Diddy Kong and Stories From Chicago circa 1993

Diddy Kong and Stories From Chicago circa 1993

4 SPEARHEADs greeted 1 FNG (Angler 2.5ish) and a 40 pound sandbag in the gloom Thursday morning for a ruck around the block.

The Thang

Angler lead the group down over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house.

Brief pause to reflect on good times with Grandma.

Continue on through the neighborhoods and back out on Camilla

COT

Moleskin

Great morning with the group.  Four miles overall distance (real men round down)

Welcome to our FNG from Austrailia – Angler’s 2.0, or 2.5, or something like that.  Hard to keep the count straight…  He was bestowed the name SANDBAGGER due to his unyielding grip on that sandbag for 90% of the ruck.  The name Diddy Kong was thrown around due to his DK’ing of the sandbag, but sandbagger seemed most fitting.  If he is half as strong as his dad, he could have probably carried that sandbag for another 20 miles no problem.  We hope you have a safe trip back to Austrailia, it was great to meet you!

Clueless told us an interesting story about his last experience in Chicago…  What happens at SPEARHEAD stays at SPEARHEAD.  Seriously.

Always a pleasure to join you guys for a ruck, looking forward to next time!

The Circle of Death…modified

It was a balmy 63 degrees this morning for a early morning sweat fest. Those who weren’t scared off by an ominous pre-tweet showed up for the fun.

The Thang:

Jog to field

Circle of Death (10 each – Burpees, Jump Squats, Hand-Release Merkins, Sit-ups. Then 9 each, then 8, then 7. You get the idea… Down to 1)

Grandmother mountain – The pax had fun at the bottom while each pax, one-at-a-time, ran up the hill, max-ed out on pull-ups, and came back down. Oh, and they called out an exercise for the rest to do while they waited. We did, as far as I can remember, Decline plank, Burpees, Diamond Merkins, Freddy Mercury’s, LBC’s, Dive Bombers, J-Lo’s, … (there were 11, and I’ve only got 7).

Partner up: Wheel-barrel. Leap Frog. Carry. Scrum-down (fail). Carry/Squat.

Stairs: Lunge-Walk up
The Naked Moleskin:

I think we had fun out there today! The Circle of Death was a good warm-up. Of course, it was modified from the Providence HS Rugby teams version (hijacked from my son). First, we did it at the beginning of “practice”, not at the end. And secondly, we started at 10 reps, not 17 or 18. Thank God for that.

There were plenty of little black tire pieces washing down the drain in my shower afterward. I’m still not sure where all of them were coming from though?

Triple claps to Baracus and Mr. Brady for jogging to the workout this morning. I hope the way back home felt harder than the way in.

Lobster Roll is definitely strong and mighty. His wheel-barrel’s go faster that some pax’s (who will remain nameless) mosey! And he may have been the only one to start to get the hang of the scruming work this morning. He could be on my rugby team anyday.

Good to see everyone out there this morning. Nice work!

Spring is Here at the Turn

6 men met in the greenway parking lot with running on the brain.  It was to be a tempo run today at Devil’s Turn and it could not have been a better day for it.  The weather was perfect and the small group made for some good 2nd F during the run.

The group ran the 2 miles out to S. Charlotte Middle, various numbers of laps around the track, and 2 miles back to the parking lot.  Depending on the number of laps at the track the distance was between 4 and 6.5 miles.

As usual on the way out through the neighborhood, Rock Thrill was greeted like a rock star by all the passing Run for your Life tomatoes.  The man is popular.  Perhaps a name change is in order?  Nah, Rock Thrill is just too awesome of a name.

The PAX were glad to welcome Madame Tussauds out for his first post at DT.  Hopefully it was all you hoped for and more brother.  Keep coming out.  We have a good time and you get the runner’s high for free.

Good luck to our brothers Rock Thrill in the Run Fest and Wingman in the Cooper River Bridge run this weekend.  Best of luck out there and that PR is right there for the taking.  Go in #F3Strong.

Great effort by all today.  It was great to get to run along side each of you this morning.  We are lucky to have such a good group to train with.

The plan next week will likely be a lower intensity shorter run for those tapering for the USMC Mudrun.  If others would like a longer more intense run, YHC needs a Q to step up for that.

Have a great weekend brothers!

Meat N Taters

The site Qs recited the Disclaimer as 11 men gathered at Stonecrest for another episode of #F3RebelYell. We stayed close. The plan was simple.

The Thang

Little baby jog around the side parking lot. Settle in under the lights for COP.

  • SSHs – 30 IC
  • Merkin Superset – 10 narrow, 10 regular, 10 wide-armed OYO
  • IWs – 30 IC
  • Merkin Superset
  • Slow Squats – 30 IC
  • Merkin Superset
  • LBCs – 30 IC

Mosey about 20 yards to the hill. Line up at the bottom.

  • AYG sprint to top, mosey back down x 10
  • 20 Jump Squats
  • AYG sprint to the top, mosey back down x 10
  • 40 Bear Squats
  • AYG sprint to the top, mosey back down x 10
  • 40 Monkey Humpers

Mosey about 20 yards in the parking lot. Form two teams of 5 (Splinter had left for breakfast meeting, leaving us with 10) for relay races. Everyone plank behind the line. First guys sprint to arrows and back. Whole teams slides over in the plank. Next guy takes off from line when his teammate crosses.

  • Race 1 – Team A won so they did 5 burpees. Team B lost so we did 10 burpees.
  • Race 2 – Tie. Everyone(?) did 10 burpees.

Mosey back to the cars for Mary.

  • Butt Raises – 20 IC
  • Flutter Kicks – 30 IC
  • Rosalita – 30 IC
  • Groiners – 10 OYO

Done. COT.

Moleskin

4 guys showed up for pre-KB session. There were only two KBs…and an extra dumbbell from Spackler’s car that his M uses for jazzercise. It was sad really. But we made do. And still got huge.

This was a simple workout. Straight forward. Zero creativity. Just Meat N Taters. But what it lacked in complexity, it made up for in suck. The merkin superset is a Q favorite and YHC threw it in because the rest of the workout was all legs. It was hard, especially the 3rd round of it. Then came the hill. Just AYG to the top with a mosey back down. Times 10. Times 3. High on the leg burn. Scarce on the O2. Mixed in some quad combustion in between the sets with jump squats, bear squats (which look harmless in demonstration but burn big time about 15-20 reps in) and monkey humpers (sorry Splinter, you requested them but had to leave before YHC got to them on the Weinke).

The relay races were fun. Team A smoked Team B on the first one. Then we dug deep and with Philmont’s good ole rubbin’ is racing technique along the way and his big push at the end, race #2 ended in a tie. The call was for each team to do 10 burpees. But some took the tie as a reason to do nothing.

Great sendoff by Spackler.

Announcements

  • Mud Run slots
  • BRR alternates

 

 

Balmy gloom…

16 pax – fully stretched & disclosed – took on Hydra in the balmy gloom.  (ah, how I miss the cool, crisp mornings already…but I digress)

The Thang

COP

  • SSH – 25
  • IW – 25
  • Slow Toe Touches – 15-ish to stretch out the hammies (crowd’s 2nd favorite)
  • Arm Circles – whole bunch (forward, backward, small, large)
  • Low Slow Squats – 15

Number off and form groups of 4

Four Corners

Complete 2 sets at each station, return to transition area for 5 burpees, and rotate clockwise to the next station.

  • Concession Stand – Jump Ups (15) & Decline Merkins (20)
  • Playground – Pullups (15) & Situps (20)
  • Between Fields – Frog Jumps (15) & CDD (20)
  • Track – run 2 laps (total)

As all groups were completing a full circuit, Runstopper led the pax through some Plank-o-rama.

Then the call to Rinse & Repeat (crowd pleaser)

Most groups completed 2 more stations before time was called for Mary, and again Runstopper occupied us with some elbow planking (foreshadowing)

Mary

  • Elbow Plank
  • Freddie Mercury
  • Mason/Russian/Crimean Twist
  • Elbow Plank
  • LBC
  • Flutter (by special request from DK)

Time

COT

Announcements

New 3rd F began yesterday at Morrison Cafeteria – Wednesdays at Noon.

Another 3rd F is beginning in May in Ballantyne – Iron Horse on Q

Moleskin

Good 2nd F out there today.  Lots of mumble chatter, comments/coveting of YHC’s socks (crowd favorite)(#getyourown), etc.  Shock of the day was before we began and the pax learned that YHC was not a professional trainer.  #disclosure  Good reminder of why this is way more fun than #sadclowning at the Fern.

The number of pax made for perfect 4-man “teams” to attact the Four Corners today, and that was an unexpected but enjoyable addition.  Hopefully that provided some supplemental Mud Run training, most groups were starting and finishing together.  Lot of strong effort out there today.

The workout plan today was designed to be simple, with counts & stations, and focus on strength, selecting exercises that involved more effort than stamina and incorporating most muscle groups.  YHC commented to his team that he must have been feeling especially strong when the Weinke was cast, as the 2nd sets were generally tough.  The CDDs and Situps were not too bad, but most everything else tied for worst, IMHO.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead today.

And, thanks to Skywalker for closing us out today.

Spring Training

Eight of the finest men you could ever hope to work out with found themselves at the mercy of Double D’s and John Deere on this lovely, crisp spring morning. There were thoughtful nods all around as we heard the new F3 disclaimer language. Paraphrasing here, “Be careful. Go at your own pace. Don’t hurt yourself.” Aye. Without further ado . . .

THE THANG:

QIC: Double D’s

Mosey to basketball courts with carpool pylon slalom, karaoke, lunge walks and backwards lunge walks en route.

COP:

SSH

IW

LBC

Mosey to hill by Sardis

10 Merkins; 10 LBC; Bear crawl up hill and mosey back down

20 Merkins; 10 LBC; Bear crawl up; mosey down

10 Squats; Bear crawl up; mosey down

20 Squats; Bear crawl; mosey

1 min People’s Chair w air presses

10 Air Presses; 10 LBC Crab walk up; mosey down

20 Air Presses; 10 LBC Crab walk up; mosey down

Dragon merkins (aka aligator merkins) up the hill; mosey down

1 min People’s Chair w air presses

Dragon merkins up; mosey down

Find some wall for 20 step ups

Bear crawl slalom through carpool pylons

Plankorama

QIC: John Deere

Mosey to field.

60-90 seconds of Merkins

Sprint to 50 yard line and back

Crab walk to 20 yard line and back

Called exercises w sprints to the 50 and back:

SSH

LBC (x2)

Diamond Merkins

Partner up: Partner 1 planks. Partner 2 does 25 Derkins. Flapjack.

Mary:

Low Slow Flutter

Rosalita

Michael Phelps

6 inches—YHC feels like he’s still holding it, boss.

10 Jump squats

MOLESKIN:

YHC found this to be a taxing workout indeed. My shoulders were smoked. And that was an abundance of bear crawling. Kudos to the Qs for pushing us. Kudos to the PAX for powering through without a whimper.

Just Push It. How Hard Can It Be?

You can tell Spring is here as the weather has turned.  With the warmer temperatures, 34 guys ventured out of the fartsack to see what all the fuss was about at Death Valley.  The shovel flag was planted and off we went.

Start off with a little jog around the parking lot.

COP:

  • SSH x 25
  • Double Burpees x 10 OYO
  • Mountain Climber x 25
  • Plank Jacks x 25
  • Seal Jacks x 25
  • Count off by 5’s  – I think this was the hardest exercise of the day

THANG:

Head over to Tiger Rag’s car to pick up 1 plate for each group.  Down to the track.

Round 1:

  • P1 – Starts hair burners around track
  • P2-Pn – 10 burpees then run and catch P1.
  • Rotate all partners thru going all the way around the track.
  • At finish line, do LBC’s until all groups finish

Round 2:

  • P1 – Starts hair burners around track
  • P2-Pn – 10 wide arm merkins then run and catch P1.
  • Rotate all partners thru going all the way around the track.
  • At finish line, LBC’s or some other ab exercise until all groups finish

Round 3:

  • P1 – Starts hair burners around track
  • P2-Pn – 10 jump squats then run and catch P1.
  • Rotate all partners thru going all the way around the track.
  • At finish line, LBC’s or some other ab exercise until all groups finish

Round 4:

  • P1 – Starts hair burners around track
  • P2-Pn – 10 groiners then run and catch P1.
  • Rotate all partners thru going all the way around the track.
  • At finish line, LBC’s or some other ab exercise until all groups finish

Quick Mary:

  • Dolly x 25
  • Protractor
  • 1 legged Dolly x 10 each leg

Back to the lot for COT

Moleskin:

  • Okay, so counting off by 5’s (which should have formed 7 groups) was more difficult that you might think.  There was even some engineer in the crowd saying we should have 5 groups because we are counting off by 5’s.  My intent was 7 groups of 5 (actually 1 group would have 4), but somehow we ended up with 5 groups anyway???  Not sure how that happened, but it all worked fine.  I think we all appreciated having a couple extra in each group.
  • It didn’t take long to be reminded that pushing weight plates are not as easy as you might think.  TR must have put glue on the bottom of our group’s…at one point he was pushing with all his might but was stuck.  I think someone (Fireman Ed or Brown maybe?) went flying over the plate when it came to a screeching halt.
  • 1 mile of hair burners.  The weinke was nice and simple, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.  Strong work by everyone this morning.
  • Not sure where Wolman went.  He was in YHC’s group but I didn’t see him after round 1.  I think he must have joined a larger group to reduce the reps on the plate.  Smart move.  Although he wasn’t in COT either??  Someone joked it was harder than Spearhead.
  • T-claps to the 2 FNG’s who posted this morning.  That was a heck of a way to start your F3 experience.  Hope to see you back out soon.
  • Sound off in the comments if you have any other amusing things to share.

Announcements:

  • We’re looking for some support from the men of F3 Nation to help with a Trips for Kids Ride on Saturday 4/5.  We’re taking about 15 of the kids from the AG Middle School Bulldogs Matter tutoring program for a morning of mountain biking at Francis Beatty Park. Contact Far Side (Frank.Larsen@cbre.com) if you think you can help out.
  • New 3rd F Group: Threshold starts today Wednesday, April 2nd at Noon – Morrison Cafeteria bldg. – “True Measure of a Man” by R.E. Simmons, III. Site Q’s: Semi-Gloss & Splinter
  • HDHH tonight on the road at Bradshaw Social House, 6pm
  • F3 golf – sign up
  • Mud run bus transportation sign up. Contact Stagecoach with questions.
  • BRR – contact Baracus if interested in being a sub.

Maul at the Maul

15 showed up ready to go at The Maul for what figured to be an easy workout since Frehley’s Comet (me) was called out for being an “old man” and “needing help” today. Wow..tough crowd!! Just a few of my colleagues poking the bear…I tried to live up to their high standards and hope the PAQ enjoyed the workout as much as I did>

Warmup: SSH X 25, Mountain Climbers X 25 + 1 minute plank, Squat kicks X 25, Mosey to knee wall by the fountain…

Workout: On the Knee wall:  Sitting knee ups X 20, Incline Merkins X 15, Step ups X 10 each leg, Decline Merkins X 15, Dips X 15. Sprint around the two buildings.  Repeat same wall routine.  Mosey to center of parking lot:

“Merkin Circle of Pain”. 5 sets of Merkins X 10 rotating between wide, diamonds, carolina dry docks, regular, and narrow for 50 total merkins. Between each exercise – 20 standing knees-ups (run in place lifting knees to hands at waist level) for a total of 100.  Repeated Merkins X 5 X 10 reps with 20 LBC’s (10 in cadence) in between each set for a total of 100 LBC’s.

Stayed in cirlce for Mary all in cadence: LB’s x 25, Heels to Heaven X 20, Dolly X 20, Flutter X 20, Bicycle X 20, Mason Twist X 15.

Man-maker Burpees (8 count burpee) X 10.

Mosey across the parking lot to the hill on the side access road for “6’s”. Run up the hill for 5 squats and down the hill for 1 Jump Squat. Repeated 5 times until reaching 5 jump squats at the bottom of the hill and 1 squat at the top.

Lined up in two lines for sprint relay approximately 40 yards and 40 yards back. While not sprinting, the lines rotated between Merkins and LBC’s.  Mosey back to cars with a final jail break run for the last 100 yards. Finished with planks and 20 Merkins.

Minute to Win it, F3 style

Posted on behalf of Boutique

16 men including 1 Anvil FNG (welcome Scabby) took to the fields and lots of Anvil on this fine Wednesday morning.  The warm weather is here, finally! What better way to celebrate than playing a little Minute To Win It F3 style!

—Disclaimer—

 The Thang:

Mosey/warm up run around lot with some backwards run & karaoke mixed in.

COP – On soccer fields

  • SSH x 20 ic
  • Imperial walkers x 20 ic
  • Squats x 20 ic
  • Merkins x 20 ic

Mosey to front lot on Hwy 51

 Minute To Win It

Group does called exercise for 1 minute.  Run a lap (down around traffic circle at other end of lot).  Regroup in plank

  • Round 1- LBC
  • Round 2 – Dollies
  • Round 3 – Flutter Kicks
  • Round 4 – Merkins
  • Round 5 – Burpees

Mosey to baseball field partner up, grab a rock and continue on to hill on Rea Rd.

Partner 1 – overhead press with rock

Partner 2 – jog down, bear crawl up

Flapjack

Partner 1 – tricep curls with rock

Partner 2 – karaoke left down, karaoke right up

Flapjack

Partner 1 – overhead press with rock

Partner 2 – lunge walk down, lunge walk 1/2 way back up

Flapjack

Partner 1 – squats with rock

Partner 2 – run down, burpees broad jumps up (in the interest if time, called it. Young Love & Spandex finished it out – strong!)

COT

Moleskin

It was a pleasure to lead at Anvil this morning. Minute to win it seemed to keep the pax on their toes. Great job today guys!

Sacajawea was out in front on the runs and Lobster Roll was slaying the bear crawls!

Burpee Broad jumps always feel like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back…especially uphill!

 Announcements:

  • HDHH on the road at Bradshaw Social House, 6pm
  • BRR – contact Baracus if interested in being a sub.
  • 4 teams currently from Area 51 – two twelve man & two 9 man.
  • Mud run bus transportation sign up. Contact Champagne

The Tie That Binds

Want to learn to work as a team?  Simply tie yourself to the guy standing next to you, and him to the guy next to him. Today at SPEARHEAD we practiced fundamental elements of teamwork…with Rucks and of course a ton of reps!

The Thang:

Front/Back/Up: 5.42 time.  YHC called out Front/Back/Up’s over and over in random increments

– Front: Non-Stop Merkins

– Back: Non-Stop LBC’s

– Up: Non-Stop Running in Place with RUCKS OVERHEAD

Catch Me If You Can With Rucks

– P1 Burpees x 5

– P2 Farmer Carry Rucks

– Flapjack/Rinse/Repeat

The Tie That Binds: Pax have 2 minutes to connect all rucks and wear them

– Team Bear Crawl x 60 Yards

– Team Slow Squats x 50

– Team Low Crawl x 60 Yards

– Team “He Sees Me; I’m Down” x 60 Yards

– Team (8) Count Body Builders x 25

Ladder of Pain: Performed with Rucks as Kettle Bells

– 10 x Diamond Merkins

– 20 x Single Arm Ruck Snatch Press

– 30 x Upright Ruck Tow

– 40 x Ruck Overhead Press

– 50 x Front Ruck Squats

– 60 x Ruck Good Mornings

– 70 x Monkey Humpers

– 80 x Ruck Bent Over Row

-90 Ruck Press w Flutter Kicks

-100 Ruck Kettle Bell Swings

 COT

 Moleskin:

Strong work out there guys!  With a small group there is no where to hide and today you really impressed me with the over-all effort!  I think it’s time though for us to pitch in and get Double Trouble a Ruck; #bigmanisready!

Today taught us a lot about teamwork.  We were forced to move as a team, which is something that rarely happens at workouts.  Usually, it’s man vs. man and everyone is trying to get ahead of the person next to them (sometimes, if not always, to the determent of the proper form).  If all the time we are thinking of our own personal performance and not looking to the guy next to us, then we might need to step back and think about what all this is about.  It’s not an individual event, but a group of like-minded, highly motivated guys that love the fellowship F3 brings and working out together. Today at SPEARHEAD we tried our best to completely embody the essence of helping your brothers out.  Sometimes It means slowing up your pace or changing how you are performing the exercise so the team can stay together.  One Goal, One Purpose, One Team.

As always, it is an honor to train with such great people.

Respectfully,

The Hoff