Nice Form!
While Frasier was bringing pride to the Southland at the Muthaship, the 16 men of Base Camp moseyed down to the football field and, after being properly disclaimed, continued thusly…
Warmup
SSH x 20
Merkins x 10
IW x 20
Merkins x 8
Slow Squat x 15
Merkins x 6
Peter Parker x 10
Merkins x 4
Parker Peter x 10
Merkins x 2
Jog halfway around track, assemble on the far sideline.
The Thang
Sideline to sideline run with various exercises before, during or after said run.
Carioca, High Knees, Buttkickers, Merkins, Jump Squats, LBCs, Sister Mary Catherine, Carolina Dry Docks.
Gather in the middle for some starfish. 5 merkins in the middle. Four corners for 15 x Merkins, Sister Mary Catherines, CDDs and Jump Squats. Repeat until time called – about 12 minutes total.
Mary Break
Flutter x 20
Protractor
Dolly x 15 (after a Q fail)
Rosalita x 15
Mosey to the bottom of the stairs. Partner up.
Partner 1 does exercise while partner 2 runs up the stairs and follows the path back down. Flapjack while partners do 50 total of each exercise: Merkins, Jump Squats, CDDs, Sister Mary Catherines.
Partner 1 does 20 full sit-ups while partner 2 planks and holds partner 1’s feet. Flapjack.
Partner 1 does 5 Prarie FIre Marys. Flapjack.
Done
Moleskin
Solid work this morning by the PAX. Fireman Ed was the form police all morning and demonstrated excellent form himself on the buttkickers – I didn’t know sound effects were evidence of proper form.
Hopper eschewed the moderate label and ran in 4 miles from his house (but got a ride home – what was the backup plan if I didn’t show up?). More in line with the spirit of Base Camp, Simba and Big Top put in a solid 1/2 mile run in from Cedarwood. Next week, they’re meeting at the daycare.
Thanks, Passport, for letting me Q at Base Camp. Great group of guys.
Announcements:
Mud run signups are still open. Check the F3 website.
Church on the Street always needs volunteers. Check the weekly email for more information.
Church at Charlotte men’s retreat is Oct 24-26. 15 or so PAX have already HCd. Join us. Registration coming soon on CAC’s website.
Failure
On a morning not unlike many other, nineteen men ventured out into the gloom for a little Monday morning workout named for its location but known for much more: DMZ.
The THANG
05:29 – Plank for the disclaimer and a short explanation of the workout
05:30 – Merkins to failure
Mosey to Carmel Middle School. Circle up in the lights for warm up of SSH x 45.
Mosey to back of CMS for People’s Chair. No clock. Stay seated as long as possible. When you reach failure, run to the baseball fence and back. Failure has costs – repeat on one leg. I didn’t check the watch, but we did this until Love Boat and then finally Outback reached failure… or quit to allow the workout to move along. Outback said he could stay there all day, and I didn’t want to test him while I was on one leg.
Mosey down the hill to the CMS track. Partner up based on similar size / speed / fitness level. Partners complete called exercise until one reaches failure. Then run a lap. Winner does LBCs while loser does 10 burpees.
Merkins
Flutter (backwards run)
Elbow plank
Mile run (Tardy – flying, well done) – or 3/4 of a mile for everyone else
Mosey back to Carmel park with an extended lunge walk up hill (who knew those speed bumps were that far apart) followed by AYG 1-minute sprint back to finish.
0615 – COT
Moleskine
I’m struggling here. There was virtually no mumble chatter. None. It was eerily quiet, even during what seemed like People’s Chair forever – normally a Q-heckler’s wheel house. While I’d like to relay funny stories to make this more readable, everyone put their heads down and just got it done today as we covered +/- 2.8 miles. Hopefully the rambling words that follow form some semblance of a rational thought, and you are not all dumber for having read it.
Design of this workout was a result of F3 Connect (first plug). If you haven’t, you should check it out. It is lunch and networking with F3 guys, currently being held at Peculiar Rabbit on Tuesdays. Check Twitter @F3Connect for the next one.
After hearing from Dredd and OBT at F3 Connect last week, I finally got around to reading their book, Freed to Lead (second plug: http://www.amazon.com/Freed-Lead-Unshackling-Modern-day-Warrior/dp/0991238109/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406559013&sr=1-1&keywords=freed+to+lead). It’s worth reading for several reasons, not the least of which is to get a bit of the history and mission, and if you hate it, you probably only wasted a couple hours. Anyway, in the book, OBT tells a story about crew and how the third 500m segment of a 2km race is often the hardest. I won’t do it justice, but the book draws parallels to the third quarter and that period of life often known as mid-life (roughly age 40-60) when a guy often needs to rely on the men around him. For some reason, that struck a chord with me.
I wanted to design the workout today to include multiple failures (not just in my ability to Q, of which there were likely many) and show that we can go further together than we can alone. That having someone alongside you – pushing, pulling, cajoling, and hopefully encouraging – you both go further. Hopefully that was conveyed, if not accomplished.
I cut the mile race off at the end of the third lap because you just never know how much time you have (taking this allegory to its logical ending, Tardy will live to 80 or possibly forever). It’s true though, and it was made more evident in COT. Please remember Chelms’ brother, and his family, in your prayers as he is dealing with brain cancer.
Thanks to Skywalker (get well soon, brother! It gets quiet out there without you.) for the opportunity to lead today. It was an honor, gentlemen.
Kirk
The best part of waking up is Burpees and Pull ups in the Gloom
7 men posted at Foxhole to make a great downPAINment on their bodies and minds to start their week off right. Here’s what we did:
The Thang:
COP – SSH X 25, IW X 20, Squats X15, Merkin X 15
Mosey over to the soccer field
KB Ladder – 1 Burpee, 2 Goblet Squats, 3 two handed swings
Each set, add 1 to the burpee, 2 to the goblet squats, 3 to the two handed swings. 10 Sets
LBCs when finished.
Mosey over to the playground, running backwards up the hill carrying KB
7’s – 6 two handed curls and overhead tricep extensions, 1 pull up
5 two handed curls and overhead tricep extensions, 2 pull ups
4 two handed curls and overhead tricep extensions, 3 pull ups, etc.
Flutter when finished.
Mosey over to the side wall of the school.
7’s – 6 Balls to the wall with KB lift (each arm), 1 Peoples chair with upright row and a press
5 Balls to the wall with KB lift (each arm), 2 Peoples chair with upright row and a press
4 Balls to the wall with KB lift (each arm), 3 Peoples chair with upright row and a press, etc.
Dollies when finished.
Circle up – dying coachroach X 15 russian twist X 15
COT
Moleskin:
Welcome Yogi to Foxhole and to Charlotte. Yogi is in town on business from F3 Florence and we were happy he decided to post with us. Bagpipe (Tuesday) and The Maul (Wednesday) are the closest workouts to your hotel.
Philmont has 2 weeks (I think) to lose 4 pounds until his big trip to Philmont. He’s be posting often, so the weight shouldn’t be an issue. We did discuss techniques that included laxatives for getting under the requirement. Good luck buddy, keep grinding.
Rip Curl is a machine. Seems like he post every day of the week. Keep at it brother.
Wingman and Frehley’s Comet didn’t seem to care for my Balls to the Wall KB lifts. I added that one to the rotation this morning especially for Frehley’s. Hopefully we see you both out at Swift tomorrow morning.
I was pumped to see Honeybee post this morning. He’s been training hard for the Chicago marathon. I was starting to worry that he forgot what a KB looks like.
It was a pleasure leading the PAX this morning.
Announcements:
F3 Knights game this Thursday. See the F3 Nation main page for details.
#F3Swift Preblast – Extending Steady State
Swift will launch on Tuesday morning at 0515 from the Ballantyne AO at the Vine restaurant.
YHC hears often in other workouts, “you guys at Swift are just too fast for me”. Well, that’s simply not true. We have a mix of all ability levels. Some are fleet-footed runners and some are hard-nosed grinders wanting to become more fleet-footed. Since we generally do time-based intervals, every PAX gets a workout appropriate for them, we regroup, and maintain the 2nd F. All warm-ups and cool-downs should be done at a 2nd F pace. Total mileage for the Hour varies between 5 and 6.5 miles, so you don’t have to be training for a marathon to finish the workout. If it’s ever not this way, it’s the Q’s fault and please let him hear about it!
The hills are off this week, but there is a return to pushing 10K pace in intervals between .5 and .75 mile. The THANG will be rounds of 4:30 at 10K pace, 1:30 jog to regroup and recover. We’ll head to the North Community House / Metlife area for wide open lanes and limited elevation changes.
To find your 10K pace, go to http://runsmartproject.com/calculator and input a recent race effort. Click Calculate > Then click Equivalent tab > find 10K pace per mile.
See you in the Gloom!
Cricket Anyone?
31 humans [including some Dads, some pre-teens and some toddlers] hit Col Beatty Park on Saturday morning for the weekly edition of F3 Dads [Charlotte South style].
The Thang [I left my Weinke in my car this morning… so, this is a general description of things I can hardly remember two days later]
Warm Up:
-SSH X 20
-IW X 20
-Squat X 20
-Merkin X 10
-High Knees / Butt Kickers
Red-Light Green Light:
-Frog Jump
-Bear Crawl
-Gorilla Jump
Relay Races [five team of four kids]
Core Work – LBC, Flutter, Dolly, Plank
Sprints
Finish with ten burpees
Moleskin
- So, when Header asked me to Q F3 Dads this past Saturday I said, “Sure.” It was actually a little harder than I thought it would be. There was less heckling of the Q than a normal workout, but I found myself over-explaining things when I know the kids just wanted to get after it. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- I may have worked the kids a little too hard. My sons walked downstairs on Sunday morning saying their stomachs and legs were a bit sore. My workout was light on the kids games and heavy on the traditional F3 stuff… but, the kids seemed to enjoy it.
- When we showed up the baseball fields for the workout there were two games of Cricket in process. Luckily, Cricket players don’t hit bombs far into the outfield, so we were able to secure a patch of grass in right field that was suitable for the workout.
- Kids love races… it’s just a given. And my favorite part was watching the youngest kids try to “stay in their lane” during the relay races. Some of them were veering all over the place like drunken sailors.
- Young Love gets the Dad/Husband of the day award for bringing all his kids out. How many Young Love 2.0s are there anyway?… I lost count, but it’s at least four.
- Thanks to the other Dads for helping keep the kids focused.
Grinders after the storm
YHC woke up last night to some pretty strong thunder thinking the workout would be bagged for lightning, but good news – it was only 11:30, plenty of time to clear out. 6 hours later we brought our own thunder at The Matrix.
It’s 5:30 – let’s mosey.
Run to lower lot for COP
SSH x 25 IC
IW x 25 IC
Merkins x 25 IC
Mosey back towards cars with a pit stop for:
Pull ups x 10
Derkins x 20
Dips x 30
Move to rock pile, grab a rock. It was dark and wet, someone said their could be snakes, maybe so but I already threw out the disclaimer so we proceeded. Move across the field back to lower lot and partner up in groups of 3. 2 partners (with rocks) at one island, and the 3rd down at the other island. P1 does Merkins, P2 runs across lot to P3 who is doing Dry Docks, P2 takes over Dry Docks. P3 runs back to P1 and takes over Merkins. Keeping going until called number of exercises. Clear as the muddy field, right?
Round 1: Merkins and Dry Docks x 150 total reps of each for the team.
Round 2: Squats (with rock) and Lunges (with rock) x 150 total reps of each for the team.
Round 3: Shoulder press (with rock) and bicep curls (with rock) x 200 total reps of each for the team.
Round 4: Calf raises (with rock) and Monkey Humpers x 200 total reps of each for the team.
Round 5: LBC’s and Flutters x 200 total reps of each for the team.
Plank between rounds if finished early.
Carry rocks back to pile, but first knock out 50 bent over rows and 30 triceps extensions with rock. (Ran out of time to complete the Grinder on these)
Mosey back towards cars with a pit stop for:
Pull ups x 10
Derkins x 20
Dips x 30
Time
Moleskin:
A strong group out there this morning with some pretty constant moving and full body routine. YHC pulled into the lot at about 5:20 with a few cars already there. Zip was of course early and already chattering while working his Stick over the lower half to loosen up the tight parts. He had an FNG – Madison with him. Madison is an ironman triathlete and put on one of the strongest FNG showings you are going to see, hope to see you back out there. Jelly Fish is a posting machine. Since first coming out a couple of weeks ago he’s out there 4+ mornings a week already.
Thanks for the send of Jelly Fish.
Always and honor,
Alf
Park & Ride
Grab a bell or two and mosey to the top of the hill at Entrance 4 just under the Park & Ride sign (with a rest stop for a quick warm up). Take 1/2 lap around the church lot.
Park: 25 two-handed swings (x2)
Ride: Run 1/2 mile loop
Park: Switch to a bigger bell–25 two-handed swings (x2).
Ride: Run 1/2 mile loop
Park: 25 two-handed swings (x3)
Ride: Run 1/2 mile loop
Farmer Carry KBs up and down Entrance 4 (x2)
Shuttle Runs
- 300 yard (6 x 50) shuttle run. Three times.
- 150 yard (6 x 25) shuttle run. Three times.
Mosey home with KB.
MOLESKIN
It’s BRR training season so even if you’re not running the BRR, you’re probably going to be running because of the other guys doing the BRR. The only reliable non-running Qs these days may be Brown (committed 0.0, from way back); Salt Lick (busted wheel); Chelms (scurvy or rickets or something) and Mall Cop (depending on which shoes he’s wearing). Most every other Q s lacing up the smokeboots, so be warned.
The interspersed swings were sort of rest and sort of keeping the legs tired, as well as a way to distract everyone that we were doing a lot of running. Stage Coach looked mighty comfortable swinging that 28 kg, while Alf, Lab Rat, Donkey Kong, Mouth and Stage Coach all put in strong showings on the 1/2 mile circuits.
Have been wanting to work in the shuttle runs for a while and they serve well as a tough finisher. Maybe too well, as Nightcourt busted it so hard we almost had to farmer carry him back to COT.
The Fog of … Olde Providence
6 brave pax fought off the allure of the fartsack and endured the enveloping fog for a recycled Weinke from a fill-in Q. Here is how we bonded for 60 minutes:
The Thang
Mosey to near field for COP:
- SSH
- IW
- Slow Squats
- Lunges across field
- Toy Soldiers across field
Mosey to Playground for Declining Sets (10 -> 1):
- Jump Squats
- Pullups (or Supine Pullups/Rows)
- Decline Merkins
After 10 -> 6, audible to catch our breath with Plank-o-rama:
- Both elbows – 45 sec hold
- Left elbow – 30 sec hold
- Right elbow – 30 sec hold
- CCV (Cumberland County Viaduct) – Left – 10 IC
- CCV – Right – 10 IC
- Both elbows – 30 sec hold
Declining Sets (continued, 5 -> 1)
- Jump Squats
- Pullups (or Supine Pullups/Rows)
- Decline Merkins
Mosey to Concession Stand, with lunge walk along the way
Declining Sets (21 – 15 – 9)
- Step Ups
- Incline Merkins
- Butterfly Situps
Mosey to Outfield
- Burpee Broad Jumps – 7
- Prairie Fire Mary – 7
- Jack Webb – to 6/24
Mary (part 1)
- Mason Twist
- Stop-motion Freddie Mercury #crowdpleaser
- LBC’s
Agility (foul line to center field and back)
- Karaoke – Left & Right
- Backpeddle – there and back
- Side Shuffle – Left & Right
Mary (part 2)
- Dolly
- Flutter
- Protractor
- Plank – 60 sec finisher
Time
COT
Announcements:
- Young Life Mud Run
- F3 Dad’s Camp
- F3 Dad’s “workouts”
- Moderate workouts – Monday’s Basecamp; Thursday’s Peak 51; Saturday’s Ascent (here)
- 1st anniversary of F3 Ascent is next Saturday – YHC (High Tide) on Q
Moleskin:
Great work out there today! Welcome to FNG Lumberg (Will M), who found us on his own #noEHrequired. Fantastic work on your first post with us. T-claps to Whitesnake who has already lost 1 pound per post (8) since beginning F3. Keep it up, brother! And strong work by all.
Couple of appearances by Larry Bird, aka Blitzen and Bubbles, at times today – we need you guys in the Q rotation at Ascent! Let me know your availability, and we’ll get you on the schedule!
The fog today made it almost unbearable at times. During COP, we couldn’t even see our cars less than 100 yards away! YHC had to audible for Plank-o-rama during our Decling Sets on the Playground just to let us catch our breath in the 100% humidity. Brutal.
Thanks, Blitzen, for taking us out and reminding us of the roles we each play, beyond our 1st F workouts.
Sound off in the comments with any other tidbits missed.
It was an honor, as always, to lead today.
Aye.
Double (Deck)er Fun
13 of the finest SOBs posted for a little something different south of 51. Thats Sons of Ballantyne for those wondering.
Disclaimer provided- granted lack of attention means not sure all heard it.
And we were off
The Thang:
Fellowship pace run to Metlife building
Circle up between two parking decks next to putting green
Instructions were given:
Partner up similar speed
Each will run to a parking deck taking the ramp to the top (4 stories and roughly .5 miles) back down the stairs for given number of times then meet in the middle – plank until your partner returns
And do given number of merkins in single count cadence
Round 1 – 1 cycle up ramp to the top and down the stairs, meet in the middle and do 10 merkins.
Round 2 – switch decks and run 2 cycles up deck ramp to the top and down the stairs, meet in the middke and do 20 merkins.
Round 3 – switch decks again and run 3 cycles up deck ramp to the top and down the stairs, meet in the middle and do 30 merkins.
Round 4 – switch decks again and run 4 cycles up deck ramp to the top and down the stairs, meet in the middle and do 40 merkins
If time was still remaining begin laddering back down.
At 6:52 time was called and everyone headed back to launch point at fellowship pace.
Moleskin:
YHC knew we would’nt make it all the way up the ladder and back down. Actually no one made it all the way thru the 4th round. Brisket and Younglove came close with right at nine trips up the parking decks. The point was to push as hard as you could for the entire time.
Great work by everyone today. This one was tough. YHC came up with the idea while a recon mission in the AO yesterday.
There are lots of parking decks there and YHC thought we needed to put more of them to use. There are actaully 7 decks in the AO so expect to see more of them in the future.
Thanks for the honor and privilege to lead this great group of men today. Lots of great work out there today. Everyone pushed it hard out there this am and the humidity was terrible.
Also some good 2nd F in the middle. Quote of the day from Frehley’s – “Are we doing abs? YHC – No. Frehley’s – Well I’m going to do some. I need to do abs. It will be bad if i don’t get to do abs.
Announcements:
BRR runs Thursday evening 7:30 pm Night Train and Sunday morning 6:00 am Rum Runner.
Mud Run signups still open. Time for Area 51 to step up. Lots of free agents so no need to have a complete team
That’s all I’ve got. Comment below on anything YHC missed.
Champagne out.
The Road Less Traveled / Pass The Ruck!
9 Strong arrived in the Foggy Gloom ready to tackle the beast of the #F3Outland. Hairband’s family accounted for half of the PAX as many of the regulars were enjoying a little time away #NEWJERSEYINTHEHOUSE! F3 is how we roll down south, let’s begin:
Pre-Work – 6:00am
Zip led the way for the “Halfway Home” 3.5 miler to get the party started followed by Glass Joe and Double E.
The Thang (Double E on Q)
Mosey to SF (Thank you CT) for Warmup!
SSH x 25 IC
IW x 20 IC
10 x Burpees – For Snowman arriving EARLY!
CDD x 20 IC
MC x 20
Mosey toward Facilities Building and what do we find along the way? A sweet Disc Golf Disc. New toy .. Let’s Play.
Double E throws disc and PAX chase
Once at Disc 25 x Merkins
Rethrow , Chase, 30 LBC OYO
Rethrow, how convenient … dip bars, 10 x dips OYO
Rethrow to Facilities building for a little PC w/ Air Presses x 20 IC
Next up, The Spider Man
Half of PAX on Wall, half shifting planks and rotate on/off wall
After Round 1 complete, 30 Speed Squats
Repeato BTW Wall walks / Shifting Planks in opposite direction
Plank-O-Rama
¼ mile sprint to “The Road Less Traveled” (Mary while all PAX Catch Up included –Dollies, Flutters, Bicycles)
(and by the end it was Dead Men walking on the Green Mile!)
It went something like this:
10 x Walking Lunges
10 x Burpees
10 x Walking Lunges
25 x Merkins
10 x Walking Lunges
35 x Slow Squats
10 x Walking Lunges
15 x Bomb Jacks
10 x Walking Lunges
25 x Merkins
10 x Walking Lunges
10 x Burpees
Seriously O2 deprived, It is a great time to hand the reigns over to HB!!
Let’s do it!
Slow mosey to get some 02 back in the lungs.
Enough of that…
Backpedal
Karaoke right (audible for Belly Flop)
Karaoke left
Circle up on side of school for some quick Double E led plank work while I pick up a coupon which was a 2nd 2 brick ruck for the 2.0’s I asked Drop Thrill to drop his ruck in the middls and then gave some quick instructions on the ruck sack and why Drop Thrill has been lugging the thing around for a few weeks. I could picture Dora & the Spearhead guys with a smile on their faces while this was going on.
Time for “Pass the ruck”, simple I thought it would be good for everyone to get a little taste of a ruck.
Somebody put on the ruck and we all do the following pain stations:
Rail slides
Step ups/jump ups x 20
Dips x 30
Once the PAX with the ruck completes one circuit he drops the ruck in the middle for the next PAX, we keep this up until everyone has had a turn with the ruck.
Once everyone was done a quick mosey to the wall for some more ruck fun.
PAX at the end does 5 squat presses with the ruck while other PAX are on the wall doing People chairs. After the 5 squat presses you hand the ruck to the next guy and get on the wall. This continued until the ruck made it to the end of the line, which took a lot longer than I, or my legs, wanted it to.
Drop the ruck for some quick Mary, 20 LBC’s on your own and that’s time!
Moleskine :
Great Job this morning in the Gloom as the PAX were ready to strap it on and let it rip. The morning Pre-run proved once again that Zip is living up to his name! Great Job changing the run course to the main curvy road in the dense fog #HISSOCKSWILLGUIDEUS. Also great to see the HB clan back out in full effect. They are all planning on moving down from NJ strictly due to their love of F3Outland #seriousEH.
Also Great to have DT back with us beginning to look more and more like Super Man every week! Praise report his Mom is doing much better and is home now and way to close us out this morning in prayer.
Solid beatdown all around and strong work by all.
The Red Light and Blue is coming up in August for Drop Thrill and I (HB) am looking at doing a GORUCK Light in November if there is any interest.
Watching Prime Time running back to the cars through the fog while carrying Old Glory was an unexpected cool moment and could have only been more patriotic with some PAX behind him and Countertop doing his PT Cadence.
It is always a pleasure to sweat with our F3 Brothers on Saturday Morning!
#AlwaysPushedAlwaysPushing