Dear ABBY
YHC was on injured reserve but could not give up a chance to post with The Bighouse Crew!
The Thang
Warmup
A short 4/10ths jog to lower p lot
25 SSH
10 Imperial Walkers
10 windmills
Once we sorted out two teams and your YHC got his mind off his leg long enough to give cadence correctly the real Thang began.
While one group was out for a loop of around .5 miles the other group stayed with YHC and burned some abs. Each time the group came back they continued the reps. Thanks to Udder who said why don’t we do some Indian Runs while away for upping the workout even more. The two groups ran 4 Laps and back to the COT for a total of 2 miles.
Here is what they did in between laps…with no rest period
15 pistol crunches each leg
10 cadence count mericans
10 box cutters
and 10 more the other direction
25 low slow squats
10 j los
20 chippy crosses cadence count
25 lunges OYO Got to talk to the guys a little here
40 superman impressions and hand lifts
30 dollys
10 to 20 merican hammers
Moleskin
Thanks to Dumpsterfire showing great leadership months in advance to invite me to lead the Pax. It gave me a challenge to get ready for. When YHC pulled a calf a week before thoughts of giving up came. Then YHC got out of Fart Sack with a plan that was going to hurt but he would not have to run…Do the reps 2 times one with each group. It was a terrible idea that is why I wanted to get it done. On the run down and the warm up I lost my cool because my leg started tensing up I lost focus and did not even count the Imperial walkers in warm up. I had to get my head out of an anatomically incorrect position. I did not want to let any PAX down so with all the men looking on with nothing but encouragement we hit our stride. It went well and 2 FNGs posted as well as Sideways for his second post. YHC is thankful for all of the Q leaders and New and Old PAX for helping out and making it a successful post.
That time we crushed the Imperial Walkers
16 PAX posted at Fast Twitch this AM for the promise of AMRAP. This included Hairball who was fresh off embarrassing the Sea Turtle half marathon course. At least he crushed it for 21,094 meters. Unfortunately a half-marathon is 21,097 meters. #StravaSux
In other news, YHC came in on two wheels this AM. Apparently I lost track of time from the alarm clock to the car. First glance of the crew was that all were regulars, or resembled regulars, or were not regulars. Either way, I threw out a “just don’t get hurt” sort of disclaimer and off wee went.
Run out to the corner of Raintree and Windbluff. Crush some Imperial Walkers to either A) Dynamically stretch the Hamstrings, B) Look silly in public, C) Waste time, or D) Both B & C.
Air squat on hold for instructions and quick count of PAX so I know we come back with who we left with:
Run down Raintree to speed hump and back. Run down Windbluff to speed hump and back. Run down Smoker-ise to cul-de-sac and back. At the end of each leg, do 15 good mornings. Back at the middle do 10 Heels to Heaven each time, while dodging blinker-less on-coming traffic. Choose you own route and repeat continuously until meeting back at Raintree/Windbluff at 6:05.
Run to Rising Meadow for the last leg. To cul-de-sac, 15 Good Mornings, back to intersection for 10 heels to heaven. Run to Woodfox, AYG down Woodfox and into lot. Pop-Tart led 60 seconds of LBC’s to finish.
Moleskine:
After The Matrix Fault Line mentions, “Do you know who Q’s FT tomorrow?” No I do not, I will look it up. Oh, I guess I do. And I have Death Valley on Wednesday. Good to know. I was not prepared for a lot of creativity so I went with some of the basics on the hills of Rain Tree. Hard to get creative on a running workout and I feel we have been spending too much time west of campus recently. Time to get back to our roots.
Strong work by lots of men out there today. Rachel and Hairball were cooking out there. Turkey Leg and Swiper were up front also, but they were powered by some competitive exchange of gas which killed anyone too close behind. Not sure who won that battle but I am sure the rest of us lost.
Haze and Soul Glow seem to be getting comfy out there. Now that Radar is out of the picture, there is nothing to stop their relationship from blossoming.
Duct Work, Margo and Fault Line were also making strong work of the AMRAP and covering some ground. Iron Sides was grinding while Mr. Brady was plotting his revenge from the back of the pack. Certainly it won’t take him long to regain full speed. I am not sure how much Pop-Tart ran, but he crushed the last quarter mile.
Thanks to Mr. Brady for the takeout.
I have rushed this and not proofread any of the backblast, I have outsourced that to Gummy. Any concerns can be brought to his attention. Hairball is his backup.
T-Claps to the men that helped at Debbie’s House and Ronald McDonald House this weekend. Excellent and admirable efforts. Proud to count you as brothers.
-Alf
Donut Run – Preblast
“Per capita, Canada has more donut shops than any other country.”
This is unacceptable. I love Canadians, but I love donuts more. Tomorrow we will discuss how we can remedy this.
Start at the Dunkin Donuts at Rea/Colony.
We are running the REGULAR route (Rea to 51 to Providence to Candlewyck to Rea). All left turns.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/7470827
Launch times and paces:
510: 930-9:45 pace
515: 815-8:30 pace
520: 730-7:45 pace
530: 645-7:00 pace
On Two Wheels and No Sleep
YHC was nominated to Q as a way to get me out of the fartsack. It worked.
The Thang (no surprise)
20 x SSH in cadence (IC)
20 x Imperial Walkers (IC)
10 x Merkins (IC)
Mosey to the Fitness Trail
count off by threes
3 stations, 3 rounds
1. 10 Pull-ups
2. 15 Burpees
3. 20 Supine Pull-ups
Plank-o-Rama
Mosey to Small Hill
Set of 7s on the hill
6 squats, 1 LBC
5 squats, 2 LBC
Up to 4 Stop
10 Merkins at each St Light and the Stop Sign
40 Merkins total
Mosey to the Photo shoot Lake
MT Special Backward Bear-Crawl up the stairs
Mosey to the Loading Dock
1 min wall squat + 25 air-press
Rinse-Repeat
Mosey to Ballantyne Village Deck
Run to the top
5×5 Merkin Challenge
Regular, Wide, Diamond, Stagger Right, Stagger Left
Run down stairs, Up Stairs, back down to bottom
Thin Mint led Ab workout
Mosey back to Launch
1m Boat-Canoe
Thanks for the nudge Tolkien. Enjoyed leading the PAX. Saturdays at Stonehenge are the best!
Solid crowd mixed with old-new pax. Always a pleasure. Covered some ground and managed to smoke shoulders in the process.
When in Doubt, Dora it out!! But only after you figure out where to park
Pre-story to YHC coming out to Q at Flash in Union Co. this morning.
1. I Q’ed The Brave Friday.
2. I left my cones (those red nasty little devils) and my hat and gloves.
3. Doc McStuffins picked them up and after a short conversation on twitter he asked me to come out and Q Flash.
19 came out on this glorious Monday morning to see what kind of shenanigans we do in the Fort. After 5 texts trying to figure out where to park (Cuthbertson is a huge campus) an introduction was given followed by a little disclaimer.
The Thang
Mosey behind the school complex where there was a nicely lit path and a gravel lot. After some high knees, butt kicks, toy soldiers, and karaoke we stopped at the gravel lot and circled up for a warmup of:
20 x SSH
10 X Windmills
10 x IW
10 x Merkins
10 x Mountain Climbers
10 x Squats
Got back on the main path and partnered up for some Dora 1,2,3 (love using Dora when visiting an AO for the first time cuz all you need is pace to run and a place to do exercises)
100 Merkins
200 Squats
300 LBC’s
Plank when finished
Mosey back up towards the school hitting each of the 6 light-poles for Merkins
2 Merkins at the first
4 Merkins at the second
6 Merkins at the third
8 Merkins at the fourth
10 Merkins at the fifth
12 Merkins at the sixth
LBC’s once finished
10 Burpees OYO once the 6 arrived
Mosey over to the school for some people’s donkey balls
People’s Chair
10 Donkey Kicks
Balls to wall
Rinse and repeat
followed with 10 Dips (IC)
Mosey to the other side of the lot
Walking Lt. Dans – 1 squat then 4 lunges forward, then 2 squats 8 lunges forward, keep increasing the squat by 1 and using the 4:1 ratio until you reach the other end of the lot (about 100 yards)
Sprint at 60% back to the start. 100% Sprint back to where we came from.
Finished with Mary
15 x LBC’s
15 x Flutters
15 x Rosalitas
15 x Freddy Mercuries
15 x Dying cockroach
15 x Plank Jacks
Superman
Plankarama
COT and BOM
Announcements – Debbie’s house, if you can contribute time or money to the effort. Link here http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/union-county-volunteers-renovate-longtime-family-home/495475242
https://www.gofundme.com/debbies-house-improvement
Prayers – Turtle and the screws in his ankle
Moleskin
Just want to thank Doc McStuffins for getting me out to this awesome group in Union Co. I’ve been blessed to guest Q all over the greater Charlotte/Upstate SC area and if I’ve noticed one thing that each group has its guys that trying to get better. Some guys are out just trying to get in better shape. Some guys need the accountability from other males. But I’ve never met a PAX that is willing to get his butt out of bed before 5:00 that isn’t trying to get better either physically, mentally, or spiritually. Whether its your third day, third month or third year, keep trying to figure out where you need to get better, then find someone that will hold you accountable to that standard.
Longshanks out!! (mic drop)
#Preblast – Life of a Bull
Swift will continue to work on the Speed this week. A little bit of switch up at the end to make the theme of the day sink in…such as “the Bull Ring is round…”
The THANG:
- 0500 – Early bird option for extra warm-up. 2nd F pace for about 1.25 miles.
- 0515 – Depart the Vine Parking Lot and head down the normal parking lot connectors to Rushmore Dr. Head towards the Bull Ring. Meet at the putting green at 0525 after a 10 minute warm-up. For some of you this means go around the Bull Ring to come out on the other side, and for others it means to head straight for the putting green. This is a WARM-UP. It should be nice and easy, so don’t come into the putting green already at Max HR. No PRs on the WARM UP!
- 0525 – Do the dance of drills
- 0530 – Start rounds of Repetition Pace Intervals (1 mile race pace – find yours at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator) that are slightly longer than last week (because they are based on Distance and not time) but also a lot flatter. Goal here is to run all of them even.
- 200m (marked by the entrances of the buildings along the Bull Ring) at R-pace, 200m jog recovery
- 200m at R-pace, 200m jog recovery
- 400m at R-pace, 200m jog recovery
- Repeato until 0555 or if you hit 3 rounds, whichever is sooner. Regroup at the top of the circle.
- 0555 – Start a 15 minute Progression Run on the Bull Ring. This is a run where you are trying to pick up your pace by :20sec per mile every 400m (which is the same as running each 400m split faster than the rest). Use the building entrances to gauge every 400m. Instead of everyone ending at 2 miles, we’ll try to end at 6:10 to head back to the Vine. If you want to get the full 2miles in, go ahead! We’ll be there for you.
- Start wisely…for example, starting at 2:00 per 400m (8:00/mi pace), your splits SHOULD look like this for a progression run:
- 2:00 (8:00/mi)
- 1:55 (7:40/mi)
- 1:50 (7:20/mi)
- 1:45 (7:00/mi)
- 1:40 (6:40/mi)
- 1:35 (6:20/mi)
- 1:30 (6:00/mi)
- 1:25 (5:40/mi)
- Some other starting splits and what that brings them down to:
- 2:15 per 400m (9:00/mi pace), will bring you down to 1:40 (6:40/mi pace)
- 2:30 per 400m (10:00/mi pace), will bring you down to 1:55 (7:40/mi pace)
- Start wisely…for example, starting at 2:00 per 400m (8:00/mi pace), your splits SHOULD look like this for a progression run:
See you in the Gloom,
Bratwurst
Some bounding ALONG the Meadows
Several PAX (more than a squad, less than a company) descended on the weekly interval workout known as Swift. Not certain about who was in attendance (still waiting for PAX list), but there was a great mix of new faces, kotters, and regulars.
The THANG:
- While there was a Preblast (http://f3nation.com/2017/02/13/preblast-hopping-through-the-meadows/), it vaguely described the plan. At least we got some PAX to set their watches the right way, but many did not know in which direction we would continue in.
- Here were the actual sets of 30 sec, 30sec, 1min:
- 1: Up Ben Nevis on the sidewalk (or risk your own life in the street) for 30sec at 1mile race pace effort. Recover jog down. 30sec up Ben Nevis, recover down. 1min up Ben Nevis, regroup at the top and head over to Ballantyne Meadows.
- 2: Along the flat of the Meadows, 30sec run, recover to the six. 30 sec run, recover to the six and then to the bottom of the hill. 1min run up the Hill, recover back down the hill.
- 3: Up the hill on Ballantyne Meadows for 30/30. Backwards run up for the 60.
- 4: 30/30 along the rolling flat, 60 along the flat with a finish up the hill.
- 5: 30/30 up Ballantyne Meadows. 60 is Bounding up the hill. Recover out to Ballantyne Commons.
- 6: 30/30 down Ben Nevis. 60 back up Ballantyne Commons towards the AO.
- Recovery rest of the way to COT.
Moleskin:
- I started writing this Backblast while watching a soccer practice and my thumbs gave out. Days later, I’m recalling I never finished as it’s time to post the Preblast….
- Interval pace is Repetition Pace, or 1 mile Race Pace found here: http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
- Partial list of 21 PAX were from the Strava Flyby and YHC’s limited memory – Cobains if you aren’t there… Get on Strava!
Star Gazing at Base Camp
13 PAX, including FNG Groupie (Jeff Buckmann), gathered in the “is it cold, or is it not??” clear morning sky of South Charlotte Middle School for another installment of F3 Base Camp under the Q of Slim Fast. Having disclaimed, off we went into the subtle moonlit, yet star-filled sky… yes… very bro-mantic!
The Thang:
Mosey to the first baseball field for COP:
Quick stretching
SSH x 20
Low Slow Squat x 20
Merkin x 10
Imperial Walker x 20
Mountain Climbers x 15
Mosey to Home plate for Left Field Triple Nickel… e.g. down the left field line!
1. Do 5 Squats at Home plate, then run left field line to fence, do 5 CDD’s
2. Rinse and Repeat for 5-times total
Mosey to bleachers:
1. 10 Dips, 10 Supine Pull-ups, 10 Step-ups (each leg); rinse and repeat
2. 10 Decline Merkins, 10 bar-hoppers, 10 LBC’s; rinse and repeat
Mosey to opposite baseball field/outfield:
1. Partner carry across outfield changing as needed; return back
2. Partner drag halfway across outfield; return back
Since it was such a lovely morning with the stars and moon, it was only fitting for some tunnel of love! We went left to right, then right to left.
Mosey back to concession stand for some people’s chair with:
1. 50 overhead arm raises
2. 50 Frankenstein arm raises
DONE!
Moleskine:
Welcome FNG Groupie (Jeff Buckmann), who was EH’d by One Man Band! Great stuff out there this morning! Please come back as often as you can!
Always great to workout at Base Camp! A great AO with a great set of regulars!! Thanks to Goonie for giving me the opportunity to lead!
Speaking of Goonie… definitely missed him this morning! Will have to check-in to make sure he is ok!
Thanks to Jello for the great prayer out!
Announcements:
- Richard Sheltra 5K April 29 benefits the Pineville firefighter that lost his life fighting a fire last year.
- Also April 29 – Gethsemane Garden 5K to benefit orphanage in Kenya to help kids with HIV/AIDS. Here is a link to GGCCKenya website.
- BRR sign-ups with Slim Fast if interested Sep 8-9-ish
Us Vs. the Gladiators
Brisk President’s day morn and 12 pax decided to not let me go back to bed.
Items that we did.
Mosey to carmel middle
Cop
Iw – 20 CAD
Merkin – 15 CAD
Mountain climbers 20 CAD
Mosey to track
4 corners.
3 rounds
Merkin 5 each corner
Cdd 10 each corner
Lbc’s 15 each corner
Mosey up to top
Partner rock work
One partner runs while other does
100 curls
100 overhead press
100 triceps extension
Mosey to front of school
Triple nickel on the front parking lot – merkin and squats
Bench work
Dips – 20 CAD
Derkins – 20 OYO
Dips – 10 CAD
Mosey back to launch
Mary –
Boone crunch – 20 CAD each leg
Merkins – 10 CAD
DMerkins – 20 CAD –
Flutters – 15-20 CAD
Merkins till failure
FIN
Moleskin
Was curious how many guys would be out this am considering that it was presidents day, I was leading and it was a bit chilly. Regardless we had 12 strong pax out. I got up this am around 4 to write my weinke for the first time in 4 years #yahtzee, even went out there early to get a lay of the land and make sure the rocks were still there behind the school. Apparently there is another workout called ——- Gladiator (can’t remember) and the guy must have thought I was going to run off with his weights because he followed me out.
Kirk showed up in a goalie outfit so there’s that. Thankful for Steinbrenner for the time keeper award. Silent Bob made me think about the Gladiator show on USA back in the day when the contestants would try and make it through the obstacle course. The pay to play folks didn’t have that much stuff but it was intimidating especially with the Techno music blaring.
Every guy out there was really pushing themselves and it was great to see. Got to see some new faces and some guys I haven’t seen in a while. DMZ is always a great workout and AO.
Also don’t ask Runstopper to do Mary, he turns everything into Merkins. My arms hurt.
SG – OUT
Angry Q
15 men gathered did this:
1000 meter sprint
1000 sprint… again
SSH, IW, Squats, Slow Merkins, LBC, Dolly, Flutter
Lap around school
Station Work at playground – pull ups, incline merkins, decline merkins, dips, squats
Parking lot work… shuffle right, shuffle left, karaoke right, karaoke left, backpedal, bear crawl, lunge walk… with descending merkins between each circuit
LBC, Dolly, Flutter
Finish with burpees X 10, then X 5
Moleskin:
Oops, I forgot the disclaimer… and oops, I forgot the standard warm up. I know Alf enjoys it when I get out of my car at 5:30 to lead the workout, then say “go” immediately for an AYG 1,000 meters before we’ve done nary a side straddle hop. Back when I was a young lad, one of the things I enjoyed the most about F3 workouts was the unpredictability. Guess what… this requires more work as time goes by. I’m as guilty as anyone, give that on most days guys can guess at least half of my exercises before I Q a workout. So, this morning was an attempt to bring back just a bit of mystery. Of course I couldn’t help myself on the station work. After all, who doesn’t benefit from three solid rounds of pull ups, dips and squats… it’s meat and potatoes [is that the Dan Quayle spelling??].
Thoroughly enjoyed the workout this morning guys. I think the grumblings at the beginning were a good sign. A few random observations…
-Pound for pound, O’T may be the fastest man in F3 in terms of running sideways and backwards. It’s a gift he has… just need to figure out how to really put it to use.
-Pop Tart claims to have retired from the beer mile. Maybe, but I suspect he will still be drinking beer and still be running miles… so, why not just combine the two from time to time.
-I think I’ve seen Smokey at about every workout over the past few weeks. Smokey likes to run, he likes to compete, and he likes to wear his Tennessee ball cap. Rocky Top baby!!!!
-Squid, by far, demonstrates the best form in F3. It’s like he goes into a zone where he is oblivious to cadence, but he absolutely nails the form.
-Alf loves Mondays. I mean, the guy just like to get his week started off at 5:30 at the Matrix, even though he’s got the day off. I’m putting you on the Matrix Mount Rushmore.