Two to Tango
The weather guessers were right on with their forecast. It was an icy and snowy mix last night and into this morning which resulted in a pretty crusty white surface along the 51 corridor. Leaving the house this morning I actually didn’t expect anyone to show given the pretty sketchy driving conditions and several AO’s closing due to inclement weather. I did one donut in the parking lot to check the running surface and to my surprise there was a decent amount of grip. 5:15 struck and it was just me in the lot with thoughts of heading back home creeping in…at about the time I was going to put the truck in drive, headlights began to show from around the bend. On Two wheels comes Mr Brady and that was more than enough to begin.
The Thang and the MOleskin
Quick but thorough disclaimer was issued and away we went. What Mr Brady lacked in illumination he more than made up for with bright colors and a hat with Bells. YHC had new batteries in his headlamp and a blinky so we felt pretty visible heading into the gloom.
Warmed up around Strawberry Lane to Woodfox. Got it moving a little faster on Rounding Run and settled into a nice pace for the remainder of our trip. No stops as it was windy and sleeting the entire run. Nice 2nd F along the way as we hauled up Windbluff to Providence. Made the decision not to run near providence due the possibility of cars fishtailing at the sight of two nuts running on the icy sidewalk.
Turned around and headed back to Raintree, sharp slippery left turn on Raintree and all the way up to Providence yet again. A Few near spills, but we made it back into South Charlotte Middle with 5.5Miles under our belts. The miles Felt a lot more difficult this morning, likely due to the extra concentration on footing.
Quick COT and take out for safe travels and health and we were officially done.
Snow, Sleet, Freezing Rain, Oh My
On my drive to SV Middle, I experience snow at first, sleet and then freezing rain by the time I got there. Saw one guy spin out on the way. Averaged about 35 mph. Figured it was going to be worthy of some laughs. But then no one else pulled in the parking lot so the moment of decision: To Post or Not To Post. It’s F3. We post. Off I go….
The Thang
Moseyed to the grass as the pavement was, well, slick
COP
Do you cadence out loud when you are solo is the question I’ve always wondered? So, I did the 3 count in my head and the rep count out loud.
SSH IC x25
IW IC x20
Windmill IC x10
I did have an idea for what I wanted to do but after COP, I figured why not go through the obstacle course a couple of times. On the way, I remembered why that was a bad idea. It’s in a bottom and my feet were now soaked.
Two times through Obstacle course. The 7-8 foot wall was a beast with a layer of ice on top.
Mosey to the baseball field beside the middle school for what was my idea coming into this thing.
Bear Crawl to 1st base. Lunge walk to Second. Crab Walk to Third. Lunge Walk to Home. Had intended many rounds of this with various combos. But after Round 1, I had soaked the two layers of gloves I had on and now my fingers were as cold as my toes which I hadn’t felt since the run to the obstacle course. Time to Q-Jack my own Q.
Lap around the Middle School
Decide to do a circuit workout:
Round 1) Rail Walk, Step Ups x20, Dips x20, Decline Merkins x20, Lap around Middle School
Round 2) Rail Walk, Step Ups x25, Dips x25, Decline Merkins x25, Lap around Middle School
Round 3) Rail Walk, Step Ups x30, Dips x30, Decline Merkins x30, Lap around Middle School
4 MOM:
Flutters IC x20
Dolly IC x20
LBCs until 6:15
DONE!
COT:
I prayed. God listened. It counts.
Moleskine:
It was cold. It was wet. It was nasty.
I tried to do some things I didn’t like such as Decline Merkins. I was sweating and glad at the end that I did it.
Thankful half the lap around the school was on a gravel drive. It was easier to run on than the pavement. Didn’t bust my butt a single time which is surprising given I normally fall when it’s dry. The laps around the middle school added some mileage but it was definitely slow mileage in the conditions.
These are the moments that will test you. Do we quit when no one is watching or do we do a full workout? It really becomes a matter of character at that point. I am convinced our families and the world around us need us to be consistent even when no one is watching.
Glass Joe
A little Ice and Sleet Sent the SOB’s Running to the Garage
The Thang….
The clock hit 5:15 and we grabbed a pair of 50lbs sandbags and a 60 lbs sandbag and headed from the Vine to our favorite parking garage in Ballantyne Village. Once there, we headed down to the basement and circled up.
COP – in cadence
20 – SSH
20 – IW
15 – Windmills
15 – Merkins
Here we split into 2 groups (a 2 man and a 3 man) one group stayed in the basement and completed bent over rows. The other ran to the top of the covered part of the deck and back. Then we flapjacked.
Once we completed that fun we did a bear crawl for about 80 yards with 10 civilian count merkins/CCDs every 10 yards.
We then did a belly start sprint back over to the start point
At this point we circled up for 1 minute of each of the following exercises. Rotating until the 5 PAX completed each exercise.
– Cleans w/ 60lbs sandbag
– LBCs
– Curls w/ 50lbs sandbag
– Flutter Kicks
– Overhead Press w/ 50lbs sandbag
We then took a rest with the Peoples Chair with arm flutters and Balls to the wall. Rinse and repeat
Once this was completed the PAX headed to the top of the deck and completed 20 Low Slow Squats in Cadence. Then back down to the basement with 20 Sumo Jumps OYO.
At this point we headed back, as it is a slow mosey with a sandbag on your back in the snow.
The Moleskin –
Over the last week, Tolken, Champagne, Madam and YHC have been working on a great gear workout for the dedicated PAX of the Brave. As this AO started out to train people for OCR’s YHC thought it would be a good idea to get stronger for the obstacles. It was going to be a beatdown of epic proportions. Then Thursday morning came around and the Snowpacolypse was upon us. For safety’s sake we decided to move to the garage and postpone the epic gear workout. So keep your eyes open for the reschedule date.
When YHC pulled up about 3 minutes prior to the start time there were 2 lone cars in the parking lot. YHC thought about the possibility of talking Outback into just heading back to our Fartsacks and pretending this never happened. Fortunately, Tuck pulled in and YHC new that there was no way we could peer pressure all 3 pax to do the wrong thing. #ACCOUNTABILITY. The 3 PAX grabbed the 3 sandbags YHC happened to have in the back of the SUV and headed to the garage. Right as the Mosey began Wingman pulled into the lot and quickly caught up. The conversation on the slow mosey was around the PAX that did not show up (Tolken, Bean, MT and Champagne). Champagne had a great excuse as he was helping with The Stand today (and yes I will check the backblast to ensure he didn’t fartsack). Madam was having some sickness issues he didn’t want to share with the PAX (which we appreciate). That leads us to JRR Tolken he had been on Slack this AM and HC’d last night. Where was he???? Then about ¾ of the way through the mosey he caught us and had some flimsy story about being stuck behind a “snow truck”. So the only one left was Bean. He had texted me the night before saying we should clown car to stay safe. I agreed and I texted him at 4:55. No reply. What a shameless fartsacker (if you see him give him a hard time). Anywaaaaay. YHC thought the PAX got a pretty good beatdown that was the opposite of the usual Brave running heavy MO. YHC really appreciated the 4 PAX that posted with him today and pushed hard. It was a pleasure. Also, a big thanks to Outback for taking us out.
As usual it was an honor and a privilege to lead this group of men in the gloom.
Announcements:
-Family Hike on Jan 23rd at Anne Springs greenway is CANCELLED
-Come out to Stonehenge or daVinci in the morning if you can make it out
Watch the patch of Ice!
After YHC sent out a tweet yesterday confirming the pre-run and the main event’s activities, Slim Fast inadvertently sent out a tweet with the exact opposite information. Who doe he think he is – a site Q or something?!! Needless to say, 3 showed up for a pre run and 1 for a pre ruck.
the thang – mosey to bottom of parking lot for COP… 5 burpees, SSH x 20, LBCs x 20, IW x 20,
partner up – partner 1 runs to top of hill and does called exercise while partner 2 stays at bottom of hill doing an exercise until partner 1 gets back. flap jack, rinse and repeat. exercises – lbc’s, heels to heaven, Freddie mercury’s, and rock hoppers.
Mosey to stairs for circuit work. 20 dips, 15 merkins, 10 calf raises. rinse and repeat.
mosey to big parking lot. partner up – partner 1 runs distance of parking lot and does called exercise at every light pole while partner 2 does called exercise. flap jack, rinse and repeat. exercises – peter parker, parker peter, rockhopper, plank
mosey to playground for circuit work. 5 pullups, 10 merkins, 15 lbcs. rinse and repeat
mosey to wall for wall sits and 101 air presses
mosey back to parking lot for some Pax led Mary
It was a great morning – certainly not as cold as it has been the past few days. As we gathered to enter the gloom we noticed Freedom was AWOL. This is unacceptable as he lives less than 100yrds from the AO. Some thought was given to running to his house to crank up his #jukejeep and swing some KB’s – we might have helped ourselves to whatever was in his refrigerator as well. Knowing that Freedom lives in a house full of women – causing a ruckus @ 5.30am was not in anyone’s best interest. We decided to stay in our designated area and Freedom eventually showed up mumbling something about his phone not waking him up…
Had a good time talking it up with Short Circuit – funny to listen to a dude from Denver Colorado on his perspective on a potential Charlotte snowstorm… Huh?!?
Sensei – what an inspiration you are! It was a privilege to run with you this am. I’m stressed out of my mind that I don’t pull a Geraldo yet you are cool as a cat as busses go by on Hwy 51!
Thanks for sending us out Smokey – you lead well through your actions and influence!
Meathead masher
11 heeded the call and came out to the madness we call Meathead.
THE THANG
SSH x 10
IW x 10
20 two handed swings plus 20 merkins, 19 two handed swings 19 merkins and so on down to one.
Pair up. Partner 1 does upright row squat press and hands KB to partner whos just done a burpee. Ten each.
KB combo – 5 x one handed swing, 5 x snatch, 5 x high pull, 5 x clean, 5 x rack squat repeat on other arm. Repeat with 4 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps, 3 reps, 4 reps, 5 reps.
Jack Webb – KB merkin x 1, lawnmower x 2. Repeat up to 10 merkins and 20 lawnmowers.
Mary time
10 Louganis, 10 seated OH presses, 10 flutter presses. Repeat with 8 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps, 2 reps.
COT
YE OLDE FASHIONED MOLEY MOLEY
Strong showing today. Tried to switch up the tunes with some “Throw Back Thursday” on Spotify but it got freaky two songs in which was when Fletch joined us. Switched to the old chestnuts of Rocky, Kanye, and U2 which was when Insomniac jumped in. Hard work today and Browns heart about exploded two thirds in due to the cardio factor. Saw High Tide feeling it today too as he lounged on is new Wrangler which it seems is now the official car of F3!
Hats off to Turkey Leg for keeping MeatRunner going and to Insomniac for lasting through a tough one.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Stone Cold leads Kevlar tomorrow and Fletch has Mountain Goat.
Ascent converging with Olympus at OP on Saturday.
Keep an eye on the weather and enjoy the snow.
Go Panthers and if anyone has extra tickets just knocking around let me know!
Mountain Goat Lucky 777’s Pre-Blast
The plan tomorrow was for a heaping helping of Track intervals tomorrow to work on those fast-twitch fibers and increased speed over shorter distances. However, there is a very good chance that the track is going to be too slippery for sprints in the am based on the forecast. So, tomorrow we will be pulling the handle and hoping for Lucky 777’s on three of the best hills in Raintree.
Fletch
Just good, clean fun
11 posted at Hydra, just ahead of the certain snowpocalypse in Charlotte. Get yourself to HT and buy some milk. YHC still nursing a sore knee so running will be limited….that’s a shame.
The Thang:
No newbies, No Disclaimer – You’re on your own. Slow trot around the front of the school and circle up in the parking lot.
COP:
- IW x 20 IC – – wheelhouse
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Squats x 15 civilian count, slow cadence
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Merkins x 15 civilian count, slow cadence
- 8 (or 6) count burpees x 5 IC
- Mountain Climber x 15 IC – don’t remember if we actually did these? Could have been LBC’s. (Age)
Mosey to the concession area and split in 2 groups to minimize crowding.
A little Circuit:
Run to end of fence, then
- 5 Burpees
- 10 Donkey Kick
Run to playground
- 5 Pullups (or 10 if supine)
- 10 Squat
Run to front of lot
- 5 Bench jump-ups (or 10 if Step Up)
- 10 Dip
Run back to Concession area:
- 5 Jump squat
- 10 incline merkins
Keep going for 20-25 minutes-ish
Circle up in Parking lot for Mary:
LBC x 20 IC
Ski Abs x 10 IC
1 Leg Crunch x 10 IC each leg
Ski Abs x 10 IC
Russian Twist x 20 IC
Ski Abs x 10 IC
Line up for Grinders – we sprint like Ted Gynn for 5-ish minutes
Circle up and back to your 6 for more Mary
Dolly x 20 IC
Groiner x 10 IC
Flutter x 20 IC
Groiner x 10 IC
Mosey back to front parking lot and that’s it.
Moleskin
Good work by all this morning. Just trying to keep moving in the midst of the stifling heat and humidity.
T-claps to Grapevine (my homebrewing mentor) for making the drive from Metro to support YHC’s Q. Also to Champagne, Purple Haze and Spackler…..oh yea, they weren’t there. Brothers.
No Announcements.
That is all.
No Sprinters Track
#F3Swift this week was all about the Sprinter. Run hard then jog a lot. While we probably could have done more reps, sometimes you just have to start over somewhere, and this was a great way to get back into the buildup to prepare for the next challenge.
The Thang:
- a fractured early crew departed at 0500. Even while stragglers drove in, PAX were seen chasing others to catch up. Gumbo and Bratwurst were watching this show as they drove in, so instead of running to catch up, as they have done before (should get their clocks checked), they took off in a different direction to set up some cone staging.
- 515 and there were a couple more takers in the parking lot. The early crew didn’t stop too long in the cold, so all departed for the warm-up run almost immediately and just made sure that car door of a late arriving PAX wasn’t going to be opened. Must be a Bagpiper.
- Warm-up through the Corporate Park is done, flashing cones spotted, so the dynamic exercises commence with heel walking, toe walking, high knees, and butt kicks. On to the “track” of Rushmore Dr.
- Main set run at 1 mile race pace (a.k.a. Repetition Pace or R-pace from http://runsmartproject.com/calculator)
- 4x200m with 200m recovery
- 3x400m with 400m recovery
- 4x200m with 200m recovery.
- Mosey back to home.
Moleskin:
- With a promise to improve the 1 Mile Time Trial times this Spring, we have to get back to setting that base pace and working from it. It will likely seem too easy a pace for 200s, but we’re going to build from it and make it so the 400s (at the same pace) seem like cake.
- It’s still fun to push on the 200s a bit, and some of them got pretty spicy. Fortunately, none of the PAX ended up with a popped Achilles or torn Hammy. However, as seen from race photos by JRR Tolkien, Bunker, and Tuck, they were flying:
- Great to have Heisman and Bounty Hunter out from the South Carolina reaches of SoB land. Still seems like BH only posts when OneNiner, WWL, or Ringer don’t show. Weird phenomenon. Almost like YHC swore for a while that Gumbo and Beaker were the same PAX, but that Myth has been busted. The IndianLand PAX avoiding each other Myth is still probable.
- StrangeBrew was wearing his Luge outfit from his appearance in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Sleek and aerodynamic in those tights. Just leave the helmet at home next time. I bet it was hard to run and see out of that thing.
- YHC didn’t check the Runner’s World site What to Wear for Tuesday morning, but probably should have. Still, an extra sheddable layer is not bad to have around. Just have to make sure you remember where you drop it.
Announcements:
- You’ve heard it here first. There will be a “Destathon” for F3 this year – Egypt of F3Metro translates this as “Destination Marathon”. In previous years, PAX have gathered to travel to Chicago and San Francisco, but this year will be more accessible to most PAX and Ms. Stay tuned for details. Bratwurst is on Q.
Prison Yard
3o Merkins and 30 squats
20 Merkins and 20 squats
5 Stations, rotate when group of 4 sprinting/racing returns acting as the timer (try to get 15-20 reps at each station before sprinters get back) completed the circuit about 10-12 times…lost count. Each full circuit should take around 3-4 minutes
Station 1: 25lb medicine ball throw around group first 15 minutes, Merkins second 15 minutes, dry-docks third 15 minutes
Station 2: KB station – 2 60lb, 1 50lb, 1 45lb choose how much pain you desired (first 15 minutes was upright row to push press, second 15 min was T-bag squats, third 15 min was swings)
Station 3: Cinderblocks – first half Curls and second half Diamond Merkins
Station 4: Cinderblocks – first half Presses and second half straight arm front shoulder raises
Station 5: Sprint to far basketball hoop ~ 60 yards and back, first place does 5 burpees, second place does 10 burpees, third place does 15 burpees, last place does 20 burpees
Skinny Mole:
Was a frigid morning and I was expecting about 15 folks to mosey out due to weather, but was surprised with 23…even Radar made it! Being the good husband he is, he left early to get home so his wife wouldn’t be late for work…thanks for your service and dedication to your family my friend! I have to apologize for the initial 5 minutes of the workout start, had a different plan based on expected numbers…wasn’t working well and Radar called a Q Failure. So what do you do when it isn’t going as planned? Stop everything and start running for time to sort it out in your head to get things back on track. Then the above was devised and completed. The boys were taking the sprints seriously (90% of the time) and there were some smoke boots on…Spackler, Bodybag, Witchdoctor, and Goodhands were flying as were the lads in my group (Hairball, Smokey, Backoffice, and Geraldo). At one point I remember Turkey Leg using the 60lb KB and someone said that it was about 2/3s his weight…way to go big TL! Can’t remember who called it first, but Goonie said the workout reminded him of a prison yard workout. So there it is, PY training was on the docket today. If you did 15-20 of each exercise and sprinted each race, it should’ve been a smoker…burpees after sprints can be a crusher for sure. Goodhands was asked if he was okay after his sprint and burpees because he was just sitting on the ground for the Merkin station, he said he was doing 15 deep breaths. If Goodhands was smoked, I consider the job accomplished. Thanks for the great sendoff Spackler!
Aftermath meets on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:15 at Starbucks in the Trader Joe’s shopping center. Come and just hang with us, currently discussing the Book of Romans.
Dromedary – Frozen Tundra Edition
8 men got out of their cars at exactly 5:29 to cover as much of the frozen ground at MRHS as we could. Here is how it went.
The Thang: Run to the building. (Note the substitution of the word “run” for the word “mosey.” That is intentional) Peoples’ Chair, 25 SSH IC, Peoples’ Chair, 10 burpees IC, Peoples Chair again, 20 mountain climbers IC.
Run around the building with stops for: 10 merkins, 25 flutters, 10 diamond merkins, 25 LBCs, 10 wide arm merkins. Each stop done together IC (wait for the six each time in plank position).
At the bottom of the hill at the back of the building (we need to name it BTW), partner up for two rounds. P1 run backwards up the hill and back. P2 does called exercise. Round 1 = 75 total CDDs. Round 2 = 75 combined heels to heaven.
Run to picnic benches for two circuits at 3 min a piece. #1 = 10 derkins + 20 Squats. #2 = 20 dips + 10 split squats. Goal is to repeat at a steady pace for the 3 min.
Run to the rock pile and partner up again. Round 1 = clean and press with the rock while partner runs ~50 yrds. Round 2 = curls with rock while partner bear crawls ~20 yds. Round 3 = flutter press with the rock while partner runs ~50 yds. Return the rocks. 10 burpees together IC. Then, 15 russian twists and 20 bycilcles IC. Done.
Moleskine: My assumption at the outset is that men who post in 25 degree weather don’t do so to have fun in the conventional definition of “fun”. They post bc they want to be pushed and get in a monster workout that day. So YHC made a few conscientious attempts to try and make that happen:
- Run rather than mosey. This occasionally put some distance between the front of the pack and the 6, but as long as you don’t go too far each stint and plank or do a called exercise to wait, everybody stays together.
- Do strength exercises timed rather than to a count. A couple PAX (Bananas, Grease Monkey) can put up some numbers in a hurry when it comes to dips, derkins, etc. So rather than have us all do the same number, use a watch and let the more advanced… advance. Thanks Brat for keeping time as YHC could not find his watch this morning.
- Rocks. Enough said.
Announcements: Teams forming for the Spartan Sprint in April. Talk to Doc McStuffins or Turtle. New workout DaVinci is Saturdays at 7 in Blakeney shopping center.