12 men of purpose gathered in the gloom determined to faithfully steward the parts of creation they were predestined to tend. As iron sharpens iron, they intended to push each other a little bit further than any would have gone as individuals. YHC identified as the one privileged to lead this stalwart dozen, this is what we did:
The THANG
Warmup
Main Event
Run full length of the arbor-lane, around the traffic circle and return to start (.25 miles). Once back, perform stated set of exercises, then move on to next run and set. All run/exercise OYO. First ones done perform mary until the six is in.
Finisher
Finis
Moleskine:
Announcements
11 men fought the urge to fartsack and converged on the grounds of Olde Providence Elementary. Here’s what we did:
Quick lap around the parking lot and circle up for a lite warm up all IC::
8 SSH
8 Merkins
8 Mountain Climbers
8 Low Slow Squat
Rinse and repeat!
Mosey to track and do 8 laps
Mosey to Back football field
Starting at the end zone line,
Bear Crawl to 10, sprint back and do 1 burpee
bear Crawl to 20, sprint back and do 2 burpees
Bear Crawl to 30, sprint back and do 3 burpees
Bear Crawl to 40, sprint back and do 4 burpees
Bear Crawl to 50, sprint back and do 5 burpees
Bear Crawl to 40, sprint back and do 6 burpees
Bear Crawl to 30, sprint back and do 7 burpees
Bear Crawl to 20, sprint back and do 8 burpees
Mosey to Snack Shack
8 jump ups
16 Decline Merkins
24 dips
Rinse and Repeat
Mosey to t-ball field and partner up (size did not matter)
Partner wheel-barrow around bases, switching at each base
Partner prairie fire Mary – 10 each side
Mosey back to cars and circle up
10 8 count body builders
6 MOM
10 LBC (as called by Frosty Paws)
8 Dollys (as called by Good Hands)
Protractor (as called by Gummy)
2 rounds of Greatest American Hero
Boat/Canoe until time expired
FIN!
Moleskin:
Great job by everyone out there on a very humid morning. My tweet last night hinted that Hydra would live up to its name. Iron Horse asked if we would get wet…well yes, but that was unintentional. As defined by Wikipedia (so you know it has to be true) –
“The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna (Greek: Λερναῖα Ὕδρα, Lernaîa Hýdra), more often known simply as the Hydra, was an ancient serpentine water monster with reptilian traits in Greek and Roman mythology. It possessed many heads—the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint—and for each head cut off it grew two more. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.”
It is often pictured with 8 heads, so 8 was the magic #. It was muggy out there and YHC got the sweat on early and YHC and Plug ran in, as did Ironside. 8 laps got the heart rate up, as Gummy and Harley took on a fast pace and kept it for the mile. The bear crawls on the field seemed to be a crowd pleaser. I swore I would never Q burpees. As the great singer/songwriter Justin Bieber croons, “Never Say Never”. Note to self – It is dark back there and the lines were not as easily seen as I thought. I am sure some liberties with the yardage were taken. #PPPPP.
One of my favorites is Wheelbarrow. Its fun to do and fun to watch others do. And the PFM created a lot of confusion and mumble chatter…3 sides people – left, right, center.
I think today I can boast that Hydra had the best singers of any workout…We sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the theme to Greatest American Hero. YHC was moved!
Thanks as always for sticking with me. It was an honor to lead such a fine PAX!
Announcements:
Young Life Mudrun at the WWC – Contact Frosty Paws for details
Ultimate Mudrun signups are open. get your team together. Mermaid is A51 Q.
The Ultimate Challenge Mud Run is on for 10/24/2015 in Gaston, SC, just outside of Columbia. The Mud Run is often referred to as the “Super Bowl” of F3. F3 nation will have 500+ PAX post to this event. Area 51 is looking for strong representation once again. This is a 10K (6.2 mile) obstacle race with up to 36 obstacles on the course. The course is called the Leatherneck. Each obstacle is manned by Marines to encourage you, keep you in check, and assess penalties. It really is a blast. Check out the link at the bottom of this post for a youtube video that will give you an idea of what to expect. If you have not done it before this is another chance. If you can make it through a regular F3 bootcamp workout you can conquer the Leatherneck. Get dirty men.
AO Q’s please talk to your PAX and encourage participation. F3 will again have a preferred starting block that will begin at 0830. Most of the race participants you will encounter will be F3 PAX.
4-man teams race together to complete this race. Please work hard to find a team of 4 to participate. If you do not have a 4-man team, let me know and I can help you find one. This an F3 and Area 51 sponsored CSAUP event. Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless, that is. Again, it is an awesome event that you should not miss. After you crush the Leatherneck with your team you will clean up in some of the best showers any race provides and then head to the F3 tent to visit the F3 Beer Boat and hang with 500+ F3 brothers from all over. Get a team picture in front of more shovel flags than you have ever seen. Share race stories, catch up with PAX from other regions, and enjoy the day. Enough promotion, just register and do it.
Transportation will be secured for Area 51 PAX to and from the Mud Run by coach. The cost is usually around $30.00. More details for transport will follow after we get a PAX count.
Training: you are training with every post. Boot camp workouts are great training. Running workouts will help get your legs ready for 10K. The Brave is an obstacle-race inspired workout that launches from the Vine in Ballantyne Fridays at 0515. 60 minutes of running and obtacle-type training.
Area 51 Details:
Registration: PAX register as INDIVIDUALS. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Cost is $55.00/PAX. No refunds, this is a hard commit.
REGISTER by 10/03/2015
You will provide the required information and can also give a donation to Operation Enduring Warrior. $10.00/PAX would be awesome. Give more, less, or nothing. It is up to you. F3 gave this charity a check for $5000.00 at the Spring Mud Run. F3 would like to bring that number up to at least $7500.00 for this Mud Run. To learn more about this charity, please click here. Please note that F3 is a sponsor of this charity and is listed in the “Current Sponsors” tab of the website and consider a donation. Strongly consider a donation, that is. Thanks men.
READ CAREFULLY PLEASE:
Each team will designate a captain. The captain will send YHC an email at f3mermaid@yahoo.com after the team has registered. The email will contain the following: Team Name, F3 Name, Hospital Name, Email Address for EACH man on the team. If your team has an FNG use FNG as the F3 Name. Read that again please. Thanks
If you do not have a team send me an email with the above information and we will work on getting you teamed up.
IMPORTANT: Please register sooner rather than later. REGISTRATION ENDS 10/3/2015. YHC needs an accurate count to secure the appropriate sized coach to get us there. Go ahead and register today, actually, that would be best. Thanks
Sundries will be BYO for this Mud Run. You will bring all beverage and nutrition that you will need. The F3 Beer Boat will contain hundreds of beers that you are welcome to drink post-race. If you would like to drink a few more on the way home, please bring them with you.
Helpful Links and Info:
F3nation preblast can be found HERE.
F3 Mud Run Twitter Account: @F3MudRun
F3 Beer Boat Twitter Account: @F3BeerBoat
Area 51 Mud Run Q: f3mermaid@yahoo.com
Official USMC Mud Run Leatherneck Video can be found HERE.
REGISTRATION ENDS 10/03/2015
I slid in sideways at 5:29 with the AC/DC pumping on the pill just in time to get the blood pumping with the bros.
Warmup: 30 swings
The Workout:
10 x 10 One Hand Swings Each Hand
10 Merkins between each set
10 x 10 Snatches
5×5 Goblet Squats
10 Carolina Dry Docks between each set
10×10 Lawnmower rows each hand
10 Two hand press between each set
4 MOM (Flutter Press, Protractor, Freddy Merc, 20 Merkins IC)
Moleskine:
Lots of jaws flapping when I showed up with a full minute to spare.
Voodoo had an idea of what was coming when I tipped my hand that it smelled a lot like my Foxhole Q on Monday, only twice the reps.
Witch Doc and Bulldog were tearing through the snatches. (Made a note to pick up a kettlebell scale at Muscle Driver). The snatches were by far the worst of it, however, the lawnmower rows with the push presses takes a ton of strength and energy too. Double H went out with a dizzy spell and YHC offered him the Muscle Milk from the console to reinvigorate the male, however Witch Doc shut him down and told him that it would kill him instantly. That only led to Brown and I discussing what animals we would eat in the yard on the way back into the house after this insane workout. I went squirrel, but Brown justified a rabbit because the rabbit eats more veggies and that would satisfy the Witch Doc’s prescribed food groups. Check this out and see if it’s a happy medium? If nothing else it’s hilarious. www.savethebros.com
10 PAX, including a guest from Raleigh made the right choice and accepted the #DRP at Peak 51.
The Thang:
Mosey to the Playground for the following circuit, after 2 rounds take a lap around the track, six sets in total, 3 laps.
Jog over to the hill behind the baseball field, stopping for some Mary.
Hill Work:
Jog up the hill for some ladder work, 1 CCD at the bottom, 6 Squats at the top.
Peoples Chair:
Mosey over to school and grab some wall for 2 rounds, fist with arm raises and the second arms out in front of you. Finish up with BTTW.
Mary:
Return to the parking lot for some
Moleskin:
Announcements:
16 men showed up at Stonecrest movie theater expecting the usual beatdown they get from The Maul, but they just got more burpees. Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
COP – IW X 20, Merkins X 20, Mountain Climbers X 20, Burpees X 10 OYO
We moseyed to down the Murderhorn and did Burpees X 10 OYO
Run over to the club house parking lot and 10 Burpees OYO.
Split into 2 groups. Group 1 headed over to the picnic tables and did two rounds of 25 dips and 25 Durkins and Group 2 went over to the playground for 2 rounds of 15 pull-ups and 35 Merkins, flapjack once your 2 sets are complete.
LBCs X 20 to wait for the 6, Burpees X 10 OYO
Group 1 headed over to the picnic tables and did two rounds of 25 dips and 25 Durkins and Group 2 went over to the playground for 2 rounds of 15 pull-ups and 35 Merkins, flapjack once your 2 sets are complete.
Flutters X 20 to wait for the 6, Burpees X 10 OYO
We then moseyed over to the bottom of the Murderhorn, Burpees X 10 OYO
Run up the Murderhorn and Flutters X 20 to wait for the 6. Burpees X 10 OYO
We then moseyed to the parking lot and circle up, 10 burpees OYO and LBCs X 20, Dollies X 20, Rosalitas X 20, Flutter X 20, bicycles X 20.
COT
Moleskin:
Painful. That’s all there is to say.
Announcements:
SOB BRR team still in need of a van driver.
Mud run sign ups opened Tuesday night. Sign up today.
With both site-Qs out of town, I found myself with the keys to the Base Camp kingdom. Based on comments afterward, I think my visa has been revoked. Not sure if I will be welcome back any time soon…
The THANG
Warmup
– Warmup run around the parking lot mixing in various forms of leg stretching exercises (high knees, butt kickers, skipping, etc.)
– No shovel flag to be found so we gathered around the barren flag pole for a little COP consisting of SSH, IW, Merkins and squats.
– COP had to be quick so we could get to the main event down on the football field.
The Main Event: Blimps (helium edition)
Down on the field, all PAX line up abreast (aka. next to each other, aka. shoulder-to-shoulder) at the end zone. Sprint to other end zone for exercises. When all PAX done with exercises, sprint back across field for next set of exercises. Continue on as follows:
Finisher
Moleskine
Announcements
The PAX will leave the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area (Rea Rd & Bevington) at 0515 tomorrow. Our path will naturally bring us back by the lot around 0520 for those running late.
@HoneyBee has unwisely turned over the reins to YHC for tomorrow. We’ll not deviate from the plan to continue in the hills of the Piper Glen neighborhood, but we’ll give everyone something new to think about. First, there will be no chalk lines, but cones instead. Cones for directions you ask? No, cones will serve a different purpose.
You are guaranteed to get in the full 4, 6, or 6.5 mile option tomorrow, but you’ll not be running it along for more than a few minutes at a time. How you ask? Well come to find out. What is suggested is that you use that Marathon Pace you’ve been targeting from the calculator at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator and use it to find Threshold Pace instead. You’ll be glad you did.
Burn the route https://www.strava.com/routes/492638 into your mind. If you don’t, then YHC will have some printouts for the Preblast challenged.
Prior to Dromedary proper, 2 men set off into the darkness to run in large complex circles. They happened upon a bald man in a black truck snooping round the AO and then were almost run over by someone driving on the sidewalk. After these encounters, 1 man (Stump Hugger) set off in his vehicle for a “meeting” and became labelled First In First Out (FIFO).
The other man (Bratwurst) joined 5 other men mulling around the parking lot and once 5:30 struck, the disclaimer was disclaimed, and warnings were voiced, the 6 man wolfpack entered the darkness.
After crossing the large parking lot and finding where all the buses in Union Co. park, a COP was called and the warmup began. 10 counts each of merkins, mtn climbers, low slow squats, Mr. Miagi’s, IW, and reverse lunges. Now warm, the PAX continued onto the football field where Bratwurst almost refusniked due to the slight moisture present on the grass. After some chastening, he was brought on board for the first real COP.
Exercise 1: 8 count burpees x 10. We experimented with and without a called 8. YHC recommends saying the 8, Bratwurst finds it confusing. The rest of the PAX didn’t seem to care and just made fun of us for arguing about it.
Exercise 2: 10 x a yet unnamed move described by Bananas as “the roll around on the ground and stand up exercise.” It was actually intended to be a reverse burpee with a heals to heaven, situp, and deck squat, then reverse back to the ground. It hypothetically could have been done to a count of 6, but the moves all strung together. At this point, Enron and Silicon almost denounced F3 due to this exercise’s seemingly pointless nature. However, they stayed for no reason other than to see where this train wreck was headed.
The two exercises were repeated a second time through. Bratwurst Q-jacked the second reverse burpee set and tried to call cadence, which was actually worse than the first time making 6 moves into a 9 or 10 count. However, since he is co-site Q, he was given this leeway.
Before moving to the next set, we virtually had to peel Chanel off the oversized tractor tire located on the side of the field. He may have been caught later trying to load it in the back of his workout mobile. If you get a call from the Union Co. Sheriff, you know why.
The PAX then headed over to the hill by the baseball diamond for sloppy 11’s. Bottom was plank up-and-downs (probably a better name for this) and top was jump squats. The mumble chatter was non-existent during this portion of the workout as it was intense. However, there were basically 6 Larry Birds out there today as everyone kept in near perfect sync. Once complete, a couple 10 counts brought the heart rate back to a manageable level.
An AYG sprint up the hill led us to the benches where 3 rounds of 20 dips and LBC’s were performed followed by a partner up for leg throw downs in the middle of the field. Although suggested by Bananas, this move was not coupled with a squat which would take it in a whole different direction. 2 rounds each of the exercise meant that the person laying on the ground basically got rained on from the person standing up. Very distracting while trying to lift your legs aggressively.
A quick jog back past all the idling buses to get some diesel in the lungs brought us back to the original launch point in time for some Mary to finish things off. Dolly, Rosalita, Mason Twist, J-Lo’s, Monkey Humpers, Heals to Heaven, and a sprint up and down the parking lot completed the mayhem.
The Moleskine:
Pretty much an experimental workout today with some strange exercises. There is probably a reason that no one recommends reverse burpees. They are just awkward. Some of the other experimental exercises had some comedic factor, but it seemed that once 5 or 6 reps were completed, the laughter died off as the pain set in. Hopefully, today shocked a few of those under utilized muscles or at least made you laugh a little.
Announcements:
– October Mudrun preblast is up Link
16 PAX enjoyed/endured a soggy run up 51 to the private park (or so the signs say) at the C/O of 51 and Raintree for some running, hills, and partner workout.
The Thang:
Mosey up 51 to the park at Raintree
COP in the parking lot:
Side Straddle Hop X 10
Imperial Walker X 10
Merkin X 10
Mountain Climber X 10
Head up to the field: 10 merkins at one goal post followed by a bear crawl to the following post…10 more merkins and jog to the goal posts at the other end….repeat…back to the starting point.
Partner up on the goal line into groups of 2 PAX: First group calls out an exercise and takes off down the field and rounds the opposing goal post. All the while, the remaining PAX on the goal line are performing the named exercise. Each group (8 total) takes their turn. For some reason, there were a lot of burpee/burpee variation involved here.
Wheel barrow carry with same partner down the field….switch mid-way.
Mosey to the other end of the field and to the bottom of the grass hill: A variation of the ladder here. 10 merkins at the bottom, 9 at the top, 8 at the bottom, etc. until you get to 1.
Short mosey to the picnic table for a ladder of step-ups and dips. Started at 8 and went down to 1.
Back to home base for a bit of Mary.
Moleskin: First off, props to Stone Cold and Semi for giving me the heads-up on the Park General at Davies. I had intended to head there but was told it would likely cause an altercation with the lady that has her “pay to play” class there Wednesday mornings. I certainly wasn’t looking to get my *ss handed to me at 5:30am by some female drill sergeant in front of this group. Likely something I would never live down.
I was stoked to get a few props on my choice of tank-top right out of the gate (Thanks Sky Walker and Puddin’). Puddin’ mumbled something about not being able to “pull that look off” which I immediately questioned. There was some grumbling about the run to the park and something about “this not being Fast Twitch” (ie, Sky Walker…he was quite chatty this morning) but overall most kept the complaining to a minimum. The fields were wet but it was nice to go to an off campus party for a change. Stage Coach had a sweet idea to take the longer and hilly way back to home base which drew some heckling from the group. Lastly, it appears Semi Gloss took Spackler up on his suggestion from Fast Twitch to up his wardrobe from youth to adult size. Well played. We all thank you for that. Thanks for letting me lead you all on my virgin Death Valley Q. Enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again soon.
Announcements: Joust is back at Charlotte Christian this Friday on the new fields. Semi’s BRR team is in need of a driver.