Overhead Blocks

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5 pax made it out to the gloom.

Cop x 15 of SSH, MNC, LSS, Merkins, Peter Parker’s

On to SSH suicides with cone 1 SSH x 10 cone 2 adding Seal jacks and cone 3 adding bomb jacks, then back down the pyramid subtracting out the first and second excercises.

Thang

Pax grabbed a cinder block.  We carried overhead until failure, at which point pax dropped the block, ran back to the start for 20 Merkins, ran back to the block for 5 burpees, and continued around the track until the finish line.

Finished with some Dora (curls, tricep ext, and squat thrusters) x100, 150,200 while partners did 2 laps around the circle.

 

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Be prepared at the Bermuda Triangle!

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Having the Q the day after Thanksgiving can be tough.  But it’s also the best way to hold yourself accountable.  When Homebrew reached out to me with the offer to Q this day I knew I had to accept.  I’d do anything to help support our site Qs, especially for our newest AO in the region!

I pulled into the parking lot 4 minutes before the 5am start…no cars?  The thought started to cross my mind, would I workout if no one shows up?  Then I saw the mild wind outside when the temp says 35 degrees…and my internal answer we clearly NO. But before that thought could take hold, three pairs of headlights started coming down the road, slowed down and turned into the school.  Shake that thought off, because now it was time to lead!

I was very glad I grabbed a jacket for the third layer of clothes because that wind was no fun this morning.  I felt even sorrier for Copyright who jumped out of his car wearing one thin layer, and Iced-T who was still in shorts! Another big shout out goes to Captain Jack, who previous to this week only posted on Saturdays, but was in attendance this morning and posted to the Abyss on Wednesday.  Someone might have caught the bug!

I gave the disclaimer, and we took off for a warm-up lap around the outside gravel track.  Luckily no one took a header because the lighting is very poor and the tree leaves covered most of the back part of the track.  More than a few times men have gone down back there.

Circle up in the field for COP.

Imperial Walkers – SSHs – Windmills – CDDs – Merkins – LS Squats…good enough

Moseyed over to the playground

Evolution #1

7s with a lap

6 pull ups to 1 Merkin then run a lap around the playground. 1 Down on Pull-ups – 1 Up on Merkins until we flip flopped.

Moved over to the basketball court.

I shared a little about “Being prepared” I warned the guys that I did not feel as good around this queue as many because I did not follow my regular Weinke building routine. I still like writing it out and having it on paper.  I didn’t do that last night and I suffered for it with lost sleep.  It could have been all the turkey, but I’m sure I woke up all though the night because I had failed to complete my prep for this workout. I warned the men, be prepared for things you can be, be intentional with your actions. My goal was to make sure they would not suffer from my lack of routine today.

Evolution #2

Now this I did set up.  We were doing a Tabata routine

30 seconds of exercise, 10 seconds rest, same exercise 3 times.  We have four different moves

1 Lunges

2 Merkins

3 American Hammers

4 Burpees

Rise a repeat, but i was kind enough to change out Merkins for CDDs the 2nd round.

Next we did an Indian Run around the outside loop, made it back to the center soccer field and completed the next evolution.

Evolution #3

I asked Captain Jack if he had ever done Jack Webbs.  The answer was no, so that made it the right choice for me!

“Traditional” Jack Webbs… not like the ones I heard Longshanks pulled at the Thanksgiving Day Convergence.  (He’s a beast!)

Only a few noted modifications, Homebrew was kind enough to tell Captain Jack when we hit the midpoint at Round 7 overhead clap #28…

Only two minutes left for the workout, we did Flutters and Captain Jack got to pick Leg Raises.

~fin

Announcements

Christmas Party – still time for signups…

Excellent talk about the Thanksgiving Convergence with 78 men!

Prayers

Each man went around the circle sharing something on their heart.

It was an honor to Lead,

Royale

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Four Corners of Heck at the Abyss

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Twas a nip in the air this morning but nothing that would bother the mighty lads of F3.  We gathered and at 5:15 sharp disclaimer was given and we moseyed.   Here is how it went down:

Warm-o-Rama

  • 400 Meter Mosey with side shuffles and toy soldiers thrown in
  • 20 SSH IC
  • 10 Imperial Walkers IC
  • 10 Hillbilly Walkers IC
  • 10 Wind Mills IC
  • 10 Merkins IC

The Thang, Part I

YHC asked Captain Jack to pick a number between 39 & 41.  With that we settled on the number of pull-ups each Pax was to complete.  Each was instructed to do as many as possible then at failure, run to the top of the inclined road behind the school, execute 5 merkins,  run back down and pick up the pull-ups where he left off.  Repeat until reaching 40 pull-ups or 5 trips up the road, whichever came first.  As we waited for the six, the Q regaled the team with an amusing tale about forgotten reading glasses and a Portobello Steak sandwich minus the steak.

The Thang, Part II “Four Corners of Heck”

  • Bear crawl to the middle, execute 5 burpees and lunge out between stations

Station #1

  • 10 Medicine Ball Jump squats
  • 10 single count curls/arm; 25lb or 20lb dumbbell, Pax choice
  • 20 Nolan Ryan’s (10/side)
  • 25 LBCs (single count)

Station #2

  • 10 Lunges per leg
  • 10 WWI Sit ups
  • 10 Tricep hammers/ arm with 20lb or 15lb dumbbell, Pax choice
  • 10 Diamond merkins

Station #3

  • 30 SSH – Single Count
  • 20 Flutters – Double Count
  • 15 Derkins
  • 15 CDDs

Station #4

  • 20 Ranger Merkins
  • 20 Monkey Humpers
  • 10 Lt. Dans
  • 15 Crab Cakes IC

Repeat one station

The Thang part III

These Pax are finely tuned boot camp machines and as such, finished parts I & II with time to spare.  YHC, not wanting to cheat them, ad-libbed:

  • People’s chair during which Pax on each end ran 5 yards out and executed 5 squats
  • Repeat with balls to the wall

Mosey to COT with 2 min to spare; 10 crunchy frogs IC; 10 Freddie Mercuries IC; 10 American Hammers IC

Ended the session with a reminder about the F3 Christmas party, praise for family gatherings, prayers for travelers and those dealing with loss.  Gentlemen, being part of the F3 brotherhood brings me great joy.  It was an honor to lead this morning.

Wolverine out.

 

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LBC’s Galore at The Armory

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One could assume that, being a Site Q, I would know the importance of posting a Backblast in a timely manner.  I have failed yet again.  9 days later…

8 guys met at Forest Hill Church to start the party at The Armory.  One day prior, I posted to Twitter that I would donate 2 boxes of Character Band-Aids to Cornerstone’s initiative for each pax that hangs out with me during my Q.  I have now included those 16  boxes in my total donation. The Fort is full of HIM, we have surpassed our 1000 box goal and will most likely hit 2000 boxes before Christmas!  Keep ’em coming!

Another initiative happening this month is NASA’s “November of 2000 LBC’s”.  I made sure these HIM were on track to hit that number.

The Warmup:
A slow mosey around the parking lot with Buttkickers and High Knees.

The Thang:
I set out two 35lb bells that pax would Farmer Carry across the parking lot and back and act as the groups timer. We had time to 16 rounds of kettlebell exercises. In between each round we would all complete 20 LBC’s together. 16×20=320 LBC’s! That wasn’t enough, I added 40 more at the end to get 360 LBC’s.
The kettlebell exercises were:
Curls
Swings
Side Swings
Rows
Lawnmowers
American Hammers
Plank Rows
Plank Crosses
Goblet Squats
Polaroid Crunches (maybe there is a real name for these somewhere?)
Skull Crushers
Lunges
Overhead Extensions
Figure 8’s
Halos
Around the Worlds

I asked Airborne to close us out with his Hip routine, he obliged.

NMM:
F3 will have numerous initiatives throughout the year.  We have some true High Impact Men in the group that lead the way supporting charities and organizations near and dear to their hearts.  Cornerstone and his Character Band-Aid donations to support Children’s Hospital; NASA’s supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; DD supported Let Me Run…It’s important that we, all of F3, support our Brothers to help make an impact in our community. I am honored to be a part of this group of men. Thank you for having me.

JWOW, thank you for the opportunity to Q.

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Honoring Three The Honey Badger Way

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Monday’s are great days for The Fort. There are a lot of great ways to start off your work week. The Honey Badger is an exception. I love what is being done there in honoring a fallen hero. If you have never been, please put it on your to-do list, get out there, and get after it.

12 men came out to hit Monday morning with all they got. As Q I was a bit anxious to try and fit in three hero workouts to honor three men who gave it all they had. After a brief disclaimer, no FNGs, then off we went. A quick mosey around most of the student parking lot with some side shuffles and butt kickers mixed in. Then back to the starting point for COP:

  • SSH x 20
  • WM x 20
  • IW x 20
  • MNC x 20

Then off to the area along the road near the USMC ROTC building’s beloved pullup bars where YHC had some cinderblocks waiting. Each men grabbed 2 and we started the first workout:

#1 the “Kevin”
In honor of PFC Kevin Ebbert, US Navy, died November 24, 2012

3 rounds of the following:
* 32 deadlifts >> Substituted 32 double count flutter w cindy press
* 32 hanging hip touches (or 32 seconds of knee up hanging)
* Running farmers carry w 2 cindies ~75yd and back
>> Afterwards during a brief rest I noted to the PAX that Kevin died only days after Thanksgiving. Don’t take anything for granted for we never know when our last day will be. Be Thankful for the blessings we have, including time.

PAX were nice enough to load the cindies back in my truck. Then mosey off to the football field, line up near the goal line for the next workout:

#2 the “Brenton”
In honor of Officer Timothy Brenton, Seattle PD (former US Army), died October 3, 2009

5 rounds of the following:
* 100ft bear crawl >> to the 40yd line ended up being 120ft
* 100ft standing broad jump return to starting point
* Every 5 jumps do 3 burpees
>> The Brenton is a popular Badger workout….to some. A brief discussion on not taking life for granted again. Brenton survived through a lot in the military, only to be gunned down in a surprise attack while sitting in his patrol car.

No change in locale for the trifecta. The football field and track is a wonderful asset to the Badger Den. We had some time left to crank out as much as possible of the third planned workout:

#3 the “Loredo”
In honor of SSgt Edwardo Loredo, US Army, died June 24, 2010

6 rounds of the following:
* 24 LSS
* 24 merkins
* 24 walking lunges
* Run 400m (one lap)

Man did everyone crank out the work!! Got after it good!!

We got back right at 6 for the COT, Announcements, P&P.

  • Read The Fort newsletter. Get involved.
  • SIGN UP FOR THE FORT CHRISTMAS PARTY!! It is THE place to BE!! Be there!
  • Convergence on Thanksgiving Thursday. Check Twittersphere for info.
  • CAH Guidance this weekend, Saturday 11/24, 4pm start. Rock Hill’s Roxanne on Q. Be there for the kids who do not have family to spend the holiday with.
  • Kids print Bandaids for Cornerstone’s initiative
  • Please donate to my Disney Marathon fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
  • Praises for Straight Up’s and NASA’s 2.0’s running their first 5K and Spartan events.
  • Prayers for Punch List’s M who is VERY pregnant and getting close to due date.
  • Prayers for Lutefisk losing his Mom.
  • Prayers for injured PAX
  • Prayers unsaid
    >> My apologies if I missed others that were mentioned.

Not much said during the workout other than reminding the PAX that this is the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. Be Thankful for all the blessings we have been bestowed with by Him. Be the family that others may not be able to be with (such as the kids at CAH Guidance). Make it a memorable weekend, but remember those who are no longer with us or those who are less fortunate.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead,
– NASA

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Wotan in disguise

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5 PAX gathered in the gloom for the 47th Block Party of 2018

Disclaimer

Mosey to the chained-off parking lot next to Springs Corporate for a warm up
Warm up:
30 SSH
10 IW
10 HW
10 Shoulder Taps
10 Mountain Climbers
10 Peter Parkers
Downdog–>Honeymooner

Mosey to Pike Engineering parking lot

2 rounds of Howling Monkeys (look it up)

Mosey to the Millstone playground parking lot

Numerous rounds of Happy Jacks (look it up)
– a pretty good exercises for staying in one place, encouraging dissent among the ranks, and allowing all PAX to modify as needed without getting left behind
Divided up on the little hills/mounds on the playground:
– Start at the top of the hill
– Standing forward bend (aka: touch your toes)
– Inch-worm down into merkin position
– 10 Derkins
– Inch-wormed back
– mosey to next hill until we hit all 4
– Rinse and Repeat, but changed to Bear Crawl between each hill
– (total of 80 derkins……this was a lot)

Back to Millstone parking lot for a few more rounds of Happy Jacks. YHC referenced Happy Jack by The Who, but no one else knew the tune.

Mosey back towards WEP playground

Called round of pull-ups. Like Six Minutes of Uncle (look it up), but the Q calls up and down:
– Pull ups
– Toe Touches
– Chin ups

Sat in progressively sinking Al Gore for a moment of message

Mosey back to COT

10 Merkins in cadence
37 Flutters (almost made it to 40, but if you can’t Q it, don’t do it!)
9 LBC (Q was trying to continue flutters until 6am, but see early comment about making it to 37…)

NMM

Being vulnerable is the theme for the month. I shared that I struggle with my tone of voice when talking to my 2.0s. I often resort to yelling as much as talking. It is something that I work on, but often not with the diligence I approach an F3 workout. Finding the line of discipline vs. direction is a challenge for me as a parent. I don’t want my boys to grow up in a house where their dad just yells and barks commands (or where they don’t feel heard unless they also yell…).

In planning, I considered planking up and holding plank until each PAX shared something vulnerable. But decided that while it is the Qs place to push the PAX, each PAX needs to decide for themselves on their own vulnerability. Forced vulnerability is very different than actually being vulnerable.

Welcome to FNG: “Wotan” (Vot-an) https://sfopera.com/ring/story/dasrheingold/wotan/

Announcements:
Christmas Party signups need to be done

Prayers:
– wisdom in parenting
– for those who have a difficult (or absent) home situation over a holiday like Thanksgiving
– safe travels during the holiday

Band Camp dismissed

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Working Hard @ Crow’s Nest

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Of course this is way late and will be abridged but it is my duty to put together a backblast and I’m not going to slouch.  #LeadByExample

We started off with a disclaimer (had an FNG) and some light stretching… don’t want anyone to get hurt out there!

Took a nice mosey around the left side of the building (facing the front) and circled up for some Warm O Rama.  SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers were completed in quick succession.  It started to get cold again, so we went to work.

Partner up… partner A runs front start point around the loop and back while partner B completes an exercise until they return.  No keeping up with numbers, we just kept going until they came back and switched up the exercise each time.  1st- SSH   2nd- Squats  3rd- CDDs

Mosey back around the front to the opposite side of the building. Circle up and completed the following together.

Seal Jacks, 5 burpees, Merkins, 5 burpees, Freddy Mercury’s, 5 burpees

Mosey back to the back parking lot and back around to the Green Monster.

Partner exercise again.  A runs down the hill and back while B completes an exercise with weight (we had 50lb sandbags and 15-20lb kettlebells/dumbbells).  Exercises were: 2 rounds of overhead press, 2 rounds of curls, 2 rounds of tricep extensions, and 1 round of bent over row.

Mosey back around the front parking lot for a quick 3 rounds of Mary.

Numbered off, Name O Rama, and naming of a new FNG!  Welcome to Cousin Eddie!  T-Claps to Two Ferns for bringing him out!

 

Thanks for the opp. to lead Flux!  I look forward to the next time!

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Hills, Hills, Hills

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We ran.

Mile and a half-ish warm up around the parking lot, up the back hill, around the front on 49, back into the parking lot, around towards the back of the school, around the track, and back out to the front entrance near the metal barrier.

Ran the hill from the barrier to the stop light on 49 x 5 at a 3-5K pace with a light jog back down and a 30 sec – 1 min rest between.  Note: some people’s 3-5K was more like a sprint.

Indian Run from the stop light to the back bus parking lot hill.

Hill sprints from the 2nd light pole to the gate x 6.

After final sprint, we took a run up 49 in front of the school again back down to the main parking lot .  With a few minutes to spare, we were able to get in one final Indian Run around the parking lot before COT.

Announcements: Turkey Day Convergence, Band Aids, F3 Christmas Party…

Prayers: Travels for Turkey Day and Royale for patience as he continues the journey of Fatherhood (which we all can use).

 

Thanks for the Q opp. Hauschka!  Put me back on more often to keep me accountable for getting out and keeping me honest in my runs!

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Cold Blooded at the Swamp

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So it was the coldest day of November (so far) but at least there was no rain.  A balmy 33 degrees to start the workout.  My goal was to keep the energy level high to keep the blood flowing!  Only 3 of the 15 men planned on rucking this morning, so I gave the disclaimer and the other 12 of us were off.

Mosey with a dynamic warmup to the Home Depot parking lot.

COP with IWs – Windmills – SSHs – MNCs – Mountain Climbers – CDDs – Plank Jacks – Merkins?

These days whatever keeps me moving is what I call.  I like to take Pushers guidance and change the count for each…which always gets the PAX talking! It’s almost impossible to get Jedi and Witch Hunt to stop chattering nowadays… which always adds a fun playful air to the warmup.

Enough of that stuff… moving on!  I like to find new routines in the Lexicon that we might not have done before.  I found these:

“The Dab”  (I was immediately asked why it’s called that…not idea just from the workout)

10 burpees in 1 minute

Run a quarter mile lap around the parking lot

Do this 4 times

It went pretty well…and it kept us warm unfortunately Half Shell “popped” his calf muscle… that’s not good for running! No man will be left behind so I tried to modify a little.  I’m sorry if it was not enough Half Shell…

Slow walk towards Target, but a bear crawl for good measure to keep everyone together for about 50 yards.

“Triple Check”

Teams of 3

1st PAX wall sit

2nd PAX Plank

3rd PAX run 50 yards and back.

Rotate through your team and complete this 3 times.

This took longer than expected so item #3 of the evolutions was left off and we moseyed back to COT.  With 2 minutes to spare more burpees were completed.

Namorama

Announcements & Prayers

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

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All Legs at The Deep

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YHC arrived a little early for the workout since I haven’t been out to the Deep in a while. Been doing a little running this year so did a little pre-run myself while Q-Bert and Olaf did some rucking with some heavy tire pieces. Looked nasty and heavy.

It was a cool morning and gave us a break from the week of rain so it was a perfect day for a workout. The Pax rolled in a little before 0700. No FNG’s were present but a brief disclaimer was given and off we went.

Warm-Up

Mosey around to the back of the school with butt kickers, knees to chest, side shuffle, etc…

In Cadence

15 – SSH
15 – IW
15 – WM
15 – Low Slow Squat
25 – Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to circle

Brief Discussion on Vulnerability. YHC used the analogy of a baseball game where the outfielder calls “I got it” when a fly ball is hit. Being vulnerable is admitting to God and to your brothers that you “Don’t Got It”. When we admit that we need help with whatever we “Don’t Got”, growth can happen. The challenge was to think of the thing or things that we need where we need to ask for help.

The Thang

150 Lunges (Single Count)
250 Squats
350 LBC’s

Run a lap around in the inside circle after every 50 count of exercises.

Finish early – Find someone to help finish

Lt. Dan’s to the speed bump, run back
Bear Crawl to the speed bump, run back

Run to the speed bump and do burpees on the odd numbers back to the arrow for donkey kicks on the evens to 10.

Walls Sits- Each person count to 10 while holding the wall with one leg out
Shake it out
Switch legs for another 10 count

Total running mileage – 3.26

Mosey back for COT

Prayers

Lutefisk – Loss of his mother
Soprano – Loss of his brother
Olaf’s grandfather
Peg-Internal Interview
Costanza-Interview

Coffeeteria at DD

Great job by the Pax and always great to see the 2.0’s out there. Mine were lazy Saturday.

Always an honor to lead. Thanks Shakespeare for the opportunity. Cobains to Wolverine for trying to age you a couple of years!

Until next time,

Hauschka

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