The Fort Fuel Challenge 2016

2016-01-032017-06-16Leave a comment

Posted In: Alcatraz, Block Party, Clydesdales, Flight Plan, Golden Corral, Laces In, Laces Out, Millllkshake, Pantheon, Quagmire, Ring of Fire, Run 'n Gun, Slow Burn, Tempo, The Armory, The Ballroom, The Colosseum, The Fort, The Hive, The Ranch, The Reservation, The Swamp, Varsity

Listen… We work out… Some of us work out most days a week. So with all this working out, the question is: Why aren’t we shedding the love handles and the spare tire? With the amount of physical torture we endure, we should be chiseled like a Marble Statue.

Alas, working out is only a portion of the plan… you have to stop eating garbage.

With that, I bring you The Fort Fuel Challenge 2016. This is the new incarnation of what we did a little over a year ago (found here), but this time around you have experience on your side… I am not a professional, but we’ve done this before and have seen results. YHC lost 7.5% of my mass (presumably fat), with the overall lead by Cash coming in at just shy of 10%.

The key to this isn’t calorie reduction (although that may be something you have to look into) and it isn’t about eating the same food every day for lunch. You don’t need to starve yourself to see results, you just need to feed the machine the right fuel. To feed yourself the right fuel, you need discipline and accountability. That’s really what the Fuel challenge is all about…

So here’s the deal. We are going to kick off on January 18th through February 29th. This gives you two weeks to do two very important things… in fact, these are so important that I would propose that you cannot succeed in this program with out completing them:

Clear out all the junk in your pantry/fridge.
Get the M on board

Number 1 is easy. Get rid of the junk now before you start. Less junk means less temptation. Eat it in the next two weeks if you have a problem with throwing it away, but get it out of your food storage before January 18th.

Number 2 is not as easy for some of us, but it is crucial. You cannot do this in your house on your own, especially if your wife is eating a bowl of Ice Cream after dinner every night. You will either come off as a self righteous prick or you will cave. Neither of these is a recipe for success. Get the M on board, she really wants to eat better too.

Base Program

The Fuel Challenge will give you a chance to test yourself with the support of your fellow men of F3. And maybe after 6 weeks, you will stick to the plan (or much of it) in order to live a healthier lifestyle. The program will have a base list of items that are prohibited during the six weeks as follows. This is mandatory and is really what will make the biggest difference in your quality of food intake.

No Fried Food
No Fast Food (inc. Pizza)
No processed snacks like Potato Chips, Candy Bars, Etc.
No Dessert
No Sodas or Sweet Tea
No Cheeses (including shredded, feta, or slices. Get it off your sandwiches and salads)(Cottage cheese will be allowed)
No Cream Based Sauces/Dressings (This Includes Fat Free Options for Ranch, Caesar, Alfredo, Etc.)

This seems like a significant challenge, especially for the road warrior, but you can do it. You just need to be aware of what you are eating and plan.

You will receive ONE free pass per week – this could be a steak dinner, a pizza, etc. – no carryovers though, the pass can only be used that week – try to use your weekly pass in moderation. Some call this a “cheat”, but use if you need to.

After week one, we introduce challenges, which are cumulative. Some would argue the health benefits of a few of these, but I don’t think anyone can claim that limiting these items will have a detrimental effect on your well being. Remember this is not about “dieting”, but about discipline. Keep that in mind.

Here are the cumulative challenges:

Week 2 (and on) – No Red Meat
Week 3 (and on) – No Breads (Sprouted Grain is accepted)
Week 4 (and on) – No Pork
Week 5 (and on) – No White Starches (Potatoes, Pastas, White Rice. We’ll talk about substitutes)
Week 6 – No Dairy or Things Cooked in Butter

Just like last time, we’ve “modified as needed”. Here are a few “Extra Credit” challenges for those so inclined. These are not mandatory, so feel free to adopt whatever works for you.

HC to F3 250. For those that are at 2-3 posts a week, this could be a way to up your game. Tracking F3 250 along with this attention to dietary details could be what takes your fitness (and physique) to the next level. You can even track using this handy template.
Implement Intermittent Fasting. I’m planning on doing this and would encourage you to try the same if you can handle skipping breakfast. There are numerous health benefits that are purported as side effects to Intermittent Fasting, but do your own research and try it if you think it makes sense.

Similar to last time, here’s how we’ll be tracking for accountability/encouragement from the participants:

On January 18th, post your starting weight in the comments of this page. You have time to buy a home scale or find out where the one at your gym is. On the pending February 29th backblast post, you will post your weight using the same scale. This requires honesty and consistency. If you want to weigh yourself in the buff (don’t tell us) just do it both times. Same if it’s in underwear and t-shirt, swim trunks, etc. Having a scale also helps track progress along the way but is not the ultimate measure of health. You will need to post your weight on both posts. You will also track your weight on the My Fitness Pal page.
Sign up for My Fitness Pal and download the app if you have not done so already (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ ). Enter in all of your information including starting weight. This will factor into your suggested daily calorie consumption. Send me (Gears) your MFP id so I can invite you to the group. You can reach me via twitter (@vinsonizer) or simply put the id in the comments below. If you didn’t have enough options, you can just go to the following URL and request group membership: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100013-f3thefort
Track your exercise and calories on My Fitness Pal. If you see really good results, guys may want to go back and see how you did it. The app allows you to scan bar codes, enter in recipes and ingredients to determine calories, and already has a robust library of foods from restaurants and grocery stores. You can also enter in weight goals and it will help provide daily calorie count, protein, carb and fat limits. You gain higher limits to stay on track with your goals by entering in your workouts.

One last comment to reiterate the above: If you are moved to do so, please view this as an opportunity to exercise not only physical/mental discipline, but also spiritual discipline. Any type of fast can be leveraged as a catalyst for prayer and worship, allowing the limiting of the desires of the flesh to remind us of our dependence on SkyQ. My personal hope is that this will be fruitful in all the self-dimensions of our personal lives: Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind.

If you are ready to go, comment below

TClap |

Welcome Back, Winter!

2016-01-03Leave a comment

QIC: Old Bay
When: 01/02/16
Pax: Anchorman, Magnum, Bassomatic, Slide Rule (FNG), Quickbooks, Freon, El Diablo, Duke Nukem, Crosscheck, Shelby, Misson Imbossible, Old Bay
Posted In: Millllkshake

The frost on the windows of those of us with usgaraged cars probably wasn’t so much a surprise as it was an “Oh yea, I forgot about that.” moment. And the additional gear to keep warm on this near-freezing morning reminded us that it might be many more weeks before we (re)discover what our fellow pax look like under the winter layers.

But the fresh seasonal temperatures didn’t stop a dozen pax from posting to TheYard this second day of 2016. Dark when we started, light when we ended, the pax did an excellent job sweating it out together and thinking about their word for 2016.

Welcome FNG “Slide Rule”, who is a student at Clemson and might very well learn to love burpees if he chooses to post with Padre in Easley.

The Thang

Mosey to west side of FMMS for a full body warm-up lead by Freon:

Imperial Walkers (IC) x15
SSH (IC) x15
Merkins (IC) x15
Carolina Dry Docks (IC) x10
Low Slow Squats (IC) x15
Side Lunges (IC) x15

Hand Off to Old Bay

Mosey to east side of FMMS for Slow Dirty McDeuce – each exercise done in cadence, 12x, with slow 4 counts, followed by a lap around the basketball courts

Set 1

Wide arm Merkins
Squats
LBC

Set 2

Dry Docks
Flutter Kicks
Calf Raises

Set 3

Dip
Step lunges
Weezy Jefferson

Set 4 – Progressive Jack Web (1-7)

Merkins
4 slow air presses
4 squats

Mosey to a wall for People’s Chair

Bear crawls down the line (x2)
BTTW (for recovery)
Lunges down the line and Jack Reachers

Mosey to the basketball court for foul shots

Each pax to take 3 shots.

If the pax taking the shot misses all 3, all pax sprint the full length of the court and back
If the pax taking the shot misses 2, all pax sprint half the length of the court and back

Circle up for some Mary

Freddie’s
Russian Twists
Hello Dollies
LBCs
Back Scratchers

COT

As always, it was a pleasure leading the fine men of The Fort. If you have not selected “your word” for 2016, continue to think and pray about it. And thanks to Freon for the excellent job in with the warm up.

AYE!

TClap |

The Ultra-vergence… Man, that’s a lot of vergence…

2016-01-022017-06-16Leave a comment

QIC: The Redwood Originals
When: 01/01/16
Pax: Approximately 350 of F3's finest.
Posted In: Block Party, Clydesdales, Convergence, Flight Plan, Golden Corral, Laces In, Laces Out, Millllkshake, Quagmire, Ring of Fire, Run 'n Gun, Slow Burn, Tempo, The Armory, The Ballroom, The Colosseum, The Fort, The Hive, The Ranch, The Reservation, The Snake Pit, The Swamp, Varsity

(Poorly paraphrased from Dredd that AM): “Well, we [he and OBT] said, we’ll show up and if it’s just us two, then we’ll go do something else, but if they [the other invited Pax] show up, then we might have something and we’ll see where it goes…” (emphasis added)

That was 5 years ago. Now, we’re celebrating a new year, and we’re celebrating the 5 year anniversary (birthday?) of F3. Clearly, they had something…

As approximately one Pax for every day of the year crawled out of their clowncars and onto what may have been the wettest field I’ve ever been on, the energy was palpable. Friends from all over F3 Nation were reconnecting and new ones were being made, including an FNG from The Fort who apparently EH’ed himself (welcome Speaker)… There were smiling faces and shovel flags everywhere. The fun had started, but before long, it was time for the workout to begin…

As you can imagine, attempting to lead a group of 365 Pax is… well… ridiculous. It’s a little amusing to me that part of the whole reason Dredd and OBT broke off from the other workout group to create F3 was because the size of the group had become problematic and unwieldy. So, how should we celebrate 5 years of F3? Well, let’s see if we can’t have the most problematically-sized group come together and let’s try and make them follow instructions. (*COUGH* *GASP* *COUGH* You’ll have to excuse me, I’m choking a little on the irony…) Regardless, though, we warmed up, Dredd split us up into groups, and off we went. The workout, the “thang”? It was in there… We rotated through stations… there was some running, some ladders, some dips, some derkins, hills, burpees (of course), some other stuff… Was it the best workout I ever had? Well, it wasn’t the worst one for sure. But if you came for the workout, you may have overlooked what was happening.
As always, there were a couple of guys who were definitely there to prove they were fitter than the rest of us. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were a couple of guys who were clearly struggling to keep up at all. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were guys who wear blue collars all week long. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were guys whose net worth is that of a small country in certain parts of the world. That’s cool, you’re welcome here, too. Black, white, fast, slow, tall, short, rich, poor, fat, thin… all irrelevant. Welcome is what you are when you are here. It is this way because for that one hour, we all look basically the same (you know the uniform…) so you don’t know who is rich or poor or otherwise. For that one hour, we all basically act the same (unless you are Apache), we’re here to workout and fellowship a little. No one is elected, there is no hierarchy, no one is grading your performance… You know what it is? It’s because for that one hour, I believe, we are about as free as we can be in our modern, over-technologized, overcommitted, over-everythinged lives. We’re free from roles that weigh us down, free from the constraints that life and the world put on us… We’re just free to BE. That’s why we plant a flag, hustle, then take a knee at the end to give thanks to the SkyQ. That’s why we are proud to call ourselves a part of the Brotherhood of Minivan Centurions.

So, we converged, because I think somewhere deep inside we wanted to show our gratitude for this thing that has meant so much to us. Partly to God for leading us to it (or it to us, whichever), partly to the Redwood Originals for starting and sticking with it until it got to us, and partly to each other for continuing to push us to make ourselves more of what we were put here to do. I think that we came because there is strength in knowing and then physically seeing the fact that we are clearly not alone in this battle we fight. That at every turn, there is a man in a black shirt and running shoes that will help if needed.

Again, paraphrased very poorly from Dredd (right before the Ball of Man): “So now our job is to give it away. To share what has meant something to us. Because there are guys out there right now that you know who are crappy fathers, guys who are crappy husbands about to lose their marriages. There are guys who are crappy employees, or are otherwise just dissatisfied with their lives… and YOU CAN SAVE THEM.” (again, emphasis added)

To quote the immortal Forrest Gump: That’s all I have to say about that…

Until the next one…
Helmet, out.

TClap |

A Beacon of Light or just a Beacon Beat Down…You Decide!

2016-01-02Leave a comment

QIC: Olive
When: 01/02/2016
Pax: Longshanks (The Fort), Contra (WB), Firestone, Zuul (Respect and WD), Olive
Posted In: Uncategorized

5 Gloom warriors braved the cold and clear skies (for once) to see what was in store for a workout without any rucks, kids or anniversaries. Not mentioned in the Pax (under the new Isotope site) was brother Longshanks who traveled from the far lands of The Fort to support his F3 and Spartan brother in a nice sweat induced workout by YHC. For a minute there I thought it would just be the two of us with rucking workouts, FS Kids and anniversaries going on. Thankfully, a few more pairs of headlights came rolling in and we had ourselves a party. Some quick introductions and the bell sounded. Like any good fight, the Pax came out swinging! Here’s how it all went down:

Warm O Rama- Run through the parking lot of GCC and mix in some butt kickers, high knees, Karioke and circle up by the back of the church. Longshanks was kind enough to let me run the warmup when I posted during his workout a few weeks back so of course I had to pay it forward.

Cheesy Disclaimer

Via Longshanks:

SSHx20 IC

ISTx10IC

Windmill x10 IC

Mountain CLimbers x10 IC

Moroccan Night Club x10 IC

Peter Parkers x10 IC

Hillbilly Walkers x10 IC

Parker Peters x10 IC

The THANG:

Dora 100

Partner Up (Olive Solo)

P1 completes broad jump burpees

P2 circles the church

Flap Jack

Rinse and Repeato until 100 completed.

Mosey to Hell’s Ascent for 7’s

Bear Crawl up hill and perform 1 squat. Normal down hill and perform 6 Merkins

Repeato with increasing 1 count at top and decreasing 1 count at bottom.

Mosey to the forest of fun.

10 PullUps OYO

Grab a soaked, waterlogged sandbag with sand pouring all over.

10 Squat with Press IC

Tire Flip x5

Mosey to Home Depot

Peoples Chair. Add Air Press x15

Add heal touch x15

Ballz to the Wall.

So much fun lets do it again.

Peoples chair with Air Press x12

Add heal touch x 10

Balls to wall

Mosey to rock pile and grab a non travelling rock.

Curls x10 IC

Skull Crushers x10 IC

Chest Press with Low flutter x10 IC.

Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey up the walk and stop in the front parking lot.

Lets go island hopping.

Sprint 1 to the middle island

Sprint 2 to the far island

Merkins x10 IC

Sprint 3 back to cover entire distance.

M.A.R.Y.

Dealer calls game:

Dying cockroach x15 IC Longshanks

Maktar Jai x15 in crazy cadence (Contra)

J SLOW x10 IC (Firestone)

Freddie Mercury x15 IC (Zuul)

Rosalitta x20 IC (Olive)

Peter Pointers x15 IC (Longshanks)

2 Minute Plank (Contra) YHC called out left/right arm up, left/right leg up.

Recover Recover

Naked Moleskin

It is always great to see Pax from other AO’s make a trip. Its even nicer when one is a friend. T Claps for Longshanks for making the trip up and introducing us to some Fort exercises-more on that to come.

Kotters for Zuul to be back in the gloom and our Respect and WD today. Glad that calf is getting better and look forward to seeing you out in the Gloom more often. Great work today brother.

It’s not every day you get a partial BS call from Contra regarding burpees…but right out the gate I got that slight compliment. I will say this..man you have one sick broad jump on those. Great work and thanks for the support.

Buck Furpees…definitely looked better on paper.

Firestone is like the quiet assassin. Not to much mumble chatter and he seems to do the exercises without breaking a sweat…although we know that was not the case today. Excellent work as always my friend.

This was my first Q at GCC and I definitely made use of the terrain as contra pointed out. The people’s chair was definitely a leg burner. And they need to hire better professionals to paint their bricks as Longshanks kindly pointed out.

I must admit, I litterally felt the ground shake after the 2nd round of skull crushers when Contra dropped his rock…ahem boulder. Sorry YHC did not call a coupon rotation as that would have only hurt me…and Zuul.

Lastly, some interesting mumble chatter during MARY at the entrance to GCC. #ShowtoKnow. Hopefully we did not desecrate the her holiness to bad with the aforementioned Peter Pointers!

Thanks to Firestone for taking us out during CoT.

It is always an honor a pleasure to lead the great men of F3. This is what it is all about. Getting together to sharpen our irons, physically, mentally and spiritually. Being a part of F3 and witnessing all the men who posted at the New Year Day Anniversary celebration was incredile to witness and be a part of. Lets do our best to EH some #SadClowns so that in another 5 years, that number triples.

Appreciate Ramrod for allowing me to take the reigns and shine some of my light on The Beacon.

Have a great weekend men. Challenge yourselves to have an impact on someone’s life today! #HIM

-Olive

TClap |

Accountability starts at home

2016-01-02Leave a comment

QIC: Peach and Posh
When: 01/02/16
Pax: Catfish, Hemmingway, Twister, Italian Job, Winchester, Rosetta, FNG: Green Mountain, FNG: Al Borland plus Qs
Posted In: Uncategorized

10 Total, on a chilly second day of January

Peach led us out to the first COP. Warmed-up on
SSH*25
Windmill*10
ImpWlkr*15
PepperGrinder*10

Move to Peach’s take on a 12 Days of Christmas workout (all in cadence unless specified):
One Hundred Yard Mosey
Two Mak Tar J’ai
Three Regular Merkins
Four Wide Arm Merkins
Five Diamond Merkins
Six Freddie Mercurys
Seven Hello Dollys
Eight Rosalitas
Nine Long Slow Squats
Ten Step-ups
Eleven Box Jumps (OYO)
Twelve Burpees (OYO)

Moleskin: Accountability starts at home. How many of us make sacrifices in order to be part of an F3 workout? Going to bed early, skipping that additional beer, passing on that couples night out? OK, now how many of us make sacrifices to please our loved ones? If you have the discipline to do F3, then you need to find the discipline to keep your family life together, and to keep it as your highest priority. We should all hold each other accountable to the notion that family is the priority. Now… Go do that chore she’s been after you to do for the last several weeks… Go on, DO IT!

Pass to Posh:
Mosey to Field of Pain
Baseball drill:
– Starting at home, run to each base in turn, do 5 bombjacks
– at home plate, reverse direction and repeat
– Second pass, do the 5 bombjacks and add 10 squats
– Third pass, do 5 boat/canoe, and 20 American Hammer

Posh shares his “Word for the Year”: “Relevant”. Being “Relevant” in every aspect of life.

Meet at the mound for some Jack Webb; 2*4
2 “Sky High” Merkins (down, up, right hand high, down, up, left hand high)
4 overhead claps
add 2 Merkins until the final cycle of 10 Sky High Merkins with 40 claps

Mosey back to COT

Welcome FNGs: “Green Mountain” and “Al Borland”

TClap |

2 BB’s in one, that most of you won’t read anyways

2015-12-312017-06-16Leave a comment

QIC: Longshanks
Pax: Run n Gun - Corruption, Stang, Longshanks Ranch - Maximus, FNG Lunchables, What Did, Longshanks
Posted In: Run 'n Gun, The Ranch

After having 3 guys at Run n Gun (Corruption, Stang, and YHC) and 4 today at the Ranch (Maxiumus, his brother-in-law FNG Lunchables, What Did, and YHC), I figured why write 2 Backblast’s that most people aren’t going to read anyways. I mean if you’re not posting, you’re probably not on the website either. More on this later.

Run n Gun Thang – Moseyed from Baxter YMCA up the back trail around the lake the fountain. Did a warmup of IW, windmills, Cotton Pickers, and hamstring stretch. Moseyed to the OPES bus lot, aka the track. 5 rounds of 4 corners under the canopy with a lap around the track after each round of 10 merkins, 10 squats, 10 LBC, 10 CDD. After everyone finished, we ran up Hugh St, turned right on Sutton, ran that to 160, took a right on 160 and up Market St until we ran back to the YMCA. Did a few laps around the YMCA to get us over 4 miles.

Ranch Thang – Lap around the parking lot with butt kicks, high knees, karaoke, and toy soldiers. Circle up for warmup of 16 each IC of SSH, Windmills, IW, Peter Parkers, Mountain Climbers, and Parker Peters. Moseyed to the long strip of the car line. Partnered up. Went with the 2015/2016 theme minus the zero. One partner runs down and back while the other works towards 215 squats and 216 Bombjacks. Rinse and repeat with 215 LBC’s and 216 Flutter kicks. Plank when finished. Mosey to the wall by the picnic tables. People’s chair followed by 15 Derkins and 16 Dips. Rinse and repeat but flapjack the dips and Derkins. 2 more series of people’s chair with 15 calf raises and 16 calf raises accordingly. Mediated about best moment of 2015 and what looking forward to in 2016 while in the people’s meditation chair. Moseyed back to the parking lot for one round of dealers choice and sharing your 2015 memory and 2016 looking forward to.

Announcements – 1-1 Convergence, Joe Davis Run, Yeti

Moleskin

Maximus asked the question this morning: “where is everyone?” Great question Maximus. I’ve been wondering the same thing after leading workouts of 2, 3, and 4 this week. I’ve got some potential answers and I don’t think some of you may like them, but sometimes the truth hurts.

“It’s raining.” I get that it’s not always going to be perfect, but they make rain resistant workout gear. And just like in life, it’s not always going to be perfect. In life you don’t get to just skip over the days that suck, so get up, put your rain gear on and post somewhere.
“I’m off of work this week and don’t want to get up early.” So am I. It’s called commitment. Been up at 4:30 everyday since break started. Next
“The workout is too hard” If it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change. The workout is supposed to push you a little bit. It’s how you get better. And if you can’t do something modify it to something you can do.
“I’m tired”. I get it. I’m tired too. See number 2 about commitment. Go to bed earlier if you have to.
Insert whatever your excuse is for not posting lately here. “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else” – Benjamin Franklin

If you’re still reading this and thinking I’m a huge prick. I’m okay with that. All I want you to do is get out of your fartsack and start posting again.

Less Fartsacking in 2016, cuz God called you to be a HIM

Longshanks

TClap |

Would you be able to Q Thursday? That a dangerous question!

2015-12-31Leave a comment

QIC: Tinker Toy
When: 12/31/15
Pax: Shrute, Burgundy, Italian Job, Posh, Sgt. York, Popeye, Tinker Toy (Q)
Posted In: Uncategorized

Disclaimer

As we make New Year’s resolutions, may we focus on things greater than ourselves. The workout will be tough so we can push ourselves physically and mimic how we need to push ourselves and each other spiritually to be #HIM for our families, communities, and country.

Warm up

Mozy to fountain

SSH X20
IW x 15
WM x 10
Peter Parker x 10
Parker Peter x 10

The Thang
Mozy to park

Round 1
30 Burpees
15/side Fly Merkins
20 Pull ups
30 Squat Jacks
15 BTTW Merkins

LOOP AROUND POND

Round 2
40 Merkins
20 Chin Ups
20/side Sumo Squats
20 Diamond Merkins

LOOP AROUND POND

Round 3
20 Blast Off Merkins
40 Dips
30 Squats
10/side Spider Push Ups
30 Monkey Humpers

LOOP AROUND POND

Round 4
20/side Stagger Merkins
40 CDD
20/side Lunges
Gator Merkins across playground width and back
20 Bomb Jacks

LOOP AROUND POND

2 miles of running in addition to the total body beat down

COT
As we start to make New Year’s resolution, we all need to make spiritual resolutions that are greater than we can handle on our own. This will force us to stop depending on ourselves and trust in God or else we will fall on our face. That is a scary place to be as men, but it is exactly the right place to be…right in the center of His will and dependent upon Him. Scripture tells us that, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬
http://bible.com/59/2ch.7.14.esv

It is our job as followers of Christ to start change in our homes, communities, work places, and country. This passage is clear that it is His people, not the President or congress or others, but US!! We must humble ourselves (think rightly of who we are as sinful man) so we can then pray and seek His face, which then allows us to turn from our sin to our Savior. Then and only then can our land be healed.

Praise-Popeye’s VA loan is working itself out now and he expressed gratitude for his F3 brothers walking through this tough time with him.

Prayer- Sgt. York’s wife-medical procedure today

It was an honor to lead this group of men to make our bodies stronger. May we push each other to become spiritually stronger as well.
AYE!!

TClap |

The Columns of the Pantheon

2015-12-30Leave a comment

QIC: Bing
When: 12/30/15
Pax: Gekko, Mainframe, White Lighting, FreeBird, Pick Six, Mr. Clean, Royale, Puddles, Flat Tire, QWERTY, Short Sale, Howitzer, El Diablo, Freon (FNG), Bart, Fish Sticks, Senator Tressell, Cornhole, Funhouse, HappyHour (FNG)
Posted In: Pantheon, The Fort

21 PAX arrived in the wet gloom to celebrate a VQ with YHC. Pantheon Columns (well, cones) were set around the drive and we were ready to start the pain.

Weather: Balmy and humid 60’s with intermittent rain.

COP 30 SSH

15 Imperial Walkers

20 Slow Squats

20 Mountain Climbers

20 more SSH (can’t get enough of these eh?)

The Thang: Mosey on over to the start of the Pantheon Drive to our first Pantheon column. In order to mirror the 16 columns of the Pantheon, 8 columns (cones) were set on the drive with 2 (ish) exercises under each column.

30 Mountain Climbers/20 Merkins

20 Burpees

Bear Crawl to next cone/Crawl Bear back (major improvising took place here – LONG crawl)

25 LBC/80% effort run around entire loop

20 Merkins/30 Hello Dolly

20 Freddie Mercury/20 Carolina Dry Docks

20 Monkey Humpers/40 Rocky Balboas

3x Suicides (3 cones set up for distance ran)

With a bit of extra time allowed, each group did an extra 3-4 columns with some improvising along the way. To no ones surprise, there was a lot of running included in the workout (2.6 miles to be exact).

COT

Announcements:

Charlotte Convergence on 1/1. Clown Car meeting place at Baxter Starbucks at 6am (to be confirmed)

Joe Davis Run on 1/9 – Nearing 150 participants of a goal of 200 (F3 and FIA)

Rock Hill Striders 10.5 run at the Greenway on 1/16

Prayer Requests:

El Diablo’s Dad who recently had an 8 hour long surgery and is recovering.

Prayers for Tater and his family with the loss of his Father-in-law.

Thank you all for allowing me to VQ today, I truly enjoyed it and look forward to the next Q!

Aye!

TClap |

2016 Blue Ridge Relay- PreBlast #2

2015-12-30Leave a comment

QIC: WWL
When: September 9-10, 2016
Pax: F3 Nation
Posted In: Uncategorized

2016 Blue Ridge Relay- PreBlast #2

Link to PreBlast #1

It’s time to hard commit to the 2016 Blue Ridge Relay, September 9-10, 2016 (Friday – Saturday)

This event is capped at 160 teams. Last year, it was completely sold out by late May, this year, they expect all slots to be filled as early as April, possible even March, currently BRR has 3 times the number of teams already registered compared to last year…. If you plan on joining one of the best CSAUP events on the calendar, DO NOT DELAY!

We EXPECT to build on F3’s growth and continued interest in this event, which is a near-perfect combination of First F, Second F and CSAUP. 2015 F3 had 54 teams, over 500 pax!

The Basics:

208-mile relay race along the Blue Ridge mountains, beginning in Grayson Highlands State Park in southwestern VA and ending in downtown Asheville, NC.
Race starts on a Friday morning (starting times are staggered and vary from 7am-11am) and ends on Saturday afternoon (our past teams have finished in around 26-30 hours).
Race is split into 36 predetermined legs of varying distances (2 to 10 miles) and difficulty levels (Easy to Mountain Goat Hard).
Teams can be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 people (I think most people will tell you that the 9-man team is the way to go).
For a 12-person team, the average total distance is 16.6 miles spread over 3 legs (it’s like running three 10Ks in a day). You can do the math for the average mileage for the other teams sizes. Average is just average though – some legs are longer and some are shorter.
Teams travel along the race course in vans, picking up and dropping off runners at the beginning and end of each leg. You get to know, and smell, your van-mates very well.
Veterans will tell you that the BRR is a great experience. You can expect a reasonable but very manageable physical challenge and fantastic fellowship.

Given the broad footprint of F3, you will not register for BRR through F3, your Team Captain will register as a TEAM directly on BRR’s website.

What You Need to Do Right Now

The easiest way is to organize a team is to talk among your pax to create teams. To help facilitate communication and organization throughout F3, we are trying to identify a Regional Q to help take the lead in organize their pax to form teams and stay organized.

If you are generally interested in the event and want to be paired up with a team with others from your F3 Region, please complete the online form and we will make introductions to teams looking for pax.

Below is a matrix of Regional Q’s identified as of now- please contact them directly with questions about teams in your region, certainly need you help filling in the gap, if your Region plans to participate, please step up as a Regional Q, you’ll get a few emails along the way and asked to pass info back to your pax.

Regional Q’s are listed below – please contact them directly with questions about teams in your region. (q’s-email me with changes and I will update) These Regional Q’s will assist with team formation, transportation logistics, and other important details. If you have a team, but need help filling out the roster, contact these fine folks.

Region – Q – Email
NC-Area 51 – Bratwurst / Turkey Leg – paul.wuerslin@gmail.com / smastbrook@metlife.com
NC-Columbia – SubPrime – markt@guildmortgage.net (potential looking for a sub)
NC-Isotop – Kumquat – Dudley-Matthew@aramark.com (considering a sub)
NC-Fa So – LaMatt Doerre – matt@doerreconstruction.com (considering a sub)
NC-Gastonia – Whoopee – Dustin.Letts@caromonthealth.org
NC-Asheville – ?
NC-Burlington – ?
NC-Charlotte- MECA – ?
NC-Charlotte- Metro – Freeloader – steviered1966@gmail.com
NC-Charlotte- North – ?
NC-Charlotte- South – Bratwurst / Turkey Leg – paul.wuerslin@gmail.com / smastbrook@metlife.com
NC-Foothills – ?
NC-Greensboro – ?
NC-Greenville – ?
NC-Kernersville – ?
NC-Morehead City – ?
NC-Chapel Hill – ?
NC-Sandhills – ?
NC-Shelby – ?
NC-Wilmington – ?
NC-Winstron-Salem – ?
SC-Anderson – ?
SC-Bluffton – ?
SC-Charleston – ?
SC-Columbia – ?
SC-Fort Mill – WorldWide Leader – Justin.LaRoche@yahoo.com
SC-Florence – ?
SC-Greenwood – Flossy – jfennelldmd@gmail.com
SC-Hartsville – ?
SC-Lake Murray – ?
SC-Lexington – Grave Digger – buicekevin@gmail.com
SC-Myrtle Beach – ?
SC-North Augusta – ?
SC-Spartanburg – ?
SC-Summerville – ?
SC-Sumter – ?
SC-Winnsboro – ?
VA-Richmond – THE Yankee Aggressor – paul@lally-construction.com

If you already have formed a team and want to enter as a team now, please do the following:

Sound off the in comments below with your team name and pax to let the world know you are HC’ed
Team captain email the F3 regional captain above to make sure they have your contact info for future announcements
Each team captain will be responsible for registering their team directly with BRR (rosters don’t have to be finalized when you register the team). You aren’t registered for the race until you register directly with BRR.
There is no special F3 discount and BRR is not holding spots for us.
Team captains will be responsible for collecting money directly from their team members.
All team names should be submitted to BRR in the following format “F3 ……………” (i.e. F3 Lean, F3 Paperboy, etc)
You don’t need to submit a roster to BRR today (and I suggest you hold off on doing so in case there are changes) – the final roster does not need to be finalized until the summer.
The form will ask you for an average 10k time. This is what they use to seed the start time waves. The faster the time you submit, the later you start.

FAQ

Can I do this?
Anyone who posts to regular F3 workouts and can run a 10K can definitely be comfortable on a 12 man team. A 9 man team is a bit more of a challenge, but you can do it. Last year, South Beach did a 4 man team….any challengers for this year.
What’s the optimal team size — 6, 9, or 12?
9-man team the best. 6-man team is a lot (and I mean a lot) of running without a lot of rest. 12-man team has really long breaks in between your runs (~ 8 hours) and you stay in the same van of guys for both days – but it is still a fantastic experience. 9-man team is the best of both worlds – yes the mileage is longer than a 12-man team, but you are running every 6 hours, and you switch vans several times during the race, thereby getting fellowship with multiple F3 pax.
I’m interested, but don’t have a team and want to get placed on one.
Perfect. Just register using the Free Agent Form above, and we’ll find you a team.
Can I invite non-F3 pax to do this race?
Absolutely. Just have them register below.
Will I sleep at all?
You may get an hour or two here or there in the exchange zones, but if you really want to sleep just don’t draw the short straw to be the driver home from Asheville on Saturday afternoon.
How do I train for this?
We’ll worry about that later. But suffice it to say that doing several runs a day (morning, lunch, and/or evening) is good training in the months leading up to the race.
What does it mean when it says some of the legs are rated as “Mountain Goat hard”?
Baaaaaah. You’ll find out when you see it. Think steep, never-ending switchbacks.
How much does it cost?
Race registration $1,200 (team of 7 – 12) and $600 (team of 4-6 runners). In addition, plan on roughly $150 per person to cover costs of van, gas, food, drinks, etc.
But I’m already doing (fill in the blank) marathon/half-marathon this fall, so I don’t think I can do this too…….”
Well, then, you have no excuse, BRR is a perfect training opportunity.

Other questions – email WWL/ Justin LaRoche at Justin.LaRoche@yahoo.com

Don’t delay–you will regret not doing this.

TClap |

Rain, Rain, go Away

2015-12-29Leave a comment

QIC: Longshanks
When: 12-29-15
Pax: Javert, Longshanks
Posted In: Block Party

At 5:10 at WEP, YHC was the only one at the park, and I was beginning to think this was going to be a solo beatdown. Lucky for me Javert rolled in at 5:11 to join in on the rainy suckfest. Disclaimer was given an off we went.

The Thang

Face each other (hard to circle up with 2 people) and do 20 x SSH, 15 Windmills, 15 IW, and 10 Cotton pickers. Explain the Drill Bit sequence of 10-20-30-40-50. At each drill bit:

10 Burpees

20 Mountain Climbers

30 Squats

40 Plank Jacks

50 SSH

After Completing one lap of 5 drill bits we moseyed to the Cover of the Spring building and did 4 rounds of his evil half-brother 5-10-15-20-25.

5 Merkins

10 Dry Docks

15 Calf Raises

20 Flutter Kicks

25 LBC’s

then Run down and Back under the covering.

Had COT and BOM under the cover and then moseyed back to WEP

Announcements – New Years Day Convergence at AG Middle, Joe Davis Run, read your email for more

Prayers/Praise – Prayers for injured PAX and those traveling. Praise for F3 and the Leaders of F3 (Dredd and OBT) for getting this group started almost 5 years ago. We are definitely better men for having F3 in our lives.

Moleskin

Thank you Repeat for the opportunity to lead. Wish you were feeling better and wish it hadn’t rain. Appreciate Javert’s company today on this mostly cardio workout. Don’t forget I also have the Q this week at Run n’ Gun and Ranch, so hope to see some of you out in the gloom.

Get Better or die trying – Shanks

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