Title is from one of my all time favorite Far Side’s. Look it up. Also apt for this BB.
So, I’ve delayed this for quite some time, both a function of busyness at work and just not wanting to do it (sad really). Anyway, here’s the last two weeks of BBs consolidated into one:
Last week:
Pax – Cold Cuts, Swiper, and YHC
Ran the block (1.4 miles). Then 3-man grinders for a really long time. It was monotonous, even by SOFA WIB standards. 10 pull-ups, 20 merkins, and then squats until relieved at one end. 20 dips and then core exercise at the other (LBCs, Flutters, Freddy). Pretty sure we ran a mile at the end.
This week:
Pax – High Tide and YHC
Ran the block (1.4 miles). Then 2-man Escalator. Man 1 ran to playground for n pull-ups, 2n merkins, and 3n squats (n=trip number). Man 2 did core exercise (LBCs for 3 rounds, Flutters for 3 rounds, Freddy…). It was misty / raining, so Man 2 stayed under the overhang behind the school. Then we ran the HT mile to close it out, adding a few sprints toward the end.
That’s it. Mundane, normal workout stuff. With so few people, there’s very little to report. Kind of sad, actually. Maybe it’s my state of mind, but I was genuinely disappointed when I rolled into the rainy parking lot at 0530 and HT was standing there with his headlamp. In the end, I was glad that I rolled out of bed and actually posted in the cold rain.
Through a combination of injury earlier this year, trying to get back into shape for BRR (still lost both a step and endurance), cold weather, etc., YHC has been posting less frequently. From looking at attendance everywhere, that seems to be fairly common. Where I was generally 4 posts per week, that is down to 2-3, and one of them is this one. Maybe serving as site Q for +/- 18 months has worn me down, but the spark / fire / excitement / joy (pick a word) doesn’t seem to be there anymore. As such, I’ve given a lot of thought to shutting this workout down. It’s fun to have a group of guys out there working hard while talking / cutting up / ribbing each other. With 1-2 other guys, like the last few weeks, it’s different. I don’t know what will end up happening with the workout. We may move it, change days, fold it up, etc….but I know that having it has given me a push to get out there. I need that accountability. I think we all do.
It’s so much easier when it’s 45 degrees and raining to mail it in. I completely get it. The rest of the free world doesn’t understand getting out of bed on mornings like that, or 20 degrees (like tomorrow’s forecast). For some reason, we do. We may have slipped, forgotten, whatever…but I’d urge you to post tomorrow. Not alone, but reach out to someone that’s also backslid a little and may need that push / accountability to get back out.
Appreciate you guys posting, even in the rain. I needed that.
18 PAX showed up Thursday morning with moist, late fall weather to run some pavement. Here’s what happened.
Began disclaimer and quick mosey to front of school. Had the PAX circle up for some warm up exercises. Exercises included: Side Straddle Hop x 15, Mountain Climbers x 15, Hand Release Merkins x5 OYO.
Had PAX run down Rea toward Harris Teeter. Plank up at the entrance to Teeter for some planking work with some Hand Release Merkins. Shuffled the group over to the Christmas Tree fountain for some partner work. Round 1 – Partner 1 performed Derkins while Partner 2 ran the dumpster mile. Round 2- Partner 1 performed dips while Partner 2 ran the dumpster mile. Final Round – Partner 1 performed step ups while Partner 2 ran the dumpster mile.
Ran the PAX down to the back entrance of the shopping center for Burpees. Completed 5 rounds of descending count Burpees, started at x5. Finished this awful set of exercises with a 10 count from Buttermaker.
Ran down Colony toward SouthPark, made a right at Abbotswood Drive and huddled the PAX for some very loud Mary. Round 1 – LBCs, Round 2 – Flutters, Round 3 – Heels to Heaven. Ran up Abbotswood toward stop sign at Windyrush. Had PAX stop at intersection for multiple planking exercises with some Hand Release Merkins. Headed down Windyrush toward Foxworth drive for some 7’s. Squats at the bottom of the hill and Merkins at the top. Gathered the PAX at the base of Foxworth for additional planking exercises with some Hand Release Merkins.
Had PAX run back up Foxworth toward the park and gather at athletic field. Run toward middle of field and perform x10 merkins back to starting position on field. Run back to launch to finish the workout.
Moleskin:
Here are a few observations from the workout. As usual Spackler showed up looking like he drank his way out of a whiskey barrel. I always expect to see him pulled over and performing a field sobriety on my way to workouts in the morning. I want to apologize to Fireman Ed for lying to him yesterday about my workout plans. Sorry! We ran 3 miles and I was not able to secure a FIA convergence. As usual Puddin’ smelled like a barnyard. Spackler made a comment about the stench halfway down Abbotswood Drive that is not repeatable. Read the name of this post for a small hint. Buttermaker looked dapper as usual. Between his new LuLu gear and his Brazilian shaving techniques he is my vote for the next most interesting man in the world. Stay thirsty my friends! Cheese Kurd was his usual insult throwing self. He always does a nice job keeping the workout crew lose with his irreverent humor. Jet Fuel seemed to have lost his sleeves during one of the partner exercises or he actually owns a tank top.
There is always a solid group of guys that show up to Hydra. Special thanks to Good Hands and Puddin’ Pop for giving me the keys to one of Area 51’s gems!
Bounce
Announcements:
Signup for Joe Davis Run on the website. Smokey Mtn relay on April 21st and 22, see Cheese Kurd. Reach out to Chelms about Urban Eagles at AG Middle.
Note: Please compare this workout to this one – 100
AYE. At 43 degrees with a 43 degree dew point, YHC’s amateur meteorologist skillz predicted that it would be a very Gloomy morning and, indeed, it was. The stoplights barely pierced the haze and left us wondering what horrors might lie beyond the grey. So we kept close and decided not to find out.
THE THANG
150 burpees in roughly 12.5 minutes
6 minutes of true Mary without feet touching the ground
Mosey to the rocks and withdraw from Bank of Rocks
2 Rounds of – run to lightpole with rock, 25xMerkin, 25xJump Squat, 10xBurpees
Deposit rock back at the Bank of Rocks (interest paid)
AYG x 3 to lightpole sans rock + 10 + 5 burpees
Lunge walk to pole, mosey to other lot, broad jumps
Mosey back to main lot and complete 5 burpees + some plank to kill time
YE OLDE MOLESKINE
1. A little explanation might be useful here. YHC has decided to do 100 burpees a day for the month of December. Needless to say, I’d rather not do them alone. Hence, the 200 burpees. Why 200? I ran out of time to do them yesterday. Oops.
2. I think we were about 130 into the burpees when Scabby began to protest. Something about being bored. Don’t remember, definitely didn’t care. We were on the death march to 200 beautiful burpees and could not be stopped.
3. Iron Horse said it was the best workout he’s been to in months. Case closed.
#horseneck OUT
20 men gathered for their weekly exam at Death Valley. Semi didn’t even say hello as he headed into his office at 5:26. A concise disclaimer was given, and off we went. A couple of guys whispered “we aren’t going to the field, are we?”. That field was built to hold water, not drain. After a few days of rain, that would’ve been a bad idea. Remember the New Year’s convergence a few years ago at OP?
Yog gently down the street to the daycare parking lot to test my recently strained calf. Seems ok. Circle up in the daycare parking lot for a warmup. A few guys were uncertain how to handle the parking median that bifurcated our circle, but they persevered. SSH, IW, CDD, Squats, MC. After I questioned Bounce about his effort, he began hurling insults about my polyps. Gross. Back to the school parking lot.
Line up abreast under the light pole, facing the cars. Suicides to the basketball goals with 5x the called exercise back at the light pole. HR merkins, Jump Squats (or Squat Jumps if you’re picky), Heels to Heaven, something else.
Down to the track for some Mary, then an AYG (or AYCTG – all you care to give) 400m lap.
Mosey over to the bleachers. Partner up. Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 does 10 burpees. Flapjack. Repeat with derkins, step ups, monkey humpers and incline merkins. Quick mary break (during which Spackler gave new meaning to the term “preblast” with his warning of what he was about to unleash). Now partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 runs the stairway/ramp loop. Flapjack for a few exercises. Back up to the parking lot. Done.
Fun group this morning. After I had to cancel a couple of Qs last week to take care of my calf (not a baby cow, Semi) I was glad to get back out there. We all came dressed for 41 degrees and got a humid 50ish instead – I was sweating like a summer workout out there.
Seven men gathered in the Matthews UMC Eagle’s Nest for 45 minutes of deep stretches along with a few core exercises. YHC had an early Q fail and forgot about the devotion. I was a bit too worried about filling 45 minutes and it slipped my mind.
Here is your delayed Gumby Bible Verse of the Day from 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13. “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” Seemed appropriate for Pearl Harbor Day. Always a good verse to keep in mind regardless of what’s happening in life.
The Thang: I started out yesterday’s planning session writing stuff down but after about 15 minutes I was all over the place so I had a loose outline in my head and winged it the rest of the way. Not always the greatest way to Q but I think it worked out this morning. We started with some deep breathing followed by a good 15-20 minutes of good, old fashioned flow complete with warrior series and a few hamstring stretches. From there we moved on to about ten minutes of hip/IT band stretches, basically an extended runners lunge and pigeon series. These hurt so good.
We finished up with some ab/core work in the form of a modified LBC series followed by a short merkin/plank series including the always popular diamond merkin.
Moleskin: I’m a HUGE fan of yoga. I spent about two years doing hot yoga at least three days a week and I miss it dearly. Big T-Claps to Swiss Miss and High Tide for getting Gumby off the ground. My body appreciates it. It’s hard to justify spending 45 minutes at home stretching with chores, etc .. needing to get done so Wednesday’s at the Scout Hut are among my favorites. Deep stretches are good for the soul. Thanks fellas for allowing me to Q this AM.
Announcements: Gumby is in need of Qs! Swiss Miss and High Tide have set up a convenient signup genius. The aforementioned site Qs have done every week up until today. Madison and I have signed up for next month so let’s help out and put it on your schedule. It’s as easy as watchin a youtube video and picking out a horrible playlist on your favorite online music service.
Either a time machine dropped off a bunch of dice rollin’ street hoods from the 1930s or it was Maul-opoly! (It was the latter.)
After a the disclaimer, a brief demo of some of the more exotic exercises on the board and the a warm-up jog with the obligatory high knees, butt-kickers, bacwards run and side-shuffle, the PAX counted off and were given a pair of dice.
Each group would have a designated roller, the group advances the number of spaces (paper taped to the sidewalk) around the theatre.
Mediterranean Avenue
10 LBC
Baltic Ave
15 Toe-Tap Crunches
Oriental Ave
20 Carolina Dry Docks
Vermont Ave
20 Lunges (each leg)
Connecticut Ave
10 Jump Squats
St. Charles Place
20 Bomb Squats
States Ave
25 Squats
Virginia Ave
50 Calf Raise
St. James Place
20 Wide-Arm Merkins
Tennessee Ave
50 Mountain Climbers (IC)
New York Ave
20 J-Los
Kentucky Ave
20 Man-Maker Merkins
Indiana Ave
Run to top of hill 5 times
Illinois Ave
15 Tip-Toe Squats
Atlantic Ave
Run to top of hill 7 times
Ventnor Ave
25 Dolly (IC)
Marvin Gardens
25 Flutters (IC)
Pacific Ave
10 Partner-Slap Merkins
North Carolina Ave
10 Diamond Merkins
Pennsylvania Ave
People’s Chair with 50 air presses
Park Place
15 Burpees
Board Walk
20 Hand Release Burpees
Reading Railroad
1 minute plank
Pennsylvania Railroad
1 minute elbow plank
B&O Railroad
20 Maktar N’Dai
Short Line
20 Plank Jacks (IC)
Electric Company
Run and to the nearest street light
& do 25 American Hammer (IC)
Water Works
Bear Crawl to water pipe and return
Chance
1 minute Balls to the Wall
Chance
Go to Jail
Community Chest
Go to Board Walk and complete the exercise
Community Chest
Proceed to GO!
Do the exercise
Community Chest
Take a Ride on the B&O Railroad, Pass GO!
Jail!
Just Visiting = 20 Peter Parkers
In Jail = 20 Monkey Humpers
Luxury Tax
20 Low Country Crab
Income Tax
20 Donkey Kicks
Free Parking
10 Count
Go to Jail
Do not Pass Go!
Moleskine
Why is it so hard for grown men to count-off into groups? There’s always one group of two and one group of seven. (LPT: After you say your number, hold your fingers in the symbol of that number.)
My group got about 2 mi, but the distance will vary based on your rolls and the speed of your team.
My team got stuck doing the Maktar N’Dai’s, J-Los and LBCs more than once.
I felt bad for the team who had to run up the muddy hill.
I like this workout because it makes the time go fast, you stay in a group (no six) and it encourages fellowship.
I don’t like it that set-up requires getting up extra early, printing off the board, taping it and securing dice. (Party City does not have dice, Family Dollar does.) Thanks to Goonie who gave me a hand this morning.
Announcements
Jingle Bell Run 5k this Saturday www.jbr.org/charlotte
Joe David Run is Jan 7.
17 PAX posted in the gloom for glorious
The work went like this:
COP
40 SSH IC
30 Mountain Climbers IC
15 Merkens IC
30 Imperial Walkers IC
20 Squats IC
Mosey around the left side of the school stopped at one of the lights did 5 Merkens, sprint to second light did 10 Merkens, sprint to next light and did 15 Merkens, plank it out waiting on the PAX, did it on reverse, starting with 15, 10 and 5 Merkens at each light, repeated again this time doing 5 diamond merkens at first light, 10 diamond merkens at second light and 15 diamond merkens at the third light.
Mosey to the back of the school, started at first light did 5 wide arm merkens, sprinted to second light 10 wide arm merkens, sprinted to the third light and did 15 wide arm merkens, planked it out waiting on the PAX.
Mosey to the alley on the back of the school and did some wall work:
Planked it out with head close to wall for a 5 position move: 1 hand on the wall, 2 other hand on the wall, 3 bring first hand down back to the ground, 4 other hand to the ground and 5 do a merken, we did this IC x 10.
Then we turned around with feet facing the wall and did 10 donkey kicks each of the followed by a merken IC x 10
Peoples Chair for air presses 30 IC.
Mosey to the cafeteria of the middle school, grabbed a bench and did:
20 Step ups, 20 Derkens and 20 dips on your own then ran a lap around the track.
Did some SSH while waiting on the PAX.
15 Step Ups, 15 Derkens and 15 Dips on your own then ran a lap around the track.
Did some more SSH while waiting on the PAX.
Then we did some Mary and Mosey to the parking lot for COT.
The Moleskin:
Thank you again for the opportunity to lead this group and I look forward to meet you again in the gloom. I am sorry we have some casualties on the stairs leading to the first part of the workout but I am glad was nothing serious.
9 started but 10 finished the most recent installment of daVinci. We were very active today – visiting every retail establishment. But no one was buying; we were only window shopping.
The Workout:
Blakeney has retail in 3 of the 4 quandrants at Rea Rd. and Ardrey Kell Rd. We will do 5 LBC at EVERY door to EVERY store and/or storefront (Including Vacant) starting at Chik-Fil-A; traversing to BofA and that quadrant; then traversing over to main Blakeney and tackling every door that we can find there. Group is to stick together, and not get to far out ahead of anyone so YHC will call single cadence at every stop.
Total is over 700 LBC and around 3 miles.
Moleskinny (after so many LBC’s):
– This workout was loosely detailed and planned together which ended up be a great thing because we kept making adjustments from Pax suggestions. Each added a great deal to the workout and YHC really appreciated it. Some of the highlights were Tuck’s suggestions for Bear Crawls between doors. Another was Stumphuggers help in counting doors and how many we should do at garage doors.
– Adobe was out taking a stroll in jeans and a pocket knife. #protectionfrombadguys We picked him up a little over half way in and he finished strong with us; so no one will question why he wasn’t there in workout gear. Statement of the day was from Heartbreaker = Adobe: “I don’t know guys, I’m starting late.” Heartbreaker: “Why should that matter Adobe – you always roll in late!” #burn
– A lot of great chatter today. The title says it all!
– Coffeeteria had 7 in attendance. YHC believes that’s a record for this site. It was really enjoyable, and something that everyone should commit to on Saturdays. Each man has a great story, and it’s nice to find out more about your F3 Brothers. I enjoyed conversing with Bucky. He’s a pretty dynamic guy so I recommend hitting him up for coffee soon.
– I know I forgot a lot great BB material. Sound off in comments to fill in my blanks.
– Thanks for letting me try something different. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as me (the fellowship more than the workout; which wasn’t bad).
The Thang:
Start off with a warm up down strawberry lane, after waiting for Poptart to tie his shoes.
Turn around at the end of strawberry and head to the track for the following:
3 lap warm up
400 m T-pace x2 with 200 m rest between
800 m T-pace x2 with 400 m rest between
1200 m T-pace x2 with 600 m rest between
Depending on timing 2-4 laps cool down then head up to Woodfox drive turning around at rounding run for cool down.
COT
Thanks to Madison for the great take out.
Great push by everyone this morning!
Good luck to all the guys running Kiawah this saturday.
There was a constant drizzle that covered the landscape this morning. With no cover to be found or more realistically no cover sought, 15 of Area 51’s soggiest souls got up and got after it.
The Thang
Although I have a pretty good idea of what we covered my backblast is subject to some poetic license as we may have covered these items in a different order.
Warm up
Quick lap around the field followed by:
SSH, Mtn Climbers, Imperial Walker and Merkins
Welcome to the tires
The crew split into two teams of 7 and 8 a piece. Each responsible for a tractor tire.
Round 1 – Race around the field doing tire flips
KB Swings – 25x
Round 2 – Carry the tire in teams of two men to one of the four corners, pass off to second set of team member, etc.
5 Burpees when each team of two reached a corner – total of 20 Burpees
Lawn Mowers – 15x each side
Round 3 – Bear Crawl
Burpees with kb – 10x
Flutter Press – 10x
Shoulder Press – 25x
Lawn Mower Row – 20x
Jog the field one more time
Burpee kb press – 10x
Moleskin –
Thank you for letting me lead the crew out there this morning. I always enjoy getting out there and find that I wake up about an hour early because of the excitement of leading a workout. Great job out working hard and encouraging the other guys. A real spirited effort which will pay off with numb hands and sore back later in the day. Special shout out to Tweetsie and Lois as they are getting out there consistently and it shows – both of them manhandled the tires out there this morning. Excellent work.
Let’s all make an effort to be positive impacts on our family and co-workers as we go out there today.