I hear the hills calling

I hear the hills calling

The VSF was planted since the real one may be Ireland with Spackler and 10 pax got at it for a dose of the Rebel Yell. With a jog around the lot of the movie theater, we headed back to our start point for The Thang.

25 Merkins OYO. SSH x 25 IC
20 Merkins OYO. IW x15 IC
15 Merkins OYO. CDD x 10 IC
Head across the street towards Murderhorn, but stop short and hop on the field for some strength and speed work.
Sprint 50 yds. Mosey back x6
Jump knee tucks x 6; sprint 50 yds. Repeat x 3
Plyo- Merkins x6; sprint 50 yds. Repeat x3
Skier jumps x6; sprint 50 yds. Repeat x 3
Circle up for Prison Core
Legs at 90 degrees! toe touches center, right, left 10 each
10 LBC Twists left and right.
10 side crunches left and right.
20 Russians twists
20 Freddy mercury
20 superman
Rinse and repeat x3
Enough field work, head for the hills. We headed towards Murderhorn, but better heads prevailed and we made a U-turn and headed back to the theater and grab some wall.
BTTW with 5 presses.
People chair 90 sec with 20 air presses IC.
50 LBC OYO
Peoples chair 60 sec, arms out front, 20 lateral raises IC.
Head back to start. Not to cheat anyone out of 30 sec, Death Star Burpees until no time on the clock.

Great work by all, especially on these muggy mornings that we have. It’s true you don’t have to go far to get a good workout and staying away from the hills is always a plus.
Thanks for allowing me to lead you thru the gloom.

IRON MILE as a Pre-Workout?

7 men seeking next level CSAUP stuff gathered at SPEARHEAD this morning and literally pushed weights plates for a Mile with a minimum of 45LBS Ruck,…as a Warm-up.

The Thang: 

05:00 IRON MILE WARM UP

–          45LBS Minimum Ruck Sack on each Pax

–          2 Teams of 3

–          Weight Plate

–          4 Laps = 1 Mile

–          P1 pushes plate until reaching complete exhaustion, P2 and P3 jog behind

–          P2 pushes plate until reaching complete exhaustion, P1 and P3 job behind

–          P3 pushes plate until reaching complete exhaustion, P1 and P2 jog behind

–          Rinse and repeat for a mile

05:28: Completion in 28 Minutes

05:30 BEGIN SPEARHEAD Workout

The Thang:

 In Honor of the fallen soldiers of Operation Red Wing 6/28/05

–          6 Lanes (or Stations) on the Track

–          Each lane perform 28 reps of each exercise

–          Once a full round is completed sprint around track

–          Target 5 rounds in 30-45 minutes

 

Lane 1: Merkins x 28

Lane 2: Sit ups x 28

Lane 3: Lunge Walk with Ruck Overhead Arms Locked Out x 28

Lane 4: Squat with Ruck Press x 28

Lane 5: Dead Lift Ruck x 28

Lane 6: Ruck KB Swing x 28

COT

Moleskine:

This was some varsity level stuff today men. Just the IRON MILE alone was brutal. Followed up by the 6.28.05 routine made us feel like we whipped. T-Claps to Daniel Son who was amazing pushing those plates. He and Hankey are now in the running for Selection so guys if you need help, we will be glad to put together a Selection plan for you…and don’t forget Liquor Cycle who might have the fastest plate push time ever and also my want to do Selection. Somone EH him into signing up!!

Please sound off below as I have a busy day and can’t type anymore.

Again it was an honor to lead such a strong group today. You are what makes Q’ing fun!

Respectfully, The Hoff

 

Day Zero Challenge- Pre Blast

Come join us tomorrow and see how you have grown or where you go from here. 

Details Below 

The Day Zero Challenge 

We all dedicate a great deal of discipline, time and effort into participating in F3 workouts. Purple Haze and I want to help you measure your results on a regular basis. The event will consist of several exercises completed over a 1 hour period. It will be the same every time we hold the Day Zero Challenge. (We are thinking every 8 weeks or so). The clock will start at 0700 and end at 0800. You will measure how far you get within the cycle. And then the next time you do it try to exceed your last. 

There will be no coupons, sandbags, etc. It will be just you, your body and your mind. I think it is a safe assumption that the exercises chosen will be difficult and so will the amount you have to do. We wouldn’t call it a challenge if this wasn’t the case. 

There will be no heroes in the back blast or scores posted. If you want Purple Haze and I to keep track of how far you get then we are happy to do so. That way you do not have to worry about tracking your improvement. 

Things to consider: 

If you need to warm up, show up early and do so. The clock will start at 0700. We will have a timer out there so everyone is on the same page. We may even have some tunes going. (requests for music is acceptable but nothing promised. Keep it clean)

We will meet in a COP on the lower fields. This is where we will start. The exercises and clock will be posted so you can see.

2.0s are welcome but keep in mind that the purpose of this is for you to progress as far as you can within the hour time allotment.

Good form is always a topic at Area 51. Especially when certain individuals are present. You should know the right way to do the exercises. No one will call anyone out. Integrity is expected in everything we do. This is about you only. (Of course, I am sure there will be some healthy motivational banter out there too.)

Bring water because you will be smoked at the end of this.

Here is an example of how it will work. The sequence has not been determined yet but will be soon. Each set of exercise is followed by a lap around the track. (The lap will consist of every inch of the cement track. If you stay on the outside edge you will be fine. I note this because there are places where you could cut across (basketball court). We will try to put some cones out to guide you)

 

COP- 

Exercise #1- 

100 Burpees 

Take a lap. 

Exercise #2 

100 Squats 

Take a lap 

It will go on like this until one hour expires. We hope to see you all out there.

Wookin For Knupp In All Da Wong Places!

32 pax (with 1 FNG) from #F3Joust and #F3Kevlar converged on the Joust AO at Charlotte Christian School for a hot & humid downPAINment.  The Kevlar pax were guaranteed in the Preblast tweet that they’d be introduced to Grandma Mountain, so YHC hopes they weren’t dissapointed!  Check out the video below to see how we finally settled on an “appropirate name” at the end of the COT for our FNG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9wo1-sI7MOQ

The Thang:

Mosey to the back of the school and to the track, over to run stadium stairs, and then back out to the center of the football field for a brief COP:

SSH x 25

Imperial Walkers x 25

She Hate Me for 7 minutes: 10 merkins, 20 squats, 30 LBCs over and over again for the entire 7 minutes while 4 of the staggler pax from Kevlar finally make their way out to the fields to join us.

Mosey to the base of Grandma Mountain for 11s with Merkins at the top and burpees at the bottom.

Various Planks throughout the entire workout lead by the early finishers of the exercises while waiting on all the pax to finish.

Partner Up (size matters later on) and half the pax run up to the playground equipment at the top of Grandma Mountain, while the other half of the pax run up the stadium stairs to the playground equipment at the top behind the stadium seats for:

Partner 1 does 10 Pull-Ups while Partner 2 does 10 Burpees, Flapjack.

Repeat for 4 total Sets

Pax regroup on the sideline of the field for Partner Carry accross the football field, Flapjack for Partner Carry back accross the football field.

Prarie Fire Mary for 10 each leg throws to the Left, Right, and Center. Flapjack.

Next Exercise by popular demand of our fearless leader TR was “Blue Door”! Run from the football field up Grandma Mountain and keep going to touch the blue door of a classroom on the school building.

Mosey out to the side parking lot and re-group for a jail break back to the COT!

Moleskin:

Great showing by all the pax this morning for a mini-convergence of Joust and Kevlar while the Kevlar AO undergoes some improvements.  Thanks for the opportunity to lead such a great group of guys, I hope everyone got their moneys worth.  YHC had 1 main goal today and that was to introduce the Kevlar pax to Grandma Mountain.  What better way than to do 11s on such a beast of a hill!

Welcome out to F3 to our FNG Buckwheat (B. Knupp).  The first nickname idea floated out there (Deez Knupps) while quite funny just wasn’t quite right.  Buckwheat is what we settled on and that came from the Eddie Murphy skit in the YouTube video link posted at the top of the backblast where Buckwheat sings “Lookin For Nub In All Da Wong Places”!  Classic SNL there boys!

The school must have just recently added some more rubber pellets to the fields as we had them all in our shoes and hair.  Hope everyone’s M’s are forgiving about all the tiny black pellets left all over the house once you got home.

Announcements:

F3Dads continues tomorrow for week #2 with Baracus on Q.  Great turnout last week with over 100 pax and 2.0s.

Until Next Time!

Let’s Keep Moving

19 of Area 51’s finest ignored their snooze buttons and answered the call for their downpainment at Peak 51.

The Thang:

Take a Lap around the AO mixing in high knees and butt kicks then returning to the lower parking lot.

COP

  • SSH x 25
  • Merkins x 15
  • IW x 20
  • Carolina Dry Docks x 10
  • Squats  x 20

Partner up for some ramp work.

Partner 1 runs up & down the hill while Partner 2 does called exercise then flapjack until total number of exercise is complete.

  • Round 1 Merkins x 50
  • Round 2 Flutter Kicks x 50
  • Round 3 Wide Arm Merkins x 50
  • Round 4 Heels to heaven x 50
  • Round 5 Burpees x20
  • Round 6 Lunges x 50

Mosey  to the school and grab some wall

People’s Chair (aka The Semi-Gloss)
3 x arms out, arm raises

Move the baseball field bleachers.

Circuit work

  • Step ups x 20 (10 each leg)
  • Dips x 15
  • Squats x 20
  • Repeato x 2

Return to parking lot for Mary

  • Rosalita x 15
  • Dollys x 15
  • Flutter x 15
  • Russian Twists x13

The Moleskin:

  • Great work by the PAX today. YHC wanted to explore the AO some more and keep things moving along and mix it up some. Thanks again.
  • There was some mumble chatter when Burpees were called during the ramp work, always a favorite
  • Congratulations to Robin Hood on his 1 Year Anniversary, keep it up!
  • There was some mumble chatter about how the People’s Chair usually coming at the end of the workout  but it was thrown in the middle this time #ItAin’tOverTill-It’sOver
  • Bananas is always good for some mumble chatter and called out YHC on his form with the squats #KeepingQICHonest.

Announcements: 

PreBlast- Kevlar converges at Joust location 06/27/14

Kevlar is converging with Joust at Charlotte Christian School.

Come on out and join MallCop (QIC) for a beatdown at CCS on 6/27/14.    Park on the right side near the Upper School.  0530 launch.  It’s a great site, come check it out.  C ya in the gloom.

Snake Radar and The Devil’s Turn

At 5:15am this morning, 17 men including 3 DT FNG’s decided to assault their lungs and legs in the heart of Area 51.  A full data analysis by the spreadsheeters would be needed to see if 17 is a record, but regardless 17 PAX is a good day at Devil’s Turn.  It must be sinking in that BRR is around the corner.  Time to put in the miles!

The plan was simple this morning.  It was a tempo run out to S. Charlotte Middle School with everyone leaving together and getting in various distances before returning to the parking lot at 6:10am.  Distances varied between 4 and 7.5 miles during the 55 minute duration.

All in the COT appeared to have just swan dived into a swimming pool due to the high humidity and the extended exertion of the tempo run.  What is a tempo run? It is running which is comfortably hard, marginally painful, and continuous for a long time.  If executed properly the “runner’s high” is all but guaranteed.  You are welcome.

As we entered the neighborhood, Radar spotted a snake in the middle of the street and proclaimed it a copperhead.  How he saw a snake in the pitch black and promptly identified it by genus and species in 3 seconds amazed all of us.  Perhaps this is a nod to his nickname or he is a closet herpetologist, we will never know.  It did make a few PAX prance like school girls though.

On the way back, the snake was re-encountered by Haggis who said it had raised its head ready to strike him at any moment.  This may have been an embellishment however since the snake had been laying in the same exact spot for 55 minutes. However, in the end, no one was bit by the venomous creature.

Welcome to Radar, Champagne, and Splinter to Devil’s Turn.  I hope it lived up to your expectations.  From what I saw, you guys dominated out there.  Strong work.

Great job also to all the the DT regulars.  Hopefully, the hard work is showing now in your more efficient running and increased speed and stamina.  This stuff works!

Congrats to Horsehead on a new PR of 9 times around the track.  He’s a runner.

That’s all for now.  Time to check in with the USA / GER match…

 

Laurel and Hardy the F3 Version…

Anytime Huddle and KY share the Q it is the F3 version of Laurel and Hardy. One is a big, loveable man-beast in charge of his domain and the other is a svelte, sleek ninja adept at his craft (ok, so maybe that’s a bit generous, but you get the idea). For those that don’t know, Laurel and Hardy were a comedy double act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. They were both hilarious but very different in appearance… as are KY and Huddle. The above video shows some of their past exploits which is a good parallel to a typical Friday night for KY and Huddle (I love the fact that the video starts out with an “actual” jailbreak). Anyway, I digress. We hope the Pax liked the workout. Here’s how it went down…

The THANG:
5 Burpees OYO followed by another 5 burpees OYO to get the PAX into the “spirit”.

Mosey around the front entrance of Providence Day School with a combination of karaoke, high knees and butt kickers. Pull up at the Stop sign for 5 burpees OYO.

Run just past the gate for a little Alligator / Bear (swapping between Alligator Merkins and Bear Crawl upon Q command). FANTASTIC demonstration by Huddle…

Mosey back over to the 50 yard line for the coin flip (errr… COP)
* SSH x20
* IW x20

Mosey to the Goal line (not baseline as I said originally… sorry it’s the KY in me to only think basketball)
* Burpee ladder up to 15 starting at 5 and increasing in increments of 5 (burpees at each goal line running 100 yards to each end ala 1989 Rocket Ismail of Notre Dame fame)

Throw in some Squats and LBC’s before the hand-off over to Huddle…

Huddle took us to the 50 yard line and we did NORVEL
* 4 air presses for every Merkin up to 8 and then all the way back down… AWFUL (NOTE: thanks for the audible to come down from 10… I would still be on the field laying in my own drool and vomit)

Mosey back over to the goal line for “5 Minutes of Pain”
* Plank 20 seconds, 5 hand release merkins and then bust it down back the field 5x each one under a minute

Mosey through Huddle “crop dust” to the sideline and partner up
* Partner 1 broad jump across the width of the field, Partner 2 run half lap — flap jack

Saunter back to the VSF for grand finale
* 5 burpees
* 20 rosalita
* 30 Dolly (KY WHEELHOUSE!!)
* 5 burpees

FIN

Moleskin

COT
* F3 Dads workout this Saturday at 9 am at Freedom Park (Plug – KY is Q’ing this workout as well. BE there!)
* F3 Campout – Aug 15-17
* See Double D’s for upcoming Q’s
* Good send off by Tesla today
* Thanks for the opportunity to let Laurel and Hardy Q this awesome venue. FEBA!

Swift – Hills and Progression to Spilled Merlot

At 0515 on Tuesday morning, several PAX departed from the Vine Restaurant in Ballantyne, but they were without Q.  After a brief jog, they returned to find the Q getting his shoes on and feeling a little disoriented.  Quickly, they gathered everyone and headed out for a little more warm-up.

The THANG:

  • Approximately 1.25mi jog, drop off the Bagpipe PAX that were in for some warm-up (seemed to be several more than normal), and then continue jog over the bridge to the parking lot behind the old SPX/Metlife/now abandoned office building.
  • Heel walk and stride it out, Toe walk and stride it out, high knees and stride, more strides, and end up at Dunreggan Brae.
  • Bounding up the half of the hill (got form right eventually) with a jog back down.  Repeat
  • Sprint up the whole hill with jog back down. Repeat for 3 total.
  • Sprint down the hill. Jog to recover.
  • Sprint up the hill.  Jog over to Bull Ring.
  • 2 mile progression run.  Goal is to drop 5 seconds every 400m – which equates to :20 seconds per mile for pace.  Worked out to be three laps around bull ring and then head back to COT with AYG.
  • COT.  No course or distance this week due to Q fail (picked up the wrong watch), but full hour of running.

The Moleskin:

  • If you are thinking this was the workout SIB was doing, then you are wrong.  We did it in reverse, and Reddogs copied US…though there was an interesting section in there we may have to borrow for a future workout.
  • Working on the hill form was important through the Hill Bounding.  See link to an example here: http://youtu.be/1MRqkhP-P90. We only did it 2 times, but this could be a workout in itself.  On running an actual hill, you wouldn’t be so exaggerated, but it programs in good form for running uphill – stay on the forefoot, slightly forward lean, smaller strides.  Which is actually the similar form to running downhill – the mistake we can sometimes make downhill is to lean back, stride too far.
  • 2 mile progression run was apparently “confusing” in the explanation, but the goal is to get faster and find a new gear each time.  If you start out too fast (most started on the 7:40 pace with YHC), then you may not be able to hit an extra gear over the last 0.5mile that are run at 5:40 and 5:20/mi respectively.  Start at a slower pace, or just make it a goal to find the extra gear each 0.25 mile.  YHC didn’t like the “uphill” back towards COT and was glad there weren’t many around the see the dry heaving.  It was the weather…
  • Abacus was out once again and making steady progression.
  • Spinner is apparently a cyclist who only “sometimes” runs, so I would hate to see what he could throw down given some gears and wheels.
  • Strange Brew was a FIFO, but gave it all to the end.  Travel is a pain but the man has a plan.
  • Silk was swept into his 2nd F3 workout, both running, and is pretty smooth for a guy getting ready to jump out of planes.
  • Honey Bee earns the recruiter award of the week for 2 EHs in the past 2 weeks.  Unofficial record I’m sure, but he is getting the guys to come out and come back.
  • Brisket wasn’t confused when taking on Swift instead of Bagpipe this week, for he showed he belongs any where he puts in that kind of effort.
  • Q will try to get these Backblasts done a little more quickly, which is about the only thing that Fast Twitch has on the Swift at this point…

This Is Not A Ladder

The shovel flag was planted (although most never saw it), and 23 pax started their mid-week workout. Jog one lap around parking lot and one lap around the perimeter of the baseball field.

COP:

  • Diamond Burpees x 10 OYO
  • SSH x 25
  • Shore Shoulders x 10 each direction (YHC forgot you’re supposed to squat too)
  • Mountain Climber x 20
  • Plank Walk L/R
  • Walk out merkins x 10 OYO

Mosey over to the bleacher area.

Upper Body Circuit:

  • Round 1: Derkins/Dips/Incline Merkins x 20 each
  • Round 2: Derkins/Dips/Incline Merkins x 15 each
  • Round 3: Derkins/Dips/Incline Merkins x 10 each
  • Round 4: Derkins/Dips/Incline Merkins x 5 each

Jog over to entrance to SCMS and form 2 single file lines. Indian run over to Rosecliff Dr.

The rest of the workout was spent on the Rosecliff hill.

  • Continue running up and down the hill performing the following exercises:
  • Burpees at top; Jump squats at the bottom
  • Switch to flutters at the top; heels to heaven at bottom

Indian run back to SCMS.

COT

Moleskin:

  • Hopefully today’s workout offered something for everyone. There was strength training for the 0.0 club and hill running for the thoroughbreds.
  • YHC planted the flag in the middle of the soccer pitch before everyone arrived at the workout. Midway thru COP, I decided to call an audible and direct everyone to Rosecliff instead of the soccer field.
  • The pax were confused at the beginning of the hill work. Keep doing the same count until YHC calls a switch. This is not a ladder exercise.
  • T-claps to everyone. Special shout out to 49er and Slim Fast who were crushing the hill.
  • Semi-gloss managed to keep his shirt on the entire morning. So did Donkey Kong.
  • Speaking of DK, he kept asking for Jack Webb’s and bear crawls. No thank you.
  • Brown, Chanel, Fireman Ed, Semi-Gloss and YHC all loosened up swinging KB iron. Schnitzel stretched properly and watch us.
  • Thanks Skywalker for the send-off.
  • Sound off in the comments if you have any other amusing things to share.

Announcements:

  • 3rd F’s on Wednesday: Aftermath (Piper Glen Starbucks at 6:30) and Threshold (Southpark Bojangles at noon)
  • F3 Dads – Launched this past Saturday with 100 participants. It will run each Saturday the whole summer.
  • Pay attention to the weekly email and/or Twitter in case there are adjusted schedules on July 4th.