Back to Basics
Christmas has come and gone. Time to get back to work. 8 punctual pax and one tardy Q posted at Centurion, the gift that keeps on giving, for some post-Christmas pain. No egg nog was splashed, despite Q’s best efforts.
When the Q arrived at 5:32 due to one too many pushes on the snooze bar and the parking lot construction detour, no pax were in sight. Thinking it was a Christmas miracle, yours truly was close to turning around and running back home to a warm bed and the expectation that his Q’ing days were over before they started. Alas, the faithful pax turned up after a self-led warm-up lap and the workout began.
The thang:
- circle up for sidestraddle hop, imperial walker, squat, and merkins (normal, widearm, diamond. 10x each)
- run to carmel village. Partner up. P1 runs the stairs/loop; P2 jump squats until P1 returns. 3x. plank-o-rama.
- run to Charlotte catholic HS picnic benches for bench-o-rama. 20 step-ups, 15 dips, 10 derkins. 3x.
- run to Charlotte aquatics. bearcrawl up to lightpost, 5 merkins at top. Lunge walk down, 5 burpees at the bottom. 3x.
- run to the (under construction) stadium parking lot. Sprint to first lightpost, 10 LBCs, sprint to construction vehicles, sprint back to 1st lightpost for 10 more LBCs, then back to start. 3x. 5 burpees on the last rotation.
- mosey to lower parking lotto finish up with some flutter, dolly, freddie mercury, and LBCs.
Announcements:
- joe davis run + Unbroken movie event jan 10
- brain cancer run march 21
- plug for weekly ritchie run (sunday 6:15am @ freedom park train).
Solid effort by all. It was cold out there so Q tried to keep the pace up; everyone responded well. I look forward to leading again in 2015. Happy new year to all!
12 Days On Christmas
posted on behalf of Iron Horse
3 pax gathered at the Farragut High School track for the annual IronHorse family F3 Christmas morning workout.
The Thang:
In spite of further attempts at headlocks, only 3 pax posted early Christmas morning. The workout was a combination of Groundhog Day and the 12 Days of Christmas. Since YHC more than doubled the ages of the other 2 pax, it was time to man up and show those youngsters some pain. It went down something like this:
400 meter slow mosey.
YHC demonstrated the 12 exercises while the youngsters loosened up.
Day 1 is repeated in between each day.
50 yard backward run – then 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 2 squat jack’s
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 3 ski abs, 2 squat jack’s
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 4 sets Jack Web, 3 ski abs, 2 squat jack’s
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 5 8 count burbees, 4 sets Jack Web, 3 ski abs, 2 squat jack’s
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 6 bench dips………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 7 groiners………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 8 Louganis with a rock………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 9 low slow squat………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 10 off-set merkins………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 11 Russian twists with a rock………
50 yard backward run – 10 LBC’s
50 yard normal run – 12 Sister Mary Catherine (each leg)………
And then…….we wandered back through the year:
Backwards 50 – 12 Sister Mary Catherine
Run 50 – 12 Sister Mary Catherine
Backwards 50 – 11 Russian Twist with Rock
Run 50 – 11 Russian Twist with Rock
…continue pattern down to:
Backwards 50 – 10 LBC’s
Run 50 – 10 LBC’s
Finish with 400 meter slow mosey.
Naked Moleskin:
Some rather threatening mumble chatter during YHC’s surprise last set of wandering back through the year. The Christmas spirit was not present – and a little unsettling to hear such comments coming from family members.
Thankful that F3 has provided me a venue to connect with my sons and nephew in good fun – and to beat down the young punks. More thankful today that God sent His Son to be the only solution to our sin….a solution where He did everything, we just have to believe and accept. (Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.) The sign he sent us (Luke 2:12) was a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths laying in a stone hewn trough….a picture and prophesy of how He would leave the earth lying in burial cloths in a stone hewn tomb.
The Rain before Christmas
Twas the morning before Christmas, when all through the AO, all the PAX were converging, coming through the rainy gloom. The plan had been laid by the SiteQs with care, in hopes that pain would soon be doled out there. The PAX arrived, all snug in their cars, and Mermaid in his bright yellow and I in my black, had just stepped out to see if it was wet. When out on the blacktop there arose such a clatter, Semi-gloss had arrived and had forgotten his sleeves. Disclaimer was given and away we all ran, to COP for the THANG that began just like this:
- Warmup mosey around the parking lot, circle up for brief COP:
- 100x SSH
- 20x Imperial Walkers
- Count off to form 3 groups. Group 1 – Mermaid, Group 2- Semi-gloss, Group 3 – Young Love
- The groups the ran through 3 stations that went generally something like this (subject to Q audible):
- Station 1: Triple-nickel on North Face
- Station 2: The Beast in the Entrance #1 Parking Lot
- Station 3: Bench work (dips/derkins/step-ups) under pavilion, running to outfield/soccer field fence and back between sets.
COT
Moleskine – St. Nick Edition
– Welcome to Anvil. For those who were visiting Anvil for the first time, yes this is a great AO and we are happy to host you. Feel free to come back and visit from time to time. Yes, it usually rains here. Today God stepped up his game. Good thing we were on high ground (build your house on the Rock). Hope you had a towel in the car … and a change of clothes.
– The field usually drains pretty well. Probably still does drain pretty well. Tough to drain well when the rain is coming down that hard, though. Many of us found out the hard way that (a) the muddy hill is slippery (very slippery, right Hairball?) and (b) it takes a special breed to enjoy sloshing through the muck 4 times (his mother was a mudder?)
– Props to the folks who performed the triple nickle on the slip-n-slide formerly known as North Face. Very glad to see no one was hurt. There’s a reason we have a disclaimer.
– Great time at the coffeteria after. Seems that most were able to stop by, lured in by the promise of a hot cup of coffee, no doubt. Sorry if you missed it, hopefully you can stop and join us next time. The 1st F only makes the 2nd F all the sweeter.
– That’s all I got. Feel free to comment/banter/heckle below.
Merry Christmas, Area 51!
The 3rd Annual The Skunk That Stole Christmas
22 men braved the cold and wet conditions to earn the claim that they conquered the infamous annual workout known as the Skunk That Stole Christmas.
The Warmup:
SSH x 20 IC
IW x 20 IC
2H Swings x 20 OYO
The Thang: Building on the 12 Days of Christmas style workouts of the past 2 years , this was modified to accommodate the increasing strength of the PAX. Days are cumulative (Day 1; Day 2,1; Day 3,2,1, etc.)
- Day 1 – 1 Dozen Burpees
- Day 2 – 2 Turkish Get Ups (1 ea side)
- Day 3 – 3 snatches (ea side)
- Day 4 – 4 Renegade Rows (ea side)
- Day 5 – 5 Lunges w/ KB (ea side)
- Day 6 – 6 Shoulder Press (ea side)
- Day 7 – 7 Clean & Squat
- Day 8 – Louganis
- Day 9 – Russian Twists (9 ea side)
- Day 10 – 1 Handed Swings (ea side)
- Day 11 – Single Leg RDL (ea side)
- Day 12 – 12 Two Handed Clean & Press
Let’s throw in another 50 swings for good measure, to kill the clock and make it a solid hour of power!
Moleskin:
- Big thanks to Harley and TR for allowing me to take on this time honored tradition.
- It truly was an honor to lead you men today. Although the weather conditions were not ideal you still came out in force and made this one of the most memorable downpainments. I had been looking forward to this for awhile but as it neared I started feeling the pressure to deliver up to the expectations of previous years. From the lack of mumble chatter, the grunts, and the refusnik on the last call for swings it appeared the workout delivered.
- Note to all PAX, avoid hanging out with Radar the night before you Q #mindgames
- Good to have Butter Maker back out for his 3rd workout within a week. Good work out there brother.
- Unfortunately I was too smoked, the voice of “if you can’t do it, don’t Q it” on repeat, to focus on any of the good banter of the PAX. Sound off below on any quality gems that were missed.
Announcements:
- Sign up for the Movie Unbroken on January 10th
- Wednesday 12/24 Convergence at Anvil 6am
- Friday 12/26 Kevlar at Charlotte Christian 7am
- Saturday 1/3 FNG Convergence at Ascent
T’was the morning before Christmas Eve
14 brothers launched at 0530 from the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne AO for a Christmas eve eve beatdown. Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
The PAX launched at 0530 from the Vine Restaurant at the Ballantyne AO and headed towards the back of the corporate park.
COP – SSH X 20, IW X 15, Burpees X 5, Merkins X 20, Burpees X 5
We headed over to the small pond with a bridge. Q called run up the hill, 10 Squats at the top, 20 Merkins at the bottom, one lap around the pond and wait for the six doing LBCs X 2.
We then headed over to the 5.5 foot wall and stopped on the way for wide merkins to wait for the six. At the wall we did 11s – 10 merkins at the bottom, 1 squat at the top; 9 merkins at the bottom, 2 squats at the top; etc.
We crossed the street and headed up the hill to the bridge flutter, down the hill dollies. Then we moseyed over to the short wall beside Lock ness for Mary – Heel to heaven and Bicycles (curtesy of Puppy Love). Head to the COT.
Moleskin:
It was a great morning in The Gloom. The guys were in great spirits and many of us enjoyed a warm cup of coffee afterwards.
It was an honor leading the men in The Gloom.
Announcements:
Sign up for the Movie Unbroken on January 10th
Sign up for the Joe David Run
Wednesday 12-24 Convergence at Anvil 6 – 7
Wednesday 12-31 convergence at The Maul 6 – 7
Friday 12/26 the Brave Converging with Centurion at 0530.
Run reindeer run!
Nine strong reindeer got up early on Christmas Eve, Eve for a little romp around the bull ring. Despite the early mist and chilly start the bell sounded at 5:15am. Everyone in sleeves except Strange Brew. It needs to be below freezing for sleeves. The rest of us are weak.
The Thang:
Warm up mile at fellowship pace to the entrance of the bull ring. Six exercises: heels up with heels pointed in, out and straight; toes up with toes pointed in, out and straight; butt kickers; high knees; bounding; and skips (I know they are not skips but they do feel like it).
The assignment was given. Run 400m, or half way around the bull ring, at your mile pace and then do a jog recovery for 400m. Repeto for two rounds then run back to the six to regroup after the end of two rounds. The Pax did a total of nine rounds and covered exactly six miles give or take.
Moleskin:
It was great leading out there today. The Pax pretty much lead themselves with Brat’s instructions. It was great seeing Drop Thrill as he literally dropped in for half a round until he pulled off the exit. Maybe next time you will join us. We never leave anyone behind unless they get lost #milerepeats.
I felt like the group was flying out there today. It must be the Christmas excitment. Teddy was charging every split. Haggis and Honey Bee were right behind Teddy. Running solid 1:19 splits each time and never complaining about it. Well maybe a little.
Soft Pretzel was looking impressive for taking so much time off from running since PRing his half marathon at Thunder Road. He is now cramming for the Joe Davis. Watch out! Outback looks like he is rounding back into form and his calves are no longer hurting. He was always close behind.
Abacus continues to show why he is the favorite going into the Joe Davis between the Chepuel brothers. I would lay money down that Chelms is going down. Strange Brew sets his pace and hits his marks everytime. Looking forward to seeing his brother out here next week. He says his brother is faster but I don’t believe it. Wingman has set a great foundation to PR his upcoming half marathon in January. His wife better be worried.
Great job men and it is a pleasure to run with you and beside you. Have a great holiday and everyone be safe!
It’s not going in our yard, Russ.
10 men with nothing better to do at 5:15 on a Tuesday morning gathered in the parking lot of SCMS, enjoying the beautiful, cold, rainy morning. Excited by a visitor from strange places (Glass Joe came all the way from Union County) and an FNG (Griner – ladies basketball coach at Charlotte Catholic), we headed out into the hard streets of South Charlotte.
Warmup run at a fellowship pace to Davie Park. Warmup with butt kickers, high knees and carioca in the parking lot. Assemble at the gate.
Proving that I am not a professional, we did a timed mile that was neither timed, nor a mile. Lots of PRs out there. Hairball came in at 3:15. Ok, maybe it was much less than a mile. Still.
Partner up. Partner 1 runs up around the upper parking lot loop. Partner 2 runs down towards whatever building that is at the end of the driveway, circles the loop and heads back. When the partners meet, do 40 merkins, 40 jump squats, 40 LBCs (per group). Flapjack directions. Repeat the whole thing again.
Gather near the gates for Mary (not so secret recovery). Flutter, Dolly, Russian Twist, Protractor.
Mosey towards the upper lot again. Find your partner. Partner 1 does the called exercise at the entrance to the loop while Partner 2 runs the loop around the parking lot. Flapjack. Repeat with the same exercise, both partners. Reps with 2 sets of lunges, burpees (thanks TL), jump squats.
Indian Run back to the SMCS parking lot. Done.
Moleskin
It’s not easy to design a Fast Twitch workout when there’s a fair chance that I’ll be the slowest guy out there. So we did lots of back and forth, loops, etc. that kept us all together. We still got about 5 miles in, most of it at high speed (for old guys).
FNG Griner is fast. Prohibition gets an extra referral bonus share for bringing him out. This was Lazy Boy’s first Fast Twitch post – and last, he says. He’ll be back. The Day Zero boys were out working hard today. I can’t really heckle them since they were mostly ahead of me. I’m probably still recovering from a much harder workout at The Rock.
Great work guys. While it wasn’t quite “fun”, working hard with this group is one of the highlights of my week.
Announcements
– Sign up for the private Area 51 showing of Unbroken on 1/10. Not many have signed up yet. Help the organizer out by getting it done soon. They’ll have to cancel the reservation with the theater if we don’t get the numbers up. REGISTER
– Joe Davis signups are still open, as is the opportunity to make a donation to the Foundation or to pay for coffeeteria afterwards (hosted by The Fort).
– Convergence on Christmas Eve at Calvary Church (Anvil). 6:00-7:00 followed by coffeeteria at Piper Glen Starbucks.
On the 5th day of Christmas…
On a rainy but not too cold Saturday, a few of the regulalrs came and a few of the regulars decided to sleep in. Using a common theme for this time of year, last Saturday Dolphin conducted his annual “12 days of Christmas” routine so this week we took a similar approach with the idea of “5 days of Christmas” – 5 sets of 5 exercises for 12 reps. Of course, this took less than half the workout so much more was accomplished…
Warmup: Jog to parking deck at Ballantyne Commons. SSH X 20, Slow Squat X 20, Imperial Walker X 20, Peter Parkers x 10 ea leg, 5 man-maker burpees (8 count in cadence).
Sprint up 1 level of garage for 1st set of 5 exercises @ 12 reps: Variations of merkins: Man-Makers, Wide, Diamonds, Carolina Dry Docks, regular merkins. Sprint down 2 leves for 5 sets of legs: Jump ups, step ups, 1 leg curb lunches, jump squats, monkey humpers. Sprint down 2 levels for peoples chair followed by 5 sets of abs in cadence: LBC’s, Dolly, Flutter, Bicycle, Heels to Heaven. Ran to the top of garage up 3 levels. Repeated above sets (with sprints in between) of merkins, legs, and abs for a total of 6 sets (instead of the planned 5 = 30 total sets). At the bottom of the garage, we broke up 4 X 100 yard sprints into intervals including bear crawls + sprint, bunny hop + sprint, high knees + sprint, and lunge walk+crab walk+sprint. Finally, finished with 7’s for 100 yards conducting merkins and squats on each end followed by 5 more 8-count burpees prior to jogging back to the launch. Since we had 1 minute left, we finished with merkins to failure.
Burpees 101: An Introductory Course
The VSF was planted, and 15 hearty lads set out for another assault at DMZ….Orlando (LIFO) followed shortly thereafter.
Thang:
Jog to church lot and one lap (1/3 of mile?) around the church
COP:
SSH x 25
Slow Squat x 25
IW x 25
Rockhopper x 25
Split into 3 groups for the following:
Group 1 & Group 2 – H-R Merkins while Group 3 runs 1/2 way around lot to relieve Group 2. Group 3 then does H-R Merkins while Group 2 runs to relieve Group 1….so on…so on…etc. CDDs & Jump Squats also called exercises.
People’s Chair w/Overhead Press x 25
Donkey Kicks x 25
People’s Chair a la Frankenstein
Donkey Kicks x 20
Lunge Walk 50 yards
Bear Crawl 30 yards
Buttkickers
High Knees
Backwards lunge walk 40 yards
Backwards bear crawl 40 yards
Plankorama
Mosey back to launch lot
6 MoM
Knee Up x 13
Slow Flutter x 13
Russian Twist x 13
Protractor
SSH x 13
6-Count, Perfect Form Burpees x 13
COT
Ye Olde Moleskine:
Good turnout by the DMZ pax…not sure why I was surprised. DMZ pax always brings it, but the over/under was 12 this morning….like I said – the DMZ pax never disappoints.
Orlando joined us a couple minutes into the downPainment – glad you made it brother.
Some decent mumblechatter among the pax. From the outset – several of the pax including Chelms, Semi-Gloss & Orlando were admitting they should never not post at DMZ as it is the closest AO to their home. Sounds like an HC for every Monday at DMZ to me. Tardy also lives very close to DMZ, so expect to see you more often brother when not taking the Muthaship whoopin’.
Last exercise produced some of the best banter in the morning gloom as Hairball referenced the “Cherkin” when YHC called 6-count Burpees. YHC also demonstrated the 6-count burpee to a befuddled pax. Chelms was scratching his head and looked very confused.
And just as an observation, Pop Tart bears a striking resemblance to Strawberry….twins?
I say it every time I Q, but it always bears repeating – it’s a privilege to Q the pax. For those who haven’t Q’d a workout – you’re missing out, and you can do it…you should do it. If you’ve been posting for 3-4 mos. or more and you haven’t Q’d – you’re overdue to Q.
Peace to you brothers
“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:8-11
Announcements:
“Unbroken” – Jan. 10th at Stonecrest theatres. Sign-up. Simba is your event Q. I’ve got the book if anybody wants to borrow it.
Joe Davis Memorial Resolution Run – also Jan. 10th. Sign up for 5K, 10K or both.
Checkout the F3 website to see what the F3F contributions and willing servant pax are doing at Billingsville & AG. #servantleadership
Christmas Eve convergences: Anvil @ 6am for an hour followed by coffeteria & Atlas @ regular time
Foxhole
7 brave men escaped the fartsack for kettlebell work at Foxhole. Here’s what we did.
The Thang:
warm up lap and circle up. 20 SSH, 20 IW, 15 merkins, 20 slow squats (all IC)
Partner up. Set 1: P1 carries both bells to light poll and back (~50 yards) while P2 does merkins. Repeat until 100 merkins combined. Set 2: P1 sprints to light poll and back while P2 does 2 hand swings. Repeat until 100 swings combined.
Back to circle. Alternate kettlebell burpees with the called exercise. Ladder of KB burpees – starting at 1, up to 6, back down. Called exercises as follows:
bent over rows x 15 each side, curls x 15, squats x 20, upright rows x 20, tricep extensions x 15. Repeato.
Mosey over to covered entrance of the Elementary school for Mary. (Note: don’t think we have ever used this space before and it was a nice way to stay dry.) Around the circle for PAX choice Mary: LBCs x 20, flutter x 20, heels to heaven x 20, dolly x 20, russian twist x 15, full sit-up x 10. (Threw in 20 2 hand swings in the middle of the Mary just to mix it up.)
Time left so circle back up for: 20 high pulls, 20 one hand KB merkins, 10 clean and press (one hand) and 15 squat and press (2 hand).
Moleskin: Tough morning to escape the fartsack. Cold, wet, couple days before Christmas, etc. Really appreciate the guys who made it out to push each other and get a strong workout in.
No new announcements but check the we site and e-mail for info on convergences, movie night, and Joe Davis Run.