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Failure

FNGs:  None

Warm Up:  Side Straddle Hops, Cherry pickers, Good Morning, L+R overhead stretch, Job 1/2 Mile

The Workout:  30 exercises for 30 seconds each.  Goal is to do reps until failure (can’t do any more) or for the full 30 seconds.  Rest 20 seconds between each.

1          Merkins

2          Curls

3          Tricep Press

4          Shoulder press

5          Upright rows

6          Squats

7          LBC’s

8          Diamond Merkins

9          Shoulder Taps

10       Burpies

11       Ground Pounder

12       Lunges

13       Bus Driver

14       Mountain Climbers

15       Chest Press

16       Merkins

17       Curls

18       Tricep Press

19       Shoulder press

20       Upright rows

21       Squats

22       LBC’s

23       Diamond Merkins

24       Shoulder Taps

25       Burpies

26       Ground Pounder

27       Lunges

28       Bus Driver

29       Mountain Climbers

30       Chest Press

 

Mary:  Various ab exercises

Announcements:  None

Prayer:  Safety and health

Kudos to Cancun

FNGs:nope
Warm Up: 10 fwd/rev arm circles, 10 knee to chest, quad&tricep stretches, 10 SSH
The Workout: MURPH
Mary: N/a
Announcements:nope
T-Claps (Recognition): Cancun Ruck Extravaganza!! And doing a full Murph including the running tonight.
Prayer: unspoken

3-Alarm Fun Run – 2021 Year in Review

“How did these runs with 3-Alarm get started?” “What are 3-Alarm’ conditions?” “Why does it burn when I pee?” Here’s the answers to your burning questions.

First of all, shout out to everyone who posted in 2021!!! As you know, 3-Alarm wants to meet everyone in F3 SouthWake. Here’s our start: 16-Bit, Banana Seat, Bobby Bouche, Bobby Dall, Bondo, Cancun, Cash Roll, Cupid, Dawgpound, Dumbo, Emeril, Fanny Pack, Forceps, Full House, Gillette, Go-Gurt, Gump, Lipstick, Martini, Maybelline, Midget, Pikachu, Slide Rule, Snooze, Sprinkler, Swisher Suites, TomTom, U.T.I., Wild Turkey, Woody, Yogurt, Yoshi and 2.0s 3rd Down, 4th Down, Flower, Isabella, Slash, Sketch, Vader. That is an awesome start! Good times are in the attached photos. Who did I miss?

How did all this begin? My daughter (F3 Slow Pitch) and her boyfriend (F3 Go-Gurt) were friends with 3-Alarm from high school. One night in the fall of 2019, they were Facetiming with 3-Alarm and he got wind that I was in F3. I had never met 3-Alarm before. They handed me the phone, introduced me, and 3-Alarm immediately said his classic, “Heeeeeey!” and “Let’s go run!” That’s all it took.

Pure Joy – 2019 November 1st Run. I invited Pikachu and Go-Gurt on that first run. It was cold and dark and drizzly and I was definitely overdressed. See photo. I knew nothing about pushing a running chair and barely knew 3-Alarm. But I quickly learned, this kid is excited about running! He would yell out, “Weeeeeeeeee!” and “I’m happy!” What a blast! Pikachu remembers: “My just overwhelming memory from the first run, and really all the runs, is just pure joy. Every time I run with 3-Alarm it doesn’t matter what kind of day I’ve had or what mood I’m in – he has a contagious joy that has the ability to just completely turn my day around!” Wild Turkey has expressed this same sentiment. He looks forward to leaving the work behind and enjoying 3-Alarm’ enthusiasm for life.

Time Lapse – 2021 Spring. Covid had been around for a year or so. I hadn’t seen or heard from 3-Alarm in a looooong time. While dropping off my 2.0 Zumba at Holly Springs School of Dance (HSSOD), I pulled into a parking spot, looked to my left, and lo and behold, there’s 3-Alarm. “Davis!” I shouted. We were both glad to see each other. I asked Davis is he had been running lately. His joy quickly turned to dejection, as he answered NO. Sensing this urgent need, I said, “Let’s go run!” That’s all it took.

2021 Tuesday Runs – Pure Joy. Since early June 2021, F3 has been running with 3-Alarm every Tuesday. Why do we do this? Pure Joy! So much fun. I asked 3-Alarm what he likes most about our Tuesdays together. He says: F3 feels like family. Everyone welcomes me with open arms.

3-Alarm has impressed me in so many ways on these Tuesdays. He has an infectious enthusiasm that resonates with everyone. He literally has fans everywhere. During our runs, we’ve had fans stop their cars, shout out from their porches, stop us on their dog walks—just to say hello. In the summer, this happened over and over. What do you remember about your first meeting with 3-Alarm?

Tuesday Splashes. We were settling in on Tuesdays and more and more PAX kept trickling in. Early supporters included Bobby Bouche, Cancun, Dawgpound, Fanny Pack, Go-Gurt, Martini, Maybelline, Pikachu, Wild Turkey, and more. To sweeten the draw and to make things more fun for 3-Alarm, we added a splash down at the end of the run. By the time we reached August, we had a record turnout in the record heat. See photos.

FNGs. 3-Alarm has a keen ability to make friends and did his own recruiting for the Fun Run. While out walking with Mama Hope, one of his nurses, he met people and got busy. He texted me and was so excited to announce that he had an FNG coming. The following Tuesday, we dropped by Cole’s house. Cole wasn’t completely ready, but joined us for his first F3 workout. He was wearing very thick sweatpants in the August heat and I know he was roasting! We named him Snooze because he loves to chill and sleep. 3-Alarm also recruited Charlie, a 7th grader, who lives in Holly Glen and rides BMX and MTBs. We named him Cash Roll after a BMX trick created by BMX champion Daniel Dhers

911. Things were not always peachy on our runs. 3-Alarm has several conditions (Polymicrogyria, Dandy-Walker Syndrome, and seizures). In late September, the seizures were serious enough that Pikachu, Wild Turkey, and I followed our procedures for this situation. We timed the seizures and called Davis’s mom, then 911. Davis spent a few days in the hospital undergoing extensive diagnostic tests. For the next 3-4 weeks, we had second F instead of running. If we ever have to call 911 again, 3-Alarm wanted to request the specific medics who he had befriended on his ride to the hospital 😊.

“Out of the Goodness of His Heart?” In October, Bondo organized a special treat for 3-Alarm and all of us—A visit from Mr. and Ms. Wuf. See photos and separate backblast Wuf Sighting on Acorn Falls, October 26, 2021. Davis’ mom asked me this question during the October visit from Mr. and Ms.Wuf. The answer of course, was YES, Bondo did this out of the goodness of his heart. Certainly a highlight for 3-Alarm and all of us. Woody: Don’t take that picture without me!

“That’s a big cat” In October the Halloween lights and yard decorations were in full bloom. Wild Turkey did not wear his glasses on these runs or was hallucinating. A giant Rudolf looked like a cat 😊 This was followed by many Christmas light runs through Hilly Glen. Again, lots of fun, see photos. Wild Turkey says the neighborhood lights runs were among his favorites of the year. See my favorite in the BONUS FOOTAGE below. What your favorite 3-Alarm memory of 2021? Reply below.

Christmas Party 2021. Mr. Ambitious requested an F3 Christmas party at his house. I explained that it would be a little challenging to organize given the short notice, Covid surge, and busy schedules. But, all the F3 brothers came through. We had a party of at least a dozen PAX and 2.0s. Pikachu brought the magic hot cocoa maker and we showered 3-Alarm with some additional F3 swag and coffee gift cards (like he didn’t have enough!). See photos.

What’s next? 2022 brings another 52 opportunities to experience the Pure Joy for yourself. Are you ready?

BONUS FOOTAGE

2019 HS Half Midget, Pikachu, Snap. Midget lined up Pikachu and Snap to push 3-Alarm. Pikachu remembers:  I remember hearing I was recruited with Snap and knew we were gonna have fun flying through the springs! The joy that Davis has on race day is on a whole other level. And at Holly Springs Half that day the grit that he showed was on a whole other level too – the bumpy course definitely didn’t do him any favors but he persevered and definitely gave me one of my best HS Half memories (and there are plenty of great ones over the years!). Note that Pikachu also ran 3-Alarm in The Quay, where many of you met 3-Alarm on his way to the finish line.

2021 HS Half Banana Seat, Wild Turkey, Yogurt, and 3-Alarm plus Midget, Matt, and Wolfie. 3-Alarm called out this event as one of favorites in 2021. Banana Seat helped Matt push Wolfie. Wild Turkey ran 9 miles EC. I was feeling good but did not push 3-Alarm until around mile 7 of the race, which was mile 16 for Wild Turkey! Forceps, Cancun, Wild Turkey, Mama Hope’s son, YHC, and others joined 3-Alarm and his dad for Second F at 3-Alarm’s favorite coffee shop, Our Moments in Time.

“Erin, Erin, Erin!” A chance meeting at the FV Christmas parade. This is probably my favorite outing with Davis in 2021, maybe because it was completely unplanned and unexpected.

Davis’s sister and my 2.0 F3 Zumba were among the hundreds of dancers from the Holly Springs School of Dance performing in the parade. We had both dropped off our dancers early and by chance walked up the hill together to select a prime spot to watch. Davis’ dad (Dan), Davis, and I joined a woman who was sitting on one of the built-in benches in front of town hall, poised to see her kids and grandkids pass by in their 4-WD Jeeps and such. “Kathy” shared her bench with Dan and I while Davis positioned himself front and center on the curb to wait. I must admit, sitting on that bench had a real Forrest Gump feel to it. I had a blast just sitting there hanging with Dan, who I had only met once or twice. Kathy watched and listened to our interactions with Davis and was intrigued. By the time it was over, our new friend Kathy was a big fan.

Watching Davis interact with the parade was amazing. For once, I grabbed his phone and took photos from there. Everyone was friends with Davis.

“I’ll email you!” About halfway through the parade, a convertible rolls up among the elected officials waving to the crowd. Suddenly, 3-Alarm sounds the alarm. He starts bobbing up and down and yelling, “Erin, Erin, Erin!” over and over again. Dan and I looked at each other like, What? Davis kept yelling. Finally, the legislature representative Erin turned our way and saw Davis. She was so excited! Davis, how are you? Great to see you! And as she is rolling away, she’s pointing at Davis, twiddles her thumbs like she’s texting, and exclaims, “I’ll email you!” It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. Dan and I were flabbergasted. And I was so impressed. This just showed the range of Davis’ influence. All the way to the Legislature in downtown Raleigh!

We all got crabs and someone lost their pancreas

FNGs: None 

10 HIMs posted to GP on a perfect morning for boulders.  YHC brought the music box and discs

Warm Up: 10x3cts of: Good Mornings, Willie Maze Hays, Imperial Walkers, Daisy Pickers,  Sir Fazio Arm Circles (both directions), arm stretches, 20x3ct SSH and 5 Burpees OYO for tardiness     Mosey to rock pile.

The Workout

Circle of Rock (of course): Mosey to the Rock Pile pick a LARGE rock (if it can be curled by anyone with one arm – it ain’t big enough). Alternate rocks between exercises.

2 sets of 10x3ct of each exercise:  Curls for the Girls, Overhead Tricep Press, Wonder Bras, Bus Drivers, Rut Rows, Squats and Ground Pounders.

2 sets of 10x3ct:  Rock Press and  Skull Crushers

1 set of 10×3 ct (10 min abs): Windshield Wipers, Low Slow Flutter, WWIIs, Box cutters

2 sets of 10×3 ct Rock Spanks (with and without consent) and Single Arm Merkins.

Partner Up and do 2 sets each of Ice Cold Rock Planks and Get your Crabs Plank on while other runs 50 yards.

Mosey to the Putting Green

8 ish rounds of Get ‘er in the hole:  Pax take turns putting discs at basket and return to LBCs. Make the put and you can walk to the basket to retrieve discs, miss and you have to Bear Crawl to the basket and Craw Bear back before you can retrieve discs.  In between every 2 sets PAX exercise 10 ct of Merkins, SSH, Squats, and Star Jump. Shredder was hit in the small of the back and apparently felt pain in his pancreas even though its not located there. 

Mosey to Wall of Pain for 2 sets of 10 x 8 ct Step ups, 10×3 ct Dips and 10×3 ct Erkins

Prayer Requests:  Kids back in school amid spike in COVID, big event for Cancun next Friday (48 hr Ruck),  Motor Boatin’s brother going through a divorce after 25 yrs of marriage.

Announcements: Long Ass Run some time in Feb, MLK 3rd F Opps (Travis Manion and Town of Holly Springs), Q source has started this week,

T-Claps (Recognition):  HazMat laid down 4 workouts this week.

Tea Time – Murph: If you don’t like the weather in NC, wait an hour

FNGs:None
Warm Up: Cadence: 10 arm circles fwd/rev, 10 knee to chest, 10 Quad stretches, 10 Worlds Greatest Stretch.
The Workout: MURPH, 1mile run; 100 pull up’s / 200 Merkins / 300 Squats; 1mile run
Mary: nope
Announcements: 2ndF 3Alarm Tuesday
T-Claps (Recognition): None
Prayer: Unspoken

How did I forget to add bear crawls?

FNGs: none
Warm Up: SSH, Windmills, Hillbillies / Imperial Walkers, Sir Fozio Arm Circles, Seal Claps, Overhead Claps, 5 burpees OYO for late PAX
The Workout: YHC is all about functional exercises, stuff that can come in handy day-to-day. While we may not see any combat in our daily routines, the Army Combat Fitness Test‘s recommended exercises will surely lead to better results when playing with the kids or tackling that honey-do list. I picked out a few and modified them to make them more F3 Southwake-friendly.

1ish mile run (figure 8)

Round 1
Lunges (10 in cadence)
Star Jumps (10)
Hand release merkins (10)
American Hammers (10 in cadence)
Sprint down the parking lot, mosey back.
Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3.

Round 2
Goblet squat (10)
Overhead Press (10 in cadence)
Supine Chest Press (10 in cadence)
Low Slow Flutter (10 in cadence)
Sprint down the parking lot, mosey back.
Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3.

At the request of Pikachu, we threw in some Bearly Curling (bear crawl while pushing rock). Down the parking lot, John Cusack the rocks back.

One more loop around the ball fields and back to the tennis courts.
Mary: Popcorn Mary featuring LBCs, Box Cutters, Pickle Pounders and a few others I forgot.
Announcements: donate blood
Prayer: Cupid’s knees, PAX with cancer, general mental health this time of year

Christmas Morning at 2.0 Workout

FNGs: None – all experienced PAX here
Warm Up: See the plan image – Home Alone style
The Workout: See the plan image – Home Alone style

The synopsis is that we walked through a typical Christmas morning and did workouts to represent the different phases.  This workout was dreamt up by HeatWave himself and he took the lead on some of the workouts too!

Mary: See the plan image – Home Alone style

Announcements:  Check the local websites – lots of Christmas Parades around over the next few weekends.

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer:  GoldenGlove asked for prayers for his Uncle Jimmy who has Covid.

Kicking Off the Holiday Season

FNGs: N/A
Warm Up: SSH, arm circles and seal claps
The Workout:

Twelve Days of Christmas

1 – Burpee

2 – Ground pounders

3 – 30 second plank

4 – Squats with coupon

5 – Merkins

6 – Hip swings

7 – Low slow flutter in cadence

8 – Ruh Rows

9 – LBCs in cadence

10 – Curls for the girls

11 – Squats

12 – SSH in cadence

Mary: Some Yoga stretches and have a nice days
Announcements: Holiday Party
Prayer: Travel mercies for several brothers that are traveling

Quality time with cold rocks

Late backblast from 11/6/2021.  PAX of 3 came out for HazMat’s VQ.  It was a cold morning, but we taught the rocks some lessons!

FNGs: None
Warm Up: Good Mornings x10, Daisy Pickers x10, Sir Fazio Arm Circles forward x10, backward x 10, Seal Claps x10, Overhead Claps x10, Willie Mays Hayes x10
The Workout:  On to the big rock pile.  Pick a medium-big rock of your choice.

  • Curls For The Girls, Overhead Tricep Press, Rut Rows, Ground Pounders, Squats.
  • On your six for Chest Press, WW1’s, LBC’s & Low Slow Flutters
  • Repeat above
  • Finished off with one last mini-set of Curls For The Girls, Overhead Tricep Press and Ground Pounders.

Mosey over to the small rock pile.  Pick a two small rocks of semi-equal weight.

  • Lateral Arm Raises and Front Arm Raises
  • Repeat

Mosey on to the wall

  • Left leg raises x10, Right leg raises x10, Irkins x15, Dips x 15
  • Repeat

Mary: On to the padded picnic table area

  • WW1’s, LBC’s, Homer to Marge, Low Slow Flutters
  • Plank hold approx. 30 seconds followed by 20 seconds right arm up, 20 seconds left arm up and 30 seconds hold.

Announcements: Holly Springs Half in 2 weeks.  Yogurt going to bring out 3Alarm.  They would love some company if you weren’t running the race.  Contact @Yogurt for details.
Prayer: Prayers for all children struggling with school and overall mental heath.  Thanks and praise for the beautiful morning and everything we have been given.

WE ARE THE BRUTE SQUAD

FNGs: N/a today, this might have broken any new PAX
Warm Up: All Pax circled up for a count off and pretty standard warmup including side straddle hops, arm circles forward and reverse, seal claps, overhead claps, good mornings, imperial walkers, and hillbillies. All Pax then grabbed a rucksack or other nearby coupon plus some shovel flags for a couple of dark brutal miles on the back 9 complete with some of the steepest hills in Fuquay.
The Workout: Pax returned their coupons and circled up to count off again, this time going from 1-3 to create teams. Instructions were given as well as exercise and rep count demos for each of the 5 upcoming stations(sites). Each group starts at a station and has 15 minutes to complete AMRAP as a team. Then the group much carry an Olympic bar with two 45lb plates down the blue trail and back to the next station. Rinse and repeat until all 5 sites are complete.

Site 1

Atlas stones (2x75lb, 2x114lb)- pick up, carry down and back, then set down (that’s one), Heavy tire – flip over and back is 1, Tractor weights – farmers carry (down and back is 1), Hex bar – deadlifts, Railroad tie – bench press, Olympic bar with 45lb plate – land mines LR=1

Station 2

Keg half full of water – ground pounders, Bertha – single arm rows LR=1, Battle rope – each double arm whip =1, Tires – flip jump (flip tire, jump on tire, and hop back off), Olympic bar with 45lb plate – alternating single arm shoulder press LR=1

Station 3 –

3lb jump rope – each jump is a rep, Bag of wrenches – curls, Sandbag – curls, Tires – flip merkins (flip tire, drop down and do a merkin using the tire), Pain sticks – overhead press, Cinder blocks – blockies (burpees using the block), 45lb plate – wonder bras

Station 4

Pain sticks – partner squat, Fire hose – hose squat, Fire hose – hose stretch, then hose pull (weight plate attached to one end), Kettlebells – snatches, Log with chains – curls, Olympic bar with 45lb plates – bent over rows

Station 5

Shake weight – must be going the whole time or reps don’t count, Fire hose – tricep extensions, 5lb weights – boxing LR=1, Ab wheel – out and in is 1, Kettlebells – swings, Olympic bar with 45lb plates – deadlift

Mary: Divide into teams again for Tug of War and final solo event The Humperdink (golf cart pull using a Harness. Started with one pax then added another in the cart about every 10 ft until the Pax pulling gives out.)

T-Claps: Thanks again to everyone making the Brute Squad CSAUP a reality! 16 Brutes showed up and cranked out over a 2 mile ruck, insane hills, thousands of HEAVY reps, 4 miles carrying 45lb plates and Olympic bars, went to war with the battle rope, and took on the Humperdink. Thanks to the Brute Squad committee who helped turn a bunch of crazy ideas into an actual plan with even more crazy ideas and a heck of a shirt to go along with it!
Prayer: Breach took us out