WARNING: Long backblast but hopefully worth the read and colorful commentary will ensue.
Mermaid, our current Area 51 Nantan, hatched this idea for a 5-year celebration of F3 in Area 51. After date and AO selected (of course Anvil/The Rock AO was the obvious choice), Mermaid tapped 5 old farts of Area 51 to Q this convergence, including the 2 former regional Nantans – Joker & Tiger Rag.
After the pax rolled into 3 or 4 different lots at the AO and delivered KB’s to Stone Cold, food to Mermaid for Calvary pantry, etc., we all converged in the middle lot for a Runstopper Q’d COP.
Hopefully, the 106 men who posted got their morning’s worth of pain from Runstopper’s COP and the 4 stations. YHC heard mumblechatter in COP about too many burpees and who calls 20 merkins in COP? The usual suspects did not disappoint – Gummy, Semi-Gloss, Swiper, Spackler, Udder, and others for sure.
The Thang & Ye Olde Moleskine:
COP:
Merkins, MCs, Burpees, LBCs
Quickly split the pax into 4 groups and give instructions as to stations and rotations. Most of the pax were listening, with the exception of the aforementioned knuckleheads – Semi-Gloss, Spackler & Swiper. More than one Q remarked that those 3 seemingly arrived about 5 minutes late to the 10-11 minute rotations, if at all; but were generally roaming around at their leisure. Don’t remember seeing Spackler or Semi-Gloss at my station? Heard Swiper for sure.
Saw a lot of familiar faces in the gloom, and a lot of unfamiliar faces, too — both great things!
** Joker’s station:
The workout consisted of the following
· 200 meter warm up lap
· Find a partner
· Partner 1 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 2 does merkins
· Partner 2 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 1 does merkins [total merkins varied by group… 100 – 200]
· Partner 1 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 2 does squats
· Partner 2 – full speed 200 meter lap, while Partner 1 does squats [total squats varied by group…. 150 – 200]
· Each group did a medley of planks and/or LBCs
Joker: “By the time guys got to my station [after having done kettlebells and/or hairburners] they were wiped out pretty good”
“There were three guys at the workout today that were also at the first Area51 workout on September 10, 2011…. Joker, Slapshot and Ocho Cinco” T-claps for the 3 original Area 51 pax!!!
YHC’s 10 cents: Grateful to Joker for the courage to start this thing in Area 51. I feel confident YHC can speak for hundreds & hundreds of men in saying “Thank You” for your willingness to lead and start something which has positively impacted us in many ways, some of which many don’t even realize fully.
Hops’ station:
Pax did a bunch of different plank and mary exercises, including (I think) but not limited to the following:
CCVs….of course! Funniest comment of the morning was when Rev asked Grapevine if he did CCV’s at Curves
Makthar N’diaye’s, Very Slow Flutters, Knee-Ups, American Hammers, Elbow Plank w/Leg Lefts, Dolly, LBCs, etc, etc
Prairie Fire Mary – in the 3rd group, Fire Hazard helped YHC demonstrate and by then the abs, hip flexors, etc. were shredded. Fire Hazard pert near severed some stuff in YHC’s gronoidal region #withauthority
Old school sit-ups with partner 2 in plank on partner 1’s feet. Flapjack
When YHC noticed Nibbler among the pax, I remarked I hadn’t heard any audible “encouragement” from him; the other Q’s did hear Nibb’s customary commentary I’m sure!
Tiger Rag’s station:
· 3 man – 1/4 mile hairburner loop. Partner 1 push, Partner 2 and 3 5 burpees each and CMIYC. Rotate until complete.
· ¼ mile mosey
· 3 man inchworms. Partner 1, Inchworms x 5, P2 & 3 5 squats. Rotate until each Pax does 5 rounds (or until time).
TR’s Observations: “None. No one had fun. No one talked. Everyone left abruptly.”
YHC’s observation: Very thankful for all of the time, energy and thought TR has put into making F3 Area 51 what it is today — which is a much healthier, stronger & well-organized entity than it was 5 years ago and well-positioned for the next 5. Aye!
Stone Cold’s Station:
Eleven PAX gathered in the Gloom hoping for a post-BRR soccer arms cure. Here’s what we did
The Thang:
COP: SSHx20, IWx20
Mosey to the COC for Pyramid work –Burpees / Merkins / Dips / Squats / LBCs.
Mary while waiting for the six – Over/Unders; Heals to Heaven
Mosey to the bottom of the parking lot for a little hill work.
Mary while catching our breath – Freddie Mercury; Low Slow Flutter; High Slow Flutter
Mosey back to Carmel Road Park Parking Lot – finish with 10 Burpees OYO
COP
Moleskin:
YHC had a couple of things in mind for the first post BRR DMZ workout: 1) a solid full body beat down; 2) keep the heart rate up; and 3) keep the mileage low. Mission accomplished – 100 Burpees / 140 Merkins / 150 Dips / 120 Squats / 130 Mary (various forms) and only 2.2 miles. Mumble chatter was at a minimum as most of the PAX were deep in the pain cave. Swiper and Benefactor set the pace but strong work by all the PAX. Thanks to Swiper for the take out. No announcements.
As always thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Aye.
One Eye
Warmup:
SSH IC x 20
IW IC x 20
MC IC x 20
Partner Up
P1 20 2-handed presses w/ bell
P2 20 swings
19,18,17…down to 0
Run lap. Mountain climbers while waiting on the six
The Thang:
40 seconds of exercise, 20 seconds recovery
Clean R
Clean L
Lunge w/ bell
1 handed press R
1 handed press L
squat w/ bell
lawnmower R
lawnmower L
Deadlift
Swings
Run lap
Mary
Fluttler IC x 20
10 LBC OYO
Dolly IC x 20
10 LBC OYO
Rosalita IC x 20
10 LBC OYO
Freddy Mercury x 20 IC
10 LBC OYO
Run lap
Done.
Moleskin:
Great work by everyone today. This was designed to be post-BRR friendly, and the few runners in attendance seemed to be appreciative.
We didn’t cover much ground, but put in a lot of work. That 20-second recovery seemed especially short following shoulder presses.
Not too much chatter out there today – even when it came to naming our FNG. YHC was forced to pull the trigger on a name or we might still be standing there staring at each other. Welcome Hot Yoga – great job today!
Announcements:
Convergence for Area 51 anniversary tomorrow.
As we did a few Hairband miles to warm up there was a little anxious chatter about the contents of the bag slung over YHC’s shoulder. I assured them it was nothing more than a phone. At which point Jabberwocky informed us he had a phone tracking his mileage. I then quickly deposited my bag back in the truck. As we circled up for a warmup I explained that Jabberwocky just saved us all from carrying a rock around campus. (If I had to carry a phone, we were all going to carry something). They quickly began to speculate what they could do to eliminate other parts of the workout. Speaking of which, here’s the layout….
We warmed up with a variety of the following: Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, low slow squats, merkins, side lunges, windmills.
Then over to the buses for a little cheese weave, pausing along the way for some plank work.
We cruised over the elementary school for a quick seat on the wall and a rundown of what was next.
Over to the playground, with some lunge walking along the way, for the following:
(5) rows on the swings
(10) merkins
(15) squats
run 1/2 lap
repeato for max rounds till Q calls time
To the parking lot for some lunge walk work, then an indian run to the gravel drive behind the middle school. Out into the field for some animal crawls… bear crawl approximately 25 yards, mosey back to start line, then panther crawl. (coordination is not our strong suit).
Mosey to the courtyard wall to catch a seat and our breath, then to the hill in front of the middle school for some 5’s.
Bottom of hill 1 squat, top of hill 4 pike pushups
bottom of hill 2 squats, top of hill 3 pike pushups
bottom of hill 3 squats, top of hill 2 pike pushups
bottom of hill 4 squats, top of hill 1 pike pushup
Over to the covered patio for more 5’s, this time with rows on the handrail and pushups.
Over to the grass for some bananas and superman work. #crowdpleaser
Done.
Moleskine
Solid work this morning by everyone, not a lot of chatter, just straight to work. Kudos to Squiddy for sticking our FNG with a classic: The Church Lady.
TLS out.
The pain begins.
We showed up to the AO in the cover of darkness wondering who in Indian Trail is not paying their taxes. This is about the 3rd week now that the lights have been out.
Quick mosey over to the tennis courts to see if we could find some lights to turn on to no avail, oh well let’s make this work.
COP
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Enough of that let’s mosey to the dim lights of the bathrooms.
The Thang!
We are doing the B.O.M.B workout, it’s like Dora 1-2-3 but worse
Partner up, P1 runs to Carolina Courts building (be careful in the darkness) P2 does exercise, flapjack until combined you are done with the exercise and move on to the next.
50 Burpees
100 Overhead Claps (basically SSH)
150 Merkins
200 Big Boy (WWII) Situps
250 Squats
Next ATM (I’m on an acronym kick today)
Alternate shoulder touch plank x 15 IC
Tempo Merkins, 3 down 1 up. 15
Merkins 15 OYO
6MOM
Flutter x 30 IC
Rosalita x 20 IC
Back Scratcher x 30 IC
Freddie Mercury x 10 IC
Done!
Moleskin
The plan was pretty simple, the process just sucked. Great having Nomad and Glass Joe back out after the BRR. Strong work by everyone this morning.
Announcements:
Sign up to Q for any of the local AOs we need you to step up, no more moochin’ it’s time to give back.
Prayer for Woody’s mom.
Prayer for Paige (GJ’s M.)
Prayer for my job search
Always an honor to lead,
Aye!
HB
12 gathered for a post-BRR #F3FastTwitch.
The Thang
A little run from base up Strawberry to 51, hanging a right towards Raintree. Right onto Raintree Lane, then left onto Willow Point. Circle up on the launching pad.
Mosey to the first street sign for introduction to and explanation of The Beast. Run the length of Willow Point (1/4 mile), stopping at each street sign (3 total) for called exercise, then run back, again stopping at each street sign for called exercise. 6 times through.
Mosey back to launching pad for Mary.
Run back to base via left onto Raintree, right onto Rounding Run, right onto Woodfox (alternated AYGs and moseys), then to the parking lot. Still time…a couple of parking lot sprints.
COT
Moleskine
BRR recovery week meant low numbers. But the 12 that showed were hungry and we did some solid work with a little old school, back to our mission Running/Bootcamp #F3FastTwitch. Speaking of old school, the promise of no hills brought out some guys who hadn’t been in a while…Champagne and Floorslapper. Floorslapper looked less like a doctor and more like a hobo…but appearances are deceiving as he made a solid push at Cane on the burpee round. Cane clearly sandbagged every round so he could show off during the Round 6 burpees #VetMove. Champagne starred as himself…busting VP on his squat form, telling him he looked like one of those desktop water birds. It’s true…VP did. He was probably practicing his toilet approach for post-The Beacon activities.
Drago is 18. The rest of old. It showed. Except for BA, who stayed up front for all the rounds. Pretty sure BA will be “randomly” selected for testing soon #PEDs.
Hairball made a cameo for the second week in a row…keeps mumbling something about appearance fees and not touching the ground. Poptart kept mumbling complaints about every round…but then redeemed himself by suggesting the hilly route for the return back to base. He also suggested the sprints at the end. Pax suggested potential name change to #DBag.
The ironman Madison was having nothing of a slow mosey, taking off and leading us on the run back to base. Utah was solid as usual. And Grease Monkey keeps showing up…putting in the work each week and keeps getting faster.
Enjoyed it men.
Announcements
5 gathered for a recovery day, of sorts. Even Semi Gloss was there. Voodoo – “Hey Semi, feeling FOMO for not doing BRR?” Semi Gloss – “No. Unapologetically no.” We were off.
Run to the cannons and back. Partner up-ish (5 ppl).
One partner runs to school entrance while the other does 7 pullups, 14 derkins, 21 dips. Flap jack. Repeat.
At 6:05, run to cannons (again) and back.
Skin:
All this time and I never noticed this. Voodoo has a Tesla with a 32″ big screen GPS device on the dash. How he sees traffic, pedestrians, stoplights, I have no idea.
SG has 99 problems, knees being one of them. He’ll be at the convergence tomorrow at The Rock (5:15-6:15) with both his bad knees and his commentary. Don’t miss it.
High Tide ran in and out of the workout. He lives in Ft. Mill and insisted that the BRR has turned over a new leaf. Hammer LIFO’d though his consistency for SOFAWIB is noteworthy and respectable. All others should take note.
Sun Dancer was absent and therefore we had no music. Tisk Tisk.
Kirk was sleeping I’m sure.
Talk Box, Iron Mike, Belair, they were all absent. Everyone gets demerits today.
Tough finding a spot to park at the Vine between the Bagpiper and Swiftee cars. Bunch of dudes out this morning ready to get some work done. Men of Swift already in the gloom. That left 20 for a Bagpipe beating. YHC has not Q’d this one in a while and was excited for the opportunity. A great AO with endless options. Thorough disclaimer given concisely prior to leaving out of the launch lot. A bit about what went down follows.
Thang
Shortish mosey down Conlan Circle, across Brixham Hill, into the Corporate 1 lot.
COP
SSH x 10 IC
Imperial Squat Walker x 10 IC
Mountain Climber x 10 IC-hold plank
Merkin x 15 IC-hold plank
Floyd Money Mayweather Alternating Rib Shots x 10 IC
Mosey down the steps to the concrete track around Loch Ness. Continue to patio at Corporate 2.
Hand-Release Box Jump Burpee Circuit Repeats
5 Hand-Release Box Jump Burpees/10 Carolina Dry Docks. Run clockwise around Nessie. Stop at last light/picnic table. 15 Jump Squat. Run to patio at Corporate 1. 5 H-R Burpees/10 CDD. Run to Corporate 2 patio. Plank-o-rama to regroup.
Repeat x 2 AYG
Plank-o-rama at finish. Imperial Walker x 20 IC
Mosey counterclockwise around Nessie and exit at hotel into parking lot.
Mary
Flutter x 10 IC/Hold 6 inches/Dolly x 10 IC/Hold/Heels to Heaven x 10 IC
Mosey across Brixham Hill back up Conlan Circle. Cross Bally Commons up Costigan Ln to, you guessed it, the parking deck.
AYG Plank Start Sprints x 2. Two levels each. Mosey over to the Exit Stairwell and descend into the basement level. Plank Start Sprint to street level. Plank-o-rama. Merkin x 10 IC. Squats OYO.
Mosey back down Costigan. Cross Bally Commons Pkwy. Down Conlan Circle to launch lot.
High Flutter x 25 IC. 1 minute of Burpees to close it out. Done.
COT
Moleskin
Solid crew of guys out this morning. Great to see some men I do not see regularly and meet a few new guys, like Napster and Kirby. 4th post for Napster. He crushed the workout. YHC thought he was like 25 years old. Shocked to learn he is 42 in name-o-rama. Keep posting. Kirby coming of injury and 3 months on DL. Keep posting.
Threw in the Imperial Squat Walkers for second time in as many Q’s. McGee was not a big fan. His comment was much like Gummy’s on the previous occasion. If memory serves, “Not so sure about those Imperial Squat Walkers. They are supposed to be easy. What the heck.” Next exercise, Imperial Walker x 20 IC. Your welcome McGee. Let me keep going on McGee just for a moment. AYG reps of H-R Burpee circuit called and McGee asks what will follow. Tells YHC he can only go AYG pace if it is followed by Mary. And he keeps asking what time it is. McGee, I have offered you my spare watch on more than one occasion. After the AYG set, YHC told him we were 12 minutes in. We were actually 20 into the workout. Alf set him straight on time. Those two guys were pushing the pace on the circuit. All pushed hard.
Additional observations:
Tuck looking strong after a long DL stint. Keep up the work brother.
Red Rocks getting after it. His M.O.
Slum Lord may not own a shirt. Dude is a Respect and completely ripped.
Blackbeard starts his hunting beard Thursday. Will be easier to recognize.
Morning After, Bucky, Fault Line, Wild Turkey, Mighty Might, Dumpster Fire all pushing hard. Just like every time I see these guys. Good work men.
Wingman challenged McGee and some other guys on the sprints. Hard to keep track of the Larry Birds on these. You know who you are. Strong work at the end of the workout.
Pleasure to lead this fine group of men in SOB-land. Great to see you all. Thankful for a 6-week stint of pain-free work. We cannot take the ability to get out and do this work for granted. It is a gift and can be taken with your next step. The workouts make you stronger and give you the opportunity for fellowship with your friends and fellow PAX. Being stronger makes you better. Be better. Bring that strength into your daily lives. Help someone else to be better. EH your co-workers, friends, neighbors. Pass it on. T-claps to Tolkien for the takeout prayer.
Announcements
09/14/2016 (TOMORROW). A51 5-Year Convergence workout. 0515-0615 at Calvary Church, site of Anvil. KETTLEBELLS NEEDED. Food donations for Calvary Food Pantry. Food list HERE
Southern Discomfort 10/22/2016. A51 CSAUP event. 2nd Annual. Margo and Gerber co-Q’s. Final logistics to follow. Multi-AO painfest. Block it off on your calendar and plan to attend.
We finally get back to working out, full body. No more soccer arms. Fast Twitch is sure to be at 2-3 ppl by month’s end. #SOFAWIBRising.
Here’s what we’ll do:
Run to the cannons and back. Partner up.
Partner A does 7 pullups, 14 derkins, 28 dips while Partner B runs to the main school entrance and back. Flapjack. Rinse & Repeat.
At 6:05, we take off for the cannons and back.
Sundancer will have the tunes, won’t you Prancer?
See you in the AM. Bring a FNG to the SOFAWIB.
Just a few short days after a number of PAX hit the mountains of the Blue Ridge Relay, we’ll be back at it on Tuesday morning in Ballantyne for the weekly running interval workout known at #F3Swift. Even if it is just to stretch the legs again, we’ll be running middle distance intervals, so come join us and stay in shape for Fall season.
The THANG:
SYITG,
Bratwurst