Mary Munford Elementary
7 SOJ stud-ruckers crushed the 8.6 mile Frozen Triangle course in just under 2.5 hours, keeping a 16min/mile pace. We enjoyed excellent conversation, some cramping calves, and only one stop for Broadway to drop a mighty deuce at MM Elementary causing the fire alarm to go off. 😆 Way to get after it fellas! GTE #47 is only 91 days away. Let’s GO! 🔥👊💪 ~DTH
9 men of F3, all enjoying the comforts of heated seats. Clock hits 5:29:50
Let’s Gooooooo!
Warmarama: Long (SLOW) mosey down Grove to find another parking lot.
SSH, Helicopters, Arm Circles, DQ, Imperial Walkers, Jazzercise, Copperhead Squats, Merkins, LBC, Flutter Kicks, Heals to Heaven
The Thang:
Triple Check 1:
Run to the end of the parking lot and back.
Merkins
Squats
Triple Check 2:
Run and tag 3 buses (change the order each round)
Dips
Box Cutters
4 Corners 1:
40 SSH
30 Monkey Humpers
20 Squats
10 Burpees
4 Corners 2:
10 Burpees
20 Squats
30 Monkey Humpers
40 SSH
Mosey back to Mary.
Curb Crawl
Bear Crawl to Curb, 1 Merkins, lunge back, 20 toe taps. Repeat until 5 Merkins
Triple Check 3:
Runner to the end and back
Donkey Kicks
Carolina Dry Docks
5 minutes of Mary / Ring of Abs.
BTTF
Numberama: Namerama:
YHC Took us out
Announcements: See Slack for:
Frozen Triangle
Grow Ruck
Healing Place 10k training
Breaking Bread
Thanks for letting me lead.
Oyster
A lucky 7 arrived amidst nearly identical conditions to the F3 mantra – 70 and sunny. YHC was up at 2AM for a work call so had ample to plan the workout – but didn’t. As will be obvious in this array of very familiar exercise options at 45MOM.
Mosey to front of school for COP – dead man’s hang, SSHs, Don Quixotes, Helicopters, Merkins and Flutters.
Mosey to Blacktop for a Triple Check – Balls to the Wall, LBCs and runner Karaoke’s to fence and back.
Mosey to big field – starting at one end of field, at each tree perform an exercise. Round 1 5 squats, Round 2 5 Merkins, Round 3 10 LBCs. This was once called 11s when we had 11 trees along Cary but with so many now cut down who knows what the right number is. YHC in his sleepy mode did not bother to count.
Mosey to monkey bars and circle up in an incline plank position. One of the PAX does 5 pullups while others are doing incline Merkins. 2 Rounds
Mosey to tennis courts for suicides. Round 1 – run to other side of first court and do 1 burpee, run back, run to far side of second court and do 2 burpees, run back, …until the fourth court. Round 2 – same suicides but with 5, 10, 15, 20 squats.
Mosey to the Pavilion and partner up. One partner does 10 Pole Smokers while the other does Lt Dans. We did 3 rounds and time was up.
Numberama, Namerama, announcements and YHC took us out. Appreciate being a part of this group – why else would I come out so early for a group workout after being up the previous 3-4 hours on a work call unless it was something rewarding and enjoyable. Enjoy in the summer weather in January!!
Nine strong came out to enjoy the balmy conditions (relative to yesterday) and start their day off right. 7 boot campers and 2 walkers enjoyed the 70 and sunny weather. Here’s how it went down…
COP: Jog out a block and back to warm up, then circle up by school. Dead Man’s Hang, SSHs, Don Quixotes, Arm Circles, Helicopters and finally side elbow planks.
Mosey to the blacktop for a Triple Check of People’s Chair, Plank with Spider man stretches and run out to the fence and Bernie Sanders back. This warmed the group up so much we decided to do 5 rounds instead of the customary 3.
Mosey to the tennis courts. Here began the exercises that took inspiration from what is called “Dryland Training” in the Ice Hockey community. Otherwise known as boot camp training to most. The Russian National Ice Hockey team’s coach Anatoly Tarasov employed these training tactics in the 50s and 60s for a team that dominated international ice hockey at the time.
First exercise: Bridge Rolls. Start in a plank position, raise up hand and leg on one side, rotate over to crab cake position, rotate over again back to plank and continue for 5 rotations, then rotate back to start point. We did 3 rounds of this.
Second exercise: Partner Stand ups. Partners sitting toe to toe lock arms and stand up, and then down together in unison, slowly and in balance. Repeat 10 times. Then sit back to back, lock arms and standup in unison, slowly and in balance. Repeat 10 times.
Third Exercise: Compass Point Jumps. Starting from a center point, Jump with both feet together forward then back to center, then backward and back to center, to the right then back to center, then left and back to center. Do this 5 times. Then do 20 LBCs and wait for the six. Repeat 3 times as a group.
Fourth Exercise: Sprint Box. On one half of a tennis court, starting in one corner sprint from baseline to the net, do crossovers to far side of net, Bernie Sanders back to baseline, do crossovers the other way back to starting point. Repeat 3 times. Crossovers are basically high knee steps, crossing your one foot over the other in one direction. Common ice hockey drill.
Mosey to the street and line up for an Indigenous People’s run – up to Cary then back to Pavilion with anchor man sprinting to the front of the line.
At the Pavilion, partner up for Hop and Catch. Partners hop from one foot to other, tossing a ball (lacrosse ball in this case) to each other throwing/catching with one hand. If the ball falls to the ground, partners do 10 dips each. The final “dryland” training exercise was Zig Zag Skaters – hopping from one foot to the other, going as wide as you can and landing/balancing on that one foot only alternating feet. Group did this together for 20 reps.
Mosey back to parking lot to finish with a ring of fire of Merkins.
Numberama, Namerama. YHC was stuck on Wednesday and announced a HHDH that had already occurred. Bodos pointed out we’d need a time machine to attend which always brings in interesting time travel dilemmas. YHC took us out
Thanks for letting me lead. Hope everyone had a little fun as well.
6 bootcampers + 2 Walkers = a great 8 for 45 minutes of Mary. Here’s what went down:
COP on the blacktop: Stretching, SSHs, DQs, Imperial Walkers, Copperhead Squats, Ukrainian Soldiers, LBCs, Hand release Merkins.
Long Mosey to Reveille UMC back lot pavilion.
Picnic Table Extravaganza:
DORA: new partner. 100 Merkins // 200 LBCs // 300 Squats. Partner runs to the end of the lot, Bernie Sanders back.
Mosey back to the flag, stop halfway for 5 burpees
COP at the flag: American Hammers, Freddie Mercuries.
Namerama, Numberama, YHC took us out.
Great work guys! SYITG.
9 Friends of the Gloom converged at Mary for the 11th day of Christmas. No pipers piping were in sight. Instead, here’s what happened:
COP on the blacktop. Stretching stuff
Ye Old 100: perform a set of exercises, then run the 1/4 track.
Upchuck was penalized 3 additional burpees for starting before the Q said go.
Back to the flag: 3 additional burpees. Namerama, Numberama, YHC took us out.
NMS: Great to welcome Silver Centrum from Roanoke today. Hope to see you more often now that you are up here for work. Great mumblechatter despite the running, including the usage of the phrase “scrotum juice.” Ask Upchuck for context.
Lots of people make resolutions, but they really translate into change. Real personal change comes through tiny habits, the daily committment to life-giving routines that end up in change for the long haul. As Neitzsche wrote, it’s “The Long Obedience in the Same Direction” that counts. This is what F3 is about.
SYITG.
Seven world travelers emerged from the gloom for a rare Faceplant Q at a soggy and warm 45MOM. Two walkers departed and the remaining four plus a late comer Fudd started with some stretches. It went down like this, stretching as this is always important. Then 10 SSHs since we were all warmed up. Then the travel began:
Race to the world map painted on the black top, goal was to be the first one to get to Egypt. Once at Egypt YHC announced that Egypt was where YHC lived and grew up in his youth. The first one there gave a number between 1-10, and the last person to arrive gave another number between 1-10. Florence gave a 1 and the last person said 9 (YHC will refrain from calling them out, but the name was also forgotten). That gives us 19, so it was 19 burpees around the world map.
Next up timed 15 minute exercise:
Next up YHC dug deep into the Exicon for the Blueberry Biscuit, we moseyed over to the tennis courts. It goes like this, 4 laps around all the tennis courts, each lap stop and do 10 burpees together and wait for the 6, then sprint the straight aways and jog the short parts. Rinse and repeat 4 times.
Next up race to South Africa, all the PAX race from the tennis courts to stand on South Africa. Before YHC moved to Richmond YHC lived in South Africa for two years. Rounding out two stints of living in Africa. There was much discussion about how big Africa is which led us to have a discussion about the Hardest Geezer, a brit who is running the length of Africa. Look him up on YouTube, he’s incredible. https://youtube.com/@hardestgeezer?si=BQf_0zp0SeIuZuxq
From the world map we did a double triple check. Break up into pairs, first person runs across the blacktop and does two carolina dry docks, then waiting person is holding a deep squat. After that it was stretching and mosey back to the flag for names and announcements.
YHC took us out. Thank you for the opportunity to lead this morning.
Since the neolithic dawn of humanity, men have seen the Winter Solstice as a moment of numinous significance in our collective journeys around the sun. Four men and two other men gathered in the deep dark of the day of the longest night to celebrate the diminution of the light and summon the sun to another year of radiance. This is how we celebrated the solstice together after some warming COP:
The Death and Rebirth of the Sun. Elbow plank around a flickering candle, representing the deep fires of history that have warmed our souls through the dark winters of time. Upon the call of the Q, the Pax lept to their feet and ran 10 paces, performed 10 burpees, and ran back to the radiant center to elbow plank again. Next round: 20 paces / 20 jump squats. Third round: 30 paces/ 30 merkin. Fourth round: 40 paces, 40 monkey humpers. Fifth round: 50 paces, 50 LBCs. End this ritual with picklepounding round the candle, which made Swirly uncomfortable.
The Extension and Diminution of Time. We performed with our bodies a physical representation of the the singular point which is December 21, at which time has collapsed into its thinnest span, and also upon which it begins its extenuation outward towards its fullest length. We began with 7 squats at each corner. Next round: 14 Merkins at each corner. Next round: 21 LBCs at each corner. Next round: 14 Carolina Dry Docks each corner. Final round: 7 Burpees each corner
The Magical Properties of the Yule Log for Summoning the Coming Warmth: In our final excercise we summoned the magic of the yule log as told by the ancient Germanic tradition. In triple check fashion, P1 performed Lutenitent Dans, P2 performed American Hammers, while P3 carried the yule log to the pavillion and back.
Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out with one final Sostice tradition. While gathered around the candle of hope, we cast any unwanted woes and vices from the year past into the flame, and invited renewal. Saab threw his knee pain into the fire, YHC threw in his negative attitude toward his teenagers, and Swirly resolved to not be so passive and to get in more fights.
8 Hardy Souls arrived to find perfect conditions of 70 degrees and sunny for a solid start to their day. Here’s what transpired…
COP – 56 SSHs, Dead Man’s Hang, 14 Imperial Walkers, 14 Arm Circles, 14 Don Quixotes and 14 Ukrainian Soldiers.
Mosey to the blacktop for four corners – only thing missing was Fudd and his dislike of this particular exercise plan. In his honor we did 4 rounds of the following – 14 LBCs, 14 Merkins, 14 Flutter Kicks and 14 Crab Cakes. One member of the pax mumbled about repetitive exercises but to no avail.
Mosey to the field for a version of 11s (or 10s) depending on how many trees you think are on the Cary Street side. Whatever the number, we performed 5 exercises at each tree. Three rounds of this – one doing jump squats, one doing hand release Merkins and one doing mountain climbers. That got the PAX breathing hard.
Mosey to the pavilion and partner up. Partner 1 performs 14 pole smokers while partner 2 does Lt Dans. Four rounds of this were executed. One member of the pax initiated his approach to the pole perhaps a bit too quickly but luckily was wearing his foreskin head cover that averted any serious injury. No need for concussion protocol.
Numberama, Namerama and Prayer. Hitch’s M is due with their third child in June. He is prepping for that and for his mother and his mother-in-law coming to town. Prayers for him.
A solid 16 showed for Mary, which included descendants of Pucker and YHC. What an opportunity to showcase elder-exercise routines and turn of the century humor. Copious amounts of mosey and merkins where supplied. Suggestions for alternative exercises were ignored (Handshake), although a brief visit to observe the tomatoes was gladly accommodated.
Saab abides