100% PAX increase vs last week.
We moseyed the hills and solved the world’s problems.
Paused for a quick COT and Defib took us out in prayer as we prayed for Huck.
Until next week…
Author: JJ (Page 2 of 16)
-To the tune of Paul Revere by The Beastie Boys-
🎶🎶 One lone HRB I be
Who all by muself without nobody
Chill was beatin’ down on my Bobcats cap
The air was not hot, the hills were not flat 🎶🎶
After several races, this week offered a recovery break for many runners. There were far fewer cars in the neighborhood so it was quiet all around. Running season isn’t over so The Halfpips is not closing down foe the season yet.
Announcements
You’re hopwfully not reading this for breaking news
Prayer Requests
M’s aunt passed away after a quick battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 87 and at peace with her eternity.
Until next week…
Kotter: Feta EH’ed by Sargento
Our region has seen strong growth over the last number of months. The SLT felt like it was a good idea to have a Q School since we haven’t had one in a while. As Q of Development, it made since that I would help lead this workout. YHC could think of no better PAX to co-Q than Broke. Whether it’s roles on the SLT, relay and race experience, leadership with Speed for Need, he’s seen it all and done it all. Thanks to Broke for his patience in dealing with YHC through the planning for this. It’s been a little crazy lately for YHC so everthing seems to be pulled together at the last minute. This was no different.
Your Co-Q’s met in the parking lot prior th the beatdown to make our final plans for the morning.
As PAX started to arrive, Broke gave the 2 minute call. Then, YHC gave the 1 minute call. Then, 0700, let’s get rolling.
Intro to Q School and Disclaimer
Warm-up which included a LOT of talking along with some exercises
Topics we discussed were:
The Credo / 5 Core Principles / Significance of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd F
Exercise announcement (Next Exercise/Starting Position/Move/In Cadence/Exercise) & Cadence Counting
Importance of a Disclaimer
Duties of a Q (Be on time / Greet the PAX (especially FNGs) / Bring the Energy!)
Don’t Q it if you can’t do it
During this time, we also mixed in exercises:
SSH
Merkins
Plank Jacks
Peter Parkers – the Q demo’d Parker Peters; this was a chance to get some mumblechatter going as far as you know
5 burpees for the train heard in the distance
At this point, YHC turned it over to Broke for the beatdown. Throughout the beatdown, Broke offered suggestions in building a weinke and what exercises to plan.
We moseyed across the street to the library.
Broke offered suggestions for building the weinke using things such as 11s and ways to modify to increase/decrease intensity.
He called 11s with Hand-Release Merkins and LBCs.
He determined the PAX were going too fast so he modified to Lunge Walks down and Bear Crawls back.
He then added burpees in the middle both ways to make the 11s dirty.
This was done to show the PAX how a workout could be intensified.
We then moseyed to the other side of the library parking lot.
We did a modified Dora-style partner workout. Partner 1 ran a lap while Partner 2 completed an exercise. 2 laps per partner. 3 exercises. Merkins (maybe? or something in the plank position), Jump Squats, and Seal Jacks.
YHC likes to call something like this instead of a typical Dora so that PAX can talk and not worry as much about counting, you can concentrate on form and not worry about getting behind, and it evens out the reps.
Slaw called flutter kicks while we waited on the six to finish.
After this we moseyed back to the Shiele. Broke instructed that 4-corners were also good to call (imagine that, 2 Carolina guys called 4 corners). Once again, this offered the opportunity to increase/decrease intensity by stacking at each corner or running it back with de-escalating 4 corners.
To the best of my memory, we did:
Corner 1 – 10 Merkins
Corner 2 – 10 Merkins, 20 Big Boys
Corner 3 – 10 Merkins, 20 Big Boys, 30 Squats
Corner 4 – 10 Merkins, 20 Big Boys, 30 Squats, 40 SSH
Back to the flag for Mary, where Broke had each PAX that had not Q’ed call an exercise and lead in cadence.
We then took questions and had veteran PAX add anything relevant that they wanted to share that hadn’t been covered. Topics included:
Where do I post the COT? (you don’t have to, but the PAX were encouraged to record in some matter so nobody was left out of the backblast)
Tips around writing a backblast
Get access to the site to write the BB before you have your VQ so you are prepared.
Timeliness of the backblast
Announcements
Bulldog moving to Thursday – still @ WA Bess
3/9 Regional CSAUP Huntersville
3/16 Food Ruck – see mumblechatter channel for details
3/20 2nd F lunch Bad Daddy’s
4/13 Community Foundation Run – prior to the run Convergence @ the ball field @ 0700 – all other AO’s closed
4/20 Extinction Run
Pushing Rocks Update, Bonus points for bringing back a Kotter and taking Q
Prayer Requests
Def Leppard
Family of the Holbrook student, go fund me account has been started
Jackson Hall & family
Stroganoff mother-in-law back in the hospital
JJ’s M’s aunt – pancreatic cancer
Purple Haze praise, 2.0 made all-county band
Stogie’s M
Prayer to take us out
Thanks to all the PAX who participated. YHC believes it was the most PAX at a Q of mine. YHC was honestly very nervous going into this. (We didn’t mention this during Q School because we couldn’t go through the entire lexicon, but YHC means Your Humble Correspondent). Thanks again to Broke and all the other veteran PAX who showed and offered feedback. Thanks to the newer guys for showing up, asking questions, and being willing to learn. YHC hopes this will encourage you to take the step to schedule your VQ. Reach out to a site Q or any other PAX and they will be more than happy to co-Q. That may help take a little pressure off. YHC knows how much the men of F3 have impacted my life so it’s my desire to see every man strengthed by the impact F3 can have. Until next time…
The PAX went up and down the hills on the normal route. Trying to figure out why there was so much traffic moving through the neighborhood. Maybe they heard about the kidnapping of the guy on the bucket last week and came to check it out.
Announcements
Q School – 3/2
Extinction Run – 4/20
Prayer Requests
Stroganoff’s Mother-in-law move back to Morningside
JJ’s M’s aunt – pancreatic cancer
PAX on the IR
It was late on Tuesday, and YHC was still a little sore from the Austin race the prior weekend. In trying to come up with something a little different, YHC thought about Outhouse Q’s where we would typically mosey over to the KFC and select a coupon. YHC jotted down a few notes on a weinke and was ready to go.
Like YHC, the PAX seemed to be a little slow moving. 0530 hit and we got to work.
Warm-up
SSH IC x 12
Merkins IC x 12
LBCs IC x 12
Imperial Walkers IC x 12
The Pledge
Mosey over to the KFC where YHC informed the PAX that their next decision would be the most important decision they made all day. Choose a coupon too large and the next 40 minutes would be torture. Choose a coupon too small and then you would be filled with regret and the feeling that others are looking at the size of your small coupon. Or be Goldilocks and choose one that is just right.
After choosing the coupon, mosey over to the bank parking lot beside the Malibu Monument.
Pretty simple. 5 exercises. 10 reps each. Then, take a lap around the building. Rinse and repeat 5 times.
American Hammers
Squat Thrusts
Curls
WW3 Sit-ups
Rockies
Mosey across the street and down in front of the funeral home. Repeat 5 exercises with 5 reps (think we did 10 AH). Leave the coupon where they were and mosey back to the top of the drive.
One at a time, each man would mosey down the hill to retrieve their coupon. They would also leave behind an exercise for the other 4 PAX to AMRAP while they moseyed. YHC just reminded the PAX to choose wisely because any grace and mercy shown to the other PAX could likely be returned.
After each man retrieved their coupon, we moseyed back across the street to the Malibu Monument. This time the other PAX would mosey around the building while the single PAX AMRAP’ed the exercise they’d chosen in the previous rotation. What comes around, goes around.
Getting close on time so we moseyed back to KFC to return our coupons. Then, moseyed to the flag.
At this point, YHC noticed that he didn’t have his phone. Q fail. So we did annoucements and prayer requests.
From what I remember, Q School on 3/2 at Gashouse.
Prayer request… Maybelline’s grandfather who had fallen and got banged up.
Prayer to take us out.
Until next time…
(I’d left my phone in front of the bank for those wondering.)
4 PAX gathered on The Halfpipe to try and continue to recover from the past weekend’s events. 2 relayers and 2 halfers moseyed up and down from start to finish.
We did announcements, prayer requests, and Defib took us out in prayer.
Until next time…
Timely backblasts are helpful to accurately capture what went down during a workout. However, life can happen in between the time of the workout and the recording of the events. This is one of those cases. It has been less than 30 hours since yesterday’s session of The Halfpipe, but the events are a bit fuzzy. YHC posted at Midoriyama yesterday. What I witnessed there left me a bit scarred. I’ll let the Q handle that backblast but let’s just say there were Pickle Pounders, Baby Makers, and an old-fashioned Tunnel of Love. Trying to clear my memory of the sights and sounds I witnessed, I may have inadvertently erased some memories from earlier in the day (had to make sure that afternoon was wiped clean).
Here’s how I remember yesterday going down…
Woke up to the alarm going off and couldn’t figure out what day it was. Saw the time and realized it was Tuesday. Halfpipe day…
Completed the 1 mile mosey from Casa de JJ to The Halfpipe to find no one there. No runners, no cars in the parking lot, empty. Did I have the right day? Was it really Tuesday? Was I still asleep? Then like a glowing beacon in the night, a shining angel decended from the sky. Actually, I was still a little sleppy-eyed, and it was just Stroganoff running down the hill from the far side of The Halfpipe after getting there early. As we ran, several vehicles came flying through the neighborhood as 0515 approached. We found Defib, Whoopee, and Sargento as we ran past. “It’s 0515, this is The Halfpipe, today’s route is up and back on the hills, go at your own pace.”
As we moseyed up the hill, YHC noticed an orange Home Depot bucket in the street. YHC has asked someone to sit on the bucket with a clipboard and record the laps for each runner since Strava doesn’t seem to accurately count Halfpipe segments on my watch. That’s accountability. The Halfpipe may be seasonal, but it’s not some JV AO where minimal effort is given. Your point is earned here brother. So about the missing lap counter, either this person 1) was kidnapped, 2) got scared because they too thought that Stroganoff was an angel descending upon them, or 3) realized they weren’t getting paid for this, got mad it was 515 in the morning, and kicked the bucket into the road. Probably the latter…
After we’d completed about 10 total loops, we were on the far side about to pass by one of the side streets. Any seasoned Halfpiper (Halfpipian, Halfpipitite?) would attest to the fact that Stop signs in the Kinmere neighborhood are for decoration only and that stopping at said Stop sign is totally optional. As we approached one of the giant red decorative art displays, a car came speeding towards the same intersection. With the boldness of Joshua and the Israelites as they marched around Jericho, our band of brave Halfpipian warriors crossed in front of this mechanical beast as it came to a stop just in front of the intersection. Truer bravery has the land of SOGA not seen in quite some time.
After at least a dozon more loops, we neared the Gaston Day side of the Halfpipe, and at this point, Whoopee made a grand statement that he was going to the front. YHC doesdn’t think that everyone heard exactly what he said so we were all kinda quiet for a few seconds as we each internally tried to decifer the meaning of this declaration. Someone chimed in with, “I hoped he remembers that he parked his truck here.” This then led to the fear that Whoopee would mosey his way back to the secret Dutch Oven AO to find his vehicle was gone (possibly stolen by the kidnappers who took the lap counter). At some point, he would remember that he’d parked at The Halfpipe and wait for Stroganoff to return and drive him back. You’d think he’d just run back since he loves running so much. To kill the time, he would just take a nap on Stroganoff’s front porch where, to her horror, Mrs. Stroganoff would find a strange man sleeping on her front porch. In fear because she knew her husband was out doing whatever he does at 0530 in the morning, she called the police. Knowing none of this, Stroganoff would return to his home to find blue lights in front of his house and Whoopee in the back seat of a patrol car. That would have led to some great conversations during the Dam to Dam Relay this weekend. Fortunately, Whoopee meant he was just running to the front of the Kinmere neighborhood and we caught up to him after a single loop.
After another half-dozen loops, Sargento made an annoucement that he was starting a new AO. Right then, right there. Being the great organizer that he is, he’d already given this new AO a name, the BWRC (#ShowToKnow on this one…). At this point, the BWRC PAX broke off to continue their workout. Sargento was excited and wanted to check the F3 Gastonia record books. With his upcoming Q at Midoriyama that evening, he thought he may be the first with a TRIPLE POST in one day. 1st FQ Defib was on-site at The Halfpipe so YHC is sure that Sargento inquired about the number of bonus points that would be awarded for a TRIPLE POST.
After at least 10 more loops, the PAX paused for the COT.
Announcements
2F lunch, Belmont Pita Wheel, 2/21
That’s it, that’s the list
Prayer Request
Stroganoff’s Mother-in-law, showing improvements
Safe travels for the runners coming up this weekend
Safe travels for a family member traveling. Names are redacted because this sounded like more of a CIA mission. Travel through Argentina to Antartica. There was talks of being tied down to a bed. (From the mumble chatter at Midoriyama yesterday, it sounds like some of those guys would like more details on that for their Valentine’s Day celebration.)
At this point, some PAX left while others continued on for additional loops.
Those that were left paused again for a 2nd unofficial COT. Eventually, it felt like that awkward point of a party where everybody wants to go home, but no one wants to be the first one to leave. Also in the second COT, we had another runner pass by that YHC doesn’t believe we’ve seen out there before. YHC was going to count him as an FNG for 5 additional pushing rock points, but maybe we’ll do that next week.
All I know is that all of this is 100% ACCURATE based on how I remember things going.
Until next time…
At this week’s edition of The Halfpipe, we discussed various topics including the moon and how the Halfpipe hills seemed steeper this week probably due to the Earth’s subterranean movements. Apparently, stop signs are still optional in the Kinmere neighborhood.
5 ran, 1+ rucked. Scrat was there and evidently he had something for dinner the night before that caused him to drop a present with an aroma that may have woken up the neighbors.
Announcements
“Same as yesterday”
Prayer Requests
Dr Feelgood’s family
Stroganoff’s Mother-in-law
Harry Petrie
Prayer to take us out
Until next time…
After disappointing Strava the day before at The Labyrinth, YHC was determined to put in enough distance to satisfy Strava.
Last week at The Pub, the discussion centered around which direction of the Defib route was worse as we ran it the regular way.. This week, we’d run it in reverse to have a sample of each.
- Seems like the majority of the PAX had put in some EC so everyone was ready to go.
The Pledge.
Reverse Defib route… Heard there were only 3 hills but after about 9, YHC wasn’t sure which climb was the worst.
A caucus was formed to see which route was preferred. More hands were raised for the reverse, but I’m not really sure about the integrity of the votw.
Announcements
Pushin Rocks starts 2/1
Tobacco Road 4/27
Ville to Ville – Termite looking for runners
Speed For Need at Community Foundation Run
Lifeline coffeteria starting 1/29
Folsom Winter Nationals 2/10 – All other AOs closed
Night to Shine 2/9 – see Maybelline for details
Prayer Requesta
Luke Newsom – Broke Coworker’s son in an accident
Virus’s Father-in-law
Stogie
Prayer to take us out
Until next time…
You’ll have to wait until the end for the explanation. The lead-up to that realization went something like this…
Showed up to Pelican’s to find several vehicles in the parking lot and a scene that could be truly called “the gloom”.
0530 so let’s go. Quick disclaimer.
The Pledge
Warm-up
SSH IC x 17
Needed some help getting moving so a lap around Pelican’s.
Merkins x 17
Another lap around the building
LBCs IC x 17 (these were popular given the cold wet pavement)
Another lap around the building
Imperial Walkers IC x 17
Another lap around the building with a mosey continuing down the street towards Gastone’s Hill.
Stop at the Family Medicine building parking lot for a round of Elevens
10 Mike Tysons and 1 Jump Squat
You know the deal… Repeat until 1 Mike Tyson and 10 Jump Squats
Mosey to Gastone’s Hill. And then up Gastone’s Hill. And then down Gastone’s Hill.
Next round up the hill was Route 66 with Merkins stopping at each mailbox.
At the top, Flutter Kicks IC x 17. Crunchy Frogs IC x 7. LBCs IC x 10. (or something like this…)
Mosey back down the hill. Back towards the flag, but more Route 66 with stops at the light posts and Squats.
With time remaining and no desire to do Mary on the wet pavement to close, we moseyed to the mini-wall for Mary on the Wall.
Step-Ups – 10 each leg
Dips IC x 10
Derkins x 7 (once again, counts are estimated based on memory)
Mosey to the flag.
Annoucements
Night to Shine 2/9 (See Maybelline for details)
Folsom Winter Nationals – Convergence 2/10
Prayer Requests
Mason and Cherry families
EZ Rider’s Mother-in-law’s sister passed away
Member of EZ Rider’s Father-in-law’s church
Prayer to take us out…
So you may be wondering how it was determined that Strava is a female. About half-way through the workout, I noticed my watch was not tracking my distance. This happens about 4-5 times a year when it doesn’t pick up the GPS signal before starting the workout even though it says it has picked it up (That’s not how we know Strava’s a female). When the workout was over, I ended the workout on my watch but got the message, “Strava needs a longer activity to upload. Do you want to discard this one?” I read that message out loud to which one of the PAX responded, “That’s what she said.” My activity was inadequate for Strava. Public embarrassment. Hate to see it. Guess we’ll try again next time…