New Shoes!
17 descended upon the Olde Providence AO, looking for a non-Olympic workout. The Q has new running shoes – uh oh.
Warmup
Run around front of school to other parking lot
COP with SSH, IW, Mountain Climber, Slow Squat, LBCs.
Merkins between each exercise x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Mosey to church across the street with some high knees, butt kickers, carioca
Select a rock and split into two groups.
Group 1 does called exercise while group 2 runs around the church. Flapjack.
Curls, Overhead press, tricep extension, squats, clean and press
Mary recovery – flutter and dolly
Relay race – two lines
Run your rock down to the designated drop off area, leave it and run back. Tag the next guy.
When all in the line have left their rocks, two at a time go back and get them.
Return rocks to their homes.
Mosey to concession area
10 jump or step ups, 15 incline merkins, 20 dips – Repeat
Partner up – partner 1 runs to bullpen and back while partner 2 does left leg lifts. Flapjack and repeat with right leg.
Mosey to midfield of front field for Mary
AYG to fence and back before each exercise: Mason twist, Protractor, CDD, and a couple of others.
Mosey to parking lot for 1 minute of burpees to use up the whole hour. Done
Moleskin
Nice work by the PAX this morning. T-claps to Steinbrenner for bringing out three FNG 2.0s. One more FNG and he gets his next workout free.
Announcements:
Mud run sign ups are open and available on the f3nation website.
Young Life mud run is coming up too.
AIS & BMs
The picnic tables were moved and 11 men gathered for an #F3Flex introduction to Active Isolated Streching (AIS) (also known as Active Isolated Flexibility or AIF). The AIS method of muscle lengthening and fascial release is a type of Athletic Stretching Technique that provides effective, dynamic, facilitated stretching of major muscle groups, but more importantly, AIS provides functional and physiological restoration of superficial and deep fascial planes. Each stretch begins by defining the current range of motion (stretch point). The target muscle is then stretched beyond that range with a gentle assist continuing for only two seconds. The muscle is then returned to its original resting position. Typically, eight to ten repetitions are required. Performing an Active Isolated Stretch of no longer than two seconds allows the target muscles to optimally lengthen without triggering the protective stretch reflex and subsequent reciprocal antagonistic muscle contraction as the isolated muscle achieves a state of relaxation. These stretches provide maximum benefit and can be accomplished without opposing tension or resulting trauma. (NOTE: The foregoing paragraph was written from memory and was not aided by Google in any way).
The Thang
AIS stretches for the following:
- Calves
- Lower Hamstrings
- Upper Hamstrings
- Inner Thighs
- Hips
- Quads
- IT Bands
- Lower Back
Close with some mobility stretches:
- Side to Side
- Scorpion
COT
Moleskin
After neglecting normal morning duties to make the pre-run with Baracus and Stagecoach, Hops had some business to take care of from the outset…pulled an actual Semi-Gloss, but outdoors. The men of #F3TheRock better beware the next time Runstopper takes them to the sand volleyball court. The term “kitty litter” may be more literal than figurative after this morning. #WatchOutForClumps
Even though he loves them, possum biscuits do not agree with Horsehead, as his very real battle with early morning flatulence continued. He was positioned right next to Hops, which made things interesting for Stone Cold and Baracus. Not to be outdone, Bug joined the crop dusting too…must have had some Yuengling at the pool yesterday. A question for Dr. Danner: does AIS truly work if you hold your breath the whole time?
Spackler stayed consistent by even being a refusenik on some of the stretches. First burpees, now AIS. Guess that’s what happens when you become strictly a #runner.
It seemed like each Pax had something different to aid with the gentle assists for the AIS…to name just a few, we had ski rope, jump rope, towels, resistance bands (including one pink one), and some kind of rope that looked like Opie Taylor’s belt.
Whiplash kept using big doctor words like “piriformis” and “psoas” when describing some of the muscles we were stretching. They did sound fancy and all the Pax agreed it was much better than saying “that muscle deep in the butt.”
With all that said, it was another solid #F3Flex workout. The benefits of increased mobility and flexibility are numerous. If you have not made it out, you should. Your muscles will thank you.
(posted on behalf of Radar, who wasn’t there)
Keeping it simple
It was muggy and the murph was on the prowl. Pre kettle bell was a flop. Spinner and udder shot the stuff for 15 mins while waiting on passport to arrive. Basecamp will try pre KB again. Watch out for preblast a and or tweets.
With 10 reluctant fartsack forsakes gathered we headed out for a Hero of a workout.
the thang: The Murph (abbreviated)
SCMS > Davie Park .7 miles
stops along the way. Corner for merkins x 10 IC, midway for SSH x 15 IC, davie entrance plankorama. All gathered up we head for the playground.
partner up and help your buddy. 50 pull ups, 100 merkins, 150 squats. 1/2 murph. 5 sets total = 10, 20, 30
plqnkorama and Mary when your done.
all gathered up. Head back to AP
stops. Midway for plank, corner for Mary, home for some more Mary.
mary: lbc, Freddie mercs, dolly, ccv
still got 30secs according to simba. 5 burpies oyo
Moleskin:
this might have been the first murph for our moderate basecamp workout. Proud of everyone for gutting it out. It’s simple and rediculously hard. DFQ. Glad to have led this morning. Strong send off by simba. #preacherman
Announcements:
f3 young life mudrun. Sept. Check site for details
f3 dads this sat
f3 camp aug 15-17 register online
prayers for pele’s wife, undergoing kemo, and family
1st Annual F3 Area 51 Olympics Backblast
The morning was humid and warm and the parking lights buzzed as Haggis and YHC unloaded the implements of the day. Two or three retaining wall blocks in the wheelbarrows? 50 or 75 yards for the hairburners? These were the questions we pondered while awaiting the PAX.
As everything fell into place for the start of the 1st Annual F3 Area 51 CSAUP Olympics, there was a tension in the air between the 30 PAX assembled to compete. Who would be the fastest, the strongest, and above all, the stupidest to be crowned the Area 51 Grand Champion?
This is how we found out…
First came a warmup jog down to the field for a Runstopper led COP. Of course, Runstopper brought the tunes and the PAX were really starting to get pumped to the NPR talk radio going in the background. Nothing like some Renee Montagne to get you ready for battle!
Once warmup was complete and Runstopper had found some more suitable music, YHC explained the order of events and led the PAX in a mumblechatter filled lap around the track to ensure all the kinks were out before the mile run. After fielding several complaints saying that lap should count for the mile, the request was denied and the Clydesdales lined up for the mile run. FNG Flipper explained to the PAX that a Clydesdale is a large, strong, (slow), but majestic animal. Everyone left it all on the track and pushed through to the finish.
The Thoroughbred heat was equally taxing. YHC had the lead through 3 ½ laps when Haggis had enough of it and made his move. Around the last corner, I could hear him snorting like a rabid dog behind me. On the final stretch, he passed and pulled away, handily winning the race with a 5:28 mile time. Fantastic effort by all on that race! Below are the fastest 3 times in the Mile Run.
- Haggis – 5:28
- Honey Bee – 5:31
- Joker – 5:58
The 100m dash followed the mile run. The first heat was error ridden as the Q’s worked out the proper procedure and there was some objection to that heat being labeled a false start (even though 90% finished the whole race). The other heats went more smoothly and were sufficient to determine the 8 who advanced to the finals. When the dust settled after the final 100m run, here were the standings.
- Mighty Mite – 12.76 seconds
- Mic Check – 13.16 seconds
- Haggis – 13.33 seconds
Next came the 400m dash. All PAX were starting to feel it at this point. Again after some debate, it was decided to run the event in 2 groups instead of heats of 8 at a time. This went well and saved time at the end for some other events and the award ceremony. Here were the results.
- Honey Bee – 1:05 (held him off this time)
- Haggis – 1:08
- Joker – 1:11
The PAX were then tired of running so we moved on to the Feats of Strength. The group split up to do the Shot Put and KB Clean and Press. After Mighty Mite demonstrated proper form on the Shot Put, the PAX took turns launching the 12lb steel ball through the air. Mighty Mite won this event by a mere 6 inches (Michael Scott joke here) over Joker who clearly had a better warrior grunt so it was nearly a tie here. Alas, the Mite came out on top. Here were the results.
- Mighty Mite – 34’ 6”
- Joker – 34’
- Haggis – 32’ 8”
The KB Clean & Press competition had a complex logical regression technique taking into account the moon phase as well as figuring the contribution of barometric pressure on the KB weight and the athlete’s physical fitness quotient. Actually, the number of reps got multiplied by the weight lifted divided by 50 lbs (the standard weight). Runstopper didn’t care about that and grabbed the largest bell and whipped out 54 reps. Boom…winner!
- Runstopper (44lb bell) – 48 corrected lifts
- Fireman Ed (35lb bell) – 40 corrected lifts
- Dolphin (35lb bell) – 36 corrected lifts
The next events were the weighted Wheelbarrow Push and Hairburners. The first round of the Wheelbarrow Push had the greatest drama of the day as FNG (Flipper) veered his wheelbarrow into a small mud hole which brought the wheelbarrow to an abrupt halt and sent him up and over (thus Flipper). The man is a beast though and after about 5 minutes to ensure his legs were still attached, he whipped out a respectable time in the hairburners to prove he was still in the game. Flipper killed it all day out there and YHC has seen that look before, he’s hooked. Welcome brother to CSAUP!
After the wheelbarrow incident, the event Q’s held a conference to decide whether to keep that event going or not. However, the PAX overwhelmingly determined that we should either move it to a faster surface (pavement) or just not go through the mud hole. These PAX are nuts! After a reiteration of the disclaimer, the event continued with 4 wheelbarrows on the grass around the mud hole.
Here are the rankings in the Wheelbarrow Push:
- Haggis – 26 sec
- Joker – 31.5 sec
- Runstopper – 32 sec
At the same time, the Hairburners were going on in the parking lot by the school. Mic Check was absolutely smoking out there and after almost going under one of the parked cars came 1 foot from the finish line and collapsed in relief. After realizing all the yelling was directed at him that he wasn’t done yet, he pushed it the remaining foot. Unfortunately the misunderstanding on the finish line location allowed Haggis a 2 second margin for winning this event. We all know that Mic Check is the favorite for next year though.
- Haggis – 24 sec
- Mic Check – 26 sec
- 4-way tie for 3rd – Bugeater, Lex Luthor, Iron Horse, Honey Bee
There was just enough time left over at the end to do a crabwalk race across the field at the track. Since this was the event that got the whole F3 Olympics idea started, it seemed fitting that it be saved for last. Also fittingly, Bugeater who suggested the Olympics was the winner. Here are the results:
- Bugeater
- Market Timer
- Joker
If you’ve been tracking, Haggis won 3 of the 8 events and was in the top three of another 3 events. Because of this strange aptitude for the Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless, Haggis was crowned the overall Grand Champion of Area 51. He looked very much like a Scottish Mr. T at the award ceremony in the COT.
Great thanks go out to the event Q’s and contributors that made the whole Olympics go smoothly and made it almost look like we had done this before. Thanks to Runstopper, Fireman Ed, Iron Horse, Bugeater, Zip-a-dee, Baracus, Mall Cop, Salt Lick, Bratwurst, Joker, Haggis, and all the other individuals that now have full email inboxes due to all the emails it took to get this thing going.
As always, I am amazed by this group men and I am so glad to be part of this movement that is F3. I look forward to next year and seeing the progress in each man.
#Swift Preblast – Phase II
Swift will launch at 0515 on Tuesday from the Ballantyne AO at the Vine Restaurant. We will drop off any Bagpipers at 0530, but the expectation is that Swifters will be ready to go at 0530 without additional warm-up (in other words, show up at 0515).
Phase 1 was intro to Speed and Interval workouts mostly focused around the Repetition Pace (1 mile race pace) for shorter 200 and 400m intervals. Phase 2 is to add more Interval-Pace (2 mile race pace) as the BRR gets closer (about 80 days away). We’ll not go longer than a few minutes per interval tomorrow, but we are focusing on the I-pace. Find yours here based on a recent race result ==> http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
See you in the gloom!
Simple Yet Effective…
(posted for Madame while he awaits access to the site)
Here’s what we did…..
The Thang:
COP:
Slow Jog around the parking lot
SSH X 25
IW X 20
Mountain Climbers X 15
Merkin X 10, raise right leg merkin X 5, raise left leg Merkin X 5
Mosey over the playground
Partner Work
Partner 1 – two handed swings; partner 2 – 15 Burpees; flapjack for total of 100 two handed sings
Partner 1 – Goblet Squats; partner 2 – 10 pull ups; flapjack for total of 100 goblet squats
Partner 1 – 2 handed curls; partner 2 – 15 Burpees; flapjack for total of 100 2 handed curls
Partner 1 – over head tricep extensions; partner 2 – 10 pull ups; flapjack for total of 100 tricep extensions
Over to the benches – 30 Dips, 30 Derkins , 30 Dips
Partner 1 – Upright rows; partner 2 – 15 Burpees; flapjack for total of 100 2 upright rows
6MOM – PAX Choice & Wall Work
Russian Twist, Dolly Press, Rosalita Press, Heels to Heaven, Bicycles, Jlos
Mosey over to the wall, People’s Chair with upright rows
COT
Moleskin:
It was a beautiful morning in the Gloom, which made perfect conditions for swinging iron, doing burpees and pull ups.
The goal this morning was little to no running (because Honeybee asked me too), but to keep moving. I think he may have gotten more than he bargained for. My 2 favorite exercises are burpees and pull ups, so I wanted to incorporate those into my workout. The burpees, iron, pull-up combination was painful. I called an audible and decided to cut the partner work short and extend the 6MOM because I didn’t think I could do any more burpees.
Overall, great work from all the PAX this morning, especially Mighty Mite. I couldn’t throw enough at the guy. He’s a beast #getaheavierbell.
Welcome Rip Curl (Co-Worker of Honeybee)! Great to have you in the Gloom.
Announcements:
F3 Dads starts this Saturday June 21st at Francis Beatty Park.
Shout Out to Honey Bee for a successful F3 Olympics.
Wiggler: NEW SUMMER HOURS – 6:00 am Launch
In keeping with tradition, we will move to a 6 am launch for The Wiggler for the summer. Join us at the corner of Rothwood and Foxcroft. Summer vacation pace…
Scenic hills of Pellyn Wood
21 men ventured beyond RTS for a morning mosey through the scenic hills of Pellyn Wood.
The Thang:
Mosey to RTS basketball courts for COP
SSH x 30
Merkin x 20?
IW x 20
Wide arm x 10
Squat x 20
LBC x 30
Diamond x 10
Run across Sharon View to Hardison, entering into Pellyn Wood. Left on Gorham Dr. Up and down the hills, stopping at newly named Walden pond for:
Dips x 20
Continue up and down the hills to Le Maison, which Agony explained meant “The Mansion”, stopping for:
Flutters x 50 (nice round number)
Back up the hill, back down, stopping at Walden pond again. Decline plank while waiting for the six and then:
Derkins x 20
Run back up the hill, left up the hill that is Howland Ln. Plank for the six.
7’s on Howland Ln. hill
Burpees at the bottom (start with 7, down to 1)
Turkish get ups at the top (start with 1, up to 6)
Backwards run to the top of Howland Hill for Jumping Lunges (x 10 each leg)
Run back to Carmel Park
SMM:
Lots of chatter about the amount of running, and the hills. Those hills were no joke with lots of elevation change. Not as steep as Muthaship, but we got in over 200 feet of elevation change. Check it out here:
http://www.strava.com/activities/154196052?ref=1MT1yaWRlX3NoYXJlOzI9ZW1haWw7ND01MTA4Mjc4
Unbeknownst to me, there was some “equipment” next to us at COP. I’m not sure who’s using it (Governator boys may want to watch out), but it looked like some old tires and other items were there. This is a side effect of F3 – you never view playgrounds the same.
Pellyn Wood is nice. Thanks to Snoop (I do appreciate you coming south today, brother!), we may not be invited back. Guard dogs at one house were roaming, and Snoop couldn’t resist giving them a call. I was just glad there was a fence, or we may have lost someone. You don’t have to outrun the bear (dog), just the guy next to you.
Which brings me to another point, big t-claps to our 2.0s today: Sledge and Bieber. I’ve been to easier workouts than this, probably led some easier than this one, and these two crushed it!
Also, a big welcome (finally) to FNG Tardy – product of an 18 month EH process from Gangsta Mouse and others from Governor’s Square.
The pond this morning was pretty awesome. It’s not often that we workout surrounded by such serenity. I tried to lower the cadence to a whisper to leave it undisturbed. It was either Agony or Film Fest that named it Walden Pond, so in honor of the name:
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.
Partners make it…fun?
With the watch saying 5:30 and with just enough humidity in the air and a disclaimer announced, YHC decided to change it up and jump right into it in the parking lot.
- Wide Arm Merkin x15
- LBC x20
- Diamond Merkin x15
- LBC x20
- Merkin x15
- LBC x20
“Warm Up” jog to lower parking lot, around the islands, and head back up towards parking lot (mix in a little backwards running). Keep running around playground towards back of school past the stumps and all the way back by the dumpsters.
- SSH x20
- IW x20
- Mountain Climber x20 (Hold the plank to explain exercise)
Partner up. Partner 1 runs to stumps – 10 jump ups and back to starting point to get into plank. Meanwhile Partner 2 runs to playground – 10 pullups and back to starting point to get into plank. Each partner does 10 Derkins off partner’s back. Partner 1 runs to playground (pullups) while Partner 2 runs to stumps (jump ups) and back for 10 more Derkins each. This is 1 round. Rinse and Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 rounds.
Mosey (short walk) around the corner to the wall.
Round 1: Partners do a combined total of 50 burpees. While Partner 1 is doing burpees, Partner 2 is doing people’s chair. Switch as needed until all burpees are completed.
Round 2: Partners do a combined total of 100 jump squats. While Partner 1 is doing jump squats, Partner 2 is doing a wall plank (feet on the wall). Switch as needed until all jump squats are completed.
Mosey back to launch point to wrap it up.
- Flutters x20
- Merkins x20 (single count OYO)
COT
Moleskin:
This was (to me) a quick 45 minutes. The PAX worked incredibly hard and there was not much time for standing around – everyone just kept moving. I may have thrown everyone off with my starting off with the Merkins/LBCs in the parking lot before running, although I think Floor Slapper appreciated not having to search for us as he pulled in during the first set of Merkins. Minimal mumblechatter even though YHC did screw up the cadence at one point and was not saying the proper words in the correct order at first.
The mumblechatter did begin to increase throughout the first main exercise with all of the running/jumping/pulling up/derkining. I’m pretty sure I got a “You Suck” from O’Tannenbaum as he passed me. Heard a few groans and witnessed some eye rolls with announced 50 burpees followed by the 100 jump squats. I was actually planning a 3rd round with 150 merkins while the other partner did LBCs. Just ran out of time. Next time….
All in all, great work out there this morning and a strong showing by all. Thanks to O’Tannenbaum for taking us out.
Announcements:
- Alf is on Q next week at The Matrix to mark his 1 year of F3. Get ready for something extra special.
- The Matrix is in need of Q’s. There are some empty slots in the coming weeks. Reach out to Alf or Uncle Leo if interested.
F3 Partners with Trips for Kids
In partnership with Trips for Kids ( http://tripsforkidscharlotte.org/ ), three members of the PAX, one friend, two 2.0’s, and 4 kids from the Bull Dogs Matters program hit the trails at Francis Beatty Park in Matthews for mountain bike riding.
The weather was perfect and the trails challenging. All the kids had a blast and did great for their first time out. Francis Beatty has great mountain bike trails and the Trips for Kids volunteers were wonderful. Each kid was fitted with a bike, helmet, and gloves and given some basic safety insturctions. We rode for over 2 hours. After the ride, we enjoyed lunch provided by Trips for Kids.
The next ride is tentatively scheduled for September so watch out for the next pre-blast as this is a great event for the kids and adults. All four kids from Bull Dogs Matters said they would come back next time and bring a friend.
A little bit aoubt Trips for kids – TFKC is a non-profit organization that provides mentoring through bicycling experiences. In alliance with other organizations, TFKC targets 10-15 year old children of need within the Charlotte area.
The TFKC vision is to use bicycling as the tool to prepare kids for success. TFKC experiences focus kids on:
- Respect
- Honesty
- Teamwork
- Overcoming challenges
- Healthy and safe lifestyles
- Service
These experiences equip kids with tools for building positive accomplishments and relationships in their communities and in their lives.