few days, I knew I wanted to add in some running but honestly did not expect to clock this many miles and it came to my attention from other Pax that this AO has had a lot of “easy” workouts… Not today. In Q school they tell you to make the workout challenging for the fittest while still allowing slower Pax to keep up. Furthermore, I’m NOT going to be thrown into the category of Q’s that “go through the motions”. I also had to make sure I honored Fuse’s request earlier in the week to help him shed a few pounds for the final weigh in…
Warm up:
0.75 mile run from the park toward Kensington elementary school to Millbridge Clubhouse.
Circle up!
The Thang:
Remember, I have at least 7 solid Clydesdales in front of me but I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking of how much I could get Fuse to cuss me during and after the workout. Little did I know Rudy would throw a few 4 letter words my way!! Let’s do this!
Starting at clubhouse mosey toward first traffic circle (0.5m one way).
From clubhouse run to second traffic circle (0.9m one way).
Mosey from clubhouse down the trail (Jingles lead) that leads to the ball fields and circle up for some last minute Mary.
The workout was solid and pushed every single pax to their limit. Many of the Clydesdales have never hit the number of miles we did today. I was extremely impressed no one quit or jumped me! Double Stuffed and Banjo hung with me at the front most of the morning, nice job guys… Again, there were around 6-8 Clydesdales (I don’t classify you, you classify yourselves) and we ran 5+ miles with pain stations, I am still amazed!! We were all so exhausted that in COT we didn’t give South Belle respect… Respect Southern Belle!
Rudy and Fusebox were conspiring to kill me the entire time…at least I told myself that. I picked Fuse up a few times and he was as mad the last time as he was the first. Many times he said, If I knew we were doing this much cardio I would have went to the Y instead…comments to come on GroupMe I’m sure.
Rudy….my man Rudy, yes he was the 6 most of the morning but he did not stop. Did he cuss me to my face a few times…yes but I loved it. He was completely out of his comfort zone and improving the entire time. He probably would have never imagined he could run 5 miles. DO you think he or any other Cylesdale would post for Ignition or Pursuit? If they won’t come to Ignition I will bring Ignition to them!!
To Doughboy, Chainsaw, Jingles, Rockwell, Southern belle and the rest of the guys not mentioned…GREAT JOB!
Oh, and many of you made comments about me wearing a headlamp… How many of you hit that enormous puddle and soaked both feet? Not this guy… Knish for sure hit it.
Thanks, guys.
Announcements:
Banjo mentioned a pretty important announcement that I think we all really need to think about. bonefrog nov10.
Unofficial Workout: Thursday 6:30 Food Lion parking lot Waxhaw
F3er’s who can’t get up early, that have fallen off the wagon, or have missed a work out that day.
Shampoo Crew (Fartsackin for day two)
Collect any extra shampoo while traveling for Dancing Bear
With the Crane Relay and remnants of Willa raining down on us YHC sat in the Waverly parking lot at 5:10 coming up with back blast titles – One is the Loneliest Number, All by Myself, Me Myself and I – but alas 4 other cars pull in. All PAX jump out of their cars with 1 minute to spare and “Disclaimer given” was announced… we were off for the parking deck.
The Thang
Mosey to the deck and straight up the stairs to level 2 (some paid boot camp had already commandeered level 1)
Circle up and Warm Up – 15 SSH, 15 Imperial Walkers, 15 Mountain Climbers, 10 count Abe Vigoda (all in cadence)
4 Corners around the 2nd level – corner 1 = merkins, corner 2 = squats, corner 3 = CDDs, corner 4 = jump squats
1st lap 5 reps each, 2nd lap 10 reps each, 3rd lap 15 reps each, 4th lap 20 reps each
Circle up for round of Mary (each PAX called one) – LBCs, American Hammers, Heels to Heaven, Dollies, Chippy Cross, Freddie Mercury (all in cadence)
People’s Chair w/ 50 air presses in cadence
Start at top of ramp on level 2 run down ramp 1 burpee, backward run up ramp 2 burpees, down ramp 3 burpees, backward up ramp 4 burpees, etc until 10 burpees
Take stairs to top stopping at each level for exercise (1st 10 merkins, 2nd 10 squats, 3rd 10 CDDs)
Mosey back down to level 2. Circle up for Ring of Fire (aka Abe Froman)… 113 merkins completed with Astro and Job facing off in father/son duel (Job was a good son and yielded to pops)
Run ramps up to top level and take stairs down to level 1 for COT
Announcements
Stay safe all Crane Relay participants
Stonehenge converging w/ DaVinci tomorrow (6:30 @ Chic-fil-A Blakeney)