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16 Cletus – Stronger by Merkin

On the pre-blast, I challenged the PAX to post for multiple Merkins. After squeezing out six HCs, I was pleased to find a full parking lot at 5:25 am. EC: 187, Banana Seat, Slide Rule, UTI, Warbucks.

Warm up:

Good mornings (15), followed by Progressive versions of SSH (20)—Regular, Smurf Jack, Red Bull Smurf Jack (20)

Arm circles 10 forward, 10 backward. OK, I had to mix these in before tackling the RBSJs, just to catch my breath.

Recover on mosey to opposite parking lot.

The Thang:

Line up on curb, directly across from opposite curb.

Mike Tysons (plank, squat while in plank, Merkin) 5, 10, 15 near curb. Bear Crawl to and from opposite curb between reps.

Lunge walk to other curb, execute Circle of Merkins (left hand on curb 5; both hands on curb 10; right hand on curb 15; both feet on curb (20)). Lunge walk to and from opposite curb between reps.

 

Mosey to amphitheater:

Find a spot on the ledge. Dips 20x to warm up

Alternating dips on the ledge and People’s Chair on the wall

Find a spot on the wall. People’s chair 5, 10

 

Mosey to brick wall at back of Hunt Center:

15 Merkins to warm up

Alternating BTW and squats 5, 10, 15

 

Mary:

Popcorn through most of the PAX

American Hammers, Boat/canoe, Pickle pounders, Bobby Hurley brick up, WWIIs, Box cutters, etc. Have A Nice Day 30 seconds.

 

Announcements:

Check Slack for Mama’s House repairs Saturday morning. Community Service

UTI says he added events to calendar, linked to the workout schedule. Also, he’s packing the Third F calendar to affect our community.

Banana Seat says Q School starting Monday, incorporated into workout. Highly recommended. Coming to a workout near you soon.

Prayer Requests: Wallaby, traveling PAX, injured PAX, first responders, military, Breach family

Pebbles to boulders

FNGs: Not likely at 24 degrees

Warm Up: SSH, Daisy-pickers, Fazios, Flapping Birds, Imperial Walkers

The Workout: Too cold to stand around Womble, so YHC decided a field trip was in order.  Set out in a fellowship run and (taking a page out of Aquaman’s book) stopped at each intersection to build a workout, exercises = PAX choice.

Stop 1 = 10 merkins
Stop 2 = 10 merkins + 6 burpees (POTS birthday choice)
Stop 3 = 10 merkins + 6 burpees + 10 lunges
Stop 4 = 10 merkins + 6 burpees + 10 lunges + 10 monkey humpers

Proceeded to the parking deck for some ‘forest to the sea’ (bear crawl followed by crab walk) and then moseyed on to the rock pile.  PAX informed to select a ‘medium to large’ rock.  YHC noted an extremely liberal interpretation of that size range; seemed like pebbles to boulders.  PAX executed ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ (deadlift into biceps curl into shoulder press into triceps extension = 1 rep X 10).  Moved three rocks to the right for PAX choice exercises including curlz for the gurlz, shoulder press and bus driver.  Returned the rocks for the mosey back.

On the return route PAX stopped at each intersection for ab exercises, building as before:

Stop 1 = 10 gas pumpers
Stop 2 = 10 gas pumpers + 10 pickle pounders
Stop 3 =  10 gas pumpers + 10 pickle pounders + 10 snow angels (Florence demonstrated admirable enthusiasm during cadence call, and neighborhood residents are now aware of F3).
Stop 4 = 10 gas pumpers + 10 pickle pounders + 10 snow angels + 10 plank jacks

Mary:Completed the mosey back to Womble for some smurf jacks.  YHC was due for an early morning meeting, so handed the keys to Dauber and he brought it home with WWIIs, Freddie Mercurys and yoga stretches.

Announcements: Happy birthday POTS!  51 big ones.  See social media re helping at Mama’s House

T-Claps (Recognition): The Masters for joining up again for a full beatdown, no Metamucil required.

Prayer:  Alex, family friend of Florence with cancer, military, first responders, unspoken.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.  Aye!

Better Get Warm in a Hurry

EC: 187, Warbucks

A dozen pax converged at the Teeter for a very cold (24 degree game time temp) Purple Cobra led by YHC. It was so cold I was tempted to start the AO about two minutes early to get back to my warm house 2 minutes earlier. We are certainly blessed in this life by our warm homes and families. The goal: Keep moving quickly!

FNGs: Not today, son!
Warm Up: 5:30 hit and we quickly circled up for SSH x 30, GM’s x 10, Overhead Claps x 10, Seal Claps x 10, Mountain Climbers x 20, Daisy Pickers x 10.
The Workout: Not nearly warming up yet so, YHC called Indian Run behind the stores and onto the GCF lot. Time for some DORA.

Runners proceeded right out of the lot on down to the dead end at the bottom of the hill. Partners completed 100 Merkin, 200 BB sit ups, and 300 prisoner squats. This took roughly 26 mins. for future reference. Plank holds for the 6 while Deadbolt led a minute or two of various plank holds.

Now much warmer, we kept it moving. The next Thang was a series of exercises done in the GCF lot in the following order: Pax do 10 Irkins, run to island and perform fast feet around the island ( I’m told this is called a New Mexico special) run to 2nd island, repeat New Mexico special, the complete 5 Sumo squat jumps. Return the same way we came.  Repeato and repeato a 3rd time only now lunge walks between islands.

Pax then did Indian run back to flag for some Mary.
Mary: LBC’s x 13. (Thanks  to the HIM who picked up my count as I was coughing up something nasty during this), Shoulder Taps x 13, Freddie Mercury x 13, and Catalina Wine Mixers (YHC called “ Tasters”, one day I’ll get it right) x 13. Have a nice day!
Announcements: Kosher has put out on Slack a 3rd F opportunity for us all. Take a look.
T-Claps (Recognition): Abe gave YHC a shout out for picking up the Q on the fly yesterday at Downtown Train. This is what we do brother!
Prayer: Continued prayers for Kosher’s cousin dealing with loss, our military and 1st responders, particularly police in Hawaii at this time. YHC took us out.  It was an honor to get stronger alongside you HIM’s this morning.

Cold Start and Unexpected Opportunity

The temperature read 28 degrees as I stepped out of the car this morning to be greeted by 7 fellow PAX who decided like me to get stronger and forsake the fartsack. After 2 mins of mumble chatter it became apparent that we would call an audible since it was 05:30 and no Q present. YHC took the opportunity to lead these mighty men for the workout today in what became my VQ. Now… if I could only figure out what Thangs we would do.

QIC: Fanny Pack

Pax: Da Business, Fanny Pack, Mr. Terrific, Oboe, Quiver, Shredder, Tetanus, 3rd Cousin 

FNGs: None
Warm Up: Mosey the standard loop around the parking deck. Circled up in parking deck for: SSH x 20, GM’s x 10, Sir Fazio’s x 10 F/R, Mountain Climbers x 20, Hillbillies x10, and Imperial Walkers x 10.
The Workout: Now I had a plan, or at least half a plan. We ran 7’s down the length of the parking garage starting with standard merkins on one end and dips on the other. Each PAX ran hard in between. Moseyed over to the rock pile.  Circled up for what was primarily 2 exercises at each rock (we would rotate counter clockwise) an upper body move and a lower body/core move. Each exercise had a 10 count. Let it be disclosed that YHC miscounted on a couple of moves. After each pair of exercises, pax did merkins starting with 1 and going to 10 before shifting spaces. Thanks to Shredder for reminding YHC to move the circle to a safer place in the parking lot.  Exercises: Curls for the Girls x 20, Shoulder Press x 20, Tricep Extend x20, Ground Pounder x 20, Bus Driver x 10, Squats x 10, Torso Twist x 10, Goblet Squats x 10, Rut Rows x 20, Rock Spanks x 20, Dying Cockroach w Rock x 10, LSF x 20, Homer 2 Marge x 10.

Mary: YHC called 10 counts of: Shoulder Taps, Freddie Mercury, and Catalina Wine Tasters (I referred to these in error as Catalonia Wine Smellers which caused some confusion). Remaining PAX took turns calling out 10 counts of the following: Fire Hydrants, Box Cutters, LBC’s, Mountain Climbers, Pickle Pounders, American Hammers. Plank Hold was done for a 5 count by all PAX.
Announcements: YHC’ s non VQ will be at Purple Cobra Tuesday. Quiver let us in on some fine arts he’s had the pleasure of viewing recently.
T-Claps (Recognition): Shredder for keeping me on time. I did not expect to need my watch today.
Prayer: Our Armed Forces and Nation, those PAX that are ill these days, unspoken.  YHC took us out.  It was an honor to lead you fellas in getting stronger this morning.

38 at U-Turn – Record Number?

Regular U-turners, Marathon Maniacs, Shield Lockers! Heck, I might have been nervous about Q’ing if I’d known that all you rascals were showing! But no, now closing in on 2 years of F3, I know y’all. Besides, I didn’t have time to think about it really, having stayed out past my bedtime with Baby Doll and our friends enjoying dinner and drinks. Then, in spite of waking early, an extra trip to the john meant leaving the house late. With all that, I rolled into the parking lot just before 6, only partially surprised to see 99 guys ready to go.

Warm up: I planted the flag, hit a few fists, then had to yell to get everyone’s attention. Everyone was pretty jacked up already. We didn’t have room to circle up so we moseyed around a few islands doing cariocas and some butt kickers along the way. Upon circling up, I realized we were taking up most of the parking lot!

SSH 25x, GMs 10x, Hammy and Glute stretch 10 count each side.

COT: 36 plus 2 after UTI notified me that Aquaman and Maybelline had started already.

Prayer requests: Wallaby, Troops overseas

Main Event: 5k route, 10k route. Shine a light, make good decisions, pick up the six.

January 17 2020 / at Cletus (Womble Park) QIC: POTS “No Sand Bag’n”

EC: Nemo and 187

PAX:  20

FNGs: None

Warm Up: Mosey’d to far parking lot

Side Straddle Hops (SSH), Daisy Pickers, Imperial Walkers, Frankenstein’s

The Workout: 

  1. (one or two sandbags – modify as needed)
  2. Curls for the girls (20 reps)
  3. Figure 8’s around the legs (10 Reps right and 10 reps left)
  4. Overhead press (20 reps)
  5. Floor press / bridged (20 reps)
  6. Willy Mays Hayes – Bear hug side lunge (20 reps)
  7. Good Mornings (20 reps)
  8. Squats (20 reps)
  9. Up right rows (20 reps)
  10. Halo’s (20 reps)
  11. Rut Rows (20 reps)

Rinse and repeat between each exercise

Run backwards (Back Peddle) to middle of parking lot

Merkins (10 reps)

Sprint back

  1. Mosey’d to Picnic Pavilion, Paired up;

1st round Partner 1 Balls to the Wall. Partner 2 Urkins (IC 20), Partners switched.

2nd round Partner 1 Balls to the Wall. Partner 2 Derkins (IC 20), Partners switched.

3rd round Partner 1 Balls to the Wall. Partner 2 Dips (IC 20), Partners switched.

Mary:

The PAX took turns with several rounds of ab exercises to close out the Q.

Announcements: 

Breach -Feb 7 -Travis Manion foundation 2nd F event

LED – Jan 25  – Mama’s House of Thrift cleanup and repair event

Prayers:

Florence – Friends 12 year old friend upcoming bone marrow transplant

Pickles (CARPEX) – Betty (Mother in law) has pneumonia

Unspoken,

Military

First Responders

This Looks Like Blue Ridge Relay

FNGs: None today
Warm Up:

SSH x10

Frankenstein x10

Daisy Picker x10

Squat hold while we reviewed the route
The Workout:

Had a bit of a different route for the pax today – something that would highlight some of the hills on this side of town:

https://www.strava.com/routes/23350714

When we were coming up cemetery hill Deadbolt stated “this looks like Blue Ridge relay.” I told him it was never too early to start training and our back blast had its title.

Mary:

Not today
Announcements:

ATT long run February 22nd

Q Swap this week
T-Claps (Recognition):

Oboe and Oyster for getting after the cemetery hill segment.

All pax for picking up the 6 throughout.
Prayer:

Wallaby’s family

How could I forget?!!

FNGs: 1 But Shredder asked we save his naming until Groupounder – Colt45
Warm Up: Standard ShamWow! U-Turn: SSH, Frankenstein, Imperial, Hillbilly, Daisy Picker
The Workout: The U!
Mary: Nope
Announcements:
T-Claps (Recognition): Nemo, Maybelline, Skidmark – 4 Mile EC in the rain and cold!
Prayer: YHC took us out

B.O.M.B.S and Biscuits

EC: Nope although Shredder came “a running in” just before we circled up for Warm ups

FNGs: Nope

Warm Up: Perfect morning in the gloom with clear skies and a full moon.  PAX circled up for some:

Hairy Rockettes X 10

Deep Squat stretch with legs slightly wider than shoulders at a 10 count OYO (to stretch out the groin), or what I call the Lipstick Squat Stretch (similar to being in a position to make a “Stinky” out in the gloom)

Fazio Arm Circles X10

Then we mozey to the back of HRMS to get the blood pumping a bit. Stopped in the back lot of the school for some:

Imperial Walkers X10

Hillbillies X10

The Workout:

Chow Time!! We headed down to the track for a Bojangles Blueberry Biscuit……mosey in the corners and sprint down the stretch of the track followed by 5 burpees (the blueberries). Some found it to be satisfying….. others were a bit disappointed (sorry not sorry).

Then it was time to partner up for some Track B.O.M.B.S…One Pax runs clockwise around the track while the other runs counterclockwise. When they meet, they complete the first exercise in the B.O.M.B.S series, then continue their run until they meet again for the second exercise….and so on and so on….

-Burpees X20

-Overhead claps X40

-Merkins X60

-Big Boy Sit-ups X80

-Squats X100

That biscuit must have given these HIM some extra energy because we finished a bit early, so we returned in mosey fashion to the back parking lot for a round of “Evolution of Man”. Bear crawl for about 30 yards, followed by 30 merkins. Lunge walk 30 yards, followed by 15 squat jacks (like a SSH only sink into a deep squat when legs are apart).  End with a 30 yard sprint back to the starting line, followed by 15 overhead/seal clap combos.

It was time to mosey back to the COT for Mary, and not a minute to spare.  I could feel that biscuit hitting my lower intestines right about now.

Mary:

-Pretzel Crunches X10

-Homer to Marg X20

-Freddie Mercuries X10

-Low Slow Flutter X15

-Box Cutters X10

-Make Today Meaningful (2nd cousin to “Have a Nice Day”)

Announcements:

-Tomorrow is last QSwap at Carpex

-Oboe’s band is playing Saturday night in Raleigh….go check out a bada$$ band and support a HIM…

Prayer: Prayers for our military serving at home and abroad as well as the families they leave behind while serving our country

3 Year Mixed Bag

Drove in to see Pablo doing a solo EC run before the workout, nicely done!

FNGs: Nope

3 Years ago on this day, Tonka picked me up and treated me to a workout Q’d by none other than Midget at Disney.  It sucked.  I did every rep of the first set and was quite proud of myself, until I realized we were 10 minutes in to a 45 minute workout and I was quite done.  Sometime in the next 15 minutes as we were doing repeats on the stairs, Midget tapped me on the shoulder and told me to just wait at the top for everyone.  I think he was afraid I was going to fall out and hurt myself going up/down the stairs.  I also think he was right to be afraid of that.

It’s been a great 3 years.  One of my fond memories was training for my first HSHM.  That year, we did hill repeats & track workouts on alternating Wednesdays (“Speed Racer” was the AO) led by Pilgrim, Bernie, and Wrangler.  As a little homage, I brought out one of those workouts for this morning.

The Workout:

There was a lot going on this morning.  The Fritter Goobers + POTS went on a Ruck.  Not sure how far they went.  At some point they stopped for refreshments.  I’ll let them tell that story.

Double D was hoping for just miles, so Mookie mapped out a nice 4-5 mile route for him and he took off solo.

Forceps missed his alarm, but made it for COT & 2ndF 🙂

The rest of us did hill repeats on Stinson.  Starting at the bottom of the hill stop sign:

  • Run hard to Ivan parking lot; recover back to stop sign
  • Run hard to Cletus parking lot; recover back to stop sign
  • Run hard to Grigsby stop sign; recover back
  • Hard to Grigsby; recover
  • Hard to Cletus; recover
  • Hard to Ivan; recover

If you did the whole thing, it was right at 6 miles.

Mary: Pfft
Announcements:

Awesome COT after the run.  One of the best I’ve ever been at.   Too often it’s just “name / age / f3 name; quick announcement; let’s go”.  This morning we actually talked a bit about what we’re doing and why.  I really appreciated the time.
T-Claps (Recognition):  Oboe was a man on a mission this morning.  Awesome job beating down those hills.
Prayer: Running the hills made me think of a Pax I haven’t seen in a long time who used to be out there for these workouts — Princess Cut.  I know life hit him pretty hard for a while.  I wasn’t close enough with him to be there to help, but I know I miss him out in the gloom.  It made me appreciate what we’re doing with the Shield Lock even more.

Thanks for a great 3 years men, looking forward to the next 3.