Joe Davis Dress Rehearsal or CSAUP? A little of both…
The bone-chilling temps Thursday morning did not keep the #F3Sparta faithful from prepping for the Joe Davis Run for Recovery. At 05:15, 5 beasts emerged from their warm automobiles, suited up and took off to conquer a few miles through Weddington Ridge and Providence Hills (with few squats, merkins & LBC’s thrown in).
Disclaimer was given and we headed away from Socrates via Big Pine, hung a Right on Equestrian, and then a Left on Cameron Creek. We followed CC down the hill to the intersection of CC & Hampton Glen, hung another Left on HG and stopped at the 4-way stop on Hampton Glen & Savannah Hills Dr for COP.
COP = 20 SSH IC & 20 IW IC
The Main Thang
The intersection of Hampton Glen & Savannah Hills provides the Home Base for a ‘starfish’ of sorts, so here’s how it went down. HC dead ends into a cul-de-sac that is equal distance from Home Base. Savannah Hills has a stop sign (at the pool house) that just happens to be the same distance away.
Today’s weinke was simple – run to 1 cul-de-sac, perform 20 merkins. Return to Home Base & do 5 burpees. Head to STOP sign for 20 squats. Back to Home Base for 5 burpees. Run to other cul-de-sac & perform 20 LBCs. All exercises OYO and repeat the circuit until it’s time to return.
When it was time to head back to the cars, the PAX completed 80-ish Merkins, Squats & LBCs along with 45-50 burpees. The Garmins claimed we covered just over 5 miles.
Announcements
Joe Davis is Saturday
Moleskin
A couple of guys are battling various maladies, but that didn’t keep them from ignoring the M’s advice and posting anyway. Arena is a regular at Sparta. He’s always been strong & now he’s getting fast. Arsenal came out hoping for fog but likely found frost bite. A dude from the desert is not used to these cold temps, but that hasn’t stopped him. Seems like he’s there every week. Shake N Bake is to blame for this nonsense. This running workout was partially his idea, and he’s owning it by showing every week. He even registered for his 1st Joe Davis 10K to show how strong of a runner he has become. Speaking of ‘becoming a runner’, we welcomed Paper Jam this week. With all of his pre-runs & Blakeovery, Paper Jam likely logs more miles than anyone in Area 51 (that’s an unofficial tally — don’t want any Fast Twitch or Devil’s Turn guys to get their feelings hurt).
What started as an idea being discussed over beers at Happy Hour has turned into one of the best workouts of my week. It was my pleasure to lead this dedicated group of brothers this week, and I look forward to the next one. Thank you guys for blessing me with your presence.
Out.
Dare to be stupid
5 formidable fellows emerged from the shadows in order to take the DRP and start off the day a HIM. After some quick chatter about the layers we adorned we got to it. Here’s this weeks episode of The Brave.
COP
SSH x 20 IC
Mile mosey to bottom of BCP hill off Rushmore dr.
The Thang
1 mile ladder up and down BCP, Partner work was a fail as we were short on numbers, so heres the dilly, yo.
4 stops on the way up and down BCP to Lancaster HWY. Every driveway you do some work and finish at the top and bottom of BCP.
Going up, Stop 1 = 10 x exercise. 2 = 20 x. 3 = 30 x. 4 = 40 x. Going down, same stops and same number of reps. (40, 30, 20, 10 at bottom)
Repeato
Exercises were taken from pax fav poll YHC submitted the day before on slack. (civilian count) Jump Squat, Merkin
6:05 came near and we cut out back to launch. Quick audible as we need to get our pull-ups in and we hauled what butt we had left to pull-up bars near Loch Ness. With 10 pull-ups complete we have a few mins to visit with Mary. LBC x 20 IC, Dolly x 19 IC (Q-fail)
Head up the trail back to launch and done.
Moleskin
It was a frozen tundra for sure this morning. YHC was encouraged that the pax came out to share in the pain. After some observations about our excessive garb, not used to this much clothes while working out, and a lack of facial hair to share frozen beard photos on Insta-machine we got to work. Goal being not stopping long enough to get cold. BCP (Ballantyne Commons Parkway) is a nice 1/2 mile long segment to get some solid work in on. The driveways are approximately 200 meters apart and make for a decent break from the climbs. Mario was out front and crushing Jump Squats. Nard, Fallout, Fire Hazard and YHC traded places consistently. Lap number two was a bit of a #soulcrusher as the increase in Merkins are a challenge. Small sets of 10, then 5 and some 4 counts were the norm to get to the 40, 30 and even 20 counts on the decent down. Our last set of 10 at the start we did Derkins on the guide rail. #watchyoteeth #armfailure 6:05 was the cut-off for mile repeats and we took it on back to the house.
SKEEEERRRRTTTTT! wait a tick, I still have pull-ups to do. Where is the closest pull-up bar? Mario led the way across campus so we could get our daily regiment in. Tks _General
Overall, Strong effort out there from the pax. I’m gonna keep this one in my back pocket for another lead in the warmer part of the year. That way I can watch all the speedsters lap me up and down the hill.
Announcements
Joe Davis is tomorrow!! There is still time to sign up or you can donate and fart sack.
Converge Stonehenge @ daVinci tmrw
Prayers for Bout-time clan and toddler son Jennings who is going thru chemo – 24/7 prayer sign up genius.
Prayers for the fam of Ava Malesiewski – Speed for Need track captain @ CLT Marathon. She passed away due to her illness. But her family was so impacted by the organization and it’s mission they can’t wait to see what SFN has in store for 2018. A chair will be run for her empty @ Joe Davis tmrw.
Go out today and be a better man than you were yesterday. Udder out
Puffins and Reindeer
Lobster Roll took charge on a balmy 12 degree morning at Joust.
Warmup Lap
50 side straddle hop, 25 merkins, jog the length of the field backwards and return
50 imperial walker, 25 staggered merkins, butt kicks on the field and return
20 lbc, 20 flutter, 20 dollys, 25 staggered merkins, high knees on the field and return
half lap
4 laps, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% – in between: 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, and 30 lbcs
half lap to playground
Rotation: step ups, wall sits, decline plank, and dips with a runner on the stairs as the timer
return to parking lot
plankorama
Dollywood complained about the cold (no surprises), Header outran Yeti (barely), Yeti couldn’t feel his fingers, Ductwork told us all about his culinary exploits in Iceland, and Lobster Roll made us all look like 80-year-olds as he finished every workout 2 minutes before us. Good times were had by all and, good news, I’m just starting to feel my fingers again as I type this.
My cheese is frozen
10 PAX answered the call at Hydra (“Ice-dra”?) to steam up the place.
For fear that my digital watch would freeze during the workout, I kept it in a warm spot (none of your business – and you can no longer un-read that statement – – sorry).
The Thang:
All being grizzled F3 veterans, a quick Disclaimer was issued and we began to mosey through the parking lot(s) – pausing at one corner for:
Low slow squats x 10 IC
And another corner for:
Merkins x 10 IC
At the fence for:
Imperial Walker x 15 IC
And at the pavilion for:
Step ups x 10 each leg, OYO.
Trot back to the playground for a warm up set:
5 pullups
10 dips
15 flutter
3 times through.
Slow mosey across the street to the church to partner up and find a suitable lifting rock.
P1: Curl & Press
P2: run to end of parking lot – 5 x CDD, 5 x Lunge Jump – run back.
Flapjack
Repeato 2 times through.
Then some mary
P1: SDHP, Curl, Press
P2: run to end of parking lot – 5 x Diamond merkin, 5 x jump squat – run back.
Flapjack
Repeato 3 times through.
Then some mary
P1: Squat and Tricep press (sneaky hard)
P2: run to end of parking lot – 5 x wide arm merkin, 6 lunge paces – run back.
Flapjack
Repeato 2 times through.
Then some mary
Back across the street to the silky smooth parking lot of the Hydra AO
Get in groups of 3
P1: Run to end of parking lot, 10 merkins, run back
P2: continuous jump squats
P3: continuous LBC’s
Keep rotating through until it’s time to depart.
Mosey back to the launch spot….and………we’re done.
Moleskin
Nothing fancy – just keeping warm on a brisk January morning.
Thanks for coming out, it would have been a bummer to workout alone.
Might want to stay in bed on Friday because we lose a few more degrees.
Announcements
- Sign up for the 2018 Joe Davis Run for Recovery
Neck scarves and EMOMS
After my usual complaining we started off with the usual warm up, laps around the light pole with some SSH and IW mixed in.
With that we were off to Davie park… one caveat:
Each minute a burpee is done.
1 min: 1 burpee
2 min: 2 burpee
3 min: 3 burpee
So the running was constantly interrupted by an increasing number of burpees leaving less and less time before the next whole minute rolled around!
Then to the playground for a little pull-up/burpee action. 5 sets… on each minute do 5 burpees/5 pullups -> up to 5 minutes
After that, we grabbed a lifting rock did 5 thrusters and ran one lap around the short track (about 100m) and rested. EMOM and repeat for 5.
Run back to the AO same thing… burpees on the minute.
Little bit of Mary, and time!
Notes:
- Header had a sweet neck scarf… which I was going to make fun of… but I guess I am the sucker since I order the same one on amazon later.
- Cage is killing it coming to so many workouts in a row – great to see him.
17 degrees is about my limit. maybe I am soft but holy smokes my face was frozen!
Frozen Five
5 PAX posted in ridiculously cold temperatures to run around the Indian Land school complex. 4 went for the pre-run on the usual route and were joined by Soft Pretzel for the main event.
The Thang:
Long mosey down and around ILHS to the parking lot near the football fields where YHC tried to warm up the PAX.
25 x SSH
10 x LSS
10 x Cotton/Potato pickers
10 x Windmill
Butt kicks across parking lot, jog back
10 x SSH
High knees across parking lot
Onto the football practice field for another adventure into the Exicon for Dora 1-2-3.
Partner 1 runs 100 yards out and back
Partner 2 completes various exercises, switch until aggregate number of reps is complete.
Today’s exercises, Merkins 100, Squats 200, Air Presses 300
After this it was onto the hill behind the baseball field for Burpback Mountain.
Partner 1 runs up the ridiculously large hill
Partner 2 does burpees, switch until 100 aggregate burpees are complete
Running low on time back to the launch for some Mary
Pistol crunch for the absent General x 10 each leg
Toe Taps x 10 lead by Soft Pretzel
Bonus Thang:
After COT Soft Pretzel, Erector, and YHC moseyed to the playground to knock out the Merkin/Pullup challenge for the day.
Moleskin:
Not much mumblechatter today as YHC tried his best to keep the PAX occupied and warm and Burpback Mountain was a killer at the end. Great effort by all in suboptimal conditions as evidenced by the difficulty of getting the shovel flag into the frozen tundra. Lots of running as the soft 2.5 mile guarantee posted in the #run channel last night was met.
Announcements:
Joe Davis run
Prayers for Mr. Clean of The Fort who lost his M way too young at 42
Brakeman’s Coffee & Supply
6 PAX, posted on a frigid Thursday morning to partake in another addition of Peak 51. With the disclaimer understood, we were off…
Warm up indian run around the track a couple of times and to the school parking lot for COP
SSH (Side Straddle Hop) x 23
The Thang:
12 Sets of 50-yard wind sprints. Called exercise after each 50 yard sprint.
Then run over to the school wall for some chair and overhead presses. In between three rounds of chair we did two rounds of Planker’s Delight – PAX planked shoulder to shoulder, one person went down the line doing two hand slap merkins with each man.
Then back to the track… 6 loops around the track with 10 LBCs at each corner. Sprint the straightaways… Recover in the end zones.
At 6:11 am we ran back to our automobiles. We drove to Brakeman’s Coffee & Supply. We did 20 merkins and finished up right at 6:15. Brakeman’s had our coffees ready and sitting on the counter for us when we walked in.
The official mileage came in at 3 (pre-run) + 2.20 = 5.20.
The Moleskin:
Excellent effort by everybody today. It was cold but we kept moving. Great group of guys this morning. This best kind of camaraderie… Some of my absolute favorites.
Slim Fast and Tweetsie were out front the entire workout… For the most part we stuck together. No real six today. Nomad and especially Lois kept us current with everything going on in the sports world. I could tell as soon as I made eye contact with Lois (as he was proudly wearing his South Carolina sweatshirt so proudly) in the freezing cold that he was just waiting for the right opportunity to remind me of the Carolina vs FSU outcome last night. If hurting me, helps you, I’ll take it. It was a nice treat to have Lorenzo with us… Home from flight school and got his F3 fix in. Love it. Super guy!
Getting up to workout in the freezing cold isn’t so bad when you enjoy and love the company you workout with. The most painful part of this morning’s workout was lots of smiling. My big bugs bunny front teeth were freezing… Hard to keep them covered up. Slim Fast, Lois, Tweetsie, Nomad and Lorenzo… It was a treat to start my day with you guys. I am both thankful and grateful to know these guys. It was an honor to workout with two veterans (Lorenzo and Nomad).
Tweetsie… Thank you for taking us out. Well done!
Sensei… You were missed. We wish you a speedy recovery.
Thank you, Lois and Sensei, for the opportunity to call the shots. It was fun!
Announcements:
Joe David Run – This Saturday.
Kilowatt is on Q next Thursday at Peak.
Late Centurion BB – Christmas Light Extravaganza
10 men (and an 11 year old boy) showed up at a guest location in 26 degree weather. It was really cold at the time but now seems like a joke compared to this polar vortex crap we have going on right now.
Thang:
Run from CW clubhouse to YHC’s cul-de-sac (.5 miles). YHC had the Christmas lights on for one of the last days of the season. Warm up involved IW, LSW & MC. The main event was the 12 days of Christmas. Essentially the same as 11’s but had to do 12 to get in the Christmas theme. Run to end of street for 11 jump squats and back to cul-de-sac for 1 merkin. Perform 11 times until 11 merkins and 1 jump squat. Stopped after 6 reps for some Mary. Collected the six and ran back to clubhouse for 3 climbs up a large berm with 10 merkins at the bottom of each.
Lots of running with about 3.9 miles. Pretty long for a 45 minute workout. YHC is in the process of taking the lights down. It’s rather depressing.
A Balmy 72 degree workout in January
Gumby was 7 strong this morning despite the 20-something temps outside. When Swiss Miss opened the Eagle’s Nest, Paper Jam an I were expecting indoor temps in the low 30’s but were pleasantly surprised to find that a frozen pipe issue earlier in the week led the cleaning crew to pump up the heat. It was a balmy 72 degrees in the main room, and we took full advantage of the temps to stretch out areas that are routinely abused during the many boot camps and/or running workouts during the week. In case you want to catch up at home, we spent our 45 minutes like this:
Disclaimer followed by devotional.
The Main Event
Warm up the core –
- March in place with high, wide knees. Slow, controlled butt kickers
- Lie on back – soles of feet together & knees apart
- Arms up & overhead
- Knees up to 90
- Flutter with opposite leg @ 90 & arms up
- Add in arms – opposite arm to outside of leg
- Freddie Mercury with arms wide (twist at waist)
- Flutter with opposite hand reaching to outside of leg
- Windshield Wiper legs
- Table Top to Down Dog to Plank
- Side plank -> Plank–> Down Dog
- Draw knee in – lift & knee to floor (finish in plank)
- Plank –> Down Dog –> Forward Fold
Yoga Flow to get us into various stetches
- Sun Salutation X 3
- Mountain Pose –> Chair Pose
- Lean forward, interlock fingers & step back to lunge. Release hands
- Runners Pose
- Sun Salutation –> Crescent Pose
- Crescent Pose –> Warrior 1
- Sun Salutation –> Warrior 1 –> Warrior 2
- Sun Salutation –> Warrior 1 –> Warrior 2 –> Warrior 3
- Sun Salutation –> Chair Pose –> to mat (on your six)
- Reverse Plank
- Knees to chest
- Nose to knees
- Left knee to chest & extend Right leg
- Grab arch of foot & extend
- Left ankle on Right thigh & lift
- Pigeon
- (repeat for other side)
- Windshield Wiper Knees
- Seated with legs extended wide for hamstring stretch
- On back with feet at edges of mat. Windshield wiper legs
Time
Devotional
“You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.”
—Psalm 65:11
As we come to the beginning of a new year and the ending of an old one, we often wish we could turn over a new leaf or have a fresh start. No doubt about it, there have been certain things we have said or done in this past year that we have come to regret.
Wouldn’t it be great to just start over again? In reality, as a Christian you can have a fresh start. The new year is still a blank slate. There are opportunities ahead of you. You decide which path you are going to walk in this coming year. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls'” (Jeremiah 6:16). You decide what your priorities are going to be. You decide which direction you are going to take, each and every day.
Maybe some of us need a fresh start in this coming year. Here is a great opportunity to make a new commitment. We don’t know what the new year is going to bring. We don’t know what problems we are going to encounter. We don’t know what changes are going to come. We don’t know what blessings the Lord has in store for us. But whatever the new year holds, we don’t have to be afraid because Jesus Christ is going to be waiting there for us.
God is in control of your future. He is ready to bless you in this coming year.
On what basis am I going to live in this new year? Will it be on the old basis of it-all-depends-on-me, do-it-yourself goodness before God, trying my best to be pleasing to God and meaning it with all my heart but never realizing the depths of evil with which I have to deal? Or will I accept the gift of God that is waiting for me every day, fresh from His hand, a gift of forgiveness, of righteousness already mine, of a relationship in which He is my dear Father and I am his cherished, beloved son, and in which I therefore have provided for me all I need, all day long, so that I may say no to evil and yes to truth and right?
Will this year be one in which your life will be characterized by peace, fragrance, and beauty or, do you insist on living it on the same old basis? That is the choice before us, every one of us. How are we going to live in this new year?
Life Application: Before us stretches a new year, a new beginning. The old is past, put away forever. On which one of the two bases are we going to live in this new year?
Announcements
Joe Davis is Saturday
Sparta is Thursday
Conviction & Mint Hill workouts converge next Wednesday @ Stallings Elem
Moleskin
The core group of regulars showed up at Gumby this AM and welcomed 1 new site FNG. YHC was worried that the weinke would not cover the full 45 minutes, but it turned out that it had to be cut short. All of the grunts & groans made it sound like all 7 got their money’s worth this AM. We started & ended our workout thinking of the opportunities that are granted to us with the beginning of the new year.
We prayed for all of our F3 brothers that have gone MIA or are on IR.
Thanks to Tweetsie & Swiss Miss to giving me the opportunity to lead. As always, it was an honor.