PRE-BLAST: SPEEDFORNEED at Laces In on Thursday Dec. 28

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If you haven’t seen the videos that Tolkein has been putting out there for SpeedForNeed, then you are likely living under a rock or something.
(Here’s a video from the Charlotte Marathon on Veteran’s Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egFnEwhckIM)

On Jan. 6, we will be running with SpeedForNeed chairs in the Joe Davis Run for Recovery. Several Pax with disabled children of their own will be pushing their 2.0s in the race. Many of us will be assisting in the pushing, and so this Thursday (12/28) at Laces In, the chairs will be present for some practice and some exposure. Whether you are pushing or not, come and see what it’s like. There will be tons of opportunity to push in races all over the place this coming year, so you should probably see what it’s like so you can help later on…

SO, to recap… This Thursday, Laces In (Fort Mill High School – by the Football Stadium), SpeedForNeed chairs will be there, come get a strong beatdown from Crab Cakes serving up the main course, with a side order of YHC and Tolkein on the chairs… You know you want to…

The Hype Train has left the station…

BE THERE.

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2017 Clave Boss 5k/10k & Christmas Convergence

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Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more——Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!!

The largest turn out by far for the Clave Boss 5k/10k was a success. We started on time and as far as I know nobody died. Thank you to all the PAX that ran and had a fun time and fellowship.

For the 5k, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. MacGyver
  2. Harry Carry

For the 10k, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. Sir Topham Hat
  2. mix of PAX coming from all directions—no idea

For the Ruck, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. Dark Helmet for 11min pace 5k ruck…..nice work!

Honorable Mention for Anchorman completing the 5k and Barry Manilow being his wingman!

The Convergence kicked off on time and we had Gecko open us up in prayer. We split the groups up and away we went with COT at 0750. Click on links to see the pain that was delivered…..Merry Christmas!

Black Diamond – Longshanks Q – https://t.co/odVJHWCBPS

Bootcamp – Cha Ching Q – https://f3thefort.com/2017/12/23/christmas-convergence-boot-camp-mixed-w-some-bd/

Noderate – Barry Manilow Q – https://f3thefort.com/2017/12/23/your-moderate-option-at-the-convergence/

COT came together and we had 83 men attend this year.

Welcome FNG – Lake Effect, who is 41 not the 50 that he just shouted out. Classic!

Many announcements:

  • Thank you Site Qs for all your work, dedication and leadership!
  • Serve Saturdays ….reach out to Deacon, Bolt, NASA for info…..HIMs!!
  • Joe Davis Run Jan 6
  • Friday Convergence with 3rdF post beat down Jan 12
  • Rooster CSAUP Jan 20
  • Yeti – February
  • P200 – March

More than a workout!!

Prayers/Praises

  • Dark Helmet shared his sister is in need of prayer. Please remember DH and his family each day in prayer
  • Family visiting is fun and sometimes no so fun. BE HIMs!!
  • Prayers for all the PAX traveling and for peace this week!

Challenge:

I spoke to the PAX about how 2000 years ago Sky Q sent his son into the world in the form of a baby. When looking for a place to come in from the cold there WAS NO ROOM AT THE INN. I believe we all fall into this trap and put so much busy into our lives that we don’t have ROOM AT THE INN for Sky Q in our lives. We fill our hearts and minds with so much and when it come to his word and being in relationship, we DON”T HAVE ROOM AT THE INN (in our hearts).

I challenge myself and the PAX to make room for SKY Q and see how it changes your life in 2018 and beyond.

Honored to lead this PAX. I am blessed and grateful for each of you!

Cake Boss

 

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The 12 Pains of Christmas at The Poop Deck – Redux

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Thursday before Christmas in 2016, I Q’d this same workout up at The Poopdeck. We had a great time then, and I was asked to bring it back again to The Poopdeck this year. That’s quite a complement to redux a Q. Thanks Wild Thing for the request and opportunity to lead.

Ho ho ho! Santa Q was out and ready to receive the PAX of HIMs this morning when they rolled in to the Poodeck. It was a great day, balmy for December. What a treat in itself. Everyone was in a great mood. Alot of mumblechatter. It is always great to start your day with a group of HIMs like this,
No FNGs unfortunately. After the disclaimer was disclaimed, off we moseyed around the parking lot a to get the heart rate up. After the warmup run, we circled up for the COP, 20 or so of each:

 

  • Side-straddle hops
  • Imperial walkers
  • Windmills
  • Moroccan night clubs
  • Cherry/Strawberry/Weed Pickers

We were all nice and warmed up. A brief run over to the large parking lot at the boat ramp for NASA’s follies…..

The 12 Days of Christmas…. Pain:
NASA Claus came prepared with a red bag full of goodies for each and every PAX, whether naughty or nice they have been. In Santa Q’s sack was 12 ‘presents’, complete with bows even. With warmth from his heart Santa Q gave each PAX a present. The joy and excitement each PAX had of receiving these wonderful, yet unknown gifts was an incredible sight to see. I wish I had my camera at the ready! The PAX were excited to reach in NASA Claus’ sack to see what they got, but NASA Claus had to remind him to be gentle with it, for it is VERY old.
After a gift was opened, the group had to partake in the pain it presented. Not only that, the HIM who opened the gift got to lead the exercise it outlined. They were gifts that kept on giving. Each PAX took turns opening their gifts from NASA Claus to find the following pains:
Gift # / Pain:

 

  1. 15 Burpees OYO
  2. 25 Monkey Humpers, cadence (c)
  3. 40 Merkins (c)
  4. Run, run Rudolph! (Run a loop around the entire boat ramp parking lot, about 1/4 mile loop)
  5. 50 Plank Jacks (c)
  6. 50 LBCs (c)
  7. 40 CDD (c)
  8. Grin and Bear it!! (Bear Crawl loop the circle of HIMs –  had to open the circle a little for this one)
  9. 40 LSS (c)
  10. 30 Hello Dollys (c)
  11. 50 Calf raises (c)
  12. Don’t be Crabby (Crab walk loop the circle of HIMs)

 

I wanted cadence to slow the exercise down, focus on form rather than speed. Even with not much rest between ‘gifting’, that took a good chunk of the 45 minutes. We still had around 10 minutes or so left, so we started another round. Due to tough economic times, we had to regift and Santa Q redistributed the presents for round 2, letting each PAX reach into Santa Q’s sack AGAIN to grab a gift of goodness. Unfortunately due to time we cut short round 2 to only 4-5 presents. Even so, it was alot of pain combined with alot of fun. Each and every PAX had alot of laughs.
Run to the COT for Announcements, Prayers, and Praises.
Brief discussion on Gifts: My opinion the most precious Gifts we are blessed with is Christ and time. Without those, all other Gifts we have been blessed with we would never be able to be thankful for.  Do not take either for granted. Use every moment of time you have to utilize the Gifts you have been blessed with in a positive way. In doing so, maybe you will bestow a Gift upon someone else.
Thank you for the opportunity to lead.
Merry Christmas and God Bless,
-NASA
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Your Moderate Option at the Convergence

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  • QIC: Barry Manilow
  • When: 12/23/2017
  • Posted In: Convergence

Following a perfectly paced 5k ( yet somehow no Bundt cake?) …..

Mosey to baseball field, circle up
Imperial Walker x 10, MNClub x 20, Weed Puller x 15, mini plank o rama, Hillbilly Walker x 10, OH Claps x 20 IC, Windmill x 10, Squat x 15, HR Merkins x 15, Monkey Humpers x 15, Donkey Kick Merkins x 5 (ya, that didn’t work)

line up at edge of field, run 20 yds, 10 merkins, L karaoke back … run 20 yards, 10x 2 lunge, R karaoke back … run 20 yds, 50 OH claps, bear crawl back … run 20 yds, CDD x 20, run back

mosey  to basketball court area to use the surrounding walls.
wall kick 5x both legs, step back 10 x squats, step back 1 burpee, R & R, then 2 burpees, same for 3, 4 and 5 burpees
wall kick 5x both legs, 20 clave raises, step back 1 burpee, R & R, then 2 burpees, same for 3, 4 and 5 burpees
wall sit, while the 2 ends do 2 burpees, on to the next person, 2 each until we meet in the middle

mosey back to the baseball field
(By popular demand) Makhtar N’Diayes x 15, seal team sit-ups x 10, Kneetar N’Diayes x 15, Jack Webb to 10-40

Wind down/cool off
Imperial Walker x 10, MNClub x 50, Hillbilly Walker x 10, OH Claps x  50 IC (hmmmm is that 100 really? Too much ?)

COT

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Christmas Convergence – “Boot Camp” mixed w/ some BD

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Mosey around the school to the back right lot and circled up for some extended warm-up.  Got right into it:

-merkins x20 in cadence
-stay in position – mountain climbers x20 in cadence
-stay in position – shoulder taps x20 in cadence
-now that shoulders were warm – side straddle hop x30 (fast / slow every 5)
-squats x20
-freddies x20 (fast / slow every 5)
-burpees OYO x5
-windmill x10
-moraccan night club x20

First up – Tabata 40 seconds on / 20 seconds off.  Had the 40 or so pax count off by 8 as we had 8 parking spots w/ an exercise.  Name of the game is each group of 5 stays together and moves through all parking spots (exercises) after they complete 40 seconds max rep / 20 sec rest.  Did all 8 exercises (8 minutes) x 2.  Exercises were as follows:

-burpees
-crunchy frogs
-jump lunges
-diamond merkins
-band curls (thanks Witch Hunt for loaning the bands)
-jump squats
-hand release merkins
-toe touches

Next up – three exercises all the same rep count followed by a big lap around the lot.

-10 reps each – wide arm merkin / squats / rocky’s (then lap)
-20 reps each – seal jack / jump knee tuck / american hammers (then lap)
-30 reps each – merkins / lunges each leg / LBC’s (then lap)

Fish Sticks was the pace car the entire time on those laps.  CoPay gave him a run for his money on the last lap, but I’m pretty sure Fish Sticks can back pedal faster than most of us.

Gave the Pax a choice – we can go back down the ladder and do the x20 and x10 exercises above, or they could participate in something I call a “BBC”.  Repeat quickly understood at least one of those “B’s” meant burpee, but for some reason the Pax still went w/ option 2.

BBC =  Burpee Broad Chase:  partner up, size doesn’t matter.  We had about 100 yards from where we were to the main loop in front of the school.  How to get there?  Partner 1 starts doing burpee broad jumps (that’s how you get there!) while partner 2 runs the 100 yards, and then back to the start and then back to wherever their partner has gotten at that point doing their burpee broad jumps.  When they catch them, they switch, and partner 2 does the burpee broad jump and partner 1 starts running to the end, back to the start, and then all the way back to their partner.  You keep switching until the burpee broad jump partner has made it all the way.  We planked until the last group finished and moseyed on over to COT.

Thanks for the chance to lead guys.  A lot of complaining and mumble chatter which I interpret as an effective workout.  Now you guys can eat whatever you want over the next 3-4 days.  Merry Christmas!

Cha Ching

 

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Christmas EVE Eve Convergence Black Diamond aka 12 Days in the Pit of Misery

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Christmas Eve Eve Convergence at Tega Cay Elementary. about 9-10 of us dumb enough to take on the Black Diamond. Other options were to ruck, take on ChaChings Black Diamond Regular workout or Barry Manilows Regular Moderate workout. I knew either choice the PAX took today they were going to get a solid workout in.

The Black Diamond Thang

Mosey with Butt Kicks and High Knees

Circle up for Warmup
76 x SSH (IC)

Off to the Main Event 12 Days of Pit of Misery Christmas
How the 12 Days works
Run to the First Cone do the First exercise run back to the start. Run to the second cone do second exercise bear crawl/lung walk back to the first cone do that exercise run back to the start. Continue with the run to the next exercise and work way back until all 12 cones are done lung walking or bear crawling between each cone

1 – Kracken Burpee – 12 total
2 – Prison Merkins – 22 total
3 – Flying Squirrels – 30 total
4 – Box Cutters – 36 Total
5 – Diamond Merkins – 40 total
6 – Burpee Broad Jumps – 42 total
7 – Sumo Squats – 42 total
8 – Jack Webbs – 40 total
9 – Lt Dans – 36 total
10 – BombJacks – 30 total
11 – Plyo Merkins – 22 total
12 – Dying Cockroach – 12 total

Finished with 100 Burpees a mosey to the flags to take them to the Field for COT and BOM

Moleskin
1. Wish I had about 5-6 more minutes to get that 100 burpees in
2. Thanks Cake Boss for the opportunity to lead at the Convergence
3. Take time to reach out to someone that doesn’t have family around or someone that may just be alone.
4. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

Shanks out (mic drop)

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Ramp up at the Varsity

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It was a great day in the gloom as the temperatures were perfect (low 40s) and the company was great!  There is something special about leading a pax of 20 or more but I most savor the opportunity to lead just a few guys and start to learn what is going on in their lives and to engage throughout the work out.  It was a privilege to lead the group today especially since my 2.0 was within the pax.

The message had to do with looking back on the year and to look at the opportunities for the areas of life where you can focus on improving in 2018.  For me I’ve had a few lessons.

  • 2 years ago I found a Whetstone partner and he is an amazing support for me through my life.  Every man needs a man to help sharpen them.
  • The root of many of my issues in my marriage and parenting is often my own selfishness and lack of presence.  I need to be more present with my family when I’m with them.
  • I need more than I used to to in order to be nourished in the Bible.  I need a group to hold me accountable

The Thang!

First a round of stretching

Warm up – exercise and run around the circle (SSH, Hillbilly Walkers, Emperial Walkers,  Merkins,  plank, mountain climbers)

Mosey to the High school wall

– Wall sits 1 min wall sit

– 15/10/5mule kicks/ planks 10 count down the line

– Peter Parker’s on the Wall

–  5/3/2 hand stands/ plank

3 min of Mary

Band parking lot

– suicides

–  20 yard plate push relay / 50+ yards

–  Leap frog/ elbow plank

–  Bear crawl, crab walk, lunge walk alternate every 10 yards

Aye!  Merry Christmas to all!

CH

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Final Shopping Days at the Swamp

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After setting up some fun cones I made it to the AO to see the large group of PAX ready for the day. We had a special guest return of Jerry Lewis back on leave from his military training. Great to have him out! We also got an FNG that several men EH’d from our monthly 2nd F beer social.  He received the name “Wingman”for the old barhopping days with your boys…

With an FNG I gave a long disclaimer and the ruckers started on their way out…the campers followed me.

Mosey down the streets with a run and dynamic warmup.

Made it to COP where we completed to following:

24 SSHs

24 MNCs

19 Squats

11 Windmills (by now the mumble chatter has  started on my sporadic stops)

12 Merkins

11 Ski Abs (I was just being lazy, no other  rhyme to my counts)

Mosey over to the Rivergate Fountain for some speed shopping!

I set up 8 cones in front of eight different stores around the area, or goal was to split into groups of four  and make our speedy stops at the shop and do the two exercises listed at that stop.  Once you completed the two exercises your group ran around the large circle and moved to the next store in front of your previous cone.

The  exercises at each cone consisted of :

#1 25 Carolina Dry docks

#1 20 burpees

#2 40 LBCs

#2 40 Squats

#3 20 bombjacks

#3 30  moroccan night clubs

#4 20 merkins

#4 25  squat jumps

#5 30  Freddie mercury’s

#5 20  wide arm Merkins

#6 40  Side straddle hops

#6 30 Ski Abs

#7 20  dying cockroaches (my fav)

#7 20 diamond Merkins

#8 25  Imperial walkers

#8 40  calf raises

Most of these exercises were in double counts – and in cadence.  The laps were long and the reps were high!  Everyone broke a good sweat and we ran out of time for our last 4 extra shop stops of the day…  so we  trucked it back to COT two minutes late.  Each group completed all eight stops!

At COT I got to share the story of my recent experience with my nine-year-old son. Seems the kids at school have been telling him that Santa is not real so he came home and ask my wife the truth about Santa Claus. Luckily for me she was prepared and had a wonderful two page note that she shared with him about the spirit of Santa and giving and God during Christmas.  I shared that note with the PAX.

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Changing of The Guard- Ranch Style

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When checking in with the scheduled Q that was suppose to bring todays beat down, and he said he needed to call in a relief. YHC took it as an early Christmas present. Not only was I able to Q today I also got to hand off the shovel flag to a true HIM. It has an an honor to get to spend the last year leading on of my favorite AOs in all of The Fort, but also to be as excited to give it to Jiffy. He will only make this site even better.

We started off the morning with cars pulling in all the way up to the disclaimer. It was brief but to the point. All PAX knew to give what they could. Dig deep it will only hurt for 45 minutes. So they thought.

Start with easy mosey throwing in some high knees, butt kickers, karaoke.

Circle up SSHx20, IW x 15, windmills x 15, monkey humpers X15, Peter parkers x 10, 6 inches and hold x 2.

mosey to picnic benches dips in cadence x10 followed by derkins x10 for 3 sets.

change to legs 10 squat box jumps, 10 calf raises X3 sets

mosey to wall keep legs burning by doing 20 second wall sit.

Mosey to back of school. Partner up for DORA 1-2-3.

Partner 1 runs loop, Partner 2 merkins, squats, flutters.

Mosey to playground- 5 pulls ups 10 big boy sit-ups, 4 pull ups 8 big boy sit-ups down to 1.

Max set of pull ups.

Mosey to entrance 5 trees lunge walk to first, broad jump to second, bear crawl to third, squat walk to forth, and reverse lunge to fifth.

go back with lunge walk sprint, lunge walk sprint.

Mosey to COT. 1 min ab work.

Hand off Shovel Flag to Jiffy.

Announcements- Joe Davis Jan 6, Convergence this Saturday tega cay elementary 0600 5k/10k.

Prayers and praises for family’s coming and going out of town.

It has been a pleasure to serve the Ranch, the PAX and look forward to another leadership roll in F3.

Backdraft out…

 

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Island Vacation at Footloose

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My Qotter (thanks Anchorman) after many months.  I’ll keep it short:

The Thang:

Mosey to back lot

COP
SSH
IW
Windmills
Merkins
Mountain Climbers
Double Applesauce around the lot

Stretch-o-Rama

Forest to the Sea
Island Dips
Forest to the Sea
Island Dips
Double Applesauce around the lot

Side Shuffle Bear Crawl on long lot

Double Applesauce around the lot

Side Shuffle Lunge Walk on long lot

Double Applesauce around the lot

PAX Plank Hurdles

Mosey to Flag
6 MOM

 

Announcements:

Joe Davis, Convergence, Read Your Newsletter

Prayers/Praises shared by all in COT

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