Nine PAX, including a visitor from The Promised Land (or at least the land where YHC spent 4.5 quality years getting edumacated), gathered in the cozy confines of the Scout Hut for another round of Gumby, the only F3 workout where you actually feel better when it’s over.
THANG:
Start in corpse for devo.
Stretch out, arms above head.
Bridge x4
Windshield wipers, L and R, last set holding in one direction while looking in the other (and requisite flapjacking).
Grab a strap or rope — wrap around left leg, 90 degrees straight up, then out to the left. Repeato, then flapjack.
Sit up, bring your feet in for butterfly. Give it a few flaps, then press knees to the floor (or as close as you can go).
Move to tabletop — cycle through cat and cow.
Then do the Odell Beckham — right leg out, as if to decorate a fire hydrant. Make circles with your knee. Flapjack.
Kick out into plank, run through a sun salutation 3 times. Meet in mountain, then do a half-salutation, meeting in down dog.
In down dog, right leg straight out in 3-legged dog. Then bring the knee in for cheetah. Go through that cycle three times, finish sun salutation.
Then, another half-salutation, going through the same series with the left leg.
1 full SS OYO. Meet in mountain.
Face the wall, star pose, slowly descend to mat. Walk your hands back, then to the right, then to the left. Arise!
1 full SS OYO. Meet in mountain.
Face the other wall. Star post, slowly descend to mat. Bend left leg, sit back on that leg, right leg straight out, foot flexed for the ninja post. Flapjack. Repeato. Arise!
1 half-salutation, meet in down dog.
Swing right leg through, come up into Warrior 1. Move to Warrior 2, then Peaceful Warrior, then back to 2 and 1. Repeato. Step into mountain.
Half-salutation into down dog, do the same warrior series on the other side.
Meet in mountain, let’s do some tree!
After some heavy wobbling on both sides in tree, half-salutation, meet in down dog, right leg back and through for pigeon. Elbows down to lean in to the stretch, then come back up. If you are a freak of nature, try and bring your arms up in almost a crescent lunge with pigeon.
Unwind, then flapjack.
Back down on the mat, hug your knees, roll around.
Resume corpse pose.
—30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Moderate running/boot camp workout launching from Socrates Academy (look it up, it’s under “So Crates”) Thursdays at 5:15 am. Get in touch with Madison for more details.
Paper Jam on Q next week. Always a good leader and crowd pleaser.
SKINE OF THE MOLE:
First off, welcome to Cesspool, a visiting PAX from “Famously Hot” Columbia, S.C. We were glad to have you. Also, based on his reaction, I like to think that this whole active recovery workout was a revelation. Gumby is taking over.
As usual, the music is central to the tale of a particular Gumby. Given that I forgot my speaker, which usually draws rave reviews from sound engineers Tweetsie and Swiss Miss, I had to run it off my phone. I also could not quite get the volume at a satisfactory level. I told our beloved Site Qs/sound engineers that they should put a community speaker in the budget for next year. I still like the ABR station on Pandora as a shakeup from the usual ethereal offerings centered around yoga. My personal favorite was a bluegrassy cover of “Heaven” by Canada’s favorite son, Bryan Adams.
Also, I just noticed for the first time this morning the bear cutout hiding in the rafters of our beloved scout hut. Kinda cool.
As always, thanks to Swiss and Tweetsie for the opportunity to lead (and for putting up with my smart aleck commentary in BBs). Gumby continues to be a key part of my own personal fitness routine, and it is always an easy choice hanging with a great group of guys.
Sound off in the comments for anything I missed (or when we might expect that community speaker).
9 Strong&Fast showed up for the midweek edition of Area 51’s best and toughest workout on Hwy 51. Here’s what they did:
Quick lap around the parking lot, circle up
SSHX20
Copperhead SquatsX20
Monkey HumpersX20
Mountain ClimbersX20
Head down to the track for partner BLIMPS
One partner runs, the other does a called exercise
B-urpees
L-unges
I-mperial walkers
M-ercans
P-lank jacks
S-quats
Switch to lunges going down the track while your partner runs, flapjack
Switch to reverse lunges while your partner runs, jog it in together
Pit stop area at the end of track which included: LBC’s, dollies, flutter kicks, the Protractor
Up to the parking lot for 5 burpees….that’s it!
Moleskin:
Huggy Bear has gotten a lot faster since the last time I saw him. We were running together, pushing the pace, then Purell blows past us like we’re standing still. Of course, he and his partner Cheese Curd (who is also fast) almost lapped the entire PAX. Whim was quite taken with the shooting star, another reminder of the amazing world created for us.
Announcements:
Celebration party for Dumpster Fire at a (the) bar in Pineville. See twitter for details.
Answers will be given to questions such as:
*Who will carry Councilman Fire’s football? My nomination is Spackler.
*Who’s good enough with photoshop to add DF’s 2.0 under his Resolute Desk?
and most importantly…
*Will Pineville be the recipient of several large federal grants for more Pull-up Bars?
I think there’s a Christmas party somewhere, sometime but no one mentioned it.
There were several PAX afraid Monday night like with thoughts of “worst. intervals. ever.” and “I can already feel the soreness” and “that looks awful”. Only one apparent sadist, “I look forward to this suffering”. But, all that had been promised was some return of Mix Mash / Mixer Upper / variable intervals and perhaps some overtime, but hopefully what was gained was confidence and fitness.
The THANG:
The Moleskin:
Announcements:
16 (17?) mostly on time PAX took on Bagpipe this morning and lived to sound off in COT.
Thang
Moleskin
Aside from The Brave on Friday, Tuesday is my favorite day of the week in SOBLand. Between Bagpipe or Swift (depending on how fresh the legs are feeling) and Timekeeper afterwards, it is almost always a morning that starts with a great workout, plenty of PAX eager to share some 2F, and followed with even more 2F and a good dose of 3F. Can’t think of a better way to start the morning. Hopefully everyone who came out to Bagpipe this morning at least got the first 2 and I know anyone who stayed after for Haggis’ lead at Timekeeper didn’t leave disappointed.
Hops, being the inflexible old man traditionalist that he is, was somewhat concerned that our COP wasn’t exactly circular. Pretty sure it was because he had less chance to heckle the Q who was way on the other side of the line. #Strategy
Abba was still sporting the mighty impressive beard this morning and was pushing the pace as he tends to do, battling with Doc most of the morning. Take a minute if you can and send a well wish to (or say a prayer for) Abba and his family as they take a new journey and start a new chapter in their lives. Abba said farewell today to Charlotte and will be moving to Atlanta with his family for a few months before moving onto Thailand to found a church. As Paper Jam said in the takeout, it takes a lot of courage and resolve to step up and step out of your comfort zone to follow this calling. We wish you and your entire family the best and expect you to keep in touch and reach out if you need us.
War Eagle is a certified Bagpipe regular now and is moving up his running game. I plan to coerce sense a Bagpipe VQ in the very near future (Tagalong, take note and get him on the schedule). Lots of Respect out this morning (Frehleys, Long Haul, Fredo, Tater Hole) but you wouldn’t know it by watching these dudes workout. I’d wager Long Haul can out-sprint nearly all the SOB PAX even with a wonky hip. Really appreciate Tater Hole (F3 Granite Falls / Hickory) coming out with Transporter to join the SOBs for a workout. Hope to see you again next time you are in town.
Please consider signing up for the SOB Holiday Party (link below — and here). If you’ve been around a while, you know it’s not something you want to miss. And, if you are relatively new, this is an incredible opportunity to get to know some people on a deeper level outside of the gloom.
Thanks to Tagalong and One Niner (heal up soon, buddy) for the invite to lead.
Announcements
Sorry for the delay getting this out…it seems my employer doesn’t trust our F3 web site security protocols. In any case, it was a bit colder than expected, 29 degrees at 5:15am (compared to the 36 my app told me the night before). So I gave the instructions and a thorough disclaimer and off we went…10 runners running.
In an effort to deviate from last week’s homage to Ratt (see if anyone gets that reference) by Alf. I chose a more direct route straight out of SCMS via Woodfox to Raintree Lane, down and back up to 4 Mile Creek. Break for 25 Merkins. Then out 4 Mile all the way to Ballantyne Commons…25 more Merkins. Back to Raintree Lane intersection 25 more Merkins and back the “home stretch” to SCMS. With a few extra minutes, Alf opted for 25 more Merkins for a solid 100, then we did some COP with IW, Low Slow Squats, Dolly, Freddie Mercury and LBC to close it out.
MOLESKIN: Fun group today, albeit a little quiet at first…I think some were trying to figure out how we could possibly get to Ballantyne Commons and/or do we really have time and/or why aren’t I still in bed where it’s toasty. Others were second guessing their choice of apparel including proper hand protection from the cold and coarse roadways upon which we would embark on a Merkin frenzy (by Fast Twitch standards). Rachel and Turkey Leg took a quick lead and never looked back. Followed by Astro, Alf and One Eye. Solid pace up front. I’ve never met Astro before but he had no problem showing off his speed and vintage snow hat (poof ball and all!). Margo, Purple Haze, Benny, Mr. Brady and YHC kept it human like. I have to tell you I was waiting for Haze to drop back so I could join him but he never did #runforrestrun. At the turn, it broke up a little bit. I think Mr. Brady started to stretch out his Achilles and picked it up more to his natural gazelle like gait. Purple Haze kept in stride and the rest of us were chasing. At the 4 Mile intersection after the Merkins, it turned into a 2nd F with 8 of us trotting down Raintree Lane. Rachel and TL were at the school already discussing their favorite elements on the periodic table and the dynamics of atomic weight.
So we completed 6.4+ miles, 100 Merkins and some much needed Mary. I honestly didn’t think the whole group would do the complete trek but we did, with time to spare. Kudos!!
REMINDER, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR F3 AREA 51 CHRISTMAS PARTY NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY!!!
Thanks Purple Haze for the takeout prayer. And thanks to Rachel and Purple Haze for the oppty to lead this group.
4 of the heartiest, sleep deprived souls arrived for the 3 mile pre-run only to be met in the lot upon thier return by 13 other hearty souls for the main event. For all of you math guys, that would be 17 of south charlottes finest for Skunkworks this morning. A little chilly, but about perfect once the blood was flowing. Following a thorough disclaimer, here’s what went down:
Warm up lap around the rutted out Gravel Track
Circle up
Sshx20
20 swings OYO
Iwx20
20 single arm Right swings OYO
Merkinx20 IC
20 single arme Left swings OYO
Diamond merkin x10 IC
Partner up for farmer carry to hill (walking, not running to work on the grip and allow time for the merkins)
20 merkin chaser
Cumulative partner work for several rounds
R1 – 100 2 handed overhead presses
-P1 on bell / p2 up hill + 10merkin – FLapjack
R2 – 150 squats
-p1 on bell/ p2 up hill + 10merkin
R3 – 150 cleans (originally planned for 200, but mutiny occurred around 100 so I audibled down)
-p1 on bell / p2 up hill +10merkin
R4 – 200 swings
-p1 on bell /p2 up hill + 10 merkin
Plankarama (to work on the stomach)
Farmer carry back to top lot
20 lbc chaser
KB/Sprint Ladder on field (sprint length between exercises)
10 snatch/ 20 clean/ 30 press / 40 swings
TIME
Announcements: NewWorkout at Socrates academy new running bootcamp 5:15 on Thursdays
Thank you to Smokey for the Take out, reminding us of all that we have to be thankful for.
Moleskine: Enjoyed catching up with everyone today at Skunkworks. Chinmusic and Blazing Saddles have been doing a fantastic job keeping up the site over the last few months. If you haven’t doubled down with a pre-run prior to the main event, I highly recommend it. You’ll be nicely warmed up by the time you start swinging the icy bell this winter. Not much time at work today for a clever backblast, but if I missed anything comment worthy, please feel free to chime in. Going to be a wee bit sore in the hammies and glutes – lots o swings today. Take care!
Fletch
It was cold & it was the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, but 4 HIM’s decided to throw caution to the wind and post at F3Outland to work off the extra calories. After a quick disclaimer to the veteran group, it went a little something like this:
Warm up lap around parking lot to buses.
Paula Abdul Cheese Weave through buses to further warm up the legs – run regular, high knees, butt kickers, shuffle right, shuffle left
COP at the bottom of the bus lot
20 SSH IC
15 IW IC
15 LSS IC
15 Mtn Climbers IC
10 Merkins IC
Mosey to elementary school play ground for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Repeat the following 5X then run a lap
10 Pull UPS
20 Merkins
30 Squats
Repeat 4X then run a lap
10 Overhead Press with a lifting rock
20 Curls with a lifting rock
30 LBC
Repeat 3X then run a lap
10 Knees to Chest
20 Wide Arm Merkins
30 Squat Jacks
Repeat 2X then run a lap
10 Burpees
20 Carolina Dry Docks
30 Romanian Dead Lifts (15 each leg)
Repeat 1X
10 Overhead Press
20 Curls
30 LBC
Mosey back to cars for COT
Announcements –
Check newsletter for upcoming Holiday parties & convergences
Moleskin
A Facebook call out and a clown car boosted our numbers to 4 on a cold post-holiday Saturday, but it was well worth the effort. This Backblast is late because the workout punished YHC so badly that it took 4 days before I could type. Not much mumble chatter on Saturday except a few Paula Abdul references early in the workout. At least 1 PAX had no idea who she was and was committed to using the Google to research her when he got home. Only other notable comment was a “that’s what she said” from No Regerts after the parking lot was mostly empty when YHC told him to put the shovel flag (in the trunk) at an angle. #softball #shouldhaveseenitcoming
Thanks for the opportunity to lead and thanks to Bonhoeffer for the closing prayer.
14 Pax made the brave #insane decision to show up to Red Riders VQ in sub artic temperatures that featured frozen penguins along the running routes. According to the green Weinke strapped to Red Rider’s wrist, the first item was a quick lap around the parking lot to begin.
Warmup:
20 SSH IC
20 IW IC
10 MC
Long calf stretch (recover from the damage that Foundation’s death stairs did to us previous day)
10 Merkins
The Thang:
Mosey to benches. Pair up.
5 hand clap merkins with partner
1 PAX runs lap while other completes various exercise, then rotate after doing 5 hand clap pushups
Table step-ups
American hammers
Dips
Squats
Wall Sit Boxers – jabs and overhand
(This might not sound like a lot but pretty sure Stub Hub pooped himself)
Next we jogged to rock pile on other side of school, but stopped at each street light to do 10 jump squats. (Apparently there are PAX who considered the lights inside the school part of this exercise and started the trend that made this a classic crotch burner – thanks Bottlecap. #not) Red Rider provided angry music via Bluetooth speaker.
At Rockpile, same partner, same drill 1 runs length of parking lot while other completes boulder exercise (no hand clap pushups this time)
Round 1: Bicept curls with rock
Round 2: Squats with rock
Round 3: Chest press with rock
(Everyone watched Grey Goose with anticipation of his face being turned into Sloth from Goonies #RockyRoad) Fortunately it did not happen. #TruffleShufffle
Next Bataan Death March – Indian Run to Stadium
We quickly realized the 5 Burpees per tail end would result in people being lost and only found on milk jugs, so we reduced it to 2 Burpees and increase the tail to last two. Apparently Frack’s ankles are made of wheat and rolled over like Ohio State’s team in a championship game.
Stadium quick visit:
10 Burpees
10 Merkins
10 LBC
Run back to front of school – if you got passed by someone, you had to do an additional 5 Burpees (I think Mad Dog or Deflated tried to catch Red Rider early on, but he accelerated like a kid running from the cops – yes, I have experience) Eventually all PAX settled into a comatose state of noncompetitive running or “Fellowship”.
Back at front of school PAX recovered in Plank, where Bottlecap had some Kama Sutra poses for everyone to complete.
Right on time!
2.93 miles according to GPS
MOLESKIN:
Honored to have led the group on my first Q. When Posse asked me last Tuesday to Q, it was all I thought about all week…not letting my fellow PAX down with an unorganized workout. Worked on time hacks and studied Google maps to put together workout that hopefully incorporated cardio and various parts of our gooey bods. Very impressed with all, especially RunFlat who is out there grinding with an injured calf. Appreciate seeing Gray Goose there to cheer me on and lap me like the gazelle he is. Saw one PAX do a pre-run, I was in my truck staying unfrozen so missed who it was, but they were badass for being there early and rocking it alone. Michael Jordan said, “Champions are made from being alone. There working out before and after everyone else, alone making yourself better.” Rock on Mystery Pax. Thanks to Frack for the kudos. I screenshot the feedback for the rainy day soon when you destroy me for picking a rock that could be mistaken for a marble. Make sure y’all ask Moneyball about the Sex Ferret, apparently, they were very popular when he played. Connected with Damascus on hunting and other types of animal slaughter. Look forward to helping him in his marksmanship, and going into the woods later this year! Special thanks to Posse for being a mentor and encouragement to step in the Q. Honestly gentlemen, 6 months ago I puked after my first 9-round workout, now I ran a 4-mile Turkey Trot, and wanted to sprint the last mile (but doing that when running with your wife is not a good idea). Today I led a workout and didn’t end up in a fetal position. I have found myself stronger both physically and spiritually being around you. Thanks for helping me continue this amazing journey to being what God has called me to be. #IronSharpensIron
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Shirts order is due Friday $22. All payments accepted including food stamps.
Friday night Dreamchasers 7:30, award ceremony, wear a green hat!
Prayer Request – Posse’s wife Jennifer will be having surgery today at 3pm. Please pray all goes well and as planned.
8 Pax made the smart decision to not #Fartsack and enjoyed sub freezing temperatures this morning. Following a proper disclaimer where we’d keep moving today the pax took off. We did 3 warm up laps around the track including Wolfman coming in right around the end of lap 2. After we finished the 3rd lap, the pax circled up. After YHC mentioned to modify as needed when instructions were given we moved onto the main event.
COT:
Warm up laps around SCMS parking lot 2. Stop by basketball hoops.
15 SSH IC
15 IW IC
15 MC
10 LSS
The Thang:
YHC loves running, after telling the pax to partner up and grab a rock instructions were given Partner 1 would run to each light post and back. While Partner 2 did a called exercise till both partners flap jacked. Once Fireman Ed gave YHC mumble chatter for a “pebble of a lifting rock” which I said Drano picked it we began with suicides. We got 2 rounds in, when the pax finished instructions were given to plank it up till the Q gave further instructions.
Round 1: Squats with rock
Round 2 Bicep curls with rock
10 Count
Afterwards the pax brought the rocks down to Sem’s Office and went down to the track where YHC explained the next stage of the event. The plan was to do called exercise at each corner of the track with 4 different exercises. While running all you got on the straightaway’s while recovering on the curves.
Corner 1: 10 LBC
Corner 2: 10 Burpees
Corner 3 10 Jump Squats
Corner 4: 10 CDD
10 Count
Following the 10 Cool down lap with no one going faster then Drano, after completing the lap instructions were given to go to the center of the football field and form a giant circle.
Duck Duck Goose
During my August Q at Peak 51 I led a fun activity called Duck Duck Goose AKA Satan’s Duck Duck Goose, the never-ending Mary. Basically one person runs around the circle and the remaining pax does a called exercise until tagged doing as many reps as you can.
Round 1: LBC-This seems easy
Round 2: Rosalita- This seems a bit harder
Round 3: Flutter-Ok this is really hard. You can thank the pax, I was going to do Freddie Mercury but when I heard Flutter YHC had to listen to the pax.
10 count, cool down lap around the track no one going faster then YHC. Afterwards up to Semi’s Office for some Air Presses Peoples Chair position.
People’s Chair:
50 q count
60 q count
Circle Up for some Marry
Mary:
15 LBC IC
15 Rosalitas IC en Espanol
Protractor till time was called
Done! We got exact 2.0 miles in during the workout, great work everyone!
Moleskin:
Strong work today everyone, when I got the text from Drano yesterday asking if I could Q at the last minute I didn’t know how it would go. Ironically enough by my uncle Earlybird who double booked himself and completely forgot he was qing when he had to travel today. Naturally YHC accepted the challenge for the substitute q for the 2nd time at Basecamp. YHC is starting to see a pattern, a brother can’t q YHC ends up qing….
Compared to my last Q a few weeks ago at Basecamp night and day better, still some room to grow. We didn’t really have a true six group today everyone did a great job pushing it out there. Although YHC was sad that no one joined me on a pre run this morning however, always next time. I’ll be doing a pre run starting between 4:50 and 5 AM to get 1-2.5 miles in prior to the start of Basecamp if anyone wants to start joining in. Duck Duck Goose was a big crowd favorite, YHC didn’t know what to expect and you guys killed it out there.
Drano gave a mumble chatter of 3 more weeks left of this….maybe some big news will be announced soon? Who knows you’ll have to wait to find out. Not only great work but also excellent chances for 2nd F as well too, always happy to Q at Basecamp. Drano and Goonie run a good crew here at Basecamp filled with regulars and FNGs, great way to get introduced to F3.
Announcements:
BB&T Corporate Cup: March 10th, I’ll be running the Half Marathon if anyone is interested. However, there is a 5K option and 2 man relay for the Half Marathon if anyone is interested to signing up. May just be me but we have some runners who can do it hint hint Fireman Ed.
Corporate Cup
Prayers go out to The Wall who is still recovering from open heart surgery.
Christmas Parties: December 8th Area 51 Seaboard Matthews, December 16th SOB Waxhaw area in some barn. It is suggested to either have a DD or an Uber just to be safe. You can attend one, or both either way will be a good time. YHC will be signing up sometime this week and it’s promised to be a good time. See pre blasts by Alf and Thin Mint to sign up.
Dollywood on Q next Monday at Basecamp
Thank you Tag Along with the strong take out