Hidden Hills of Apex

Temps in the mid 40s. A perfect day for a strong group of 21 PAX to log a few miles and eat some hills for breakfast. Good to see Yoda make the trip from Raleigh again, and his guy Curry. This was YHC’s 2-week delayed birthday Q, after being sick with the flu on my actual birthday. Thanks to Burt for the beer lesson and for bringing me the gift of various of Anheuser Busch products (you know, because Michelob). [Read More]

Rocks Ad Nauseum

12.5 PAX and 2.5 IR PAX assembled at FOD for another round with Beaker - you know who you are Fifty-Fifty. I’ve had in mind to run a Q that hopped from rock pile to rock pile throughout a site, and today seemed as good as any to try it out. The Warm-Up (Beaker’s Beginnings) Jog up to the West FOD entrance where there is a Rock Pile 1 comprised of little baby one-handed rocks. [Read More]

A Pierogi Confession

To whit: I had not, to date, really tried to deliver a good ol’, shut yo’ mouth F3 beatdown so when the SNS Twitter handle kindly reminded YHC of the Q the next day, that’s what I vowed to try and do. If the other PAX feel even a small fraction as sore as I do this afternoon, success! Warmup SSH Sir Fazio & claps Cotton pickers Thang: Form into 3 lines and scout run to the end of the main road through Bond (sprint to the light post) Recover care of Jack Webb 1:4 Merkins:Air presses Catch Me Indian Run to main parking lot (5 DM when peeling off) Recover with Lt Dans 1:4 Squats:Lunges (each leg one) 4 corner escalator (10-20-30-40) - 10x squat - 10x LBC - 10x overhead claps - 10x burpees Bear-crawl inchworm to the end of the parking lot No time for mini-Dora so Mosey back to main parking lot for… High tempo Mary: American Hammers x10 IC Leg Raises x10 IC Heel touches x10 IC LBC x10 IC Boat/canoe x10 Flutter kick IC (each PAX did a 4 count around the COT… ~120 total) COT: Count-a-rama: 22 for SNS and another 8 for Vespers (Hermes, Term Paper, Michelob, Hot Spot +3 others I don’t recall or thought were with SNS the whole time) Announcements: F3 Dads camp: sign up! [Read More]

Esse Quam Videri

 

For those who chose the wise route of taking a language in high school that is actually USEFUL, you might not have the Latin translation for the state motto of NC on the tip of your tongue.

Much like a yuppie JEEP owner gets excited when they finally figured out that 4x4 is not a math question, but a useful tool for “creating parking spots;” I am now equally excited to have an opportunity to share what is, otherwise, useless knowledge.

“Esse Quam Videri” translates as “To be, rather than to seem” and  YHC thinks our state motto embodies what F3 is about. It is about a bunch of fellas that have decided we want to do more than just go through the motions. We want to do more than just talk about it or make excuses for why we can’t do it. We know we can be better the more we work. We get up and push ourselves. We challenge, encourage, and grow together both in the darkness and in the light. We make an IMPACT on each other, our families, and our communities – because we want to be HIM, not seem like HIM.

This starts by simply showing up, it progresses by contributing, it thrives with leadership, and it endures with an impactful legacy.

Hi-Liter and Biner doing their good SiteQ leadership duties, encouraged some of us rookies to do more than just show up and maybe try ringing that 2nd bell. To contribute. To step up and Q.

It is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to be better/faster/stronger before making such a commitment… but leading a PAX is part of the growth.

The PAX always has your back. Just put yourself out there, know you might fall down, and know everyone starts somewhere.  So, what the heck!  Here’s what we did.

The Q

It may be the darkest and gloomiest AO in the Carpex Tribe, but 20 HIM brought all they had and lit Wolverine up for a VQ Butterscotch birthday blowout. Burt brought some Werthers to honor the moment. How sweet…. (Yep) After a few disclaimers, we ran south down Davis to the lower parking lot for a little warmup in the darkness. Fellowship pace.

Warmup

A little “do as I say not as I do” when cadence and rhythm didn’t match, but we did:

  • Hillbillies, IC??? (debatable)
  • Merkin, OMD
  • Sir Fazio, IC
  • Reverse Sir Fazio, IC

Not saying YHC had some jitters and lost track of count/cadence, but not NOT saying it either. Note: Important to make time in your cadence to actually breathe…

Either way, lots of chatter. Clearly YHC needs to step it up.

Thang 1

Head south with ALL YOU GOT to furthest light pole at Pleasant Grove Church. Then, bear crawl back to the first light pole. Alllll the way back. (75 yards)

Red Bull Smurf Jacks, aka Burtjacks.  IC x 30. No chatter now. Not even Burt. Must be doing something right.

Four Corners , hour-glass formation (no short runs)

  • Sweat Angels x 10 OYO
  • Plank Jacks x 10 OYO
  • Squat Jumps x 10 OYO
  • Wolverines x 10 OYO.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat x 3. PAX grumbling about the Wolverines, so dropped to x5 on round two. On second thought – need to save those arms….Star jumps replaced Wolverines round three.

Thang 2

Indian run back to the shelter. Two lines. Kind of.

Head to the basketball courts for a quick 5 minute workout to “Thunderstruck.”

Get the AC/DC pumping on the speaker

SSH OYO while Angus Young shreds the guitar intro, half burpee every time you hear  “Thunder” (12) Switch to plank. Merkins down on “Thunder” (11) Switch to High Knees. Squats on “Thunder” (10) Recover

Mary

Asked for a tight circle. HIM calls exercise and bearcrawls around the circle while everyone else does it. Circle got a little tighter after everyone caught on.

American Hammer, Freddy Mercuries, LBC, LSF, Burpees, etc. Hi-liter gave us some final punishment with boat/canoes to send us out.

COT

Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama.

Announcements

  • The Bull is at Churham this weekend.
  • Healing Transitions event
  • Banjo is selling BBQ at Cary UMC on 4/20 4pm-7pm. $10pp or $40/family. All are welcome – especially hungry stoners. Venmo/Paypal accepted.

Prayers

  • Water Wings – M has flue and Nanny recovering from torn ACL.
  • Burt – BIL John going for another round of treatment.
  • HiLiter – Dad going for another round of chemo.
  • Praise for Disco Duck M - good report

NMS

  • Werthers are actually caramels, not butterscotch. My entire life is a lie!
  • HiLiter and Biner were vested.
  • It is possible for Hermes to workout without telling a Dad Joke.
  • Biner does not run through puddles. They always move out of his way…

WHAT ARE WE DOING

Thursday Morning. Showed up early to setup the Ciabatta (more to come on that) stations and scope out the site. PAX are assembling around the flag as the Raleigh Clown Car pulls in. Yoda flung open the door and you could tell he was already in High MC Gear. Quick announcement from the Q and we are off. Warm-Up Fellowship pace jog around the track. Buttkickers, High Knees, Side Shuffles included. [Read More]

Deck of Danger...Zone, That Is

A PAX could be forgiven for thinking I was phoning in a second Q in as many days by bringing the US Playing Card Company Red Bicycle deck with me to Danger Zone this AM, but I planned several surprises to make this more than a mere deck of death. Its another variation on the Hamburger Helper theme of easy to run workouts. But don’t worry, all is forgiven Shut-In. Also, it’s not the first time someone has suggested I might not be able to adequately Q two workouts in a row (see “Don’t Sandbag Me Bro” to see how that went). [Read More]

Back Home Again

Thanks to the wizardry of @hotspot and his weekly Q summaries, I noticed that my beloved FOD had no Q for the week. Having just come off the TR run, it was time to get back on the Q wagon, and here was the perfect opportunity. Let’s see what Ma Bell dialed up on 3/27/18 First, @pbx and @skyblue and YHC ran in per our usual route, arriving in time for the customary fist bumps and pre-workout mumble chatter. [Read More]

It's Not Raining on Monday

Finally, a Monday where it has not rained or is raining, and we can do a little bit of traveling with our bells this fine morning. Sooey comes in hot, with Crimson in tow of course and Wilbur slides in on two wheels. We mosey down the parking lot, cutting short our usual warm-up run to help Shut-In cover less distance and circle-up for: Warm Up Side-Straddle Hops Good mornings [Read More]

Keep Pushing

I don’t know what’s going on with the weather this week. It’s spring, but it’s snowing. The weatherman says it’s one temperature, the thermometer in my car says it’s another temperature, and while I’m standing there waiting for the clock to tick 5:45 it feels colder than either of them. One FNG, disclaimer is given, let’s get the blood moving and warm these boys up. Warm-Up Mosey over to the end of the parking lot and circle up for side straddle hops, imperial walkers, Sir Fazios both ways, plank jacks and merkins (morning, Ma Bell! [Read More]

3/16/18 - Back to where it all began!

YHC felt obliged to celebrate his 2 year anniversary by Q-ing the AO where it all began for him (at least in the Carpex Region). The Warm-Up: Some vanilla warm up including 24 merkins, 104 SSH, and some other stuff. The Thang 1: - Form 2 lines, bear crawl inchworm down the parking lot - Crawl bear inchworm back up the parking lot The Thang 2: - Partner Up for Dora 1, 2, 3 - 100 Burpees, 200 Squats, 300 Calf raises on the stairs while the other partner runs down the trail and keeps turning righ. [Read More]