We ran, ran, and ran some more.
The Thang:
Run to the bull ring for a dynamic warm up. Honey Bee demonstrated excellent form on the skipping. He must have been practicing.
By the end of the warm-up, we found ourselves at the bottom of the hill sometimes known as Dunreggan Brae.
Then it began: 2 minutes hard run, 1 minute rest. 1 minute hard run, 30 second rest. 30 second hard run, 30 second rest. We continued this for what seemed like a long time. Managed to stay true to the break periods – no mercy was shown. Also made sure that every run period included as much of the Brae as possible.
Ye Olde Moleskin:
Strong performances from all. The breaks were short and it took a lot to power through them.
Honey Bee led the pax pretty consistently, except when Mr. Bean, and occasionally Abacus were nipping on his heels.
We missed Bratwurst’s scientific approach and his hi-tech watch.
Thanks for letting me lead. Bring it again next week!
A robust 35 men showed up at the Vine parking lot, so we counted off, one and two, split up, and headed out into the soup.
Tha thang
Dear Abby Q:
Mosey across the street by the gas station for a COP:
SSH x 25
IW x 15
Windmill x 10
Low, slow squat x 20
Down to the lake for a version of the U.S. Army Physical Fitness Test.
2 minutes max pushups
2 minutes max full situps
2 mile timed run
Mary while we wait for everyone to finish the run
Find some wall for in-cadence exercises:
Dips x 10
Derkins x 10
Head back to base
Soft Pretzel Q:
Mosey to the Pei Wei lot for warm up: 15 IWs, 15 merkins, 20 SSHs, 10 diamond merkins, 15 squats, 10 wide arm merkins (all IC).
Mosey toward parking deck and stop at the low wall outside Moe’s: P1 plank walk on the low wall while P2 does peoples’ chair. Flapjack and repeat 3x.
Continue to parking deck. For each ramp, perform the called exercise at the bottom before running to the top.
Ramp 1: 10 burpees IC, sprint up.
Ramp 2: 10 jumps squats, backwards run up
Ramp 3: 10 burpees IC, sprint up.
On the way down, use the pillars as markers.
Ramp 3: lunge walk three pillars, jog down.
Ramp 2: backwards bear crawl three pillars, jog down
Ramp 1: lunge walk 3 pillars, jog down.
Partner up. Run to the top, stopping at each level to do partner decline merkins, same thing on the way down. Alternate at each level.
Back at the bottom, circle up for merkins and Mary. Merkins x 5, 10, 15, 10, 5 in between each called Mary exercise. Went around the circle for PAX choice and did:
Flutter x 20, Mason Twist x 20, Freddie Mercury x 20, Heels to Heaven x 20, knee ups x 10 (all IC).
Mosey back, stopping to wait for the 6 with burpees, planks, etc.
COT
Moleskine
The workout write-up is short but I think the pax came out of it feeling spent. I know I did. The APFT is simple but brutally effective and a good gauge of your physical and mental stamina. Here are the standards, which are on a scale according to age.
Basic (minimum) standards:
2 min Pushups: 34 (hate) / 30 / 25 (respect)
2 min Situps: 45 (hate) / 38 / 30 (respect)
2-mile run: 17:00 (hate) / 18:18 / 19:30 (respect)
Standards to earn the APFT Badge (worn only on PT uniform)
Pushups: 67
Situps: 72
2-mile run: 14:12
Maximum credit (perfect score)
Pushups: 75
Situps: 76
2-mile run: 13:18
Now y’all have something to shoot for. Plug your numbers in here to see how you did. You can read a 434-page manual on APFT here.
–Welcome FNGs Leia and Data. Fantastic to have you out, and hope you’ll be back.
–Great take-out by Hops. Also pretty good #mumblechatter from him earlier as he reminisced on his days in gym class during the windmills.
Announcements:
–Next week our Metro friends from SIB will converge with Swift. Should be a good time.
–Don’t forget the Calvary Church food drive. Details.
–We’ll be running the Murph on June 28. Details.
Thanks as always, gentlemen.
12 pax entered into a very muggy morning as left with no water.
COP
20 IW in CAD
20 low slow squats- CAD
10 figure 8’s – CAD
The thang
50 goblet squats
Run
10 merkins
45 upright rows
Run
10 merkins
40 kettlebell swings
Run
10 merkins
35 triceps extensions
Run
10 merkins.
30 snatches
Run
10 merkins
20 lawnmowers
Run
10 merkins
20 leg lifts
Run
10 merkins
Mosey to the hill for partner work
150 total swings
One person runs the hill while the other swings. Flap jack. To 150
Mosey to launch.
Mary
20 – Lugayness – CAD
15 – LBC’s – CAD
15 – Russian twist – CAD
20 – Freddy mercury- CAD
TR – snatches rotating arms for 5 minutes total.
COT
Moleskin
Been a while since I have been or Q’d at Skunkworks. Enjoyed being out there and leading today. The group was a little light and I am assuming that is because of the 10000% humidity that attacked us out there. We had Sussudio back with us today and it was great seeing him. Stone Cold Tweeted last night about the run but apparently thought S was kidding. #letdown.
Workout was starting well, the COP was alright up until the figure 8 in cadence that didn’t seem to work but I stuck with it anyways #stubborn. There wasn’t too much refuseniking (if that’s a word), some complaining but nothing too angry. Sussudio also gave me a link for the mileage today but I can’t seem to attach it. Looks to be about 1.5-2 or so.
Great catching up with the Skunkwork pax.
Announcements
F3 dad – every saturday – check twitter for it. Bring out all of the 2.0’s sons and daughters. Its a really great time!
Calvary Church food pantry – check twitter on this as well. Bring food to sites you post at later this week. They help us out a ton and we need to repay the favor.
21 men struck out for their Tuesday run around Raintree. 70 degrees and 100% humidity – fantastic conditions. Runstopper was the only one that realized wearing a shirt was basically pointless, so why do it? Just holds onto all that sweat.
With a busy week at work and little time to right this backblast, it was time to keep the weinke simple.
The Thang:
Head out of school and run to 4-mile creek with a stop on the way for some Imperial Walker’s for a warm up.
For the next ~32 minutes or so, run down 4-mile creek from Raintree Ln. At Whitethorn Ln do 20 flutters each leg. Run back to Raintree Ln and do 20 dollies. Repeat until 6:02. PAX got between 2 and 4 cycles in.
Mosey to bottom of Raintree. 2 line Indian Run up Raintree. All you got up the hill on Rounding Run and all you got the length of Woodfox to Strawberry Ln.
Somewhere between 5 and 7 miles for the PAX with most likely in the low 6’s.
Done.
Moleskine:
I hate that hill on 4-mile creek, but I know Haze hates it more. Only way to get better at it is to keep doing it. It sucks.
Tried to drive a workout where everyone could get out of it more than they wanted. I hope it worked for most, but I don’t think it’s possible to tire Fraiser out in just one hour. The dude spent most of the run up and down the solid double yellow lines, because not even the cars could catch him.
Solid effort by everyone out there, guys were really pushing up and down those hills. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
Thanks to Header for the send off.
-Alf
Announcements
– Collect food for Calvary pantry
– See Turkey Leg Pre-Blast to help Blue Hen move this weekend
– Semi-convergence with Swift next week in Ballantyne to run 800m laps or something fun like that. Header will still Q Fast Twitch if you choose that pill.
– Ghostrunner Thursday’s 7:30
– F3 Dad’s Saturday at 9am Beatty Park
The road is long, With many a winding turns
That leads us to who knows where, Who knows where
But I’m strong, Strong enough to carry him
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
So on we go, His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear, We’ll get there
For I know, He would not encumber me
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
A near-record 26 PAX came together on a beautiful Monday morning to simply begin the week with a simple challenge… strive to be a little bit better. Mission Accomplished…
And off we set to endure. Following a Q (YHC) that left his Weinke on the nightstand! So much for creativity!!
The Thang
So a little mosey around the parking lot… Front for a lap, throw in some buttkicks and high knees for a little variety.
COP: SSH x50, Low-slow-squat x 15, IW x 35, Merkins x15, SSH x35
And, yes, the mumble chatter initiated only seconds after we surpassed 25 SSH’s on the 1st frame. Shame on YHC.
Mosey down the path to track for some fun:
– Partner up, partners in like-weight and size, for 50 meters of Sled then anchor…plakorama then repeato
–
Mosey to the center of the field for the 1st guest of honor for the morning, Mr Jack Webb, Jr.
– 1 merkin:4 raises ratio, climbing from 1 merkin to 5, then back down to 1
Mosey down to the track again, this time for an Indian run… 400 meters later…
Back to parking lot.
Guest #2 on comes forward, as Whiplash prepares to spend a few minutes discussing preventive methods to avoid exercise based injuries, including “The Stick” and foam rollers. Critical info was shared to highlight what to consider and “do” to help avoid being on IR…
Special thanks to Whiplash for imparting the wisdom, and for taking extra time after the post to answer questions…
Moleskin: My heart was truly touched to have Blades of Glory return; Kotters, my brother… true evidence of the miracle of faith. Always great to have Philmont’s energy and determination, exhibiting just the qualities we all should at post. Thumbs up to Geraldo with ruck! Back-slap to Robin Hood for the continuous effort and for inciting the rumble of the mumble. Welcome to “BusBoy”… Excellent prayer lifted by Big Tuna.
AMEN!
19 Men put two feet on the floor in the gloom and started off their week with F3 The Matrix.
The Thang:
Small jog traversing the field with butt kickers, high knees and shuffles mixed in
COP:
SSH x20IC
IW x20IC
Low slow squat x20IC
Mtn Climbers x20IC
Mosey to the track and partner up for burpees and running part 1
Partner 1: circumnavigate the track (~200 yards)
Partner 2: 10 burpees and wait for your partner
Rinse and repeat until both partners have done 5 laps on the track
Mosey to the wall for some People’s Chair and Incline Merkins
Back to the track for burpees and running part 2 (the sequel is never better)
Partner 1: circumnavigate the track (~200 yards)
Partner 2: 10 burpees and wait for your partner
Rinse and repeat until both partners have done 3 laps on the track
Circle up in infield for Mary:
LBC x20IC
Dolly x20IC
LBC knees right x10IC
LBC knees left x10IC
Freddie Mercury x20IC
Heals to Heaven x20IC
Mosey to the playground for some gym work
5 pull ups
10 dips
15 decline merkins
repeat
Line up on sidewalk for lunge walk to school
Jog back
Bear crawl to school
Jog back
Lunge walk to school
Jog back
COT
Moleskin:
1) Burpees and running are never (always?) a good combination. The original plan was for 10×10 but I didn’t have it in me today. Maybe something for the future…
2) TR wanted the burpee mile badly and got just what he wanted. Think of it as Christmas in June.
3) Alf came out on the short end of a couple of jokes today. All puns intended.
4) Always an honor to lead – thanks for following
Announcements:
1) Food drive all week check the weekly email and bring your canned goods
2) Check out the pre-blast for helping Blue Hen move this Friday/Saturday on the site
3) F3 Dads this Saturday at Colonel Beatty Park
Calling on all Area 51 PAX. Need some help for one of our brothers, Blue Hen (Casey Celli), who will be moving this weekend. Some of you may not be familiar with Blue Hen or his personal situation, but he has been going through some personal challenges lately with his family and could really use our help.
He will be getting a truck and needs some help loading and unloading.
Friday 6/12: Loading. Moving from: 3121 Indian Rock Rd, 28270 (in Providence Plantation), evening 5-9pm
Saturday 6/13: Unloading. Moving to: 10333 Scott Gate Ct, 28277 (in Berkeley), morning, immediately after workouts;
Breakfast and beverages will be provided.
Even if you could come for just an hour or two, that would be appreciated. So we can get a count, please let Turkey Leg know ASAP (by Wednesday at the latest), whether you can help load, unload, or both. smastbrook@metlife.com
Thanks,
TL
Posted on behalf of Wild Turkey
The Thang
Since we didn’t have gloves today was all about hand speed.
Shoulder Shredder
Each PAX planks just below a chalk-drawn box. For one minute each man alternate arms and tap the box.
20 LBCs (Foley runs to grab his gloves)
Next, while planked and both hands in the square, alternate left hand taps outside the left side of the square then right hands taps right side for the square for one minute. (It’s a looong minute.)
Each round is 2.5 minutes
4 men pair off for alternating jab/cross combinations
1 man on six for Mary
1 man gets the Super Ball. The goal of the Super Ball station is to keep the ball bouncing (no catching). Failure to maintain control is a Burpee penalty.
After a full rotation, 1 lap around Loch Ness with hands up
2 more boxing, Super Ball and Mary rounds
Moleskin
Where’s Chipotle? Where are the gloves, pads and medicine ball? (Chipotle reported an alarm clock malfunction.) No worries. We made it work. Thanks to the PAX for playing along. The shoulder shredders were absolutely horrible, but the Super Ball station gave everyone fits. T-Claps to Haggis who seemed to have had the longest run. Gecko’s fists are blazing fast. Linus and Foley are new, but putting in hard work. Fire Hazard is always poised and in perfect form.
Announcements
Many AOs are hosting food drives for Calvary. Give if you can. (You can.)
– “Looks like you’ve been missing [The Wiggler] lately.”
– “I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob.”**
Come enjoy The Wiggler! 5:30 am Tuesday – corner of Foxcroft and Rothwood – office space pace…
** Office Space
(Posted on behalf of Cold Cuts)
13 PAX made the decision to test their quads endurance level at Area 51 for Cold Cuts VQ. Rumor has it the Q had no intentions of burning the PAX’s quads, it just happened that way. So SF was planted in the soil at McKee Rd Elementary and the day went like so. . .
Q took PAX for a short mosey through the local neighborhood (mixed in some high knees & butt kickers) with an Indian Run to get the competitive juices flowing. Had enough time to allow O’Tannenbaum to catch up to the group and join in. Next we circled up for the COP:
A quick stroll over to the soccer fields and Cold Cuts delivered the bad news. He had a deck of cards and somehow pain was to follow. Each PAX would have an opportunity to pull a card from the deck for a called exercise. The value of the card x 3 determined the number of reps to be completed and the suit drawn dictated the exercise. Rumor has it there were 4 exercises: Merkins, Burpees, Plank Up/Down (aka Makhtar N’Diaye), and Ninja Squats. In between each draw the PAX would run from soccer goal to soccer goal (60-70 yards). The PAX quickly learned the “Law of Averages” was not working in everyone’s favor. Over and over and over again the Ninja Squat suit (Clubs) was chosen. Screams of “Audible” or “BS” could be heard as we over and over again muscled through the Ninja Squats. After 13 rounds of called exercises it was time to head off again.
Q had no sympathy for the group as we next went to the school from some wall sits and planks. 13 PAX lined the school wall, shoulder to shoulder, and began:
By this point the quads were asking each of its owners “WHY????”.
Cold Cuts then gave us a nice walk over to the school playground set and had us partner up for a team mini-Murph. Each team completed the following:
Followed the mini-Murph up with a group run around the school. Q then lined us up for one final AYG sprint down the parking lot. Cold Cuts requested every PAX to give 100% and finish strong and each of the PAX answered the call.
Finished up with a few LBCs and the clock mercifully hit 0800.
NMM:
Announcements: