Area 51 Christmas Party 2017!
Who can believe it’s already November and time to start locking down the Christmas event schedule. While I wish I had the ability to share a dry, witty pre blast (see Ickey Shuffle) it ain’t going to be that good. What you will get are all the details on how to join us to have a great time.
Area 51 will be hosting the Christmas party at Seaboard in downtown Matthews! It should be a great event to enjoy some fellowship with the guys you have been working out with all year without actually having to workout. And you get to bring your M with you so she can meet the guys with all the funny nick names that you talk about.
The Date: Friday, December 8, 2017 at 7:30 PM. You have nothing better to do that night.
The Location: Seaboard in Downtown Matthews. You all asked for something relatively close with the ability to Uber in an out should you need to. We got that.
The Alcohol: Cash bar – the venue serves all the wine and craft beer you and your M can pay for. Just drink responsibly and tip your bartender. Plus they are supposed to start brewing their own beer in the back building this month!
The Food: We will have hors d’oeuvres covered. If you would like more you are welcome to bring in any food to Seaboard and there’s a chance of a food truck or two out front if the weather is decent.
The Price: All that for $20 a person! (That’s $40 a couple for you math majors) Just go pay our PayPal account and note its for the Christmas party, your F3 Name and M’s name should she be joining you.
PayPal link: paypal.me/F3Area51 (This will show as Keith Hendrix)
Or use email address: area51bizq@gmail.com When you send the money, use the Friends & Family option to avoid additional fees from PayPal.
The Dress Code: Plan on Snappy Casual or Festive or Just NOT your smelly workout gear. It’s a bar in downtown Matthews, so don’t over do it, but at least try to make an effort not to embarrass your M. For some of you that may be too late, but try anyway.
Also: This party is different than the SOB party (which is on Sat 12/16). It’s OK if you are an A51 guy and come to Seaboard. It’s OK if you are an SOB guy and go out to the Barn. It’s also OK if you are ambiguous, like Devil’s Turn, and want to go to both parties. Just don’t go to neither.
Sign up, Pay up, Talk it up, and HC or ask questions below.
-Alf
You want reps? You got reps …
11 pax gathered in the dark (10 meatheads and 1 runner) for a whole bunch of reps and a playlist that promised to stay in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Pretty sure there were a few post 80’s songs in the playlist, but at least there were plenty of reps to go around.
Hoover-sized shovel flag planted, disclaimer given, and out of nowhere Rachel pops into the circle minus a kettle-bell. Pax stood in stunned silence until YHC said, “You know we’re not running right? You’ll be in that same spot at the end of the workout.” Rachel confirmed, he was lent two kettlebells and we got underway.
The Thang:
Warm-up:
SSH x 20, Two-handed swing x 20
IW x 20, Two-handed swing x 20
Plank up – mt climbers x 20, hold plank for 20 seconds, Two-handed swing x 20
Circuit 1:
Squat, Merkin, Good Morning, Two-handed Swing
x 20, x 15, x 10, x 5
Circuit 2: (single sided)
Clean and press from ground, Reverse lunge, Lawnmower (reverse grip), alternating swing
x 10 each side, x7 each side, x 5 each side, x 3 each side
waiter/rack/suitcase carry across the parking lot. Start with right arm, come back with left.
Circuit 3:
Curls, Upright row, Overhead Tricep Extension
X 20, x15, x 10, x 5
Circuit 4:
alternating swings, Snatch, OH presses, diamonds merkins,
x 10 each side, that’s all the time we had for that circuit
Mary: LBC’s with bell IC x20, standing oblique lean with bell x10 each side.
The Moleskinny:
It was billed as a bunch of reps, and the pax got their money’s worth. YHC was swinging a 53 lb bell and was usually the last to finish each set, so it’s safe to say the pax were killing it the whole time. The playlist was a big hit by track 2, with pax commenting to turn up the AC/DC and Tom Petty.
The idea with this workout was simple, exhaust the muscles in the first set of the circuit, then dial back the reps each time so at the end 5 reps felt like the hardest 5 you’ve ever done. Not sure if it turned out that way, but the mumble-chatter was low and everyone was sweating at the end. The most important part (to YHC) was stopping after each circuit to wait for all pax to finish so we always start together and no one ranges out too far ahead of the group.
Great work today and thanks to Tulip for taking us out.
Announcements:
Let them Soar 5K – This Saturday
Christmas Party – December 8th at the Seaboard in Matthews
Winter Gear Order – See the F3 website before next Friday, makes a great Christmas gift
Finally for your listening pleasure, today’s playlist:
Jimi Hendrix – Spanish Castle Magic
AC/DC – Shoot to Thrill
Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down a Dream
The Who – The Seeker
The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
CCR – Fortunate Son
The Black Keys – Grown So Ugly
The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter
Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
Stiff Little Fingers – Guitar and Drum
Supersuckers – Paid
Final Countdown
It was an honor to have my first Death Valley Q. I don’t know the area very well, so we stuck to the track for most of the workout. Thanks to Spackler for his dainty farts that kept us entertained throughout the workout.
Here’s how it went down…
Jog to track
Side Straddle Hop, Imperial Walker
2 laps in under 4 minutes
Begin the countdown
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Merkins and Squats
Lap, sprint last straightaway
Countdown from 9 – dry docks and jump squats
100 yd dash, recover with backwards jog
8- 1 – flutter and lbc
2 laps, under 3:50
7-1 – partner handslap merkin, sister Mary Catherine
25 bear crawl steps, jog
6-1 – nippler and bird dog
25 lunges, jog
5-1 – heels to heaven and dolly
1 lap, under 1:50
4-1 burpee, speedskater
3-1 clap merkin, reburpee
15 burpee broad jump, jog
2 minutes – freddy mercury
1 minute – plank
Final Countdown complete! For all you arrested development fans out there, I’ll leave you with the mental picture of Job Bluth doing magic.
Thanks Dollywood and Smokey for the chance to lead!
PreBlast: Balrog II
Balrog I, the SOB region’s first #CSAUP event, lived up to its name. It was a complete beast. So intense that Honey Bee moved to a different region and Pebbles hasn’t been seen since. The overwhelming consensus, despite reason, was that we must do this again. Enter Balrog II.
Key Details
Date: Veteran’s Day, 11/11/17
Time: Main Event 0700 – 1100 / Lunch & Drinks @ Hickory Tavern Ballantyne @ 1100
Start/End Location: Hickory Tavern Ballantyne
Format: 13 mile loop course with five 20-minute pain stations (distance does not include mileage covered during pain stations)
Course Options:
- Full course from Hickory Tavern Ballantyne: 13 mi
- Join at Elon Park ES ~8AM: 8.5 mi
- Join at Blakeney Shopping Center (main fountain area) ~8:45AM: 6.0 mi
- Join at Stonecrest Shopping Center (movie theater) ~9:30AM: 4.0 mi
Course Map:
Misc:
- PAX will stay together. No man left behind.
- Water will be provided at pain stations
- Bring fuel so you don’t bonk
- Bring shovel flags (it is Veteran’s Day afterall)
- Bring change of clothes for lunch
- Finger foods provided at Hickory Tavern free of charge (thank you Kid Rock)
- Still evaluating possibility of event shirt order
- Donations collected will benefit the Patriot Military Family Foundation (PMFF)
If you were not there last year, you may be asking yourself, “Why would I do this?“. 33 PAX of all shapes, sizes and abilities answered the bell in 2016 and the positive feedback was overwhelming. The 2nd F was unparalleled. For a lot of us it was the hardest thing we had ever done, and we left looking forward to next year. That time is now. With your help we can make the sequel even better. Like Sharknado 2 or Speed 2: Cruise Control. But with merkins.
-TUCK
Stealth Merkins
On this All Saint’s Day, 9 pax shook off the sugar coma from last evening and gathered to stretch out the stretchy parts and lengthen the shortened parts, those parts shortened by our considerable efforts six other days per week. Notable, 5 pax pre-warmed all those various parts with a pre-run.
Turning the convention of the past year of Gumby workouts 90 degrees counter-clockwise, with some pax (& Q) confusion and disorientation, mats were laid and the pax put through the following paces:
The Thang:
Savasana
Devotional – the Divine Treasure Map, by David Bernthal
Gentle warm-up:
- Hip bridge – double, then single leg
- Cat, Cow, Check your six
- Makhtar N’Diayes
- Audible to add: J Lo – ’cause, why not?
- Sun Salutations:
- Forward fold
- Halfway lift
- Forward fold
- High plank
- Low plank
- Up dog
- Down dog
- Hop to top of mat
- Halfway lift
- Forward fold
- Rise up, arms overhead, to Mountain, prayer hands to heart
- Repeato 3x
Balance work:
- Chair
- Tree, left leg bent
- Chair
- Tree, right leg bent
- Chair, twist left then right
- Dancer, left leg held
- Eagle, left leg over right
- during the less than fluid move from Dancer to Eagle, YHC remembered to offer the Disclaimer of non-professionalism
- Pyramid
- Triangle
- Half moon
- Warrior 3 to Airplane
- Mountain
- Repeato on the Right
Vigorous warm-up:
- Mountain
- Forward fold – ½ lift – forward fold
- High plank – low plank – high plank (#stealthmerkin)
- Down dog
- Rise to Warrior 2 – Left leg forward
- High plank – low plank – high plank
- Down dog
- Rise to Warrior 2 – Right leg forward
- High plank – low plank – high plank
- Down dog
- Jump to top of mat
- ½ lift – forward fold
- Rise to salutation
- Repeato 3-4x total
Lunge series:
- (Left leg forward)
- Low lunge
- Balancing low lunge
- Crescent low lunge
- Optional: quad stretch
- Prayer twist from lunge
- Groin stretch from lunge
- Runner’s lunge, toes down, then toes up
- Kneeling toe/plantar stretch
- Repeato on Right
- Pigeon, forward fold, then back bend – left leg forward
- Pigeon, forward fold, then back bend – right leg forward
Corpse pose (savasana)
Devotional encore – excerpt from Susan Wright
Time
COT
Announcements:
- Let them Soar 5k – this Saturday, 11/4, at Christ Covenant Church – Speed for Need will run two chariots there as well
- Area 51 Christmas Party – Friday, December 8 – Seaboard in Matthews
- Join Swiss Miss at a joint F3/FiA yoga workout tomorrow, 11/2, at corner of Providence & Sharon Amity in the underground garage. Meets bi-weekly.
Fluid moleskinne:
It was great to get back among the Gumby pax today, as YHC has been using Wednesdays for recovery (sleep) recently. Perfect weather too (not that it matters so much indoors).
YHC picked up the “vigorous warmup” section from a power yoga class attended a few weeks back. (Pro tip: think twice about doing a heavy strength workout before a power yoga session #shaky.) Madison correctly called out that the high-low-high planks were just a stealth merkin. #cantgetanythingpastthatguy
Additional background links on Martin Luther and the Reformation:
- Indulgences
- Luther posted his 95 theses inviting scholarly debate
- Martin Luther
- Note: there are many more great resources but these seemed most succinct IMO
Thanks, as always, for the opportunity to lead today. It’s an honor.
Aye.
Rocks. They’re Good For You
14 men came to Anvil this morning and got a full body workout in. Including some lifting in the form of rocks.
The Thang
Quick COP that included 15 x Merkins, 15 x Mountain Climbers, and 15 x Low Slow Squats. All in cadence. Followed by a Burp n Merk set to 5 OYO.
Mosey to the end of the parking lot near entrance 4. Instructions were given to run to each speed bump along the perimeter road. At each speed bump, stop and perform a Burp n Merk set up to 5. When finished at the last speed bump, turn around and do the same on the way back. Finishing where we started.
Mary while waiting on the six.
Mosey to the rock pile near the baseball field. Before choosing a rock, run to the playground, do 15 x Pullups, and run back.
Choose a rock suitable for lifting and running. Carry said rock to the light pole nearest the rock pile.
Round 1 of rock work consisted of 10 x Bicep Curls, 10 x Shoulder Presses, 10 x Triceps Extensions. Drop the rock. Run to the second light pole. Perform 10 x Jump Squats. Run back to your rock. That’s 1 round. Complete 5 total.
Mary while waiting for the six.
Before moving onto round 2 of rock work, run to the playground for 15 more Pullups.
Round 2 of rock work consisted of 10 x Thrusters, carry your rock to the first light pole, drop the rock and do 10 x Burpees jumping over the rock after each Burpee. After the Burpees are complete, pick the rock back up and run to the start. That’s 1 round. Complete 5 total.
Mary while waiting for the six.
Take the rocks back to the pile. Mosey back to the launch. Time is up. Actually a few seconds over.
Naked Moleskin
YHC posts many workouts that take place at Calvary Church so there have been some ideas for workouts floating around in YHC’s head for a while. Glad to get to use some of them this morning. That was fun. Hopefully everyone got something out of it. Thanks to Hannibal for the take out.
Announcements
Area 51 Christmas Party is Friday 12/8 at Seaboard in Matthews.
Buy a SPEED FOR NEED Shirt… or TWO… PLEASE
Summary, Thang, Moleskine, and Everything Your Heart Desires from a Backblast…
22 men showed up to play with some man-strollers…. boy-toyz… this isn’t working. Let’s just call them what they are… SPEED FOR NEED racing chariots. Fresh off his sub-20 minute 5k, Benny got there early intent on falling on his face at least once more to make himself prettier… um faster. Disclaimer and Operating Instructions… left a couple of minutes late because YHC likes to hear the sound of his own voice. It’s sexxxy like that. And old ladies at home and less old ladies at Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctors offices waiting rooms around Charlotte were serenaded by it for all of 2 minutes yesterday on FOX Good Morning Charlotte (http://www.fox46charlotte.com/good-day/seen-on-tv/290443874-video ) #MongolTV. Mosey down Woodfox Drive to where Fireman Ed lives on Burning Tree Drive. We did 5 laps of the cul-de-sac loop alternating pushing the chariots filled with 50-80lbs of weight. There was a strange banging noise coming from the general direction of Ed’s bedroom… and some panting. But alas, it was just Cheese Curd huffing and stomping his rucking legs around the circle, he was working hard. Nothing to see here. Next over to the steep hill on Rising Meadows Road for 5 trips up and down with the racing chairs, alternating between PAX. Backwards run halfway to top if not pushing. Hillz Part Deaux: 3 or 4 trips up to the top, this time pushing a PAX AYG to the top (switch halfway if needed). Turkey Leg helped simulate a small child Track Commander riding in the chariot Marathon Day. He kept playing that role when we were done with the workout… the small child. The guy can flat out act, and stay in character! Back towards launch for some speed work (aka time filler). Sprint down Strawberry lane from one speed bump to the next, with instruction from YHC to try and beat the chariots. Purell and Lorax… you completely failed the test. You won the “Least Willing to Care About Anyone But Yourself Award” for finishing ahead of the racing chair, while the rest of us didn’t take the bait, and finished behind. Redefining #HIM the wrong way… High INDIVIDUAL Men. Finish off with 35 Merkin Ladder (regular/wide/diamond/R-hand Fwd/L-hand Fwd/R-leg up/L-Leg up) really only because Mr Brady was there and YHC wanted his male hormone dispenser to re-simulate the BRR a year ago… or was it this year… both? By doing a strength exercise. Eh whatever. Finito! Thanks Haze for the takeout. YHC will tag the South Charlotte Twitter handle a few less times for it… but you won’t be able to tell.
More musings: Breaking news… Alf is not helpful. In fact he’s something that rhymes with BRICK…. Yup, he did have a little cough this morning.. SICK! His efforts to coordinate the marathon relay were negated 10x by releasing the inventory amount of SPEED FOR NEED shirts sitting in YHC office… 526. Did YHC mention it’s the second highest selling shirt in all of F3 Nation? YUP* it is. YHC didn’t recognize One Eye this morning… mixed him up in the group of 35-45yr old white guys that showed this morning, except Margo who hasn’t stopped growing his Movember since last year. Men’s health all day every day! Poptart…. excuse me, Rachel is… the model of men’s health. They both are models really, BEFORE and AFTER. Thanks Madison for coming and preaching more SPEED FOR NEED… YHC will unblock you one day, since it’s so irritating my feed is littered with your Tweets. Ok, would love to stay and provide more candor in this backblast, but time to get home to trick-or-treat…. My son is Indiana Jones, and YHC knows because of the whip mark on my back from the “toy”.
Tolkien’s Thoughts (the somewhat serious part)
Thanks for having me out this morning, and thanks everyone for your support, big or small for SPEED FOR NEED. Sometimes I can get emotional in presence of my brothers because you guys are my family, my outlet, and I appreciate being able to have that in my life, and hope you all feel like at some point you can confide in another brother and feel like F3 is true community as well.
Here is a segment of the backblast I wrote for Lake Norman’s Amazing Grace 5K Race, the only race I have pushed in so far, but thought it would be good to share with the group.
“When I think about it, our being at the Amazing Grace Race was no accident. It was God giving us a gentle reminder, in the midst of so much short term success and exuberance, of why SPEED FOR NEED exists. It was about Him refocusing us on what SPEED FOR NEED is really about: to be there and help the community, with the gifts He has given us… our time, our money, our fitness, our kindness, and for SPEED FOR NEED, our racing chariots. A reminder that each of us can make a small difference wherever we are at, whether it’s a 15,000 person race or just a few hundred. A reminder that when we feel burdened by soccer games taking up every Saturday, that there is a mother and father out there that will never see their child kick a ball, since they’re immobilized in a wheelchair. SPEED FOR NEED isn’t about having 50+ F3 Nation runners signed up to get the largest team award. It’s not about how fast we can push our Track Commanders to the finish line. And it’s not about how many people watch our Youtube videos or like our Facebook page. It’s about continuing to help the community one person at a time.”
Announcements & Events
- 11/11/2017 Charlotte Marathon Relay – looking forward to running with you men. Good luck on those hills. Message me if you want a SFN shirt $20 and/or if you want to run alongside the racing chairs in the event.
- 1/6/2018 Joe Davis 10K / 5K: Today is the last day to sign up for the Joe Davis 10K and 5K and save $5 on pricing. In addition, Rock Thrill will donate $10 of his own money for everyone who signs up today, as well as do 10 burpees for each man that signs up, in honor of his fallen brother Joe, whom this race is in memory of. For those of you newer to F3, consider this race a HC every year. It easily draws the most F3 men and FiA women from all regions in the Charlotte area.
- SignUp Link: https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/
- Few other things… can’t remember. I’d refer you to the newsletter . Speaking of the newsletter, there are 1,252 recipients but only 369 opens (~30%)and 4.3 click rate. Cmon fellas get involved. Read what’s happening in our region, get involved and make F3 more than a workout. You’ll not regret it.
SYITG ~JRR Tolkien
Trick or Treating – Watchtower Style
Halloween Trick or Treating
On a crisp autumn morning, 18 PAX showed up for Fuze Boxes Virgin Q and some Trick or Treating fun. We were graced with not one, but two Bottle Caps. It was determined that since Jingles showed up on time dressed as Bottle Cap, that he now needs to come dressed as Bottle Cap for future workouts.
Warm up:
• Two laps around the parking lot
• Side Straddle Hop
• Opposite Knee to Elbow mountain climbers
• Peter Parkers
• Imperial Walkers with a squat hop
• Cherry Pickers – yes, we looked ridiculous
Mosey to Bus Parking Lot
Thang:
• Partner up. One does one legged step up while the other runs the bus loop. Transition exercise 5 partner darkens with hand slaps. 2 rounds. Its right about here where the complaining started about the number of new exercises introduced. I tapped down the uprising with promises of candy at the end.
• Partner up. One does Durkens while the other runs the bus loop. Transition exercise: In and Outs (Bottom half of a burpee). 2 rounds.
Mosey to Rock Pile
• Partner up: One partner does curl press with a heavy rock. Other partner does toe touches on the curb. 2 Rounds.
• Partner up: One partner does front raise and triceps extension with a heavy rock. The other partner does lung/squat/lung. 2 Rounds
Mosey to back of school
• Peoples Chair with 50 overhead claps
Mosey into a Jailbreak to side parking lot
• Lock horns with partner and push partner to top of parking lot. Sprint back to lower parking lot and flap jack with partner. Several PAX sucking air on this one – including the VQ.
• While waiting for 6 in, group started small arm circles out to the side.
Slow mosey to front of school while doing arm circles
• American Hammers while passing bucket of candy around. Each Pax takes one piece of candy and we preformed exercise until the candy was gone. It was reported that Money Ball turned the candy bucket up during the exercise. The chocolates around his mouth was all the evidence we needed to confirm our suspicions.
• Finished workout with Pistol LBC’s
Moleskin:
• We welcomed FNG – Matt to the group. He was given the name “The Great Pumpkin” in honor of Halloween being his first Q and the tie in with his work at Metlife/Snoopy/Charlie Brown’s The Great Pumpkin.
• Mad Dog and Halfback out early offering encouragement to a nervous VQ who was teetering on loosing his voice from a night of coughing. Thanks guys.
• Shout out to Posse for giving me the opportunity to Q for the first time and for the constructive criticism afterwards. Some lessons learned after this first Q and I hope to improve during future Q’s.
• Posse provided the pink handkerchief in support of Brest Cancer Awareness month. Posse shared a personal story earlier this month of losing his mom at a young age that has stuck with me all month. Thoughts to all those affected by this horrible disease and the impact it has had on families and friends.
• After all the talk – only one Halloween costume was brought out today. Thanks to Jingles for adding some laughter to the group.
• Good work by the group. I threw in some curveballs with new exercises mixed in with my inexperience of leading the group. Everyone was able to hang and figure out what I was attempting to do.
• In listening back to the recording, I can barely make out Money Ball’s name as he is chomping down on what is thought to be a Snicker bar. I’m glad some of yall enjoyed the candy. That Caramel really locks down the jaws when you are combining fun sized to make real sized bars. Despite his best efforts, all the candy in the word won’t bring Tennessee another win this year.
Announcements:
• Union County F3 Christmas Party at the Red Barn. Information posted on Group Me.
• This Thursday a movie will be playing for one night only at Stonecrest that tells a story of a guy pushing his terminally ill friend 500 miles through Europe. A few tickets still available.
Do you have a better way to stay warm than to set your hair on fire?
9 men succumbed to FOMO and entered the DMZ for a workout brought to you by Joe Weider and inspired by TR
Merkins x 30 IC
Mosey to C@C for some laps:
Lap #1 (~1/3 mile) – 12 Jerkins on the corners. Flutter on the 6.
Partner up, groups of 3.
#2 – Partner One, run with a 45# rubber plate . Partners Two & Three, 10 Monkey Humpers, then chase down the plate carrier. Rotate through, 10 MH each transition until plate back to starting point. Plank on the 6.
#3 – Partner One, Hairburner w/33#* “Weider International” steel plates. Partner Two – Repeat rounds of 5 Merkins, 10 Squats, 15 LBCs. Partner Three – run (use breezeway) until reaching burner man. Burner man back to exerciser, exerciser runs to burner. Rotate through until plate is back to starting point. Plank on the 6. (* 15 kilo)
#4 – 12 HR Merkins on the corners, Freddie Mercury on the 6.
#5 – same as #2, except with 10 Jump Squats on each transition.
#6 – 6 Diamonds & 6 Wide Arms on each corner, LBCs on the 6
#7 – just a lap
Mike Tyson x 10 IC
Rosalita x20 IC
Derkins x 2 IC
End.
Check out Speed for Need if you haven’t. When & where are Thanksgiving convergences?
Great takeout by Snowflake.
NMM
- 9 pax showing up was clearly divine providence – no need to alter the planned 3-man team structure
- The 60 merkins on the front end was a crowd pleaser
- On the first chasedown lap, we ended up with 2 four man teams and one 1 man team for about 1/3 of a lap. Math is tough sometimes
- Hairburners: I remember TR showing up at Carmel Road Park not long after I started F3 with his trunk full of steel. No less painful today
- Sparks were flying, there was a real risk of igniting the dried leaves blowing around the bottom of the lot
- In prepping for this I found out a) Joe Weider is no longer with us, RIP and b) He was Canadian which explains his stubborn attempt to cram the metric system onto the 1980s lifting public
- One of the teams (not mine) absolutely destroyed the burner lap – nice work
- The burner intervals were a little too long so that will be tweaked next time
- All in all a good (that is to say terrible) change of pace
- Also should give a hat tip to Prohibition and the terrible Horsey McSandbag workout this past summer – another inspiration
- Snowflake – Respect; great to see you at DMZ again
- Reminder to headlock at that neighborhood Halloween party you are going to tomorrow
- Thank you for the opportunity to lead
AF