AYE. I had to be at a breakfast uptown at 7AM so decided to rework the WAMRAP to fit my schedule. But there’s more to the story than just that. I’ve speculated for a long time that it’s possible to get fit a 45 minute #beatdown into a 30 minute #smokefest. So, today, Alf and I tried it out. And it hurt.
THE THANG
Run to the first ramp in the parking deck
10 Jump Squats at the bottom
10 Exploding Merkins at the top
Count rounds with +1 Burpee each round
Once we hit 10 Burpees, we went back down the pyramid
On the way down, we did:
10 Monkey Humpers at the bottom
10 Diamonds at the top
Total of 100 Burpees
YE OLDE MOLESKINE
1. We actually moved up to the top of the deck at one point because Alf thought the air would be a little bit fresher, but that turned out not to be the case, unfortunately
2. Speaking of Alf, the dude just crushed BRR last weekend and was dragging me around today. I was ready to quit and start making excuses at 7 Burpees on the downside of the pyramid, but Alf wanted to keep pushing all the way through. I thought I was going to die but we did finish the pyramid with 2 minutes to spare.
See? Y’all missed a good time. See you next week at WAMRAP (COME ON)
24 PAX enjoyed the freedom of posting on this 9.11 morning.
We have the freedom to choose when and where to go.
We have the freedom to assemble and run around Ballantyne Corporate Park.
We have many freedoms that I take for granted every day because sometimes I forget what someone did to insure that freedom. This is one of those days I must remember so I don’t forget.
So for this backblast, instead of recounting the COP, THE THANG and MOLESKIN, I will take Q privilege to focus on the discussion that happened after-at Timekeeper.
Two men who have had a direct impact on my F3 journey-Alf and Frehleys Comet- were gracious enough to share their 9.11 experience.
Each had a different perspective. One from an office outside of the Pentagon the other from an office inside New York City. But it was clear that both were deeply impacted by those events and sharing their story provided me insight that I did not have before-to help me remember, so I don’t forget.
The lesson Alf taught me this morning is there is a big difference between radicals and religion. That sometimes evil people (radicals) use religion to manipulate people to carry out their own evil agenda. That we should pause before we lump a people group into the same category as a radical when all they want to do is practice their religion.
I can say I was guilty of this. As a guy who grew up across the river in NJ, when the Towers fell and our country was under attack, I was angry. And to some degree I still am. Back then, I wanted retribution. But now looking back, I am glad cooler heads prevailed.
Frehleys was working in New York City and was at work when the planes crashed and the Towers came down. Not knowing what was going on, no way to contact anyone, he and tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate. He could see the smoke and smell the wreckage of the Twin Towers. It was an eerie feeling to walk thru the streets of NYC with only the noise of the sirens in the backdrop. The sea of people around him were calm, whispering, collectively working their way to the Ferry system-the only way off the island. He finally made it to the other side (NJ) and back home-safely with his family.
A powerful picture of the human resolve and unity under the pressure of extreme circumstances.
We are 17 years past that frightful day.
It was good to remember, so I never forget.
As far as the workout is concerned, we ran, did merkins, some squats and even Burpees.
But like many other days I have sweated in the gloom-it is hard to remember what we did a few hours later.
What I heard from Alf and Frehleys afterwards, I won’t forget.
The Thang:
Run to the rock and back
SSH x 15 IC
Imperial Walker x 15 IC
KB suicides:
First set:
Second set:
Third set:
Fourth set:
Fifth set:
Sixth set:
COT
BOM
Moleskin
A solid workout with a mixture of running and bell work. Pretty sure we hit all of the major muscle groups. Great hustle out there by everyone.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead! Always an honor.
*Posted on behalf of Sanka
This is always a different F3 workout, no cadence, no COP, no Mary. This is you vs you to set a (new) baseline to compare back to at a future challenge.
It goes like this…
Perform exercise 1 using whatever time you need to still have the best form you can muster. Once complete you will run, walk or crawl a predefined lap around the perimeter of the parking lot which is about 1/3 of a mile.
Get back and complete exercise 2, do lap, etc.
Get through as much as you can until time is called. If you cheat or cut corners you are only hurting yourself and your baseline. I don’t care if it takes the whole time to get through one or two things, that will be the baseline you will work towards crushing the next time. For example, bend those elbows on a merkin, at the same time do the full rep, don’t race and “bounce” the merkins, etc.
Here is the list:
Mountain Climbers – 100 (count each leg as one)
Lap
Calf Raises – 150 (50 regular, 50 toes pointed in, 50 toes pointed out)
Lap
Merkins – 100 (25 wide, 25 regular, 25 narrow (elbows close also called “perfect Merkin”), 25 diamond)
Lap
Burpees – 50
Lap
Carolina Dry Docks – 100
Lap
LBCs – 100
Lap
Jump Squats – 100
Lap
Dollies – 200
Lap
Squats – 100
Lap
Rock Hoppers – 100
Lap
Russian Twists (American Hammer) – 100
Lap
Burpees – 100
Lap
Burpees – 200
This is always tough, as a challenge should be, and I believe this is the first one we have done in the warm humid #Gloom of summer and this group of PAX did a great job!
Here are the results for each guy (prior results in italics if available):
Shepherd- 20 Dollies – 2/3 lap after dolly
Hair Band- 3/4 lap after LBCs – finished jump squats
Woody – 1/2 lap after jump squats
The Wall – Started lap after CDDs
Spielberg – 1/2 lap after LBCs with modifications
Bernanke – 65 Dollies
Full House – 30 Dollies
Tesla – lap after burpees
Kili – 1/2 lap after LBCs with burpee modification
Lumberjack – 1/4 lap after squats
Awesome work guys!
Moleskine:
I am trying to get more efficient in using our time etc. and one thing I did today was make sure we start at the same time, no false starts by anyone… or someone in particular. Today we had a minute or 2 in the beginning that I think we can gain back next time around after instructions so you will have that on your side in the future which will be helpful.
Now that the challenge is done you know what to work towards. This beatdown sucks, I know because I was told multiple times that I was hated today. As men we like a challenge and we like to see progression in what we work on so bring your hate, the reward will show in your hard work as we do this the next time and you go past today’s stopping point.
Always an honor to lead, push… and be pushed with this group of guys, AYE!
Hair Band
13 more-than-famous guys showed up at the unusually barricaded and gated Latin parking lot this morning to see what I had in mind for a post-BRR Fast Twitch. I went with a workout that let guys run as fast or slow as they wanted for as long or as short as they wanted.
Based on the Mermaid-born staple at the old Fast Twitch launch site, I mapped out an aggressive (too aggressive?) route through Raintree to the Piper Glen Starbucks. Run as far as you care to in the first 30 minutes (or 28ish if you expect to be slower coming back), then reverse back to the launch parking lot. The route was Raintree to Rounding Run to Woodfox to Strawberry to Rosecliff to Brownes Pond to Coburn to Bevington.
Notes:
– It’s about 4 miles one-way, so the fastest guys out there may be able to make it all the way there and back. I don’t think anybody made it all the way down Bevington today. Astro, Rosie, Hollywood and Haze were out there, but it looks like they turned around on Bevington (I sure wasn’t there to see it myself). Rachel and Purell were gassed from BRR so they wisely took it as a recovery run. I think some of those guys could make it to Starbucks if they were fresh.
– I prepared turn-by-turn instructions to hand out to those who weren’t around for the old Fast Twitch site and didn’t know the mean streets of Raintree well. I don’t think anyone got lost, so, success!
– My turnaround point turned out to be the bottom of the nasty hill on Coburn. Awesome.
– Hopper said he’ll be at Fast Twitch from now on. Or maybe he said he hated me. I can’t remember.
– It was good to catch up with Joker on the way out. He drug me a little faster than I wanted to go on my own. I finally shook him when Haze ran by and he latched on to him instead.
– Hannibal and Retread did not hide their judgement when they passed after I turned around on Coburn. “You’re turning around already?” I got back at 6:12, so that’s good planning by me.
– Pop Tart stepped up to drag me back to Latin. He stayed just close enough that I wouldn’t let myself walk and lose him. I guess that’s the Iron Sharpening part they talk about. Thanks Pop Tart. Then he got lost going back through campus, so he should’ve waited for me.
– Updated to include Tolkien after he called me out. I remember him running by and saying something encouraging at one point, so I know he was there.
Conditions: 75F and Humid like the Amazon Jungle
19 Pax accepted change and posted to first Watchtower workout at the new location (Brooklyn Pizza – Wesley Chapel). The name Brooklyn is fitting for today as we remember the devastation of 9/11. If you have 10 minutes free today; watch this link https://youtu.be/MWKPjSirbcU
Warmup: None
The Thang:
Light Run, SSH, and Merkins
Burpee Suicides – (30 in total)
Partner Work – 100 jump ups and 200 decline merkins
Merkin Ladder (50 in total)
Bear Crawl With Merkins (50 in total)
Mixed in LBC and Heels To Heaven while waiting on the 6
Moleskin: Always appreciate the opportunity to lead. There are several members of the PAX that are steadily getting better, and some that choose to carry on conversations during the workout. We all have different goals? I was always told people lose their filter in old age, and recalculating was living proof of that this morning (Dude Is Mean). It’s no surprise that Half Back and Cha Ching lead the pack; they are like 22 years old with testosterone counts exceeding 1200 ng/dl. Blue Screen is a beast at 59 years old, always at the front. Please stay safe during Florence.
Announcements: None that I remember.
New Workout Monday’s Ignition @5:15am (Cuthbertson) – it’s geared towards running 4+ miles
Waaayyyyyyy back in June, YHC offered to serve as Base Camp Q on 9/10. Then 8-10 weeks passed by, memories started to get jumbled a bit, and YHC woke up at 0510am this morning thinking he might just turn off his alarm and skip the workout. He checked his email history *just in case* and found out he was actually on the schedule…WELP time to improvise!
Started off with a jog around the South CLT Middle School parking lot, then we circled up for warmups:
We then moseyed down Strawberry Ln towards Piper Glen with 5x Merkins at each speed bump. Arriving at Rosecliff Dr, we started with a lil Triple Nickel:
After we added some bonus Mary courtesy of Asst Q #1 (Hannibal), we did a modified *moderate* version of Triple Nickel per request from the PAX:
Hannibal helped us put in some additional Mary work, then we moseyed back to South CLT Middle School with a wrinkle to the speed bump-merkin arrangement:
5x Merkins at 1st bump
double at each subsequent bump
We then moseyed to the other parking lot and did some partner work:
Next up was a brief visit from Mr. Jack Webb (aka Asst Q #2: Fireman Ed). We made it to 6x Merkins and 24x Arm Raises before running out of time.
Finally, we moseyed back to the main parking lot for some bonus Mary:
The PAX kept a very solid pace today and showed no signs of a post-NFL opening weekend hangover, barely ever a need to pump the brakes and wait for the six. We tried to maintain a *moderate* pace all morning, added lots of 10-counts, etc…hopefully it worked out.
No announcements this morning…is the F3 Golf Tourney happening soon?
Enjoyed the chance to get back out there, brothers!