PRE-BLAST: AMRAP at Impromptu

PRE-BLAST: AMRAP at Impromptu

Come join us for Friday’s Impromptu AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible): 5:30am at Cuthbertson Middle. Same 7-station course as last month. Whether you were there or not, come out and see how many laps you can complete in 30 mins. Then measure your progress at same workout on last Friday of each month.  #YouVsYou

RESULTS FROM LAST MONTH:

Goodfella: 3 (Laps) and Rocks

Doc McStuffins: 3 and Sit-ups

Transporter: 2 and Supines

Shop Dawg: 3 and Merkins

Hollywood: 3 and Rocks

Dirty Bird: 2 and Merkins

Posse: 2 and Rocks

Foley: 3 and Box Jumps

Shampoodle: 3 and Merkins

Recalculating: 3 and Box Jumps

Foundation: 3 and Sit-ups

Legal Zoom: 3 and Sit-ups

Rockwell: 3 and Dips

Gator Cub: 3 Laps

Moneyball: 3 and Merkins

Bottlecap: 3 and Rocks

Chill

Last time I was supposed to Q Gumby the m woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach virus so I showed up knowing a couple of guys would be happy to Q, handed them the keys and went back to the house to take care of the family.  That worked out well and my F3 Name was almost changed to “Janitor” which would have been great.

 

Anyhoo, I was excited I’d be able to use the weinke I had prepared for that Q for this morning’s Q but evidently I never saved it??  Oh well.  I’m better winging it anyway.

 

We started with a quick not so LBC sequence followed by cat cow and some deep back and neck stretches.  From there we moved to the familiar sun salutations mixed in some flow(maybe it’s flow?) and warrior poses. From there we ventured into the familiar Booyah Gumby Q staple of deep runners lunge followed an even deeper pigeon.  There was a wide legged forward bend somewhere in there, too.

 

We finished with some work on our respective sixes because we just hadn’t quite stretched our hips enough.

 

 

MOLESKINE

It was time to mix up the playlist this morning. I usually end up on some crap yoga playlist on Amazon so we cued up the CHILL channel on the ole SiriusXM app and it was indeed quite chill. Everything from some weird music I’d never heard of to my wife’s favorite Ellie Golding tune.  Good times.

Since I live ALL THE WAY in Mint Hill now I really don’t make it to Gumby unless I have the Q and it was great to be back.  You never know how much you need stretching and recovery until you spend 45 minutes doing it.  Thanks to Swiss Miss, High Tide and Tweetsie for having me back after I “bailed” last time.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

After helping Swiss Miss launch Gumby, High Tide literally turned over the keys to Tweetsie who joins Swiss Miss as Co-Site Q.  ‘Tis an excellent appointment.

Speaking of High Tide, he remains Gear Q and it’s time to pre-order some HI-VIZ A51 shirts.  Check them out here.   And we FINALLY have a fitted MudGear Sleevelss option in black!  Perfect for guys like me to have arms of a high school golfer and a slight muffin top!  Those are available for pre-order here.

Red, Light and Blue is the weekend of June 18th.  Dora says it’s a great intro to rucking while Geraldo added it’s a great co-ed event for the entire family.  I couldn’t find much online but ask an F3 Rucker or check out Team Spearhead on the intarwebs.

Changing of the Guard

After four years of leading South Charlotte’s premier running/bootcamp workout, it is now time to hand over the reins to fresh (and faster) leadership to take it in new and tougher directions.   Our resident weasel-shaker, Purple Haze, the one who secretly runs the show behind the scenes, has been the co-Q for over half this time and deserves a lot more credit than I for holding the place together.  As a tribute to his exemplary administrative skills, I used one of his favorite (but painful) weinke’s as a swan song today:

The Thang:

  • Run out to Rising Meadow, start with brief COP SSHx20
  • Mosey to top of hill to start the loop
    • Start with 10 deep squats
    • Run out to bottom of Windbluff at speed bump
    • 10 deep squats
    • Return to top of Rising Meadow
    • Repeato 5-6x
  • With 10 mins left.  AYG sprint to end of Rising Meadow and back to bottom.
  • Return to start
  • COT

Mileage: 6-7

Mokeskine:

  • Painful as many of us remember.  Lots of missing shirts by the 2nd lap. At least we had a little cool drizzle to help this time
  • As appropriate, our new Site Q, Rachel up in front, along with Hairball, with Alf and Mr. Brady not too far behind
  • Mostly regulars out there today, but apparently this workout was too tough for some?  Lots of whining for the final AYG up Rising Meadow.  Atypical for Fast Twitch, especially so close to prime running season.  I doubt Rachel will be so easy on that in the future.
  • Rachel clearly made the cut (in terms of speed), and I suspect is unlikely to be challenged anytime soon.  Looking for big (and fast) things out of Rachel and it will be good to have some fresh leadership to take the workout to the next level.  Best of luck Rachel!
  • It’s truly been an honor and pleasure leading this fine workout for the past four years.  And despite all the umbrage I give PH, he is truly the one who keeps it all together and running smoothly on the back-end.  Gotta hand it to the weasel shaker.
  • Thank you all for making Fast Twitch what is today.  Of course, I’ll still be a regular in the Q rotation.  See you out in the gloom soon!

Announcements:

  • F3 SPEED FOR NEED Charity for Team Hoyt Blade 2 Running; Goal to raise $30,000 for running wheelchairs… already raised over $22,000.  Please donate and/or volunteer to this noble cause. https://www.crowdrise.com/f3-nation-speed-for-need-charitable-initiative
  • Multiple Memorial Day weekend convergences. Please see website, twitter, and slack for details
  • Timed mile at Mountain Goat Friday
  • With running season upon us, spread the word and bring out FNGs
  • Haze/Rachel will be working on filling the schedule – keep an eye on an updated and extended schedule in the near future.

You can’t make everyone happy

You can’t make everyone happy….great title for today’s backblast.  Lately it seems like everyone is very interested on Wednesday nights about where DT is headed in the morning.  Some hate The Village (cough, Hairball, cough), some dislike the track, some can’t stand Five Knolls/The LC….and apparently from this morning, The DangerZone isn’t everyone’s favorite either.

The Thang:

We ran.  At The DangerZone.  Light to light…then make it back and don’t be late.

Moleskine

As the title states, you definitely can’t make everyone happy.  It’s pretty interesting to see which of the PAX like the different DT routes.  Some guys totally dislike routes you think they would enjoy because they crush them, and others like routes that seem way out of place for them….and some are just cranky and don’t like anything.

What is consistent week in and week out is that guys show up and run their tails off to get better….the other consistency is that you’re going to pick a route that someone likes and someone hates.

This morning was a good run…the weather was a little bit cooler than the past few days and the humidity was down so it wasn’t so muggy.  We had a solid crew of 17 out this morning for a nice run on The Dangerzone.  YHC happens to enjoy that route…you get one leg of it that has a few subtle hills and a gradual downhill trend and coming back you have  solid hill in the middle and it keeps you honest.  Plus you get to see some Pax back and forth on the laps….YHC learned today that Haggis isn’t a fan of the DangerZone.  Perhaps it was because YHC blew by him on one leg of the run and jumped up to 4th on that segment (oh…YHC is definitely going to pay for putting this in here).

Several strong efforts by the PAX this morning.  BRR season is upon us so I expect to see solid numbers for the next several weeks and Gumbo and I will have many good routes planned for us…perhaps even some new territory.

Woodson…thanks for coming out.  First Devils Turn post today…keep coming back.

As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Announcements

Timed mile at Mountain Goat tomorrow

Several items on Monday:  The Murph @ Ballantyne Village deck and Patriot 5k as well

Saturday convergence at Calvary

The Wrath of Goonie

I am late in getting this out and had to deal with the Wrath of Goonie on being late.  So here it is for your reading pleasure….

11 men came out to help YHC celebrate what is his 2 year anniversary at Basecamp.  Basecamp is where Big Tuna fist introduced me to F3 and it where I call F3 home (even though I do not post like I should).

The Thang:

Brief introduction and disclaimer before the doom in the gloom starts.

Short mosey to the adjacent parking lot for the COP

  • SSH x 20
  • LSS x 15

Next the PAX started the long mosey up Woodfox Dr. followed by a right onto Rounding Run Road (about 1/2 mile).  After a quick stop at the corner of Rounding Run Road & Rounding Run Road.  We proceeded run the loop of Rounding Run Road, all the while stopping at each of the 4 speedbumps to so merkins x 10 (40 total).  This loop is about 3/4 of a mile with some decent hills in it.  Goonie even pointed out we did the harder of the two directions.

Once the 6 joined up at the finishing spot, the group did LBC’s x 15.

Short mosey back to Woodfox Dr and the pax then did Plank Jacks x 15.

We the moseys back up Basecamp and circles up for a Round Robin.  Everyone had a chance to choose an exercise of their choice and lead the group.  Q fail in not remembering all of them and not having them in order.  I am sure Goonie will “help” me remember them all.

  1. Jack Web (Fireman Ed)
  2. Parking Lot Sprints (Drano)
  3. Burpees in cadence (Goonie)
  4. Diamond Merkins (Snoopy)
  5. Trash can sprints and do least favorite exercise (Tebow)
  6. American Hammer (Nomad)
  7. Dips (Thunder Road)
  8. Wolfman?
  9. Sony?
  10. Marvel?
  11. LBC – Torpedo

Next we mosey’d over to the bathroom and did 2 rounds of peoples chair:

  • Round 1 – air presses x 40
  • Round 2 – alternating legs in the air

We then grabbed a lifting rock

  1. curls x 20
  2. overhead press x 20

Finally we mosey’d over to the starting point for the final COP

  1. LBC x 20
  2. American Hammer x 20
  3. Protractor
  4. IW x 15
  5. SSH x 15

Thank you to everyone for coming out and participating with me.  I really appreciate everyone participating in the round robin and felt it was a great way to include all the PAX.

 

A Gentlemen’s Convergence

34 pax including 2 FNG’s converged upon the monstrous AO known as Anvil to see what both Mermaid and YHC had planned for the special morning.

The Thang

Mermaid led us around a loop for a quick, yet painful, COP

SSH, IW, Mnt Climbers, 6 inches with leg lifts, burpees etc.  There may have been a few more.  It was a shoulder smoker

Spack Q

Partner up for CMIYC to McAlpine Elementary – other partner 10 merkins.  Once you get to the school you and your partner knock out 50 burpees and 100 merkins cumulatively.  Then CMIYC back to Anvil.  Mary until the six got back.

Mary and more running – partner 1 runs down to the last light pole and back while partner 2 does Mary.  Flapjack.  300 Dolly.  100 bicycle.

Finished with 6 100 yard sprints

Moleskine

Once again Mermaid delivered the most eloquent disclaimer that could be given in all A51.  Just glad you remembered to include me in there.  #Belch

Hadn’t seen Alf in awhile.  Should have brought those screwdrivers.  Next time.

Mermaid and YHC agreed he would run the COP and I would take care of the rest.  He promised a shoulder smoker.  He delivered.  His portion was less than 10 minutes and YHC had Deep Dish all up in his ear begging me to takeover the workout sooner.

Lot’s of chatter early.  “You suck Spackler”  “Real original Spackler”  “He must have made this up on the drive over this morning”.  All somewhat true statements.  Chatter didn’t last long.  Mission accomplished.

YHC told the FNG’s to partner up with a vet so they didn’t get lost on the run.  Horsehead partnered with one.  His FNG ditched him.

Lot’s of fast guys out there today.  You don’t need YHC to mention you.  Keep your pride in check fellas.

Several ‘vets’ and I won’t mention their names but Semi Gloss, Baracas and Stone Cold all decided to do face to face imaginary tea bag squats in lieu of burpees and merkins.  Must be BRR season.  #ProudOfYou

“What is a balloon knot” was among several awkward moments presented in the church parking lot this AM.

We had 2 FNG’s – respond below in comments to finalize –

John – (Full House but I’d like to throw out Kimmy or Gibbler)

Jake – ( Jockstrap but I like Fundies)

Appreciate Hops taking us out in prayer.

Thank You to Stinger for sharing his story today.  Powerful stuff.  Hope to catch you at an AO in the near future.

Announcements

Check the site or comment below

 

 

 

Summer Kick-Off Convergence (SOB)

~68 men gathered (15 new guys), in a tight circle, in the parking lot next to the cinema. Disclaimer and instructions were given, and we were off.


The Warmup

We jogged over to the empty parking lot beside Smoke, since the other lot looked like 485 at rush hour, and made a big circle.

20 Jumping Jacks (Side Straddle Hops), In Cadence (40 jacks total)

15 Push-ups (Merkins), In Cadence (30 total), hold in plank at the end.

15 Mountain Climbers, In Cadence (30 total), jump up to feet at the end.

20 Low Slow Squats.


The Workout

Grinders (Tuck)

We jogged over to the parking area near Chicos/Chipotle. Instructions given to get into groups of 3 for a partner workout involving flutter kicks and box jumps (step-ups, jump-ups).

  • Partner 1: flutters in front of Chicos
  • Partner 2: jump-ups or step-ups at fountain area
  • Partner 3: run from Chicos to fountain and relieve partner 2
  • Partner 2: run to Chicos and relieve partner 1
  • Partner 1: run to fountain and relieve partner 3

Continue for 7 minutes


Hills (Argo)

Everyone ran from the Chipotle parking lot to the truck delivery lane behind Target. Instructions were given for a workout consisting of hill runs, hand-release push-ups, and supermans.

  • E1: 20 supermans
  • E2: Sprint up the grass hill to the Elm Rd sidewalk.
  • E3: 10 hand-release push-ups (merkins)
  • E4: Run down the grass hill to delivery lane.

Continue for 8 minutes


Suicides (Tuck)

We moseyed back around the buildings to the parking lot in front of Harris Teeter.

  • 5 burpees OYO
  • hold regular plank
  • suicides w/ 2 lines
  • 5 burpees OYO
  • hold elbow plank
  • suicides w/ 3 lines
  • 5 burpees OYO
  • hold six-inch plank
  • suicides w/ 4 lines
  • 5 burpees OYO

Finisher (Argo)

We shuffled over to the next parking lot for some leg work.

  • Lunge.
  • Lunge.
  • Lunge again.
  • Lunge once more.
  • Lunge another time.

Continue for 100 meters


Core

Everyone circled up.

  • 15 6-inch plank jack, In Cadence (30 total)
  • 30 crunches (LBC), In Cadence (60 total)
  • 20 flutter kicks, In Cadence (40 total)
  • 20 dolly, In Cadence (40 total)
  • 20 heels to heaven, In Cadence (40 total)
  • 10 rosalita, In Cadence (40 total)

Announcements

1 Memorial Day 2017 – SOB Murph Convergence – Monday, 0700, top of Ballantyne Village parking deck – http://f3nation.com/2017/05/16/preblast-sob-memorial-day-2017/

2 Say a prayer for Market Timer’s father who was diagnosed with cancer this week.

3 SOB HDHH – TODAY at 5:30 at Blakfinn in Ballantyne

4 Speed for Need – check out this worthy cause

  • About: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl-iPn4sAWk&feature=youtu.be
  • Donate: https://www.crowdrise.com/f3-nation-speed-for-need-charitable-initiative

Notes

This was a big diverse group this morning: from elite athletes to first timers, from 20 yr olds to 60 yr olds, from guys at the top of their career to guys looking for work, and a variety of other wide ranging contrasts. One uniting commonality this morning was completion: everyone gave it their all and got to the finish line. Awesome to see the more veteran guys helping the new guys along and encouraging them. Well done men !

It was an honor to lead with Tuck this morning. If you see him this week, give him a high five; this was an idea of his that he described months ago in a midnight e-mail entitled, “I Should Be Sleeping”. It’s an interesting title that many men use as an excuse for not exercising in the morning, which in turn yields not exercising at all since most responsible, hard working men don’t have large dispensable chunks of personal time during “regular people hours”. Today was a good step in the right direction in letting other guys know that there is a free, early morning fitness option for them that will pay dividends in a variety of areas of life.

A couple of other observations from this morning (please add yours in the comments below):

  • The scene of 60+ cars rolling into the theatre parking lot in the span of 5 minutes.
  • Tolkien’s “Short Man, Big Box Jump”
  • Heartbreaker high speed hill descents.
  • Fire Hazard hitting the gas pedal on the suicides.
  • MT, Loogie and Thin Mint pushing the 6.
  • Kid Rock lunging the 100 meters faster than some folks run it.
  • Philmont cheering for himself during COT

Argo Out.

Cheez Wiz and The Murph

The events that you are about to read about is mostly true and from my poor memory… #IAmNotAProfessional

Jabberwocky’s half…
Disclaimer given by Jabberwocky
#HairBandMile
Circle of Pain:
Side Straddle Hops x 20 or some amount
Imperial walkers x 20 again
Low slow squat x 175, not really, more like 20,

The Thang
Run to the side of the school for station work first up:
20 Carolina dry docks
20 step up
20 incline merkins
Cheez wiz all or half of buses depending on what you heard… and what is a cheez wiz anyway?!
3 rounds were called but saw people planking, 2 more rounds guys!
Next up:
20 dips, 20 merkins, 20 squats, cheese weave
X 2 rounds, plank
then:
Some other nonsense to make us sweat and question why we didn’t sleep in, Jabber said he turned it over to me but I thought we did something else, oh well.

DONE, Jabber hands off to YHC

Give me a 10 count!

Let’s mosey!
Lunge walk the length of the fence
Mosey over to the elementary school wall where in my best loud and proud Q voice I tell the PAX to get on the wall… and in the process scare some poor lady’s dogs and make them jump. #cobains

50 air presses and then off the wall and mosey to the playgroud/track area for a modified Murph/Cindy.
5 pull ups, 10 Merkins and 20 squats then take a lap.
repeato until time is called (about 15 minutes)

Mosey past the buses with some lunges, high knees and butkickers thrown in for good measure, then pinball to the gate.
Mosey to the field and new track, line up at the road and bear crawl to the track, 5 burpees and run back.

Mosey back to the parking lot for

6MOM
Flutter x around 31ish to keep you on your toes
LBCs x 20 or so
Rosalita, en Espanol, because the kids in timeout/detention should learn more than just English.
Backscratcher because we honor the myth & legends of Countertop and Zip-A-Dee who it was told launched this AO as the first UC AO many moons ago.

Announcements
Get your F3UC shirts, ordering is open until 5/24
Shep signed up for Trail Run Columbia in August, see him for details
Dr. Rythm is doing a Mud/Spartan/some other obstacle thing I can’t remember which is in the Fall, see him for details. (Time to get an F3 Shirt and represent brother!)

COT

Ye Old Moleskine, which I think is still just a fancy way of saying mole skin
Great group today! Good to have Scott out who is now forever known as Dr. Rythm. Great job out there today! The workouts don’t get easier but you get stronger so keep posting.
Madison was supposed to have an FNG but the dude didn’t show. #Fartsack Then Madison disappeared about halfway through the workout, not sure if for kids soccer as mentioned or searching for his FNG.
Now about Cheez Wiz, yes it was an #O2Dep mumble mix up by Jabber but what made it funny was the true story of Smokey (The dude with questionable counting, finishing a round before we seemed to even start) who took a wiz behind the cheese a few months ago. Then the unknowing Q sent us on the Cheese Weave run as we hear the calls of “WATCH OUT FOR THE PUDDLE!”
Then we had Glass Joe and Bonhoeffer mixing reps and theology, be careful, #O2Dep can make your theology questionable.

#Cobains to Jabberwocky, in trying to help him keep track of time for his plan I think he took my comments as recommendations and tweaked his #Weinke. Not my intention to #QJack brother, great first official Q.

Always an honor to lead
See you in the #Gloom
Hair Band

New Not New

YHC had a few game plans for rain and no rain. Mother Nature was kind so I went with loosely thought out plan No.1 – to go to the least used Ballantyne Quad that YHC hadn’t been in his 4+ years. Frehley’s informed me that they had just been there a week prior. So this section of the AO will be new not new.

What we did:

Mosey the long way over to Ballantyne Commons / Johnston Rd. intersection and carefully cross (THC wanted to stick on asphalt hence the long way). Continue down towards the BP station and hang a right up and into the Harris Teeter/Fox and Hound Quad. Stop at breezeway past JJ Red Hots.

Circle for:

Merkins x 15
SSH x 15
Flutter x 15
Carolina Dry Docks x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
LBC x 15

Partner up. = 300 Squats, 200 LBC, 100 Merkins total each team
– Partner 1 does work while Partner 2 runs around the outside of the fountain area. Flat jack and continue until the team completes the counts. Some Mary and six inches while you wait on the 6 to finish.

Mosey through the breezeway to the first speed hump about 20 feet away. Instructions given – We will run around in a figure eight around the HT parking lot and do 5 burpees at each hump. There’s 10. After the 1st hump YHC realized that we were going to be running short on time so we audibled to 5 merkins at each hump.

After completion we lined up for an Indian Run up to the intersection. Carefully mosey across Johnston and finish with 3-4 minutes of Mary with the overachieving early finishers at Swift.

Observations:
– Appears that #Cantore won this AM with lower than normal numbers for Bagpipe. Guys – never trust a weatherman.
– It’s been a while since I’ve posted with Kirby. He’s been to 2 of my workout leads in the last 2 weeks — not sure he wants to come to another soon. #notarunner
– Fredo doesn’t sweat. Ever. Proof that he’s a machine. That and he keeps trying to convince us he’s 50. Hmmm – Not aging, no sweat, no slowdown. Yea, he’s a machine.
– It’s really good to see Escargot back. Now that he’s in the over 40 crowd he knows that he’s battling father time and has to keep posting.
– Someone ripped an absolute monster fart – not blaming anyone, but Frehley’s posted today.
– Patent Pending apologized for falling back a little on the Indian Run, but DUDE! You, Kirby, and Speedbag were grinding it out hard core. No apologies necessary. Keep up the effort!
– Long Haul is a pretty good runner. He either likes us Bagpiper’s instead of Swifters; or is just there to make us look ssssslllllooooowwwww. Mission accomplished.
– Same deal with Mermaid. No sweat, easy peasy on all the exercises. Busted out 75 merkins in a second because “I wanted to get them done”. Our leader is a cyborg.

Thank you for letting me lead guys. I really enjoyed it.

Announcements:
– Tomorrow at The Maul – it’s ‘bring a friend’ day convergence.
– Tomorrow – Death Valley converges with Anvil. Coffee afterwards and words of wisdom from Stinger.
– Speed For Need – Watch the video and make a donation. There’s not a better cause to support. And Tolkien will buy you a car. No lie.

High Humidity at the Skunk

After a quick disclaimer we were off. 

COP: 15 SSH, 20 IW, 20 Murkins and a warm up lap 

The Thang: 

Partner up with same size KB: 

Round 1:  Partner 1 does Murkins while partner 2 carries both bells 1 lap around track. Flapjack

Round 2: Partner 1 does Low Slow Squats while partner 2 carries both bells 1 lap around track. Flapjack

Round 3: Partner 1 does LBC’s while partner 2 carries both bells 1 lap around track. Flapjack

Warm up complete. Circle up for 5 rounds of:

20 Swings

20  Upright rows

20 Squats

20 Lawnmowers(10 each arm)

20 Overhead Press(10 each arm)

1 lap around the track

Idea was to get 100 reps in. Everyone completed

Line up on goal line. 10 snatches (5 each arm) OYG to other side of field then do 25 LBC’s

Rinse and repeat 3 x’s

Line up on goal line. 20 squats, OYG to other side for 20 dolly’s.

Rinse and repeat 2x’s

Circle up for Flutter press and Freddy Mercury.  Done.

 

Moleskin:

It looked like a rainy morning which may have scared some off. Rain held out for the most part. Lots of reps so not much chatter. We did have a FNG show up 10 minutes late , therefore the FNG name Dr. Snooze!

Thanks to Smokey for taking us out!

Announcements:

F3 Dads Saturdays in June 9am Beatty Park in Matthews

Convergence Death Valley and Anvil at Calvary Wednesday. Testimony by Stinger done by 6:50am.

Posted on behalf of Blazing Saddles