We came, we saw, and we did some work
In the humid humid gloom, 3 MEN posted to work, run and get better.
We came, we ran and did some hard work.
If you weren’t there, then you missed out.
Champagne Out.
Skunkworks 5-year Anniversary
20 of South Charlotte’s finest came out to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of Skunkworks. Here’s what we did.
Warm-up
– SSH
– IW
– Good mornings
Burpee/Swing Ladder
– 5 burpees, 10 swings
– 10 burpees, 20 swings
– 15 burpees, 30 swings
– 10 burpees, 20 swings
– 10 burpees, 20 swings (had to get to an even 50)
Catch Me If You Can
– Partner up with likesize KB
– Partner 1 run, partner 2 5 merkins and chase
– Flap jack
– Around the church
Hill Suicides
– Partner 1: suicide run to first median and back, second median and back, road and back
– Partner 2: double swings
– Round 2: double cleans
– Round 3: single snatches
Catch Me If You Can 2.0
– Back around church
– If combined KB weight is < 80 lbs, 15 merkins, otherwise 10 merkins
Finish
Good to celebrate what Stone Cold and TR started five years ago. Two of the OGs out there in Stone Cold and Joker…TR was running or something. Second round of CMIYC was brutal both physically and mentally. Strong work by all, worn out.
– Harley
PreBlast: Memorial Day 2017 – SOB Murph Convergence
“The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree” -Thomas Campbell
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” -Joseph Campbell
“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” -Minot J. Savage
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived” -George S. Patton
“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” -Elie Wiesel
“And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.” -Joseph Rodman Drake
“It was the transcendent fortitude and steadfastness of these men who in adversity and in suffering through the darkest hour of our history held faithful to an ideal. Here men endured that a nation might live.” -Herbert Hoover
Join the Sons of Ballantyne on Memorial Day (5/29/17) for a “Murph” convergence workout to honor and remember all those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
The Murph commences at 0700 sharp from the top of the Ballantyne Village parking deck.
– 1 mile run to fitness trail near Loch Ness (route map below)
– 100 Pull-ups
– 200 Merkins
– 300 Squats
– 1 mile run back to top of Ballantyne Village parking deck.
– Optional 20 lb weighted vest
Bring your shovel flag and gratitude.
Guilt Free Speed
19 men decided to post to another non-Bratwurst led Swift workout. Bratwurst must be continuing to nurture speed work in other neighboring counties. #runninghumanitarian
10 showed up for the pre-run…run which followed the standard route. Tiger Rag paced himself such that in the last 100 meters he pulled ahead in a dramatic fashion. He must know “it is all won in the pre-run.”
There was a detailed preblast posted which allowed all PAX ample warning of what was to unfold. The general plan was a warmup jog, various dynamic stretching exercises, a Strava segment challenge, then some 3 and 5 min I-pace intervals, followed by a mosey back to COT.
It sounds easy when it is written in one sentence. Well, it was not. Here are some notes:
1) When Qing a Bratwurst workout, do nothing out of sequence. High knees were completed before heel/toe walks and there was a near mutiny.
2) There is no love for the B-skip/flapping arm combo. YHC was completely left alone to do this exercise proudly for a good 30 ft before anyone joined. What happened to iron sharpening (while flapping your arms and skipping) guys?
3) The segment challenge was enthusiastically embraced. Haggis had grand plans to claim the crown on the Bagpipe hill. However, he did not factor that Favra was in attendance and ended up with 3rd after Frasier whose record still stands from March 2016.
4) Haggis also EH’ed Charlie the FNG (now Woodson) who made his first appearance at the pre-run at 5:00 am. Even though he was not properly introduced (Q-fail), he joined in the pre-run and later dominated the segment and intervals. Watch out Gumbo and Bunker, there may be a new mileage king in town. Word on the street is that Woodson runs 60 – 70 mi per week. Boom.
5) The timed runs out and back were as bad as the memories entailed. The out was good since it is slightly downhill, however, to make it back to the start in the same amount of time takes a serious push. That will leave a mark…
Thanks to Brat’ for letting me lead today and thanks to you guys for following (except on the skipping, that does not get any thanks…).
COT was rough guys. I’m going to miss Ballantyne. This 4.5 yrs has been awesome. I’ll save the rest of the sentimentalism for #F3DevilsTurn on Thursday. It is going to be the second worst Devil’s Turn ever (come and see what’s in store).
Announcements:
– Fredo VQ at DaVinci
– Tuck has a beer run this weekend and wants you to join
– Speed for Need – get on social media and check it out – great cause
– Fight Club is now at Elon Park Elementary
– May 24 is FNG day at The Maul – bring your pals and come out!
Grumpy Starfish
A cool double deuce pulled into the SCMS lot sometime between 5:02 and 5:16am. A whopping zero guys showed up for an “aggressive”(?) proposal of a 0500 warmup pre-run. Easy 1-ish mile jog up 51 and back to the lot to scoop errbody up. A healthy disclaimer was provided, noting that there’d be some familiarity in the workout today, and we were off. TL, Rachel, and Stinger were out of the gate hot. In a veteran move to slow them down, I told them to “hold up at the country club lot”, only to blow past them on Raintree Ln towards the gravel lot – keep up. We circled up in the dimly lit gravel lot, that Gloss described as smelling of “musk”. A few obligatory imperial walkers and low slow squats to get the joints moving before the real deal.
A modified starfish (or Balloon knot, as Spackler named it, way back when). The center point was the 4 way stop at Raintree Ln/4 Mile Creek. Leg 1 – center point to the gravel lot and back up. Leg 2 – down 4MC to the trough between the two ponds and back. Leg 3 – Up Raintree Ln to Providence and back. At the end of each leg, 30 squats – which I was told multiple times, was “aggressive.” Most guys got through all 3 legs at least twice.
- Notepad:
This was unashamedly a reboot of a Spackler workout from March 10, 2015 – 16 pages deep in the FT backblast archives. It was a memorable one – if not for the workout, for the name. Ask Spack about the origin if you’re struggling to connect the dots. - About 2 legs in, Swiper and One-eye rolled in, wearing wildly contrasting sleeves. OE had the long ones, while Swipe’s sleeves were plum tore off. Note: 4 tank tops out there today – smashed the over. Apparently they rolled in late and looked “everywhere” for the group. Process of elimination, they found us.
- We hit the superfecta on the color of Haze’s shoes – he described them in color as “black, with a hint of red and yellow.” Count it.
- Depending on when you called it quits, we had a few skins out there back on campus. As a rule follower, we hit the under on 0.5.
- The long shot of the day at 600:1 was Hopper’s shoe attire. That money will live to see another day. There’s a great video circulating on the facebook in case you’re curious. No link here though, don’t be lazy.
- I’ve figured out the traffic sitch in Raintree- the GC maintenance guys have it figured out. They don’t flinch when they see you and smoothly cruise down the middle lane. If it’s a big truck coming, hang to the right or left and you’ll be fine. If it’s a luxury sedan – good luck.
- Good to see some dudes back from the IR today – namely Mr. Brady. Just in time for the heat and humidity
- T-claps to Stinger for making the trip down from Metro and almost getting stood up by his boy Swiper. Killed it out there today.
- Big weekend at the Preakness this weekend – who ya got? I was at the Preakness when this first happened. It was memorable…
- I think most guys really got after it today – not a much lollygagging, like I may have expected to see. I’ve never seen a more grumpy, angry look on guys faces than some of the interchanges of dudes grinding up the hills. Some dudes out there were hating life between 5:45-5:05. One of my favorite types of workouts – one where noone can hide. You’re all better for it. Solid effort out there.
Announcements:
- Disclaimer- this was the most intense announcements I’ve ever seen. Pull out your calendars and brace yourself. Lotta good stuff in the next couple weeks.
- Next week (5/23) is the 4 year anniversary of Fast Twitch. Last year TL etched out a number 3 on the Strava map, in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt. Show next week to see if he can top the Strava Art efforts this year.
- SOBs are hosting a “FNG-Day” workout at the Maul next Wednesday 5/24. Bring out a new guy to a workout structured to welcome new men into F3.
- There was also some chatter about a convergence at on 5/24 between Death Valley and Anvil – BOLO for details
- Friday, May 26th – Knights Game – hit up Poptart for details
- Saturday, May 27th – Annual Memorial Day Convergence at Calvary Church 0700. This is an annual tradition Day Zero and The Rock hosted that pays tribute to those that lost their lives serving for our freedom. If you post to one Saturday workout this year, this is the one.
- Monday, May 29th – Memorial Day Convergence at SCMS – more detail to follow
- Thursday, June 1st – Ghost Runner (A.k.a. the Stink and Drink) evening run from the Arbo reboots. Great opportunity for a double-down and BRR prep, with some 2nd F at Vintners after.
- Monday, June 5th – Horsey McHorse Arse reboot. Gnarliest hills in the 704.
- F3 Speed for Need (SFN) – JRR Tolkien announced last week, an incredible opportunity for community engagement – F3 Speed for Need has launched and is an amazing opportunity for us to all give back to kids that can’t run around neighborhoods, up hills, around office parks, like we can. Find 5 minutes of your day and check out the preblast, including a short youtube video to see what it’s all about. http://f3nation.com/2017/05/12/speedforneed/. They’ve rasied nearly $15K in only a few days. Incredible working going on. Get involved.
Pre Run was so nice…Let’s do it twice
Posse pulls into the parking lot to see the Hatfields (Frack/Doc) White SUVs on one side and the McCoys (Goodfella/Foundation) Black SUV’s parked on the other side. Not sure which side to pick in this duel, he split the middle and parked his blue Toyota Prius in the middle. After the early pre-run looped back around to pick up Posse and off we went for more brisk mosey.
Warmup:
Extended Mosey to the High School by the wall of rocks
- Cotton Pickers
- Old Man Stretch
- Mt Climbers
- Merkins
Thang:
Split up into 2 groups:
Round 1:
- Group 1: Sprint to rock pile grab single rock and bring back and bring to 1st pillar
- Group 2: 150 Air Squats
- Flapjack
Round 2:
- Group 1: Return rocks from new pile back to rock wall
- Group 2: 100 Dips, 50 merkins
- Flapjack
Round 3:
- Group 1: Sprint to rock pile grab single rock and bring back and bring to 1st pillar
- Group 2: 50 Flutter
- Flapjack
Round 4:
- Group 1: Return rocks from new pile back to rock wall
- Group 2: People Chair/Air Press
- Flapjack
Extended Mosey around campus with quick stops for:
- 25 Step Ups
- Pistol Crunches
At Loading Dock – 5 jump ups and Dips
At Playground 2 rounds:
- Pushups across rock wall
- Pull Ups
- Derkins
- Supines
- Step Ups
Close with Mary
- LBC
- Side Winders
Closing Prayer – Goodfella
Moleskin:
Good work by the group, included little extra light running today 2.2 miles for workout + 3.1 for pre run. YHC has determined that the nipple irritation occurs at anything north of 5.0 miles. Luckily not at road rash level t oday, but enough that shower felt like cutting glass. Frack found what he exclaimed to be the steam room today as he was touching cloth trying to find restroom. Doc confessed to a date with 5 Guys yesterday…or at least that is what we heard. Frack amazed by Goodfella lack of consuming a hamburger in last 8 years, and confirmed that a black bean or tofu burger does not count. Then proceeded to question further of Goodfella diet, and summed up with will not eat meat, but unborn animals(eggs) are ok. Posse’s Cal Ripken’s streak of never missing a F3 workout ended yesterday as he took a day of rest, but he has vowed to start a new one beginning today.
What…No Triple Nickel
Arrived a few minutes early this morning and thought was going to be small showing but as seen on tv…..wait there’s more. The PAX grew to 16 strong and were now ready for some action.
COP
20 Side Straddle Hop
15 Imperial Walker
10 Merkins
10 Low Slow Squats
The Thang
1. We started off campus, Indian Run to Rosecliff Dr. 10 Merkins at bottom and 10 Lunges at the top of the hill. 3 rounds… could of done a few more but had more plans at SCMS. So let’s run back at a comfortable pace.
2. Enough running for now, how about some Mary.
Rosalita, Freddy Mercury and Elbow Plank to slow down the heart rate and focus on the core
3. Grab a rock so we can work on the upper-body.
2 rounds-
15 Bicep Curls
15 Tricep Extensions
15 Overhead Presses
and let’s mix it up with some Jump Squats.
4. Run to the baseball field and partner up.
1.2 rounds… yes ran out of time
Step Ups
Dips
Pull Ups
while other partner runs to the top of stairwell and around cement pathway, then flapjack
5. Now for the fun….line up for some hand slap Merkins
6. Cool down, grab some wall for Airpresses
Thanks to Goonie and Drano for providing me with the opportunity to lead today. Good work by all and was told logged 2.5miles. Do what you can to exercise leadership in your family, work and communities. Thanks to Nomad for the takeout. Have a great week.
Announcements-
- Little Mike stated that there will be a convergence at Patriot park on Memorial Day at 7am followed by a 5K @ 7:45am. The 5K is M and 2.0 friendly. Plan to run with active Military and wounded Veterans. There will also be a go extra mile run with the F3 Shovel flags.
- There will be a convergence at SCMS on Memorial Day. More information will be coming soon and if you would like to Q, please see Goonie.
- Tolkien from F3 Charlotte- Metro is leading a project for the 3rd F; Speed for Need to benefit a child who has multiple sclerosis. This effort will support the purchase of specialized and customized chairs for pushing those who are affected by disabilities. Goonie will be exploring donation options for the cause at BaseCamp workouts.
Remember 3rd F is for Faith which symbolizes a higher calling for all of us. Try to find your 3rd F cause and work towards it… The mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workouts for the invigoration of male community leadership. This is one way to be a leader, reach out and do something…….Goonie.
Ascent – Episode 5/13 : Pineville’s ASCENT…or…Ciruit Work-it.
7 PAX, including one FNG from Pineville, posted to Ascent on Saturday morning of May 13, 2017, for a good old timey beatdown. YHC had prepared for several contingencies with respect to PAX demographics, and was ready to go with a workout scaled to everyone’s fitness levels.
With a mumbly stumbly disclaimer that got the point across (do what you can, what you want, and at your own risk, no professionals present, etc.), we were off for some mobile-unit COP that began at Station One with some SSH * 20, run to Station Two with some low slow Merkin * 10, run to Station Three with some low slow squats * 20, continue to run to Stations Four and Five for further instructions, before heading back to Station One.
Station One – Parking Lot: Catch me if you can Hairburners, out and back.
P1 – Hairburn, P2 – 2 burpees, flapjack out,
P1 – Hairburn, P2 – 4 Merks, flapjack back
Station Two – Church Parking Lot, Grab a Rock:
P1 – Triple Lindys (Curl, to shoulder press, to tricep extension)
P2 – Run around the Church
Flapjack, Repeato
Station Three – Baseball Bleachers:
P1 – Hold a plank
P2 – Step ups x 10 each leg
Station Four – Concession Stands:
Back to Back People’s chair x 100 seconds
Station Five – School Wall:
10 hand-slap Merks between partners
YHC expected more distance between fastest team and slowest, so was going to have the group catch up to the 6 and finish out…however, everyone brought their #LarryBird game on Saturday in lieu of savaging anything that morning.
Since all were accounted for, let’s change it up and show the FNG how indian runs work.
Head over to the track, Indian Run * 2 laps.
THEN….Indian plank around the track * 1 lap. That one hurt.
Once we’re done there, it’s time for a lap around the Olde Providence neighborhoods. I’d wager we got in a good 2 miles by the time we were wrapped up.
FIN
COT
Welcome to the fold, Gepetto, who woodworks as a hobby. With a name like Markanthony, he was dangerously close to being a “Cleopatra” or “You sang to me”…
Thanks for the send-off, Daisy.
Announcements:
- Ballantyne Corporate Cup: http://racesonline.com/events/run-ballantyne-8k5k
- Speed For Need was launched last week by J. R.R. Tolkien – GREAT opportunity to get involved:
- Preblast: http://f3nation.com/2017/05/12/speedforneed/
- Donation Link: Click here to support SPEED-FOR-NEED by F3 Nation
Guilt Trip
As many of you know, YHC is leaving at the end of the month to head for the north side. It is going to be difficult to leave you SOB’s. However, one silver lining is Bratwurst feels bad enough to hand over the reigns of Swift for one more round of mayhem before I go. #lapseinjudgment
We will keep it real this week complete with moderate hills and elements of danger. There is another chance at Strava greatness if you are so inclined.
5:00 am optional pre-run action
5:15 am main event
6:15 am meet up with our Bagpipe bros for COT
The Main Event (for watch programming purposes):
– Warmup
– Can-can, arm flaps, B-skips, butt-kickers, etc.
– Optional sprint up Bagpipe hill for Strava record
– Arrive at Ballantyne Corp. bridge over 521
– I-Pace: Run 1:30 out toward Premiere deck turn and run 1:30 back to bridge – jog recovery 2:00 (watch for cars!)
– I-Pace: Run 1:30 out toward Premiere deck turn and run 1:30 back to bridge – jog recovery 2:00 (watch for cars!)
– I-Pace: Run 2:30 out toward Premiere deck turn and run 2:30 back to bridge – jog recovery 4:00 (watch for cars!)
– Repeat cycle again for good measure
– Easy run, I-Pace, or sprint back to COT
– Optional elbow plank until everyone arrives
Yes, it is a lot to fit in an hour, but that is what she said. Bring your stamina, bro.
Preblast: Swag Twitch
Fast Twitch Swag is back in effect. Just about every square inch of “The ‘Tree” has been scoured on Tuesday mornings pre-dawn. In the interest of avoiding the insufferable whining from a select few you-know-who’s, we’ll be in Raintree. Does Raintree have hills? Yep. Will we be running hard? Eh, probably 85% of you will. What will the weather look like? Low 60s with unseasonably seasonal humidity – dress accordingly. Where will we go? Deep. How deep? I can’t type it on here.
Prop bets:
Number of tank tops worn: +/- 2
Guys ending up shirtless: +/- 0.5
Color of Purple Haze’s shoes: Black 5:4, White 6:1, Red: 15:1
Odds Hopper runs in the shoes he wore this weekend: 600:1
HB