YHC took today’s Q as a 1-Year Anniversary at F3 (actually Tuesday on the Calendar). But rather than use this space to drone on about all the good things F3 has meant to me over the last year, I’m happy to shout out to the two different sets of legitimate F3 stars out at the Thicket this morning.

1 – Boyardee, Bunyan, Goat Cheese, MM, Mothman and Rambler all posted less than 24 hours after knocking out the Spartan Race in Fayetteville. Unreal. They reported that the race was about 7K, 22 obstacles and plenty of pain. They also noted that the Extra Credit Spartan Prep led by Rambler and Stinky Pete over the summer paid off immensely. Overall, our F3 team reported kicking butt and showed a lot of great teamwork to get around the course. That said, thoughts go out to Fat Cat, who dropped the Atlas Sphere (75lbs rock ball) onto his foot and is out with a break.

2 – Back in Briar Chapel, our own Grunge produced and ran the first annual Pepper Run, a 4-mile trail run that drew 33 runners Sunday morning. Grunge will try to spread the credit and tell you that several F3 guys, including YHC, helped with logistics for the race, but make no mistake: Grunge and Dueling Banjos were the guys putting in the hours and the heart to make it happen. Runners varied from blazing stars like our own Bright Idea to a 9-year-old boy and F3 2.0 Everest at 10yo, to a fun senior couple who walked the whole way and still beat 80 minutes. It will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen the full heart and soul that Grunge brings to F3 and his baby The Rabbit that he played race director, head timer, trail boss and head cheerleader for the whole event.

So, as I said, I could drone on about what a year of F3 has meant. It’s meant being honest with myself about goals and fitness and health, which I had not been for several years previously. It meant, after a couple months of working up to it, exercising every single day of last January, just to make sure I could and to set a personal bar for 2017. It’s meant letting my wife join a very friggin’ pricey gym that works well for her cuz I don’t have to spend a dime for this! But none of those reasons – fitness, goals, cost – would be enough to roll out at Oh-Dark time after time, week after week. The #1 benefit by far has been finding a group where you can meet new faces that quickly become familiar ones and where we’re all in it together for no better reason than that we’re all in it together.

So what happened was…

Warm-up
IW x 10
WMH X 10
Arm circles X 10
Merkins X 10
Calf Stretch, both legs, and back stretch, x 10

MAIN EVENT
Gazebo:
Dips and Merkins, each: x25, x20, x15

Run halfway to park. Bear Crawl other half.

Park (by BBcourt, at hill)
Dora 1-2
– 100 Burpees, 200 Air Squats.
– Run up hill backwards (QUADS!), then down backside and return to partner running forward.
Indian Run around block – 3 lines for rapid turnover (HINT HINT FOR OTHER Qs), continue Indian Run back to Thicket with 2 men running each turn

Thicket
Suicides Sprints – 3 legs, X2
Ring of Fire, all Pax 5 Merkins each

TIME!

Fun to look back at a great year in F3. Hardest workouts of the year:
4. Humidity-soaked Coco-led suckfest at The Big Dance mid-July, 12-leg tennis court suicides with burpees and then merkins each leg.
3. Insane Yanni Bear Crawl Mystery Tour into the new construction area all the way to the far cul de sac. (HONORABLE MENTION: Fat Cat’s VQ, which was also just miles of Bear Crawl)
2. Ark Loader at the Cougar. I think the Scorpion was the winner for ‘Thing Farthest Beyond Me Having Any Chance Of Completing”
1. Maltz Challenge, my own VQ – not the hardest workout by a longshot, but I was so nervous for my first-ever Q that I went super hard and burned out early and by the end thought I was definitely gonna die!