Leprechaun Hunt at The Yard

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It was a dark start to the St. Patrick’s Day, and upon arrival to the school there appeared to be some sort of overnight activity going on, so I needed to call an audible to work around the unanticipated changes, but it worked.

Disclaimer, and then we started out with a mosey around to the lot in the back of the school where we circled up for warm-ups:

  • 15 SSH’s
  • 15 Imperial Walkers
  • 15 Moroccan Nightclubs
  • 10 Windmills

Mosey down the bus entrance road towards Springfield Parkway until we got to the long straight hill section.  Time to partner up, and one partner will run up the hill and back (three light poles) while the other partner performs the following exercises until they get back.  Each partner does one round of each exercise alternating with a run:

  • Shoulder Taps
  • Squats
  • Monkey Humpers
  • Wide Arm Merkins

Mosey back to the back elementary loop area for a little rinse and repeat, only with a run around the loop and the following exercises:

  • LBC’s
  • Carolina Dry Docks
  • Hand Release Merkins
  • Overhead Hand Claps

Then we talked a little about what it meant to abide, specifically in Christ.  It’s not something that is easily done, at least not for me.  It requires literally giving up all control, of everything, then placing that trust in Jesus to carry me through to where He wants me to be.  There were several head nods from the PAX, and then we moseyed back up to my slightly less secret spot up in the woods for some cadence exercises all together.  We were all blessed with an amazing view of the sunrise while up on that hill!  God is good!

We rotated around the circle with each PAX counting off cadence for an exercise (or two).  There were three rounds that looked like this:

  • 15 dips with hands facing forward (double count)
  • 15 Inclined Merkins (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)
  • 20 dips with hands facing backwards (double count)
  • 20 Inclined Merkins (single count)
  • 20 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 20 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 20 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)
  • 15 dips with hands facing forward or sideways (double count)
  • 15 Inclined Merkins (single count)
  • 15 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)

Head back to the playground fence to stretch out our calves then off to COT

It was not an easy workout, but I was really proud of all the PAX and how hard they pushed.  I thank Hasselhoff for the opportunity to Q again, and I really appreciate all you brothers!  You have all changed my life for the better!

 

 

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2

Risking it All and Going Beyond

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Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

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7

No 4Play at Block Party

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7 at Block Party on a beautiful 50+ degree morning, fortunately the rain came through before the work out so although the pavement was wet we stayed dry because Chickens don’t like laying on the wet pavements and neither do Chicken Hawks.  Welcome back to Training Wheels after several months off after a mountain bike accident and welcome back to Fire Marshall Bill after a minor surgery that included frozen peas in the post op recovery.

This morning we talked about abiding specifically as we apply it to our trails and failures.  How much do we look to and rely on God to show up during these times?  how much do we recognize God in our trials and what he is doing in and through us.

The Thang!

No 4play today.  COP was not… straight into the post.

Mosey to the high wall for 10 muscle ups, plank, 5 hand stands the hang on the wall for as long as possible or unit Q says mosey

Power Skip to the end of the parking lot to the next set of walls in the courtyard.  15 box jumps, 10 box jumps, 25 dips, 5 derkins, 5 box jumps.

Mosey to the next wall in the parking lot for wall sits then indian style bear crawl to the end of the line, wall sit, etc as everyone bear crawls until we get to the end of the wall, finish with some Australian mountain climbers

Mosey to the flag pole for the pledge of the allegiance at the memorials

slide over to the parking lot and do timed (i.e. not in cadence) … Squats, lunges, jump squats

Mosey to the stairs

  • Bear Crawl up and back down and merkins at the top and bottom
  • Crab walk up and back down and SSH at the top and bottom

Mosey to the hill run backwards up and 5 burps at the top 2x

Mosey to parking lot and do two sets of suicides

Mosey to covering for 3 min. of Mary

Run to COT

It was an honor to lead

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3

A Feast for Crows

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Great weather, great group of PAX, and an overall great morning.  Excitement filled the air because it was the “official” launch of the “Crows Nest”, Lake Wylie’s newest AO.  We had 7 boot-campers and 1 runner (Kenyan) who was already out running before we got started.  After a super-quick disclaimer, we took a short mosey around the school and circled up.

Warm-A-Rama

Nothing too fancy today.  I had a lot of different exercises planned for the workout, so we did a random number of the following to get the back stretched out and the blood flowing a little.

  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers

The Thang

I had a nice match game prepared for the PAX this morning.  I can’t say it was a totally original idea because the crux of the game I stole from a previous bootcamp lead by Witch Hunt.  In any case, it was fun, and as usual, I modified it a bit for better or worse…

It consisted of 3 sets of ten disc cones arranged in a triangle (think bowling pins) and placed on a grassy field also in a triangle.  As we moved between each point of the triangle we would Bear Crawl between the short “sides” or Sprint the long “side” of the triangle. Each of the 10 cones in each set had 1 of 5 different pairs of exercises taped to the bottom.  The idea was to flip over 2 cones, if the exercises matched, we performed 1 set of the exercise and removed the cones.  If they didn’t match, we did both exercises, flipped the cones back over, and made our way to the next set of cones. We continued this process until we matched and performed all of the exercises or until time was up.

Below is the list of exercises that were taped to the bottom.  I can’t say I remember exactly how many we ended up doing, but it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Q-Bert and his ridiculous memory that worked way to well this early in the morning.  Needless to say we completed the “game” with about 8 minutes to spare so we did everything at least once and repeated maybe half of them twice.

  • 15 Burpees oyo
  • 50 Seal Jacks oyo
  • 50 Plank Jacks oyo
  • 50 SSHs oyo
  • 20 Mountain Climbers IC
  • 15 Flutters IC
  • 25 Merkins oyo
  • 30 Dips oyo
  • 25 CDDs oyo
  • 50 LBCs oyo
  • 20 American Hammers IC
  • 25 Jump Squats oyo
  • 15 Lunges (each leg)
  • 10 Crab Cakes IC
  • 10 Donkey Kicks oyo

We moseyed our way back to the parking lot and filled the remaining 5 minutes with BTTW, which we held while each PAX did 2 Burpees and returned to the wall.  Upon completion we circled up for Ablab to finish out the last couple of minutes.  We managed to get through some Hello Dolly’s, Dying Cockroaches, and I’m pretty sure something else I’m forgetting 🙂

That took us right up to 6:00AM so we circled up for CoT.

Announcements:

  • P200 this Friday!
  • Brew Ruck 002 on 3/31

Praises/Prayers:

  • Prayers for the P200 runners this weekend.
  • Praises/Prayers for Sparkle’s friend, he has been battling stomach issues and had underwent surgery recently, the surgeons found a redundant colon that they were able to utilize for his recovery.  Quite the miracle!
  • Prayers for Royale and his busy and stressful work week… as well as all the PAX and their families as they go about their day today.

Until next time…

Flux

 

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2

Competitive Cones at the Poopdeck

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It was a cold morning by the Lake, so when 5:15 hit we got right to it. Disclaimer was fully disclaimed then we went straight into a set of 17 SSH to get the blood flowing.

Mosey around the parking lot then

  • Crab walk into COP (30 yards ish)
  • 13 crab cakes
  • 11 windmills
  • 23 MNCs
  • 5 Finkle swings (R), 5 Finkle swings (L)

All the sets were prime numbers, for no reason other than it feels good not to do things in multiples of 5 every now and then. Also ,the Finkle Swing is a great warm up for the hip-flexor and it works on developing balance for the PAX. Plus, its funny to see everyone trying not to fall over. We need to work that into the rotation more.

 

The Thang

PAX moseyed over to the boat ramp parking lot, narrowly avoiding an encounter with the Crazy Cat Lady and her Mercedes of doom. 11 cones had been set up at the far end of the parking lot, about 100 yards away from the start. One of the best motivators for a good workout is competition, so we split into two teams. On each team P1 would go retrieve a cone and bring it back. While P1 was running, P2 and P3 planked. On the bottom of the cone (so you don’t know what you are choosing) was an exercise and count that had to be completed before P2 could run for the next cone. Also, there was a exercise on the top of the cone (clearly visible when the cone was selected) that the non runners had to do while waiting for the next cone. For example, P1 brings back a cone and everyone on the team does 30 merkins. Then, while P2 is running, P1 and P3 do high knees in place until P2 returns. Here were the cone pairings:

  • 40 SSH in cadence / American Hammers
  • 30 Monkey Humpers / Freddie Mercuries
  • 20 Diamond Merkins / LBCs
  • 30 Sumo Squats / Lunges
  • Dealer’s Choice! / Mario Punches
  • 15 Seal Team Sit-Ups / Elbow Plank
  • 1 lap around the parking lot / shoulder taps
  • 25 Burpees / Overhead Claps
  • 30 Merkins / High Knees in Place
  • 25 Mountain Climbers in cadence / Calf Raises
  • 13 Donkey Kicks / Dying Cockroach

Team 1 (YHC, Peg, and ©) pulled the “run a lap” cone on the first selection and played catch up for the rest of the competition. The game came down to a final sprint between Peg and Olaf for the winning cone. Peg had the cone in hand but fumbled it. Or perhaps it was stripped by Olaf. Either way, the victory cone was sprinted back, leaving Team 2 (Olaf, Iced T, and Qbert) as the victors. All PAX did the final cone together, which ended up being the 25 Burpees.

After a 10 count or two, we partnered up and did wheelbarrows along the columns at the Bowl and Bounce shops. Get to a column, both PAX do 2 merkins then wheelbarrow to the next one. Flapjack. Had to audible halfway through and switch the merkins to 2 squats.

Head to the wall for some people’s chair with 7 LBCs each. BTTW with 2 Burpees each. Rinse repeat.

Ended the morning with a little Mary, courtesy of the winning team.

 

Announcements, Prayers, & Praises

  • Listen to the Roundtable on F3 Houston and Big Wheel. What can we do to better prepare for emergencies in the gloom?
  • Iced T’s M is recently out of work – prayers for peace and a new job
  • Qbert’s M and a recurring stressor in their marriage
  • Sleep and adjusting to the new normal in house Homebrew

 

Always a fun time getting after it with this crew. I really love how everyone embraced the competition and went all out. Thanks Peg for the opportunity.

Stay Classy,

Homebrew

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1

Clubhouse Tour

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It was a very active morning around Runde field.  The baseball diamonds were being groomed for upcoming tournament games.  There was also a large contingent of F3 runners participating in a 10 mile tour of Tega Cay.  After a quick disclaimer, we headed down the road to the clubhouse.  We stopped at the tennis courts next to the tallest flag in the area and performed the following warm-up exercises.

SSH x 20

Imperial Walker x 20

Windmills x 10

Merkins x 10

Plank Stretches , Downward Dog, Honeymooner

Next, we jogged over to the front of the Glennon Center.  Smuggler joined us after searching the hills around Runde looking for us.  We each took turns bear crawling up and down the steps while the others performed squats (Rd 1) and leg lunges (Rd 2).

Next, we moseyed to the driving range to enjoy the scenic view of Tega Cay.  The cost of this view – 10 burpees.  We took a 10 second break before our next journey down to the bottom of the hill near the putting green.  We split the group into two teams.  Team 1 ran up to the top of the hill near the tennis courts while team 2 performed merkins until team 1 returned.  The teams switched up routines and after completion we did a round of LBCs before running back up the hill again.

Next we started our return back to Runde, but before we ran back we had a few exercises to complete.  We picked up a rock of our choosing and did the following exercises:  Curls, Overhead presses, and Forearm extensions.  We took a short stroll to the retaining wall and walked along the wall using our hands.

We returned to Runde field for a few minutes of Ab exercises.  Straight-up had a few good ones – V-ups and Duck, Duck, Goose.

Great job everyone!  Thanks for putting up with all of the running (3.5 miles).

 

 

 

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1
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Five PAX gathered at a rather chilly Ballroom for a substitute Q – YHC.

 

The Warm Up

25 SSH, 25 Seal Jack, 20 Plank Jack and 25 OH Claps

Mosey down to the athletic field parking lot for a modified starfish.  With feach excercise followed by a trip to the middle for burpees

 

Center – 3 Burpees

Leg #1 – 10 Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins and 10 WAM

Leg#2 – 20 SSH, 20 Seal Jacks and 20 OH Claps

Leg #3 25 LSS, 2, 20 count Peoples Chair and 20 Peter Parkers

Leg #4 20 American Hammers, 20 Flutters and 20 four count LBC

We had enough time to do all three rounds and one additional after we threw in 50 calf raises

 

The thang – a revisit to last month’s theme of worry.  We can all worry, worry ourselves sick, but to what avail??  Let’s try to focus on the idea that worry never solved anything, it just makes us sick, cranky and irritable.  Let’s recall 6:34  Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.  Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

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Identity and Purpose: Digging Deeper and Going Beyond

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Though many said they would post, two brave Pax joined YHC for a cold, soggy morning launching Beyond from Flight Plan. Combined with the four runners for Flight Plan, we had seven in the Starbucks lot – the same number as at least three other AOs for the same morning, including TOMB (er, “The Only Monday Bootcamp,” aka Honey Badger), Quagmire (another Monday bootcamp) and the new and currently unnamed bootcamp in Lake Wylie.

After a quick comment about the disclaimer, an added disclaimer was given, noting that the conversation that was to come was my opinion, so take it as such. Everything that I was going to share comes from my processing of chats with various Pax over the past few months, and though it’s my reflections, I think they’re worth sharing. With that, we took off.

Mosey around some parking lots, add in knees to chest and toy soldiers, and come to a halt in front of the steps at TCBY. Quick comment on the first theme of the day: identity. Basically, as we are working out, think of how you would answer the question, “Who am I?”

Start with my current favorite “warmup,” the dip/crab cakes/Jack Webb combo. One dip to four crab cakes, increasing to 10:40. Fun times. Good morning shoulders.

We followed that with L-sit progressions while sharing the first part of the “message.” L-sit progressions:

  • Hands on step, heels on ground, keep six off the step but under shoulders
  • One leg up
  • Other leg up
  • Both legs up (true L sit). It should be noted that YHC has oddly long monkey arms while Wild Thing has surprisingly short arms. Cha Ching’s arms are normal length (but of monster strength).

There are a lot of ways to answer the question, “Who am I?” For me, the usual answer includes my hospital name, Luke. With F3, there’s my F3 moniker, Jedi (makes sense now that my hospital name is out there…we’re an original bunch). Beyond names, there are other ways to answer the question. I’m a husband, a son, a father, a brother. I’m a Christian. I’m a gymnast, and a champion gymnast at that, a diver, a cheerleader (that’s probably a more embarrassing reality). But I’ve also been branded weird, loser, and jerk, among others.

Mosey around some buildings and back around to the front of the white building that looks like it belongs in Savannah or New Orleans or somewhere that isn’t Fort Mill.

Beginning in the western corner (it feels like the southern corner, but it’s not), we will do 25 reps of the assigned exercise, move to the middle of the building, 5 burpees, move to the northern corner, 25 more reps of the exercise, then run upstairs and repeat the process going back, making 100 reps and 10 burpees per round.

Round 1: 25 monkey humpers and sneaky gorillas

Plank it up (with side planks and reverse plank for good measure) for more talk time.

I knew from the time I was 15 that I was going to be a missionary in Africa. I don’t really have a good explanation of how I knew, but I had no doubt that this was my call. And it became a driving focus in my life. Every decision I made was with this in mind. My college degree, followed by my master’s degree; my choice of church; my relationships – all guided by this commitment to missions. Everywhere I went, this became the primary way I introduced myself. In many ways, this became my identity.

Round 2: Carolina dry docks and bear crawls

Return for some table top yoga work – including wonky airplane – and more talk time.

Reality hit for me in 2014. We had been in Zambia for four years as missionaries. From an outsider’s perspective, things were going well. Our ministry was growing, we had great relationships with our Zambian neighbors. But I grew increasingly depressed, so much so that I went on medication to help manage. The meds helped a bit, but one day it was so bad I couldn’t get out of bed. I had lost all resolve to do, well, anything. After several hard conversations and a great deal of prayer, we made the decision to leave Zambia and return to the US, and it was the hardest decision I have ever made.

Now, it would be easy to look at it and think that we failed. The thing is, I never felt like a failure. Actually, it felt much worse than that. Leaving Zambia, to me, felt like I was losing my identity – losing myself. It was terrifying. What I knew to be true of me, how I had grown to define myself, was gone. The only way for me to answer the question, “Who am I?” at that point was, “I don’t know anymore.”

Round 3: squats and crab walks

Return for calf raises (so…many…calf raises) on the curb and still more talk time.

It took this time of feeling completely lost to realize and better understand something I had heard and “known” for years. My identity is not defined by what others say about me or what I do. A lot of us are pretty quick to agree there. But we live in a time where the concept of “self-identifying” is held as absolute truth, and for me, this would be a terrifying truth. I am the king of negative self-talk, and if I am responsible for defining my own identity, it would be a very, very dark place.

As someone who has placed his trust in Christ, my identity is bound to his identity. I am who God says that I am: loved, redeemed, adopted son of the Creator. It isn’t about who others say I am. It’s not about my relationships with other people, even my wife, my kids, my parents. It’s not about my job or my calling. These are all part of my story, but they do not define me. I keep thinking of Job who, in just the first chapter of the book of the same name, loses his livestock, his servants, and his children – all things we could use to define who we are. Yet after all that, he says

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

If we define our identities by anything other than what God declares, we are tying ourselves to something that could ultimately be taken away. Who are we when we lose whatever it was we used to define ourselves?

So, how do you identify yourself? Who are you, deep down, under everything else?

Round 4: side straddle hops and jog (we were running short on time)

Return to stand around while I talked some more.

Now that my identity is not bound to what I do, to my relationships, to what I or others think, I can start to answer the question of purpose. This seems to come up in conversation a lot, though not necessarily in these words. We talk about being good husbands, fathers, co-workers. But, what is our purpose in this? Is it to just be good husbands, fathers, co-workers? Is it to honor those around us? What happens when we don’t do these things well?

Something I’m still working on, is seeing my purpose as bringing glory to God. I can do this by being a good husband, father, co-worker, friend, brother, son, etc. Having God’s glory as my purpose has drastically affected how I interact with the people around me, making me more mindful of every relationship. And I readily admit that I don’t do a good job all the time. I probably do a pretty bad job quite often. I’m a work in progress, but with a realization that my identity is secure and a purpose to bring God glory, I have confidence that, even on my bad days, it’s not the end.

Long mosey around the outside of the shops, past the library and roundabout to rejoin Flight Plan at COT.

Along the way, we processed some more, especially the concept of purpose. If our purpose is to glorify God, it can actually take our relationships even deeper. Take our wives, for example. If being a good husband is our purpose, that’s okay, but how much better will we treat her if our purpose is to glorify God through that relationship? Same with our kids, our friends, even strangers. Really, it changes everything.

COT

Announcements:

  • Opportunity to triple down on your running (P200 prep, anyone) with Clydesdales and Run ‘n’ Run (formerly Run ‘n’ Gun, but there seems to be a lot of running lately) on Wednesday and Tempo or Laces Out on Thursday.
  • Some other stuff that was probably important.
  • Happy Hour on Tuesday, March 13.

Praises and Prayers

  • Backdraft’s son is super smart and got an award for being in the top 1% academically of all young football players (there’s some program he mentioned, but YHC played soccer)
  • Some other stuff. I’m usually better at remembering these things.

I know this was a super long backblast, but that seems to be the rule with these Beyond backblasts. T-claps to those who read through it. It was an honor to get to lead and share, even if it was a bit intimidating. Thanks to Maximus for the opportunity and the push, and big thanks to Cha Ching and Wild Thing for posting.

For those who missed (you know who you are), you can make it up next time. Different AO. Different day. Different workout. Different message. Same Jedi on Q.

Until then…

Jedi out.

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Tires and props at the deep

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Thankful for the opportunity to lead a one hour Q at the Deep, 16 PAX decided to get better in a perfect weather saturday morning. Some PAX pre run not knowing what was coming.

Quick disclaimer  and welcomed one FNG (Cosmo)

We started the warm up with a 2 minute run around the parking lot, circled up and started with the following in cadence:

20 Windmills

20 Low slow squats

20 Moroccan Night Clubs

10 diamond merkins

10 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins (lots of mumble chatter here, not sure if PAX were complaining about the merkins)

THE THANG:

Quick explanation of the workout, we had 4 station/corner setup,  we split into groups 1 to 4 and one group went to each corner, a lap around the parking lot was the “resting” time between stations.

  • First  Corner: (sledgehammers and tire)

10 rosalitas

15 big boy sit ups

20 Sledgehammer swings (10 each side)

25 American hammer (one side count)

  • Second Corner: (dumbbells)

10 two arm triceps extension

15 two arm biceps curls

25 triceps dips

30 Carolina drydocks

  • Third Corner: (large tractor tire)

5  Tire flips

10  Deep squats

20 lunges (10 each side)

30 calf raises

  • Fourth Corner: (battle rope)

10 diamond merkins

15 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins

30 battle rope wave

With about 32 minutes into the workout we moseyed to the hill behind the baseball field, we bare crawled to the top and crawl bear to the bottom with 5 burpees at the top, rinse and repeat 2 times, our FNG Cosmo was feeling the merlot coming out but luckily he recovered. We run one more time to the top of the hill and grabbed a curb for some triceps dips and a needed 10 count recovery time. We moseyed down the hill and a wall crossed our pat so we people chaired while each PAX did 5 monkey humpers starting from the ends working our way to the middle of the crowd, we did a quick recover followed by balls to the wall while each PAX did 3 burpees starting from each end towards the middle, not sure why Flux’s face was so red (he was in the middle of the pack)  with about 10 minutes left we moseyed back to COT and circled up for some ABS work, clockwise each PAX  chose their favorite exercise for 10 reps each,  great way to finish the workout.

We did a headcount and namearama, we welcomed FNG Cosmo and a 4 year F3 veteran Olaf who moved from Lake Norman to our area.

We prayed for our families, our kids, our jobs and were thankful for our F3 community and the support and strength that brings to our lives.

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Slippery When Wet

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Rain stopped promptly at 5:00 leaving us with nice wet surfaces.

After welcome & disclaimer started with a short mosey over to band practice parking lot. 20 SSH, 20 mountain climbers, 20 flutters, 20 bombjacks, and 20 boxcutters wrapped it up, followed by a short talk about anxiety and digging down to the underlying reasons for it.

We then mosey down to the bottom of US21 entrance for The Thang:

Four stations at each light pole to top of hill. Sequence: 1 > 2 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4

  • Station 1: 10 burpees
  • Station 2: 20 big boy situps
  • Station 3: 20 Merkins
  • Station 4: 30 Squats
  • Rinse & repeat

Mosey to building entrance, everyone Al Gore while rotating one pax 5 burpees at a time.

Mosey back to football field parking lot for CoT with a reminder that while many times we need to fight our anxieties, sometimes we need to surrender them.

Had a great time leading my VQ, thanks to all who showed up in spite of rain.

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