R4TJ – TBD: Convergence or Crossway

FNGs: None
Warm Up: None. We went right out and ran.
The Workout: Run run run. 9 for convergence, 5 for Crossway. They both sucked, in different ways. For convergence, we split up and had a race/WWI/math competition, followed by a BTTW until failure. The score was 2-2…until next time guys.
Mary: Nah.
Announcements: Scramble week! Go try something new.
T-Claps (Recognition): McNugget for forgetting where Crossway is and coming to converge. He ran Nemo’s sizable head start down for the victory.
Prayer: Boy George’s house to sell quickly and easily. Our nation.

If I had known we would stop early, I would have done more squats…

It’s been a few weeks since I took the helm at Disney. I have had some ideas rolling around and my Q-Plan kept getting pushed based on some great leadership stepping up to fill the Q-Sheet (including Bobby Dahl’s VQ which was brutal). Given the recent postings that kicked off around mental health and PTSD awareness I thought we should incorporate some of that into the beat down. So… We took a friend along with us for the ride today (about a 30lb rock) and we did a shit ton of merkins.

FNGs: NOPE
Warm Up: Quick trip around the lot to circle up. SSH x25, 5 Burpees OYO, Imperial Walker x10, Good morning x10, Daisy Picker x10, SSH x15
The Workout: Bataan Death March – But we’re going slow and low and carrying our friend. 1st man out with the rock and mosey along to exchange with the first person in line. Repeato for almost a mile to the half-circle behind the school.

Count off in 2’s and pair up.  DORA 200 LBC’s 400 Merkins, 600 Squats…..Partner splits first and taking a loop up the stairs and across the trailers with 2 stops before back down the other stairs to return to your partner. 1st stop 10 merkins to the corner past the top of the stairs another 10 merkins back to your partner.  After the first loop around the rock was brought into play. It was exchanged through each group so everyone could get a turn carrying it around. Because of time we had to end early, which I know everyone was not happy about… Nemo – not knowing I was gonna have to cut us off early said he would have done more squats if he knew. Ha. Q knew that this was a risk going in of not being able to finish but also wanted to see how far we could get.

Return with the rock for Mary.

Mary: Homer to Marge x10 RL, WWI x10, WWII x10, We’ll call this one The Crotch (basically your soles of shoes are touching and knees folded out, laying on your back. You reach forward using your abs to move your hands from over your “cup” forward.) x10 and then hold as directed by the Q x10 + 5 holds, LBC’s x10 IC, Iron Cross x10, A standing crunch x20.  HND.
Announcements: “Q Swap” starting 8/10 – opportunity to show off between Fuquay and Holly Springs. Mookie to post details soon.
T-Claps (Recognition): Welcome back Kid Cracker! We’ve missed you. Also – POTS – Dude sprinted up the lot hill to Mary hauling ass and carrying that rock over his head.
Prayer: Full House’s extended family, Hump from F3 Raleigh and his M as they are going through some birth complications.

Garmin fail

YHC pre-blasted the workout with enough time that Pax would reach out and get their paces for today’s workout. The misconception about speed work is that is not just come and run as fast as you can. Lots of requests last night for pace and YHC checked back to see at 10 HC’s as of last night. The good news, an HC still means something at Tiger Blood as all 10 HCs posted.

Runners returned from EC routes warmed up and ready to go. No one could find Dawgpound as we started the mosey. As we neared the track the lost pup was located after setting up his recovery device.

Here is SW we don’t do 10 or 20 counts. At Tiger Blood we usually recover on the mosey, but today apparently we were to recover in luxury.

3 for 2 mile EC: Full House, Mr. Terrific, and Skidmark
1 mile EC: Dawgpound, Cupid, Pikachu, 187, Emeril, McNugget, and maybe some others
Run from home: Aquaman, Bernie, Bullseye

Notable non EC: Lipstick

FNGs: None
Warm Up: Little mosey to the track. Leg swings side to side and front to back. Tiger claws. 400 meters (1 lap)
The Workout: Tempo Runs. 2 -12 minute sessions with 3 minute recovery between sets.

“So what is a true tempo run? A tempo run—also known as an anaerobic threshold or lactate-threshold run—is a pace about 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than your current 5K race pace, according to running coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., who popularized the tempo run in his book Daniels’ Running Formula.

Without getting too technical, tempo pace is the effort level at which your body is able to clear as much lactate—a byproduct of burning carbohydrates—as it produces. Your body’s lactate clearance is at the same level as its lactate production, meaning the dreaded dead-leg sensation doesn’t set in.

That’s the key difference between a race and a tempo run. In an all-out session, your body bypasses this limit, allowing for fatigue to develop rapidly. A tempo pace, on the other hand, can be held steadily (albeit not too comfortably) for at least 20 minutes.

For those fond of using heart rate monitors, Daniels notes that tempo runs should be done at 90 percent of maximum and feel ‘comfortably hard’.”

Finished with a 400m at Short Interval Pace

Mary: No time
Announcements: Mulch again, Q Swap week between HS/FV August 10 and 17, Derek Davis Memorial Run will be held at Tiger Blood on 8/20. It will be the workout but will be open to anyone.
T-Claps (Recognition): 16 guys for speed work, incredible
Prayer: Full House’s family, Lipstick’s family

Ultimate at Thunder – 29Jul20

FNGs: Welcome FNG Norbert! Snap’s 2.0 – played a great game and is a D&D fan to boot!
Warm Up: Mosey to the pit. SSH x10 IC, Daisy Pickers x10 IC
The Workout: Ultimate frisbee. First 15 minutes 3x merkins for each drop, second 15 3x squats, third 15 no exercises.
Mary: Not today
Announcements: Mulch sign up

Crossing the Aisle

Bringing people together is important.  We each have the power to unite or divide. Men, in particular, have an opportunity to bring people together. Our families, our co-workers, neighbors, and friends. Sadly, a lot of guys go it alone and don’t engage. I’ve been there.

One way men get together is through competition (usually proceeded by smack talk, then usually followed by the smack down) and cooperation. Well, we had all that and more going on today. You see, there has been a lot of smack talk between R4TJ and TBD here lately. These co-site Q’s apparently inherited a beef that goes back.  Well, YHC decided to cross the aisle, plan a small convergence of sorts, and plan a competitive Thang for us to come together, workout, and have some fun before the smack talk re-ensues.  With both site Q’s negotiating the plan and timing, we were ready to roll.  14 pax from TBD rolled up on 8 pax from R4TJ on the parking deck to get squared away. There was an additional, 5-6 R4TJ pax that had “other hills to climb”.

EC: YHC solo.
Warm Up: Told the fellas I wasn’t wearing gloves cuz I didn’t want to hear R4TJ complain about it for the limited ground work we’d do. Circle up for SSH, Good Mornings, Windmills, Squatted Seal And Overhead Claps, Moroccan Night Clubs, Annie’s, and Frankenstein’s. Mosey the .6 mile over to the parking deck. Picking up the six before crossing Main.
The Workout: Thang 1 was meant to be for my crowd only. SSH in circle, then a Guantanamo style 45 degree side shuffle down the line and a plank hold hop down the line.  Alternated position every 3 or so pax.  Just happened to finish as R4TJ arrived.  After a quick count off, rules of engagement, etc. YHC decided to partner up mixed teams of R4TJ and TBD pax. YHC planned beforehand that if we couldn’t match numbers to compete… we would cooperate and compete. 2 teams… 3 points to be won. All pax in a parking space on their six.

Thang 2: 1 pax sprints wall to wall and back to their spot. All other pax await their turn to run by doing WW1. In the end, 1 point was awarded to team that finished sprints first. 1 point for most cumulative WW1’s. 1 point for team who could calculate their WW1 total the fastest. This fella named McNugget is crazy fast and closed the distance. Halftime result- 2-1 for team 1.

Thang 3: Down below to the underworld for last man standing BTTW. Turns out, 4 minutes and 8 seconds declared a winner. Team 2 awarded the point, but crazy cheers, coaching, and valiant effort put in by all. We finished in a 2-2 tie.
Mary: Mosey back to the TBD flag. Laughs were had, encouragement happened, we got loud downtown in the early morning, men worked out. It’s really all that YHC hoped would happen this morning. F3 can be fun too. #morethanaworkout
Announcements: Mulch continues, Sign up. Mookie will be reaching out to site-Q’s with info about Q swap in the coming weeks. As per Banana Seat, try to get out in the coming weeks to AO’s you usually don’t frequent.
T-Claps (Recognition): Cupid for being agreeable to arrange this idea of mine. Goldilocks apparently made a return to the gloom?
Prayer: Unspoken, those in recovery.  We are thankful.  YHC took is out.

Hit the skids

FNGs: None
Warm Up: SSH, Sir Fozie arm circles (10 forward / 10 back) Windmills, single leg dead lift.

The Workout: 4 cones spaced 75 feet apart in a square. cone 1 > PAX choice, Cone 2  > Abs, Cone 3 > Biceps/Triceps, Cone 4 > Chest and back. Group split into teams of 2 and a group of 1.  Each Cone had an additional 44lbs tractor weight. Once the timer started tractor weights could not touch the ground, penalty for dropping was 5 burpees per drop.  A skid was placed at Cone 1 and pushed/pulled to the next cone with the tractor weight. Partner helped without picking up the skid. Once the skid hit cone two the 2nd tractor weight was added and the next group pushed/pulled the skid. This rotation continued around all four cones.  The next pass around the cones we dropped off one weight and continued the rotation. The HIM’s owed 50 burpees at the start of the workout and each pass of the skid deducted the overall burpee count for the 30 min ME.  As the team got the jest of the activity it became very clear that we have conceptual thoughts about how the theories of E=M2 works in physics, but we were very challenged in practical application of the theory.  POTS worked the skid and weight with out a buddy to help and we lost one tractor weight early. 55 burpees before we made one pass and another drop put us at 60.  We got better as the time passed, but a PAX that shall not be named (POTS) maybe dropped two weights accidentally on his mosey to the next cone.  At the end of the 30 min we owed 10 burpees from an apex of 60.

Mary:  Korean Wars (20 count) Ball Diamonds (20 count) Side Raises / Oblique V-ups 10 each then switch sides.

Announcements:  Mulch..Mulch…Mulch.
T-Claps (Recognition):  Thanks Sprinkler for bringing the coupons.
Prayer: Families trying to figure out school and working parents, First responders, People in isolation. Unspoken

Vicious Virgins

FNGs: None in sight
Warm Up: Not at this workout
The Workout: We showed up.  This happened:


Mary: Nowhere to be found
Announcements:
T-Claps (Recognition): Everyone that posted at this new seasonal AO
Prayer: Ended with COB (circle of bikes)

Let Me Teach You a Lesson…

It normally doesn’t take this long to squeeze out a backblast, but this one needed to take some time to do it justice. We all joke at the lessons M4L can provide. Sometimes he shows to workouts he commits to, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he does 1/2 of the workout, sometimes he does 1/2 Side Straddle Hops, sometimes he does a full one or just flaps his arms. On that Friday, last week at Kung Pow, he delivered one of the more memorable Q’s I’ve been a part of, and truth be told…when he shows to Q, they always have a lesson.

On an aside, these guys at Wescott are bringing it and I’m not saying it because it is home turf. I have yet to see a duplicated workout and every single one has a signature footprint. Pablo’s manhole merkins, Deadbolt and DoubleD’s Reagan era burpeefest, and who could forget that time where YHC almost killed Fram, DoubleD, Sprinkler, and Fonzie with cardio cul-de-sacs a few weeks ago.

I will say this, anytime I have seen M4L Q, I always come away with something. It could be an exercise routine, it could be something personal he has shared, but more importantly, his Q’s always extend beyond just a workout (hence F3- more than a workout) and have always shown me to appreciate the moment and embrace these great things we have… F3 and each other. Just like we tackle these workouts, we are also going through everything life throws at us together.

On this Friday morning, it was destined that something special was gonna happen. Pre-Blast yielded 8 HC’s, which was a really high number considering none of the regulars were HC’ing the night before. Also, nobody HC’s anymore…anybody else notice that?

Picked up Deadbolt… yes- we drove only being a half 0.4 mi down the road.  Arrived  to a completely full Wescott parking lot, 13 PAX limbering up, representing all areas of SouthWake-some from Fuquay, another from 12 Oaks, even one from Cary and also from Raleigh. 15 total- A new record at Kung Pow.  Full House later shared that he was undecided that morning, but just like Nemo from a few weeks ago, he was drawn by the pre-blast marketing campaign.

What on earth did M4L have planned? Whatever it was, it was about to go down as we were at 5:29 and the mumblechatter was starting to rise above the level that gets us exposed on our neighborhood Facebook page.

Time to mosey. Extended the 15 PAX group across the street to do some warm-ups at the Veterinary clinic across the street.

FNGs: None, but would be alot cooler if there were…
Warm Up: SSH X10, Burpee X10, Uneven Merkins- Right arm extended forward x10\Left Arm extended forward X10. Mumblechatter= more burpee X10, then followed by a mosey back to M4L’s vehicle.

The Workout: Upon arrival, M4L pops the trunk. Strategically stacked where several bricks with the words “No OYO” spray painted on them. Everybody grab a brick- one for each hand. I’ve seen this workout once before, but judging by the other faces they had not and wasn’t sure what they were more surprised by…the possibility that they’d have to carry these bricks the whole workout or what M4L meant by “No OYO.” As suspected, Midget instructed PAX to mosey with bricks in hand down Wescott Ridge. PAX stopped about halfway down among the trees lining what we refer to in Wescott as the ‘fairway.’

As a tribute to New Mexico, PAX performed a series of quick feet with bricks in hands. Recover on the mosey to Bells Walk (oh- if anyone puts the bricks down, 10 burpees with bricks for all PAX). At Bells Walk, M4L calls for a Indian Brick Walk with curls where the trailing PAX double times it to the front curling alongside group of 14 PAX who are also curling in single file. Made it to the end of the cul-de-sac for 31 Monkey Humpers with bricks (31 years since entering the US) . This was also in honor of one of our favorite Wescott residents, bless her heart. She is looking for a gently used Oboe, so if anyone knows a friend of a friend who has one let us know. A real Oboe…not you, Oboe. Really- not kidding.

After those were performed, M4L called for a faster paced Indian Run with bricks, except halfway down the street, Q ended up ‘dropping’ his bricks.. 10 burpees OYO all PAX. Continued to the end of Bells Walk and onto Dumbo’s house. How we were able to fit all 15 PAX in his driveway was beyond me, but we did and its unfortunate he did not have a Ring camera to capture this. There was mumblechatter as to the other cameras he has in his house, but we would need to wait for him to return from vacation to either confirm or deny.

Inside the driveway, all 15 PAX performed 31 tricep extensions , followed by 31 overhead presses. With arms already significantly torched, M4L now reveals the true meaning of the lesson behind the “No OYO” bricks. He instructed PAX to partner up. From here, one member of the unit would give their bricks to the partner, so one carries all 4 on the mosey, while the other stays with him for moral support. Do not leave your partner- He will need you.

Not sure Fram got that memo, even with 4 bricks, he was running a 5K pace and YHC was having trouble keeping up with him as he made his way up Wescott Ridge and down to the Palm City cul-de-sac where M4L used to live. At the cul-de-sac, M4L shared a story of what F3 means to him and specifically how PAX should never do life alone- hence the “No OYO” bricks. We all carry something and should never feel afraid to ask for help and lean on your brothers to help you through difficult times. A message that hit home with everyone that morning.

On the return, PAX mosey’d with their bricks again, making sure that each partner didn’t leave the other behind. At the top of the hill, M4L did a quick check of the lead PAX to ask where their partners were. If they were left behind, he instructed them to apologize for leaving them behind as a reminder that we are all accountable to ensure we are picking up the six.

Mary: Merkins on the “Bring Sally Down”- A tribute to “Gone in 60 Seconds” (67 seconds to be exact-the amount of time remaining in the workout)
Announcements: Q Swap coming in August; New AO- Something Awesome on Monday
T-Claps (Recognition): All PAX getting out there this morning. A great crowd, great workout, great message.
Prayer: Healthcare workers, Bondo’s new grandchild Piper. Continued health for families near and far.

Double D took us out!

Filter or Cowboy Style?

The air was thick down in the Teeter bowl this morning.  Cigarette butts were abundant among the parking spaces that were used just about all through the workout. Mumblechatter surrounded cigarette style preference, proper exercise form, slow bear crawlers, and the size of sweat stains. “Hey, can get that last drag?”  “You got menthol filter over there?” “Nah, this ones cowboy style.” “ How many merkins on these burpees?” These were only a few of the mumblechatter examples as we moved constantly throughout today’s AO.

EC: YHC, 187, and Aquaman. Why did we take the Wescott hill route.

FNG’s: None, but Bullseye is officially an FNG behind the wheel with his permit now!
Warm Up: Mosey around the lot a bit stopping for Good Mornings, Sir Fazio’s, Squatted Seal And Overhead Claps, Frankenstein’s, and Imperial Walkers.
The Workout: Bear Crawlers Choice as we laid down some tracks along the parking spaces. Each pax in a parking spot. First pax calls an AMRAP exercise and bear crawls to the end.  Continued this procedure for the whole workout. The only break in action was when we hit an island, we all jailbreaked to the end of the lot, moseyed back to our spots and continued. Did this twice. Lunge walked back the second time. All kinds of exercises were called. Merkins, Irkins, dirkins, dry dicks, squats, lunges, pistol squats (ouch!), Shoulder Taps, WW1s and 2’s, Pickle Pounders, H2M, LBC, LSF, Guantanamo’s, burpees, Star Jumps, absolutions, Peter Parker’s, Box Cutters, Boat Canoes, American Hammers, mountain climbers, Freddie Mercury’s, wine mixers, plank holds, side planks, and several more.  The pax altogether called out a solid workout!
Mary: During the Thang.
Announcements:  Mix it up, get to other AO’s this week.  Mulch continues. Q Swap at the end of August.
T-Claps (Recognition): Lots of sweat stains on the lot this morning.  Great work HIM’s!
Prayer: Military, first responders, teachers to have peace and service during uncertain times.

I discovered today we could not do this routine all the way to the end of the lot.  We got about 2/3. Thanks brothers for helping me learn new things each time I Q. Honored to lead.

There was an Axe but it wasn’t used

EC: Dawgpound, Cowboy, Katniss, Red, Emeril
FNGs: Nope
Warm Up:

Circled up at the top of the parking deck.

Foot Trace
Tootsie Rolls
Hip Barrels
Spinal Twist
Shoulder Shrug
Neck Stretch

The Workout:

10 Reps Bow Draw to the Side Each Side
10 Reps Uppercut Each side
10 Reps Squats switches
5 Reps Bow Draw to the front. Each Arm
5 Reps Uppercut with Lunge each side
5 Reps Lunges to Squat Switches. Each leg

Did the Onnit game workout. 45 seconds work 15 seconds of rest. If you finish early increase the number of reps by 2. Start at 4 total for each exercise. If you take longer then 45 seconds decrease the number of reps by 2.

Bow Draw Series
Uppercut Series
Squat Series

Mary:

Onnit 6 minute abs – Up to 6 minutes or 30 rounds. No stop keep ongoing
10 Second Plank
10 Second Plank knees to Elbows – Nice and Slow
10 Seconds Mountain Climbers – Nice and Slow
20 Seconds Situps Hug your knees
20 Second Bicycle nice and slow
20 Seconds Russian Twist
20 Seconds Bowl

Announcements:

Mulch Sign Up

T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer:

Unspoken prayers