The Rock – Assault on the Foothill

The Rock – Assault on the Foothill

13 Pax and 3 2.0’s attacked The Rock this morning on a chilly Saturday.

The Thang:

Jog 1/4 mile down dead end cemetery service lane. 180 degree turn – 1/4 mile back to baseball field

COP:

SSH’s x 25

Imperial Walkers x 25

Merkins x 15

Mountain Climbers x 15

Pick up a good size rock and jog with rock in right hand over head, then overhead in left

To playground:

20 feet in swing – pull knees to chest (need a name for this exercise!) x 3

25 LBCs x3

Pick rock back up

Jog to sand volleyball pit with rock overhead

Bear Crawl (clawless bear a good idea from TR in the sandpit) length of volleyball court

Crab Walk (clawless crab a good idea, too) length of volleyball court

Jog to pavilion with rock overhead

People’s Chair: holding rock straight out, overhead press with rock x 15, hold rock out with right arm, hold rock out with left arm

Man Makers with rock x 10 with Right Arm

Man Makers with rock x 10 with Left Arm

Mason Twist with rock x 20

Jog to the Foothill (aka steep hill entrance #4 to Calvary Church)

Run Hill @ 50%, jog down

Backwards run hill, jog down

Karaoke hill (left), jog down

Karaoke hill (right), jog down

Run hill @ 50%, jog down

Run hill @ 75%, jog down

Run hill @ 100%, jog down

Repeat 50/75/100% set x 2

Run hill @ 100%, mosey down

Run hill @ 100%, mosey down

Run hill @ 100%, mosey down, sprint to tree (100 yards total)

Backwards run hill @ 50%, jog down

Backwards run hill @ 85%, jog down

Backwards run hill @ 85%, jog down

Karaoke hill (1/2 left, 1/2 right), jog down.  Repeat x 2

Super set, as fast as possible:

Run hill @ 50%, run down

Run hill @ 75%, run down

Run hill @ 100%, grab knees, puke gravy

Little baby jog back for 3 MOM

One legged dolly (hold left, move right) x 10

Flapjack x 10

Hold ’em 6″

One legged flutter (hold left, move right) x 10

Flapjack x 10

Hold ’em 6″

COT

MoleSkin:

Philosophical discussion of Mosey between The Shore and TR this morning.  The Shore understands it to be walking, whereas TR understands it to be a little baby jog.  The F3 Lexicon is silent on the issue so in the spirit of the Starfish, we decided it would be “not running”.

Three 2.#s joined the Pax this morning.  Sickle (Ice Hole’s 2.#, Buzz Kill (The Shore 2.0) and Sandbar (The Shore 2.1).  Whether they wanted to tag along with their respective Pops or were sentenced to F3/Juvie is unknown….however, Buzz Kill and Sandbar will be joining the Shore and perhaps? the rest of his family for the Spartan Sprint in the Spring.  They hung tough, but alas, the young ‘uns succumbed to TR’s never-ending hill sprints.  TR thought of dialing it back for the Juvies but did what #TheWorldsToughestPediatrician would do: took it up a notch.  If you wanna be the man….

And I hope other Pax across F3 Nation read this because YHC is fairly certain there was a Titan sighting jogging on Rea Road with what appeared to be a poodle.

Language Barrier:  When told by Hops to grab a “smallish stone” – Wanker and Haggis (England and Scotland, respectively) grab stones as big as their heads.  Regrettable choice for man maker merkins.  Maybe you guys could go in together and purchase Rosetta Stone?

Ray Charles looking freakish in the UA shirt and camo pants.  #toughhombre

Has Stage Coach or Short Sale missed a post since starting? #morecowbell

And further – Stage Coach was faster on the hill sprints than YHC is on a straightaway.  #DieselSmoke

One final note — most of the Moleskin content provided by TR with a few small additives from YHC (Hops).

Great work fellas.  Proud to help lead a great group of guys this morning.  Aye!

 

 

 

Cornucopia of Toys, Pax, and Pain

28  (new SW record) strong eager faithful posted in the gloom on this fine morning to explore the latest edition of the Skunk Works.

The Thang:

Jog to lower parking lot

COP

Imperial Walker x 25

SSH x 25

Squat x 20

Squat Jack or Jack Squat, no Richard Simmons x 17

Merkin Jack x 10

Bear Crawl up the hill, Merkins x 10, Backward Bear Crawl down hill  X 3

Circuit Stations (3 men per rotating exercise every 45sec)

  1. Hairburners, Kettle bell goblet squat, Burpees
  2. Hairburners, KB goblet squat, Burpees
  3. Battle Ropes, KB one arm swings, merkins
  4. Seated tire pull, KB upright row, mountain climbers
  5. Box Jumps, KB high ups, KB figure 8
  6. Big Tire pull, KB 2 arm swings, burpees (?)
  7. Balanced Merkins, KB mason twist, med ball situps
  8. Sled pull,  KB something (?), merkins (?)
  9. Tire Flips, Sand Bag lunge, Sledge hammer swings

COT- Not yet!- Poke the Skunk–> Merkin Jacks x 10

COT

Moleskin:

Perhaps too many toys to play with this morning, tough to manage.  So many YHC can’t even remember.  SW management will work on that.

McGee poking the skunk.  You poke the skunk, he will lift the tail.

Introduction of a new thang we’ll call the Richard Simmons- looks funny, feels weird but it works!  Jazz hands optional.

Baby Boomer at 62 did a good job in my group.  #grandpastrong

Shout out to Uncle for making the trip from Metro. “Hope you enjoyed the trinkets.”

Strong post by TR this am after taking on Thunder Road Sat with a 4:10 first marathon time.  Very Strong and congrats!

Doruck—named Dora because he joined F3 to train for the GoRuck.  We got all the coupons you need at Skunk Works.

The Bolshoi Ballet Company:  Callaway, Countertop and …..??

Wanka! on tap for his first Q tomorrow at DV…be prepared.

Thanksgiving Day Convergence at AG at 7 am THU.

Black Friday Bowl:  F3/Dads 10 am at AG Friday.

 

The Matrix

14 men gathered in the South Charlotte gloom on Monday morning for the official launch of The Matrix. 

The Thang

Run around school

Imperial Walker X 32

SSH X 32

Squats X 32 

Incline merkin X 24

100M run

Decline merkin X 24

100M run

Dips X 30 / Squats X 30

200M run

Squats X 30 Dips X 30

100M backpedal run

Pull Ups X 10 / Dips X 20 – 3 sets of each

100M backpedal run

Something X 30 [I can’t remember what… PAX, anyone remember?]

100M karaoke

Plank

Run around school

People’s Chair

Lung walk X 25 yards / 20 merkins / lunge walk X 25 yards

3 minutes of Mary [Dolly / Flutter/ LBC]

Merkins X 20

LBC X 30

Moleskin

-Belated shout out to Dora for the use of the digital weinke on Saturday during his time as the QIC.  We would expect nothing less from our Regional IT Q. 

-Hops was looking quite grizzly this morning with all the facial hair… not just a stache, but a full on beard…  very cropped and professional looking of course.

-Mall Cop had the look of man whose team just jumped two spots in the BCS rankings.   

-Triple claps for Young Love… making his third straight post at McKee Road Elementary

 

Hauling Rock up North Face

18 brave souls posted in the frosty gloom to take on The Rock

 

The Thang:

Mall Cop Lead:

Jog to soccer pitch for warm-up COP

SSH x 25

Imperial Walker x 25

Shores shoulders (in a deep 90 degree squat – small arm circles forward, small circles backward, large circles forward, large circles backward)

Carolina Dry Dock x 15.

Merkin / Arm Up Ladder – start w/1 Merkin and 4 Arm Ups, then increase to 2 Merkins & 8 Arm Ups, increasing each set by 1 / 4 to last set of 10 Merkins, 40 Arm Ups.

Jacobs Ladder up hill with CDD at top 1 to 7, and Squats at bottom 2 to 14.

COP – Football Drill: run in place with high knees and drop on command and pop back up for 90 seconds

Flutter Kick x 20

LBC x 20

Peter Parker x 20

Indian Run with 10 Merkin Chaser (turned into Indian Lung Walk w/ 10 merkin chaser).

 

Stone Cold Lead:

Jog to pic-nic table benches for dips x 20, jump ups x 20. 

Rinse and Repeat – total of 3 sets.

400 meter run to side of church

Peoples Chair 90 – seconds

Peoples Chair – 90 seconds

Balls to the Wall – 45 seconds

Peoples Chair – 90 seconds

Jog to fields at front of church for:

Set 1) Bear Crawl 25 yards, Rolling Merkins 25 yards, Crab Walk 25 yards, Sprint 25 Yards

Partner up:

Set 2) Partner Carry 25 yards, wheel barrow 25 yards, partner pull / drag 25 yards, Sprint 25 yards

Set 3) Flapjack

Set 4) Partner 1 Planks while Partner 2 does decline Merkins x 10, Flapjack – Total of 3 sets.

Jog over to and down North Face to dry creek bed to pick out pet rock.

North Face Jacobs Ladder while holding pet rock with rock burpees at top 1 to 5, and 10 squat rock presses at bottom (crowd pleaser)

400 meter backwards run, kareoke, run back to shovel flag

Finish with merkin jumping jacks x 15

COT

 

Naked Moleskin:

Great work by all today and a couple of “Unsavory” (BS) calls by the pax for the Merkin / Arm up Ladder and for the rock hold Jacobs Ladder up North Face.  Both were difficult and YHCs shoulders and arms are sore!  That is the slowest we’ve run up North Face by hauling those rocks = smoker!

It was great to have 2 FNGs out today Screwdriver (Rob Phillips) and Ice Sickle (Ice Hole 2.0).  Sorry Sickle as YHC was trying so hard to remember your name when we met but I was so smoked by the end of the workout that the swirly snakes just weren’t very active at that point.  Scredriver did a great job for his first post and YHC can tell he will be an F3 Beast in no time flat!  Looking forward to seeing back out in the Gloom soon!

As we were finishing up the COP at the beginning the Pax saw Bug Eater, Skinner, and Dirt Track racing from the parking lot to catch up.  As a joke YHC yelled out for them to commence their penalty of 15 Burpees and was about to laugh it off and call out the next exercise until Bug Eater started whinning like my 6 year old 2.0.  And then the 15 Burpee penalty began as the Pax finished our CDD.  We kid because we love fellas!  Just remember for next time we start promptly at 7:00 at the Rock!

In honor of our brother Dora’s virgin Q at Area 51 YHC decided to pull one of Dora’s tricks out of his backpack that he told YHC about a couple of days ago and have the pax run a 2 line Indian Run with a 10 Merkin chaser.  The pax immediately started yelling to turn the Indian Run into an Indian Lunge Walk with 10 Merkin chaser.  For some reason YHC complied with the request, but YHC assures you there will be no modification the next time for this one.

Special thanks to Hops for letting YHC borrow his spare pair of gloves as I drove the M’s SUV to the workout while all my gear was in my car.

Remember – Monday launch of The Matrix at McKee Rd Elementry, 5:30 to 6:15, Joker will be your Q.  We had a soft launch earlier this week and the nice thing fellas is there’s plenty of auxilary and parking lot lights so you won’t need the head lamp like we do in the Black Hole called Death Valley.

Rockin the Ciabatta

28 men posted for an Area 51 painfest.

The Thang [early crew]

Jog to track for 1 lap

SSH x 25

Imperial Walker x 20

Mountain Climber x 20

6 man Indian run with dumbbell around soccer field to back parking lot

4 corners – round 1:  1 leg burpee (R), karaoke to 2nd station, 1 leg burpee (L), backpedal to 3rd station, 1 leg burpee (R), karaoke to 4th station, 1 leg burpee (L), backpedal back to 1st station

Round 2: 10 regular merkins, lunge walk to 2nd station, 10 diamond merkins, backward lunge walk to 3rd station, 10 staggers arm merkins (R), lunge walk to 4th station, 10 stagger arm merkins (L), backward lunge walk back to 1st station

Mosey to upper parking lot

Circle of 6: 30 seconds each station – lbc, merkins, bicycle, KB squats, merkins walk, mtn climbers

2 laps around track – 1 lap jog, 1 lap sprint straights and jog turns

Plank work

People’s chair x 60 sec

Merkins x 20

People’s chair x 90sec

6 min of Mary

The Thang [7AM crew]

COP x20 in cadence (ssh/iw/merk/lbc/pparker)

Indian Run w/a 5 Merkin Chaser around the entire field 2x

Visit rick pile, Get a rock buddy, mosey to nearest soccer pitch

Upper Rock Ciabatta — 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, 8 sets, AMRAP

◦                     Pass rock to your brother, 8x curls

◦                     8x merkins (vary: normal/diamond/wide/stagger on your rock)

◦                     Pass rock to your brother, 8x shoulder press

◦                     4x no-rock CDD

◦                     Mosey to rock pile, put rock to bed

Jog to field

Squats X 30

Jog to back of school

Squats X 30

Dips X 30 / Peoples Chair – 3 sets of each

Jog to playground

Pull Ups X 10 and Jump Ups X 20 – 3 sets of each

Jog to soccer field

800 Meter Race

Plank

Jog to school

23 merkins

 

Moleskin

– Strong work by the “early crew” [Short Sale, Header, Stage Coach, Salt Lick, Bratwurst and Countertop], posting for a 6AM workout prior to soccer games, etc.  – Triple claps for Countertop doing a double down, posting for both the 6AM and 7AM workouts

– The “merkin chasers” during the Indian Run proved to be confusing at 715am. Some pax tried doing them IN FRONT of the line.  And an Indian run with 26 guys in one line is an Indian MARATHON. Next time, two lines.

– Upper Body Rock Ciabatta brought out the best from the Pax, including a signature McGee ‘Unsavory’ call

– Passing your rock to your brother keeps a pax honest about how hard he plans to work out that day, doesn’t it?

– LOTS of mid-exercise illicit black market rock-swapping happening mid-Ciabatta

– The ungloved pax learned just how cold granite can get this morning. Expect to see a run on handwear at your local hardware store this afternoon

-Strong showing from McGee and Lobster Roll in the 800 Meter Race [which is actually about 950 Meters]

-Cowboy was catching a lot of grief this morning – as usual – when he barked out, “I can just stay home and get this treatment from my wife”

-APK wore a hideous shirt today — he claims it is “wind proof”… just sayin

Chasing Ghosts

5 pax actually showed up to run in the cold and wet conditions.

The Thang:

4 or 6 miles with quarter mile sprints thrown in just for fun.

The Moleskin:

37 degrees and wet are not ideal conditions and most of us were surprised to see others show this morning for the run. Glad to have others out there with me though this morning. One thing is for sure, none of us would have been out there without each other. Strong work, men.

The conditions were actually handled well by all. Throw on a shell and what’s the difference? Makes one think you can actually handle a GoRuck Challenge in the middle of February as well. Just saying.

Donkey Kong was the only one to arrive at 5:30, and must have been a little late. He wrongly assummed others had left just before him and spent the first 2 miles speeding up to catch them. Only at the turn did he realize he was out there all alone, without a 5:30 Q, pushing just himself. Glad you perservered DK.

Thoughts and prayers go out across South Charlotte for our brothers, Run Stopper and Ninja Turtle who are in Oklahoma this morning consoling each other and their family after the sudden passing of Run Stopper’s mother. God bless.

 

Fields of Dreams

26 men ventured into the breezy gloom at Death Valley for a mid-week downPAINment

Jog to baseball field

COP

SSH x 20

Merkin x10

I Walker x20

Merkin x10

Squat x20

Merkin x10

Sore Shoulders 10 small, 10 big, 10 small rev, 10 big rev

 

Jog to another baseball field

 

10 burpee – 20 merkin – 30 squats – sprint to other side (bicycle to wait)

10 burpee – 20 merkin – 30 squats – sprint to other side (merkin to wait)

10 burpee – 20 merkin – 30 squats – sprint to other side (plank to wait)

 

Jog to walk

 

Incline Plank walk up rail

Repeat incline plank walk

 

Lunge walk and jog to football field

 

Cross the field doing:

Bear Crawl / Rolling Merkin

Lunge / Reverse Lunge

Crab Walk / Rolling Merkin

Lunge / Reverse Lunge

 

Mary

LBC x20

Dolly x20

Rosalita x20

Mason Twist x20

Swimmer x20

 

Naked Moleskin:

1)  We’ve got 4 baseball fields and 1  football/soccer field at Death Valley and today we covered them all.

2)  Good work by all on the 3 rounds of 10-20-30.  Definitely gassed at the end of that third round.

3)  Hope everyone enjoyed the rolling merkins.  YHC can’t figure it out, but they bring a special kind of pain to the shoulders.

 

Beatty Park Trail Run

Aye, 3 pax gathered in the post gloom on Monday morning to enjoy the trails of Col. Francis Beatty Park in Charlotte South.

Thang:
6 mile loop at Beatty Park and mixed in some “pain stations” every 2 miles.  The warmer temps were a nice break from the cold and plenty of sweat was left on the trails.

Mosey from cars to trail
Run 2 miles : 20 walking lunges
Run 2 miles:  15 incline merkins on downed tree
Run 2 miles: 10 spartan burpees
Mosey back to cars

Moleskin:
T claps to turkey leg for double posting today.  He hit Area 51 for boot camp and then came out to Beatty.  Also, Santini made the trek to Beatty Park all the way from Fort Mill.  Although our group was small, we represented F3 well.  A fisherman in the parking lot remarked that we looked like we were “killing the woods”.  Trail running seems to be a natural fit for F3 Nation! Great job guys.

The Workout Without a Name

20 men posted in the Area 51 gloom for the soft launch of a – yet to be named – Monday morning Charlotte South workout at Mckee Road Elementary School.

The Thang

1/4 mile run

SSH X 30

Imperial Walker X 30

1/4 mile run

Merkins X 40

Squat X 30

Carolina Dry Dock X 20

1/4 mile run

Plan-o-rama

Incline merkins X 20

People’s Chair / Two Minutes of Jack

Decline merkins X 20

Lunge walk

Playground for 10 pull ups; 20 dips; 30 squats – three sets of each

Relay races [4 teams of 5; 60 yard dash] X 2

Merkins X 20

 

Moleskin

– Strong turnout for a soft launch.   Monday Nov 19 is official launch… workout name TBD.  Format will be traditional boot camp, with some surprises from time to time to keep things interesting.  5:30AM – 6:15AM Monday mornings at McKee Road.

– Interesting dance moves by Donkey Kong in the gloom, with West Side Story as his inspiration.  One of those – you had to see it to believe it things.  Don’t quit your day job DK.

– Relay races were a show.  Quarter Pounder showed his deceptive speed, just gliding along with his 6’5″ frame.  Ocho Cinco has the fastest feet in Charlotte South, but others showed some wheels as well… Runstopper, McGee and our FNG from Rockingham [nickname = Dirt Track].

Poke The Skunk

Twenty one Pax learned that sometimes you CAN poke the skunk.

 

WARMUP

  • Little Baby Jog to covered breezeway
  • SSH x 30
  • Sprint to wall and back
  • I-Walker x 20
  • Sprint to wall and back
  • Mountain Climbers x 10
  • Slow Groiners x 10
  • Little Baby Jog back to HS
  • Lunge Walk x 50 yards

 

KB THANG

  • Around the world x 10 (R, L)
  • Snatch Negatives x 5L / x 5R
  • Cleans x 5L / x 5R
  • Two-handed swing x 20
  • One-handed swing x 15L / x 15R
  • Clean & Press x 10L / x 10R
  • Snatch x10L / x 10R
  • Goblet Squat x 20
  • Snatch & Squat x 5L / x 5R
  • Clean & Squat x 10L / x 10R
  • Goblet Lunge x 10L / x 10R
  • Halo x 10L / x 10R
  • Two-handed swing x 20
  • One-handed swing x 10L / x 10R
  • One-legged Romanian dead lift x 8L / x 8R
  • Louganis x 10
  • Mason Twist x 10
  • One-legged glute bridge & chest press x 10L / x 10R

 

COT

MOLESKIN

  • After five days of piano wire hammies from last-week’s KB intro, YHC dialed it back a little for week 2.  All in the name of self-preservation for the coming weekend’s marathon experiment where we answer the question no one is asking, “Can F3 and 6 miles a week prepare you for a marathon?”  Hope you still got your money’s worth.
  • McGee, no doubt feeling saucy with the impending release from the inlaws’ guestroom, poked the Skunk twice the morning to no effect.   The Pax were disappointed time ran out before the fine suggestion of KB burpees.
  • Dolphin (from the Greek meaning, “fish with a womb”) appearing out of the gloom after running 3+ miles to the workout.  Strong. (Would have been stronger had he brought his kettlebell…just sayin’).
  • Stage Coach scores his first (?) EH: Welcome to FNG Baracus who posted on a rainy, chilly morning with his old-man dumb bell.
  • Make good on your Leatherneck by 11/15 or you will be replaced.
  • HC for Metro Christmas Party on 12-8 and the GORUCK on the website.