F3 Southern Discomfort – Saturday, August 1st

F3 Southern Discomfort – Saturday, August 1st

F3 Southern Discomfort

What could be more CSAUP than a 14+ mile jaunt in the hottest month of the year?  Ok, probably lots of events but nevertheless, Area51 will host the 3-option Southern Discomfort on Saturday, August 1st.

RSVP & T-Shirt order Here: http://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f0545aba62ba7fd0-southern/927364

 

1) RSVP for hydration purposes – Site Q’s of the AO’s we visit will provide water, G2, etc.

2) T-shirt order

Here’s the skinny:

Option 1: “Roshambo” – 14.1 Miles, 7 pain stations – launch from Stonehenge (The Vine – Ballantyne) at 5:00am

Option 2: “Swift Kick” – 10.8 miles, 6 pain stations – launch from Centurion (Charlotte Catholic HS) at 6:00am

Option 3: “Sack Tap” – 6.0 miles, 4 pain stations – launch from Centurion as well at 6am; finish at Arboretum

While this will be a 1st F challenge for sure — the idea will be to keep the pax together with the shovel flag carriers leading the way.  Will be great 2nd F for those not too deep in the pain cave.  The 3 options hopefully will encourage pax of different fitness levels to come out for the appropriate level of discomfort.

Go ahead and put it on your calendars.  Aye!

Preblast: Centurion Converges at The Brave 7/3

YHC and Brushback will Q a convergence of Centurion and The Brave on Friday 07/03/2015.  0515 launch from The Vine restaurant at the Ballantyne AO.

The Brave is a run/boot camp workout that was introduced by Madame Tussauds as an Obstacle Course Race (OCR) training option to prepare F3 pax for the Ultimate Mud Run Challenge and other races of similar setup.  The concept stuck and it has become a regular Friday workout.  4-6 miles and pain stations are typically involved.

The goal for 7/3 will be to  keep the pax together, regardless of speed.  Sets will be completed in defined areas.  There will be separation of pax within the defined areas, which is typical for this style workout, but no pax will be left behind.  Though a day early, Independence Day will likely be the theme of the day.  YHC and Brushback will deliver a tough workout that will challenge all levels. Come and join us to get your July 4 weekend started right.  Get your Mud Run teammates together and run with them if possible.

Fight Club(

Another Monday morning, 4 men showed up to let out some aggression.

Warm up lap around the lake

1 round of pad work

Lap around lake. stopped at 1st buidling for 20 merkins, stopped at second building for incline merkins

another round of pad work…followed with lap around lake stopping again for merkins and incline merkins

2 men sparred each other for two rounds will the other two did pad work…flap jack

lap around lake stopping again for merkins and incline merkins

Another round of sparring….done

great work by all today.  sorry for landing a couple of head shots Wild Turkey.  When I decided to do some sparring today, I decided to take on Croft (Big 18 year old that can throw a hell of a punch), so i tried to make him tired with merkins and incline merkins before we sparred, do not think thiat worked.

We will spare some more, so get a mouth piece for the accidental head shots.

 

Chippy

Running Around with Go Daddy

26 SOBs launched at 0530 from the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne AO for a little pain from Go Daddy. Here’s what we did:

The Thang:

– Warm up Jog to Deck.

– COP at bottom of Deck.  SSH, IW, MC

– Dora 1-2-3 sequence. Partner up. One partner is running up a level and back down while the other partner does an exercise. Between the two people, you stop when you have finished 100 Merkins, 200 LBC, and 300 Squats

– Up the Deck, Down the Body sequence. Run up the deck and do an exercise at each level or turn. This is on your own, but you can remember the exercise because as we go up the deck, we’ll go down the body in terms of muscle groups. 25 C Dry Docs (shoulders)… 25 Diamond Merkins (Chest)… 25 Heels to Heaven (abs)… 25 jump squats (quads)… 25 toe raises on each leg (calves)… run the rest of the way, plank and wait for the PAX.

Mosey back to the COT.

Moleskin:

The weather was perfect and the mumble chatter was high. We covered 3.2 miles running to the deck and back this morning.

This was a great full body workout.

As always, it was a pleasure leading the men in The Gloom.

Announcements:

Convergences – Centurion is converging with The Brave, all Saturday workouts except Stonehenge converge at The Rock

Interested in Q’ing Bagpipe? Let Soft Pretzel know or comment below.

Southern Discomfort – 8/1. 13, 10 and 5 mile options.

7/25 – Dredd and OBT Q’ing at Stonehenge at 6am.

Mystery LIFO

OK, I was told that the DMZ needed “a little more running” by @DaytonFail the (self-appointed) site-Q of the abomination that is DMZ. So, that’s what I gave the Faithful. The Lannisters may always pay their debts, but this Q steps hard to the mike whenever and wherever asked. #JustSaying

ALSO, and note, there’s been some (well) complaining in the Twitterverse about the alleged (ahem) tardiness of this BB. Well, unless you have spent the last two days trying a case in front of a jury in Meckleneburg County Superior Court (or you’re a brain surgeon . . . or whatever), stop yer dang griping, because YHC has been trying a case in front of a jury in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Bottom Line: been kinda busy y’all. That’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation. #JustSaying

SO LOOK HERE, I know the uhhh, ethic at DMZ is to blend the two fitness levels of @F3Metro and @F3Area51 into some kind of acceptable compromise (blah blah blah), buy Homey don’t roll that way. I’m about launching out of jump fully erect (emotionally) and en fuego. #JustSaying

AND THUS, we did just that with a full-throated #ParadeOfHorribles #C2C. I mean, we ended up running halfway up Arborway, where we stopped for tidy little OldSchool #JacobsLadder. @Swiper frontfaced the Q on that, but just by a bit. Young man, so no shame there. The rest of y’all I cannot speak for. #JustSaying

NAKEDMANMOLESKIN:

CAN I GET a major TClaps for @MySharona, who ran himself right into a broken foot. I’m sorry about that Brother. For a 60 YO man (hell, for any man), you’re a heckuva man and I mean that MOST sincerely. Heal fast Bother.

CAN I GET some TClaps for our Brother from #Oaks, @Grady. It ain’t easy to walk DanielStyle into the lion’s den and come out smiling, and yet THAT is precisely what our Wake County Amigo did. Do NOT change Brother.

CAN I GET some TClaps for @Skywalker who kept nagging the Q about the time, only to reveal at #Endex that he had a plan to catch to (for some reason) Saskatchewan Province. Personally, the next time YHC goes to Canada will be the first time I go to Canada but I (cuz it’s a dang sin and all) refuse to judge. Just won’t do it. Aye.

Sooooo, there was this dude at the six (dressed all in white, for what that is worth), who pealed off the Six right as we left the JL on Arborway. Both @Swiper (young #MansonLamps) and YHC saw the dude. But where did he go? UNK. And who was he? UNK. A mystery. A Mystery LIFO. Here’s to you Mr. Mystery LIFO. We like what you are trying to do, IF in fact you exist . . . king of spooky, right? Aye.

SOFAWIB – The Double Shaft

It was a glorious morning as 11 men willing elected to participate in a workout entitled

The Double Shaft

By the time the breakfast bell rang, we had completed
– about 2 miles of running
– a whole bunch of merkins
– a lot of flutters
– a bunch of pull-ups
– an unreasonable amount of lunges

Moleskin
I needed to bring something that illustrated a counterpoint to Kirk’s let’s call it “generous” run offering from last week. Kirk hates running, so he says as he runs past you, again. #falseadvertising
“Sir Lunge-A-Lot” as Iron Mike calls it, can lead to some tender sensitive areas. And I heard someone mumble “my knees are starting to give” about 10 minutes in, and that means you weren’t BS’ing the lunges, and that’s awesome.
The team of Swiper/Bushwood lapped Caddy and I about five minutes into the lunging, so I feel pretty safe in declaring them Sultans of SWIB for the week.

Announcements
– Lots of BRR training options in South, Metro, and North. Check the twitters and site for more info.
– July 4th convergence for Area 51 at The Rock (I think).
– The workout may be going official next week, which will take all the hipster-cred off this workout. Bummer.
– Kirk is your Q for next week, followed by Bushwood and TalkBox. Anyone who wants to get on the Q schedule, give us a shout.

Thanks to Simba for setting our moral compass for the day.

I appreciate seeing repeat customers and new faces. Thanks for making us your preferred pain destination.

Playlist
“Star Wars Theme” – John Williams
“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” – Little Feat
“Joker And The Thief” – Wolfmother
“Apache” – Incredible Bongo Band
“Bicycle Race” – Queen
“You Can Have the Crown” – Sturgill Simpson
“The Obvious Child” – Paul Simon
“Hustlin'” – Rick Ross
“Sad But True” – Metallica

5 minute Wait Ahead

Before the #VSF was planted, 3 PAX took off for some extra credit, pulled in 1 more PAX into their scheme, planted the #VSF and joined 6 PAX at 0515, and found 1 more PAX along the way.  Eventually 11 PAX were on the ride of #F3Swift for the day.

The Thang:

  • Extra Warm-up at 0500 was 1mi+ of 2nd F.  #WigglerLite
  • Main warm-up (from Vine over to BCBS at N Community House) at 0515 consisted of 1mi+ mosey with 4 exercises uphill with Toe walking, Heel walking, High knees, and Butt kicks.
  • Main event along N Community House – 5minutes at Threshold Pace, 1minute recovery walk/jog.  Repeato for 5x total.
  • Head home to COT as 2nd F recovery or one more 5min T-pace (for 6 total).
  • COT
  • Total miles between 5 and 7.

The Moleskin:

  • When YHC pulled into the lot at 0503, he was thinking about whether trying to catch up to extra crediters, just going solo, or just waiting.  Three guys dressed in black suddenly approached and almost sent YHC back to the car to grab protection behind the seat (golf umbrella).  When it was quickly realized that it was just the extra crediters kindly circling back, we were quickly off for a little 2nd F.
  • There was a coolness to the air at the start, it disappeared after the warm-up, and it wasn’t found again until COT.  Must just have been the door open and the AC blowing from the Vine.  While we had at least Strange Brew and One-Niner sporting sleeveless, YHC just ditched the shirt at the start of the main event.  No planned 6MOM this week and YHC needed to balance the tan out, so no need for the extra baggage. UA might make #HeatGear, but God gave men #chestswithoutbigbreasts for a reason.
  • Tootie was a tad late, and his bloodhound skills were put to the test.  Despite following a #sadclown to the Bull Ring, he did find his way to the pack before the start of the main event.
  • #LongestIntervalsEver – pretty sure that we have never run multiple 5min intervals at Swift.  Threshold Pace intervals are “comfortably hard” and the purpose is defined as “a speed of running where lactate accumulation will steady state”.  Lactate is the stuff that makes muscles tire / heavy.  Check out the video above or the link here.  YHC finds that Threshold pace may be slightly faster than most PAX’s individual BRR legs, but there isn’t much better workout than Threshold Pace to get you more used to running hard for an extended period of time.  Breathing (which we’ll probably touch on at an upcoming #DevilsTurn “tips” day) should be forceful, but usually stay in the 3/3 range (3 steps to 1 breath in, 3 steps to 1 breath out) while running all of each interval.  After all, this workout goes up to 1mile with 1 minute rest, 2mile with 2 minute rest, or 20minutes continuous.  Breathing harder will usually indicate that pace is too fast.
  • Some went down, some went up.  Turned out the course took us down or flat for some of the 5 min intervals and then up or flat for the others.  N Community House is pretty fair for elevation changes, but YHC still noticed the difference in pace between intervals.  Best thing to do here is measure based on the effort / breathing.
  • More Indian Land PAX this week as One-Niner and Ringer brought WorldWideLeader (secretly a runner) along for the Swift ride.  Watch out for this crew in the BRR as they spread their running religion.  Area51 and Metro teams will have something to watch out for from the Fort.
  • Noted that One-Niner and Ringer took the bait from fellow SC-resident HoneyBee for a 6th T-pace interval.  Fortunately the Bagpipe crew didn’t jump them at the end of the interval when Swift PAX started weaving through, pushing them out of the way, and calling out “on your left”.  They got their punishment – burpees while waiting to cross Hwy 521.
  • While the group spread out today with the longer intervals, N Community House affords decent sighting and regrouping with the long straightaways and no sleeping neighbors to be quiet for.  The increase in through traffic doesn’t seem to be too big of an issue, but we’ll always be looking out and calling for “car up” and “car back” to make sure there are no #crossyroad casualties.
  • StrangeBrew has figured out to Program on his watch and keeps part of the PAX in line with Start/Stop on each interval, but even more impressive was the consistent effort displayed with his Laps on Strava. Showing big strides in consistently hitting the T-pace effort required for a big Marathon PR and bringing down that 1mile PR time.  Consistency will be key when we rerun the 800m intervals in 3 more weeks.
  • Outback’s 5 minute efforts vansihed from his Strava output, so either he ran back and forth really fast or the GPS wasn’t working.  Maybe he turned on “private mode” so we couldn’t see where he was running.  In either case, YHC overheard him discussing his consistency from Interval 1 to 5.  When you have Abacus and Hops to chase (who were looking strong today), you sometimes get a little ambitious at the start.  Which is one of the hardest things to learn about the “1st 500″… always work towards the “3rd 500” and the rest of the workout should fall better into place.
  • WingMan was shining brightly in the Area51 alien shirt (not F3, officially…) and evidently has a new project to come up with a gadget to turn up the lumens for reflectivity.  That, or LiveStream his run next week.  Not sure.
  • Notable missing regulars were Haggis (world traveling), HardHat (not because Haggis wasn’t there, right?), Frasier (thought this was Swift week so feeling betrayed – sniff, sniff – oh, maybe he is DR this week, SMILE), Mr. Bean (umm… unspeakable excuse), Dolphin (went too hard at Stonehenge?), Cheddar (may be off getting a M, literally, #goodexcuse), M Tussauds and SoftPretzel were leading the Bagpipe PAX (#goodexcuse), Frehley’s Comet (#fartsack?), StumpHugger (DL), MicCheck (#oneanddone), Champagne (couldn’t find the calf condoms this morning), Spinner (we’ll send out the BOLO)

Straight Up Fast Twitch

While the Skunkworks crew was singing Manilow’s greatest hits on the karaoke machine in the corner, 21 men stood at the bar and took shots of straight-up of #F3FastTwitch. And the ladies took notice, shunning Brown’s voice cracking rendition of Copacabana in favor of real men in flowing running shorts that highlight milky white thighs and tight tank tops that accentuate the rib cage.

After a manly jog around the parking lot, we circled up for some IWs, Mtn Climbers and Merkins, followed by 30 seconds or so of light stretching. Then the mosey to the top of Rising Meadow.

The Burn

Triple nickel from the top of Rising Meadow to the bottom of Windbluff. 5 squats at the top. 5 merkins at the bottom. 5 times through. That’s it…plus the signature double Indian run back to base.

Moleskine

Forced into action due to Spackler’s 19th vacation this summer, YHC went simple. No mixers. Nothing on the rocks. Just the same hills for about 45 minutes. 5.5 to 6.5 miles. Straight up. Disheartening.

TR and the aforementioned Spackler can rest easy…the pax f/k/a Gadget was renamed Swayze. Went shirtless his first post at GhostRunner. And again this morning. It had to be done.

A lot of hard work out there this morning:

  • Brady and Alf set the pace. Hairball, Header, Champagne, Glass Joe (in from Union County on a work visa), Prohibition (FT’s designated phone carrier), Hopper and Buttermaker weren’t far behind. Soul Glow made a strong push to the front as well, after sandbagging and mumbling about the Reds the first three rounds.
  • Respects Van Pelt (who was recognizable today having remembered his glasses) and Iron Horse put forth monumental efforts for old guys.
  • The Mouth had a good run in his return from his Hawaiian vacation, despite self-proclaimed soreness from surfing all week.
  • Newer or newly returning FTers Stagecoach, Swayze, Hammer, Ductwork, Huggie Bear, Ironsides and Chanel had very solid runs on what is a very demanding and demoralizing hilly Raintree route.
  • All the men got through the 5 rounds, a few got extra credit. Hence the 5.5 to 6.5 miles.

Announcements

Centurion converging at The Brave on Friday (7/3)

Saturday (7/4) convergence at The Rock.

 

Merkins aren’t just for Weekdays anymore

(Posted on behalf of Lobsta Roll)

7 PAX showed up at McKee Road Elementary for another weekly addition of Area 51.  SF was planted firmly in the ground and once we had everyone in tow and determined Slapshot would not be joining us, Lobsta Roll led the crew for a lap around the school.  Gathered up in the upper parking lot area near the soccer fields for COP:

  • SSH x 25 IC
  • MC x 10 IC
  • 25 Merkins
  • Peter Parker x 10 IC
  • 25 Merkins
  • IW x 25 IC
  • Parker Peter x 10 IC
  • 25 Merkins
  • MC x 10 IC
  • 25 Merkins
  • Squats x 25 IC

Mosey over to the midfield of the soccer pitch for some Starfish.

5 locations/stops in the Starfish with 10 burpees after each return to midfield light pole

  • Light Pole 1 – 20 CDDs
  • Light Pole 2 – 20 Jump Squats
  • Light Pole 3 – 20 Merkins
  • Light Pole 4 – 20 Jumping Lunges
  • Light Pole 5 – 20 LBCs

PAX completed LBCs while everyone finished

Mosey to the rock pile and find a lifting rock

  • Set 1 – Shoulder Press, Curls & Tricep Ext x 10 IC (each), 20 Merkins on the rock
  • Set 2 – Shoulder Press, Curls & Tricep Ext x 8 IC, 15 Merkins on the rock
  • Set 3 – Shoulder Press, Curls & Tricep Ext x 6 IC, 10 Merkins on the rock
  • Set 4 – Shoulder Press, Curls & Tricep Ext x 4 IC, 5 Merkins on the rock
  • Set 5 – Shoulder Press Curls &  Tricep Ext x 2 IC, 20 Merkins on the rock

Set your rock back on the rock pile and the PAX headed out for a little jog to the Fire Station on McKee for some Mary:

  • LBCs x 25 IC
  • Flutter x 25 IC
  • Back Scratcher x 25 IC
  • Dolly x 25 IC
  • Mason Twist x 25 IC

Continue jog back to the school through a couple of the adjacent neighborhoods, stopping along the way for various exercises:

  • Stop 1 – Various plank positions
  • Stop 2 – Slow Merkins x 10 IC (the Merkins are really starting to hurt at this point, if not earlier)
  • Stop 3 – People’s Chair (w/out the wall)
  • Stop 4 – Burpee/Merkin Ladder (1 burpee + 1 merkin, 1 burpee + 2 merkins . . . up to 1 burpee + 10 merkins = 10 burpees & 55 merkins total)

Continue jog back to the school through the back of the neighborhood and circle up at the lower fields for some Mary and Plank.

Finish the jog at the playground at the front of the school and wrap it up with 10 pull-ups

COT

NMM:

  • With Lobsta on Q you can count on getting in a full 60 minutes.  Not a lot of down time and pushes the PAX to test their limits.  #ISI
  • Good to have Ocho Cinco out there with us as he is able to keep up with Lobsta and they push each other.
  • Cold Cuts and Picasso walked over from Cold Cuts neighborhood next door for the work-out.  Worked hard and then headed back over without asking for a lift after a tough 60 minutes.
  • O’Tannenbaum has to be, along with Lobsta & Ocho, one of the original or almost original Area 51 Pax.  Continues to regularly post at Area 51 and The Matrix despite the grief he receives about arriving right at Go Time.  Hopefully, his 2.0 made it to volleyball practice on time Saturday after he took her car without leaving a note.
  • Beaver once again kept YHC from claiming WD status.  Much appreciated.  Hopefully you enjoyed the 200+ merkins as much as you usually enjoy the burpees when Lobsta is on Q.

Announcements:

  • Centurion will be converging at The Brave on Friday, 7/3.  0515 launch, so get up a little earlier.
  • Convergence at The Rock on Saturday, 7/4.  All AOs other than Stonehenge will be converging at Calvary.  Hit Stonehenge and then head over to The Rock if you want to celebrate Independence Day with a Double Down.
  • Southern Discomfort will take place on 8/1 in Area 51.  Early launch will be from Stonehenge at 5:15 a.m. with run up to Centurion (13+ miles option if complete the entire event).  Launch from Centurion at 6:00 a.m. (10+ mile option).  3rd option is launch from the Aroboretum (5+ mile option) later in the morning.  More details to follow on Twitter and weekly e-mail.

Honoring the Murph

Ten years ago, four U.S. Navy Seals were inserted 10,000 feet above the town of Asadabad deep in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan. They were ambushed when their reconnaissance mission was compromised, and on June 28, 2005, Lt. Michael P. Murphy was killed while communicating their position back to base.

His actions enabled Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell to ultimately be rescued, and the bodies of two fellow soldiers to be recovered. Lt. Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor.

On Sunday, 12 men gathered to run the workout named in his honor and think about true heroism. Thanks to everybody who came out, especially the 2.0s.

Don’t forget to consider supporting Charlotte Bridge Home.

Thanks for taking us out, Iron Horse.