Preblast – The Brave – Ranger PT Test
The Brave will start running the Ranger PT test every 6 to 8 weeks to provide the Pax a good baseline and measuring stick on improvment as we head toward the Spring Mudrun season.
The Ranger PT test consists of the following:
2 minutes – max pushups
2 minutes – max situps with someone holding your ankles
Max Pull-ups
Timed 5 Mile Run.
We will lauch at 5:15 at the The Vine – come warmed up. We will mosey down to the workout trail for the push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups, then mosey back up past The Vine to start the run. Attached is a route map – we will make two laps.
See you in the Gloom.
Champagne
The Charge – Under the Lights!
38 strong men gathered on a perfect fall morning at Providence Day School for the 1-YR ANNIVERSARY of “THE CHARGE!” This one was destined to be a good one when the lights came on in the stadium (thanks to Mutt). Although I think during the workout a few might have rather had the lights off…there’s nowhere to hide under those bright lights.
DDs got us started…
The Thang:
- X10 Burpees in parking lot then mosey down to the track at the stadium
- 1 warm-up lap with side-to-sides, backward run, high knees, heels to butts, lunge walk, backward lunge walk
- X20 SSH
- X20 Imperial Walker
- X20 Mountain Climbers
- X20 Peter Parker
- X20 Parker Peter
- Plank
- X20 LBCs
- X20 Monkey Humpers
- X20 Hill Billy’s
Partner up for some goal-line to goal-line fun:
- 25 yd partner wheel-barrows flip flop for 100 yds total.
- Partner carry 50 yds flip flop on way back
- 25 yd partner crab-barrows flip flop for 100 yds total.
- Partner carry 50 yds flip flop on way back
Hand-off to Booty to bring us home
Break into two groups; run 400, proceed to stadium steps and run steps, 10 burpees, run to track. Rinse and repeat 3x. Mary including LBC, LBRosalita, Russian Twists, and 50 Freddie Mercurys.
Oy!
Ye Olde Naked Man Moleskin:
- Awesome crowd this morning to celebrate 1-year of The Charge. Big thanks to pax from both Metro and Area 51 for making it happen.
- Thanks Mutt for the lights and creating the “Football Friday night atmosphere”!
- DDs…the crab-barrows were awful. Just plain cruel.
- Booty, tough to get 38 men to follow directions isn’t it? Nevertheless…it was a more than sufficient beat-down.
- I (Baracus) would comment on how strong some of the guys looked out front this morning, but too many in front of me to single any one out. Nice work fellas!
Cheers to all the PAX out there this am for their support of our 1YR Anniversary!
Announcements:
- Bring FNGs to The Charge next week and Baracus will donate a pair of lightly worn athletic shoes for #ShoeRedemption…for men at the Charlotte Rescue Mission. Drive ends on 11/22.
- Sign up for the Joe Davis Run on 1/10. See F3Nation.com for the pre blast and registration information.
Midterm elections – vote for Grass drills!
The Thang:
2 circles around parking area – karoke, backwards
Vote – – – Bearcrawl or crabwalk to cinema parking entrance (we did both)
Mosey to lot in front of HT – circle / disclaimer
- Vote – – – Peter parker or parker peter – after vote = X 15 each
- LBC with twists x 20
- Hands to toes x20
- Vote – – – SSH or IW? = SSH x 20
Random whistle throughout workout – 5 merkins (10 if too slow to react)
Mosey to fountain
- 30 dips OYO Choose which building to circle.
- 30 (15 each leg) – step ups and choose which building to circle.
Mosey to grassy area in front of hill – Grass Drills – run in place – knees high.
- One whistle – drop and 5 merkins.
- Two whistles – drop and 5 burpees
- Three whistles – run up to top of hill and back down
Mosey to vehicle parking – break up into 2 teams:
- Shuttle runs while rest SSH in cadence
- Winner chooses loser punishment – 5 burpees or run up/down hill.
Repeato but loser chooses punishment (Merkins while you wait).
Circle and Mary
- Vote – – – Dolly or flutter?
- Vote – – – Heels to Heaven or dying cockroach?
Moleskin:
YHC had wanted a football practice style workout for a while – sort of taking back old school but minus the Riddell coaches’shorts (do they even still make those?). Then the midterm elections happened so why not combine the two. Add a whistle, and voila – democracy and grass drills! I figured that I would let the pax have choices on certain exercises, and in the true form of our great democracy; either listen to the people, or decide what’s truly best for them myself. Flutie Flakes had thought that after high school and college, he wouldn’t have to do exercises at the tune of a whistle – YHC is glad to bring him back to his hay days. Mighty Mite got confused with democracy and grass drills – they are the same thing if you think about it! Heartbreaker was hoping for only two hill climbs on the grass drills – Coach YHC obliged due to O2 deprivation. I personally liked the competitive shuttle runs. Competition pushes pax even when they are tired. None of us wants to lose and have punishment. I enjoyed leading as always, and hope that the extra flavor was enjoyed by all. Maybe in February we can have a NFL combine style workout – YHC will bring my whistle!
Death Valley Combine
—Posted on behalf of Hopper—
20 pax joined up for a post-election workout. We did not have ballot boxes. We did not have dangling chads. We did not have “I Voted” stickers……but we did have running! Kudos to the half dozen or so pax who showed up early for KB’s….I am forgetting some, but recall at least Spackler, Stagecoach and Dolphin. When I pulled up Fireman Ed was there, too, but he was just drinking coffee watching the other guys workout…kind of creepy!
The Thang
Post disclaimer, we jogged to the front of the campus for:
25 SSH
20 MC’s
15 Peter Parkers
With the whistle quickly wrapped around YHC’s neck, the instruction was to follow down Strawberry Lane at 75% to 80% of mile pace and at the sound of the whistle drop and churn our 10 merkins. And so the pax followed, until we got to Rosecliff where we turned around and dropped for some quick planks. The run back to SCMS was the same whistle blowing drill, but with 7 diamond merkins this time. Once back at SCMS, circle up for some elbow planks…..dang, that gravel/asphalt hurts. YHC will need to rethink that next time.
Mosey to the baseball fields. Partner up! Partner 1 runs the perimeter of the entire baseball field along the fence line (amazing how much instruction that required!!) while partner 2 does dips until the return of partner 1. Flapjack. Round two was the same drill, but with derkins instead of dips. Flapjack.
Mosey to football field for some Mary:
35 LBC’s
20 Flutters
Mosey to the track for some combine action. We formed three lines of 6-7 guys per line. Last man in line gets a football and runs to the front Indian Run style. After front man gets the ball, he passes the ball back 1 by 1 until the then last man gets the ball and repeats. YHC mentioned any fumble by any team would result in ten merkins, but there was no fumblitis out there today! Our pax looked better than the Panthers backfield!…although Spackler would look funny with those pink dread hair extensions, wouldn’t he??….anyway…..
More Mary including:
20 Rosalita
20 Freddy Mercury (15 fast, 5 slow)
Protractor with angle “call-outs” from the pax
Last thing…..AYG 100 yard dash down the football field. Fletch SMOKED all of us and was at least 15 yards ahead by the end….nice work, man!
Moleskin:
It was an honor boys. Tough, fit pax show up to DV so I wanted to throw in a lot of running to not let you all down. I had a lot of fun doing it and thanks for the opportunity to lead, Stagecoach. Great work men!
Announcements:
- Do not forget Sole Redemption and bring your used men’s athletic shoes (washed preferably). Stagecoach inspired YHC to offer the shoes he was wearing on the spot! Goal is 300 pair with a stretch of 500!
- F3 Aftermath meets at the Starbucks in Piper Glen immediately following.
- F3 Holiday Party is scheduled for 12/6 at Sugar Creek Brewery
Dolphin, thanks for a great take-out!
#F3Dromedary – Back to High School
9 PAX launched into the balmy Fall morning to start their Hump Day off right at Union County’s Marvin Ridge High School / Middle School workout known as Dromedary.
The THANG:
- Disclaimer given – sounding rather ominous and uncertain about the plan
- Mosey to front of High School entrance for opening COP – All In Cadence: SSHx15; Merkinsx15; IWx15; Diamond Merkinsx8; Squatx15
- Partner Up – P1 slide up long rail; P2 Mountain Climbers until P1 done. Flapjack. Repeato with Rock Hoppers and Stump Huggers (? similar to the “lower” burpee motion without merkin)
- Mosey to soccer fields. Stop 3x along the way for LBCx20 OYO.
- At soccer fields. Continue partners. P1 up Hill 2 burpees; P2 to tennis bench 4 step ups. Meet back in field for 10 plank hand slappers with your partner. Flapjack. Repeato with meeting each time in the middle for 10 hand slappers. Progress to 4 Burpees / 8 Step-ups, 6 B / 12 SU, 8 B / 16 SU; 10 B / 20 SU. Plank until all done. 20 count.
- Mosey to football fields. Line up on 10 yard line.
- Bear crawl 30 yd ; Run back, plank until PAX complete
- Crab walk 30 yd ;
- Broad jump 30 yd ;
- Inchworm 30 yd ;
- Circle up for some Mary
- LBC
- Scorpion
- Flutter
- Side plank with leg raises
- In & Out
- Mosey back to COT
- Mileage covered = 1.99 miles.
Moleskin:
- Ice9 brought FNG Mike B. “Hot Pants” – Ice Nine gave lots of fodder, but the nickname represents a heroic episode that turned into one of your recurring nightmares. You definitely will want to ask him about it.
- We found 2 new areas today at the campus – High School front courtyard and Soccer Fields/Tennis Courts. The 3rd area, the lower Football field, has been used before, but it is a decent surface for hands and butts on the ground. There are at least 5 other areas to explore at this AO that include Rock Piles, Hills, Baseball fields, Tar Kiln Branch Creek (you never know with Bananas leading), and the stadium that may never be open but sure looks tempting. We’re only scratching the surface at this place.
- Pretty sure that the In & Outs (once done properly thanks to Outback) are one of the most useful lower back and abs moves because YHC would fail pretty quickly with correct form. Ditto with the Side Plank & lateral leg raises – using muscles and tendons that aren’t often accessed, but have good injury prevention with ITB pain and hip strength.
- “Jane Fonda” – the PAX gave YHC a hard time for the Scorpion. You mother’s Jane Fonda is your wife’s Jillian Michaels – a lot to borrow from there; just don’t get sucked in to doing a JM routine when you fartsacked on your Bootcamp (at least don’t let us know about it #keepingmymouthshut). The scorpion is another great back stretch that works the core. A little rough on the chest on the ground.
- Good intensity by the PAX today – notably Abacus / Soft Pretzel on the Merkin Slappers, Abacus on the Bear Crawl, and Ice9 on the Broad Jumps #easterbunny. There’s always an opportunity to take it to another individual level despite what may seem an easy workout. As the PAX demand, we can take the whole group there, but always feel free to adapt to the level you need.
Announcements:
- Ice9 and Snowflake are starting F3Commitment bootcamp workout at Weddington HS on November 15th – 6:30-7:30am.
- Joe Davis Run – 10K, 5K, Fun Run to raise money for a substance abuse clinic supported by some of the PAX. Competition between Area51, The Fort, and possibly Metro (if they get their act together) for Top 5 10K and 5K finishes in your team. 10K looks like the race to score some points!
Look At That Sky
15 PAX posted at this awesome AO for F3 Anvil. YHC and Champagne were joined by Jamboree for pre-KB after he completed a 4-mile pre-run. Off we went into the gloom.
Thang
Mosey around some lots toward the break in the trees known to YHC as the gate to North Face. Stop at closest lot.
COP
SSH x 20 IC
Merkin x 20 IC
Burpees x 10 OYO
Mosey through the gate to North Face to the base of this hill. Plank to wait for six.
3 Trip Set
Start in plank position. Q says go:
10 merkins/Sprint up NF/10 merkins/mosey to bottom/SSH IC to wait for six
Repeat x 2. Early finishers rewarded with burpees for round 2 and jump squats for round 3.
Bear crawl to top of NF
Mary
Flutter x 25 IC/Heels to Heaven x 20 IC/Dolly x 20 IC
Mosey to the top of Entrance 4. Plank-o-rama. Mosey to the bottom of Entrance 4.
Jump Squat x 20 IC. AYG up Entrance 4 Hill to rock pile.
Rock Set
Sets of 20 in civilian cadence: bicep curl/tri extension/overhead press
Mosey to bottom of Entrance 4. 20 Jump Squat OYO.
AYG back to your rock. Plank-o-rama. Repeat Rock Set. Return rock.
Mosey to pavilion. People’s Chair. Assemble in the sweat box. Split group in half.
Group 1: Bench Set repeats: 15 jump-up/15 dip/15 derkin
Group 2: Run to fence at end of athletic field and back. Swap.
Sprints
Start at line in parking lot. 5 x burpee. Sprint to other end of lot. 5 x burpee. Return to start.
Repeat x 2 with HRM and Jump Squat
Mary
LBC x 15 IC/6 inches/Flutter x 15 IC/6 inches/Heels to Heaven x 15 IC/6 inches
Moleskin
YHC enjoyed leading the PAX today. Strong work by all. Gomez was site FNG today. Thank you for coming out and hope you enjoyed this AO. Please come back any time. On the way to the launch lot Champagne took a moment to point out the beautiful sunrise. Thankful to see this today. Great way to start the day. A pleasure and a blessing to lead this fine group of men. The hope is that you got stronger in some way. Champagne took group out in BOM. Thank you brother.
Announcements
Shoes. Bring them for Sole Redemption. Boutique is shoe Q. Reports are 11 of the 40 for Anvil. Please bring lightly used men’s athletic shoes.
The Brave workout in Ballantyne on Fridays will be doing the Ranger PT test every 6 weeks or thereabouts. 2 minutes of push-ups/sit-ups/pull-ups followed by a 5-mile run. Champagne and Madame Tussauds on Q.
Runstopper on Q Friday at Joust and Saturday at the Rock.
Preblast: Devil’s Turn Hill Week
That’s right, hill week again and we will head to our Piper Glen AO. We will launch from the 4 Mile Creek Greenway parking area http://goo.gl/maps/Whecl at the corner of Rea & Bevington on Thursday morning at 0515. There are 4, 6, and 7+ mile options available.
The challenge is set below. If you are running Thunder Road, use your own discretion whether to take the challenge or not. Remember, YHC is no professional.
1) 4-miles – run 1 mile warmup at fellowship pace then remaining 3 miles at “marathon” pace from the running calculator link below. Use your 1-mile speed showdown time in the calculator.
2) 6-miles – run 1 mile warmup at fellowship pace then remaining 5 miles at “marathon” pace from the running calculator link below. Use your 1-mile speed showdown time in the calculator.
3) Red Pill – run 1 mile warmup at fellowship pace then run the Piper Glen hill course at “marathon” pace. Instead of stopping back at the greenway parking lot, go out on Bevington Place toward the track and run until it is time to get back for COT at 6:15. Total distance will depend on speed but could be around 7 to 7.5 miles.
See your proposed paces at http://runsmartproject.com/calculator using the 1-mile race time from the speed showdown.
If you have forgotten the route or would like some homework, see this previous blast for info.
http://f3nation.com/2014/06/18/devils-turn-preblast-time-to-hit-the-hills/
Frozen Pea Pea
Five men took to the street for a triple-7 treat in the hills of RainTree.
The Thang:
Warm-up run out to ABC store at Arboretum
Brief COP with SSHs, Burpees oyo, diamonds (per PH request)
Mosey through Arbo to Providence and Windbluff to Shallowood
Sevens on the hill #1: Burpees at bottom, CCDs at top
Mosey down Windbluff to the hill at Raintree
Sevens on the hill #2: Diamonds at the bottom, burpees at the top
Mosey over to Rounding Run
Sevens on the hill #3: lunges at the bottom; wide-arm merkins at top
Mosey to Rising Meadow for a couple gassers
Indian run back to launch
Total mileage: 5.75
Moleskine:
- The pre-tweet about the triple-7 treat seemed to thin out the crowds, despite Thunder Road being over a week away. Where’s the regulars? Already tapering.
- Alf seemed to have the strongest lead out of the bunch today; seemed to help lounging 10 minutes in the john prior to launch to avoid a Splinter. #nohiding
- When asked about his 2-gallon capacity outerwear, Mr Brady provided the group with an earful about a marathon in Boston once where his lack of sufficient undergarments led to a ‘frostbitten pea pea’. talk about shrinkage – ouch!
- Haze did a good job egging on the Q today to get some extra diamonds and a special excursion up the WIndbluff hill, by request of course
- Gummy – great to see you back out there today; hope the foot gets better.
- As always, its an honor to lead the men of FT. T-claps to Gummy for bringing us out.
TL out.
Option two: similar to this
A combined total of 36 foolhardy men went running in Ballantyne this morning. 11 of them were at Swift, 25 at Bagpipe. This is the Bagpipe back blast.
The Thang:
Warm up: 25 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 merkins.
Mosey to lake wall: 12 durkins, 12 dips. Run to next wall. Plankerama, then 12 durkins, 12 dips. Low and slow.
Mosey to bullring. Plankerama, then 10 merkins. Run 400m fast. Two sets of Mary – 20 x Flutter, 20 x Dolly. Run 400m fast. 20 x Heels to heavens, 20 x rosalita. Run 400m fast. 20 right side knee raises, 20 left side knee raises. Run 400m fast. 20 little baby crunch, 20 bicycles with Puppy Love.
Mosey to bottom of hill. 10 x 6-count burpees, then run to the top of the hill. Plank, then 15 solid merkins.
Mosey on home.
Moleskin:
– Great work from all – everyone enjoyed the sprints more than YHC expected.
– When given the option to pursue a different activity instead of the second set of 400s, the pax wanted to know what the other option was. Some were surprised that it was “to go a short distance from here, and then do something similar to this.” Didn’t sound like much of an option, so the pax opted for more of the same.
– Bring your old shoes for sole redemption!
– Sign up for the Joe Davis memorial run and support our brother Rock Thrill.
24 Votes for das Stinktier
No SF was planted…pretty sure Skunkworks doesn’t have one…Stone Cold took it with him to Joust. Harley – today would have been a good day for the SF on Election Day. #merica But I digress, sort of.
24 hardy lads voted to post at Skunkworks this morning, and it went a little something like this….
The Thang:
Grab your KB (or 2 if you’re Busch, Header?, others?) and head over to the church lots.
Abbreviated COP:
SSH x 18
Merkin x 18
IW x 18
1/2 the pax leave KB in COP lot, other 1/2 take their KB to adjacent lot
Circuit Work:
1. Run 1/3 Mile? (no idea how long the run was frankly) around church
2. 18 2-handed swings
3. Hairburners with 25, 35 or 45 lb. plate – 35 yards? down & back
4. 18 goblet squats
Rinse & Repeat 4x – using different KB each time at stations 2 & 4
Plankorama mixing in some Southern Gentleman, Yankee Aggressor, Christian Laettner (always a “Hate” except for Harley), 6 inches, etc.
Grab a KB, not necessarily your own, and double-time it back to small field next to the high school
Circle up for some more work but not in the order listed below:
Louganis w/KB x 18
LBC x 18
Upright Row w/KB x 13
One-legged Dolly R x 9; One-legged Dolly L x 9
Overhead Press w/KB x 18
Pass KB to the left
Renegade Row w/KB x 9R then x9L
Pass KB to the left
Two-handed Swing x 18
CCV (of course) x 18
COT
Ye Olde Moleskine:
Always a blast to be with the pax at Skunkworks…perhaps the best mumblechatter in all of Area 51. Smack talk, false bravado, hazing….love it! That being said, Semi-Gloss complimenting my beard on more than one occasion was a little unsettling. #creepybigshirtlessdude
Bananas was happy when Night Court wrested the LIFO title from him this morning just as we were starting COP. UnionSkunk coming soon?
Some strong work being put in out there for sure. More running than normal Skunkworks? Perhaps. Navigating the polling place workers, signs, etc. in front of the church added a challenge. #merica
Heard some “haven’t done hairburners in a long time” comments out there. They’re unsavory, to be sure, but for those who went the distance with them – you got your money’s worth. When I collected them after the workout, it was amazing all the gravel, rocks and even a cap to a plastic bottle. How in the world did that cap make it’s way through the hole in the plate?! Did someone eat some asphalt and I didn’t hear about it?
When Horsehead pulled his lighter KB out of his truck tool box, complaining about shoulder pain, I didn’t have the heart to tell him it didn’t matter as we would be sharing KBs at the stations and the work at the end…though he may have ended up with smaller KBs than his own every time. #wheresmychristmasornament
High Tide exclaimed at one point that he was looking for a key chain in lieu of a 50 lb. KB – that was a new one to me…and good humor.
Enjoyed it fellas. Always a good time at das Stinktier!
Announcements:
Lots of them:
Sat., Dec. 6 – A Very Merry Area51 Christmas Party at Sugar Creek Brewery. Probation dressing as Santa Claus
1-Year Anniversary of The Charge – Tomorrow – DD on Q
Any F3 FNG at The Charge = one pair of shoes to #SoleRedemption donated by Baracus
Don’t forget about the Arabian camel (Camelus dromedaries) – the large, even-toed ungulate with one hump on its back. He’s at Marvin Ridge HS every Wednesday at 0530. The also even-toed Bratwurst is your Q tomorrow.
Joe Davis Memorial Resolution 5k/10k – Sat. Jan. 10th. Sign-up. Run. Be on a cross country team or something like that.