Like any first time there can be butterflies, maybe a little queasiness.  There’s that first date, the first kiss, the first time I Q’d with CSPAN and Audit.  Come to think of it, kiss, CSPAN and Audit should never be mentioned in the same sentence, or paragraph for that matter.

Such was the case this fine morning when I was given the honor to have my very first full Q, let’s make it special, how about a #blackdiamond.  You only live once!

Started morning at 5:05 AM sharp, the standard disclaimer while Gears came sliding into his parking spot.  He felt it safer to ride in a metal box on ice than run the quarter mile to TCES.  YHC then dropped the #truthbomb that this was his first full Q and that things could go horribly bad.  They did!

Brief speech on mental toughness (thanks Jekyll) and how it led me to think about spiritual toughness, and the things we experience and how God is continually shaping us, building our spiritual toughness, to help us make the tough choices that keep us on the narrow path.  With that in mind, the 6 of us set off…did I mention their was about 2 inches of slurpee blanketing the campus?

The Thang:

1/4 mile run around TCES car pickup lane to COP (under the awning)

20 SSH
20 IW
20 Windmills
10 Merkins – Hold it
10 CDD

Run to the bottom of the stairs behind TCES for Stairway to 11. Start with 5 burpees, run the flight of stairs to the middle landing, do 5 merkins, run to the top and do 5 squats, run back to the base and start over with 6, continuing in this regard until you hit 11. Not a lot of mumble chatter here. Gotta say wrist deep in slush is not my favorite.

After a couple of breathy 10 counts, we proceeded to the back lot of TCES for some AROD 3-2-1’s or Reverse Doras. Partnering up, partner 1 runs/slides the back of the school to the fire hydrant while parter 2 begins 300 squats, then exchange. After squats came 200 Bomb jacks but in the interest of time (and a little surprise), YHC dropped it to 100. Last run was 100 merkins. After completion I was really feeling like this was a good first time, even if I was all cold and wet!

10 count from Gecko and we headed to our final destination, the Amphitheater. Along the way some irresponsible person left a bunch of cinder blocks in our path (surprise). So we picked them up and hit the Amphitheater. 4 stations, 4 exercises

Station 1 – 20 Presses (climb to the next landing)
Station 2 – 20 Curls (climb to the next landing)
Station 3 – 20 Uneven Merkins (10 each side, climb to the next landing)
Station 4 – 20 Headbangers Squats/Goblets (Thanks for the audible Sen Tressel)

Rinse and Repeat

Run back up the hill and drop the blocks where we found them. Thanks to Maximus for collection afterwards. Then another 1/4 mile run around the pickup lane to finish where we started. Never got to the AbLab but I’m thinking not too many wanted to spend any time on their backs. Finished up with COT

Announcements: CAH and the 40 Day Challenge (drinks and ind wrapped snacks to AOs), CAH Workout (check Pre-blast) this Saturday, Mudrun, P200 meeting rescheduled for next Wed after RNG (Towne Tavern), CNW2 at The Swamp next Friday

Prayers: Pray for those who have no shelter in this weather, Thankful for forgiving families

Really enjoyed Qing at TCES and this place has so many options. Honored to be a part of F3 and especially the Fort! Aye!

Despite the fear of a #snowpocalypse, which never came to SC, three brave warriors gathered with sandbags in tow at the #audible AO #TheCave (aka URS parking ramp). Pax helped with a little setup placing sandbags at the halfway point and top of the up ramp.

The Thang

Warm up (~10 mins)

2 corners – run the parking deck loop, stop in one corner stop in second corner. At each corner warm up with:

• 20 X SSH
• 20 X Windmill
• 10 X Monkey Humpers
• 20 X Mountain Climbers

Ramp It Up (20 mins)

The goal here was to engage the Pax in some high intensity interval training (HIT). This was accomplished by:

• Sprint up the ramp to halfway point up – sandbag clean and press
• Sprint up the ramp to the tp – sandbag bent over row
• Recovery jog down the ramp
• Audible plank-o-rama, 10 counts, or ab-o-rama to bring the heart rate down (10 – 40 seconds depending on interval)
• Rinse an repeat

The ramp was run 9 times in  jacobs ladder fashion 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 on the number of reps for the exercises for each run up the ramp. First run up, 1 rep, second run up 2 reps, etc.

Negatives (10 mins)

These aren’t your 35mm film or an attitude, this is pure muscle breakdown so you can gain some mass. Read more about The Benefits of Negative Weight Training @ BuildSize.com. Basically this is the “portion of the exercise where you lower the weight back down (and) is called the eccentric movement of the exercise.” Controlled, muscle stimulation, growth.

• 10 X Negative Pull Ups
• 10 x Negative Hanging Rows (using the structural angle iron)

Topping it Off (5 mins)

The Pax pushed it across the finish line with a little People’s Choice Ab-o-Rama

• Low Slow  Flutter – The Beast
• Chair Dips – One Niner
• Freddie Mercury – Sharknado

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

It was a pleasant joy to see the Pax out this AM and for YHC to be back on Q. It’s always a blessing to be able to lead the Pax and push them to be greater men. Prayer’s for the Pax, injury recoveries, sicknesses, and M’s and 2.0’s sickness recovery. Prayers for the IL M’s Baby Bump Club and congrats to Bounty Hunter and family on the new 2.1. Sharknado is looking for opportunities in medical device sales, hit him up on LinkedIn.

Announcements: 40 Day Challenge, Mudrun Sign ups this week, CAH workout Saturday afternoon, OCR course @F3IndianLand #TheReservation on Saturday mornings 06:30 before 07:00 workout.

DYNAMIC WARM UP

4 CORNERS

10 prison cell push ups-sprint to next station
20 jump knee tucks-lunge walk to next station
25 monkey humpers-sprint to next station
25 squats-lunge walk to next station

RINSE AND REPEAT

Tire flip and crossfit rope. Everyone does each obstacle once, Two at a time as others run around building and switch up every lap until all PAX have done both obstacles

4 CYCLE EACH-TABATA STYLE

Balls to the wall (10 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)
Burpees (20 seconds on, 15 seconds rest)
Merkins vary (20 seconds on, 15 seconds rest)

20 spider merkins
Run to next island
15 jump squats
High knee to next island
10 diamond merkins
Bear crawl to end of parking lot
Run back to beginning and plank up until all finish

Cool down core work
20 heels to heaven
20 LBC’s
25 Burpees (thanks Padre)
30 second superman

Spoke on 1 Timothy 4:8 in how we are to train our bodies but it is only for our time on this earth, but training in godliness is for eternity. After a tough workout, it brings conviction to compare what we work at physically, straining toward our next goal. God tells us to strain and push ourselves in our spiritual training all the more through prayer, reading His Word, meditating on His Word and exercising our faith. May we train as hard on our “spiritual bodies” as we do on our physical bodies out of a love for our Great God!!

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