Old man winter rolled into Charlotte as 5 PAX were ready to go 5 miles from the fountains of Blakeney. It was time for the PJ route and at 5:15am we were off:
THE THANG:
I usually show the route via a picture from Strava, but I don’t have one. More on that later.
The PJ route: run up Rea Rd, toward Stone Crest Shopping Center, left on Williams Pond, left on Elm, past the Morrison Y, left on Community House and then left on Ardrey Kell and back to base.
MOLESKIN
I typically arrive at 5am to warm up. It was essential this morning since it was close to 40 degrees at the start. Today I had company, General pulled up about the same time I began my dynamic warmup. He was dragging stuff out of his car for the launch of Genesis. I was dragging myself thru my warmup. He was chatty and awake. I was barely coherent. At one point I saw him looking at his watch and it prompted me to tell him “I can’t believe I forgot my watch.” He responded: “looks like you are going to have a rough morning.” I did not know he could tell the future.
As we left the parking lot and went up Rea Rd, one PAX who apparently came for Genesis, was caught up in the running frenzy and joined us. While chatting with Gumbo, he realized that this was the running workout and back to Blakeney he went.
At that point, it was clear that Polly, Thin Mint and Bunker were trying to set a Blakovery PR. Polly and Thin Mint overshot Williams Pond and were reigned in by Bunker. Gumbo, who is battling a calf issues, was left behind and waited for me at the corner of Williams Pond and Elm.
Gumbo, who could tell I was dragging, questioned if I was going to make the entire route. I was determined to do so. There were some signals that indicated a pit stop was in order. I pressed on. A little further down Elm, things changed quickly. There was a Shell Station up ahead-hope in distance. The neon lights were shining, so good news for Paper Jam.
As we arrived, I could see that it was false hope. They were closed. At that point I was about a mile from my house, a mile or so from the Y. Neither were realistic choices. As Gumbo kept running, my mind was racing on my best alternative. Knowing the landscape, there was a secluded spot nearby. Dark, not on any private property, perfect for a Cobblering.
When everything was finished, even with a renewed spring in my step, I knew the window of opportunity to run with anyone had closed. So it was a quick left turn down Parks Farm, thru the little neighborhood, out to Rea Rd, and back to Blakeney to find the others.
A quick stretch, COT and we were done.
Another chapter of Blakovery in the books.
5:27 and 11 PAX slowly emerge from their cars to face the 38 degree temps for the first time this year. A little chilly before the start, but easy to get warmed up on a beautiful morning.
What we did:
Mosey around the school and then to the back parking lot for COP: SSH, Squats, Imperial Walkers, Freddy Mercury, and Flutter.
Mosey back to the track.
10 Little Haze’s (One legged step ups on bleacher) on the Right leg, run half a lap, 10 RDL’s, run back half of lap. Repeat for 5 cycles.
I thought about moving on at this point but realized minds would have blown if the left leg wasn’t given equal treatment. So do all that again with the left leg and in the opposite direction around the track.
Run down to small neighborhood with 5 side streets.
At each street do 10 jump squats. At the end turn and run all the way back. Repeat with 5 Deck Squats at each intersection. Repeat with 15 Monkey’s Humped at each interaction.
Mosey back to launch for some protractor in the last minute.
End.
Moleskine:
I tweaked my shoulder last week and still letting it rest some, so all legs today. Texted Rachel last night to let him know his bum shoulder would be welcome at The Matrix. Actually I texted his wife, probably caused Siri being “helpful” and adding phone numbers from within emails. Siri might be leading cause in marital arguments if it gets the wrong texts mixed up. Lucky nothing inappropriate in my text and we got the sleeveless Rachel to post. Orange Whip, also sleeveless, was out in front with Rachel the whole workout.
An all veteran group kept most of the PAX together. Squid maintained impeccable form as always. And McGee stepped in to give the takeout saving The Matrix site chaplain, Squid, from his duties today.
T-Claps to Pop Tart for dropping in the shovel flag this morning.
-Alf
Announcements:
Area 51 Christas Party: 12/1 at Seaboard in Matthews.
Speed for Need at Let Me Soar 5K on 11/10. Launches from Covenant Day School in Matthews (Kevlar/Skunk AO) See Gypsy to get involved.
19 pax happily ignored the Frost Advisory and showed up at DMZ. There was interest in getting a move on and the workout went something like this.
THE WARMUP:
Mosey to church to circle up:
Half speed tempo half-mile to Carmel Middle School (jump squatsx10 each speed bump)
Jump Squats x 10 each basketball goal (4) to Back of school
THE THANG:
The Ladder: Behind School 50-yard There and Back Pyramid Ladder (HTH, JS, FM, CDD), same 4 exercises each side. There 5, Back 10, there 15, Back 20…15, 10, 5
Plank-o-Rama while we wait
The Lifting: Mosey to Rock Pile – lifting rock for sit ups, bicep curls, tricep extension x 20 – 2 sets
Partner Up: Partner A full speed tempo run around school, Partner B Hand release merkins – flip flop
Plank-o-Rama while we wait
Half speed tempo half-mile back to Carmel Park (jump squatsx10 each speed bump)
To Church – find short wall for dips, Derkins, Stepups x 10 – 2 sets
back to start to do protractor and run out the clock
count-o-Rama 1,2,3..19
name-o-Rama
Announcements – a little workout occurs same place (Carmel Park) on Wednesdays called Governator – come on out
Great prayer takeout – thank you (prayers for Flinn family and Liam , and Hamlet who has been sidelined for a bit) – let’s focus on the positives in life!
Moleskin:
Thanks Aquafresh for the opportunity to lead. HIPAA extra credit earned on burpees over hand release merkins on partner loop. Sloppy seconds war baby, The Tantrum war daddy. Good effort by some good dudes. Iron sharpened. Make it an awesome week and go do some good. MLB World Series (Red Sox-Dodgers) first pitch is Tuesday night in pitchers duel of Sale v Kershaw.
With many of the regulars either at races, putting in long training miles or off at Dad camp, I was tapped to see if I wanted to Q Stonehenge. Well, really only after Purell stepped of a curb earlier this week- get better. Either way 12 PAX accepted the offer to follow me in my first ever (Saturday-VQ) in 6 years of being with F3. The weak disclaimer was given and off we went!
Warm ups
No better way than to start off a Sat then at the top of the parking deck, so we fast moseyed in that direction. At the top we did a series of:
6 count burpees
Imperial Walkers
Carolina Bear Crawl (Bear Crawl forward few steps then a dry dock merkin and then back & a dry dock merkin, etc)
SSH
Dive bomb Merkins
Then we ran to the base of ramp & LBC while we wait for the 6
The Thang / Main Event
A little thing named Paula Abdul- 2 forward and 1 back…in this case 2 ramps up, 1 back. Running back should be done running backwards and then complete 10x Monkey humpers before going forward. Once at the top (stairwell) go down to the bottom and then back up the stairs. If in the front, find the 6 and finish with them.
To catch our breath:
LBC
Scissor legs
Left elbow to Right leg/ right elbow to left leg
Then REPTO…Down the stairs/ Back up the stairs- Paula Abdul- 2 ramps forward run, 1 backward run, monkey humpers to the front entrance and sweep the 6.
Introduce Scout Run (similar to Indian Run)- front runner sprints 10sec out then runs back to the group running towards them. Once at the front of the line, the 1st runner takes off. Due to the distance and lack of a map, I stayed in front to avoid the constant “where are we going”. Hope that did not confuse things. Again, I think this is a great way to keep the Pax together.
The Pond
Original plan was 7’s, but running short on time change to: 5,10,15,20 of the following:
5x wide arm merkins, run the hill 5x squats, downhill and 5 diamonds, then run around the pond
10x wide arm, hill, 10x squats, 10 diamonds and run around pond
Here is where it went sideways….
Some of us did 15x wide arms, hill, 15x squats, and 15x merkins. Others thought they did not have enough time before starting this and decided to head back. Guys in the middle of the PAX were confused by some taking off and followed. Others came back to the group. Either way, decision was made we needed to get back, so we aborted the last run and headed back. Kinda a long run, but the shortest route back to based was straight through a few parking lots.
Once at the vine, few Boat / Canoe and done.
Take Out– by Cul-De-Sac, thank you!
Announcements: Pancakes and Beer 10/27- Could not catch who the benefit is for but OMB will provide the beer
The Mole Skin:
Warm Up:
Started with a nice mosey up to the rock pile at the entrance. Partner up and one partner grabs a lifting rock. Mosey back to the circle in Nesbit Park. Quick Disclaimer and welcome to our new FNG. On to a little warm-up time.
The Thang:
So, the funny thing is I had my virtual weinke in Evernote which included TWO Lieutenant Dan’s and an additional exercise on the stairs. However, as you’ll learn the first LD took quite some time. Okay, on to the fun.
Moleskin:
COT and announcements. We had an FNG today, brought up by Deadwood. This was Deadwood’s father-in-law who wound up with a pretty ballin’ F3 name of Chainsaw. Welcome Chainsaw! Nice job being a bringer Deadwood. We had a marked lack of announcements today. Posse brought up the blue plate special pricing on next March’s Joe Davis run if you sign-up early. Also, there was mention of the 11/9 Great Wolf Lodge F3 event, if you want to sign up. Of course we can’t forget to mention the Bone Frog Challenge on 11/10 (our beloved Marine Corps Birthday as well). Goodfella took us out with a prayer.
Keep it under 2 miles. That was the only message I got from Bean for my Q instructions. OK, I can do that. Load of the car with my rods and head to the fishing hole.
WU: Mosey to the top of the deck, 20 SSH, 10 Merkins, 10 IW, and 10 Cherry pickers
The thang: Mosey back to the fishing hole and grab a rod and a kettle bell (will come back to the rods later) Mosey back to the deck
Partner up, P1 at the bottom with the steel rods, P2 moseys up to the top deck with a KB and does 10 Swings, runs back down to P1 to swap with Rod exercise as the timer.
Round 1- 150 Squat thrusters
Round 2- 150 Merkin Rows
Round 3- 200 Curls
Finish mosey back to top for some big boy sit ups while handing the rods back and forth. And that is where it went south, really south!
Moleskin:
Rods who would have thought a 30lb, 20″ rod would have gotten so much attention but as you could imagine, men should be very careful with their rods. Add Steel Kettle Bells (which quickly transitioned to “balls”) the atmosphere quickly became non 2.0 friendly. In any case, it was funny and the pax muscled through 60 big boy situps with a rod that each other could share:) You let your mind take you to where you think how that went.
Last, Mad respects as there were 5 yes, 5 respects and we did finish with 1.7 miles (according to my watch) and 26 flights of stairs which elevated the heart rates. It was a fun pax to be part of an I was honored to lead. Appreciate you gents and you can use my rods anytime you want! Bean you should have been there!
Nice cool morning in the gloom. YHC was laughed at for wearing pants. Smokey rocks up wearing shorts and a T somehow thinking we were going to play Ultimate 2 weeks in a row. Slim 7 PAX… did the 42 degrees or no ultimate have anything to do with it? Stone Cold and 49er weren’t scared as they got some extra credit with pre run up Horsey. YHC asks 49er the time… “I’ve got 5:30″… Disclaimer and we are off…
COP
Side-straddle Hops x 15 IC
Imperial Walkers x 15 IC
Hillbillies x ??? IC (YHC started doing IC like a hillbilly and got ahead of himself)
Mosey over to bleachers above football field.
Thang 1
Big loop around CC campus with 4 pain stations along the way…
Station 1: Dips x 20 OYO
Station 2: Jump Squats x 20 OYO
Station 3: Wall sits with air presses x 20 OYO
Station 4: Merkin x 20 OYO
Rinse and repeat, except for audible for x 15 Jump Squats OYO
Rinse and repeat again…. that was the plan until the detour began. One of the PAX said “Did you hear that?” “WAS THAT A SCREAM?” Then we heard it a second time coming from the woods beyond the football field. The investigation ensued, mainly due to Smokey’s big heart and courage. In the end we are pretty sure it was some wild animal making a very eerie sound. Smokey prayed and we got back to business….
Thang 2
Ran a lap around the track to clear our head then to center of football field.
4 corners with a partner begins. After each corner to center for partner hand slap merkins x 10
Stomich first then Round 2 Upper and Lower body
Corner 1: Dollies x 20 / Burpees x 10
Corner 2: Flutters x 20 / Dry Docks x 20
Corner 3: Freddies x 20 / Lounges x 20
Corner 4: LBCs x 20 / Squats or Monkey Humpers x 20
Mosey out of stadium to playground where we did 10 pull-ups OYO
Mosey back to launch where we did 10 burpees OYO
COT
Slumdog took us out nicely before sharing an encouraging update on a PAX who’s wife had a severe heart attack recently… they thought several times they were going to lose her. Many were praying for her. Doctor is saying it is a miracle that she is still alive. Testimony of the power of God through prayer. Let us love deeply and hold tightly this weekend those closest to us.
Moleskin
YHC was glad he gave a full disclaimer when we found ourselves all running towards the woods and scream (so we thought)
Was good to have 49er two weeks in a row, although he had to exit early….. “because he’s a trader or something” Stone Cold comments.
Was great to see all the PAX that were present and put in a good workout together. Great to hear all the mumblechatter, especially among Yeti and Smokey.
Wild 45 mins. I’m sure YHC missed something.
Cool enough this am to wear sleeves and hat. I chose my Rat Bones skateboarding beenie which led to an impromptu Bones Brigade / Powell Peralta / Santa Barbara conversation with Puddin Pop. Once Horesehead heard enough, the rally cry rang out, “Time to Thrash” at the 5:30am mark….so off we went.
Leaving to the lower lot, two stragglers were pulling in and caught up to us in time for COP warm up: SSH, IW, Romanian Deadlifts with Merkin variations OYO in between. We continued around the church to the lacrosse field where cones and cinder blocks awaited. As most know, 3-man Grinders are a favorite of mine. Two groups had four, fortunately I had 8 cinder blocks so no one got off easy. We changed exercises intermittently: merkins, squats, squat jumps, curls, overhead press, lunges and good mornings on either sides. Some of those combos required the cinder block to be carried between while others used it for the exercise. It didn’t take long to realize this may have been the wettest field ever…not sure why. We cut it a little short to avoid any real damage. Hopefully all the sunshine today sprang it back to shape (might need to audible next time). We left there for the tennis court hot-box for a quick circuit on the benches: dips, step-ups, derkins, 3 sets of 20 each. That was rough! Back to parking lot for a few quick sprints to stretch it out a bit, then mosey back launch for mary. Various PAX had a turn to choose an exercise with two highlights being Squid selecting something from his Mens Journal magazine collection. We called it the Rockette (but in a reverse crab walk pose…seriously); and Fletch introduced a very slow merkin that no one liked. Other choices were Flutter, LBC, Russian Twist, Freddie Mercury…maybe one more. So not to be called out by anyone, I added 10 merkins OYO to use our full alotted time.
Excellent morning, cool enough but warmed up quickly once we started moving. Thanks to everyone who showed up and thanks to Puddin Pop for the takeout prayer; thoughts and prayers to his friend who went into brain surgery today.
Making last minute plans for this upcoming Monday, 10/22? We have you covered. Yes, Monday’s usually suck and signal the beginning of another week on the grind. With running workouts and traditional boot-camps a plenty every other day of the week, Genesis will offer up a unique option to start the week uniting the meatheads with the fleet of feet.
Although embracing the boot camp style workout, there will be a focus each week on building in a strength component. This will not be a full session of gear (kettlebells, tires, jump ropes, sleds etc.) but may include these as part of the strength component. More details below:
Launch spot will be the same as Blakovery, Brixx Restaurant in Blakeney (park near the fountains)
Start time = 0515 and will run until 0600 before re-grouping with the Blakovery group for 15min of stretching, because it’s important and something a majority of us ignore post workout.
Monday workout will be followed by Coffeteria at the Chik-Fil-A in Blakeney, where I owe Fredo breakfast at some point for the “Genesis” name.
Over & Out
-General_ & One-Niner