The crew of Devil’s Turn numbered 23 this week. We were blessed by an overseas visitor and almost had to send out a search party for a Turkey. Strong group this morning on a hot, humid summer morning.
The Thang:
Pretty simple this morning although we had a minor revolt on our hands. YHC was being a little selfish since I had to travel for work and miss my interval workout earlier in the week, I decided to get in my much needed marathon training workout. The announcement that we were headed to the track was met with the usual mix of mild excitement combined with a touch of annoyance. Some were more vocal than others (“I’m not doing that”), while others waited until we arrived at the track to pick their poison. Some opted for the hills in Raintree, and some opted to hit the track. We seemed to be evenly split.
Skinny Mole
Opinionated group this morning. Never one to shy away from an opinion, Tiger Rag announced his intentions early that he was hitting the hills vs. the track…which isn’t an issue since the split off point works well right at the entrance of SC Middle. He also had strong doubts at whether we’d see a backblast for the morning’s event as well #ignoringworktoproveTRwrong.
Once we hit SC Middle, half took off for BRR training hills and others hit the track…some for a more leisurely pace, and a couple Brave souls decided to join YHC and run threshold pace intervals. Haggis and his brother Doubtfire stepped up to the plate and didn’t make YHC run those on his own….I immediately knew I was in for a tough one after the stories I’ve heard about Haggis chasing his brother all over the hills in Scotland. Haggis proved to not be very good at math and figuring out his pace….once he realized we were going much faster than we were supposed to he commented, “well…now that we’ve started this, we can’t go slower”. Hard to argue with that. We were able to hit 3 intervals on the track but had to head back for COT for the last one….and here’s where it got interesting. Doubtfire was biding his time all morning running side by side with YHC just slightly behind Haggis. 0.2 miles before the end of the last interval, the fire was lit in his belly to best his brother in front his F3 brethren and he takes off like a bullet. When the segment was done and we had caught our breath, Haggis looks at YHC and says, “Bunker…that’s what I hate about having a younger brother”.
I’m sure many hilarious things happened in the hills of Raintree…but since I didn’t choose that route I don’t care.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Annoucements
None…yes…even with Tolkien in attendance there were no announcements.
24 Pax including one FNG kicked off Thursday with a visit to Peak 51, one of South Charlotte’s most popular AOs.
Proper disclaimer followed by a mosey to the parking lot behind the church between McDowell and Sadie for COP. 15 SSH IC and 15 Imperial Walkers IC.
Partner up for three rounds of suicides and AMRAP work.
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Mosey to gym equipment behind school parking lot. 10 pull-ups, 10 merkins, 20 LBCs, run one lap around track. Repeato x 2.
Mosey to hill behind baseball dugout for a triple nickel. 5 rounds of 5 burpees at the top of the hill and 5 low slow squats at the bottom.
Mosey to steps/walls between school buildings. Find your partner from the suicides/AMRAP block. Partner 1 runs around mobile school buildings while Partner 2 performs AMRAP dips. Flapjack. Partner 1 runs, partner 2 AMRAP derkins. Flapjack.
Grab some wall for people’s chair and 30 air presses IC. Mosey back to launch (not lunch) for COT.
We mixed in some planking and a bit o’Mary along the way.
15 men posted to Kevlar. Orange Whip (site Q) was a bit nervous that YHC over extended himself on other Q’s this week and wouldn’t have the energy to bring it today. Hopefully you weren’t disappointed.
The Thang:
At 5:29 a disclaimer and fair warning was given and off we went moseying towards the lacrosse field. Throw in some shuffle right/left to slow the pace for Floor Slapper coming in hot. Circle up in lacrosse field (thanks Horsehead, Tiger Rag, and others for your donations) for COP.
– SSH x 20
– Low Slow Squats x 15
– Alternating Lunges x 15 (with awkward moment as Horsehead lunged uncomfortably close to the Q.)
– Merkins x 15
– Plank Jack x 10
– Low Plank Jack x 10 (already lots of modifications going on)
Pick it up and mosey across 51 to the mini-neighborhood with the hill.
5 trips up the hill with escalating exercises 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 reps of Merkins at the top and Heels to Heaven at the bottom.
Back up the hill and line up on the guard rail (some concerns with drunk drivers and ladies putting on their makeup bouncing off the guardrail. We stayed on the inside.
3 Rounds of:
Mosey back to track by the school and circle up for some Mary. Freddy Mercury, flutter and plank work.
Break off into two teams for dodge ball.
Rules:
While dawn was breaking it still was difficult to see some of the balls but seemed to go over well. Likely only 1 or 2 Tommy John surgeries required in the throwing arms.
Moleskine:
It’s been tough to post on Friday’s due to the Thursday double down’s but was good to get back to Kevlar. A solid group out there looking to get some work done but still keeping the Fun Friday’s going. Credit to Horsehead, Pop Tart, and Fault Line who just finished Ghost Runner with me 9 hours early in 90 degree temps and 400% humidity with Code Yellow air pollution concerns. Speaking of pollution and Pop Tart – he singled handedly moved us from Yellow to Purple this morning. He might need to throw out those shorts.
Orange Whip and Drive By were out in front all morning. Tackling Dummy wasn’t far behind. Good to see Curd out after being on IR for the better part of 17. He was hanging in there and didn’t gain 100 pounds so he must have been doing something on IR or just eating well.
It’s BRR season so I don’t hit many boot camps these days but good to be back out with Cotton Tail, BLC, Young Love, Lex Luthor and Harley, who among others smartly avoid the BRR each year! Teams still need drivers so if you want all the 2F and sweaty van smells without the running, sign up to drive.
Ready Mix was pulling up early with calf cramps – hope that eases up on you today. Way to hang in there. The weather out there will dehydrate any of us quickly.
Thanks to Orange Whip and Fault Line for keeping Kevlar going strong.
Solid take out by Cotton Tail.
-Alf
Announcements:
You are reading this on the new F3SouthCharlotte.com web site which we are using now. F3Nation was getting crushed at scale so the regions have all broken off. T-Claps to Wingman for setting this one up for us.
F3 Golf–10/27/2017. All funds for F3 Leap expansion efforts. Olde Sycamore GC. Great time to give it away.
Numbers are swole at Centurion. More to come on that soon. 76 with 80% humidity. Sweat started with the pre-workout mumblechatter. A few PAX did pre-runs, but YHC was too busy saying hellos to mentally record those overachievers. Paper Jam must have been one. Feel free to give yourself some pre-work cred in the comments below. Disclaimer given in thorough fashion, though it may not have topped yesterday’s at Rebel Yell. Off we went into the humid gloom.
Mosey up Little. Right on Carmel. Right on 51. Right into 1st walk through into shopping center at 51/Carmel.
COP
SSH x 10
IW x 10
Mountain Climber x 10
Shoulder Tap Merkins x 20
Squat x 10
Bonefish Loop
Start at stairwell next to walk through that we entered. 20 Merkins. Run around Bonefish to Little. 20 Jump Squat at Stop sign. Run to walk through and back to stairwell. Repeat.
Plank series to regroup.
Stair Loop
Start at stairway. Up to level 2 and around to far stairway. Descend to ground. 5 Hand-Release Burpees. Back to start. 10 Heels to Heaven. Repeat x 2.
Reverse plank series to regroup.
Mosey out of shopping center. South on 51 and into campus. Stop at picnic tables.
Bench Set
10 Step Up/10 Dip/10 Derkin x 3
SSH x 25 IC to regroup.
Mosey to Tartarus (parking deck). Up ramps to level 4, Stairwell 1. Plank series to regroup.
4-Floor Triple Nickel
Descend Stairwell 1 to ground. Left to Stairwell 2. 5 Double Merkin Burpees. Ascend Stairwell 2 to level 4 and back to Stairwell 1. 5 Donkey Kicks. 5 Repetitions.
Mary at level 4
Paper Jam led 15 toe-tap LBC. Flutter x 10/Dolly x 10/Hold 6 inches. Descend Stairwell 1 and back to launch.
COT
Moleskin
Kotters to Pulp Fiction. 1st Centurion post in a few months due to injury. Glad he is feeling good enough to post.
Fredo made good on his social media promise to post Centurion. Triple Nickel in the deck in honor of his presence. Glad he could make it out. Puppy problems prevented him from posting yesterday. Strong work as usual.
Frasier was out front. Go figure. ICYMI–the guy is pretty fast.
Checkpoint (Respect) was on his heels, or could at least see them. Another fast guy. Fairly certain he has found the fountain of youth. YHC would appreciate the map. Strong work as usual.
Brilleaux and Lorax were up front as well. Consistently fast and hard-working. Well done men.
Udder pushed hard on the first 2 loop sets. Fairly certain he was keeping an eye on the PAX for the deck work as we spread out. Good site-Q performance. T-claps for the takeout prayer as well.
Haze is getting faster by the day. Solid work this morning. Hannibal, Utah, Knight Rider getting after it. Strong work by all today. It was warm.
Pro’s form is second to none. Well done brother. Good to see you this morning.
Enjoyed it today, as always. Thankful for the opportunity and the ability to lead this group of men. Followed the workout with The Stand at Panera. Strawberry led a discussion of Ephesians 2:11-3:13. This is a strong 3rd F group that welcomes all men. If you want to learn more, show up, or ask Purple Haze, Champagne, or Hops for more information.
Announcements
F3 Golf–10/27/2017. All funds for F3 Leap expansion efforts. Olde Sycamore GC. Great time to give it away.
NEW WEBSITE–f3southcharlotte.com–This is where all A51/SOB/UCo backblasts and information are now located. Check it out. Get a login and post comments to backblasts, and, backblasts themselves. Wingman is Comz Q. Udder and Thin Mint are helping out as well.
SPEEDFORNEED!!!! SOB/Area 51/ Union County men, the first SPEEDFORNEED event in South Charlotte kicks off on Saturday, September 30th. SPEEDFORNEED is an F3NATION initiative that allows persons with disabilities to participate in fitness events utilizing custom racing chairs built from OUR donations. If you’d like more information, then visit the official site www.f3speedforneed.com.
For more inspiration, watch this awesome video to learn more about helping adaptive athletes race: “The Making of SPEEDFORNEED” . Like what we’re doing and want to support? Click for CrowdRise Donation Link or Click for F3Foundation Donation Paypal Link and make sure to put in comments “SPEEDFORNEED“. With your contributions, the team has now purchased 4 chariots, a tent, a trailer, and Medals for the participants.
It is now time to bring this great program to South Charlotte. We will be supporting the Isabella Santos run by setting up a tent to raise awareness and racing with kids in the custom chairs. This is a very worthy cause that support research to cure childhood cancer. You can read about it here https://isabellasantosfoundation.org/about/
This organization was started by Isabella’s parents with the hope that they could raise the money and awareness to save their little girl. While Isabella fought hard relapse after relapse she was not able to beat this disease, but with the help of this organization and our support we can help other children live her dream of a world “With no more cancer.” So sign up with your M’s, 2.0’s and friends.
· RACE EVENT: Isabella Santos 5k/10k/fun run
· DATE: Saturday September 30, 2017
· WHO’S INVITED: F3 Nation PAX, their M’s and 2.0s (spectate & support or register to run)
· REGISTRATION WEBSITE: http://5kforkidscancer.racesonline.com/register (TEAM NAME is F3Nation)
· OTHER DETAILS: 10k-$40; 5k- $30; Fun Run- $20 ($5 increase starting September 23)
· MEETING POINT: F3 Nation SPEEDFORNEED tent (Ballantyne Corporate Park)
· HOST F3 REGION: SOBs
· DRIVERS: TBD (We will have 2 chairs and are determining the logisitcs)
· SPEEDFORNEED DONATION SITE: Click for CrowdRise Donation Link
· SPEEDFORNEED PREBLAST: SPEEDFORNEEDPreblast
5 men and a 2.0 gathered in the ring that is Elon Park Elemantary School.
Big lap around the school.
COP, all in-cadence
Side straddle hops x 20
Imperial walkers x 15
Morracan night club x 10
Low, slow squat x 10
‘Mericans x 10
Drill 1 – Lateral movement
From the boxing stance travel around a center point in a circular motion. Complete full circle clockwise & counter-clockwise.
Drill 2 – Shoulder/Knee tag
Partners square off and try to tag thier opponents knees or shoulders.
Drill 3 – Shadow box w/ partner
Focus on body position, footwork and hand speed.
3 min round x 2
Drill 4 – Duck and slide
Face partner, step laterally to the right and duck to overhead punches. Repeat 5 times and switch.
Rinse and repeat.
Drill 5 – Focus pads
Partner 1 with gloves, partner two with focus pads. Focus on specific punches – jab, cross, hook & uppercut.
3 min round x 2
Drill 6 – Sparring
Light sparring, no head shots. It’s not about how hard you are hitting, but instead working to improve speed, angles and endurance.
Core/’Merican Ladder
10 ‘Mericans
20 Regular crunch
9 ‘Mericans
20 Little baby crunch
8 ‘Mericans
Side crunch, right
7 ‘Mericans
20 Side crunch, left
6 ‘Mericans
15 Pretzel crunch, right
5 ‘Mericans
15 Pretzel crunch, left
4 ‘Mericans
20 Chippy cross
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Faith keeps us going. Faith in the Sky Q, faith in each other and faith the all this toil be worth it. Wherever you are with your faith, don’t quit. Just like our muscles get stronger with use, so does our faith. Keep pushing!
Nine guys looking for some grip / obstacle training gathered inside KH. They looked around for YHC… 5:29. Still nothing. At 5:30 YHC makes a sweaty entrance busting through the doors at a sub-7 pace. (10 minutes earlier) Fire Hazard and Shortpole convince YHC that I’ve led them astray in the pre-run through Landsdowne and it is time to turn around. Suddenly, the planned easy 5k turns into what would be a near 4-miler, ending at 5:30 on the nose.
After a brief disclaimer (and a reminder that an actual waiver has been signed), we snatched up some dumbbells, put them in position and got warmed up:
All exercises below completed with 20-30 pound log segment and in cadence.
Done.
Good mix of regulars and fresh faces today. Doubtfire, Madison and No Regerts made first time appearances, and given the permanent smiles on their faces throughout the effort, it won’t be the last. Haggis, posted for a second consecutive time and was scene doubling down on the rings a few times (I think he missed those in the Savage race). Fire Hazard and Nard Dog continued to work hard… on pressuring YHC to run BRR and/or Ragnar (no movement yet, keep trying guys). Short Pole kept up with the pace during the pre-run, and continued to push through the Kinetic course. Swiss Miss owns KH now, pretty sure he’s never fallen off the rings, no matter how blown out the grip has been.
A couple interesting moments from the morning:
– Nard Dog going for the up-n-over roll on the cargo net and getting trapped like a fly in a web (the struggle was real.)
– Fire Hazard taking an elegant fall from the top of Devil’s Steps (#notconcussed)
– YHC’s sudden recognition that the references to Doubtfire on Slack the other day were about a real person (Haggis’ brother), not the way Haggis looked in that old contorted photo.
Perilously close to an emergency of the Mr. Brown type on the ride over. Crisis averted, though the treeline was considered around the theater lot. Strawberry firmly planted the RY shovel flag. Thorough disclaimer given to 21 men and off we went, a group of 22.
Thang
Mosey toward the front of the retail center for a stop at the 6 building corner. Circle up.
COP
SSH x 10
Merkin x 10
Mountain Climber x 10
Wide Merkin x 10
Imperial Walker x 10
Mosey to adjacent parking lot. Line up along the lot. Approximately 60 feet from opposite curb.
Bear Crawl Triple Nickel
Bear crawl to far curb. 5 Hand-Release Burpees. Bear crawl back. 5 Jump Squat. 5 Repetitions
Plank-o-rama to regroup.
Mosey through main thoroughfare. Stop at row of parking on opposite side of theater from launch lot.
Mary
Feet stay up. Flutter x 10/Dolly x 10/Heels to Heaven x 10/LBC x 10/Rosalita x 10/Protractor/Complaining PAX
Mosey up thoroughfare. Right on Elm. Left on Elmstone. Continue to bottom of Murderhorn.
Civilian Cadence Merkins
All to 10: Regular/Offset Left/Offset Right/Wide/Diamond
Mosey up Murderhorn
Streetlight Triple Nickel
Chair Plank while instructions given. Run from lower streetlight to next one up hill. 5 Knee slap Bupees. Run back. 5 Low-plank Jacks. 5 Repetitions.
Mosey up Murderhorn to Rosebriar Ln. Chair Plank to regroup.
Rosebriar 3-Stop Run
Run the Rosebriar Circle. Stop at each of 3 turnaround circles for Jump Squat x 20. Plank series to regroup. Mosey across Rea to what used to be launch lot during construction.
Sprints x 2. 1-across lot, up hill, and back. 2-to far curb and back.
Mary
Bicycle x 15
Flutter x 40
COT
Moleskin
Fredo noticed YHC has Q’s on 3 consecutive days and challenged PAX to post all 3. Believe he asked for some triple nickels in the Slack note. And…he didn’t post. YHC gets it. New dog. Valid excuse. Right?
Good Fella was site FNG from Waxhaw/UCo. Great to meet him. Up front all morning. Nice work.
McGee was moving pretty good out there. Typical. Drago, at 19, showed some speed. Laronda, another younger guy in mid-20s, pushing on the pace. However, he did take a little break during the Murderhorn Triple Nickel. Wandered off into the brush. Lorax getting after it as usual. Great to see Teddy. Been a while. Kotters to Cheese Curd. Rest of the crew pushed hard. Solid work men. 3 respects crushing it.
Time to get back to work, do some fishing, and figure out a plan for Centurion tomorrow. Enjoyed it this morning, as always. Appreciate the opportunity to lead at Rebel Yell. T-claps to Strawberry and Heartbreaker for site leadership. Awesome to see the shovel flag flying this morning.
Announcements
Carmen Sandiego’s M gave birth to 1st child. A little girl. All is well.
F3 Golf: 10/27. Mark your calendars. All $ goes to LEAP expansion.
Get involved. Q a workout. Volunteer at COTS. Coordinate a project. Help your neighbors. Do some good.
The Thang:
SSH x 20
IW x 15
Jog to touch the rock and come back
10 deadlifts – 10 swings – 10 overhead presses
8 deadlifts – 8 swings – 8 overhead presses
6 deadlifts – 6 swings – 6 overhead presses
4 deadlifts – 4 swings – 4 overhead presses
2 deadlifts – 2 swings – 2 overhead presses
Jog to touch the rock and back
2 deadlifts – 2 swings – 2 overhead presses
4 deadlifts – 4 swings – 4 overhead presses
6 deadlifts – 6 swings – 6 overhead presses
8 deadlifts – 8 swings – 8 overhead presses
10 deadlifts – 10 swings – 10 overhead presses
Jog to touch the rock and back
Mosey to field
50’s:
40 curls – sprint -10 regular merkins and sprint back
30 curls – sprint -20 regular merkins and sprint back
20 curls – sprint -30 regular merkins and sprint back
10 curls – sprint -40 regular merkins and sprint back
jog a lap, plank until everyone finishes
40 goblet squats – sprint -10 LBCs and sprint back
30 goblet squats – sprint -20 LBCs and sprint back
20 goblet squats – sprint -30 LBCs and sprint back
10 goblet squats – sprint -40 LBCs and sprint back
jog a lap
40 presses – sprint -10 nipplers and sprint back
30 presses – sprint -20 nipplers and sprint back
20 presses – sprint – 30 nipplers and sprint back
10 presses – sprint – 40 nipplers and sprint back
jog a lap
Partner Up (like sized bell):
P1 Lung walk down, drop bells, sprint back
P2 is doing LBCs
Flapjack
P2: Flutter
P2: Heels to Heaven
P2: Rosalita
Jog cool down lap
Done.
Moleskin:
Not much chatter this morning, especially after starting into the 50s. We ended up doing a total of 600 reps in the 50s section and several before and after. Solid work out there by everyone on a hot, humid July morning.
An honor to lead!
Posted on behalf of Sanka
Due to the planned convergence with Death Valley, today’s Anvil Weinke was designed to keep things simple since things can get out of hand quickly when large numbers of PAX are present. Or when Flipper is on Q and there are 27 stations with medicine ball Indian runs in between. Neither of those elements were present today however, as only twenty had the pleasure of experiencing a workout inspired by football great Herschel Walker. Also among the notable absences were approximately 75% of the Anvil regulars and every other member of team Up n Over. They must’ve all been carbo-loading up at Dunkin Donuts. The plan today was to keep the exercise variety as sparse as a Venezuelan grocery store whilst attempting to get through a full 45 minute bootcamp without relying on my traditional crutch of the rock pile.
Warmup:
Run through the expansive, luxurious parking lot until the Q-drenalin wears off and it become tedious then circle up.
The Meat:
Run to the area close to 51 that is home to approximately 46 soccer fields and line up abreast taking our best guess as to where an end line should be.
The Side Dish (More Meat)
NMM:
As mentioned above, today’s workout was inspired by former Dallas Cowboys and University of Georgia running back Hershel Walker, who is universally regarded as one of the greatest all around athletes to ever grace the football field. When asked about his workout routine, Walker described a simple mix of exercises consisting of enormous numbers of push-ups, sit-ups, and sprints. Speaking of Hershel Walker, 1980 was probably the last time the University of Georgia was nationally relevant in football. They are undoubtedly headed back to the big stage though, now that Nick Saban’s long time former defensive coordinator is at the helm. Perhaps now they will stop wetting themselves at the mere sight of the Florida Gators and collapsing under the weight of expectations anytime they were raised. It won’t be surprising at all to see Georgia supplant Florida for the privilege of representing the East in the SEC Championship Game and losing to Alabama. Today’s attendees were treated to dozens of merkins and sit-ups, and mileage ranges of 3.2-3.5 miles. Announcements included a save the date for the upcoming Area 51 golf tournament on October 27th, the next Speed For Need race at the Greek Festival sometime in August, and something else that I can’t remember because I didn’t write it down. YHC is satisfied with this morning’s effort, and hopes everyone else is as well. Roll Tide.