One short of a dozen brave souls ended up taking on the hills and thrills of Ballantyne this morning, the main event started at 5:15am, but the story starts an hour before….
After a night filled with dreams of waking up late and missing the workout, the morning presented itself at 4:10, a full 20 minutes before the usual “pre-run” alarm. These alarm-less wake-ups are both curse and blessing: cursed because they withdraw precious minutes from the sleep bank, blessed because the the chance of arousing the M out of her slumber are reduced, especially blessed this morning because it gave YHC time to add some ice to the Yeti and stop at the office for some cups to serve the Organic Waterade + (recipe below).
After a pit-stop at the office, dropping off the ride (and the cooler) at the launch, getting an awkward “We’re not running with you” wave from Outback and Madamme T, it was time to run over to the Sara’s YMCA to find Joe Schmo. If you haven’t been to the Sara’s Y, it comes highly recommended by Tuck, YHC and several others as a great place to compliment your F3 regimen with some weight, grip, and other training that requires cool gear. Also, a great place to EH folks. YHC EHed one of the employees this morning, TBD if he shows.
The small pre-run was a meager mile or two and ended at the Vine. The crew was rounded up, a disclaimer given, and we began, kind of.. Joe Schmo stopped off to pull a Mario/Transporter in the bushes behind the Vine at 5:14, and at 5:15 a gray F-150 pulled up with Uber inside. This was Uber‘s second F3 post ever, his first was in February or March. (at that rate, we won’t see him again until Christmas). In response to all this last minute PAX chicanery the whole crew ran 2 laps around the Vine parking lot until everyone was ready.
Only a short distance away is a well lit parking lot across from Duckworth’s. We circled up and performed the following exercises:
- 20 Side Straddle Hop
- 10 Low Slow Merkin
- 10 Phelps Merkins
- 20 Low Slow Squat
We kept warm after the warm up and ran West on Ballantyne Commons to the base of the Ben Nevis hill, stopping occasionally for planks and phelps merkins. The instructions were given:
Run at your 1/2 mile pace up the hill to where the neighborhood entrance directly after the Gateway daycare is. Upon arrival perform rounds of 10 jump lunges, and 10 merkins until the last man arrives and gets 2 rounds of the lunges and merkins in.
Early arrivers to the top included: Joe Schmo, Doc, General, Fire Hazard, Frasier (probably others as well).
The crew moseyed into the neighborhood to the cul-de-sac at the bottom Valley Spring Dr., various plank / merkin at the base of the hill as we ensured the 6 was in. Vally Spring Dr has two side roads on the right hand side (on the way up) that split the road roughly into thirds. The instructions were given:
- Run forwards hard to the first side road.
- Run backwards hard to the second side road.
- Run forwards hard to where the road hits the main neighborhood road.
- At the top perform rounds of: 10 jump lunges, 10 merkins
Top performers included: Haggis, Joe Schmo, General, Doc, Frasier, Firehazard
From the top we scurried back down the hill, but hung a left down Dove Hunt Pl, and through the the cul-de-sac and to the neighborhood playground. Instructions were given to partner up:
- Partner A: 10 pull-ups (good form)
- Partner B: Flutters until Partner A is done.
- Repeat the above for 3 rounds, flutters until last pair is in (which was several flutters)
After each completing those 30 good looking pull-ups, the group moseyed over to the base of the Dove Hunt Pl hill. Instructions were given:
- Run forwards hard to the second car on right.
- Run backwards hard to where Dove Hunt hits Valley Spring.
- Run forwards hard to where the road hits the main neighborhood road.
- At the top: various planks.
We scooted out of the hood and across Ballantyne Commons to the opposite side of the road to stride it out down the Nevis hill. The focus here was on building good controlled speed on the downhill. We gathered the PAX at each cross road and performed 20, 15 and 10 merkins OYO. We eventually made our way to the entrance of the Ballantyne Village shopping/dining area, and took a few strides of walking recovery before the next segment of the workout.
Into the BV Parking Deck we went, to the basement floor. Instructions were given to sprint up the westward ramps, and walking recovery up the eastward ramps, we gathered all the PAX for before each sprint. There were three in total, PAX were encouraged to give 110% effort on the sprints to earn the walking recovery. There were a total of 3 sprints, the winners were: Argonaut, General, Haggis on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sprint, respectively. Quality efforts from everyone on those.
From the top of the BV deck, we took in the sunset sights for 3/10ths of a second, enjoyed the breeze, then headed back down the deck ramps, and back to launch for a total of ~ 5 miles. Those who arrived first were greeted with some heavenly ounces of Organic Waterade +, a 2.0 version of the famed recovery drink popularized by Firehazard at the Hurricane Mud Run Ragnar Trail Race last year. Plain water for the others when the ‘Ade was gone. There’s nothing that water is that Waterade isn’t.
Good run from all this morning. Folks ran hard and rotated duties staying with the 6 (T-claps to Fire Hazard, Haggis, Frasier and others YHC didn’t see). The hope today was to give the folks training for hilly races a chance to work on some hill speed while keeping the less run focused engaged by frequently re-grouping to pound out some calisthenics. Good luck to all the Spartan racers this weekend. Bring back the bling.
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’.” – Muhammad Ali
Its started out slow for Fight Club as we pondered over many, bumps, bruises and breaks…but when that bell rang at 5:30am all of that was left on the pavement. A big loop around Foxhole and some necessary shoulder stretches and we got things moving!
Warm Up – Partner Up
200 J/C
100 Hooks
200 U-Cuts
After the heart rate continued to climb and the shoulders were warm, we moseyed to the back of the school yard for a little manly sparring.
4 – 3:00min RD – Close contact sparring, stay within the white box or do burppees
30 Sec LBC’s in between RD’s
Mosey back to the front of the school for a little rope-a-dope.
20 Yard rope drill – all uppercuts
Sprint to the center line for in and outs
5 mercks
Sprint to the center line for in and outs
1 Burpee and back on the rope
Ended the day with 10 merks 10 LBC – 9 mercks, 9 LBC…so on
Really great morning with these guys, I encourage more members to come check out Fight Club each week is getting tougher and tougher!
18 PAX at Devils Turn this morning for some hills and dripping sweat.
The Thang:
After an adequate disclaimer, the week we continued with the theme of hill, hills, and more hills… the route today took us to 5 Knolls: Down Rea Rd, left at 5 Knolls road, and then as many repeato loops as needed to satisfy that running itch before heading back for COT.
Moleskin:
IT IS HOT… IT IS HUMID… WE BE SWEATING
Only 3 at the early miles option this morning for a 5a pre-run (Hairball – emerging from a baby coma, Depth Charge – the faithful pre-runner, and YHC – wanting some miles).
The rest of the PAX launched from the parking lot at 5:15, with at least 1 experiencing the joy of 5 Knolls for the first time today (Thanks for joining the crew today Shock and Awe). Today, the group maintained a semblance of an actual warm up until reaching 51 (Turkey leg must have been off his game). After negotiating the red lights, everyone settled into their normal pace groups. The run at 5 Knolls can be deceiving as it lulls you into a comfortable pace early on and then hits you with a steep hill just before the u-turn — as Wild Turkey aptly noted from his last experience of smoking the legs on the first loop… a lesson learned which made his run today a much better experience. JRR Tolkien should take some notes here. YHC still feeling the damage from Swift earlier this week, took on a “moderate” pace for today. Others, clearly feeling recovered from their respective workouts this week, took on a whole different approach and gave their best impressions of Olympic athletes.
Thanks to Das Boot for taking us out today at COT.
Announcements: Several BRR teams looking for drivers. If you’re not running the BRR, please consider helping your fellow PAX out with your driving skills.
19 PAX, no FNGs, decided to climb #F3Peak51 on this hot and humid morning for their DownPAINment and once properly disclaimed, we got down to work.
The Thang:
Mosey around the church parking log and circle up in the lower parking lot for COP.
COP:
Partner up, Partner 1 runs a lap around the parking lot while Partner 2 does called exercise, flapjack. 3 rounds, Flutter Kicks, Carolina Dry Docks, and LBCs.
Mosey to the track, staying with you partner, run in opposite directions, when you meet up, 10 hand slap merkins, and continue until you meet again, 10 hand slap merkins. Plank for the six, then repeato.
Head over to the hill behind the baseball field for Jacob’s ladder, 1 merkin at the bottom, 6 squats at the top.
YHC noticed we still had some time left, so let’s circle up for our dear old friend Jack Webb, up to five and back down.
Mary:
Moleskinny:
Announcements:
Due to credential issues I (Drano) am posting Snoopy’s written out BB. Copy and Paste…
The Thang:
Disclaimer Given
Mosey around the parking lot and down to track. SSH X 30, IMPERIAL WALKER X20, ½ LAP AROUND THE TRACK, THEN MERKENS X 10, ½ LAP AROUND TRACK, PARKER PETERS X 10. We then mosey to the concession stand where the morning’s breakfast menu was posted as follows: JUMP SQUATS X 10, IMPERIAL WALKERS X 20, PETER PARKERS X 15, MONKEY HUMPERS X 20, BERPIES X 10, FREDDY MERCURY X 20, NC DRY DOCKS X 15, FLUTTER KICKS X 20, DIAMOND MERKENS X 15, LBC X 20, MERKENS X 15, SSH X 20. In between each we ran from concession stand down 3 flights of stairs to the bleachers and back up. We moseyed over to the parking lot where we did: LEG LIFTS X 20, DOLLY X 15, ROSALITA X 15 AND PLANK 6 INCHES FOR 60 SECONDS. Grand Finale… 5 BURPIES
MOLESKIN:
To my surprise, Fireman Ed had also been booked to Q for today. It’s a good problem to have. Great to see Cocktail come out to his first Basecamp. Only my second Q so I screwed up the cadence a few times but no one seemed to mind. Great effort by all.
The Fat Boy Overview
Intro
Well the weather decided to cooperate with us on the July running of the Fat Boy Speed/Strength course, although 530 seemed much darker vs. the weeks in July. The gear round-up however was a last minute fire drill but all the stations were set and the Fat Boy read to crank for it’s 2nd running. 13 PAX assembled for a brief warm-up and walk-through of the course where all questions, whether stupid or valid, could be answered. Feeling primed up, Argonaut was the 1st to sprint off into the Abyss and we were off:
The Thang
13 PAX thru, times and weight recorded, legs blasted and onto COT
Moleskin/Results
Solid group this morning for the July Edition of the Fat Boy. As always, I appreciate your support and participation as we put this on to help push each of you and have some fun while keeping the competitive juices flowing. Several 1st timers thru the course included Heartbreaker, Strawberry, Peppermint, Birdcage, Sauerkraut, Erector and JRR Tolkien who all put up some solid times in their 1st run thru. Similar to the June group, there was plenty of talk afterwards about technique and things that everyone could do differently to shave off some time for the next go around in August #nomorerookiecard
From the June group, tclaps to Dark Helmet, Fire Hazard and Argonaut from improving on their June times (-14 sec, -23sec and -9sec respectively). Bounty Hunter is saving his best for August now that his travel/vacation/fartsacking schedule has slowed down. Fallout’s been training night and day for triathlons, biking and swimming more miles than I drive to work in a week but will be throwing some weighted backpedaling into his training regimen for an August redemption.
Top 3 Thru July x Weight Class
Jr. Mac (199lbs & below)
Grand Mac (200+)
August is Championship month and the Brick Trophies will be doled out. Hope to see you all out again on Wed, August 23rd to chase down that man in front of you on the leaderboard and go after the best time that you laid down today or last month. For all of you animals hiding out waiting for the final month to come take on the Fat Boy, August is your last chance to do so, so make it happen.
Over & Out
-General
7 men who know the value of a good beatdown posted at Gumby anyway for some of the physical and aural stretching YHC brought. After suggesting towels and rope, and noticing some rice in the cracks of the concrete next to my mat, we got things going. Here’s the official version of what went down:
On your 6 (Hero Pose) and focus on breathing to open with the Devo: Five Things Forgiveness Is Not
BY RICK WARREN — JULY 11, 2017
“Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do” (1 Corinthians 13:5b CEV).
Shift to Tabletop and stretch here with Cat/Cow/sidebends.
Following poses for a few breaths each:
Then back through poses until Down Dog and 3-legged Dog – Right side, followed by Low Lunge, and twist.
Repeato Left.
Repeato sequence Right/Left. Adding Crescent Lunge at the end this time.
Back through Sun Salute to Mountain. Then on your 6 for Dead Pigeon.
Knees to chest to massage lower back, then rock and roll up to catchers pose for ankle/toe/groin stretching.
Plank to Warrior 1, 2 and Peaceful Warrior on right. Then Side Angle, try to open chest each exhale.
Repeato Left.
Back to 6 and straight leg w/rope to stretch hips: 10 R/L with Right leg. Repeato Left leg.
Savasana/end.
Announcements:
Next week, if Playoffs is still AWOL, we’ll have round-robin of stretching: each Pax leading his favorite (or most hated) stretch. YHC will bring the Devo.
Mark your calendars for next anti-Gumby: Kinetic Field Trip, Friday August 11. Join Slack “Kinetic-Trips” channel for details.
Moleskin:
Kudos to Lois (fellow J-schooler) for the catchy title. The scouts must have been doing some merit badge that involved rice, because there was a lot of it in the expansion cracks of the concrete floor. I noticed it and blurted out, “There’s rice in the crack.” (some things are better left unspoken)
Kudos also to Fireman Ed, for not only sporting the long sleeves but also inspiring me to run through the low lunge w/twist a second time. I needed it. Hope y’all felt the same.
Apologies to the Pax for my brain fart when I started the music. I said “Rick Warren” when I meant “Warren Haynes.” I corrected it later, but I think the confusion had already set up like concrete. Anyway, for the record: Ravi Shankar is to the sitar what Warren Haynes is to the guitar.
Thanks for the privilege of leading, gents.
Swiss Miss
We opened with a long jog across the strip maul from the cinema to the far side of Target.
Warm-Up
Side Straddle Hops x 10
Mountain Climbers x 10
Imperial Walkers x 10
Mountain Climbers, right hand up x 10
Low, slow squat x 10
Mountain Climbers, left hand up x 10
Route 66
Run the alley behind Target stopping at each speed bump for burpees. Starting with one and adding one until you finish at 66.
Fountains, HIIT 1 – Legs
45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest
Jump squats
Romanian deadlifts
Front lunges
Side lunges
Front of Pearlz, HIIT 2 – Arms
45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest
Carolina Dry Docks
‘Mericans
Thrusters
Curb dips
After a lengthy mosey back to the cinema we resumed the our high-intensity intervals
45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest
HIIT 3 – Core
LBCs
Toe-tap crunch
Chippy cross
Elbow plank
Hill Work
Partner up, run the hill behind the cinema. After each descent, perform 10 hand-slap ‘Mericans. Repeat five times.
Maulskine
When I first started F3, my only goal was to survive. Next, I decided to focus on form and completing full number of called exercises. (No one likes the guy who only does 8 of 10 called burpees just to run to the front of the pack.) My current focus is intensity. High intensity interval training is a the perfect way to jack up the heart rate and push yourself. I’d say from the relative lack of mumble-chatter this morning that others were pushing themselves to the limit, too.
Announcements
Speed for Need
Happy Hour tonight
15 pax assembled at Dunkin’ Donuts in the humid dawn
MAD was first to leave at 5, slow and steady
10 minutes later, YHC, Early Bird, Geraldo, and young Benny strode on
Sea World caught us on Rea, for a fast run, he was ready
The triumvirate of Hokies (TL, Alf, and Baracus) as usual crushed the run
Kirk joined late, then had a donut with Semi-Gloss, waiting for a ride home
Gummy posted in his rusty shirt, a common sight at the Donut Run
Prohibition and Hannibal pushed hard, off the beaten path they did not roam
La-z-boy worked hard, he wasn’t loafing
Mr. Brady’s shirt with sweat was soaking
Moleskine:
Announcements:
YHC was on the Anvil calendar for 8/2, which is next week. Alf swapped out weeks and this led to YHC’s 4th Q in 5 workouts. Apparently, the 1st workout disclaimer on Thursday of last week set the bar high. Quite a few mumbles about how this morning’s disclaimer, though thorough, was not nearly as good as the Rebel Yell rendition. Veteran crew of 12 took off, fully aware of the inherent risks involved.
4/10 mile mosey through the vast expanse of the Calvary AO parking lots. Fairly brisk pace with a nice breeze. Circle up near pavilion.
COP
SSH x 10
Mountain Climber x 10
Low Slow Squat x 10
Merkin x 15
Plank Walk x 10
Alternating Shoulder Taps x 10
Carolina Dry Docks x 10
Short mosey to pavilion.
Bench Set
10 Step Up/10 Dip/10 Derkin–Chair plank to regroup
Mosey to Avenue of Trees.
Merkin Stroll Down the Avenue
Stop at each of 9 trees on the right side of the avenue. 10 Merkins. Alternate between Regular/Wide/Diamond. 90 total.
Plank series to regroup.
Mosey to the courtyard. Grab some wall.
Courtyard Variety Pack
20 Hip Slappers/20 Heels to Heaven/5 Hand-Release Burpees
People’s Chair to regroup.
Mosey to Entrance 2 Rock Pile. Grab Lifting Rock.
Rock Set
10 Thrusters/10 Curls/5 Rockees
Mosey to 1st lot at Entrance 1.
Alternate mode of locomotion between islands. Lunge Walk/Bear Crawl. All the way to the end.
Mary
Flutter x 10/Dolly x 30
Mosey back to the pavilion.
Repeat Bench Set/Merkin Stroll Down the Avenue/Courtyard Variety Pack/Rock Set. AYG.
Mary
Brilleaux: 25 Freddie Mercury/McGee: 10 Scissors/Lorax: 10 American Hammer
Mosey back to Entrance 1 Lot. AYG length of lot.
Jump Squat to regroup.
Mosey a few lots over. AYG full length of lot.
Continue mosey to next lot. 10 Hand-Release Merkin. AYG length of lot.
Mosey to lot adjacent to launch. 5 Burpees. AYG between light poles. 10 Merkin. AYG back. Finish with 5 Burpees.
COT
Moleskin
80 degrees today, but felt much cooler with a consistent breeze. Thankful for that.
Wrote this workout for a previous convergence with Death Valley followed by Dredd testimony. Concerns regarding large numbers and we thought we may need to split the group. Last minute decision to keep the 45ish PAX together. Thin Mint did a great job leading a crew highlighted by some serious mumblechatter from F3 Nan’tan Dredd. Enjoyed that morning.
Champagne called out McGee on his merkin form on the AYG round of the Merkin Stroll Down the Avenue. Something along the lines of, “McGee, are you at least going to do one real merkin.” He fired back with, “Hey, did you do shoulder presses with 125 lb dumbells yesterday at the gym?” YHC inquired as to what impact that would have on merkin form. McGee then called out Brilleaux on his merkin form. Men, all the way down and all the way up. Simple. Or, modify as necessary. You get out what you put in. YHC later called Hand-Release merkins with a brief explanation that many fitness experts consider these the perfect push-up as they force the exerciser all the way down. Will and determination should force said exerciser all the way up. Enough on that.
Things got a little weird down by the rock pile. Somebody subtly called YHC’s chose rock “small” in more words. YHC responded that it looked bigger in the pile. McGee quickly responded with, “That’s what she said.” Touche. Kicker was when YHC subsequently called Thrusters. All in good fun.
Lorax, McGee, Rachel, Brilleaux toward the front. Snuka out front on the Entrance 1 full lot sprint. 55 years old. Impressive.
The alternating lunge walk/bear crawl not a crowd favorite. Understandably so. YHC didn’t really enjoy it either. Hence, the sprint after round 2. Try to keep the PAX happy, to a point. Part of the draw for F3 workouts, at least for YHC, is pushing through undesirable sets. Sets that I wouldn’t do on my own. These make you stronger. I work so much harder at F3 workouts than I do on my “off” days at the gym when the M posts FIA or I need a reprieve from running. The faster man next to you makes you work harder.
Well done today men. Always enjoy leading the men of Anvil. Time to gear up to take my boy and the neighbor twin girls out for a morning of fishing.
Announcements
F3 Golf. 4th Annual. 10/27/2017 Olde Sycamore GC. Put it on the calendar. All $ to fund LEAP Expansion to cities outside driving distance. More information to come soon.
24 Hours of Booty Party on Friday 07/29. 1645 Queens Rd. West (F3 Haywood’s house). 6-10 pm. Music, BBQ, Beer, Band, Bikes. Open to all–including M’s, 2.0’s, friends of PAX. Donations taken and split between 24 HOB and F3Foundation.