Over the hill

/in , /by

FNGs: None

PAX: Bobby Dall, Maybelline, Nemo, Hasselhoff, Wild Turkey, Kosher

EC: Bobby Dall, Maybelline, Nemo, Wild Turkey

I arrived around 5:24 to find only one car in the lot. Hasselhoff stepped out, otherwise all quiet on the western front…

One by one the PAX started to roll in. Nemo emerged from the gloom from his EC, then Bobby Dall. A headlamp rounded the corner and out popped Wild Turkey right around 5:29. Then Maybelline came strolling in right at the 5:30 mark.

Time to get to work! YHC had decided ahead of time that we would keep things moving, but we would avoid THAT hill…

Warm Up: SSH x 25 IC, Good morning x10 IC, Imperial walkers x15 IC, Hillbillies x15 IC, Sir Fazio Arm Circles forward and backward x10 IC

The Workout:

PAX moseyed over to the bank parking lot and did a quick lap around it, stopping by the ATMs. YHC asked the PAX to partner up. Then the fun began:

Making deposits at the bank:

Thang 1: All PAX completed 10 merkins, 15 plank jacks IC, and 15 WW2 together. We then partnered up and ran in opposite directions around the bank. When PAX met up halfway around the building, we stopped and did 10 patty cake merkins. Completed the lap around the building, 10 more patty cake merkins.

Thang 2: Once PAX were back at the starting point, we did 10 wide grip merkins, 15 plank jacks IC, and 15 LBCs IC. Another lap around the bank with 10 patty cake merkins on each side of the bank.

Thang 3: One more round of fun around the bank. PAX completed 10 diamond merkins, 15 plank jacks, and 15 LSF. One more lap around the bank with 10 patty cake merkins on each side.

Riding the rail:

We then moseyed behind the shopping center down to the rail next to Jiffy Lube. We completed 3 rounds of work there with a mosey around the building in between each round.

Round 1: Dips x20, Derkins x10, Erkins x 15

Round 2: Repeato round 1

Round 3: Gave our arms a break. Bulgarian Split Squats x 15 on each side, Prisoner Squat x 15, Monkey Humpers x 15

Rocking it out:

We moseyed back around the building to the rock pile. YHC asked each PAX to grab 2 rocks, then we went over near the wall for the following with the rocks

Round 1: Wonderbras x 15 IC, Shoulder press x 10 IC, Tricep extension x 10 IC. Drop rocks, over to the wall for BTTW and People’s chair x 10 count from each PAX.

Round 2: Curls for the girls x 15IC, Ruh rows x 10 IC, Skullcrushers x 10 IC. Drop rocks, back to the wall for People’s chair and BTTW – again 10 count from each PAX. YHC mentioned doing it backwards and Maybelline proceeded to do some questionable things to that wall….

YHC instructed PAX to return the rocks, then moseyed back over to the parking lot in front of Pet Mania.

Suicides – are we done yet?

YHC lined up the PAX and instructed them to sprint down to a black truck that was a few curb stops down. We’d do exercises at one end, then sprint back, where we’d complete more exercises. We did 3 rounds of this:

Round 1: Sprint down, 10 merkins, sprint back, 10 star jumps

Round 2: Sprint down, 10 squats, sprint back, 10 WW1

Round 3: Sprint down, 10 merkins again (I think?), sprint back, 10 breakdancers with Hoff on the count

Wild Turkey mentioned that this must have been a Woody inspired Q. YHC was happy as I knew I’d have made my co-site Q proud, even if he was down with the warden at Prison Yard this AM…

Mary: Just the tip for Mary and we ran out of time. Homer to Marge x 15 IC. Have a nice day…

Announcements: 3 Alarm 1st and 2nd F tonight, Holly Fest, Warbucks driving meal box collections for HS Food Cupboard – get on this if you haven’t already. See Slack for more details.

T-Claps (Recognition): T-Claps to Bobby Dall, Maybelline, Nemo, and Wild Turkey for getting in some EC.

Prayer: Unspoken, first responders and military. YHC took us out.

This Backblast sponsored by our friends at Academy Sports & Outdoor

/in /by

FNGs:  None

PAX:  Tom Tom, Wild Turkey, Cupid, Kosher, Warbucks, Hazmat
Warm Up:  Good mornings, frankensteins, sir fazio, seal claps, overhead claps
The Workout:  Merkins, merkins, merkins.  I really enjoyed my Q at DT a few weeks ago, hammering upper body, so I took the lazy route by copying/pasting that whole thing, with a few tweaks here and there.  Started out with 11’s on the hill, merkins and star jumps.  That’s enough legs for the day.  Mosey to rock pile, curls for the girls (hindsight, those little rocks aren’t great for curls, I should’ve done shoulder raises instead), mosey somewhere for merkins, mosey to the rail for dips, mosey to merkins then back to the rock pile.  Here we ditched curls and did Carolina Dry Docks instead – repeato, repeato, repeato, with variations on the merkins along the way – wide grip, diamonds, etc.

Mosey back to starting point, stopped again for merkins, then jailbreak to the flag.

Shoulders, chest and arms sufficiently toasted.
Mary:  Started to call a classic P90X core move, realized we were over time, audibled for one last set of merkins, instead – lol.
Announcements:  Not so much, but YHC shared a story of what happened to me the night before.  A guy I’ve known for 12-14 years, an acquaintance, lacrosse parent (his 2 sons, my 1), never knew him past pleasantries and getting drunk at travel lacrosse tournaments, he battled bladder cancer last year.  Nasty stuff, took a toll on him.  Last time I saw him, maybe 8 months ago, he was frail, shuffle-walking, wife steadying him, due to chemo.

A couple weeks ago, saw him out for a run on the street and was genuinely excited for him!  I mean, I clapped and pumped my fist as I drove past.  Happened to see him last week at a lacrosse tournament in Wilmington, he told me he’s clear of chemo and has some fitness goals, getting back to where he used to be, and beyond.  Very uncharacteristically for me (before F3), I hunted down his number, reached out and offered to go running with him any time.  He accepted and we met the next night for a 3 mile run/walk.

It turned out to be a pretty terrific moment, for both of us.  We immediately dove into a deep, meaningful conversation – far beyond what we’d been limited to previously – he shared his struggles, I shared mine – life moments, kids, work, faith, 2nd chances; all of it.  He thanked me 2 or 3 times for reaching out, it was clearly as meaningful to him as it was for me.

The point of the story – I don’t think I would’ve made that move had I not been in the F3 state of mind.  Life changing stuff, this is.  Keep it going, Gents.  Small gestures can make huge impacts.

T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer:

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

/in , /by

EC:  Let it be documented that Full House and UTI ran EC on this day.

FNGs:  The title of this backblast makes me think of a once FNG we had at the Cobra.  He was named Snarf for his love of Heman (I think that was the story) also something about a pet he had named Snarf.  I’m gonna reach out once I write this backblast.  Chat soon Snarf!

Warm Up:  Typical stuff – Windmills, Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Goofballs, etc.

I’ll put this next section in the warm up because it was more about me having fun, but we worked out too.  I didn’t let the PAX know what I was doing so they thought I’d gone crazy or simply had no plan and was wondering the parking lot.  Some might recall a Q of mine from way back when where I marked Purple Cobras.  Back then, I was inspired by some graffiti that was sprayed on the now Dollar Store across the street from the Cobra and decided compete for tagging dominance and properly mark my territory.  See my earlier backblast for the exciting details – https://f3southwake.com/2018/12/18/pffffttttt/

We ran around completing exercises along the way.  Plank Jacks, SSH, WWIs, and Squats were dished out.  At one point, Full House said something like “I think he is writing something…”  DING DING DING DING DING!!!!  Kosher\Woody congrats on taking the next drink of Kool-Aid at F3 and becoming site Qs just know that this AO has been marked for UTI (POWER).  Once you get a UTI, it’s not always easy to get rid of…

Photo

 

We went through the bank lot and around to the back of Teeter where we ran Carioca each side, then ran in reverse as we washed ourselves in the odor of the HT dumpster.

It was about here that Full House was afflicted with a calf issue.

The Workout:

Thing 1:  Earkins, Derkins, Dips, run around the Jiffy Lube 2x – Full House was asked to sit the running part out but he is stubborn and he soldiered through it.  I pulled the plug on this workout due to time and a concern for my friend.  But mostly for time (There was more to do)

Thing 2:  Mozy to the Thrift Store lot and partner up.  Using the islands and the curb facing HT as our boundaries.  Something shy of 11s with Broken Wheel Barrows in between for transportation between said island and curb.  Star Jumps and Prisoner Squats on the ends.  There was highly accurate counting in play thanks to my brother that always brings A Dash More, 16-bit.  In the end, it didn’t matter – I got bored of the workout and the counting somewhere in the middle to the end…  NEXT

Thing 3:  There was a wall nearby and I had recently invented/stole/borrowed/found something I call Ball Walkers.  So we did them!  Assume the Balls to the Wall position and shimmy down the wall on your hands.  We went down the wall 2x.

Back to the flag!

Mary:  Pickle Pounders, Homer to Marge, Dying Cockroach, and some calf stretching courtesy of Full House.

Announcements:  Holly Fest Sign-ups, Brute Squad this weekend, Purple Cobra wants you to sign-up on the Q sheet

T-Claps (Recognition):  Shredder is shredding – nearly done with his 75 Hard Challenge.  Good Stuff

Prayer:  Kosher’s co-worker recovering from brain surgery for cancer, Wallaby’s mom with early onset of Parkinson’s, 16-bits friend that recently passed and left a wife and 3 kids behind.

 

As the workout wrapped and everyone left.  Kosher and I talked shovel flags and said hi to Dahmer as he pumped gas.  Dahmer looked well rested, he said that he had just come from Caveman.  That makes sense…

 

Dahmer left and Kosher and I both went to leave but when he turned the key just some light clicking came from his truck.  I had done it… I had put on a workout of such greatness that I even managed to suck the energy out of Kosher’s truck!

America’s Favorite Pastime at Purple Cobra

/in , /by

FNGs: None

PAX: Lipstick, U.T.I, Woody, Warbucks, Shredder, Full House, Cupid, Mr. Terrific, Wild Turkey, Maybelline, Kosher

Warm Up: SSH, Good Mornings, Daisy Pickers, Hillbillies, Imperial Walkers

The Workout: YHC had sent out a pre-blast saying that everyone’s favorite hill may or may not be in play, and that there may or may not be competition involved. THAT hill and competition were both in play.

After our warmup, we moseyed over to the parking lot in front of Town Hall Burger for a little baseball (aka America’s pastime). In honor of postseason baseball getting underway, YHC had gone out early in the gloom prior to the workout and placed my 2.0s rubber bases at various points throughout the parking lot, effectively creating 4 corners with a pitcher’s mound in the middle.

We split up into 2 teams for a several competition style rounds around the 4 corners. YHC informed the PAX that each trip around the bases would consist of various exercises at each base, and that a “prize” would be in play for whichever team completed the exercises and arrived back at home plate and then the pitcher’s mound first at the end of each round. YHC encouraged each team to push and stick together as the round was only complete once the last man on each team was back at the pitcher’s mound.

After each round, once a winner was declared, we moseyed to the bottom of THAT hill. Little did the PAX know that their “prize” consisted of the winning team selecting an exercise to complete at the top of THAT hill after we collectively sprinted to the top. PAX moaned about YHC’s choice of a “prize” – but we continued nonetheless. After each trip up THAT hill and exercises were complete, we went back to the baseball diamond for another trip around the bases. The exercises consisted of:

  • Round 1 around the bases: 1st base – Merkins x15, 2nd base – Squats x15, 3rd base – WW2 x15, Home plate – Star jumps x15, hold for the 6 at pitcher’s mound.
  • Round 1 up THAT hill – Sprint to top, Team 1 called out dips, U.T.I. dished out the count for 40 of ’em on the rail. PAX wondered if he would ever stop counting.
  • Round 2 around the bases: 1st base – Wide grip merkins x 15, 2nd base – Prisoner squats x 15, 3rd base – Crab kicks x15, Home plate – SSH x15 IC (I think), hold for the 6 at pitcher’s mound.
  • Round 2 up THAT hill – Sprint to top, Team 2 called out Turkish getups. Lipstick led the count with PAX shouting out random numbers. Lipstick wasn’t amused and punished us with more. I think we did 20 total.
  • Round 3 around the bases – 1st base – Diamond merkins x15, 2nd base – WW2, 3rd base – merkins x15, Home plate – WW1 x 15, hold for the 6 at pitcher’s mound.
  • Round 3 up THAT hill – Sprint to top, Team 1 called out Bulgarian Split squats. Woody led the count for 15x each leg.

After 3 “innings” – YHC led the group to the wall behind the shopping center. Mumblechatter about monkey humpers led to YHC spontaneously calling for us to to 25 Monkey Humpers IC over near the bushes. Mumblechatter was high around monkeys humping in the bush.

YHC took the PAX to the wall for balls to the wall – 5 count from each PAX, followed by Preacher’s chair 10 count from each PAX.

We headed over to the rock pile and picked up 2 rocks each for rounds of: Curls for the girls, shoulder press, rows, American Hammers with the rocks, and skull crushers.

Time to mosey back to the flag.

Mary: YHC called on various PAX to pick an exercise. We completed Freddie Mercury, LBC, 6 inches, and box cutters before we called time.

Announcements: Hollyfest (see slack for signup), 3 Alarm 2nd F signups (see Slack), Wild Turkey Trot run – see Wild Turkey for details

T-Claps (Recognition): Mr. Terrific for getting back out in the gloom! Great to see you, brother!

Prayer: Unspoken

YHC took us out. Prayed for the sky Q to help us be the light in our communities. Prayer for our military and first responders.

Always an honor to lead!

P.S. Woody and I are taking over co-site Q responsibilities from Cupid after him serving solo for 18 months. Great work holding it down, Cupid! Woody and I look forward to seeing many more of you out at Purple Cobra in the future!

The People’s Q

/in /by

FNGs:nope
Warm Up:
ssh, daisy pickers, good mornings, sir fazio arm circles, merkins
The Workout:
mosey to loading dock.
hold peoples chair for 10 count down and back 60 count total
repeat for BTTW
1 minute plank hold.
We repeated 3x with chill cut plank on round 2.

Mosey to guard rail for 10x irkins, derkins, dips. After each set, we moseyed to Sunset Lake Rd and back. 3 rounds were completed

Mosey to bottom of “the hill”. backward run, bear crawl, and crab walk to top, mosey back. at bottom we did merkins, squats, lbcs. 3 rounds were done.

Mary:
LSF, LBCs, stretching
Announcements: See Slack
T-Claps (Recognition): Lots of prep went into BRR training.
Prayer:
Unspoken, BRR health and travels

You lika to judy chop?

/in /by

FNGs: none
Warm Up: GM’s, Sir Fazio, SSH, DPs, seal and overhead claps
The Workout: mosey to Emerils hill, stack em’ ups, 10 merk, 15 squat, 20 plank jacks, 25 shoulder taps – PAX alternated at the bottom of the hill running up to the light and repeating.  Mosey over to Wescott  to swing by Kung Pao for judy chop lessons.  HIM learned the judy chop, overhead judy chop, LBC’s, low slow flutter, and WWII’s, mosey to the bottom of the hill at Danager for 7’s, star jumps at the bottom, absolutions at the entrance to the neighborhood.  Mosey back for Mary
Mary: homer to marge, american hammer, have a nice day
Announcements: BRR – some stuff that UTI rambled on about
Prayer: military, Afghanistan, Hurricane Ida victims

Too Many Bush Puns From Which To Choose

/in , /by

FNGs:  No
Warm Up:  Good morning, SSH, Merkin, …I dunno, maybe more.
The Workout:  EC Crew – YHC, Dahmer, Full House, and we picked up 187 on the way.  ME added Warbucks, Kosher, Wild Turkey, Cupid, Hasselhoff and Hazmat.

A little back blast background.  A distress call went out the day prior asking for someone to take the Q.  I didn’t want to, I knew I’d stress over putting it together, especially on such short time – so of course I knew I had to.  Get over yourself, Woody.  Put a leash on that anxious overthinking, you’re not organizing a group trek up Everest.  Well, I was right on all points.  Time crunch stress, check.  Overwhelmed by the multitude of exercise options, compounded by unfamiliarity with the vast majority of those goofy F3 names, check (choosing from a menu in a new restaurant can be a nightmare).  I even tried to back out last minute, messaging Cupid to see if he could step in because my stomach wasn’t feeling great – which was not untrue, I really am a bit off in that department, at the moment.  But soon after berated myself rather harshly for that chickens**t move, knowing it was just an excuse.

Realizing at the end of it all, that I’d once again needlessly worked myself into a tizzy because it really isn’t that complicated, check, check.  Stupid brain.

So I decided on stealing the simplest complete routine from the backblast archive, which came from a recent Deadbolt Q.  A bunch of suicides mixed with a bunch of sets of simple moves, for the entire show.  Turned out to be too simple, and after just three rounds, audibles were called the rest of the way.

  • Meet Me In the Middle:  Stole this one from Mookie.  PAX paired up at the bank and ran in opposite directions around the building, meeting on the other side for 10 Patty Cake Merkins.  Repeato for 3 laps (Total of 6 sets of PCM).
  • Moseyed to the middle-ish section of the parking lot, in front of the Tailor shop for the Deadbolt Special.  20 squats, 20 merkins, 20 lunges, 20 LBC, 20 SSH, then suicide run to 3 islands and back.  Repeat for a triple play.  Good show for all, picking up the six on this one.
    • Wild Turkey offered a fist bump on a suicide pass and I whiffed.  Sorry.
  • I couldn’t see how this could go on, so, audible time.  Moseyed to the stank wall for people’s chair, each calling a 10 count.
  • Then maybe LBC, IC?  I think that happened.
    • Disclaimer:  Items listed here may or may not have occurred in this order.  But probably did occur.
  • Mosey to the rail at Dunkin for some dips
  • Back to stank wall for BTTW
  • Mosey to another section of rail for more dips, realized the bushes were too overgrown and was referred to a larger section behind the car wash by PAX.
    • 187 moseyed through the car wash, but emerged on the other side no cleaner than when he had entered.
  • On approach of the more suitable rail/bush setup, many puns, double entendre, and otherwise inappropriate comments were thrown about.  Anyway, more dips here.
  • Mosey to rock pile, surprise burpees along the way.  PAX grabbed 2 smallish rocks for straight-arm shoulder raises, front and side raises.
    • All PAX were successful in throwing their rocks back into the pile except Cupid.  He missed.  Missed the whole quarry.  So PAX did 5 more burpees for that.
  • Mosey back to the tailor shop for a heap of LBC, IC
  • Jail break back to the start.

Mary:  I don’t think so.  Just a bit of stretching for the legs, IIRC.
Announcements:  Derek Davis run this weekend, and reminder that this is also a used shoe drive, so sign up and donate!
Prayer:  Full House’s mom scheduled for knee surgery.

Thanks, men, for the opportunity to battle my insecurities, indecision and scatter-brainness.  Keep coming back, get a little better every time.

Midget finds a new pimp hat

/in /by

FNGs: none
Warm Up: mosey to the Goodwill parking lot – DP’s, SSH, Sir Fazio front, back, seal clap, over head clap, low slow flutter
The Workout: mosey to the hill – bear crawl up, headed to guard rail for some irkins, derkins and dips, next set ran backwards up hill and repeato on the irk, dirk and dip.  Took for the sunrise parking lot, DORA action partner up for 100 calf raises, 150 merkins, 200 squats.  A 7 HIM took the short jaunt back to the rock pile behind the peeter for some curls for the girls, overhead press, and tricep extensions.  One round of balls to the wall and people’s chair wrapped up this edition of Purple Cobra.  While we didn’t find the Zebra cobra, Midget found a pimp hat on the hill and proceeded to put it on his dome…commenting that is smelled like piss, he immediately took it off.
Mary: mosey back to the cars just in time for have a nice day
Announcements: races coming up – Derek Davis and Travis Manion
Prayer: Crab legs, Midget’s friend from GA on GrowRuck that found F3

Wonderful Smells at the Car Wash

/in /by

AO: Purple Cobra
Workout Date: 07/20/21
I was doubtful for the extra credit run this morning, but the high amount of chatter on Slack piqued my interest. I set my alarm and went to bed somewhere in the “maybe”-“likely” range. Somehow I made it. Everyone else did, too, although we didn’t see Maybelline until the end. 100% EC participation.

Warm Up:
State the mission, check for FNGs (expected FNG is a no-show), and give the disclaimer.
Mosey to the bank for warm ups.
Side Straddle Hop x20 In Cadence (IC)
Good Morning x5 IC
Imperial Walker x20 IC
Sir Fazio Arm Circles REVERSE! x10 IC, forward x10 IC
Monkey Humpers x10 IC
Downward Dog and isolated calf stretches

Main Event
1) A Sevens variation I’ve been calling Stationary Sevens. Perform the entire set of Sevens in the same location with no running. Then run a lap around the bank. We did this three times. Merkins/LBCs, Diamond Merkins/Jump Squats, Wide Grip Merkins/Star Jumps (suggestion from Cupid)
2) Mosey to the path behind the shopping center, then mosey down the path to the Jiffy Lube. Scratch that, we encountered a homeless camp at the end of the path, so we turned around and went back the way we came.
3) Mosey to the near side of the mall for BLIMPS
4) Mosey around the front of the mall to the far end. Ignore the PAX suggestions for Balls to the Wall against the windows to the gym. Mosey to the loading dock and grab a couple of rocks (since they are small). Partner up at the loading dock wall for Partner AMRAP Rock Work/Running. (AMRAP=As Many Reps As Possible) One partner exercises, the other runs out and back. Flapjack. Repeato with a new exercise. There was a little confusion on point B for the running. The first group of PAX decided to loop through the Car Wash, so we followed suit. It turned out to be the world’s smelliest car wash. Distance was good though. Exercises were: Curls, Overhead Press, Triceps Extensions, Bent Over Rows, Bus Drivers, and American Hammers.
5) Return rocks and mosey back to start, about half way through there was some mumble chatter about All You Got, so we switched to a sprint to the end.

https://www.strava.com/activities/5656776874

Mary:
Dolly x10 IC

COT:
6 PAX

Announcements:
1) South Wake/Carpex Q Swap Week(s): Last week of July in South Wake, First week of August in Carpex. The slot in Carpex for Ragnarok is still open.

Prayers for the health of our nation. Prayers unspoken.
UTI took us out.

Naked Moleskin:
It was tough to get up earlier for EC, but I’m glad I did. Always good fellowship on those runs. It was nice chatting with Warbucks, and I got some good AO intel in the process.
I hated to miss coffeeteria, but my kids’ last swim meet is tonight, so I needed to get into work earlier.
This was my seventy-ninth #F3Q21 #2021Challenge Q (eighty-first overall). Next Q is Wednesday (tomorrow) at Gettin’ the Runs in JoCoGa/Garner.
-Pigpen

QIC: Pigpen
PAX: Kosher, Maybelline, Cupid, Warbucks, UTI, Pigpen
Workout Date: 07/20/21

We’re doing this again?

/in /by

FNGs:

Not today!
Warm Up:

SSH x20

5x Burpees for Boss Hog being late

10x Good Mornings

5x Burpees for Kosher being late

10x Daisy Pickers

Bolt 45s

Sir Fazio Arm Circles, Seal Claps, Overhead claps
The Workout:

Mosey over to that hill

Bear crawl the hill

Mosey to the butcher’s mart parking lot for four corners – 5x star jumps, 10x merkins, 15x squats, 20x pickle pounders in cadence. Bear crawl the short lengths, jog the log ones. Repeato 3x times much to the chagrin of Slide Rule.

Regroup at the start and get introduced to the Devil Burpee by Slide Rule. Four corners with 5x devil burpees, 10x LBCs IC, 15x Homer to Marge, 20x Low Slow Flutter IC. Crab walk short lengths, jog long ones. Repeato 2x times.

Mosey back to the flag with a stop along the way for some Imperial Walkers.

At the flag we were treated to Roxanne – merkins on Roxanne, Plank Jacks on Red. Apparently the pax weren’t a fan of this song.
Mary:

Various mary exercises x20 IC, including an introduction to the Crab Cake and Breakdancer. A very questionable release of gas got the pax’s attention too.
Announcements:

Q Swap w/Carpex coming up
T-Claps (Recognition):

Boss Hog and Ricoh Suave for getting after it again
Prayer:

Unspoken