To yucca, or not to yucca
Pretty awesome morning, weather-wise, greeted the record 18 of us at the greenway parking lot. What was intended to be a brief explanation of the planned route set the stage for the next hour of anarchy / chaos / free play / choose-your-own-adventure that followed.
Thang
Planned route:
Run into Sardis Hills – Old Bell, left uphill onto Blue Ridge, right onto Mountainview to the base of Mt. Horse’s Arse.
Hill repeats – up Mountainview, continue uphill by taking right onto Old Bell, up to the yucca plant. Backwards run to the cul de sac. Run down. Repeat.
Frasier, TL, and YHC seemed to be the only ones to continue this for all, or even most of the time. Everyone else did whatever the hell they wanted, which mostly seemed to be run a hill repeat or two, and then add in a short or long loop around the neighborhood to lengthen the recovery time.
Somewhere around 6:10, most of us said the pledge of allegiance at the Griswold flag – must see to believe – and then moseyed back to launch for COT.
Announcements:
- TR reminded about F3 Golf – abbreviated sign-up period, so do it now before it is too late.
- Swiper reminded about the hardest workout on Rea Rd tomorrow: Pre-blast
- High Tide, in absentia, and to save him time in the comments section, reminds of reflective A51 shirts. Order by Wednesday.
Moleskine
As promised, no exercises and intentions of avoiding a possible kidnapping.
If you haven’t experienced the suckfest that is Mountainview / Mt. Charlotte / Mt. Horse’s Arse, it is worth the hype. In short, it is a big, steep, long hill – the closest thing to BRR-level “hills” that I’ve seen in Charlotte. It doesn’t have the “wow” factor of Muthaship, and definitely won’t fit on a shirt as well – so don’t get any ideas High Tide, but the suck factor is pretty close.
A lot of “encouragement” out there today, which helped. Guys pushing each other to keep going, run faster, etc. Alf reminding me I wasn’t running backwards for instance, or me offering Sundancer advise on running headwear’s effects on aerodynamics.
Frasier says backward running slows him down and crab walk is kryptonite, but running hill repeats is wheelhouse. I’m pretty sure I got passed at least twice, and feeling fortunate he hasn’t uploaded to Strava yet. Turkey Leg wasn’t far behind him. Like a 2-year old, Tiger Rag chose not to play with others but rather in the same general area doing whatever he chose, which seemed like alternating short and long loops. Virtually everyone seemed to deviate from the planned route at some point.
I’ve still never seen him, but Chester apparently has a crush. The neighborhood unfortunately has multiple points of ingress / egress, so when Stone Cold is inevitably chloroformed and thrown into the back of Chester’s trunk, we will likely never be able to find him. However, SC is generally running with someone, and much as a cheetah goes after the slowest and weakest member of the pack (pax), Sundancer is rightfully concerned.
Several unofficial site FNGs – Curd, Swiper, Udder (I think)…maybe more.
No clue has the conch next week, but after today, I’m not sure it matters much. Much like BRR, I enjoyed it today, gents – except for the running. Same bat time next week.
- Kirk
The Magnificent Seven
7 meatheads for the last cool morning of the Summer Solstice weather break, eager to put in some work. YHC was eager for a higher rep session, so when the Site Q made the request, it had to be delivered.
The Thang
COP:
- Racked carry across the parking lot and back
- IW – 20 IC
- Prying Squats – 3 variants
Main event:
- 100 1-hand swings – in 10 sets of 10 reps, every 30 seconds
- 100 Clean + Press + Reverse Lunge complex – 10 sets of 10 reps, every 90 seconds
- Use a golf towel to allow a full range of motion in the reverse lunge, lightly touching the knee to the pavement
Breather:
- Waiter Carry across the parking lot and back
- Farmer Carry across the parking lot and back
Finisher:
- 7 Goblet Squats (go for a full range of motion, with good form)
- 7 pullups
- 7 sets OYO
Mary
- Pullovers
- Meat Cleaver (?) – leg raises while holding bell overhead
- Wipers – legs move side-to-side while holding bell overhead
Done
COT
Announcements:
- Order Area 51 high-vis running shirts by this Wednesday, June 22.
- F3 Golf – July 29
- Area 51 pool party – Aug 20 – Candlewyck
- Southern Discomfort – Oct 22
- Area 51 Christmas party – Dec 2
Naked Moleskine:
Great work today by all. Not tons of #mumblechatter today, other than “are you serious?” a few times. Yes, YHC was and it seems so were you all, as you dug in and got right to it. T-claps.
This workout was a modification of a Meathead workout YHC led a few weeks ago, which itself was a modified version of a #sadclown workout YHC made up a few weeks prior to that, attempting to “de-load”. #fail The workout was not a de-load, and the suck-factor was high enough that YHC has now shared it with you all twice. YHC did learn from the Meathead debut and shortened the clean-press-reverse lunge cycles to 90 seconds each, which worked very well. About the only thing that didn’t work well was YHC’s left knee did not like the lunges, so the range of motion had to be reduced.
The finisher set was tweaked into a 7×7 superset, which worked better, and the pullups were added in place of lawnmowers because, well, you’ve got the bars right there, and we need more cowbell! Er, pullups.
Also modified today was a new, non-rock playlist. It went better today than the last time it was tried, so that’s a win.
All in all, a better workout than the Meathead folks got a few weeks ago, and hopefully, a nice change of pace for you all.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead!
Aye.
SOFAWIB PB – The Grocery List
#CrackFingers #AddressKeyboard
Tomorrow’s PB for SOFAWIB — As @BodyBag says, “We’ve godalot to do (in British accent).”
Run 1 mile entry fee through Chadwyck Farms (R on Rea, L on Summerlin, R on Windy Rush, R on Chadwyck Farms, R on Rea and back to base camp) – you’ll remember it, don’t worry.
Head to playground and get settled physically & emotionally. NOTE: Run Prancer brings music at this point and weirdness commences.
Do the Grocery List OYO:
-5 pullups, 10 burpees, 15 decline merkins, 20 Mtn Climbers (L/R = 1), 25 dips, 30 Freddy Mercuries (L/R = 1)
-Run to entrance to school, stop sign (at Rea Rd) and back. Rinse & Repeat until time’s called.
Run reverse Chadwyck Farms – outro. Bring a friend, be a part of history.
If so inclined, meet at the DOP/OPE lot on Rea Road at 5.20am. We launch into the gloom at 5.30am.
Carmel Rd. Park is Lookin Classy
Cool temps and low humidity were on tap for this morning. Despite the excellent weather only 8 pax decided to post this morning. Are there that many Cleveland fans that were up late celebrating? Since moving to Waxhaw in early April YHC has been posting at #Flash on Mondays. Carmel Rd. Park has been missed and YHC jumped at the chance to Q when asked by Bushwood. This is YHC’s second time Qing at DMZ and Bushwood has yet to make the long and arduous 100 yard trek to attend. #WasItSomethingISaid? Arriving 15 minutes early (country roads are a lot quicker at 4:45am) the lot was empty except for this: 
Maybe Bushwood had shown up but after becoming frustrated by not knowing how to change a tire went home in shame, maybe he had gone for help, maybe he was leaving me props for my Q. #WhyDoesHeHaveTwoJacks? Whatever the reason, it was nice to see Carmel Park has classed it up a bit with the new addition. YHC was sad to see the idling taxi cabs have moved next door to the church parking lot.
Warmup:
SSH IC x 20
MC IC x 15
IW IC x 20
The Thang:
Run from Carmel Rd. Park down Camilla to Carmel Middle School. Stop at every driveway on the right for 5 burpees OYO. (9 driveways = 45 burpees)
Circle up at the entrance to Carmel Middle School
TarHeels to Heaven IC x 15
Run from school entrance to end of Camilla.
20 LBCs or 20 Merkins at each side street. Plank at end
Mosey to Morrowick intersection for 20 more Merkins
Mosey to Whitney Hill Intersection and partner up
P1 runs to end of called street and back, P2 does called exercise, flapjack
End of Morrowick: Squats
St. Timms Ct.: American Hammer
Gordonvale Pl.: 10 Merkins/10 TarHeels to Heaven/10 Merkins/10 Tarheels to Heaven, etc
Blaydes Ct.: Flutter
End of Whitney Hill: Squats
Run to top of Pepperdine Dr., 5 burpees OYO
Mosey down Fernbank through shortcut to back of ballfields (thanks Jambo). Stop at school picnic tables. P1 does 30 dips, P2 does LBCs, flapjack
AYG back to AO, 6:15 on the dot, 3.5 miles covered
No Announcements
Naked Moleskin:
It was great to be back at DMZ despite the low turnout. Union County has some excellent workouts but the surrounding neighborhoods of Carmel Rd. are hard to duplicate. DMZ always attracts a group of men ready to work. Today was no different. Thin Mint is fast on all terrains, whoever has him on their BRR team did a good job of snatching him up quick. Hamlet, Film Festival, Doogie, Iron Mike, Aquafresh, and Stalker were all there as well pushing the pace. With the new territory, YHC did not know exactly what the mileage was going to be and we had to push it at the end to get back in time. Iron Mike ran 2 miles in so he gets brownie points for covering 7.5 miles this morning. YHC appreciates the opportunity to take the DMZ reins for a day and the willingness of the PAX to check out some new territory along the way.
Me, Myself & Nutter Butter
2 PAX for 2 miles, 3 F’s and 4 laps of a 10 station circuit at da Vinci this week.
The Thang
COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC
Circuit x 4 laps
- 10 pull-ups at Blakeney playground
- Bear crawl up path
- 10 incline merkins at 1st fountain on left
- 10 derkins at 2nd fountain on left
- 15 LBC’s at fountain near Banana Republic
- 1 burpee at each tree/lamp post along road leading towards Blakeney Heath (15 total)
- 10 muscle-up and onto retaining wall near Blakeney Heath entrance to shopping center
- At stairs near Noah’s Art, backwards bear crawl up stairs to 1st landing. The run up stairs to 2nd level, across landing and down other set of stairs.
- People’s chair w/ 20 air presses IC in tunnel next to stairs
- 10 split squats (each leg) using wall bordering Blakeney playground
5 minutes of Mary. Traded off exercises w/ Nutter Butter.
Naked Moleskine
1 benefit of a small workout is you get the opportunity to get to know PAX on a deeper level. Nutter Butter and YHC had that opportunity this week and it was great. Thanks for coming out, NB. And thanks for the meaningful take-out.
Cool Morning in CLT
Spent a lot of time on maps as usual. Trying to come with a good plan.
Weinke in pocket and 6:00 on the dot. Off we went…
Mosey to the Corner with Stone Sculpture
20x Imperial Walkers In Cadence (IC)
20x Side Stradle Hops IC
20x Low Slow Squat IC
20x Mountain Climbers IC
Mosey to the bottom of Ballantyne Village Deck
Fireman Ed mumbles something, laughter ensues. 5 burpee penalty
Run to top of Deck
At to of each ramp do 10 merkins for 60 Merkins
Go down the stairs, back up the stairs
Do 10 jump squats at bottom of each ramp on way down for 60
Circle back for the six
Head to the end of the deck for people’s chair
sit for about a minute
20 air presses
Instructions given on my mark All-You-Got to the other end of the deck
People’s chair for about a minute
20 air presses
Oon my mark All-You-Got to the do not enter sign near up ramp
Slow-burn LBCs x 20 IC
Round 2 to the top of the deck
10 merkins on way up for 60
Down Stairs, Up Stairs
10 Jump-Lunge (5 a leg) at each down ramp for 60
Circle back for the six.
Mosey to Costigan Park
Count of, split into 3 groups of 3 and one group fo 4
each group take a corner
20 Merkins, 15 dips at fountain
20 Wide-Armed Merkins, 15 dips at fountain
20 Diamond Merkins, 15 dips at fountain
10 Burpees, 15 dips at fountain
10 more Burpees waiting for the six.
Mosey back across to Ballantyne Corporate
YHC off by a turn so assemble for mary-merken combo.
starting position is 6 inches
20x Flutter IC, 10 Merkins
20x Dolly IC, 10 Merkins
20x LBC position, clasp hands and twist LBCs (no idea), 10 Merkins
20x Some Other Ab workout, 10 merkins
Mosey the long way home to finish right at 7a.
Thine Only Moleskine
Great morning in CLT for a workout. Could not have asked for better weather in June
Stairwell was a bit unpleasant but at least did not come with a ‘uptown funk’
All you got, gathered a few grumbles from the pax
Pax very happy to get into the open from the deck
YHC tried to keep up with Haggis on the all you got. He just gets faster as he goes
Fire Hazard killed it round 2, maybe his recovery is over.
Muppet was showing a strong display out there, only been a few weeks, keep it up brother.
Marketimer should patent the long-sleeve summer combo. Solid work!
Triple 7, ran in/out to workout this morning, was worried he’d miss us, but the keen eye (or late) Q saw
him and wasn’t gonna leave him. Great work!
Thin Mint is blazing fast,
Frasier was so fast in the deck YHC thinks i was still going up when he circled back for the six!
Outback and Soft Pretzel left nothing on the tank today, solid work out there guys!
Swiss Miss also showing a strong display. Keep it up and you will grab that bridge victory in March!
Fireman and and Turkey each took a turn at the 6, IM3 in action!
https://www.strava.com/activities/612759815
Preblast: Fast Twitch Handsfree
Anarchy takes over Tuesday’s finest hour of power. As usual, you’ll know in advance what’s coming. Lace up your big boy sneaks, leave your shirt/tank top at home, and make the right choice tomorrow. Here’s what we’ll do:
Head south on Strawberry to the bottom of the Coburn half pipe.
Triple Nickel up west side of the pipe (direction heading towards Bevington). Top: Good Mornings/Bottom: deep squat
Continue towards 51 via Coburn/Cary Ridge. Regroup at 51.
Left on 51, Right on Clavemorr Glenn into WhiteGate (Google it, you’ll know where you’re headed). Weave your way to the base of Lauren Conrad.
Triple Nickel** up the southern face of #LC (the steep side). Top: RDL left leg/Bottom: RDL right leg
**Audible option: drop 1 or 2 legs of the triple nickel depending on how much time you need to head back to campus. 1.6 miles from the base of #LC. Plan accordingly.
AYG back to campus. 6.2ish mi if you complete the full deal.
#FastTwitchSwag
Moderate? Who said this was moderate?
17 strong posted for a tour of Old Providence Elementary on Saturday morning. Geraldo and Dora did a 2 mile pre-ruck, then Dora headed home for 2.0 duty while Geraldo stayed to suffer.
Similar to a few months ago, Goon and YHC decided to split Q duties. It seemed to work well last time, so why not?
The Thang:
After a quick disclaimer and welcome to the FNGs, Goon led us to the baby track for some moseying/COP:
- Do a lap – then SSH x 25 IC
- Do a lap – then IW x 20 IC
- Do a lap – then Merkins x 10 or 15 IC
- Do a lap – then Carolina Dry Docks x 15 IC
There may have been another lap. On about the 3rd lap, YHC decided to challenge Geraldo to a sprint and lost. #justlikeFriday
Voodoo leads the mosey across Rea and over to the rock pile by the church. Grab an exercise rock. It should not fit in your pocket.
- Curls x 10 IC
- Overhead press x 10 IC
- Squats x 10 IC
- Tricep extensions x 10 IC
- Press with feet up x 10 IC
Run to rear of school and grab some wall for People’s Chair with 50 air presses (apologies for YHC’s civilian count issues here)
Mosey to concession area for 3 rounds of:
- 10 step ups per leg
- 10 dips
- 10 derkins/merkins (pick your poison)
YHC led the pax back to the starting lot before realizing we were going to the little field, where Goon restored order:
- Jack Webb (merkins and air presses) from 5/20 -> 1/4
- Russian twists x 10 IC
- Superman x 2
- Dead bug x 10 IC
YHC took over and went back to the rocks for another round:
- Curls x 10 IC
- Overhead press x 10 IC
- Good mornings x 10 IC
- Press with feet up x 10 IC
Run back to concession stand for 2 rounds of:
- 10 single leg squats (other foot on bench) per leg
- 10 dips
- 10 derkins
Mosey back to rear of building for People’s Chair with Frankenstein and alternating foot raises with 10 counts, then 50 air presses (slightly better cadence this time).
Mosey back to the little field for a finisher from Goon:
- Cumberland County Viaduct x 10 IC per side
- Jack Webb (merkins and heels to heaven) from 5/20 -> 1/4
- LBCs
Back to the launch lot for COT.
Moleskine:
Apologies for the delay in getting this posted. It’s easier to sneak in backblast writing during work than the weekend. #keeptheMhappy As a result of the delay, the above backblast should serve as an approximation of what we did. Please sound off below with anything that was missed.
We had a great turnout this morning, including 2 FNGs and 4 2.0s. The pax did a great job of keeping together, using planks where necessary to wait on the six.
Our FNGs, Walton (father of 10 children – #happyfathersday) and Umizoomi (wearing a Dragon Ball Z t-shirt, so why not?) were crushing it out there this morning. They did not look like FNGs. Umizoomi and Nemo were pushing hard on the warm up laps and had no trouble with the pace all morning. I didn’t notice if they grabbed bigger rocks than their dads, but maybe someone did?
My Garmin had us at ~2.3 miles for today, which is solid for any workout, moderate or not. Speaking of which, I know this is supposed to be a moderate workout, but YHC always feels beat afterwards. It really is you vs. you in F3, so don’t be intimidated by any workout. If it sounds interesting, try it. Everyone is welcome to every workout and can modify as needed.
Thanks to Pele and Gullah for the opportunity to Q this morning. Goon and YHC had a great time leading the pax and it’s always an honor to lead.
Announcements:
- F3 Golf – F3 Area 51 golf
- Area 51 pool party – August 20 at Candlewyck neighborhood pool. Bring Ms and 2.0s and enjoy the end of summer festivities.
- Southern Discomfort – October 22 – the second annual Area 51 CSAUP that involves lots of running and 4 boot camps, hitting multiple AOs in the region. See pre-blast for more details.
- Whetstone mentoring program sign ups are active. Check the website for info.
- F3 Dads – Area 51 meets at Beatty Park and SOBs are usually at the bullring.
Yucca repeats plus a twist
Tiger Rag made me promise no exercises, and something about not doing something else that I didn’t quite understand. Anyway, here’s the plan for tomorrow:
0515 – launch from greenway lot and head for Mountainview.
Hill repeats with a twist. Run up Mountainview slight right on Old Bell to continue going to the top of the hill (yucca). Backward run to the end of the cul de sac and back to the yucca. Recover run down. Repeat until 6:05.
Run down Wilby, right on Wilby. Stop at the Griswold flag for Pledge of Allegiance. AYG back to the launch point.
For those so inclined, SYITG.
- Kirk
#SOBDads #F3Dads Community Service Day – Anne Springs
14 men and 19 2.0’s showed up this morning for the first ever #SOBDads / Area 51 #F3Dads Community Service Day event. The goal was to help clear brush along the historic Great Philadelphia Wagon road, repair a washed out gravel road, and clean signage/lights on the way to the Dairy Barn. With 33 strong, we put a large dent in that project. Read on for some highlights.
Caitlin Anderson (Anne Springs Volunteer Coordinator) greeted us and gave us our assignments. She had arranged a truck load of tools and a large flat bed trailer for our task. We were divided strategically into 4 groups, the brush clearing in two directions (2 groups), dirt shoveling, and sign cleaning. Ready…Break.
The tools were put to good use and a flurry of activity began. In fact, the trailer turned out not to be sufficient for the quantity of debris we were producing in the clearing operation. We soon spilled over into the adjacent field to pile debris. Caitlin reassured us there is a crew coming Monday who can pickup where we left off there.
Strange Brew, Wingman, Market Timer, and Paper Jam organized a crew moving North from the trailer clearing brush along the fence line with many small hands furiously clipping brush with them and dragging it back to the trailer/field. At times it looked like it could be Christmas time with all the evergreen shrubbery these guys were producing.
Mr. Brady, Teddy, Frasier, Turkey Leg, and one other (sorry didn’t get your name – Q-fail) headed South along the Philadelphia Wagon Road clearing underbrush along the way. The piles of brush this team produced were impressive. They were well organized with brush dragging operations to complement the aggressive cutting activities.
Soft Pretzel and Tuck first started the dirt removal and redeposit task at the central road. There was a large washed out area on the gravel road which had deposited on the concrete in a low area below. The task was to return the dirt to its rightful place on the hill. SP and Tuck were eventually surrounded by an army of 2.0’s who seemed to enjoy the hard labor’esque feel of this task. By the end, the concrete road was visible and the gravel road smooth thanks to the effort of these many hands.
Wild Turkey led a team to clean every sign on the way back to the Dairy Barn. After seeing the little hands swarming a few of those signs, I am sure the signs are now sparkling all over that campus.
Bratwurst was a bit of a floater out there working some on the South team and then contributing greatly to the dirt shoveling. He was then conscripted into using his metal bladed weed eater to clear out along the fence which worked like a charm.
It was also lucky that Eagle Eye (Teddy) was with us today. When “the one other” (sorry again) got ready to leave, he found that he had lost his keys somewhere in the woods he had just been clearing. Realizing it was a needle in a haystack situation, several PAX began combing the woods to find them. Not more than 2 minutes later Teddy exclaims, oh here they are… What are the odds? Just glad that ended so quickly.
Probably the best thing of the day was that there was not one idle hand in the group. All Dads and 2.0’s took on these jobs with determination. Work continued the full 1.5 hrs with no complaints (it even extended a bit past with no uprising). Caitlin was surprised at the end when all her tools were neatly packed back in the truck the way they started. Just plain awesome guys! Proud to be part of this group even more.
After the work was complete, Caitlin brought her horse, Star, from the adjacent pasture for the kids to pet and sit on. This was a nice treat for all the hard work. She stayed around after for a while to ensure everyone got to sit if they wanted to.
After a COT, the crew was disbanded. Those that had time traveled over to the Nature Center for a picnic lunch with the M’s. Those that had other engagements were thanked profusely.
The picnic was complete with soccer, football, crafts in the Nature Center, wading in the Lake, and walking on the swinging bridge. After the hard work, the kids were still going strong at the picnic and seemed to really enjoy themselves.
Thanks to all of you for making this Community Service project a success. Not only did we make a big difference in that section of the Wagon Road, we had a great time, and showed our kids how we can help the community. These are some of the things it takes to be an #F3Dad. #proud