9 weary PAX in need of rejuvenation showed up to the Scout Hut, ready to get their stretch on. I willing obliged.
Devo: Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
I shared with the PAX how life has just been crazy for the past couple of weeks, but that I (and all of us) truly need to be still. The speed of life can create anxiety, especially as we review the world around us. Be Still is not a suggestion- but rather a command. Only when we are, can we truly know God, and experience true peace.
The Thang
Done
Announcements:
High Tide has the Q next week. Get ready as he’ll surely bring the thunder.
Moleskine
This week, my legs been hurting something fierce from increasing my mileage/elevation (thanks horsey) , so I specifically added some focus to the hips. We had a few others beat up from Skunkworks, so hoped this morning helped.
Not sure how many pre-runners we had this morning, but T-claps to Paperjam, who strolled in looking like he owned the place at 5:31 after he finished his run #doyou #driveitlikeyoustoleit
Went for Yoga Classical today- personally I thought it was a bust (made the workout seem too serious) but let me know if you thought otherwise.
Thanks guys! Always enjoying Qing for this group.
The Thang:
Head to the field for a quick warm-up. Nothing too unfamiliar.
20 SSH IC
20 LSS IC
20 KB Swings OYO
Leave the bells, take a lap, and momentarily regroup. Next up is a few rounds of 4 corners. At each corner of the track, increase the exercise rep number by 5, starting with 5 reps at corner 1 and finishing with 20 reps at corner 4. Change the exercise and repeat.
First Round: Merkins
Second Round: Squats
Third Round: Big Boy Sit-Ups
Back to the middle to grab the bells; they were getting lonely while we were running the track. Line up along the goal line for a set of 11’s.
Bell Squats on the starting line, with burpees on the other side of the field. Each round contains 11 total reps, increasing the squats by 1 each round while decreasing the burpees by 1 each round.
First Round: 1 Squat, 10 burpees
Second Round: 2 Squats, 9 burpees
….
Last Round: 10 Squats, 1 burpee
Staying on the line, find a partner (bell weight doesn’t matter). P1 stays on the line and performs an exercise AMRAP while P2 runs down and back the field. They switch, and P1 runs while P2 exercises. They do this until they achieve a collective total of 50 reps.
First Round: Right Arm Rows
Second Round: Left Arm Rows
Third Round: Upright Rows
Fourth Round: KB Swings
Fifth Round: Flutter Press
Back to the middle with your bells for some Jack Webb. Merkins were normal; arm raises with KB. 4 raises per merkin, ladder of merkins going from 1 to 4 and then back down to 1.
Some abs to finish it out, 20 reps of Dolly and 20 reps of Bicycle.
Count it up.
Names and prayer to finish.
Announcements:
F3 Dads Colonel Beatty Park, Saturday at 9
Next week, change of location to the nearby tennis courts
Moleskin:
I designed the workout to be pretty touch-and-go, with very little rest, so I was impressed when everyone kept up and put in the work. A special thank you to all the guys who came out this morning, as well as the guys who couldn’t make it. This was my last Q in Charlotte, but I’ve loved getting to know a ton of you and getting in shape with y’all. Over the course of the next two weeks, I’ll be moving with my new wife to Durham, NC to begin graduate studies and will be leaving the Queen City behind for a while. There might be a chance that I even miss all of the burpees and suicides from these workouts, but mostly I’ll miss the people.
The last couple Fat Camp outings have been low numbers, so a fellowship of nine was a welcomed surprise. 3 (Tuck, Argo, General) for the early pre-run, and 4 (Tuck, General, FNG, Fire Marshal Bill, Wild Turkey) for the second run. Seems like General Underscore and Bounty Hunter have that AO pointed in the right direction. Here’s what we did (after an adequate disclaimer after YHC ogled a new guy):
The following stations were conquered under this timing scheme: Each PAX stays at a station for 3 rounds before moving on. Each round, the goal is 8 repetitions (rep details are below). After you complete the reps, the remainder of the time in the round is rest. The timing for the rounds was: 40 seconds, 32 seconds, 24 seconds (5s per rep, 4s per rep, 3s per rep). Getting all 8 reps in was more challenging than the numbers bear out.
1 Rep ==
1 Rep ==
1 Rep ==
No Reps, just:
1 Rep ==
1 Rep ==
1 Rep ==
No Reps, just:
1 Rep ===
Mosey down to field
Mosey up to playground
Good work from all today, despite some rampant Q failure near the beginning of the workout. Really was NOT expecting “nein” PAX for Fat Camp. Good crew today, and a nice prep for Fatboy next week. Welcome FNG, “Great Wall”. “Castaway” a close second given the long hair and beard look.
3rd F After Rebel Yell – Fire Marshal Bill has details.
Fatboy Workout Next Week – Fatcamp 0530
17 showed up, well 13 plus three or four more as I concluded my Disclaimer.
My Grandfather lived on a farm and would sometimes say “It’s too wet to plow”. Meaning let’s do something else, like fishing. This morning it was definitely too wet to plow, but after arriving early and test running the hill I decided it wasn’t too wet after all and I would stay the course. Modify was mentioned in the disclaimer after all.
THE THANG:
Mosey to Jersey Mike’s (circle up)
• 14 Side Straddle hops – cadence
• 15 Low Squats (hold for 3 count) – cadence
• 15 Mountain Climbers – cadence
Mosey behind Jersey Mike’s to 1st speed bump
• At each speed bump
• Run up hill (yes I know its wet)
• 5 jump squats at top
• Back down do 5 merkins
• Run to next speed bump, up hill, 5 jump squats, back down, 5 merkins
• X5 (Triple Nickel One)
Plank wait for 6 at 5th speed bump – 10 count
Reverse same way we came
• At each speed bump run up hill ‘Backwards’ (yes I know its still very wet)
• 5 jump squats at top
• Run down (forward)
• 5 merkins at bottom
• Run to next speed bump
• X5 (Triple Nickel Two)
Mary wait for 6 at 5th speed bump – Thanks Doc for the Mary
Mosey towards cinema to stop sign in front
• 5 jump squats
• 20 lunges across front of Regal
• 5 merkins
• Repeat = 5 jump squats, 20 lunges, 5 merkins (got us pretty close to other side)
• X5 (Triple Nickel Three)
I had a little direction challenge here, but I think it worked out for most.
Doc lead us in a few Mary exercises again – got a 10 count.
Mosey around cinema across Elm down MurderHorn to 1st light post
• Run to second light post (only a quarter way down)
• 5 Real sit-ups
• Up to top light post
• 5 low plank jacks
• Repeat X5 (Triple Nickel Four)
We had a couple of guys help with Mary (Doc, Teddy, Tagalong) wait for 6 + 10 count
Mosey across to cinema lot
• Line up on sidewalk
• 5 derkins on curb
• Bear crawl across street to curb
• 5 incline merkins
• Bear crawl back… (audible after third round to lunges as needed)
• X5 (Triple Nickel Five)
A little time remaining – partner up, run around small side lot to large oak i middle, 10 hand slap merkins, run back to start, 10 hand slap merkins.
Mosey to start – 45 seconds remain, elbow plank (or lay on your stomach) thanks again Doc for the time check.
Moleskin:
Today was only my third Q. So triple was on the brain when I wrote the weinke for this one. We managed five triple nickels. I remembered Goonie in one of his past Q’s saying, ‘how did they get 5’. Not even sure what workout he was referring to but I knew one day I would see if we could get it done. Some of these triples might be disputed by Goonie, but since he didn’t show up he gets no say.
For those that did show up it was definitely a little wet to start. I thought I heard shoes squishing on the mosey back to Regal. Doc, Teddy, Tagalong, Squid and a couple others stayed out front. Thanks guys for keeping this thing rolling. After the lunges as soon as we turned the corner towards Elm I heard utterances of “MurderHorn”. That made me smile, on the inside. What’s a nickel morning without the MurderHorn?
I’m still a rookie Q for sure and haven’t learned exactly when to call an audible or not. Usually ‘not’ is the right answer. Like me, most guys that come out expect a beat down. During the bear crawl I audibled for lunges as needed and even did a few lunges myself. I hope I delivered on the beat down. Everyone was sweating, but still smiling in the end.
Always a great group at The Maul. Everyone kicks but and I never hear much chatter. I’ve come to expect to see a few of you every morning; thanks for the support today. It was an honor to lead.
Thanks Chopper for taking us out – see you Saturday.
– Fredo
Announcements:
– My Main Man Chopper has his VQ on Saturday at daVinci. Come out and support him.
– If you would like to Q The Maul please see Cheddar or Commish, they have a few spots open this Summer.
– F3 Date Night bowling this Saturday night. https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20F0A4EAAAF2BA1FC1-2017
– SFN continues on it’s speed course for greatness thanks to JRR Tolkien and the donations of your fellow F3ers. Here’s a quick note from the man himself, “I created a separate channel for future communications called #speedforneed so that Slack can continue to be dead in all the region channels. You can watch cool videos and care for others in that channel.”
AYE. 13 gathered in the Gloom for the weekly Anvil beatdown. This one was a bit different than normal. We were successful in our failure. Or, at least, we did not fail to fail. We certainly failed to succeed in not failing. Here’s more or less what transpired.
THE THANG – Failure
The rules – We do one exercise one time and we do it until we fail.
SSH x 100 in cadence (ok, it’s kind of hard to actually fail with SSH)
Diamonds x 25 in cadence + 25 OYO
Low Slow Squat x 50 in cadence
Merkin superset – 40 OYO x 4, run the parking lot between sets and while waiting for 6
Sprint to light post
Heels to Heaven x 25 in cadence + 75 OYO
Partner throws to failure
Sprint to other light post
Mighty Merkin Superset – to failure (at least 25) for each parter at each light post
Mosey to benches
Jump Squat – 25 in cadence + 75 OYO
Dips – 25 in cadence + 25 OYO
Mosey back to parking lot
Sprints to light post and back
Final 4 minutes of Mary – feet elevated the entire time
Fin.
YE OLDE MOLESKINE
1. YHC has been scheming on a failure-style workout for a while. There’s some method to the madness. It’s well known that the benefits of exercise are non-linear. Walking 1 step is not 1/10000th as good as walking 10,000 steps in a day. This should come as no surprise since virtually nothing in nature is linear – the world is full of curves and calculus, not lines and addition. So my theory for this exercise is that going all the way to failure will deliver some dose of non-linear benefits. The final 10 Merkins to failure might be way, way better for you than 10 Merkins in isolation. I don’t know. It’s just a theory I wanted to test and I much appreciated the PAX coming along for the ride, (mostly) without complaining too much!
2. Hard to call out standout performances today because, you know, the point was failure, but Merman clearly can knock out some Merkins. Lorax destroyed the sprints. Raquel must not have been working too hard because he was preparing to go for a run as YHC was leaving.
3. Mermaid reminded everyone to bring food to a workout to donate. Dry beans, tomato paste and rice are fair game.
#horseneck OUT
36 Total- 14-Bagpipe, 22-Swift
Disclaimer was given and we were off.
The Thang-
Stroll to the parking lot next to The Courtyard by Marriott
COP:-Merkins x15, SSH x20, IW x15, Squats x10, Peter Parker x15
Mosey to Loch Ness
-At each Patio Area- Dips x20, Derkins x10, Step ups x20- Plank when done at picnic tables
-To the back pond via the nature trail- Partner up- One partner runs(timer)- other does exercise. 2 Rounds- Flutters, & Russian Twist
-Move to the Parking lot behind TIAA -Plow the fields- each light pole is do 5 Jump Squats- Circle back for the six. This got derailed a bit due to the heightened security scare.
Mosey down the nature trail back towards the Launch spot
Stopped at the fitness stations across the bridge for a quick circuit – 10 Dips, 10 pull ups, 15 LBC
-Mosey to Wells Fargo lot for a bit of Mary while the six comes in
-Back to the launch to finish Mary
Moleskin:
-Strong group today. Good work from all, tried to keep it moving at a good pace with a variety of exercises.
-First time for Transporter @ Bagpipe and he brought an FNG
-Welcome Moon River- Charles Tomko FNG- brought out by Transporter- he is recovering from a torn Meniscus 8 months ago, but that wasn’t going to stop him from coming out. Nice work.
-Long Haul has become part of the Respect crew, but works out like he’s still in his 20’s
-Had to call an audible while plowing the fields with BofA security staring us down. Don’t know if we had a problem, because we didn’t stick around long enough to find out.
-I appreciate all on the various 10 counts
-Voodoo called me out, “you have 20 seconds left” so I asked him to lead a Mary exercise to finish us out.
-Thank you to Transporter for taking us out
Announcements:
-Shirt orders- Check the website
-Happy Hour tomorrow night @ JRR Tolkien’s house- Grill, Drink, Tuck will see you in the Hot tub-see tuck for details
-New AO in Indian Land = Blackhawk (Walnut Creek) launching 6/24 6:30 am. We would appreciate the support to come out and volunteer to Q. Reach out to General and he will get you on the schedule.
-Billy Goat starting at The Vine on Saturday’s- Madame Tussauds for more
-The Fat Boy speed/strength obstacle course summer series starts Wednesday, June 21st. Read more below in the PREBLAST.
http://f3nation.com/2017/06/07/preblast-the-fat-boy-strengthspeed-course/
-Fredo on Q tomorrow @ The Maul
-Chopper VQ Saturday @ DaVinci
Looked like it would be about 8 for this week’s Fast Twitch. Then 11 more showed up for a total of 19. Disclaimer given to the men by YHC. Off we went.
Mosey down Strawberry to 51. Right on 51. Continue mosey to Arbo. Stopped somewhere in the middle of the retail space just off 51.
COP
IW x 10 IC
MC x 10 IC
Merkin x 15 IC
Plank Walk Right/Left x 20 IC
Mosey down 51. Right on Providence. Stop just past Taco Bell. Heels to Heaven x 15.
Providence Hill Segment. AYG to Raintree Lane. Fast guys circle back for the six.
Raintree Lane Segment. Run from Providence/Raintree corner to 51/Raintree corner. Stop at each road on the right hand side. 10 Merkin/10 Crucible Merkin/10 Jump Squat. Circle back for the six. People’s chair while regrouping.
Mosey south on 51 back to Strawberry Lane. Line up in parking lot for short-rest sprints (4) the length of the SCMS parking lot.
Mary
Flutter x 50 IC
Dolly x 25 IC
COT
Fast group today with shirtless Hairball, Swiper, Rachel, Nemo, Laronda, Joker, Lorax pushing the pace. May be missing names here as YHC was a ways back. Stone Cold, Semi, Margo, Utah pushing hard. Van Pelt crushing it in prep for 25 miles on the AT with his daughter. Enjoy the time and stay safe VP. The Providence Hill is a kick in the teeth. Raintree Lane with 140 merkins and 70 Jump Squats felt great. Kind of. Strong work today men. 5.4 on my watch. Hairball probably got closer to 7 as he modified from the Raintree Lane exercises to additional running. To each his own. Sometimes you have to get those miles. Good steady work today from Ironsides, Haze, Retread, and Pop Tart.
T-claps to all who brought food donations for Calvary Food Pantry. This ministry feeds our hungry neighbors. They have asked for our help in stocking the pantry. We will take donations the rest of the week at Area 51 workouts and deliver the donations on Saturday.
Anvil: Tomato Sauce or Tomato Paste
Death Valley: anything on the list
Centurion: Peanut Butter
Kevlar: anything on the list
Mountain Goat: Soup (chunky, not “cream of”)
Area 51: Dry Beans
Rock Zero: Rice
Details on requested items:
Dry Beans-1 or 2 pound bags
Soup-hearty, not “cream of” type (no larger than 16 oz)
Tomato Paste or Tomato Sauce
Peanut Butter
Rice-Brown or White-1 or 2 pound bags—or unflavored box
T-CLAPS to DMZ, Horsey McHorse Arse, and The Matrix for collecting Monday.
Honored to lead the men of Fast Twitch this morning. T-claps to Swiper for taking us out in COT. Additional T-claps for all the chatter. He keeps the workout lively. Get after it today men. Help somebody out. Or several somebodys.
Take a few minutes to think about guys who you may not have seen in a while. Reach out and see how they are doing. Invite them to a workout.
Announcements
Church on the Street (COTS). Need volunteers for 07/02/2017. 2 signed up, need 5. Hit up Strawberry or Stone Cold for more information.
07/04/2017 Tuesday Convergence with Swift. Details to follow.
Due to extenuating circumstances such as the first week of summer vacation for most schools, and the launch of a seasonal hill running based, horribly named workout elsewhere in South Charlotte, four men were left to do the work of twelve. After checking and re-checking for the usual Foxhole regulars and irregulars, we commenced the lifting and sprinting and other endeavors more masculine than a shirtless Vladimir Putin riding a bear through a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament.
Warmup:
To the soccer field for assorted awesomeness:
Line up on the goal line for 20 kettlebell swings, 5 clean & press each side, 5 goblet squats, AYG to the other goal line. Once everyone arrives, 10 merkins and 20 LBCs and recover back to the bells.
Repeat for a total of 5 rounds, each round dropping the clean & press by one, so a round of 4, then 3, 2, and 1.
Back to the launch lot for some hateful nonsense, both of the exercise and gaseous varieties. Three rounds of a complex consisting of 5 Sots presses each side, 20 weighted crunches, 5 overhead squats each side, and 20 flutters with bell pressed above the chest. Bits of swings and deadlifts mixed in for good measure. During one of the rounds of crunches, a particular member of the PAX released a noise from below that sounded like what YHC imagines a donkey being strangled in a puddle of mud must sound like. It was both vile and impressive.
Finish with 100 kettlebell swings because the kettlebell swing is one of the best exercises on the planet and everyone should do a lot of them as often as possible.
NMM: Several months ago Voodoo put me on the Q schedule but was apparently too busy and/or worn out from a weekend reunion-ing with Virginians and hobnobbing with retired quarterbacks who never won a Heisman trophy and whose alma maters have not beaten the University of Alabama in football since the iPhone has existed. Speaking of horse faced big dumb animals, it appears that Monday workouts over the summer may suffer from the temporary insanity of running around an eclectic neighborhood full of dog ladies, naked men, and flag poles. Note: YHC will have the honor of taking the 2017 edition of that horse out behind the shed and putting a bullet in it on 8/28/17. It will be a spectacle since it takes a meathead to make a running workout fun.
Announcements: Area 51 workouts are collecting food items for the Calvary church food pantry so please make an effort to help out. Fat Camp is switching from a 5:15 launch to a 5:30 launch.
With CMS breaking for summer, YHC’s unpaid Uber service for the 2.0’s is also on sabbatical, thus freeing my Monday and Tuesday mornings for other endeavors. I mentioned this fact to Drano many months ago at a Coffeeteria, who proceeded to schedule this Q before I could finish my swig of Dark Roast. Did I have a choice? No, no I did not. Which brings us to today.
Friendly Disclaimer delivered, 0530 sharp. No FNGs. Away we go….. until the PAX is almost obliterated 7 steps into the warm-up Mosey by no fewer than 5 cars assaulting the SCMS parking lot at warp speed. Hence, a warm-up lap of the parking lot ensued to allow the stragglers time to hide their keys. #snoozebutton
COP (Gateway Academy parking lot); all exercises IC
20 IW, 15 Slow Merkins, 15 LSS, 10 MC, 10 Peter Parker, 10 Parker Peter, 10 Good Morning Nashvilles
Exit Gateway, Left on Strawberry, Cross 51, Go Left, Right on McPherson (Alexis ‘hood), Left on Wyman, Halt at intersection of Wyman and McCallum
Planker’s Medley: 15 Plank Jacks IC, Pain varietal poses, recover
The Thang
7’s on McCallum hill. Diamond Merkins at TOP, Squat Jumps w/ Wide Sumo twist at BOTTOM (no idea what the F3 name for this exercise is, or if one even exists)
Mary when finished: Dolly, Flutter, Heels to Heaven, all 15 IC
Mosey to SCMS track for Emma’s Ladder (my rising 9th grade daughter who ran track for SCMS this past season; gave me this workout which I deemed PAX worthy)
Slow mosey to launch. Done.
Moleskin
If Middle School track athletes can do it, then surely the Base Camp PAX can!?!?! I will tell Emma that all 14 PAX crushed her workout; barely breaking a sweat. #thelieswetellourchildren Great work by the PAX today at a solid AO. Goonie was nervous that I was taking the PAX to uncharted territory, but I assured him that Alexis ‘hood possessed Base Camp worthy hills while only being 1/4 mile from SCMS. Who knew? You’re welcome. Many thanks to Drano for inviting me to Q. Was an honor to lead this group, and I hope to repeat Q in the future.
Announcements
Food Drive for Calvary Food Pantry. Base Camp is donating cans of soup. See Twitter for specifications (< 16 oz, no “cream of…”) Calvary is a great partner for F3, so all donations are welcome.
SPEED FOR NEED: Goonie’s 2-yr F3 anniversary is fast approaching. In celebration, he has thrown down a PAX challenge for monetary donations to SPEED FOR NEED (check Twitter for details). For every dollar donated at 6/19 Base Camp, Goonie will perform 1 burpee (up to 100) at 6/26 Base Camp. Not only will your monetary gift go to an incredible cause, you will also have the pleasure of inflicting pain and suffering on the Site co-Q.
Reminder from Goonie to post at other F3 locations while traveling. He posted and Q’d in Orlando recently, site unseen. Strong, brother. Spread the word, PAX.
Thanks to Simba for the takeout.
PAX looking for Speedwork will assemble and depart the Vine Parking area in Ballantyne at 0515 on Tuesday morning. We’ve been working up to the longer Interval pace (a.k.a. VO2Max) intervals of 3+ minutes (800m 3 weeks ago), Interval pace on short rest (2/1/30), and 4 minute Interval pace intervals last week. These intervals were targeting to bring up your HR to Max or near max, so they feel “Hard”. What were going to work on this week is “Comfortably Hard” or Threshold Pace intervals.
The THANG: