SFN Komen Race For The Cure 2018 Recap

SFN Komen Race For The Cure 2018 Recap

RACE RECAP:

To get a sense of how the race went, first you should find a quiet spot and watch the Event Video.

Says it all, right?  You would think so, but our Track Commanders have provided their individual recaps below and you really need to read them all to get the full experience ‘from the ground’.  Stick around to the very end, where we inserted a PARTING SHOT from our own Wexler.  Not gonna spoil it for you.

Just read it

Trust us.

 

Dawn Rippy-Brunton (SILVER) –

Dawn was diagnosed in July then major surgery in August then chemo and radiation since.  She rallied from not being sure she would be able to ride days before due to side effects to being there and enjoying her experience!

I think Dawn summed up her day in her comment in the video: 

“Cancer may be bigger than me,
But my God is bigger than cancer.” 

What I also remember about the day was when Dawn was talking about her dream of retiring in Hawaii and opening a restaurant.  Big Hopes & Big Dreams, for someone who was modest about her fight. Just her being there yesterday was a big challenge which was not going to stop her from showing her thanks to Molly for the kindness she had for Dawn.  It was a great moment to see her on stage with Molly telling her story at the end!

Honored to serve,

Carrier and Orlando

 

Catherine Gomes (RED) –

I spoke with Catherine over the phone the day before the race and from that conversation I knew it would be a special day for her. Her doctors finally removed all the cancer recently, but she still has to continue with the chemotherapy. Due to all the treatments, she hadn’t been out the house in a year.  

I picked her up from her car in the chariot before the race and from that moment she was ready to GO. During the run she gave us so much strength to push on saying, ”Don’t worry about me, I’m not fragile. Let’s GO!” All that joy and strength from her, I have no words for it.

Shake N Bake

 

Lynn Marie Longo (BLACK) –

Lynn Marie Longo is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.  She is an amazing woman who has been through a lot these past couple of years along with her husband, Dean.  Through all of the ups and downs, she has steadfastly held onto her faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s awesome to see how God uses Lynn Marie and Dean to help others grow in their faith.   

Bottlecap

 

Cindy Adkins (ORANGE) –

Cindy Adkins is an amazingly strong woman. She battled cancer 14 years ago, but it has now returned, and she is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Cindy is not deterred though, and is facing this new challenge with a determination and spirit that greatly inspired McBeast and myself. She had a large contingent of family and friends there for support, and we felt the love these folks had for Cindy, and she for them.

Cindy and her friends are runners, and we all shared many racing stories as we made our way along the jam-packed route. Before we knew it, we had completed the 5K loop and had arrived at the finish line. The most memorable moment of the morning came then when Cindy got out of the chair and walked hand-in-hand with her friends across the finish line to the loud cheers of the crowd. The phrase “Who Pushes Who” printed on our pink SpeedForNeed T-shirts could not be more appropriate. McBeast and I will forever remember the small part we played in enabling Cindy to participate in this marvelous event.

SS Minnow

 

Jacqueline Leaf (YELLOW) –

YHC had Team Jackie in “The Smoker” YELLOW chair.  Supported by her daughter, brother and sister, this was Jackie’s 1st 5K she has ever been able to participate in.  Eight months cancer free, the spirit of Jackie was contagious as she encouraged her family and me to keep moving forward.

Gypsy

 

Diane Scharin (GREEN) –

Doc McStuffins & I were honored to assist Diane Scharin in this year’s Race for the Cure.  Diane was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.  Joining her this morning were her daughter and her daughter’s friend.  They provided a lot of encouragement to her before we got started and during the event.  They joked several times with Doc & I that we should take off & go as fast as we can.  That she would be fine & absolutely love it.  With the crowds being heavy at the start this wasn’t possible, but later in the event we did pick up the pace a bit.  Diane was able to meet several other ladies over the course of the morning who shared their experiences and gave her a lot of encouragement.  One of the riders from last year emphatically told her “I rode in the chair last year and I’m walking the whole thing this year – you & me will walk it together next year!”  Incredibly inspirational. 

As we approached the finish line, Diane walked the last 50 yards or so with other track commanders & her daughter.  She had a big smile on her face as the crowds yelled their support.  After crossing the finish line, Diane participated in the Survivors Parade and watched the events conclude from the main stage.  Again, Doc & I were honored to be a part of the day and have the opportunity to meet Diane and help her enjoy the event. 

Ponytail

Diane was diagnosed on January 2015 with metastasis to her bones, her first symptom was pain to her back and went for an MRI and that’s how it was discovered. She has been on hormone therapy since her diagnosis, she also had radiation all over her spine, humerus, pelvis and femur. They also had to put rods in her spine and right humerus. Currently she is on her third line of treatment which she had been on for a little over year and so far is going well.
As for her family she has two grown children Gregg who is 32 he lives nearby and has three boys, Diane also has a daughter Emily, 28, who actually came to the race with her.  Her kids are her world and they have been her support through this whole thing, she said  “I don’t know what I would do without them”.
She has never done anything like SFN before and wouldn’t have gotten involved actually if it wasn’t for her friend Julie Stone who unfortunately passed away a few weeks before the race, she said she did it in her honor, as well as many others that she knows who are either dealing with it or have passed. She is very grateful for SFN  as she would not have been able to participate otherwise as walking distance is difficult for her.  She had an absolute blast and met a lot of great people.
And as for me goes, this race was very emotional, last year I pushed Julie Stone on the same green chariot I pushed Diane, and I was looking forward to push Julie again this year, unfortunately her cancer was very aggressive and she died a few weeks before the race, I got to see her a couple of days before she passed, got to meet her parents, sister and ex-husband. I have participated in many SFN events, but I have never realised the impact that we can make not only on the people we pushed but also their loved ones. I never met her parents before, but I felt they already knew me through Julie, they told me that she talked and talked about last year’s Susan G Komen and Speed for Need to everybody, and she would watch and show the race video to people all the time. As Julie, her family was also looking forward to this year’s race, sadly Julie was not with us any more, but her family made it as they were planning before she passed and it was great to see everyone at the race. I talked to her dad after the Susan G Komen, he told me that although is heart was full from all the love everyone showed for Julie, this was probably harder for him to go through than her funeral, but he assured me that they will be there again next year. My heart breaks for her parents, her sister, ex-husband and this precious boys that will grow up without their mother, Julie was a total stranger to me a little over a year ago, and although it was painful to see her in hospice, and see her family’s suffering, I can only hope I was a little bit of support to them in this difficult time.
Doc McStuffins

Beth Lawing (BLUE) –

Beth was recently diagnosed with breast cancer just before school started this year. In fact, Saturday marked the completion of her first week of radiation treatments, so she’s still in the early stages of her battle. Beth is strong and very optimistic. She could’ve most likely pushed me over the entire 5k at this point, but we convinced her to enjoy the ride and scenery.  The enthusiasm, positive energy, and support throughout the race was very uplifting and impressed all of us in Beth’s corner.  We made some friends along the way and shared our stories with them and they shared theirs with us. 

It was a blessing and honor to be part of something so meaningful to people who need it most. It was like a shot of adrenaline and you could see it in both Beth’s and her husband’s faces and demeanor as the miles added up.

Mr. Bojangles

 

Jenny Klamforth (PINK) –

Jenny Klamforth has Stage 4 Breast Cancer.  She was first diagnosed in 2014, fought like crazy, and was declared Cancer free by the end of 2017.  During an unrelated back surgery, they found the Cancer had returned with a vengeance spreading to her skull, spine, and breaking her pelvis bone leading them to put a metal rod in her femur to secure it. 

Jenny is the breadwinner of the family and has had to continue to work through all her treatment to support them.  While we were in the race, Jenny kept asking us to stop to wait for her friends and family.  Even with her difficulties, Jenny was always the mom being more worried about her family than herself.

Wexler

 

PARTING SHOT FROM WEXLER –

I just wanted to thank you all for letting me be a part of this.  Words can never truly justify what it meant to me or just how much I was affected by it.   When Exit 54 first approached me about the race in February and pushing my mom, she was battling her own Stage 4 Breast Cancer.  I showed her the video from last year and she was so excited and couldn’t wait to get in a Chariot.  She couldn’t believe she could have that opportunity after not being able to walk the previous seven months and was just so grateful.  She kept asking me to thank everyone involved and make sure they know what it means to her.

My mom had been diagnosed in 2014 with Appendicular, Colon, and a small dot of Stage 1 Breast Cancer.  She fought like hell and beat it and was declared Cancer free in Feb of 2017.  Her leg started hurting her in August of 2017 and an MRI showed her Cancer had returned to her bones as Stage 4 and broke her Femur Bone.  She had a metal rod inserted in her leg to stabilize it and started back up on Chemo.  Her new scans showed that her cancer spread to her skull and her spine.  The first chemo drug she was on didn’t touch the Cancer but made her very sick.  She was hospitalized in December 2017 with double pneumonia and blood clots.  She fought and beat that too.  

The new Chemo she was placed on was great and she started returning to her old self.  Her hair started growing back and she was infused with a new sense of hope.  In March of 2018, her leg pain became unbearable and a new scan showed the metal rod in her leg had broken.  My mom had additional surgery to replace that rod and she was put in a special Cancer rehab that she worked her butt off in.  After 3 weeks, she was very excited to get out and be back home.  Unfortunately, she had contracted a rare form of pneumonia in the rehab center.  We raced her to the hospital the night before Easter and within 36 hours she was gone.  As shocking as it was, I take great pride in the fact that Cancer wasn’t what ultimately beat her.

When I first met Jenny, she spread her arms out wide and said ‘I’m a hugger’ and wrapped me in a big hug.  My mom always met people by declaring she was a ‘hugger’ and hugged everyone she met including me every time she said hi or bye to me.  Jenny and my mom’s diagnosis and stories were almost identical.  This week Jenny’s son had to go to the school counselor because he was so upset Jenny would get hurt during the race.  Jenny just kept telling me how she knew she would be fine and that she was more worried about him.  I felt that was exactly how my mom would feel and probably feels about me right now.

Before the race, I had written my mom’s name in one of those pink squares that say ‘I am Celebrating Pat Glennon’ today.  I had it pinned on my back but I never really thought it would stay on for the race but I figured I could at least start with it.  It stayed on all day and right at the end of the race I heard a voice behind me say ‘Pat Glennon?  I know Pat Glennon, how do you?”  I told the woman I was her son and asked how she knew her.  Apparently she was my mom’s grief counselor after my dad passed and they had stayed in touch and became good friends.  She told me how much she loved my mom and how all my mom talked about were her kids, how proud she was of them, and how much she loved them.  She then went on to say ‘to be fair though, her favorite topic was her grandchildren and how much joy they brought to her life.’  

I was in a state of shock but the woman hugged me, gave me the biggest smile and continued on.  Jenny turned to me and said ‘you do know that that was your mom saying hi, letting you know she is with us today and that she is ok, right?’  I just smiled as I knew she was right and I wasn’t really able to say or do anything else in that moment.

After the race, I was frustrated that I had not asked the woman’s name or remembered it if she had told me.  I wanted to reach out to her and thank her and let her know how much it meant to me that we randomly ran into each other like that.  I just watched your video Tolkien and there, smiling in it and being interviewed, was the woman, Amy Thomas.  I pointed it out to my wife who said, Amy Thomas?  I actually have the phone number for a Grief Counselor named Amy Thomas.  Apparently our church had recommended Amy to my wife if I any of us ever wanted to speak to a grief counselor.  

My family calls ‘coincidences’ like that God Winks.  Just small (or in this case pretty big) things that let you know there is a higher power out there and those who have passed on are doing great and are still with us.  

My apologies for oversharing but I am still processing everything from yesterday as it was such a powerful and moving experience for me.  I will also be giving Amy a call tomorrow to thank her.  Thank you all for letting me be a part of it!  And per my Mom’s instructions back in Feb, thank you for letting her be a part of it as well!  It truly meant a lot to her!

See you in the Gloom,

Wexler

 

The Brave ain’t SWIFT!

Summary:

14 men made it to the lot at 0515 for the toughest workout of the week in SOB-land, The Brave. Mario and Doc McStruffins missed the launch and either went back to bed or to Centurion, and Rock Thrill and Turkey Leg smart/no-power sacked after inquiring the night before.  YHC actually led a workout without coupons, AMRAP, or a parking deck… imagine that! Well, it was mostly a run today… 6.1 miles +/- which YHC needed with NYC26.2 approaching in 24 days.  Good group today, and everyone had their game face on, and gave it their all from  the get-go. #Tclaps

Thang:

  • 0515 … No warmup… Let’s go racing boys!!!
  • Segment Hunt the new “The Brave Mile (uphill)” on Community House to the entrance of Morrison Family YMCA (.95mi)
    • Get & encourage the 6, circle up, ad do several variations of merkins
  • Head to the soccer fields for a handful of AYG sprints, 6″ LBCs, burpees, side shuffles, squats, backwards runs, CDD’s, and shenanigans
  • Segment Hunt the new “Make America Great Segments” (0.37mi)
    • Partner up… AYG sprint in diff directions on the track 400mm… x 4 rounds . Hand-release merkins or full situps in between laps.
  • Segment Hunt the new “Make Segments Great Again”(0.37mi)
    • Set of merkin variations
  • Segment Hunt the new “The Brave Mile (downhill) from Morrison Family YMCA back to Ballantyne Commons Parkway on Community House (1.00mi)”
  • 1min WW2 situps at launch, 1 sprint around the parking lot, and jog it out to see how many miles you can get. YHC with 6.1mi
  • Finito! Thanks Chunder for stepping up to take us out at COT. Way to go buddy.

Moleskine:

A lot of running today, and the required 4 miles was covered in the first 40 minutes. YHC was out of breath most of the morning, evidenced by dry-heaving three times on 4 segments, and didn’t get a chance to mumblechatter much.

  • Tuck got 8 miles with his 2 mile warmup… not too shabby considering he has 13.1 tomorrow.
  • Chunder is a rising star.  He challenged Purell on a tough segment on Tuesday at Fast Twitch, and despite not being used to running 6 miles… did it twice this week.
  • Keri was showing off in the mirror of Brazwells doing some handstand acrobat work pre-launch. Then he showed off his speed during parts of the workout.  Keep it up.
  • Fat Fire Hazard  is now cocky Fire Hazard as evidenced by his trash talking during field sprints… but like his typing, noone really understood what he was saying.
  • Purell won all the segments… period. Thin Mint wasn’t far behind, and it’s possible wasn’t even competing. Both threw down some sick mile times, especially on the downhill back to launch.
  • Wild Turkey claimed to be smoked on Slack… which reaffirms the strong effort that was seen out there on the course
  • Kirby has come a long way, and can now hang at The Brave as a regular is the rumor. Keep it up, and BELIEVE  you belong!
  • Now that Paper Jam is a runner, with a fancy GPS Watch, YHC expects him to take the speed governor off and start to put the pedal to the medal more regularly.

Love it or hate it, it was truly a pleasure to lead this morning. It’s been a while since YHC has been fit to Q, and the support and effort today was much appreciated, and YHC tried to reciprocate by my effort this morning. #WHOPUSHESWHO

Announcements:

  • Crane Relay… talk to Frasier ASAP if you (1) are interested in participating, but live under a rock and haven’s seen details about it (2) need to bow out of the relay.  They are in the final stages so speak up now!
  • Watch this… so proud of all teh guys who participated and helped these cancer survivors that YHC feels compelled to share, and hope you’ll be part of SFN soon. Just come to one race.

JRR Tolkien

Grab a lifting pumpkin

15 Men posted at Cerberus this morning.  An offer to Q was sent out last night.  No takers.  I reiterated the offer prior to launch.  Still no takers.  That just means you are stuck with me, so deal with it.

Thing.

Mosey to Whole Foods.  No camp gladiator.  Circle up for SSH.  Call was made to grab a lifting pumpkin from the huge pile in front of the store.  The youngest PAX, Job, reminded us this wasn’t a good idea.  Raising him right Astro!

Mosey around back for Low Slow Squats.  Bank around to the front for IW.

Head to the path and railing behind the bank.  14’s of Decline Merkins and Supine pull-ups.  With nearly 100 reps of each, form was failing quickly.  People’s Chair while everyone finished.

Mad dash to the parking deck and up the ramps.  Line up against the side wall.  Lunge Walk to railing, 10 old school sit ups, reverse lunch walk back to wall.  Repeat for 4 rounds.  Peoples Chair.

Mad dash to the 2nd round-about.  A little mary.  Find a crack (ahem “Expansion Joint”) around the circle and plank up.  10 merkins, plank walk right around circle to next crack, 9 merkins.  Plank walk left, 8 merkins.  Repeat to 1 merkin.

Mad dash to the Bankrupt Mattress Firm (RIP)  20 8-count body builders IC.

Mad dash to cars for 6 minutes of Mary – McGee happily jumped in to cover this.  He loves the official 6MOM at the finish.

Moleskine:

Finally the humid 70 degree mornings are gone.  It was great to have a solid group out this morning.  I can say this is my first post ever with two PAX having the same handle.  And both RESPECTS!  A strong effort was provided by everyone this morning has we covered most of the primary areas around Waverly.  One Star is going to need a bigger car if he keeps all this EH’ing up. Welcome Krusty who, like a good boxer, took a good beat down then looked at the PAX, smiled and said, “That’s all you got?”

Thanks to Astro for the take out.

-Alf

Announcements – Area 51 Christmas Party – December 1st – Seaboards in Matthews.

 

Centurion-Nest

An amazing day for work as the temps dipped and the grounds dried out.  15 were ready for the Friday beat-down.  As follows:

Mosey up to Panera shopping center

COP:

Imperial squat walker x 10 IC

Mountain Climbers x 15 IC

SSH x 10 IC

 

Partner circuit work:

P1 run the shopping center circuit while P2 performs called exercise (flap jack)

Aggregate to:

Round 1: 200 HR merkins

Round 2: 200 squats

Round 3: 250 Freddy mercury

 

Mosey over to planet fitness shopping center (where Haze and myself truly feel at home/accepted)

 

Partner derkins 20 each

 

Palatine hill

7s: jump squats at top and bottom

 

Mosey back to school

 

Partner up again:

P1 called exercise at benches by school entrance while P2 runs to parking deck staircase 1, up to top and back down (flapjack)

Derkins AYG

Dips AYG

Done

 

Moleskin:

Morning temps were pristine for sweating out the work week.  Happy I was in CLT to Q as my flight getting back from NY last night was iffy at best.  Good amount of chatter today, most of which was either Q hazing or just calling out one another on form.

Champagne got us started with a request for Q to increase the volume in COP.  I admit, a bit weak on the imperial squat walkers….hey i’m just trying to keep in rhythm.  Swiper was well pleased with the IWs…”you don’t call IW in metro”.  Well, this ain’t metro, south CLT loves the IW.  I agree though, IWs are weak, but the squat adds some redeeming quality.

Champagne kept it rolling during the partner work, wrongly accusing the Q of stealing from Bananas Q at Hawks Nest this week, and then brazenly calling out Bugeater on his freddy mercury count. Good stuff.  By the way, HR merkins are brutal.  We should make all merkin calls as HR.  You can’t cheat if you do them correctly.

Club 9Round was on point this morning.  Complete with a bouncer at the door.  The thumping music was a good distraction for the pax.  I’m not positive but I think Swiper went in for at least 1 drink; “1 chocolate martini please, extra sweet”.

Swiper commented on why he doesn’t eat at Jack n the box as we passed by, “because of the owner in the commercials wearing the big head”.  I thought everyone just didn’t eat there because the food is garbage.

Enjoyed seeing the old WWII hero/security guard again this morning.  As he watched us struggling up and down the deck stairs Runstopper vaguely overheard calls to “pick up the pace” and “you should have seen me in my day”.  Appreciate the encouragement.

 

Announcements: 1 chair left for the Charlotte Marathon/Speed for Need (5k portion); continue to keep Cooter in your prayers as he goes through radiation; pray for those affected by hurricane Michael

 

 

First “Fall Weather” Workout…Kevlar Style

Backblast provided by Fault Line on behalf of Bulldog.

Harley was scheduled but couldn’t make it so he must’ve recruited Bulldog last minute…great choice too, not his first rodeo. After what was some sort of disclaimer while we stood around disorganized in the parking lot enjoying the cooler weather, the first call rang out, “10 burpees OYO!”

We followed that up with SSH and IW and Diamond merkins then off we went to the lower parking lot for some partner work. Run opposite directions handslap merkins then back 10, 15, 20. Do it again but with Ace & Gary’s (squat jump with two hand slap at top…for real), 5, 10, 15. Lunge walk then jog back to workout area, where Bulldog had a cornucopia of exercise stations with equipment set up. Thunderstruck hits the bluetooth and the chime begins for 25 second intervals at each stations (there were a lot of every type, you can imagine).

We finished with quick mary session, P1 runs while P2 exercises, flip flop. Finally Bulldog pulled out the Eternal Flame circle merkin….what a classic. We ran long and didn’t do a formal count or name-o-rama; so thank you everyone who showed up, it was 18 at least. Thanks to Joker for the takeout prayer.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Let them Soar 5k is November 10, 8am at Covenant Day, Matthews. Sign up under team name Speed for Need use the code TEFSOAR for $10 discount.

Goto www.letthemsoar5k.racesonline.com/register

Please email Gypsy at gypsyfit.f3@gmail.com if interested in pushing a Chariot. We desperately need some F3 volunteers so our presence is felt. This is for a great cause, The Exceptional Foundation…great time of year for a great race.

I Like Mike

5 PAX dripped in on a Hurricane Michael morning. Some had ideas of driving over to the parking deck across the street. YHC had something different in mind.  After a sue proof disclaimer, we were off.

Mosey over to the area where they used to cook bacon in the morning.

There was no smell of pork in the air, but instead there was:

COP:

LSS x 15, 5 merkins OYO, SSH x 15, IW x 15 and 5 diamond merkins OYO.

THE THANG:

Mosey to the front of Target to the covered area with all the pillars. Line up at the last pillar. Lunge walk to each pillar and perform the called merkin. Wide arm merkin, crucible merkin, diamond merkin and regular merkin.

On the way back,  lunge walk and plank. Regular plank, right arm high, left arm high then seeing a little less rain, mosey to the seating area next to Flying Biscuit.

Grab a chair.  Use the chair for dips, shoulder press and curls. 15 X each exercise in cadence count then triple lindy.

Mosey to the parking lot in front of The Joint.

Using the ends of 3 parking medians, it was time for the PJ beast. 6 reps, 6 sets of the called exercise at each parking median. At the last parking median you had to do 12 to make it work. Hand slap squats, diamond merkins and burpees.

Mosey to the seating area next to Starbucks.  Grab a chair. Use the chair for dips, shoulder press and curls. 15X each in cadence count.

Return to the parking lot for 4 corners of escalator abs.  Flutter and LBC. 10, 15, 20, 25 X.

Mosey across the street to the parking deck at Brown Bag.  Start at the bottom (covered area), run up the stairs, and back to the bottom going around the deck. No Uncle Rico sighting.  At each opening (to the stairs, on top of the stairs, the out ramp and the in ramp) perform 10X of the called exercise. Merkins, LBCs and toe-tap crunch.

Mosey back across the street to the fountains. Grab a chair. Use the chair for dips, shoulder press and curls. 10X each.

Mosey to the wall in front of Firebirds. Split leg squats. 10X on each leg in cadence count.

Back to launch where the rain started coming down a little harder.

MOLESKIN:

When I woke up this morning my intention was to exclusively use the covered area of the parking deck as it was coming down in buckets. The name of the back blast would have been Uncle Rico’s Rescue.

But when I arrived, the rain had subsided and Mary Kay was waiting patiently in his car. While we were chatting waiting on others to join us, he mentioned that he had never posted in the rain. At that point, my plans changed. Come hell or high water, we were all getting wet.

As Happy Meal and Billy Goat appeared, I guessed that they had never posted in the rain before so I believed it was my responsibility, my duty, to provide them with the experience of laying down on the wet pavement (perhaps a puddle).  For Heartbreaker, the vet, it figured it was just another day in the rain.

A funny story or two about posting in the rain.

I had planned my FNG post for the Matrix on a Monday. But it rained. I did not show. The next day it was not raining. I posted at Bagpipe. Thanks to the rain, I am an SOB.

A few months later, I happened to mention to Hops that I did not post and took a detour to the Y because it started to rain on my way to the AO.  Hops, being the spiritual guy that he is, would certainly understand. I was wrong. Instead he shamed me. It was the last time I showed up at the Y. The last time I avoided posting due to the weather. It was one of those defining moments of my F3 journey.  Today, I got to Q in the rain. Thanks Hops.

Disclaimer: The exceptions are ice, lightning and when the city of Charlotte declares a curfew because of the snow. Can’t get the Nantans mad at me.

I think we set an unofficial record for shortest announcements and take out.

It is an honor to lead the men of F3. Thank you for allowing me to do that this morning.

Sparta, party of one

If you were like myself (or Bulldog) you accepted to Substi-Q a workout without looking at the long-term forecast this week. If you were awake last night and heard the downpour you were hoping no one would show and you could go back home and cuddle up with a warm blanket, a book and some coffee (or if you’re Bulldog, a warm cup of tea, a crumpet and game of chess). One person showed up for his, no one showed up for mine.

 

Instead of running the .3 miles into Sparta I drove and waited, 5:14 rolled around and I thought I was good to go but then a car rolled in. I checked with him and he was waiting for Peak 51 to start. I couldn’t believe Gypsy wasn’t there as he had hyped up the workout really hard, but whatevs. I was out of my car at 5:15 and thought that I was up and I should put in some mileage. A little angry to be awake and running alone I ran two hard miles and for some reason decided to head back to Peak 51 to work out with them.

 

When I got back there were 4 PAX waiting on their Q to show up. 5:31 rolled around and no Q – so I offered my revised Weinke and did a little double-Q action. Having never worked out with any of them before and wearing my bright yellow tank they were reluctant, but it was more of an assumptive sale.

 

The Thang

 

(Warmup behind Seaboard)

Run to Matthews Building Supply – hill work

3x up and down with 20 merkins at bottom and 20 jump squats at the end

 

Downtown Matthews

At each lampost – 20 Sister MCs, 20 Carolina Dry docks (alternate at each one)

 

Freemont Street

Ran to my house, grabbed pavers and did strength work in a circle. At the end everyone got a bottle of water from my garage.

Back to the school. Done.

 

Moleskine

 

  • First time I’ve ever been to a workout and no one showed, fortunately this site is a double AO and a PAX was provided.

 

  • Lois was apparently headed in to tell the PAX that Peak 51 was off, and said he saw us take off and let us go into the gloom – good call.

 

  • Gypsy just flat out slept in.

 

  • Horsehead was texting me talking smack about how much the workout was gonna suck and how he wasn’t going to be there.

 

  • All 4 guys did awesome on a run-heavy workout. I think Peak 51 is “moderate” but these guys killed a non-moderate workout, and got some good running in.

 

  • Shake N Bake was running hard and came in from Waxhaw to post, only to go back home shower and go to work. There are very few people who would drive 20+ minutes to post in the rain that was happening at 4:45 when he had to have woken up. Very impressed.

 

  • Lumberjack and Keely – both over 50 – kept pushing hard throughout and Madoff told me he was getting back into running since having a bunch of kids and kept pushing till the end.

 

I told my wife that I Q’d the “moderate” workout instead of Sparta and she said “If it’s the moderate group then why are they the only ones who showed up?”. Deep burn.

 

Always appreciate the opportunity to lead and am thankful that there are always people to find in the gloom.

Out!

Harley is on at Kevlar tomorrow – do it. Do it.

Estrella de mar de chocolate

10 came out to Hydra. Er’body got wet.

We ran to HT

Circle up

15 LSQ

15 IW

Starfish x 2 (20 at each corner – 10 at the center)

1st round – merkins, dry docks, wide arm, diamond – 10 decline at center

2nd round – jump knee tucks, Mary Katherine, Monkey Humpers, Squats – 10 incline at center

Mosey back to church across street from AO for stomache’ and “sprints” – exercises included LBC, H2H, Freddy Mercury, Dolly

Mosey around school back to AO for the jerkin merkin circle

20 LBC in cadence

The skinny

This was the kind of morning I wish OTF would have been outdoors but it was F3 so I had to stare at a bunch of dudes in wet shirts instead.

I was really hoping to wake up to unrelenting rain and lightning so I could bag the Q.  Threatened it yesterday on The Twitter after many post golf libations.  Thought I had convinced myself but when I checked the radar during my daily 3am piss it was clear that it wasn’t going to be that bad.  Plus I am a man of my word.  Deal w it.

Thought about doing partner merkins (hands to partners knees), monkey humpers and firemen carry squats the entire time under cover of the school awning to stay dry, but when I remembered that Gummy and Stone Cold were running in it was clear that plans would change to add some mileage for them.  I’m never a selfish Q.

Evidently Jet Fuel works out with his shirt tucked in.  All the time.  Gummy says he looks like he belongs in a Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial as the family dad frolicking with his kids.  I still see him as the odd American in a Japanese Kirin Light commercial winking at a 210 lb Japanese chick over a plate of sticky rice.  Konichiwa beetches.

Hopper and I had a few funny moments which won’t be mentioned on here.  Let’s just say I see cars coming in a parking lot when it’s dark out and they have their lights on.

Couple flatulent moments out there, thankfully none that I heard or were even close to from Puddin.  Ever fart in the shower?  That’s what it was like.  Hopper wanted to know if you are truly clean if you fart in the shower?

Nobody pushed the “sprints” in my group except for HIPAA, Hopper, HIPAA, Queen and Sleepy.  Which leaves YHC.  Only Sprockets sprinted in group 2.  Stone Cold and Gummy were only thinking about their run home.

Thank you Puddin for taking us out in prayer.  Thoughts and prayers to all those in the path of Michael.

Announcements

None.  But still expect some kind of comment from High Tide pushing gear on everyone.

 

 

Don’t you remember you told me that you loved me baby…

I tweeted last night that I made the rookie error of agreeing to sub Q for Witch Dr who claimed to have a “dodgy back” before looking at the forecast.

I knew the numbers would be light and almost hoped for a no show so I could listen to the Weather Channel while sipping my hot tea in the car. Alas there was a car in the Elizabeth Lane Elementary parking lot but could it be a school employee? No it was Mighty Mite who had driven 15-20 mins from SOB land.

Quick conversation:

BD: You want to do this?

MM: Well I drove from Ballantyne…

BD: Bollocks! (in head) Well lets do it then! (out loud)

We headed for the covered awning as the wind blew and the rain swept in and as I set up the Beats Pill and the tunes muffled the awkwardness.

The only other time I have worked out alone with another man at 5am was with Header in the days of Pre-KB. That day we swung bells in perfect unison to the entire Bangles collection. We bonded and found ourselves singing along just like Chris Farley and David Spade in Tommy Boy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLM6_rUp6NU

I didn’t feel that Mighty Mite was as sensitive a soul as Header so the tunes were a little more rock themed – Red Hot Chilli Peppers, AC/DC and the like. Before we knew it we were sweating it up and Header was long gone in the memory.

Great workout. Not a great deal of mumble chatter but I knew the pax enjoyed it as I could see it in his eyes…

Cheers,

BD

Three Forgot to Fartsack

Rainy weather moved us to the covered picnic area, where 3 PAX joined YHC on a fun filled mostly non-running gear workout.

Warm Up:

Took advantage of the minimal rain to mosey a couple of blocks and back; SSH x20 IC, MC x10 IC, Plank Jacks x10 IC, Merkins x10 IC, 10 burpees oyo

The Thang:

Under the picnic shelter next to the benches where the gear was waiting. Dumbbells from 25-55 lbs, 45 lb plates.

Cranked up the tunes. Turned on the lights. Explained the stations.

Tabata station work 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off

Stations were:

  1. kettlebell swings
  2. Goblet squats
  3. Plate carry
  4. Shoulder press
  5. Biceps curls
  6. Sandbag burpees
  7. Lateral raise
  8. Bent over rows
  9. Slam ball

Every so often, we would mix in regular burpees, derkins or merkins as another station.

After 15 sets, the rain held off a bit and allowed us to run to Providence Rd. and back. Back to the covering, 1 minute plank.

Then repeat stations for 15 more sets until time was up. Finished it off with 10 burpees

Moleskin:

This was actually the first workout YHC has Q’d with this little running. Not sure how I feel about it.  Decided to bring gear expecting weather-limited movement with more PAX but all appeared to have been scared off by the 4:45 downpour that likely made everyone (but the 3 studs listed above) hit the snooze button.   But for the most part, the rain held off until after we were done and we remained mostly dry despite the conditions around us.   Due to preference, some stations were skipped more often than others.  Some modifications were made.  But no quit and no train interruption made for a good workout.

Thanks to the 3 that braved the 5 mph winds and really light rain to join me this morning.   Hard work and great attitudes as usual.

Announcements:

Forest Hill Church-service 10/21 Cane Creek Amphitheatre