Men gathered and did work. That seems to be all that’s said of our morning routine these days, a checked box in the requirement that the Q craft a record of the sweat poured out. In some ways, that’s all that needs to be said. We got after it, did the hard thing, shared a grunt and a laugh and then went on with our day better for it. And such was the case this morning at #SwampFox where five guys did what they do on Thursday mornings. But if that’s all there is to a backblast, then that’s likely all we see in the morning routine… a task accomplished. And if F3 is nothing more than a box checked, then we’re missing out. A backblast, therefore, like the workout itself, is more than the workout.
Conditions: Balmy with that over heated smell of a dryer still tumbling moist clothes but working hard to beat back the mildew.
TheThang:
The CLT airport shuttle bus was there ahead of the pax, waiting with headlights on for the men of F3Columbia’s SwampFox to assemble. It was there to carry people somewhere… we know not where. More cars filled more spaces at Crayton for that lonely shuttle bus than came to wait upon the pax this morning.
- SSH X 25, 4CT IC
- Big Boy Situps X 20, OYO
- Mountain Climbers X 20, 4CT IC
- Iron Cross X 20, OYO
- Squats X 20, 4CT IC
Beside the Tree of Life we warmed up before the real work began. Five of us gathered ten bricks, pavers really, because those useless holes are for air and we’ve got no time for that. And we ran. We ran with pavers which sucks. Something about the physiology of running with arms weighted feels like being crucified (minus the nails, of course, and the actual suffocation) which is why we do it. because running with pavers sucks.
Gathering behind Crayton we did our first arm circuit, mild at first with the slow, grinding ache that comes with lots and lots of reps.
- Overhead Press X 20, 4CT IC
- Standing Rhomboid Fly’s X 20, 4CT IC
- Little Baby Arm Circles X 15, 4CT IC (#CrowdPleaser)
- Curls for the Girls X 15, 4CT IC (or so Venti argued later)
And then do it again. Backwards on the Baby Arm Circles in set two.
We ran some more with bricks before putting them down on the bypass to the north of Crayton… the elevated road so well loved under the lone, center light pole.
- Walking Lunges X 10 and then sprint to the light pole (roughly 40 yards)
- Turn around and do it again
- Twice more…
- Grab your bricks and do the Walking Lunges X 10 before running the full length of the drive to the far telephone pole (roughly 80 yards)
- Drop the bricks, spin around and rinse & Repeat the Walking Lunge X 10 set with sprints back to the lamp post, this time int he other direction.
- Twice more…
Gathering up the bricks again the crew headed around Crayton to the main entrance, finding a spot with the most lush grass on the entire campus… our well worn shoes left soft imprints in the dew-covered blades. So, with the pavers still, we did the following:
- Squats X 20, 4CT IC
- V-Ups X 10, making them hurt, OYO
- Calf Raises X 20, 4CT IC
- Big Boy Situps X 20, OYO
We were checked out by a mustang clearly looking for the CLT Shuttle… which had passed us by several times by now. We were curious. Someone’s missing a flight right now.
More running with pavers. Running, this time, around to the main drop off loop where the riff-raff (meaning middle school students) enter the building. The grass is less green and less inviting but more conducive to the riff-raff and thus more conducive to our presence. Again we did brick work, working the little muscles typically valuable for pushing a mouse or signing letters.
- Overhead Clap X 20, 4CT IC
- Tricept Extensions X 20, 4CT IC
- Little Baby Arm Circles X 10, 4CT IC (Still a #CrowdPleaser)
- Curls for the Girls X 20, 4CT IC (Venti mocked my biceps… YHC didn’t care.)
Rinse & Repeat so that the golf shirt fills nicely for casual, summer Friday.
Trying desperately to finish our loop of Crayton, the pax ended up at the top of the hill beside the Tree of Life where a little foolishness ensued. Taking a page from a recent #Thunder Q, the following was called… it ended, well, it ended.
- Jump Squats at the top X 10
- Run down the hill
- Monkey Humpers at the bottom X 10
- Run Backwards up the hill
- Rinse & Repeat Jacob’s Ladder style for 8’s and 6’s
It was at the 6’s that YHC was barely walking backwards up that hill and an audible was called for People’s chair… which wasn’t gentle on the throbbing quad’s but it at least wasn’t running up a steep, grassy hill backwards.
- LBC’s X 20, 4CT IC
- Back to the wall for People’s Chair
- LBC’s X 20, 4CT IC
- People’s Chair
And then we returned to the above referenced Jacob’s Ladder to complete the 4’s and 2’s which were just tolerable after a brief hiatus. And so it ended…
Returning the bricks to their customary pile behind the fence the pax moseyed back up toward the parking lot where, again, the CLT shuttle was checking in. A whole bunch of people must be missing a flight right now. Leaving room in the lot for the wandering shuttle, we wrapped up with a little Mary:
- LBC’s X 20, 4CT IC
- Protractor
- Big Boy Situps X20, OYO
- Protractor
COT & BOM closed out with words of encouragement for some great kids and old men.
NMM:
- So, if you missed the morning at #SwampFox, you missed a whole lot. Bricks were carried, but there were no Mercans. Backwards uphill running is basically impossible when paired with jump squats and monkey humpers. Someone (many people, perhaps) will not be flying out of CLT this morning. It was special and you missed it.
- Venti didn’t think much of my Curls for the Girls. Well, they were easy. It takes a lot of brick curls to matter but we worked the arms and they had to be included. Next time we’ll grab blocks and see if we can do little baby arm circles with a block.
- Kilt’s got the Tuesday Q and so you’ll want to be there. In truth, I’ve never been there for a Kilt Q… should be interesting. Reach out to the #SwampFox brotherhood and make sure we’ve got a good showing for him.