5 On The Rocks

Downtown Train is still a work in progress. Parking deck is not done yet, weekly struggle between going run-centric or sticking with boot camp, already had to adjust the EC route due to construction, etc.  That said, every week has proven to deliver a strong group of #HIM for a strong workout. This morning YHC had his first miss of EC since we started, but Warbucks held down the fort on a solo EC and we were glad he had the opportunity in his schedule to join us. Third Cousin was ready to go and let me say this guy has contagious enthusiasm and has had a great first weeks in the gloom.  Snap showed up on the jog and it was a pleasure to introduce him to a non-running AO – great to have you out there with us this morning.  Forceps showed up right on time and was a fitting addition to the 5 as I was stealing some of my favorite parts of his great Qs at Ground Pounder.  As much as I appreciate how much we have grown, and the opportunity to post with so many different #HIM, I really do enjoy the smaller crowds from time to time.

Warm Up: On the 0.4 mile jog around the big block and circled up for SSH, Mt Climbers, Arm Stretch, Fazio Arms, Morocon Night Clubs, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies and a few others I don’t recall
The Workout: On the jog to the rocks and each selected a medium size rock to share.  John Cusak over to what I now refer to as the smile lot behind the library.  Set up in a circle and we worked through sets doing 2 exercises each set, all to a slow ICx10. Do 1st exercise, rotate to rock your left, do 2nd exercise.  Did 4 sets of each exercise.  Recover on the jog around the smile and we did a plank hold 5 count into shoulder taps ICX15 and built it up ICx20 and ICx25 on the next rounds, another 5 count plank hold and then jog back to rocks.  The exercise sets were curls/tris, ground pounder/weighted tempo squats, wonder bras/bus drivers.  After last set we did walking curls to return rocks and then on the jog to start.
Mary: A couple quick sets, keeping the feet off the ground, LBC, 6 hold, low slow flutter into homer to marge.  Did this twice and wrapped with Have a Nice Day.
Announcements: Talked about getting on facebook/slack, talked about some of the ways F3 is more than just a workout
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Forceps mother-in-law for a safe move, unspoken, took a silent 10 count and YHC took us out

Engagement Party

YHC arrived at his typical time for EC. No other cars in parking lot, no light vest of Pikachu. YHC thought it was going to be a solo EC today. About 0512 Lipstick and Yogurt pulled in. We 3 started out and picked up Pikachu at the light at 55. Nevertheless a very light EC today at Paradise City where the EC number is typically around 10. When we returned the parking lot still appeared empty buy the numbers picked up as we neared the 0545 start time. One FNG present, disclaimer given, all HC’s present and accounted for, and we were off.

EC: Yogurt, Lipstick, Pikachu, Skidmark

FNG: Steamboat

Warm Up: No thanks, no time.
The Workout: Was this completely different than our usual bootcamp, no. But YHC felt it was different in the targeted area. Pax focused a lot on strengthening their core. Lots of engagements today, even more first dates. The workout was simple in theory. Run for 2 minutes, exercises for 2 minutes, rinse and repeat. Started off in the mosey for 2 minutes then:

Station 1: Plank hold, Chill cut, Right arm up, left arm.

Run for 2 minutes

Station 2: Side glute raise Right, hold and do 10 runner leg drives, Switch to left. Rinse and repeat until 2 minutes up.

I hope you get the idea now.

Station 3: Single leg squats at the wall, Steps ups. Yep for 2 minutes

Station 4: Hold squat and do Side Shuffle right. After 10 do 1 burpee. Then 10 left, 1 burpee. 2 minutes

Station 5. Side plank hold, side plank crunches.

Switched to Indian Runs to get the Pax together. Yep Indian runs for 2 minutes.

Repeat the whole thing again with some variations. Added some arm forward and leg up plank holds. One set of erkins, derkins, and dips.

Q’s goal was to get the pace around 9:00 mm. Final average on Q’s Garmin 8:58 mm

Mary: As if we didn’t do enough core we did some pickle pounders, Peter Parkers, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies.

Announcements: Nothing new.
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Spanx Father in Law, Katniss coworkers, crablegs, hopefully no significant damage to the area of some storms last night.

Kick Ball in the Gloom

Warm Up:  Run through the parking lot; quick feet on the curb in both directions.  Circled up for the following exercises:  20 SSH, 10 Good AM, 10 Daisy Pickers, 10 Sir Fazio Arm Circles (F/B), 10 Windmills, 10 Goof balls

The Workout:  KICK BALL – F3 Style:  Fields were flooded due to an overnight storm so Q moved the kick ball event to the parking lot.  Ground rules set:  if ball was kicked outside of parking lot into grass, the kicker executed 5 burpees OYO; pitcher calls out exercise, kicker runs after ball while remaining PAX performed the exercise.  This was modified after a few rounds with ALL PAX running to the kicked ball.  Numerous exercises were called including wide merkins, merkins, diamond merkins, Squats, SSH, LBC, WWII, planks, spider man, mountain climbers, leg kicks, Burpees, Homer to Marge,  B2TW, 6-point Burpee, etc.

 

Mary:  Circled up in the parking lot and each PAX called out a 10-count core exercise:  LBC, WWII, reverse LBC, American Hammers, H2M, Freddie Mercury, Box cutters…

Announcements:  Triathlon Training (with non AO swimming) – See Gump;

SEE ANNOUNCEMENTS on social media

T-Claps (Recognition):  Great to see our F3 brother back in the gloom – Noah’s Ark!

Prayer:  FedEx led us out;  Holy Week – Good Friday, Easter.  Lots of whirlwinds in PAX lives; work transitions, Messi taking a huge test this week, injured PAX,  Job interview, unspoken.

EC:  LED and H1N1 running; Messi on the bike.

Honored to lead you men in the gloom!  Appreciate your enthusiasm with the use of the kick ball today!

AGS 10 Count for Hill Mastery and The Rise of Double D

With only 2 PAX posting last week, YHC sent a pre-blast drawing inspiration from a 20+ count at U-Turn. The temps are getting warmer, but the rain and clouds are still making their presence known on the weekend AO’s. This morning temps called for 65 degrees, with a 35 percent chance of rain. Received 2 HC’s on the pre-blast post from Full House and ShamWow, with a possible SC by Maybelline. Don’t think there has ever been an HC on a Sunday for the following Sunday, but Yogi laid one down last week, and so was at least expecting 3, possibly 4 this morning, including YHC.

A Cowboy slack post indicated interest on this mornings route and what shoes to wear, provoked thoughts of a 5th brother. Rolled up on Womble this morning to discover quite a few cars…As expected, Cowboy. Then I see as an added bonus, the Sir DawgPound emerged to the parking lot. No sooner did a I turn around, I see the guy I hoped I’d see return to AGS this morning in the form of Double D. There was a post on Slack the night before that came from Forceps indicating he’d make an appearance to ruck parts of AGS this morning. As I saw him emerge from his truck, I considered the irony given that it was Masters Sunday. Is it me or is Masters Sunday a bit different when Tiger Woods is in the mix and pushing for another Major?

That’s the way I feel when Double D steps into any AO that he posts in. It’s just different. I can’t effectively put it into words. The bar is raised to another level and you know it’s gonna be a good day when he’s present and benefit from his energy. Great to see him back in the gloom!

Bobby Dall then shortly rolled in followed by Full House, and then a fleet footed light up vest emerged from the soccer field fences. The figure was fast and swift and yep…you guessed it, SkidMark! Did a quick turnaround and there was Maybelline emerging from the shadows cashing in his ‘SC’ on slack for an ‘HC.’ This was the result of a solid headlock that was applied by ShamWow the night before. The final piece to our HIM Team came in the form of Lipstick, who is always ready to run and can always count on him visiting YHC about 5-6 times throughout the route as he picks up the 6.

Clock hit 6am and with the Team assembled, YHC welcomed the 10 PAX to AGS by sharing that this morning’s edition of AGS was sure to be an interesting morning. PAX followed YHC for a lap around the soccer fields with intermittent exercises that went a little like this….

Warm Up:

Light mosey to first picnic shelter. PAX spread out and circled up for SSH X10. At count 7, YHC’s cell phone flung out of pocket and at count 8, ShamWow landed awkwardly on his ankle. Not an ideal start, but after a careful check to ensure all was ok, ShamWow assured the Q his ankles were the strongest part of his body and could continue. Continued mosey to Ivan parking lot for a series of carioca L\R, R\L to the opposite corner. PAX circled for Imperial Walkers X10. Continued Mosey into lunge walks and then morphed for Frankensteins, Butt Kickers, and mosey back to originating parking lot. YHC called for a series of prison squats X10 and then explained the route to PAX

The Workout:

With PAX already a 0.5mi in with the warm up and provided they already started their watches on the warm up, today’s route would keep us on the road (given the rain) and away from Bass Lake. Double informed YHC that he would be rucking this morning and would navigate a 4-mile route near and\or along the lake. This morning’s running route would provide heavy doses of hills, starting downhill on Stinson. PAX would then proceed left on Bass Lake Road. This would offer Lipstick two opportunities to drop gross weight at Lowe’s, before continuing onto Rhamkatte Village. Later learned that he bypassed Lowe’s for a porta potty option (evolution of BRR training starting to take shape). Once inside Rhamkatte Village, PAX would continue down Jones Hill Road all the way down the row of townhouses and U-Turn back out to Holly Springs Road. PAX would then continue left onto Holly Springs Road all the way down to a right on Linksland and then a right on Salem Ridge Road before gathering their thoughts and oxygen to proceed with a right up Bass Lake road. Knowing that we had some glowing (light up vest)  gazelles in the mix this morning, YHC gave them an extra mile to have them continue onto Earp with a left on Raleigh. For the six (YHC included) we had an alternate route back up Stinson and onto Womble where all PAX met within 5 minutes of each other back to the flag. A big shout out to Lipstick for picking up the six periodically throughout the route and gaining 8+ miles and additional PAX getting 7 this morning…

Mary: Stretches OYO with Mumblechatter

Announcements: YHC shared the underlying inspiration for the pre-blast post centered around the importance of being a great teammate. Earlier in the week, YHC came upon a letter that was written by Brad Stevens (former Butler University Head Coach and current coach of the Boston Celtics) to his daughter for a Leaders and Daughters event. The entire letter is attached here for those interested, but to paraphrase it spoke of the importance of choosing to be a great teammate:

https://leadersanddaughters.com/2019/03/04/brad-stevens-be-a-great-teammate

“Great teammates raise the energy in the room. They smile a lot. They show gratitude. People know that when they walk in, they have others’ best interest in mind, and want to bring out the best in each and every person. Who doesn’t want to surround themselves with energy raisers?”

“When times are good, be the great teammate that others want to celebrate with. When times are tough, be the great teammate who offers a shoulder to be leaned on. When you get older, you’ll realize that it wasn’t about the good or bad times, it was about who you navigated those times with, the lessons that you learned and the relationships that you forged.”

YHC further explained that it is always an honor to lead, but more importantly, the PAX I see in the gloom are usually the first faces YHC sees in the morning. Collectively we set the tone for that day and for the week. We need to continue to be great teammates not only in the gloom, but at home. As a Team, we need to continue to be those shoulders to lean on and push each other to be better men, husbands, neighbors, and fathers.

T-Claps (Recognition): Double D return to AGS, Lipstick for picking up the six, Solid Runs by this morning’s gazelles (Skid, Maybelline, Full House, Bobby Dall, Lipstick, ShamWow). Cowboy and DawgPound for pushing YHC up Bass Lake and Stinson.

Prayer: Special prayers for Double D and his family. Sally Hart (who was coached by Double D) and whom many of us F3-HIM have been fortunate to run with is running the Boston Marathon tomorrow. Good Luck to her and additional prayers for a great run tomorrow. YHC took us out.

Why do we do this again?

22 PAX posted for YHC’s Q. On the drive we all were regretting not fart sacking this morning when the rain was coming down sideways, but we all still showed up in numbers and a couple that have gone missing at U-Turn for a while. Dahmer even brought an FNG to the party. Welcome Lumbergh!  Going for the extra extra, Pikachu and Skidmark got soaked on a 5 Mile EC.

 

Warm Up:

High Knees & Butt Kickers

SSH IC X 15

The Goof Ball IC X15

Daisy Pickers IC X10

Fazio Arm Circles IC10 F/R

Michael Phelps; L/R, R/L

The Workout:

The U-Turn… Some found their way through this ball of yarn for the 5k, the rest went the distance for 8k.

Mary:

Left her waiting.

Announcements:

Helping Shredder in the afternoon – double check slack because of the rain may audible for a cozy spot watching Tiger tear it up.

Prayer:

Silent Prayers, Those who couldn’t be with us and for the Ferns, YHC took us out.

Lucky 7 @ GP

Warmup:

20 Fozie Arm Circles, 20 SSH, 15 Daisy Pickers, 10 Don Quixote’s (Windmills), 10 Emperial Walkers, 10 Hillbillies,  10 Plank Jacks

The Workout

Mosey to the Wall

3 sets of 35 ct (5 ct down the line) BTTW and 3 sets of 70 ct (10 ct down the line) Wall sits.

Mosey to the Rock Pile – rotate around rocks between sets.

  • 4 sets of 20’s – Curls for the girls
  • 4 sets of 20’s  – Overhead Tri-press
  • 4 sets of 10’s – Ground Pounders

PAX Cousak’d to the playground with the Rocks to finish our Rock work.

  • 4 sets of 20’s Standard Press (rotating rocks clockwise)
  • 10  Windshield Wipers
  • 10 Boat Canoes

Aik’n Station Time:  PAX pair up and rotate stations clockwise after each set

  • Aik’n Abs: 15 (1.2.3.#) American Rock Hammers,  20 ct (1.2.3) 6 inches, 10 Rockies, 30 ct Chillcut Planks
  • Aik’n Legs: 20 Squats, 10 Star jumps, 15 Mountain climbers, 20 Step Ups
  • Aik’n Arms: 15 Merkins, 20 Dips, 15 Derkins, 10 (1.2.3.#) Shoulder tap planks
  • Aik’n Abs: 20 LBCs, 20 Pickle Pounders, 10 WWIIs, 20 Homer to Marge (10 standard then 5 ct each leg)
  • Aik’n Legs: 20 Step Ups,  15  Lunges, 15 High Knees, 10 Split Jacks
  • Aik’n Arms: 15 Shoulder Tap Merkins, 15 Plank Jacks, 20 Dips, 15 Hand Release Merkins

Return the rocks to the Rock Pile then mosey to COT

Announcements: Yard work day at Shredder’s at 1PM today (weather permitting).  If weather is bad, we may get Shedder out to watch the Masters golf tournament

Prayer Requests:  Praise for Banana Seats recent check up on cancer – all clear.  Prayer’s for friend of Mufasa and Kitty Litter’s friend who is having a c-section as well as a co-worker with breast cancer.

YHC took us out.

April Madness

Cupid was our guest Q this morning, and PAX was wondering what kind of pain was in store when they saw basketballs on the sidewalk. There was a request for B2TW, but Cupid had other plans.

Warm Up:

Jog around the lot, circle up for side-straddle hops, Michael Phelps, Sir Fazzio arm circles, and then one round of suicides down the lot. Grabbed the basketballs and moseyed to the back.

The Workout:

“Knockout”: 2 people on the court each with a ball. At “Go” the first person starts on the free throw line and tries to get a basket, while the person behind tries to knock out #1s ball and get a basket first. With the all-white cast with no evident Michael Jordan genes, and despite the shorter 8-foot basket, misses were plentiful, giving the waiting PAX plenty of time to hold their exercises.

If #1 gets a basket first, he passes it to the next waiting PAX, and #2 now becomes #1, while the new PAX is #2.
If #2 gets a basket first (achieving “knockout”), then #1 passes the ball to the next waiting PAX and commences with a penalty exercise.
Rest of the PAX hold an exercise while knockout is going on.

  1. WAITING: plank hold; PENALTY: 5 burpees
  2. WAITING: LBCs; PENALTY: 5 jump squats
  3. WAITING: Boat-canoes; PENALTY: 10 merkins
  4. WAITING: monkey humpers; PENALTY: 10 merkins

Continued this until time for Combatives.

Combatives:

Defense from sitting; included seated front and turn kicks, and a shin takedown

Mary:

LBCs, American Hammers, Pickle

Announcements:

Minuteman Muster 5k & 8k on May 19 (Norm); Get a Road ID (Gump)

T-Claps (Recognition):

16-bit completing his first half (at Disney in FL)

Prayer:

Shredder, Pikachu

Tabata Time

There was a ton of HIM ready for Crazy Ivan workout this morning. YHC was running slightly behind from setting up the action. Planned for 20 max and had 26 (1 that was running solo), so last minute changes were needed. We had 2 FNG’s that were given the low down on how this F3 thing works. YHC put on breath taker for the last time this week. It was 0530 so let’s get to work.

EC:
Tons of guys

Fritter Foundation Inductees:
Blue Hen & Brony

Warm Up:
Started out with a quick count to get us in small groups of 4. There was one group of 5.
SSH x20 IC
Small group indian run to opposite side of parking area
Jump lunges x10 IC
Indian run backside of lot, return to start
Shoulder raises front then side x20 IC
Daisy pickers x10 IC
Good mornings x10 IC

The Workout:
Mosey down to playground
Tabata Time – rotate to each station 2:30 of strong work then 0:30 break to rotate
6 stations, 5 groups of 4 and 1 group of 5 (YHC lost a member to the crapper for about the first 10 mins)
1 – Morning wood with kettle bells
2 – Partner lat pulls at bars (partner up and hold legs, keep back straight and pull up)
3 – Kettle squat hops cone to cone with 10 wonder bras at the end of each cone
4 – Jump ropes and rotating battle rope every 30 secs
5 – Agility ladders with a burpee at the end of each pass
6 – Merkins and plank jacks x10, continuous R&R for all the exercises until air horn blows to rotate

Mary:
We didn’t have enough time for all of Mary so we did a few quick ones.
Obliques with kettle bell x10 IC, switch sides
American hammers with KB x10 IC
Superman (with KB but that failed) x10 IC

Announcements:
Check FB & Slack, link coming for Dad’s camp, Fire Dept training set up by PacMan aka Cowboy

T-Claps (Recognition):
Is it ok for YHC to call himself out? I was battling a cold/pollen blend all week and wearing breath taker. This was the toughest workout week I have had in a very LONG time. BT is a beast and you don’t realize it until you wear it. At each AO I posted this week, there was a 30 sec blurb about Testicular Cancer Awareness. We can donate funds to help the society spread the message of the importance of checking yourself regularly. Key task for the month is for each PAX member to make a habit of checking the jewels for any changes. See slack and FB for details on how or just google it. YHC plans to posts to as many different AO’s this month to spread the message.

Prayer:
Pikachu and his episode at Tapline, Crab Legs, Shredder, BS results from CT scan (all clear)

Great to see so many HIM posting today! Apologies for being a bit flustered to start but wasn’t expecting that turn out. It worked well and hope that you broke a sweat today. Thanks to Sir Dawgpound for allowing me to lead my first Q at Crazy Ivan and my last day in BT. Good luck to Yogurt who gets the enjoyment of wearing BT next week with a winning bid of $120. Welcome Pace and Snap (FNG’s). It was real and it was fun but it wasn’t real fun.

BS Out!

Stairs & Hill work

Warm Up:Quick lap around the field and to the courts for SSHx10, ISWx10, HBx10, Bulldogs(new)x10, CPx10, LBCx10, Merkx10
The Workout:Mosey to the Hunt Center around back where the stairs and hill are.  Each trip up the stairs included 5 Merkins at each landing then another 10 Merkins at the top.  Around and back to the bottom for a new set.  1st set was a one legged pull up.  2nd set was a Box Jump 2 steps.  3rd set was a bear crawl.  Once we were good and tired, over to the hill we went for a lovely set of 11’s.

For the 11’s we did Merkins at the bottom and Monkey Humpers at the top.  Slide Rule suggested a backward run up the hill the final time.  We had some takers on that challenge but, not many.  We finished up with another set up Box Jumps up the stairs(minus the Merkins) and mosey to court for Mary
Mary: WW2x10, BxCutx10, FredMx10, WideMerkx10, PPoundx10
Announcements: Yogurt brought out an FNG and we welcomed “Abe” to our F3 group.  Banana Seat reminded us of Testicular Cancer and that this was his charity for Breath Taker.  He suggested we check ourselves once a month. He advised that Skid Mark does his checking for him.  :-).  I believe that Yogurt won the bid on Breath Taker for next week.
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Moby’s father, Banana Seats test results, Crablegs and many unspoken.

Disney has new rides!

PAX of 11 for EC and 20 for the main event decided to post at Disney, “The Happiest Place on Earth”, to find out what type of workout Zero dollars could buy.  Q was happy to see a strong showing of men this morning, especially when they could have received a beat down from a cowboy riding a tiger or honored a VQ at the grave of our dear friend Kenny.  The PAX were unaware that YHC had explored Disney earlier this week and discovered some fun new rides (aka pain stations) for today’s beat down.

EC: Dahmer, Brony, Maybelline, Dumbo, Emeril, Warbucks, Particle Board, Blue Hen, Aquaman, ShamWow!, Pablo

Fritter Status: Brony (Fritter Eligible), Blue Hen (Fritter Eligible), LED (Fritter Quitter), Dumbo (Fritter Current), Particle Board (Fritter Current), Pablo (Fritter Current)

Notable Absences: PacMan

Warm Up: circled up for SSH IC x 20, IW and HB IC x20, Fazio Arm Circles IC 10 forward- 10 back

The Workout: PAX lined up in two groups for an Indian run that led them to the small parking lot near the community center entrance.  PAX stopped to do 20 merkins which allowed all PAX to catch up.  PAX continued in their Indian Run to the entrance area of the MCHS football stadium to do 15 each Derkins, Dips, and Irkins.  PAX partnered up to complete a triangle circuit of pain that included running over to a large set of steps (abyss’s step sister) and completing a set of Burpees at the bottom, running up the stairs and down the walkway to complete a set of Merkins and WWII,  then running over to and down a smaller set of stairs back to the beginning to complete a set of Prisoner Squats.  Reps for each exercise started at a 10 count and reduced by 1 repetition for each completed loop.  Most PAX were able to complete 6-8 loops before Q called time and headed back toward the flag.  On the way to the flag, Q stopped by a nice wall where partner#1 held “Balls to the Wall” while partner #2 did a 20 count IC of mountain climbers, partners switched places and repeat.  PAX regrouped into 2 Indian Runs back to the flag for Mary.
Mary: All exercises were done to 20 count in cadence: LBC, Homer to Marge, Low Slow Flutter, Pickle Pounder, Nippler, Freddie Mercury, Have a nice day
Announcements: Check Facebook and Slack, Testicular Cancer Awareness, Burgaw to help flood victims, looking for #HIM to help with lawn maintenance at Shredder’s house
Prayer: Crab Legs and his placement into a clinical trial, friend of Aquaman was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, all unspoken prayers