Off to Swan’s Run Road and Back
The Pax: Daisy, Marge, Sleepy, Queen, Run Stopper, Tacking Dummy, Deep Dish, Harley, One Eye, Leprechaun, Puddin Pop, Cheese Curd
12 Men gathered as Daisy, former Hydra regular and now card carrying member of Copperhead, had the Q.
Here’s how it went:
With no disclaimer given, we immediately took off on a ½ mile plus run down Rae Road then up Swans Run Rd (I was asking myself if we were back at SOFAWIB).
Then the Warm Up exercises:
20 SSH
10 Low Slow Merkins
Next, we partnered up. Partner One did the ¼ mile plus run (Editor’s Note: it was definitely 0.4 mile loop, not a 1/4 mile loop) around Circle’s End Circle. Partner Two did walking lunges. Once Partner One caught Partner two, flapjack. Repeat twice.
Then we did a Jack Web type exercise from one pushup to six. Brief rest. Back down five to one.
Monkey humpers in cadence X30
Indian Run back to the Church
Pick up lifting rock from the creek
Squat rotation 10 count (no one understood when Daisy explained, I’ll try my best below)
25 LBC
Squat rotation 5 count
On your own, run back to OP parking lot
Moleskin:
That was the first sub 70 degree morning we’ve had at Hydra since like March. I showed 49 degrees at the start. Good to see Daisy out to Q. We put in a little over 3 miles total. Cheese Curd was right, at least give us a little heads up before we start running off to Lord knows where. Actually we have been back in that area, about a year or so ago when Sleeping Cow had us running for the full 45 min.
Yeah, so the squat thing with the rocks. We got in a circle. Everybody went down in a squat, holding their rock while one person counted to 10. We went back up to starting position and repeated for each member of the pax as they counted to 10. There should be an easy name for that, but if there is, I don’t know it.
Monkey humpers in cadence are brutal. I think Daisy might have been the only person that actually completed them all.
The Jack Web wasn’t a true Jack Web. Since Run Stopper was there, and it’s rumored that he was the person that originated the Jack Web, I think Daisy modified it to avoid Copyright infringement.
Thanks for Puddin Pop for the take out.
Cooler temps this morning. Lots of sleeves, but no tights. Gloves were prevalent. About dang time if you ask YHC. 21 men, including YHC, assembled at Centurion. Co-site Q, Margo, planted the shovel flag. Solid mumblechatter prior to launch. YHC gave the 1-minute warning and dead silence ensued. Never seen that before. FNG was welcomed, group was disclaimed (Haze called it weak; noted), and off we went.
Thang
Mosey up through campus. Scabby joined us at the buses. Right into the cut through to Chipotle. Cross 51. Circle up in front of Amelie’s.
COP
Imperial Walkers x 15 IC
Mountain Climber x 15 IC
Merkin x 20 IC
Squat x 15 IC
5 Hand-Release Burpees OYO
Peter Parker x 15 IC
Plank Jack x 10 IC
Low Plank Jack x 10 IC
Mosey up Carmel Commons Blvd to Palatine Hill. Al Gore to regroup and provide the next workout suggestion.
Palatine Triple Nickle
Run up Palatine. 5 Knee Slap Jump Squats. Run down Palatine. 5 Hand-Release Burpees. 5 Repetitions.
Mary to wait on six. Flutter x 20 IC. LBC x 15. Heels to Heaven x 10 IC. At 10, AYG to far street lamp.
High Plank. Right arm high/Right leg high/Swap/Elbows/Right Leg High. On YHC command, AYG to base of Palatine.
Mary: High Flutter x 15 IC/Hold 6 inches/Freddie Mercury x 15 IC/Protractor/Hold 6 inches.
Group asked for volunteer to provide the F3 mission to our FNG. Chelms jumped in, flawlessly. T-claps
Mosey back down Carmel Commons. Right at 51. Cross at cross walk. Mosey to benches in front of the building.
Meat and Potatoes Loop
Bench Set: 15 step or Jump Up/15 Dips/15 Derkins
Mosey to Tartarus (Parking Deck), Stairwell 1. 15 Jump Squat. Ascend Stairwell 1 to Level 4. 15 Donkey Kicks. Run to Stairwell 2 on Level 4. 15 Carolina Dry Docks. Descend Stairwell 2 to ground Level. 15 Calf Raises (Marconi request). Run back to Benches.
Repeato x 2 OYO All You Got (AYG)
Mary/Core: Dolly x 20 IC/LBC x 20 IC/High Plank/Merkin x 10 IC.
AYG to launch lot.
COT
Moleskin
A random woman hollered at us in COP. Not sure what she said, but one of the PAX replied that it was indeed a cat call.
Kotters to Chelms,Abacus, and Shoe. Great to have you all back out at Centurion. Chelms has been traveling, Shoe is battling a nagging knee issue, and Abacus has early morning commitments. He is your Q next week. YHC and Margo, co-site Q’s, both DR next Friday.
Kotters to Fire Marshall Bill. He cut out early.
Welcome to FNG, Snuffy. CCHS alumni brought out by another CCHS alum, HIPAA. Glad to have Snuffy join us. Solid work today. Look forward to seeing him back out soon. YHC introduced himself prior to the workout. Snuffy was surprised to meet Mermaid at 5:24am. Next was Utah. Apparently, HIPAA did not give much pre-intel to his buddy. After finding out the name deal, Snuffy proceed to tell the group about his high school nickname. Not the best idea. YHC tried the same thing.
As usual, Haze was talking smack to the Q. Weak disclaimer, an on-edge Q, etc. Champagne told YHC he is predictable. Fair enough. Margo called the Triple Nickel on Palatine. Yep, called a lot by the Q. Remember, it was YHC who brought this little set to life at Anvil back in the day. Some of you may have been there. It did the trick this morning to get the heart rate up early on.
Lorax and Brilleaux leading the way this morning. Brushback getting quickly back into form with regular posting. Up front on the Triple Nickel. Rest of the Pax bunched up not too far back. Strong work from all, minus the refuseniks on the plank Jacks (Haze), low plank Jacks (Haze), HR Burpees (Utah). As disclaimed, modify as necessary. At least YHC did not call SSH. Couldn’t bear to see 14% (we all know who they are) of the PAX refusenik that one. Disclaimer: poking fun here. Fully understand you need to (and should) modify as necessary to avoid injury. Rather have you out here than at home nursing injury.
Thankful for this morning with you men. Strong work out there. Awesome start to the day. Always an honor to lead. Q #123. T-claps to Hops for the takeout. Continue to pray for Jennings Palmer, Bout Time’s son, in his recovery from cancer. Also, Cooter in his cancer treatment and for FNG Snuffy’s father, today, as he has a heart procedure.
Announcements
Charlotte Marathon 5K. 11/3. Speed for Need is pushing 4 Chariots. Looking for a big F3 group to run with them. Check it out. YHC did it last year for the relay. It was awesome.
Billingsville Elementary outreach. Tuesdays 4:30. Read to the kids. Alexander Graham MS Tutoring will start soon. Will be Tuesdays at 5:00. Hit up Chelms if you can help: pchepul@gmail.com
Early Registration for Joe Davis Run for Recovery through 10/31. Lowest price for the 5K/10K race 03/09/2019 in Fort Mill. This race benefits Keystone Substance Abuse Center in Rock Hill, SC. 7th year. Rock Thrill and the Davis Family started this race to honor their brother and son, Joe Davis, who died from an accidental overdose. $ raised goes directly to fighting addiction in our community. Please consider supporting this race and cause. Register HERE
14 at the Peak, legs feeling weak. I still can’t feel my left rear cheek.
What had happened:
What had really happened:
Sorry for the late blast. It was not a nice day to spend 7 hours in the car. Where are those inflatable pants when need them?
On another note, I did make the drive through Bishopville, SC today – home of the Lizard Man of Lee County. Ask Lois what happened to his cousin’s dog . . . but he might get a little emotional.
Speaking of an emotional Lois, it was nice to see Stone Cold get greeted with the full on hug and heroes welcome. It must be nice to be traveling celebrity guest pax. Tweetsie looked a little jealous for a second, but who can fault the guy?
I thought about Sensei not being able to handle this type of a workout for about 3 seconds. What was I thinking? The man is an inspiration to me. I bet he could make Chuck Norris flinch . . . well, maybe once.
I was really looking forward to spending some time with Slim Fast and his pile of coats and hats today, but I heard he was out hustling some golf in the desert. Loser has to be on his BRR team # 17.
Swiss Miss won’t cheat a rep, and he does it all with good form. Lots of slerkins and murpees out there, but he ain’t going for it. I wish he’d come out and play at the other workouts.
Do you ever think about Tom and Jerry? They are basically two cartoon animals beating the absolute hell out of each other, over and over. I think about it sometimes. Do they even have cartoons now?
When the winter weather hits, you never know how much clothing to wear. A lot of guys start out with the long sleeves, and then ditch the top layer mid workout. You can tell if you have a good Q going if the layers start coming off early. What I don’t see much of are those camping pants where you can zip the legs off and then BOOM, shorts. I need to give those a go.
Gotta go eat this Aldi chocolate bar I have hidden in my closet.
Laters,
– HH
10 PAX nearly got mauled by a pack of rabid German Shepherds at #TheFloater. Or at least that is what flashed before the eyes of one very surprised gentleman on the mean streets of downtown Waxhaw.
YHC rolled into the parking lot with one eye open after staying up late and nodding off watching the Red Sox win yet another crazy game. #5MoreWins. Following the Red Sox motto, my intent was to #DoDamage.
WARMUP:
THE THANG:
MOLESKINE:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
“You all assume full liability for any damage you do to yourself, physically, mentally and/or emotionally! – MODIFICATE As Needed!”
It all started with a mosey around the parking lot and a discussion of how uncreative I have been with re-hashing the D-Day work out from back on June 6th of this year, the 74th anniversary of the landings at Normandy. I spoke up and said that today was the 100th anniversary of the beginning the Battle of the Selle, one of the last of WWI. So today we’ll go “over the top”.
COP:
SSH x’s 20
Imperical Walkers x’s 20
Windmills x’s 10
Hill Billies x’s 20
Some arm circles and triceps’ stretches.
Over The Top: (they hit the beaches of Normandy @ 6:30AM, so we’ll do 6 exercises – 30 reps each)
After 3 full rounds, mosey over to the school for some people’s chair.
On the wall, 90* and arms out front while waiting on the six.
3 Recovery Burpees
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 50
30 LBC’s
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 75
30 Squats
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 100
3 Recovery Burpees
Mary:
Heels To Heaven – In Cadence to 20
LBC’s – I.C. to 20
Dying Cockroach – I.C. to 20
The Dolly – I.C. to 20
Rosalita – I.C. to 20 (counted in various languages simultaneously and at the same time)
Announcements:
BBQ at the Scout Hut (Troop 276) on Indian Trail Rd. this Saturday 11-6. Help send some young men to Summer Camp next year!
Upcoming Q’s at Conviction: Crypto the 24th, Espresso the 31st and The Wall Nov 7th
Moleskin:
Great effort by all! Way too many Merkins & Dry Docks for some – MODIFICATE as Needed!
Bullwinkle landed with the second wave in the gloom, but better late than never!
Shepherd just doesn’t like doing situps or even CMB on pavement, always seeking out the turf nearby.
The Wall found out how much 6 exercises and 15 parking spots = a big ol’ bucket o’ suck!
And Crypto was plotting his revenge Q for next week.
We all seemed to get our money’s worth this AM!
Enjoyed everyone’s company in the gloom and an honor to lead!
I pull up, first Car I see is Shop, cool, then I park and see Snowflake, cool, Dasher, Frack, Bratwurst, Cool. It was like we got the band back together! I have been doing this a while I have built many great friendships and love all the workouts I get to do and the folks I get to work out with no doubt. That said, this morning was a little reminiscent of the original crew I started years ago with and I was pumped about working out with them, only person we were missing was Ice. We drag him in sometime soon!
WU: Mossy around to the school, 20 SSH, 10 Merkins, 10 MC, 10 wide armed merkins, some cherry pickers and were off!
The Thang: Light pole work, 4 light poles, 10 burpees each one, work back first light 10 jump squats each light. Start again, 20 Carolina Dry Docks. Mosey to the side lot partner up 100 Burpees while partner 1 circles the globe. Done, mosey over to next set of lights 25 LBC at each. Mosey to the last around the school and 10 merkins at each light. Mosey to the lot and finish with 3 wind sprints up the hill.
Moleskin: First of all lets do a quick shout out on the respects, War Daddy- Snow Flake 57! Johnny Utah 53! Shop Dawg 53, The Grease Monkey 50!!!! This was 2.5 miles of high intensity burpees running and mixed in Plank Jacks for active rest, it was not easy and they killed it. They inspire and motivate me every day! Thank you for pushing and showing up every morning, I appreciate you more than you know. Secondly, I am just honored to work out with you all, enjoyed the opportunity to lead, and welcome to Endo to this Crazy thing we call F3
Announments: Goodfella’s got some awesome developing news on a awesome community opportunity- I’m not sure if it is completely public info so ask him about it next time you see him.
20 PAX for a gear workout at a gear AO . . . Imagine that!
With a full dose of Q Juice flowing, YHC woke up at 0315 with all sorts of thoughts of what he could do to his weinke. After much toying with and fiddling around with the weinke, finally got out of bed at 0430. Headed to the new well-lit Five Stones AO to see how I can implement the weinke with as much sleep-deprived anger as possible. SURPRISE SURPRISE, when I arrived at the AO, there was actually gear there to use. Imagine that! YHC had heard some horror stories of this AO only being able to work in aerobic and pelvic thrust exercises.
WARMUP:
THE THANG:
MOLESKINE:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Thanks to Damascus for taking us out in prayer!
Six descended on the venerable Scout Hut at Matthews United Methodist to work out a few kinks, tweaks and twinges at Gumby.
This was a group of Gumby vets, so, a disclaimer was given where YHC might have yada-yada’d.
Lighting: Regular … YHC was thinking Bambi lamp, but, wasn’t exactly in a stable mindset (more on that in a minute)
Music: YHC’s “Gin Blossoms Radio” on Pandora, which has, thanks to lots of thumbs up/thumbs downs, been algorithm’d to an enjoyable mix of 90s/early 2000s jangle pop and some rock favorites. It’s the large adult son of Pandora stations.
Devotional: From the old classic, Our Daily Bread, a devo on winning and losing. That whole “stable mindset” thing earlier was mentioned because last night, YHC’s flag football team lost in the playoffs. We still have a game left … a consolation/3rd place game … but, not playing for the championship is, well, hard. The devo has a good word on winning, losing and perspective. Now, the question is, how long does YHC stew on the loss and when does YHC actually pay attention to the devo he offered?
Okay, let’s go …
Corpse pose for devotional
Knees up, feet at your 6. Windshield wiper left and right, following your breath.
Hold on the left, right arm out and looking right, then flapjack, hold on the right, left arm out and looking left.
Move to tabletop for some cat and cow. After that, check your 6 with some side bends.
Move to child’s pose, moving your arms to the right, back to the middle, back to the left, then back to the middle.
Up to the top of the mat. One sun salutation lead by the Q, then 2 OYO.
Back down on your back, grab a strap or a rope.
Strap around your right foot, stretch it straight up. Try and get deeper with every exhale. Swing your leg straight down to the right. Bring it back up. Flapjack.
Now, move over onto your left side. Strap around your right foot, then, bring your right leg up for a combo hamstring/inner thigh stretch. This was (1) new (2) led by a Q with bad form, but once the Q said what should be stretched, everyone else was able to get where they needed. Leg down and flapjack.
Up to mountain, 2 sun salutations OYO.
Then a half-SS, stopping in downward dog, right leg up and hold for a 3-legged dog, then swing through to warrior 1.
Move from warrior 1 to warrior 2 to warrior 3 to peaceful warrior to warrior 2.
In warrior 2, face the wall in a star pose, then descend to where your hands are on the mat. A professional like Witch Doctor would tell you to move, flexing each individual vertebrae. YHC is not a professional.
Walk your hands back toward your 6. Then over to the right leg, then to the left, then back to the middle, then back up, moving back to warrior 2. Go to warrior 3, then peaceful, then 2, then 1, then back to mountain.
1 SS OYO.
Go through that whole rigamarole again on the other side. This time, when it came to the star pose, descend, then do the ninja pose, left foot turned up on its heel, left leg straight, sitting back on your right foot. Flapjack, then back up and finish the warrior rigamarole.
Okay, time to sit in the chair, so chair. Then we moved to awkward pose, which is like chair, except your arms are out straight. YHC discovered in his research that there are multiple awkwards ….
Move to awkward 2 (aka “more awkward”) which is the standard awkward pose, but, you are up on the balls of your feet. This will make your legs go into revolt.
Then, move to awkward 3 (aka “most awkward”), which, while still on the balls of your feet and hands out, squat. This is not much better.
Back to awkward 2, awkward 1, chair, recover.
Gypsy chimes in at this point. “That was awful.” Yeah, it was. So, let’s do that again. Repeato chair/awkward series.
Back to mountain, let’s make like a tree. So, get into tree, right foot up, balancing on your left leg. Down. Before we flapjack, let’s keep it in the tree family with a new pose, the palm. So, from mountain, get up on the balls of your feet, arms up, hands open and meeting above your head. Down. Now, standard tree on the other side.
About this time, “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters pops up. If you are a fan of FF, you know that this is typically their closer at a concert. Here is an example from when YHC saw them in ColumbiYEAH last year about this time. So, it’s serendipitous, because we’re in the home stretch.
Move into downward dog, right foot up and through for pigeon. Come out of that, flapjack.
Back to corpse pose, revisit the devotional, then, time’s up.
Counting.
Naming.
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gypsy still looking for PAX for Speed for Need at the Let Them Soar 5K on November 10. It is launching from Christ Covenant, home of Skunk Works and Kevlar, and goes through downtown Matthews.
MOLE(burrito)SKINE
Alright, so, yeah, I’m trying not to be grouchy or sulk in the wake of losing a playoff game with a group that I thought could possibly win the whole thing. I am competitive, I don’t like losing, I love winning even more. Plus, I try and take it seriously and put on an air of professionalism for the kids and their families.
Bottom line, losing stinks.
Bottom(er) line, coming up with a quality #weinke when you’re in the throes of that moment is an interesting exercise, especially when I wanted to sprinkle in a couple of new things.
So, the variances on awkward were found in basic Google research last night. The palm pose came as a result of Hurricane Florence. As a proud cord-cutter, I like the options available to have live TV through streaming. Now, during Florence, we had a brief Internet outage on that Saturday (thankfully it came back before the noon kickoff slate), and I was flipping through the network/OTA offerings. On a PBS subchannel, I found a yoga show. Apparently, it is a PBS production called “Yoga in Practice.”
Some of the things the ladies were doing were a little beyond broga, but the palm is one I picked up.
Today, the #mumblechatter was quality over quantity, and centered around two things:
So, there you have it. Another edition of Gumby in the books. Hopefully you left feeling a little better. Thanks to Swiss Miss and Tweetsie for the opportunity to lead. It is a privilege and an honor.
As Mike Tyson is claimed to have said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. I arrived early, ran through the areas I planned to use, then parked the car. Started getting the playlist going only to find an urgent email I needed to answer for work. Once I finish I look up to find a bakers dozen worth of pax giving me grief for having my head buried in my phone. I get enough of that from the M so lets not start that with the F3 crew. As others arrive I notice my playlist is only playing the first song and stopping. Last week I caught wind of a similar technical glitch with Goodfella at Dromedary. I am beginning to think there is an F3 technical bug making its rounds….keep a look out. I look up from trying to fix the playlist issues in time to see a 4 deep clown car filled with one star, boytana, lazy boy, and Krusty (more on Krusty later). Watch check – 5:29, quick disclaimer and then off we go on the pre warned 1/2 mile mosey.
WARM UP
Mosey behind brooklyn pizza, through Chick Fil A parking lot, past the gas station, through BB&T, and back down to target to get our half mile in. Somewhere around brooklyn pizza the music gave out on me again. Unfortunately for me, Deadwood was near and decided then was a good time for him to give me a lecture on how to use You Tube to create playlists. I be honest, I caught about 1/4 of what deadwood was saying but I did hear YouTube and playlist. He might have given me the secret to life but I was fixated on finishing the half mile mosey without dying and trying to fix my playlist issues. As we rounded the corner at BB&T heading to target I notice a large looming shadow coming at us at a pretty good pace. At first I thought we have picked up a late arrival, but then I see the light reflect off the glasses of a much smaller pax behind him and realize that once again, Bread Bowl had to make a pit stop. God bless the patience of Dough Boy and his ability to wait on his son. May I suggest a prerun down the driveway at the house as it always hits him in the first 15 steps.
Circle up at Target (while I continue to attempt to fix my music troubles).
THE THANG
Mosey to back of Target parking lot where there are 6 trees located.
Mosey to Pet Smart (I will add that when I scouted the location at 5:00 this morning, Target was dark and pet smart was lit up like Legalized on a trip to Colorado – yeah, that doesn’t make any sense, sorry Legalized). Anyways, at some point during our opening mosey – target lit up one light and Pet Smart went dark….enough moonlight out that we only had a few run in casualties at pet smart.
Station Work – 4 “weight” stations on the perimeter with a cardio station in the center. 1 min at weights and then meet in the center for 1 minute of cardio. Pax split up evenly into the four weight stations. We preformed two rounds of 4 so 8 total.
Weights:
Cardio:
There was just enough time left to do an AC/DC “ThunderStruck” beat down. Unfortunately my amazon music account still decided it wasn’t ready to wake up. So what do good Q’s do – improvise. What do bad Q’s do….plow through, regardless of how bad it gets. We plowed through with me randomly yelling thunder and Bread Bowl breaking the silence with calls for my head. Merkins on the word thunder, mountain climbers in between. Two “rest” breaks to do air presses. Attempted to mimic the 33 merkins from the actual ThunderStruck song as best I could. We had about a minute left so we finished out with LBC’s.
MOLE SKIN
ANNOUNCEMENTS