8 PAX took to the campus of Weddington HS at 0630 on Saturday for the weekend show known as Commitment.
Here’s the THANG:
Moleskin:
Announcements:
14 Men showed up to Day Zero this morning to become stronger and work some beach muscles. They all won. With the Shovel Flag firmly planted and the tunes on the mini pipe bomb boom box pumpin’, it went something like this:
Prohibition Q
Merkins x 25 in cadence
Run around the back of school, past the dumpsters, and to the front of the school and circle up for a Circle of Pain;
Very short mosey to the sidewalk closest to the school and line up.
Very short mosey to the curb on side of parking lot for the BEAST:
Runstopper Q
Mosey to back of school and grab a rock stone of medium size and carry it up the wall on the back side of the school for some people’s chair:
Grab stone and head over to playground and partner up:
Grab stone and head out to the shady part of the field:
Return stones and head up to main parking lot:
Doneski
Moleskin:
Lots of mummble chatter from the get go this morning, as per usual, due to a tweet last night stating YHC’s lead on the #10kmerkins challenge. Of course when you want to press on with the merkins and force the pax to join in when they don’t really want to, they will let you know how they feel and will taunt you with comments about Chuck Norris. YHC ignored and pressed on until he cried in his car on the way to coffeeteria, as per usual.
Great having 2 FNG’s this morning! Welcome Boy Band and Pita! Looking forward to having you guys back. Glad Boy Band made it and that we didn’t run off campus early on as he came in on two wheels a little bit into the COP. Both of you did great this morning. That was a tough one for a first time, especially on the first week of the merkin challenge. Also, shout out to Ike for coming back out. Great work out there! I’ll be sure to put some Tina Turner and some Aaron Carter on the playlist next time….not really.
We discovered that when doing 16’s (as opposed to 11’s or 7’s) that what you might think is going to be the tough part (the merkins after just doing 100) would turn out to be the opposite with the horribleness of 120 Squat Jumps. Sorry not sorry for having to cut short The Beast. Next time we’ll squeeze in the others exercises.
We also were reminded that calm Runstopper is a crazy Runstopper. When we switched to him, he immediately called for a 20 count rest and spoke to us in a soft voice. That quickly changed when he started barking at us with upside down merkins and doing 150 airpresses in cadence with no break. Holy Shoulder Smokers, Batman! I think we need to find a way to separate Runstopper and Mr. Jack Webb. Their love affair has gone on for way too long now. Runstopper gets angry when Radar speaks during Jack Webb.
Lots of merkins today. For those of you counting at home, we did a total of 392 if you did them all. Encouraged by our much older, retired site Q’s YHC & Hairball pushed out another 8 to make it an even 400 on the morning. Not bad.
Thanks everyone for a great morning and Thank You to Runstopper for the Q. Come on out more often!
Announcements:
The shovel flag was firmly planted and 17 men did the right thing early on Saturday to get stronger. Flipper, who YHC had never met and who did not know that YHC was the Q, mentioned at the start that he came to the Rock to avoid RS Q at Day Zero – #Firewood. The Rock is a great AO and we covered over 3 miles without leaving the church grounds.
The Thang:
Jog around the parking lot with 5 burpees at each road bump (20 total).
COP – Warm up
Jog to rock pile, grab non-running rock, and mosey over to parking lot for some circuit work. Perform called exercise with rock, “gently” place rock on the ground, sprint to other end of lot and plank for the six. Hold six inches and then sprint back to rocks. 7 rounds
Mosey across parking lot for a little Mary (lots of heckling about Q form – more #firewood) – Rosalita and Dolly (pax already sensing where we are heading and try to divert the Q)
Mosey to base of North Face for Bermuda Triangle – perform 2 of called exercise at each station and increase by 2 each round. Run up North Face – burpees, run to corner – merkins, run down lot – jump squats, run to base of North Face – Rock Hoppers. PAX finished 3 or 4 rounds – brutal
COP for a little plank work, peter parker, and parker peter. Jog across parking lot and perform burpees at each bump until the six catches up. Jog down to baseball field for some more sprint work – karaoke and backwards runs
Up to pavilion for dips X15, decline merkins X15, dips X15, and incline merkins. People Chair until YHC calls for Jail Break back to starting point for a minute of planking before COT.
Naked Moleskin
A lot of firewood this morning between the “slant” that the Run Stopper workout would be harder thus The Rock was a better alternative (Russian Roulette – PAX didn’t know what was in the chamber for the Rock) and the constant chirping about YHC form. The PAX is lucky we had an FNG this am or we might still be running.
Welcome FNG Doug Van Dyke heretofor known as Macho Grande (from Stryker in “Airplane” as Doug works for Stryker).
Appreciate the invite from Hopper and Gummy to Q this am – always an honor and a privilege.
Annoucnements:
Mermaid coordinating food drive so check with site Q’s as to what they need. Jelly for the Rock (not to drink – don’t pay attention to TR).
Blue Rhino approached his virgin Q with a little nostalgia. The location in Raintree was the site of the bus stop from grade school. So only fitting to get back to basics with the workout this morning. Thank you to all for the support, limited mumble chatter so I could hear the counts, and the all-out effort exhibited on the streets this morning.
Mosey to soccer field in Raintree, slightly muddy this morning.
COP
SSH x 25 (IC)
Imperial Walkers x 20 (IC)
Copperhead Squat x 20 (IC)
Mountain Climbers x 20 (IC)
The Thang
Pick a partner, meet in the center of the field. P1 sprint to edge of field, P2 sprint to other edge of field, meet in the middle for Hand Clap Merkins x 10. Rinse and Repeat for 5 total, 50 merkins.
Mosey to the bottom of Willow Point. Partner Derkins x 10, sprint up the hill to the second street for Sumo Jump Squats x 10. Rinse and Repeat for 5 total, 50 derkins, jump squats.
Buildin’ the House – perform called exercise at each street, at every pass
Heals to Heaven x 10 x 10 x 10
Merkins x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10
Carolina Dry Docks x 10 x 10 x 10
Monkey Humbers x 10
Plank-o-rama
Mosey to back of shopping center, peoples chair with air presses x 30 (IC), then a little Mary – LBC x 30 (IC), Freddy Mercury x 20 (IC). Indian Run to home parking lot and finish with 10 Burpees OYO.
Thanks to Cotton Tail for taking us out in prayer
Announcements –
f3 dads tomorrow @ Beatty Park 0900. Bring your 2.0!
Participating AO’s and food item:
Matrix: canned vegetables (NO CORN/GREEN BEANS)
Death Valley: 4-6 pack pudding snack pack (not refrigerated)
Maul: grape jelly (plastic container NO GLASS)
Rock: grape jelly (see above)
Bagpipe:100% juice (not fruit drinks)
Anvil: canned roast beef (5-13 oz cans)
Centurion: canned ham (5-13 oz cans)
Ascent: granola/cereal bars
A51: canned vegetables (see above)
Meathead: canned meat (roast beef, salmon, or ham/5-13 oz)–not surprised
Day Zero: canned salmon
Rebel Yell: canned vegetables (NO CORN/GREEN BEANS)
Please bring the above food items to your workout next week (6/8-6/13). YHC will take donations on the spot for Bagpipe, Anvil, and Centurion. Young Love will collect for Matrix. Maul will drop at Calvary after workout Wednesday (thanks Frasier). YHC and/or Young Love will be at Saturday coffeeteria at Starbucks at Piper Glen Saturday to take donations. If Saturday (6/13) does not work please let me know (f3mermaid@yahoo.com).
Thank you men of Area 51 and SOBs.
So there has been some mumble chatter about us launching a gear (kb) workout in the F3UnionCo area. While this has been going on I realized a lot of UC PAX have never been to Skunkworks, Meathead, etc. so knowing I was on Q I figured what better time than now to give the boys a taste of the heavy metal!
The Thang
All the bells were out, including some borrowed ones so we had extras for the uninitiated. Grab the #weinke and… hey, where did the #weinke go?! I had it when I took the bells out of my car! Oh well, I don’t need no stinkin’ #weinke I’m a professional… or not, I am NOT a professional modify if you need to blah blah blah.
Grab a bell, there are plenty for everyone and go circle up at the end of the parking lot.
COP
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Windmills x 20
Most were new to bells: This is a kettle bell, we will do fun and torturous things with it to make ourselves beach ready for our wives.
2 handed kettle bell swings x 25
Goblet squat x 25
Curls x 25
#HairbandMile
Triceps extension x 25
Upright row x 25
Sumo Squats (tea baggers) x 25
#HairbandMile
Partner up and mosey over to the hill.
P1 called exercise at the bottom, P2 run to top of hill and called exercise run down and flapjack until 100 combined reps of bottom exercise.
Round 1: Flutter press w/ bell at bottom, 10 merkins at top of hill.
Plank when done & a little plankwork
Round 2: KB Squat Thrusters at bottom, 10 LBCs at top
Plank when done & some more plankwork
Circle back up
6MOM
Freddie Mercury x 20
Dolly x 30
Rosalita x 25
20 merkins on bell oyo (10 each side)
10 merkins 2 hands on bell (diamond)
Skull crushers x 20… ish
Call out to Late Show for about 2 minutes of stretches.
And were done!
Ye olde moleskine
Well, I’m still not sure where the #weinke went, I will probably find it in some obscure place next time I clean out the car.
Solid work by everyone especially FNG Undertaker who didn’t know what he was getting into today. I hope it was a good taste of what a gear workout can be as we continue to discuss the possible launch of one in Union County. Thanks to Drop Thrill and Jellyfish for the loan of extra bells today.
I missed being out there with you guys so I was thrilled to be back although I was smoked and with #O2Dep kicking in I hopefully captured everything we did above. If I missed something throw it in the comments.
COT
Welcome to FNG The Undertaker! Hopefully we will see you back out here soon, like tomorrow!
Thanks to Spielberg for taking us out.
Announcements/prayer requests
F3 Dads kicks off tomorrow so double down! Hit your normal AO then grab the 2.0s and get over to Beatty Park for F3 Dads.
Pray for a safe trip for DT who is doing his east coast coaster tour for the next few days.
Chime in below if there is anything I forgot.
Always an honor sweating in the gloom with you guys!
Aye!
Hair Band
The VSF was firmly planted? The pax of 23 with 2 FNGs was thoroughly disclaimed? We then launched into the gloom for another Friday morning assault on Centurion.
The Thang:
Jog down the lane behind the football field and over to the Hospice & Palliative Care lot. By the way, why are there security gates on that lot? Weird.
Anyway, we did a quick COP with the following:
IW x 20 IC
Slow Squat x 20 IC
H-R Merkin x 20 IC
Knee Up x 13 IC
Jog to the hillish Charlotte Aquatics lot. They even had the multi-color flag banners out for the pax this morning!
Thanks to F3Metro’s Swamp Fox for the idea for the hillish partner work (R&D’d from Ranger backblast). Here’s what we did:
7’s with Burpees at the bottom and Jump Squats at the top – with wheelbarrow up (flapjack 1/2 way) and mosey down.
Chelms led some plankorama for the pax waiting on the six.
Jog to main entrance of the high school for more partner work:
Partner 1 – Jump-ups on the benches while Partner 2 lunge walk up the ramp, 13 donkey kicks on the wall & crab walk to the steps. Flapjack.
Jog to launch lot for ‘Round the Clock’ H-R Merkins. We started at 12 o’clock (12 H-R Merkins). 11 H-R merkins at 11 o’clock, etc, etc, to 1 o’clock.
Jog to gravel lot next to launch lot for some sprint work.
AYG suicide runs x 2
AYG backwards suicide run
Karaoke down & back
AYG run down & back
Jog back to launch lot for 6 MoM:
High Slow Flutter x 13 IC
Russian Twist x 13 IC (Dear Abby had another moniker for it but can’t recall)
Makthar Ndjiaye x 13 IC
Freddie Mercury x 13 IC
LBC x 20 IC
Pretty sure that’s all we did.
Ye Olde Moleskine:
Didn’t realize how many #Respects we had among the pax this morning! Hope YHC didn’t startle you fellas by taking us directly to the Hospice & Palliative Care center 1st thing. #Cobain
Welcome to Dan G & Dan D – our 2 FNGs – Sanction & Rock City, respectively. The partner 7’s with wheelbarrows uphill were not the friendliest of introductions to F3. Those were pretty brutal….yet we’ll make those 11’s next time.
A few things to note from this morning’s downpainment:
* Blackbeard deserves T-claps for running in this morning, but what was that hideous sound you were making during the hillish 7’s?
* Chelms cheating on the last AYG run was vintage Tater Tot stuff….Brushback and Frasier still almost caught him
* The ’round the clock’ merkins hurt….a lot. Appreciate the pax waiting on YHC to finish those. Next time we’ll go from 1 to 12…same # of course but much more mentally painful….and you’ll have to wait even longer for YHC. #pencilarms #wheresmykb
Please chime in with observations & ruminations about this morning’s painfest. Hope you men got your money’s worth. If not, Chelms will be glad to give you a full refund.
It’s a privilege to Q the pax. Truly is. If you haven’t Q’d and you’ve been doing F3 for 3+ months – step up and ask to Q at an AO near you.
Announcements:
F3 Dads – Starts Tomorrow! 9am at Col. Francis Beatty Park. Every Saturday in June at same time & place.
NoDa 5k – Saturday at 6pm at NoDa Brewing – several of the pax have HC’d for this.
Check with your Site Q’s, Twitter, Weekly Email, Mermaid — Calvary Food drive – grape jelly, canned meat, fruit juice, etc. #meatfruit Bring some food for those much less fortunate than you.
There were probably other announcements, but I can’t remember them.
Lastly – please continue to remember 1) Bill Chepul & his family in your prayers (Chelms’ & Abacus’ brother) and 2) M. Ice9 (Heather) — healing, peace and the nearness of the Lord.
No pomp and circumstance of ANY graduation could overshadow the sheer anticipation of the event heretoforever known as the Hard Launch of F3 Mountain Goat (cue confetti gun, marching band… and goat in cheerleader’s outfit)!!!
It was with that anticipation that 13 PAX assembled at South Charlotte Middle School on this 5th Day of June, in the Year 2015 (Year of the Libated Camel), to embark on a journey to pit man vs. himself, Mtn Goat vs. Big Foot, ne’er Godzilla vs. Barney!
Here’s how this epic event went down:
Mosey to track. Having disclaimed… .75 mile warm-up at Fellowship Pace
Circle up for some stretching, followed by toe walks, heel walks, high knees, butt kickers, and questionable yet effective skips (aka bounding, prancing, galloping… many interpretations were offered)!
Main thing:
Pretty simple… to write, that is!
100 m at 2-mi race pace, followed by 100 m recovery jog
200 m at 2-mi race pace, followed by 200 m recovery jog
That is 1 set… rinse and repeat for 7 sets.
The key is to get your heart and oxygen rates up during the “hard” running, then return back to lower rates during the “recovery” portion. The “time” it takes to recover is not the focus, but more that you DO recover. The pace that it takes to achieve both of these objectives is different per/runner. We will all get better at knowing what that right pace is as we continue working on our running styles and knowledge… it takes practice!
Complete .25 mile cool down lap, then circle-up for final stretching.
Mosey back to parking lot… DONE!!! 4.25 miles total!!
Moleskine:
Excellent job this morning! It was/is an honor to lead such great men! This was considered the Hard Launch for Mountain Goat, so extra pomp and circumstance were needed and expected… but only delivered via celebrity cameo by Dora and The Hoff, who were mostly occupied with carrying and lifting a Slim-Fast sized back pack!! Enjoyed having you guys join us for the COS (Circle of Stretching) and name-o-rama…
I understand the confetti gun, t-shirt cannon and marching band showed up at 6:35 just after we cleared the parking lot, but I was able to snap a picture of the F3 Mountain Goat mascot on my way out and send as part of the #51Counts tweet!
Seriously, though… I enjoyed running with you guys immensely this morning! I know we had some running workout virgins there today… Whitesnake, Tawney… maybe Huggy Bear… You guys did AWESOME! Great to have you 3 there!
Not much to say about Philmont and Pele except STRONG, STRONG, STRONG (like Mtn Goats)! You both are regulars now!
Swiss Miss, Joker and The Mouth were generally leading the herd, and High Tide is defintely starting to inch up as a fast runner… 0.0 is a distant memory!
Geraldo and Sensei were solid as usual. Sensei quietly posts PR’s because he has an insensitive running partner that makes him run faster than his target pace… yet Sensei NEVER complains!! His running partner is a real jack-wagon, however…. If I ever meet up with him…
And of course, Strange Brew is always bringing the experience to the workout. He is definitely our resident SME!
Thanks for giving it your all… thanks for the encouragement everyone gives to each other… thanks for the never ending mumblechatter and jabs from The Mouth… and the comic relief from Philmont! Overall great way to end the week!
YHC took us out in a quick prayer.
Announcements:
1. Dora stated that the Red, Light and Blue Ruck raised $18,400… T-Claps!!!
2. F3 Dads on Saturdays and F3 Camp in August
3. Food drive over the next week. Be sure to bring specified food items to your workout(s).
4. Brew Ruck in July
5. Church on the Streets (COTS) this Sunday. Sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040b44a5ab23a57-church1
Some came early, some on time, but with Insomniac on Q, no one came late (including Insomniac). The cool early morning mist dissipated as 11 wild and hairy men arrived on the scene, ready to sweat… and enjoy each other.
Warm up Little Baby Jog to side lot:
SSH x 15
IW x 15
Peter Parkers called, but Mtn Climbers executed x 10, or 30… count was #huh??
Merkins x 10
Low Slow Squat x 10
The Thang:
Mosey to upper parking lot “the Forum”; Partner up in 2’s:
P1 lap around the Forum while P2 exercises AMRAP; flapjack – Plank after each round
Merkins, Jump Squats, LBC’s, Burpees (groans)
Mosey to Stonehenge (nice change of pace to avoid the Gates of Fear when getting on the greenway) Keep your partners:
Derkins X 15, Step-ups X 15, Dips X 15, Pattycake Merkins X 10 Plank Repeato
Mosey to Wailing Wall:
BTTW X 2 (keeping it family-friendly!!)
Preachers Chair: 3 rounds with Hand Presses: Silent count, “Kids’ Macarena/jazz hands”, Protractor
Back to parking lot, circle up for final Mary as called by PAX:
Dolly x 15
LBC X 15
Sid the Kid X 10 oyo
Freddy Mercury X 15
Slim Fast stretch out… DONE!
MOLESKINE: Once again, patience with the Q was appreciated. You know you’re in trouble when Q is asking for a demo of the exercise he just called.
T-claps to Geraldo and Zombie throwin’ the rucks around like they were a box of Twinkies; and to Sensei and Simba for the Pre-Run company with Slim Fast.
Nice jazz hands, Swiss Miss! Simba requested to be heckled at his next Q opportunity… after all, “We’re just here to enjoy each other.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. COTS is available for sign-up on SignUp Genius (link on website)
2. It’s never too early to sign up as a BRR driver for the Fall – “All the fun; none of the run”
3. Area 51 F3 Dads this weekend 9am at Beatty Park (down from the Siskey YMCA), and will meet every Saturday in June
11 beasts of mythic prowess brushed off the fart sack to tackle the multi-headed Murph, whether they realized it or not. Amongst them were a silent metro stalwart, a NoCo traveler and his FNG.
The Thang:
SSH x2: No time for warmup
Merkins x 20 (40)
Squats x 30 (60)
Run to the playground, Pull ups x20, return to field.
The Titan
On your belly, jump up and sprint across field, 10 merkins at the end
Total of 6 reps (60 merkins)
Truly Awful Circuit
20 squats by baseball field
Run to playground for 10 Pull ups and 10 Squats, Run back
Total of 5 reps (50 Pullups and 150 squats)
Silent Bob’s Mary while waiting for Six
Rosalito, Low Fast Flutter and Freddie Mercury x20 each
The Beast
Run back and forth across the field, dropping for 10 merkins each time Q calls “Hit”
Total of 10 Hits for 100 merkins
Intermission
IW x 10
LBC x10
Truly Awful Circuit again x 3
30 Pull ups and 90 squats
Silent Bob’s Mary while waiting for Six
Dolly x 20, High Slow Flutter x 10
Mosey to concession stand
Dips x 20
Lap around baseball field
Dips x20
Lap around baseball Field
Dips x 20
Various random running between fields, arriving in parking lot at exactly 45 minutes
Moleskin
So that was as much of a disguise as I could put on a Murph. We got in our 100 pull ups, 200 merkins, 300 squats, and 2 miles, plus lots of other stuff worked in. I also had us at a solid extra half mile: Garmin reading was 2.52. At about squat #200 Silent Bob figured out we were doing a sneaky Murph. Burying the merkins in sprints and breaking up the pull ups with running helped.
Lots of Larry Birds. Silent Bob was dusting all of us on the Circuit, leading me to appoint him relief Q for the Mary while waiting for the Six. SB, thanks for blowing off one of your regular Metro haunts for the morning, even if it was mainly because you wanted your Palmetto 200 shirt. #TeamPrius. Floor Slapper, Marge and Harley were also running out front with regularity.
DK turned our random run between the many OP fences into some kind of parkour steeple chase leaping over various inanimate objects that had the audacity to stand in his way.
T Claps to Bottom Dweller for coming down from NoCo to bring his FNG Schlitz. Good work today, Schlitz. I hope you will be back soon. Also check out Ascent at the same location at 7:00 on Saturday, and check the website for more workouts. I only realized after the workout that Schlitz’s real name is Michael Moulton, which could have led to some Michael Bolton jokes, including potentially unfortunate names from the movie Office Space. You got lucky.
Announcements
Q too smoked to remember. Check the website for everything. New moderate running workout at South Charlotte middle. Site Q Slim Fast, whose speed is anything but moderate. Joust and Kevlar still operating as Jevlar for the time being. North Country Bear is coming up. I did it last year and it was awesome in its own awful way.
Anyone who has any leads on IT jobs, our new brother Schlitz is seeking one.
Thanks to Puddin Pop for the take out and the opportunity.