PRE-BLAST: 2020 Yeti…5 Year Anniversary!

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2/23/20 Updates:

Parking: Please DO NOT park at WEP but in the parking lot next to WEP behind the Springs building.  There will be plenty of parking and this way, we aren’t taking up the park parking lot for the entire morning.

Where/What time: We will start at WEP and will end at WEP.  Depending on what you are doing: Ruck 0500, Ruck/Bike 0530, Run 0600, Run/Bike 0630, Bike 0700.  The YETI will average about 4 hours so we will be wrapping around 10:00.

After / 2ndF: We will be meeting at Amor Artis as you finish (they’re opening their doors at 10am for us).  We will have food catered from Improper Pig.  Please invite your M (or significant other) and your shorties!  There will be a $10 contribution for food and Amor will gladly take your $ for a frothy beverage which you will need after the YETI.  Please contact Shady with rough numbers for food count.

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Original pre-blast:

The time has come for the annual CSAUP of…THE YETI….5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY YETI!!!  The date has been set (no not February because we’re late to the game, we have the Dam to Dam, the Rooster CSAUP in our neighboring region of Rock Hill we should be supporting, etc.).  We missed the mark for Feb ok, so get over it and get ready for early March…talk to the M, and get.it.on.your.calendar!  This also means more prep time for the Qs, you to mentally prepare your bodies, gather your teams (if that’s your jam), make sure your reflective gear isn’t in need for a dusting…all those things.

So get ready for not only some 1st F, but some 2nd F, as you run, ruck, ride, sweat, freeze (wait…freeze? Well, we can’t predict the weather and it will be outside, duh) next to your fellow PAX.  Build that bond, push that guy next to you, and get better!

High level deets…

Why: Well, why not.  It’s stupid and pointless, it’s fun, you’ll do some major bonding with fellow PAX, uh…it’s early and what else do you need to be doing – sleeping….good one!!!!  And did we mention it’s a 5 year anniversary!!  We’re also working on a shirt (yes, this is an annual shirt, not some minnow pond shirt some site Q drummed up to hype up his site…who does that!)  More details coming on the shirt.  And patches…yes, patches!  For those of us that are motivated by patches and want to add another patch to our collection, well, look no further (and there may be another special edition Zima patch…like I said, more things in the works).  (Cost on Yeti patch is approximately $5…more details on this in the near future.)

What: Annually, the YETI makes it’s way to the Fort and we pay our dues and take what the Yeti gives us.  This can be accomplished via a combo of different ways, or just one way: running, rucking, biking, put a team together and break it up.  Modify as needed!  A course will be provided prior to the CSAUP, AO pain stations will exist along the route where PAX will endure whatever said Q tells them, and water/energizing snacks will be provided.  Past years courses range from 14-20 miles…Zima miles will be included this year for those interested.  What’s a Zima mile you ask, you’ll need to ask around on that one.

Who: All PAX…so you, reading this…you’re invited and it will be fun.  Trust us.  Not recommended for younger 2.0 PAX.  If you want to create a team to break up the course, totally fine and modification acceptable…trust us.  PAX do accomplish the YETI on their own as well and it’s doable so don’t be scared and push yourself.  After the Yeti, families are invited to pat you on the back and tell you how stupid you are…or I mean how proud they are of you.

When: Date is above, but in case you glazed right over it in your excitement, it’s Saturday 3/7.  The times tentatively are as follow (but subject to change): Ruck 0500, Run 0600, Ruck/Bike 0600, Run/Bike 0630…you kind of get the idea.  We would expect to be done by 10:00am.  After the Yeti if you’re able to stick around, we will plan to meet at a local establishment for some food/drinks (BBQ maybe) and more 2nd F.

Where: We’ll start and end at WEP (Block Party / The Fort / Millllkshake AO).  Parking at WEP, or potentially in the bigger parking lot next door may be advised.  Food and drinks (and BBQ maybe) location are in the works.  We’ve had to pull in #TheCorner office staff to pull some strings and get the 2nd F training rolling.  Yep, it’s that big of a deal in these parts.  Stay tuned for more updates.

 

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Push, pull, who mows your lawn…what?

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8 (soon to be 9…then 10) PAX gathered for chilly Snake Pit morning.  Getting the formalities (disclaimer) out of the way, YHC didn’t waste time moving b/c it was COLD!  We took off behind, I guess it’s behind, the football field for a short mosey down to the break in the road, then circled back to the side parking lot where warm-up would be conducted (before we ran back to the parking lot, 5 burpees were thrown in…yep, that kind of warm-up). As we were running back, this is where PAX #9 (JWOW) graced us with his trademark tardy appearance…glad you made it my friend!  Better late than never and he was energized out of the gate like a kid on Christmas morning!

Warm-up included: mountain climbers, Morracan night clubs, imperial walkers, cherry pickers, SSH, windmills, burpees (yes burpees in the warm-up is a crowd pleaser), squats, then some up stretching.  Stretching was downward dog, honeymooners, leg and back stretches.  The warm-ups above were for the most part counts of 10 with exception of burpees (3) and SSH (30…only b/c we were waiting so long for Trucker! hahaha).  Birdcage was kind enough to pay YHC a “compliment” that he needed a 10 count during the warm-up…joking/not joking is how I took it but we moved on to The Thang.

The Thang

As we all got mentally prepared for next steps, YHC tried to start some tunes which turned out to be an interesting topic for the workout.  90’s hip hop was first up…hopefully no one was offended by Biggie or Snoop’s lyrics b/c there was about zero movement from YHC to stop that “parental advisory” train from coming.  The following exercises were called out in sequence after each was completed by the PAX.  About midway through these exercises, the local legend (and PAX #10) joined our group of merry men…none other than Spitz!  Just in time for Snoop to bust some rhymes…Spitz was not entertained by these lyrical beats.

  • 30 swings
  • 30 squats (bell hits the ground and that doesn’t mean lean over, it means bend your back…)
  • 30 shoulder presses
  • 30 up rows
  • 30 (15 each leg) lunges
  • 30 (15 each arm) clean and press

With the first set done, our “cool down” was running lines in the parking lot (old school suicides) so 3 lines of different distance became our next task to attack.  Once the PAX finished their cool down, it was back to business.   Prior to getting back to business, 80s rock station was selected (much to Trucker’s approval!).

  • 30 (15 each arm) plank rows
  • 30 American hammers (single count)
  • 15 manmakers (crowd pleaser)
  • 30 (15 each arm) lawnmower pulls….or Javier pulls…huh Birdcage?  If you’re reading this and have questions, take them up with the Cage’iest of all Birds.
  • 30 KB presses (on your back, bench press)
  • 30 triceps extensions (on your back if you want Trucker…jeez, but those are technically skull crushers which we didn’t call, but you do you)
  • 30 shoulder shrugs

Back to our 3 sets of lines for cool down…and no, we didn’t do any 10 counts that I can recall.  That’s what running lines is for.  Back to the mix where the music changed again, not without some ribbing from Birdcage, who was quickly satisfied by the new selection “Beastie Boys” channel.  Uhaul also started to bust some rhymes, but nothing to the effect of what can be thrown down by the likes of Flat Tire, Jekyll, or rap goddess Pusher (goddess just seems to fit better)…sorry Uhaul, you’ve got to see these guys go and then you’ll see where I’m coming from.  Before we got started, beachbody enthusist 3D was asked to select “1 or 2″…he choose 2 without knowing why, only to be informed we were doing the 2nd set of exercises all over again.  C’mon man, I thought this was a softball of the 1 or 2…YHC was way wrong on him picking up on this.  Can’t win them all.  See set #2 above for what we did again.

Once this was done, another cool down was in store, then 3 short exercises of MARY.  We stayed where we were for COT, did all things at the end, and collected some great praises!  Thanks for the opportunity 3D, hopefully I qualified to the Snake Pit standards.  If not, bring me back and we can dial it up a few more levels if that’s what the Site Q wants!  Great group today and I’d give the group a 8-9 on the mumblechatter scale which is good when it’s cold!

Shady

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All the yogging

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YHC showed up about ten minutes early to mark the path and found that there was a great crowd of PAX gathered and at least 4 running the EC miles.  The disclaimer was disclaimed and no new faces were visible in the gloom, so I announced that the BCs would be going with me… and 10/13 ran away with Gecko.  Did not see that one coming.

The warmup

A very short mosey to the pillars for a light warmup. This involved simple stretching of the hips and firing off a quick 20 SSH.  Then we got right into it.

The Thang

Simple. Run to all the checkpoints… At each checkpoint, do some reps. Then keep going.

Stops:
1. 30 dips – At the SW end of the parent lot
2. 35 LBC – N corner of field (by the tree)
3. 30 plank jacks – By the sidewalk
4. 60s (or so) BTTW – dumpster enclosure
5. 30 CDD – N crosswalk

Three loops were completed with a good deal of mumblechatter between the 3 PAX.  YHC does not believe this means that the workout was “light”. In fact, the ability to carry on a (labored) conversation during heavy cardio workouts has always helped me the most. If I’m gasping for air, I’m not going to hit 3 miles.

At checkpoint four the 3 PAX mounted the wall and took two turns doing a 10 count to try to estimate 60 seconds.  Then, when we got up, everyone got another (silent) 10 count to let the blood seep back into the extremities.   The third time around we counted down from 15 as we were getting close to the end.

Three full sets were completed and we made it to checkpoint 3 in the fourth time around, YHC noticed we had ~5min left and we ran back down the short loop, around to the pillars where the yoggers were yoga-ing for 30 dips. The alarm went off and we quickly moseyed over to COT.

COT

Some good announcements were announced. Decibel is looking for mentors for Children’s Attention Home. If you have the time, or can make it, this is an excellent way to go from PAX to HIM. There are some races coming up. Dam2Dam relay is having a fundraiser at the Baxter Grapevine on January 29th.

Lots of prayers extended. YHC asked for prayers to help him lose the “dad bod” by cutting out the casual pint of beer most evenings with dinner. Lots of hurting family members.  Our troops are in the direct line of fire again.

 

I’m always very thankful to be asked to Q.

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Self Scouting and Kotter Fest @ THE Ballroom

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17 (or 18) hearty Fort Pax unpartook of the fartsack to join their brothers at Ballroom. Amazed to see some Kotters (like Free Bird and Deep Dish) as I pulled in. Always exciting to see some of the boys come back to the Gloom just like it’s exciting when new faces show up. Bro hugs ensued.

At the appointed hour, Disclaimer was given and we were off to the other side of PKMS for:

Warm-O-Rama ; Seal Jacks, Merkins/Plank series/Imperial walker, Squats, LBCs. MNCs. Then a nice mosey to the football field for:

The Thang;

7 of diamonds – 7 Plank Jacks in each corner of the field, Bear Crawl to Goal Post then Lunge Walk. Run Length of field 2nd Lap- 7 Plank Jacks & 14 Squats- Got some of the newer Pax to call the cadence, getting ’em ready.

To the track – Partner up, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN -3 BURPEES/PARTNER. RUN BACKWARDS AROUND TRACK. Round 2-5 Bombjacks, but run forwards.

Some Words ON Self Scouting in the New Year- Take to time to look back at your year with an eye towards improving in some area in 2020. Learn form your past mistakes but don’t let them define your trajectory. Your History is not your Destiny.

Back to FIELD – Captain Thor Lite – 1 Weezy, 4 Am Hammers then Jack Webb (6 rounds). Mosey to COT. Announcements- One Word Convergence, Grapevine Takeover. Prayers for healing Pax, Lost loved ones, marriages.

Great group this morning, Honored to Serve these fine men.

Shortest Of All Sales.

 

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Trifecta Tuesday

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On Tuesday the 7th, 15 #HIM descended upon Golden Corral to continue making 2020 a year of acceleration.  10 PAX started early as YHC encountered Dark Helmet leading a group around the grounds.  Fortunately, they did not mess up the sidewalk chalk – that came in handy later to give PAX some not so subtle reminders about what to do…..many times.

After the 10 extra credit (BTP) PAX joined for the boot camp or ruck, here’s what the boot campers did:

Mosey to COP – 12 low slow squats (D/C), hold the people’s chair after the 12th squat while doing 12 double count Moroccan night clubs, Imperial Walkers X 12 (D/C), Hillbilly Walkers X 12 (D/C).  Mosey some more……COP (continued), 15 SSH’s (D/C), 10 Windmills (D/C), 15 Merkins (D/C), 15 Mountain Climbers (D/C), 10 Plank jacks, then mosey to the main event.

The sidewalk chalk served as the guide, the date was 1-7-20 – those numbers add up to 28.  Every sequence was an exercise followed by a bear crawl a set distance (25-ish yards) (no one went as fast as Tesh would have), another exercise, a mosey back to the start line and repeat.  The exercises of the day were……squats and merkins – always adding up to 28.

26 squats, bear crawl, 2 merkins, mosey back

24 squats, bear crawl, 4 merkins, mosey back

22,6  20,8  18,10 16,12 14,14 12,16 10,18 8,20 6,22 4,24 2,26

The squats got less, the merkins more and all PAX got better,

Over 2700 merkins and over 2700 squats were done in total.  YHC heard about it later.

After one fast and one not so fast 10 count, we moseyed around the building to do, of course, 7’s – it was January 7 after all.

The exercises were Kracken burpees and Carolina Dry Docks – 6 KB’s a 15-ish yard lunge walk, 1 CDD and a mosey back to the wall, 5 KB’s, lunge walk, 2 CDD’s and a mosey back 4, lunge walk 3, 3 lung walk 4, 2 lunge walk 5, 1 lunge walk 6.

After Pusher proclaimed how terrible all this was (YHC thought Carolina Dry Docks would make him feel better), we had just enough time to get to COT for 2 minutes of Mary before the Ruckers saved us from going past the 0600 bell.

Slow Flutter kicks (D/C) x 15

Protractor at varying angles, finishing at 0 degrees and 0600 for COT.

Announcements:

1-29 Grapevine fundraiser for Classroom Ready – Celebrity bar tenders.  Who will be there? (#showtoknow)

Let Me Run seeking coaches for teams in schools in both Fort Mill and Rock Hill – reach out to Cyclops or Double D with interest and/or questions.

Word of the Year – Focus on it and live it out.  Use your shield locks to hold you accountable. Together, we all get better than we ever would alone.

Praises and Prayers – Lutefisk’s Father-in-law, Cyclops’s Dad, Tinsel’s brother, Duck Dynasty and his niece and for continuing to be a hope and light to others in a world that is often darker than we like.

Just prior to COT, YHC shared the 3 elements of a high impact relationship – 1) it meets you where you are  2) it provides safety to allow you to grow and 3) it teaches you about yourself.

Thanks to F3 and the high impact relationships it provides its PAX.  We have the privilege and honor to be sharpened and honed by many high impact men within our community when in one another’s presence – through all 3 F’s – what a gift it is.

As we all seek to make 2020 a year of acceleration, YHC is grateful for 2 things today:  1) To Lutefisk for the opportunity to Q – it’s always an honor and 2) To the brothers of F3 for being a reason YHC chooses the harder thing far more often than I used to.

Stay after it.  Keep going.  Kamwe Kuacha (Never Stop).

Honored.

Cyclops

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Chutes and Ladders at the Hive

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drug this up from a past Q I’ve done

Warmup – Mosey, Moroccan Nightclub, Hillbilly and Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Cherry Pickers, Plank, Honeymooner, Plank, Downdog, alternate calves in Downdog

Next started the pain

10 ManMakers

20 LBCs with Bell

30 Skullcrushers

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Curls (or 20 each arm)

50 Tricep Extensions

Mosey w/ Bell

60 Overhead Press

50 Flutters with Bell

Mosey w/ Bell

40 Goblet Squats into calf raises

30 Rows (15 each side)

Mosey w/ Bell

20 American Hammers

10 Turkish Getups with a butterfly or lat raise on your back to start (5 each side)

Still had 16 minutes, so PAX called exercises (Manmakers, Uhauls, etc, even rotate one bell and did rows and BBS)

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PRE-BLAST: The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants (AKA: #BTP)

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Willpower is only the trigger to get a person started on a positive habit (#Brick). In order to maintain and continue #Bricklaying, a person needs to change the mental and physical environment in which they live, so that the habit can develop the “muscle memory” needed to go the distance. My #DRP list is lengthening, as is my ability to have #IMPACT in the men around me, and the following is intended to continue to put me on the right trajectory.

For the year of 2020, my word is “GO”.  In an effort to continue to #Accelerate my 1stF, and beginning on 1/6/20, I am instituting (for myself and anyone who wants to join me) an EC (Extra Credit) 15 minutes (of Boot Camp or running, or maybe even Broga) prior to every 45 minute workout. I will tweet and Slack the location with the hashtag #BTP the day before for those who wish to join me. (It’s a way to “trap” myself into an accelerating habit…)

For example, Monday I usually hit Honey Badger which is an hour workout. There would not necessarily be an EC prior to this (though there could be). Tuesday, I will be at Golden Corral. At 0500, I will begin an EC portion of the workout for those that want to join. It will launch from the same AO, and will be back at the AO in time for the 0515 normal start of the Post.

Clear as mud? Good. Ask me your questions. Otherwise, check your Twitter/Slack and #Accelerate with me.

Helmet, out.

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Snake Pit: New Year’s Day…

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“Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it’s true, it’s true”
– New Year’s Day, U2

It was New Year’s Day and the #Faithful convened at the Snake Pit to work. Nothing fancy, the sugarplums had danced out of everyone’s heads and there was no telling aroma of vodka being sweat out to indicate that this was different than any other morning. I guess even an 0700 start wasn’t late enough to entice some folks to post. U-Haul had some sort of TimeLife “Best of the Late 70’s” playing on the roof rack, and it was loud enough to entice a Spitz sighting. Spitz can hardly resist when “Radar Love” starts strumming the rhythm strings deep in his soul. Play it long enough and he’ll eventually meander over to tell some stories of the glory days of Fort Mill. “This used to be entirely wild boar paths through here…” Anyhow, with a promise of no running, we got going.

HIIT Style workout was on the menu: 60 seconds on 20 seconds off.

Curls
Goblet Squats
Chest Presses
Triceps Extensions
Pass-through Lunges
Clean and Press
LBCs
and more…

Finished up with a round robin of Mary and such then 3D took us out.

Until next time… Helmet, out.

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Jack of all Kinds and The ShovelFlag Switch

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21 Pax showed up for the Slug-fest that was a Cha-Ching and YHC’s Co-Q.  All Pax arrived on time for the special 0500 kick off. I was taking the #ShovelFlag at the end of the Beatdown so we wanted to do something brutally special to mark the occasion.

Quick disclaimer and we where off and rolling. Cha-Ching had the 1st 30 minutes and didnt’t disappoint.

Mosey to the end of the BEst Buy /Pet Smart Parking lot.  30 SSH- Mosey on to the other side of Home Depot 15 bomb jacks, run back to spot by Petsmart 20 smurfjacks, run back to HD 30 seal jacks, run back to PS, 30 plank Jacks.

Mosey over to the wide parking lot in front of PS.  Break up into two groups for a new take on Bone the Fish.

Bear crawl up two parking spaces then side crawl down the line then up two more, rinse and repeat. Total parking lot length was about 15 spaces.  At the end do 30 squat jumps. Bear Crawl down and back again , do 20 donkey kicks. Then we bear crawled up two spaces and side shuffeled the width of the whole parking lot. Continue this down the length and did 10 burpees to complete the movement.

Mosey over to the fountain 3 types of burpees before time expired on the first 30 minutes.

5x Kracken Burpees, 5x knee slap burpees and 5x 1 leg burpees.

At this Point I took the Reins:

The Shovel Flag Switch

Split PAx into teams of 3.

MAX REPS TO FAILURE

P1s = Body weight in the lower level of stair alley

P2s= Run between groups: up/down the stairs

P3s= Cinder blocks

Basic rules: P1 Starts on the bottom level of the outdoor patio across from Just Fresh doing Max Rep Body weight exercises.  P3 moves to the dead end side of the parking load and does max reps of cinder block exercises. P2 starts with P3 and runs roughly 100 yrds up and down the stairs to P1. Upon arrival they switch. P2 does body weight and P1 runs up and down the stairs to P3 and they Switch as per the above.  Rinse and repeat through the various exercise combos.

Exercises:

Round 1- P1- MTN Climbers P3- Block Squats

Round 2-  P1- LBCs P3- Block Swings

Round 3- P1- Squats  P3- Block Curls

Round 4- P1- Bomb Jacks- P3- OH Presses

Round 5-P1- The Claw( Thnaks PotHole)   : P3- Block Hammers

Round 6 P1- Merkins  P3- Squat Thrusts

Round 7 P1-Peter Parkers P3- Alt Hand Block Merks

Round 8 P1- BBS  P3- Man Makers

We Made it Through 6 rounds finishing on Squat Thrusters and Merkins.

With 4-5 minutes left we picked up the cindys, beatdown boards and laundry pile( it was decidedly warmer than some of us expected)  shuffled back for COT.

I accepted the Shovel Flag and look forward to growing the reputation of the #Swamp as a smoker AO in The FORT.  Appreciate Cha-Ching thinking of me to take over for him. It’s an honor!

Duck Out!

 

 

 

 

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Moving Weight

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4 PAX came out for the #DRP at the newly named Lake Wylie Ruck AO ” Tugboat. Poopdeck’s weight moving brother.

Ice-T dropped the Disclaimer for the both the boot camp and ruck, and they took off.

We rucked up grabbed the the Sandbag and started off on a 1 mile 14 min time hack.  We started as 3 and 38 special caught us at the turn.  good 2ndF while maintaining pace and passing the sandbag.

As we tuned into the boat ramp time was waning and with a 15 Man Maker penalty a ahead of us a shuffled was warranted. Around the long side and back down the middle right on time.

No COP/Warmup- That is what the 1 mile ruck was for.

5 pain stations were laid out across the parking lot.  It was supposed to be down the center light posts but LK’s behind on the power bill so I called an audible and spread them out.

It went like this:

Station 1

5 Man Makers 1 pax does MM with Ruck on with Sandbag

25 Merkins Ruck on

35  ruck swings

Station 2

5 Man Makers 1 Pax does MM w/ Ruck on and Sandbag

35 Ruck curls

25 Up-Right Rows

Station 3

5 Man Makers 1 Pax does MM w/ Ruck on and Sandbag

50 Ruck Squats 1 pax does with ruck on and sandbag

25 DC Flutter Kicks w/ Ruck Press

Station 4

5 Man Makers 1 Pax does MM w/ Ruck on and Sandbag

25 DC American Hammers w/ ruck in hand

25 Squat Thrusters 1 pax does with ruck on and sandbag

Station 5

5 Man Makers 1 Pax does MM w/ Ruck on and Sandbag

25 OH Presses 1 pax does with ruck on and sandbag

25 DC Mountain Climbers

We got through 4.75 stations and with 7 minutes remaining we competed Block hammers and did another 5 MM and headed for COT.

Great group to ruck with this morning. look forward to see this AO grow.

Duck Out!

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