They said he quit. They said he’d gotten fat. They said we’d never see him again. But today he made his triumphant (and slow) return to F3 and most importantly to the home of his own site Q responsibilities. Kotters to Purple Haze! I may or may have promised you that I’d keep it under 2 miles with Imperial Walkers AMRAP…and I may or may not have lied about that. Kudos to you for showing back up and not so much to me for not paying any attention to the clock today. #poortimemanagement.
16 men gathered this morning for this week’s episode of Fast Twitch. With a much needed disclaimer clearly stating that I am not a professional and a quick run down that we’ll be doing a slight continuation of what Frasier started last week with some threshold running followed by recovery runs, we were off. Here’s what we did:
Take a right out of SCMS and head down Strawberry Ln and circle up when we get to Rosecliff.
Continue Mosey through the neighborhood until we get to the bottom of Coburn Ct. We line up for 7’s with merkins at the top (the stop sign) and squats at the bottom. Run at threshold pace up the hill, and recover on the way down. Get your heart rate back to normal before threshold back up.
Once completed and regrouped, threshold pace up the other hill towards Bevington. Once at the speed limit sign, recovery pace to Bevington. Circle up for LBC x 25 to wait for the Haze six.
Interval Work:
Whatever you got up Rea, right on 51, and back to SCMS. Done anywhere between 6:17-6:22. #overtime.
Moleskin:
So maybe I was just so excited that Purple Haze was back, but I underestimated our course today with the speed hump intervals and we got a little behind on time. Cobains to everyone on that. My bad. The good news is I think everyone cleared well over 6 miles this morning! Excellent work! Even Heartbreaker said he thinks that’s the furthest he’s gone at a F3 workout. Strong. What a great group to lead this morning. A few faces of old I hadn’t seen in a while as well as some of the regulars. Hannibal, Gummy, Margo, and I started out at the head of the pack representing team Flattnin’ The Hills for the BRR (paperwork has been filed. training has begun). Alf, of course, was out front all morning. At one point I started to worry he was getting lonely. Then I stopped caring because it’s his fault he’s so fast.
Pop Tart must have drank a PBR before the workout because he was flying up the hills of Coburn like it was just another lap of the beer mile. Icicle, Early Bird, Ductwork, Retread and Madison seemed to be on cruise control all morning. I felt the evil eyes coming from Strawberry, Utah and Ironsides every time we crossed paths on Bevington. And of course I heard the complaints from Purple Haze for all 67 minutes of the workout. But after it was all over, I think/hope everyone enjoyed it as much as that’s possible. There is nothing fun about interval work, but it’s necessary for us to get back in shape and shave some time off our road race times. Everyone put in some serious work this morning. Great job!
I’m expecting some comments from Gummy on us going over in time. He said he’d file a formal complaint with the board. You know you liked it. Also, feel free to chime in on whatever I missed.
Announcements:
No time for them. Again…oops.
Til next time,
Pro
18 men showed up for the newly dubbed #F3Swirt (YHC making the most of a momentary typo by Bratwurst yesterday on Slack) ready for a jaunt up Ben Nevis and through the rolling hills of Ballantyne Country Club. 6 or 7 arrived early for extra credit at 5:00.
During the extra credit, the crew kept a keen eye waiting for Bratwurst to pop out of the bushes at full on T-pace to join us. However, the pre-run came and went without our illustrious leader. Then during mull-o-rama prior to 5:15, no tan Tacoma was seen anywhere. Oh no, it’s 5:15! It was 5:15, time to scramble. After some bumbling remarks, a rough agenda was pieced together and we were off.
Haggis was keen on a warmup routine and led the group in the typical exercises at the entrance to BCC. The intervals then began and continued through the full Ballantyne CC loop. The intervals were 2 min @ 2 mi race pace (1 min rest), 1 min @ 2 mi race pace (30 sec rest), 30 sec @ 2 mi race pace (30 sec rest). It was awful since it seemed that all the intervals were run up hills and the rest was spent running down the same hill just ascended to regroup. Devastating…
Thanks to Hairball who programmed the intervals in his arm computer for this morning. It seems to be the first time he has ever done this and it was a great time to start. Thanks also to Strange Brew who still had it programmed from long ago. However, his programming led us to less rest than desired (flexible constraints…).
It was a big group this morning and everyone was pushing hard through the hills of the CC. Overall, everyone made it through the whole CC loop and arrived on time at COT. Great work on that front men. That is a long route and it has been a while since we have run hills. Ouch…
Thanks guys for the group effort to keep this workout on the rails this morning. Let’s not forget all that Bratwurst does for us. We would be much worse off (and much slower) without his guidance.
#F3Swirt
So here’s the deal. The A51 Board has talked about spicing things up a bit on the workouts with some special events. At the same time, there was rumblings from the PAX of repeating a little excursion we tried last winter at Day Zero. Enter the Mini-CSAUP. The basic gist is this:
The first Mini-CSAUP will launch from McAlpine Elementary School at 0700 on Saturday January 28. We will complete this Mini-CSAUP in 60 minutes. It will more or less be a repeat of this: http://f3nation.com/2016/01/16/youwerewarned/ (BTW, It was awful, which is why we should do it again) There may be a few modifications, but it will be basically the same. Why deviate from something already awesome? I can’t guarantee that Mittens the Cat will be there in person, but certainly in spirit.
Who’s man enough to step up to this, knowing what is going to happen ahead of time? Who among the original 16 will give it a second go?
Please HC below if you are in. It will help gauge the quantity of gear to bring.
If you have ideas for a future Mini-CSAUP, let me know and lets plan it.
-Alf
Names are combined from SWIFT and Bagpipe. 18 at Bagpipe and I believe 16 at SWIFT.
One of the very few workouts YHC has never taken the opportunity to Q is bagpipe, as the typical route to follow is to attend the SWIFT crew on Tuesdays. YHC has been missing out as Bagpipe always has good numbers and for a very good reason, this AO is incredible. YHC typically attends SWIFT, The Brave and even the occasional Stonehendge, but this AO is for those weekly gloom goers that need the extra 15min of the fartsack and still get a taste of what the vine and Ballantyne corp park has to offer.
With not a whole lot of time to plan this workout but wanting to grab the opportunity to Q (while I felt like the legs still needed some rest from that really long 5k I ran on Saturday at Joe Davis) I decided to help a brotha out and grab this last minute Q from Thin Mint.
So with that, here is what we did.
The THANG:
Mosey over to parking lot near the garden bar – new name. A couple of warm up moves to loosen the shoulders.
Plank for the 6 and cadence out some Merkins to 15. Then hit the usual IW, Windmills and a little Plank-O-Rama.
Mosey down to the Fitness path and to the unforgiving pull-up bars where we partnered up.
5 Rounds with your partner each doing 10 pullups and 20 Merkins. In between rounds run to other side of bridge to parallel pull up bars or standard pullup bars. Depending on which side you started.
When finished meet at the outdoor tables beside the pond, don’t know the name of the buildings, pond or any other landmarks for that matter but we met and we stayed with our partners to complete 10 box jumps and 20 Derkins. Again, 5 rounds and after each round we ran.
Once finished, met up and completed some single legs squats, low slow squats and wall sits.
One final mosey to the vine for some flutters and we called it a day.
Total of around 2.3 miles, 50 pullups, around 250 merkins and 50 box jumps.
Moleskin:
Once again, very appreciative of the opportunity to be able to lead Bagpipe this morning and meet some new faces. Thanks Bucky and Morning After for the warm welcomes and hope that no one got lost on our adventure around Ballantyne corp. If I ever get out of making Tuesdays my running day or just need a day off of the legs, YHC will make sure to jump in and either Q or join this group again.
Saw a shirt at lunch at Viva Chicken the other day that said, “Similes are like metaphors”. Well, we started with 3 guys and ended with 2, which is like SOFAWIB’s remaining days. Counting down some of the better workouts of the past 18 months with #3 today, Maria Maria:
Run to corner of Rea and Rea (tight group, no burpees). Head south on Rea toward Hwy 51.
Forward run to lit streetlight, backward run to next. 7 burpees.
Forward run to next streetlight, backward run to next. 10 merkins.
Forward run to next streetlight, backward run to next. 10 WW2 situps.
Mix in 5 Dumbocrats at each named side street. Repeat to Hwy 51, turn around, and continue back to HT.
That’s the entire workout, in what? 5 sentences? Anyhow, a relatively simple Weinke somehow confused the heck out of Swiper, to the point that he had to be doing it intentionally. He bolted slightly early to make a work meeting, leaving Cold Cuts and I to finish it out. We nearly completed it, making a few alterations to the last 1/4 mile or so to get back in time. Still an awful workout, seemingly made worse today by nearly every single street light between Colony and 51 being lit. Interestingly, neither Sundancer nor One Eye, both of whom contributed to the naming of this workout, were present. WW2 situps had to deter Sundancer, and no idea if One Eye was around or not. Probably out hiking the Appalachian trail, or something…
With a large group, fun to share the conversations / stories, but with 2-3, it seems like a violation of confidence, so that’s all for today.
With the real live DMZ shovel flag likely tucked snugly in the fartsack next to the DMZ site Q, seven of Area 51 and Metro’s finest assembled around the virtual shovel flag for this week’s installment of the best Monday morning workout straddling the border between Metro and A51. After no FNGs were identified and the disclaimer was given, we were off.
The Thang
– Mosey up Carmel to Town & Country and assemble at the intersection with La Gorce for brief COP in whisper cadence:
SSH x15
Merkins x10
LBCs x10
Imperial Walker x10
– Mosey down to the bottom of the long T&C hill for 8s on the hill with, in a moment of perhaps unmatched Q creativity, megaburpees at the top and megaburpees at the bottom
It quickly became apparent to YHC at least that this was a terrible idea. YHC should have known better as the idea for megaburpees at the top and bottom of a hill came from Cannoli, who, let’s be honest, is full of bad ideas. YHC thought modifying to 8s from Cannoli’s 11s would make it less sucktastic, but the longer hill simply erased any upside from the fewer number of reps
– Most of the Pax completed the full set of 8s, then the Pax assembled at the bottom of the hill where Rachel was patiently waiting for us for a bit of Mary
Dolly x10
Freddie Mercury x10
Rosalita x10
Low, fast flutter x10
Russian twist x10
– Combo bear crawl / carb walk up T&C to Granada
– Backwards run up to La Gorce with audible to standard mosey to avoid getting pancaked by an oncoming car and/or falling into the delightful ditch on one side of the road
– Various planks, then AYG back to the lot
– Just a minute or so left, so why not do 10x Makhtar Ndiaye IC for a finisher
– COT
Naked Man Moleskine
– Another great idea on paper that proved to be much, much worse in person. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as dark on Town & Country as has been the case in the past
– With only 7 Pax in attendance and a ~0.2 mile hill (each way), mumble chatter seemed to be fairly limited
– Rachel set the pace throughout. Thankfully for the rest of us, the 8s weren’t quite long enough for him to lap anyone
– Missed having One Eye out there, but understand that he was probably still deep asleep in the fartsack dreaming about his Stillers’ victory over the Chiefs. Had he posted, at least Rachel may have had some company
– Lots of regular Pax missing, which YHC can only assume was due to the MLK holiday and not a statement about the quality of YHC’s Qs
Thanks to One Eye for the keys and to the Pax for putting up with YHC’s lack of creativity.
God bless,
SB
Quite the crowd showed up at Skunkworks today for a misty beatdown that got the heart a pumping.
THE THANG
SSH x 10
IW x 10
Merkins x 15
Low not so slow squat x 10
Swing until Bananas gets his smaller bell.
To the track:
2 single arm swings/2 high pulls/2 racks/2 overhead presses. Run a lap and repeat each arm with sets of 3, 4 and 5 with lap between.
To the soccer field:
Round 1
20 swings sprint 20 merkins sprint back
30 swings sprint 30 merkins sprint back
40 swings sprint 40 merkins spring back
Round 2
10 snatches (5 each arm) sprint 10 dry dogs
20 snatches (10 each arm) sprint 20 dry dogs
30 snatches (15 each arm) sprint 30 dry dogs
Round 3
10 goblet squats sprint 10 sister mary catherines sprint back
Repeat 20 and 20
Repeat 30 and 30
Round 4
10 Louganis sprint 10 rock hoppers
Repeat with 15 and 20
Round 5
10 overhead presses sprint and 10 burpees
15 overhead presses sprint and 5 burpees
20 overhead presses spring and 0 burpees
Circle up
KB merkins and rock hoppers up to 5 merkins and 20 rock hoppers
Done
YE OLDE NAKED MOLESKINE
What a crew this morning! Lots of congratulations going around about the big Clemson win with Fireman Ed and Busch leading the charge.They just kept on coming and with a final tally of 30 pax it was a good group but not too much time to chit chat with the speedy low slow squat and me wanting to get to the meat and potatoes. After speaking with Bananas yesterday the plan was to get the heart and the lungs going while working on strength. Hoover said his heart was about to burst during round 4 so I guess mission accomplished. Brown hates the running and his quick exit this morning was hopefully a work related issue and not him coughing up a lung. Other highlights: Freedom getting out in front, Header’s new Simba look, Lex Luthor keeping the Go Ruck dream alive, Good Hands and his pitiful dry dogs, someone complaining about slippery bells…
Its a good time to get back in the saddle and stay consistent. I know I need it and its lads like you that make me wake up at unearthly hours to get healthy, have a laugh, and forge friendships that makes the sacrifice well worth it. Thanks for allowing me to lead. BD
Happy new-ish year. It’s time to start thinking about race calendars and planning for the upcoming year. Below is a list of events that might be of interest to the PAX organized into three categories: Obstacle Course Races, Ultra Running Events, and Relay Races. Of note: bookmark the Savage Race on 5/13/17 and be on the lookout for upcoming details about it since this will be the featured spring event for Area 51. This doesn’t look great in WordPress, so I have it available in Excel if anyone would like a copy. Email me at kevin.r.mays@gmail.com if you want the file. I also sent this in to Comz HQ for publishing in the next newsletter.
| Obstacle Races | ||||
| Name | Date | Location | Description | Website |
| Spartan Sprint | 4/8/17-4/9/17 | Charlotte, NC | 4-5 miles distance with about 20 obstacles – mix of grip obstacles, heavy carries, mud | spartan.com |
| Savage Race | 5/13/2017 | Charlotte, NC | Approximately 6 miles with 25 obstacles – looks to be a hybrid of Spartan and American Ninja Warrior | savagerace.com |
| Warrior Dash | 6/3/2017 | Huntersville, NC | The gateway drug of obstacle racing – 5K distance, the heat is typically the hardest obstacle. F3 men can dominate this event. | warriordash.com |
| Spartan Super & Sprint Weekend | 7/29/2017-7/30/17 | Asheville, NC | 8-10 miles distance with about 25 obstacles – mix of grip obstacles, heavy carries, mud. Last year’s course stole souls and broke spirits | spartan.com |
| Spartan Beast & Sprint Weekend | 11/4/17-11/5/17 | Winnsboro, SC | 12-14 miles distance with about 30 obstacles – mix of grip obstacles, heavy carries, mud | spartan.com |
| Rugged Maniac | 5/20/2017 | Rockingham, NC | About 5K distance, obstacles appear to be more climbing/jumping in nature rather than strength focused in addition to mud | ruggedmaniac.com |
| Spartan Sprint | 9/23/17-9/24/17 | Fayetteville, NC | 4-5 miles distance with about 20 obstacles – mix of grip obstacles, heavy carries, mud | spartan.com |
| Bonefrog | 11/18/2017 | Concord, NC | 11 miles 50 obstacles, designed by Navy Seals to simulate their training – looks legit | bonefrogchallenge.com |
| Ultra Races | ||||
| Name | Date | Location | Description | Website |
| Frosty Foot 50K/30K/8K | 1/21/2017 | Almond, NC | 50K trail race in the mountains of western NC | footrxasheville.com |
| Salem Lakeshore Frosty 50K/25K | 1/21/2017 | Winston-Salem, NC | Looks like a big loop around a lake | twincitytc.org |
| Fat Ass 50K | 1/28/2017 | Ft Bragg, NC | No entry fees, but no awards or t-shirts | etinternet.net |
| Mill Stone 50K | 2/11/2017 | Ft Mill, SC | Three 10.5 mile loops on the ASC greenway | rockhillstriders.org |
| Mount Mitchell Challenge | 2/25/2017 | Black Mountain, NC | 40 miles of trails to the highest point on the East Coast | blackmountainmarathon.com |
| Fontandango Foot Race 50 Mile | 3/4/2017 | Fontana Dam, NC | Individual and Relay options available | footrxasheville.com |
| Peytons Wild & Wacky Ultra 50K | 3/11/2017 | Mt Pleasant, SC | Appears to be 10 laps of a 5K course, which sounds neither wild nor wacky | ultrasignup.com |
| Relay Races | ||||
| Name | Date | Location | Description | Website |
| Smokey Mountain Relay | 4/21/2017 | Brevard, NC | 206 mile relay similar to the BRR | smokymountainrelay.com |
| Palmetto 200 & 70 | 3/17/2017 | Charleston, SC | Explore the highways of South Carolina on foot when running and by van when not running | palmetto200.com |
| Blue Ridge Relay | 9/8/2017 | Asheville, NC | No descrition needed | blueridgerelay.com |
| Ragnar | 10/6/2017 | Ft Mill, SC | Run, Camp, Repeat | ragnarrelay.com |
| Tuna Run 200 | 10/20/2017 | Raleigh, NC | Run to the coast and eat fish | tunarun200.com |
| Colonial 200 & 70 | 5/5/2017 | Williamsburg, VA | More vineyards but less mountains than the BRR – probably people dressed up as minutemen | colonial200.com |
31 of South Charlotte’s finest escaped the fartsack hoping this post would match the backblast I posted from my first F3 workout. I linked the BB to a tweet earlier in the week (http://f3nation.com/2014/01/17/making-up-as-we-go/). Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
Launch and head towards the stairs to middle stair of the parking deck. At the top circle up for COP
SSH, run down the stairs, 5 burpees, back up the stairs and circle up.
IW, run down the stairs, 5 burpees, back up the stairs and circle up.
Merkins, run down the stairs, 5 burpees, and plank to wait on the 6.
Stair suicides – Head over the stairs on the far right for stair suicides. Run up to the 2nd floor, 5 burpees, back to the bottom for 10 merkin, run up to 3rd floor, 5 burpees, etc.
Wall jumps – Line up on the street and sprint to the yellow line and back X 3. Only way to the line is jumping over a 5 foot wall
Run the deck – Head over to the entrance of the deck. Run up the deck, 5 burpees at the top of each ramp and 10 merkins at the bottom of each ramp. Go back and get the 6.
Take the stairs to the bottom level and line up at the bottom ramp. In and out planks IC Sprint to the top of the ramp to 3rd floor. Recover back down. Ski planks IC Sprint to the top of the ramp to 3rd floor. Recover back down. Low Plank Jacks IC Sprint to the top of the ramp to 3rd floor.
Mosey Over to the old launch parking lot and divide up in 5 lines. Split lines in half and 2 people walk 40 yards. Hair burn back and forth while resting pax does called exercise.
COT
Moleskin:
3 years ago I posted at Centurion as an FNG. The workout was tough, but interesting. Afterwards, the men circled up, counted off, told me I was an “FNG” then asked me to tell a little about myself. My response was the usual “Born and raised in Myrtle Beach, married my high school sweet heart, 2 kids, 2 dogs, gamecock and an accountant” the potential names started flowing. I heard, Spurrier, The boardwalk, Springmaid, The Boulevard, Pavilion, Shag, then my dear friend Jamboree says “Don’t they have a wax museum in Myrtle beach? How about Madame Tussauds.” The guys went nuts and yelled, “That’s it, Madame Tussauds.” 2 things raced through my mind (1) what in the heck just happened and (2) who is Madame Tussauds (I didn’t know how to spell it so even google wasn’t that helpful at first). That day at work I finally realized it was a wax museum. Then, my boss (Red Warrior from Metro) asked me my name and I embarrassingly responded “Madame Tussauds,” he sat back in his chair, shook his head and said “The best thing to do with a name like that is to own it” Since that moment, I’ve embraced being Madame T. Over the last 3 years, F3 has had a profound impact on my life, my family and my work. I’m happier, healthier and have a bunch of guys that I call friends that are like minded and good honest people. The early morning workouts help me sleep better, I’m less stressed about life and work, I’m a better leader at work, and better father and most of all a better husband to my M Amanda.
F3 workouts are free of charge; open to all men; held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold; and are led by men wo participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary. All you need is an F3 name to change your life, so own it.
As for the workout…. Chelms form is still terrible.
As always, it was a pleasure leading the men in The Gloom.
Announcements:
Tutoring and Team Building/Weekend activities at AG Middle School. See Chelms to volunteer.
New Mud Run this year – Savage Race on 5/13. Start building your 4 man team.
3rd F on Friday at Panera, new Book called “In search for God knows what.”
19 Grown men showed up in the dark and got to work by 4’s and 13’s. This is how it went down.
Run to childcare parking lot to begin the 4:13’s.
4:13 #1-Warm up
Run back through school and down to the track.
4:13 #2-Run around the track and in each of the corners stop for exercises
4:13 #3-Partner up, run opposite ways around the track. when you meet up do called exercise, first back lead Mary.
Head over to the bleachers, stop for 1 rock per pair.
4:13 #4-Rocks and Running
4:13 #5-Rocks and Running Remix
4:13 #6-The finisher, we were at 2.87 miles so I considered making it three but decided to keep the theme going.
I had lots of options for workout themes this morning.
It has been an honor to serve as a site Q at Base Camp. Thanks everyone for your help in making this a great site.This is a solid bunch of guys and still one of my favorite workouts. Drano is stepping up to run things with Goonie. I trust the site is in good hands, but I promised I would be around to serve as quality control.
Holy Moley
Until next time!