SUMMARY

13 men (12 country bumpkins from Gastonia and a lone stray Mongol), showed up at The F’in Yank to give the @F3SpeedForNeed racing a chair a final tuneup before the Inaugural Race on 7/4.  Thankfully, we did not break the chariot before the race, although we did manage to perfect a very technical move called the ‘Reverse Rickshaw’ which is when a white guy (Tooltime) pushes, while an Asian (JRR Tolkien The Mongol) rides.  No monetary gratuity was given, but plenty of tips were.  ~3 miles were covered and hopefully ‘dem abs will be sore tomorrow from Bruce Lee’s Dragon Flags, or whatever we did: Dragon Flag Proper Form

THANG

Purpose for today’s workout was to give everyone a chance to drive the racing chair on a fast stretch for some speed, and maybe with some resistance up a hill, to get some familiarity with how it feels to be pushing 120lbs (40lb chair + 80lbs of weight… or a LOT more, if a brother was sitting in it).  All PAX swtiched-off pushing racing chariot throughout the 60min workout.

  • Mosey towards town, stopping in the surface behind the rusting train-car for some warmups SSH, IW and 31-merkin ladder (5reg, 5wide, 5diamond, 5right-offset, 5left-offset, 3right-leg-up, 3-left-leg-up)
  • Mosey to brick wall of a local building for some people’s chair with air presses while alternating raising legs.  Then do three sets of hip-slappers on the wall, 10 each side. 
  • Mosey across train tracks to straightaway. Series of progression sprints w/ chariots to the next street. Plank for 6, then 10 CDD. Mosey down Hawthorne Street hill, progression run back up hill, plank, 10 CDD. Repeato.  PAX alternated pushing SFN chariot (weighted with person or with 80lbs of weights) and running forwards and backwards up the hill, at times with sandbags.  We repeated the hill repeats a handful of times until everyone got a chance to feel the suck.
  • Back to Stowe park by the pavillion with picnic tables.  Each PAX completes 2 rounds of the following:
    • At pull-up bars, perform 1 pull-up followed by 1 toe-to-bar…. 5X
    • 10 single leg squats on picnic bench each leg, switch legs. Change to single leg step ups if needed.
  • Run 2 laps around the inside of Stowe Park, regroup at the 6 and mosey to the gazebo.
  • At the gazebo, 2 sets or 3 sets? #delirious of Bruce Lee’s Dragon Flag Situps before one more lap around the part to get 3miles for your Strava mileage.  Regroup at the Flag for the Pledge of Allegiance, group selfie with #SFN racing chair, YHC with takeout and FINITO!

MOLESKINE

First of all, words can’t express how grateful F3 Nation is to have such a supportive and giving group of men in Gastonia for SPEEDFORNEED.  You have rallied around crazy leaders like Tooltime and myself and really shown a commitment to the cause as if it was your very own… and guess what #SFN IS YOUR OWN!  Your small region carries a LOUD voice, and embodies what F3 is all about, whether it’s the Nomads traveling to different regions to post (even if they picked my day to Q!), signing up to be part of The Inaugural SFN Race, donating your time and money, and just spreading the news with others #giveitaway. Looking forward to posting with you men again, participating in your #SFN McAdenville Christmastown 5k Race, supporting your causes, and growing F3 Nation with you.

Anyway, couple of musings… before YHC hits the sack for an early 12miler tomorrow morning #NYCmarathontraining.  Poor Wee-wee was the only one not able to do pull-up muscle ups at the pull-up bars, keep on trying brother… you’ll get there. The Mayor put up strong performance, flying down the hill and needing to apply the leash on the chariot.  On the way up the hill, dude kept on pushing himself, even carrying the sandbags.  He’s one of those dudes you’ll look back in the months and years to come, with a serious story to tell others.  Yesterday me and my boy were shooting BB guns in the backyard and one got away from us. Then I saw Tooltime’s head and got all nervous that’s where the pellet had landed, but it wasn’t.  Gotta say, you men in Gastonia are very lucky to have this guy in your region.  You already know he’s a great guy and leader, but he has been truly a great support and advocate for SPEEDFORNEED , getting the word out, and offering all of his time to support a crazy Mongol he’s never met before… until today!  Great work by everyone out there today, hope some of the exercises were things you don’t normally do and can add to your arsenal of pain.  Until next time… 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • You have until 7/3 to sign up for the SPEEDFORNEED Inaugural Race, the American 4 miler Race in Dilworth which starts at 0730 and we will be crossing the finish line at just after 0800. We will be running as a group behind Owen, Nash’s (METRO) 14yr old 2.0 (muscular dystrophy). There is NO race day signups, so do it now. Hang out with the family, and cheer on Owen and support F3. There are about 50 registered runners, and there will be closer to 100 F3 spectators there at our tent.  Be a part of the very first #SFN race and the start of a legacy: Preblast and Signup Links
  • SIGN UP for the McAdenville 5k Race which F3-Gastonia is hosting for SPEEDFORNEED. It should be quite a memorable evening under the Christmas nights and YHC hopes you will be a part of it. See ToolTime for details, and check out the Christmastown 5K PREBLAST LINK.  * This race is capped for # of racers so you need to sign up quickly*
  • YHC was fortunate enough to participate on the Nantan Podcast Friday to talk about SPEEDFORNEED and the motivation behind it. It’s not nearly as eloquent as others which are on there, but there are a few tidbits of #TRUTH sprinkled in. Have a listen if you are interested, or just listen to some of the other podcasts by other #HIM in F3 Nation when you’re driving home:  https://soundcloud.com/f3nantan/f3speedforneed
  • Looking for a SPEEDFORNEED shirt? Click on the SFN Shirt Video and let me know if you want one… Order #1 basically SOLD OUT faster than a Mariah Carey concert, but more are on the way and some sold at the race. Msg me.

  • Prayers for Solomon’s step-daughter for a speedy recovery.

Have a great weekend and 4th of July men.  Grateful for all of you, and keep pushing forward in all 3 F’s.

SYITG ~ JRR Tolkien