DMZ BB – BRR Recon

DMZ BB – BRR Recon

In an effort to further recon of the BRR training opportunities in and around this AO, we went off campus and zero’d in on a sleepy hill/street in Royden. @VisionQuest whispered something about a SadClown warmup run with his imaginary friend Bushwood. He was panting before we even started. Here’s what we did:

The Thang:

Run to CAC, Evangelical Free might I add, for warm up:

18 SSH, 12 Merkins, Mary (yes, Mary during warmups)

Partner up, head west on Carmel. At every street on the right, do 10 diamonds, 20 merkins, 30 squats, 40  LBCs.

At Royden, every other driveway on the left, do 20 merkins.

At Sleepy Hollow Hill, the call was 11s to start (with partners) – dumbocrats at the bottom, 4 count over/unders at the top. On our first descent, reality set in and 11s quickly became 9s. Run out – 15 knee ups at every other driveway (now on the right).

10/20/30/40 at the same streets on the left. AYG back to COT.

Moleskin:

3 mi (or so) covered, according to Talk Box. Strong work by all today. Big Willy was muscling through what appeared to be pure agony. T-Claps for the hard work brother. Kirk pushed YHC, per usual, and defied his hatred for running by sprinting the Chinese Downhill out of CAC. Iron Mike kept his shirt on (until COT). TR made a special guest appearance (glad to have you brother). Run Stopper kept flexing without a shirt on “for the ladies” though clearly there were no ladies around…weird. Nobody asked for their deposit back this morning so everyone received at least something by COT.

Southern Discomfort (A51 version of The Goat) – 8/1, Ballantyne (multiple options for distance). Check the website.

Haywoodstock – Booty Loop party at Haywood’s house this Friday, starts at 6:30. Check the website.

Always a pleasure to Q at DMZ. Thank you all for the opportunity and the generous 10 counts.

Swiper

SOFA WIB Pre-blast: Bulls on Parade

Typed on behalf of Talkbox because You can’t copy and paste from Pages:

Partner up – speed matters, size does not

1. Run the mile to HT finishing at the fire hydrant on far side of the school.

2.  Partner wheelbarrow, switching as needed, from fire hydrant to gravel drive way. Then run to main play ground behind school.

3.  10 chin-ups – if you fail, finish with hanging knee ups + 5 more for good measure, 20 merkins, and 30 Russian Twists.  Then run to The Bull Pen

4.  Partners complete one full lap – sprint the straightaways and burpee broad jump the turns.

Repeat until time is called. Finish with the HT mile.

If so inclined, we meet at 0530 at Olde Providence Elementary. Sundancer will bring the tunes.

Special invite for Swift regulars not wanting to clown car to AG for Swift / SIB convergence.

FoxVegas

As another week began on the gritty, mean streets of Ballantyne, four gathered to move heavy iron in various manners.  After informing the PAX that we would be moving around and utilizing many parts of the AO, Frehley’s urgently locked his car and fretted about security in the sordid underbelly of suburban South Charlotte.  We didn’t choose the thug life. The thug life chose us. 

Warmup:

25 kettlebell swings

25 merkins with left hand on bell

25 kettlebell swings

25 merkins with right hand on bell

25 diamond merkins

25 kettlebell swings

Transport bells to the soccer field for the Slot Machine.

The Slot Machine:

Line up on one sideline.  Peform 7 kettlebell thrusters.  Using either a waiter’s carry or suitcase carry on the left side, carry bell to the other sideline and perform 7 kettlebell swings.  Carry bell back across the field on the right side using either watier’s carry or suitcase carry.  Repeat the process for a total of 7 rounds.  Depart the soccer field and drop the bells at the shovelflag, taking care to dodge the armada of incoming vehicles.  What could be the purpose of such a large number of vehicles coverging at such an early hour on the mean streets of Ballantyne?  Gang summit?  Arms deal?  Invasion of hostile forces from South Carolina?  It was just lacrosse practice.  Mosey to the benches.

100’s:

Three exercises, 100 reps each.  Dips, incline merkins, Bulgarian split squats (50 each leg).  There was sweat.  There was grunting.  There was flatulence.  Splendid.  Mosey back to bells.

Combination Lifts:

Sots Press, do what you can, aim for 5 reps per side.  This is a move where you rack the bell, squat, and then press the bell up as many times as you can whilst in the squat position.  It is the worst thing to come out of the Eastern Bloc since the Lada.  Reverse Lunge with Front Press: 5 reps per leg.  Floor Press into Crunch: 10 reps.  Just a few minutes left for Mary, which consisted of Flutter with Press, Dying Cockroach, and Russian Twist.  More flatulence.  That’s a wrap.

NMM: YHC attempted to squeeze 60 minutes worth of exercise into 45 minutes to really get the week going on the right foot.  Looking back, between the Split Squats, Sots Press, and Russian Twists, there was a heavy Soviet influence today and now for some reason YHC has the urge to stand in line for bread and put a dashcam in my car.  Weird.  A Rocky IV viewing is in order to cleanse the soul. #IMustBreakYou.  #GoForIt.  #HesChoppingTheRussianDown.  Annoucements: Southern Discomfort 8/1.  Founders’ Q at Stonehenge this Saturday at 6 am, or sleep in and come to Olympus.  Thank you to Chanel & Voodo for the invitation to FoxVegas.  Hopefully everyone feels like a winner.

Major Pain

Mosey to the concession stands

Warmup

SSH x 25 IC

MTC x 25 IC

LBC X 25 IC

??? X 25 IC

 

Main Event

50 Decline Merkins

50 Wall Jumps

50 Dips

50 Lunges

Peoples Chair

Shoulder press

Jabs

 

Mosey to the field

10/15/20/25 yrd suicides

At each stop is a called exercise

Round 1 – 10 MTC = 80 total

Round 2 – 10 Merkin/CDD = 80

Round 3 – 10 Burpees = 80 thanks Ice

 

Camacho took over for the second half

Back to the concession stands for 4 square abs. Each person got to call an abs exercise of 25 IC

LBC, Russian Twist, Plank Jack, J-LO, Bicycle, flutter,

 

Head to the track for the final session. Every 100 yrds was called excersise.

Lap 1- 10 7 count burpees, 15 CDD, 10 7 count burpees, 15 CDD

Lap 2 – 10 squats, 15 arm raises, 10 squats, 15 arm raises

Lap 3 – 10 merkins, 10 merkins, 10 merkins, 30 partner slap merkins

 

Jail break back to parking lot. Not sure it was a real jail break, more of a jog.  Pax didn’t have much left in the tank.

Holy cow! This one smoked the Q and Pax. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it trough Camacho’s second half. Even thought the PAX was small it packed with tons of pain. Great work all everyone’s part.

Crowbar, thank you for taking us out.

Announcements.

Southern Discomfort 8/1

Gladiator games 8/8 – Indian Land

Are they here for the training or the beer?

Yeah so finally getting around to posting a back blast for Ghost Runner last week.  I left Vinter’s that night, drove home, packed a bag for an early Friday flight to visit the in-laws for the weekend.  The in-laws – otherwise known as the house with the most useless internet connection ever.  I am fairly certain AOL dial up has better service these days.  Does anyone have one of those AOL CD’s lying around I could load up and try?

Anyhow – 25, count ’em, 25 PAX showed for Ghost Runner.  10 higher than previous records.  I am really not sure if the BRR is getting close or everyone just likes to drink beer on Thursday’s.  But really, it’s sort of like asking if the pretty girl is with you for your personality or your money, sometimes you just don’t care about the answer.

There is a designated 4 mile and 6 mile route, but after the intersection of Raintree and 51 I really have no idea where everyone heads off to.  Some guys do 4, 5, 6 and things in between.  Tiger Rag runs some of it backwards.  Radar takes a phone with him, but no one would know how to find him if they actually needed it.  But in the end, I think everyone made it back in well under an hour.

Moleskin:

After last week’s name postponement of FNG – Dan, I knew it wasn’t going to happen 2x in a row.  Apparently Radar had filed some sort of text grievance to Tiger Rag that some by-law was broken and the situation must be remedied without hesitation.  So in a slow and painful naming session where Dan told most of his biography and questions started flying about TV shows and names of first pets, it was finally settled on Fault Line as his nickname.  This was due to his proximity to the epicenter of the San Francisco earth quake in 1989-ish.

There was also a motion made by Radar, the previously named F3 by-law expert, to move beers to Chili’s due to the size of the crowd, and maybe he wanted some potato skins.  Motion was vehemently denied by a sweaty mob of fancy craft brew loving beer snobs who wanted nothing to do with 32oz mugs of Miller Lite.  To Vinter’s we went.

There may have been some announcements but they are likely dated and irrelevant by now.  Thanks to Mr. Brady for the send off.

-Alf

Blocks and Bells

4 SVU men gathered in the gloom and had tabatanough blocks and bells.  What happened?  This happened!

Warmup:

  • 25IC SSH
  • 15IC CP
  • 15IC ISW
  • 15IC MC
  • Mosey to back and retrieve favorite block

The Thang:

Four rounds of AMRAP Tabata sets (12x 20sec on 10sec off) alternating between two exercises.

  • Set 1 – Single arm Kettle Bell rows and staggered merkins on block (alternate arms)
    • Run Big Hill
  • Set 2 – Kettle bell halos and block curls
    • Run Small Hill with 5 Burpees at top
  • Set 3 – Kettle bell swings and block trifectas
    • Run Small Hill with 10 Squats at top
  • Set 4 – Kettle bell lunges and block squat thrusts
    • Return block to back

Pair up into two groups at small hill.  First group runs hill while second group does exercise then flip flop.

  • First group hill run with 10 star squat jumps while second group holds peoples chair then flip flop
  • First group hill run with 10 star squat jumps while second group does monkey humpers then flip flop

Mary:

We did Mary Tabata style keeping the same AMRAP 20sec on 10 sec off.  Goal was to never let feet touch ground for the whole duration of Mary.

  • LBC
  • Low Dolly
  • Freddie Mercury’s
  • Rosalitta’s
  • Dying Cockroach
  • Small Flutter
  • Mason Twist

Reflection:

Proverbs 3:6  “In all your ways submit to [the Lord], and he will make your paths straight.”

Moleskin:

  • Small group but great effort by all today
  • Very little MC
  • As always, it was an honor to lead!

AMRAP Challenge

5 Pax including 1 FNG posted at a very humid Olympus to take on the AMRAP challenge, Here’s how it went:

COP:

Merkins x 15 IC

2-Hand Swings x 15 OYO

Mtn. Climbers x 15 IC

Goblet Squat x 15 OYO

Snatch x 5 Per Side OYO

AMRAP Challenge: 5 rounds, 3 movements per round, as many reps as possible in 6 minutes per round. 1 lap around the track after each round.

Round 1: x 5 clean & press/x 10 merkins/ x 15 Two Handed Swings

Round 2: Rack Lunge x 5 per side/Goblet Squat x 10/Good Mornings x 15

Round 3: Halo x 5 each direction/Around The World x 10 each direction/Figure 8 x 15

Round 4: Lawnmowers x 5 each side/upright rows x 10/2 Hand Press x 10

Round 5: Snatch x 5 per side/Renegade Rows x 5 per side/clean x 5 per side

2 hand swing/squat thrust ladder: idea is to perform 15 2 hand swings, 15 squat thrusts and keep moving down the ladder until 1 rep of each completed. We all were smoked after the AMRAPs so after we  completed 15 YHC audibled to 10 reps each and then worked our way down to 1 rep.

Mary: LBC x20 IC/Russian Twist x 20 IC(called by Fletch)/Crunchy Frog x 10IC(called by Ickey Shuffle).

Moleskin:

Outstanding work out there today men. It was humid and we were all pouring sweat. in full disclosure, YHC had a hectic schedule this week and puled the same routine I Q’d a week ago at Mint Hill Metal: different group of guys, same smoked result.  Good work getting through the AMRAP cycle, we all had our hands on our knees and were gasping for air at the end of that one. The swing/thrust ladder was an especially brutal way to end the workout. I know I didn’t get all the way through it. Fletch is the only one I know for sure that did. Great having FNG Polar Bear with us today (Jeff M.) hope to see you back out there. Good also to see Quint again, good work as always brother. Thanks to Fletch and Ickey Shuffle for helping me get through Mary. Also thanks for putting up with my extremely eclectic playlist as well #playlistfail.

Announcements:

Southern Discomfort 8/1

Hoff on Q at Olympus next week-7/25

Ickey Shuffle on Q Monday at Foxhole

Great prayer by Fletch to send us home

Thanks for the opportunity to go through the pain with you men!

 

The Monkey Strikes Back

19 for Outland this AM, finally taking the numbers crown for Saturday workouts in Area51!  The FNGs keep coming as the EH-ing continues.  We didn’t have any FNGs today, but a lot of guys who are just getting into F3 seriously now and keep inviting their friends to post.  That is how we #giveitaway.

The Thang:

Mosey to the Sun Valley bus lot with run variations along the way to loosen up.

Stop for planks to catch up the six, and then mosey to Shiloh Elementary School bus lot for COP.

  • 50SSH IC (attacked by small hairy man wearing a childs backpack #terrified)
  • 20 Windmills IC
  • 15 Merkins IC
  • 20 Flutter IC
  • 20 Flutter with hands on belly IC (stolen from Les Mis at Skunkworks, much harder)
  • 20 Dolly IC
  • 15 Right Leg Only Dolly IC (stolen from TR’s one-legged mom)
  • 15 Left Leg Only Dolly IC
  • 20 LBC IC

Line up at the Gate for the 2nd official running of The Scalded Monkey (click link for embarrassing photo of Countertop).  This is a timed AYG mile, along the road between the 18 different schools that share this campus.  Goal is 7 mins.  2nd place has to lead Mary while the winner calls out times.

Sorry I didn’t get exact times.

  • EE – 1st place (5:40 ish?)
  • GJ – 2nd place (5:53)
  • Crab Legs – 3rd place (6:35 ish?)
  • Horsehead – 4th place (6:45 ish?)

Mary led by Glass Joe

1 min water break

Long Indian Run to the practice field.

SSH led by Glass Joe while the Q ran back for his iPhone (more on this later)

Timed circuits (also stolen from Les Mis at Skunkworks on Tuesday)

3 mins to complete, 2 min rest – 4 time through the whole routine

  1. 75 yd sprint and back (150 yds total)
  2. 15 burpees
  3. Q called exercise (R1 20LBC, R2 20 merkins, R3 20 Makhtar N’Daiye, R4 10 merkins)
  4. 75 yd sprint and back (150 yds total)

Pinball run back up a shovel flag hill as barren as Glass Joes head.  #heforgot #wedidn’t

6MOM

  • 20 LBC IC
  • 20 Flutter IC called by Zip (loudly in Espanol)
  • 10 JLo IC (heckle the Q)
  • Crunchy Frog until failure
  • Protractor called by the Pax

Smoked fo sho

Lots of strong showings on the Monkey, with some guys really pushing to finish.  Tonawanda, in particular, gutted it out at the end.  Happy also was thrilled with his 8:15 time, even wearing the giant #Geraldo knee brace.  He said he thought he would be in the 9:30 range for sure but he is #gettingstronger and #gettingfaster.   Glass Joe led the pack early, taking a pretty good sized lead at the turnaround point.  EE dropped the hammer of Thor on him quickly on the back stretch though, basically sprinting the whole thing and smoking us all – then running back to pick up the six.  He has a gear that I am not familiar with.

After we were halfway through the long Indian Run over to the practice field, I realized I had left my iPhone back at the gate.  I needed it for the timer, so I called out to my 2.0 Boondock to bring it over.  He was standing about 3 feet from it, and it was on top of a post at eye level.  He stared directly at it and then furiously looked around.  After much unfruitful yelling for the phone, I ran back to retrieve it myself and then ran all the way back to the field.  This was most unpleasant.  I think he has a future as a treasure hunter, or perhaps an actual Goonie.

The timer circuits almost killed me at Skunkworks on Tuesday, trying to keep up with Side Straddle Bulldog.  I figured that they would be a good follow up to the Monkey.  Good thing we ran out of time for that 5th set, because I was smoked.

Happy (AR-15 golf ball shooter guy) is an EH machine.  He is bringing them out left and right, and has a few more in the works.

Hairband has a busted wheel, but still posted with us wearing the Ruck and did what he could.  We were glad to have him (except when he assaulted me), and sometime just coming out is the best medicine.  Hopefully he will be back at it soon.

Good to have Zip out with us this week.  He modified the workout, but not the heckling and mumblechatter.  Hope to have you back in Charlotte soon.

6 Stayed for the #Grindstone, which we moved to BoJangles today due to the high attendance at coffeteria.  We did an intro to the Book of James #NTProverbs and discussed the first half of Chapter 1.  Trials are something that every man will face, some more severe and life-altering than others.  They will sharpen you and your faith, and build perseverance and trust in the Lord.  Lean on Him and your brothers and you will not be given more than you can handle.

 

– Horsehead

 

Beast Burners?

16 SOBs endured a beatdown that left the Pax blazed, befuddled and bloody.
The Thang:
Wild Turkey On Q
From the Vine, Wild Turkey led the Pax to a nearby parking lot to begin the first 30 minutes.

SSH x 20
IW x 15
Cutsey Lunge (Caityns) x 10 From this point on, the mumble chatter went from a whisper to a roar.
Merkins x 10
Sky humpers x 10
Arch Merkins x 10
A short mosey to the BBT parking lot for 60 seconds of curb taps from the plank position.
A long jog through the Ballantyne Hotel parking lot to the Ballantyne Corporate between the parking deck and the soccer field for 2 minutes of alternating leg L-sits.
The Beast 6 rounds of 6 sets of 6 exercises on the grassy field
Round 1: Sprints, Scorpion Carolina Dry Docks
Round 2: Sprints, Hand-release merkins
Sprints 3: Sprints, inside/outside jump squats
Round 4: Bear crawls, Maktar Jai
Round 5: Army crawls, shoulder taps
Round 6: Sprints, Dolly
Madame Tussauds on Q
PAX counted off in 3s and divided into 3 groups:
Group 1: Hair burners in a grassy field 40 yards and back
Group 2: 20 burpees
Group 3: Climb the parking deck stairs with stops on each level for merkins (10 merkins on level 2, 15 merkins on level 3, 20 merkins on level 4, 25 merkins on level 5) and back down the stairs.
The PAX rotated through each of these groups at the own pace.
Then we moseyed back to the COP.
Moleskin:
Turkey had a mission, conquer the beast. YHC wanted to work in hair burners because I borrowed the plates from Alf (thanks Brother) and wanted to put them to good use for the SOBs.
WT got a little creative on the COP. The Caitlyn’s started massive amounts of mumble chatter, but the sky humpers broke the camel’s back. 16 men sky humping in a circle caused quite a ruckus in The Gloom. Way to mix it up WT. Don’t listen to the PAX brother, they don’t know what’s good for them.
WT planned to use the soccer field, but it was closed for a week to repair the turf. We used the small space next to the soccer field which made our work pretty cramped for the Beast. As we started our first round of the beast, Lex Luthor accidently kicked YHC in the man-parts. It was a great way to start the beast. I figured I’d just pay him back later in the workout in hair burners.
Bolt (Mic Check’s 2.0) is fast. Kid needs to wear a weight vest.
YHC parked my truck at the parking deck with the weight plates in the back. In my half of the workout, Frehley’s Comet vetoed my decision to do hair burners on the street next to the parking deck, so we carried the plates to the grassy field. At first I was disappointed in the move because I thought the hair burners would be easier on grass, but BOY was I wrong. Hair burners are much tougher on grass. You can’t get any momentum build up and you’re constantly straining to push the weight to the finish. It was painful. Most guys got through each group twice.
Announcements:
Dredd & OBT on Q on 7/25 at 6am on Stonehenge. Spread the word and come out and support those guys.
Blue Ridge SOBs (BRR team) is looking for alternates and van drivers. Let me know if you’re interested.
It was an honor and a privilege for WT and YHC to lead the men in The Gloom.

A beatdown in three acts

A wise man, I believe it was Mike Tyson, once said that everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. That’s how I usually feel when I’m leading a workout. And it was true again today, when 7 men chose to start their Saturday with a beatdown that took full advantage of the beautiful AO that The Rock provides. At least a few of them instantly regretted their decision but came to embrace it. Here’s why:

The thang

Short mosey to one of the parking lots for a disclaimer slightly more effusive than usual, for we had in our midst an FNG.

COP:
SSH x 20
IW x 10
Windmill x 5
Mountain climber x 20

Head over to the North Face as the #mumblechatter increases. Don’t do it! they cried. We did it anyway.

11s on the North Face. Jump squats at the bottom; hand release merkins at the top. Run the loop around and continue.

Quick plankorama to gather the pax. End Act 1

Intermission: Mosey to the cars with a set of lunge walks and reverse lunge walks for the heck of it. Quick run by the cars to get a gulp of water and to retrieve sandbags from my car.

Act 2
Partner up, with speed mattering some. With seven people, this made the math a little tricky for a man who felt like he’d been punched in the head by the North Face.

Partner group 1 took the sandbag and ran to entrance four and back, swapping the bag as necessary
Partner group 2 took another sandbag and ran to entrance one and back, swapping as necessary
The remaining three pax grabbed a rock and completed rounds of 10 x curls, 10 x OHP, 10 x tricep extensions. Three or four rounds.
Swap until everybody had the chance to complete all the stations.
End Act 2

Act 3

Circle up for Mary
LBC x 20
Dolly x 20
Heels to heaven x 20
Freddy Mercury x 20

Plank in place while each person takes a turn running around the circle and back to his spot
Repeat with elbow plank
Repeat with regular plank, while the running man leaps/hops/skips over everybody’s feet.

AYG sprint across the parking lot
AYG left spring back
End Act 3

COT

Moleskine

–Thanks very much to Gummy and Hopper for giving me the opportunity to lead this morning, even if somehow YHC didn’t get the memo until yesterday. I probably just didn’t write it down. #whoops #Qfail

–T-claps to Hopper for logging in 4 miles of pre-run today.

–Mighty Might killed it on the AYG springs at the end, even if he was trying to diminish expectations the whole time.

–Welcome to FNG Skoal. Thanks for bringing him out, Yankee. Hope to see you back, brother. Somebody pointed out the irony in a man named Yankee bringing out a dude in a Braves hat. I like it.

–Prohibition gave me some serious side-eye at Coffeteria for defecting to The Rock this week instead of Day Zero. Sorry, dude. I’m trying to be a peacemaker. But remind me, which workout had more people today?

–During the week, I’m happy with just a 45 minute pain fest. On the weekends, I always hope for just a little bit of fun thrown in. Not sure if today qualified. I find the North Face fun (at least the first two or three times up), and I was hoping the sandbag runs would introduce enough 2nd F to lift the pax’s spirits. #embracethesuck

–We logged 3+ miles according to the Garmins/FitBits/etc

Thanks again. Enjoy your weekend.