Awkward and Uncomfortable

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On a Monday following the Ragnar, most PAX in the Fort/Lake Wylie seemed to find their Fartsacks more than their local AOs.  Just 3 PAX total seemed it a wise idea to find themselves at Quagmire for an awkward and uncomfortable BC.

In “honor” of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, the plan was to perform a series of awkward and uncomfortable partner exercises but because there were just 3 of us, that weinke went right out the window!

Now it became a little more awkward for me as I had to resort to my backup plan on the fly.

The “group” took a short mosey to the back of Home Depot’s parking lot for a short warm-up.  After a few windmills, Moroccan night clubs, and walkers of the Imperial and Hillbilly variety, we moseyed on over to the front of Target.

With the wildly popular red balls, we did 4 rounds of Route 66:

Merkins, Squats, LBCs, and CDDs  stopping at 11 different stations, adding one rep at each step.

After the fourth round was completed it was another short run over to the stairs adjacent to the fountain where the PAX took on a little of the awkward partner work.

In a rotating partner fashion, one PAX started on the top balcony performing Merkins while the other two performed Stair Barrows then on partner stayed at the top and did Merkins while the other two ran down the stairs to perform Stair Barrows again; rotating until all PAX had performed both the Stair Barrows and Merkins at the top.  After all PAX had performed the Merkins, the exercises changed to Deep Squat Rows using the railings-then calf raises and then Carolina Dry Docks.  If you think this sounds awkward and confusing, you should have been there….terrible.

We finished at the fountain with two rounds of Dips and Step-ups: 25 reps each.

COT was a little more personal than usual as the three of us were able to speak a little more directly and with more detail about the things going on in our lives. Some following up on things that had been mentioned in COTs of past.

Thank you Jedi for the opportunity to lead.

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A Few Words on Encouragement at The Deep

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8 PAX assembled in the gloom at The Deep to push themselves and each other in the theme of the month encouragement.

A brief disclaimer was given while Royale and The Lorax came in hot. The PAX took a quick mosey from the Middle School over to Elementary School and on the way stretched out with some Toy Soldiers and Knees to the chest.

Circle up in the parking lot of Elementary School for a brief CoP including: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Morrocan Nightclubs, Windmills, and a little Broga to loosen us up.

The theme for the workout was set up to mirror the theme of the month, encouragement. YHC asked the PAX who knew the word of the month and who had read the accompanying 3rd F document. Few knew the word of the month and no one had read the 3rd F piece. If you haven’t read it at this point, STOP READING THIS and take a few moments to pull up your newsletter and read it.

The document was briefly summarized and the first evolution was laid out. The PAX were to move as a team and complete all the exercises before moving on, ENCOURAGING each other along the way. The evolution went like this:
2 laps around the school
25 Pull Ups
50 Dips
100 Squats (done together with each PAX taking a turn counting)
200 Flutter kicks (100 4 count in cadence)
1 Lap the school and back mosey to the back of the Middle School

The second evolution was a twist on an old favorite. Starting from the brick pillars on the practice field side of school each PAX would pick up Sandy (40lb sand bag) and run to the next brick pillars just past the first basketball goal (about 40ish yards). The remaining PAX would through the exercises below:
Kracken Burpees
Jump Squats
Merkins
LBC
Flutters
American Hammer
CDD
Bear Crawl/Crawl bear

Sufficiently smoked the PAX meandered back to COT. Thank you Shakespeare for the opportunity to lead this great group of men.

Moleskin:

This month’s 3rd F Theme really struck home with me. To think that a 35 year old wife, mother, and school teacher couldn’t find enough encouragement in her life that she thought nobody would miss her if she was gone seems almost impossible to imagine for most people. I unfortunately am not most people. As a teenager this was a recurring thought of mine as I would sit at home on Friday nights by myself wondering if any of my friends would call, or how I could invite myself to the party or hangout. I spent those nights wondering if I didn’t show up on Monday, or if I were gone would anyone miss me. Those thoughts can be irrational, but the feeling is real. Years later I found myself on the other end of a phone call informing me that one of my best friends had died of an overdose. He was in his early twenties and was the poster child for what someone would want in a US Marine. I would get two more similar phone calls from back home about other friends who didn’t think they would be missed when they were gone, so they took their own lives. Can this be prevented? Who knows. I know this though, a few words of encouragement can change someone’s life. Letting a person know that their presence in your life matters more than you can possibly know. Never assume. Encourage those in your life to live their lives to the fullest. Make sure that they know they would be missed if they weren’t around. Each of you reading this means something to me, even if we have never met. If you get to this point or have these thoughts I encourage you to reach out to me, or one of your brothers. I can tell you that you make an impact on someones life and would be missed if you were gone.

Wild Thing out!!

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Dora Vol. 3 – Doracides

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3 PAX joined by hurricane michael for a rainy BC in the gloom.

After disclaimer,  and COP (x15) of MNC, IW, WM, Squats, Merkins, PP, we headed down to the parking lot by the lake for the main event.

The Thang

Keeping with my theme, we formed a three man DORA team (100 OHP, 200 Squats, 300 Curls, 400 Flutters with press) with cinder blocks.  One man did exercises, while two other PAX did burpee suicides on 3 cones (1 burpee first cone, 2 second cone, 3 third cone).  After every round of suicides, we alternated, so always two pax running suicides.   The random downpours made flutters interesting…

Finally, farmer walked the cinder blocks back up to the main parking lot, and finished up with some abs.

Thanks Peg and Homebrew for coming out.

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Dora Vol. 2 – Back to Basics

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14 PAX (5 BCs 11 Ruckers) all got a proper disclaimer by YHC, and parted ways.

Bootcampers moseyed around the parking lot for COP.

COP (mostly x15 count) – MNC, IW, WM, LSS, Merkins, PP

The Thang – started with 11s, Burpees and Crab cakes, with bear crawling and crab walking in between sets

Moseyed over behind the tire place for DORA 1-2-3 (Derkins, Step Ups, Dips in the wall) with partner running around the two auto shops, a classic, but brutal workout for this AO.

COT – Read your newletter

Thanks Falcon Crest for the opportunity to lead

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Dora Vol. 1 – No legs

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6 Pax came out to Crows Nest for a post-Ragnar friendly workout promised by YHC.  Only one PAX who ran (Royale) came out, but a promise is a promise.

We started by moseying down towards the playground, with a pit stop for COP and to pick up some cinder blocks I had dropped off.

COP (pretty much everything a x15 count) – Moroccan night clubs, imperial walkers, windmills, peter parkers, merkins

The Thang After carrying the blocks down to the playground, we started with 7s of pull ups and sit ups, then on the the main event.

Pax partnered up for DORAs – 200 over head press, 200 curls, and 200 bent over rows, while partner bear crawled to the loading bay and crab walked back.

Finished up with farmer walking the blocks back to where we got them, alternating partners every 30 seconds and made it back to COT with some time to spare.

We had about 5 minutes left, so to finish off the shoulders, we ended with 10 rounds of jack webbs (merkins/hand claps), after the PAX realized I wasn’t joking.

COT

Don’t remember much from COT, pretty late on writing this up… read our newsletter.

Thanks Flux for the opportunity to lead.

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Fall Sunrise at Alcatraz

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Six faithful PAX removed themselves from the fartsack to post for the Fall Premier of Alcatraz.

Conditions: Temperature mid-50’s, Dew – heavy, Gloom – minimal due to maintenance crew turning on the field lights.

Work: Change Order kicked it off with a disclaimer, mosey and a warm-up COP with some stretching and 10 counts of SSH’s, Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Freddie Mercurys, and maybe some more.

2 rounds of a 4-Armed Starfish with 10 Burpees in the center (round 1) and 10 Bomb-Jacks (round 2)

  • 25 SSH’s
  • 25 Merkins
  • 25 Freddy Mercurys
  • 25 Low Slow Squats

Paver work with two cycles of 20 Curls and 20 Overhead Tricep Extensions

Handoff to YHC for a mosey around the park, including a trip down and up the hill, with a few stops for a 20 yard bear crawl, 10 pull-ups and some squats, 10 dips, and 10 merkins more bear crawls, and ending with a short plank.

Behind the dugout for 20 step-ups each leg, and another 10 dips, then to the field for a 15 minute Wheel-of-Pain.

With 10 minutes to go, we hit the small field wall for a variety of PAX called exercises with field sprints.  Wall Sits, BTTW, Merkins, SSH’s, and a mini Yoga session.

Wrap-up: Having been an aspiring Ragnarian for the last few months, (I can run, I’m just not good at it), it was good to be back at Alcatraz.  It is worth noting that choosing to focus only on running for a few months, makes Boot Camps a LOT harder than they used to be.  Review the above and note the low rep counts.

YHC realized yesterday evening that there was not a Q lined up for Alcatraz this morning.  Thank you Change Order for agreeing to step up and join me.  As always, I am thankful for the opportunity to lead.

Praises for a mother’s successful surgery, for F3, and a safe and healthy morning.

-Smuggler

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Beyond at the Swamp – workaholic

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12 pax took to the gloom for a Beyond workout. Beyond workouts are a normal workout, the Q is challenged with share something meaningful, something they are struggling with. For me, its addiction to work.

Disclaimer was given and we moseyed.
Dynamic warmup, side shuffle, karaoke, toy soldiers, walk on tip toes, lung walk, high knees/butt kicks, and of course power skips!
Mosey
COP – SSH, squat, merkin, morracon night club, IW, flutter kick, american hammer
20 burpees OYO
 
Switzer:
Work addiction, often called workaholism, is a real mental health condition. Like any other addictions, work addiction is the inability to stop the behavior. It often stems from a compulsive need to achieve status and success, or to escape emotional stress. Work addiction is often driven by job success. More common among perfectionists.
My wife has told me I have a problem… jokingly or not… she’s said it. 
I NEVER leave my work laptop at work, haven’t done in 10 years I’ve been with the company. I’m always connected, phone, email, in my head. When I go on vacation. When i come home. I wake up early and send an email to myself to remind of to do xyz…
Last week alone I stayed up until past midnight working three nights in a row… my wife texted me to come to bed…

Mosey to Target
Suicide, 5 burpees at the start line and 10 merkins at each ball, plank when done
Bearcrawl to ball, 10 squats, lung walk to next ball, 10 squats, alternating until reach the end.

Mosey to COT.

We live in a culture where hard work is praised and putting in overtime is often expected, it can be difficult to recognize work addiction. People with a work addiction will often justify their behavior by explaining why it is a good thing and can help them achieve success. Want to appear committed to their job or the success of their projects.
 
However, ambition and addiction are quite different.
 
Symptoms of a work addiction include:
-putting in long hours at the office, even when not needed
-losing sleep to engage in work projects or finish tasks
-being obsessed with work-related success
-having intense fear of failure at work
-being paranoid about work-related performance
-having a defensive attitude toward others about their work
-using work as a way to avoid relationships
-working to cope with feelings of guilt or depression
-working to avoid dealing with crises like death, divorce, or financial trouble
 
I’ve never spent as much time/effort/focus that I do on my work projects/priorities as do for my family or personal goals. Have I ever planned a vacation like I plan a $100M project.
 
I was putting my 1 yr son to bed the other night, I was in a hurry, so I could fire up the laptop to work.

Be conscious of what we idol and prioritize, hold each other accountable, listen to your spouse or kids, when they say something, something is wrong.

Aye,
WWL
 

 
 

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No Fear = No EnCOURAGEment

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22 boot campers (including 1 FNG) and 5 runners posted to THE Ballroom this week looking for some #Encouragement along the pothole-filled road of life.  YHC offered a full Disclaimer for the benefit of our FNG (T-claps to Barney Fife on the EH) tipped the cap to Sir Topham Hat, who passed the Q baton to YHC due to work travel.  The word of the month (Encouragement) served as the inspiration for today’s adventures in the gloom, so thanks also to Chicken Hawk for his continued wisdom with that program.

Encouragement:  root word = Courage

Courage (noun): strength in the face of fear

With this backdrop, the workout unfolded with the objective of getting pax in touch with their own sense of #Fear to illustrate the experience of #Courage and the need/ability/practice of exercising it and #Encouragement of their brothers.

The Thang

warm up run to the football field

COP — SSH, IWs, Hillbilly walkers, Bombjacks, merkins, burpees

Line up along sideline, 3/4 pace sprints — to near hash/back, then far hash/back, lastly far sideline/back

Circle up for the Main Event (Fear or Favorite)

Pax were asked to identify the exercise they most #Fear when they hear the Q say “The next exercise is ___________.”  They were also asked to imagine their #Favorite exercise they like to call when they are Q.  Then we launched into 30 mins of Pax-suggested/Q-chosen exercises.

Plank jacks (Fogerty), Gravedigger (Culture Club), Partner Carry (Bass-o-Matic), V-up Roll-up (Polaroid), Sprints (FNG!), Moroccan Night Clubs (Assassin), Jack Webb (Magnum), Squats (Strawberry), Burpees (Pinup), Merkin (Rebel), Knee Tar N’Dyae (Rebel), Tunnel of Love (Twister)

Mosey home

Final ab work — American Hammer, Flutter

COT

Moleskin

T-claps to the pax for the enthusiastic participation, mumblechatter and #Encouragement throughout.  Apologies to those pax whose exercise I missed and those who I mismatched in the list above.  I know we started with Fogerty catching much flak for a stuttering proclamation of “Plank Jacks” to get us rolling.  Bass-o-matic challenged himself and all the pax in the early going with the Partner Carry call-out.  Yes, YHC quickly claimed FNG/Half Dome as partner (purely for teamwork purposes, I can assure you…it had nothing to do with his svelte frame).  Pinup threw down the gauntlet, claiming Burpees as both his Fear and his Favorite (1500 in September seems to prove the point — well done!).  Strawberry (on only his 2nd post!) showed he knows the proper rhythm of a workout by calling for Squats immediately after Jack Webb (get this man into Q school ASAP!).  And Twister had his mic drop moment with Tunnel of Love to cap it all off.  Fun times throughout!

Welcome to FNG/Half Dome, who posted at the behest of Barney Fife (kudos to both)!

Finally, just a recap on the theme to reinforce the message.  YHC, in my prideful youth and throughout a very long stretch of adulthood, deluded myself that I was purely self-motivated, and no outside influence, inspiration or good words could make a difference to my spirit or performance.  While my M openly claimed her need for affirmation and #Encouragement, I laughed those things off, as though those who needed them were weak, meek and timid.  I also claimed to have few worries or fears throughout these periods.  A-ha!!!   There it is — the smoking gun.  Since #Courage can only exist in the midst of #Fear, I must’ve needed nor displayed any #Courage throughout these years.   And in the absence of feeling #Fear and gathering up #Courage, I had no recognition of the need or value of #Encouragement.  And, so it follows sadly, that in the absence of my personal experience of these, I fumbled and floundered in expressing #Encouragement to those around me who longed for it.  This shortcoming became a significant blind spot and weakness in leading others, including my family.  Yes, sad.  Yes, true.

While I still have plenty of room for growth in the area of #Encouragement of others, my ship turned around when I became more sensitized to my own fears, and I felt the power of #Encouragement from others, and I demonstrated the #Courage that was somewhat dormant inside me.  So, the lesson here — soften your heart, look yourself in the mirror, get in touch with your #Fear.  From that point, you may find immense personal growth opportunity and the ability to better relate and #Impact those around you through #Encouragement.

Thank you to Short Sale for the Q opportunity and to all the pax for making the experience real!

 

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The Barnabas Workout

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7 Sons of Encouragement braved Tropical Storm Michael today. We mostly took refuge for safety reasons under the awning as we moseyed to the front of Springfield Elementary. A forewarning was given in the beginning at the parking lot that we would be moving the entire 45 minutes as well as the basic F3 disclosure.

We started with a warm-up run including high knees, butt-kickers, side shuffles, and toy soldiers. The paced picked up as we got closer to the awning.

Some additional warm-up highlights: everyone seemed to be breathing pretty heavily after warm-up, which included side lunges, squats, crucifix, full-body crab reach, SSHs, shoulder stretches, large arm circles, shoulder shrugs, backwards lunges, and, of course, merkins. I probably forgot a few more.

The Thang:

We broke up into 2 groups with a PAX in the middle. Each group did the same exercise from the middle of the front of the school to the end of the awning and back (at least once) while the PAX, I mean monkey, in the middle did full dips on an Equalizer set of bars until exhaustion and then KB swings until everyone was done with their exercises. As we waited on whoever was the six, we stayed in 6 inches plank. Each person rotated in as we immediately, and I mean immediately, started the next workout exercise(s). We did at least 14 rounds of exercises before we switched the monkey in the middle exercise and did almost another 14 rounds. The second go-round included an agility exercise focusing on concentration, stepping, higher knees and left-right and right-left movement followed by single arm thrusters with the 30 lb KB.

While the PAX in the middle was doing his thing, below are just a sample of the exercises we did today with several left off purposely so you will just have to experience them yourself next time! Most reps were in the 10-180 range.

  • Derkin into a opposite leg Tuck Planks
  • Single leg hops
  • Long jump hops
  • Frog walks
  • High toe touches
  • SSHs
  • X Jumps
  • Squat Jumps
  • Sprints
  • 50% sprints
  • Turkish getups
  • Lunges
  • Backwards lunges
  • The “Straight Up version of The Worst Merkin Ever” (lots of groaning on this one including from me)
  • Bear Crawls
  • Standard Derkins
  • Backwards Bear Crawls
  • Air Mountain Climbers
  • And we finished with Spiderman crawls

I will admit that the Spiderman crawls sucked the last bit of energy out of me. Big shout-out to Jedi and Cha-Ching who rocked the last exercise even in their exhausted state. One of these days I may become as flexible as Jedi and as strong as Cha-Ching . . . well, in reality, maybe not. Good goal to have.

Other highlights:

Dillweed: tough, tough workout partner. Thank you for your partnership today!

Jiffy: always love your consistency and superb attitude!

Love Handle: man, how you have improved! Keep up the progress and great work! You are starting to make things look easy!

Peabody: Always impressive, especially with the physical struggles that have kept him out from time to time. Solid, impactful example performance today.

So these were your 7 Sons of Encouragement today. Today’s theme: Encourage another today whether that is your gift or not. We had SUPERB encouragement from each other with this group. I challenge you to go out in your own little world and encourage someone today. And in your own Qs, bring the encouragement!

Lastly, I did not get to say this during the group this morning, but I was very encouraged by Drew Brees this week as I walked into the break room at work for a total of 5 seconds and heard on the tv a quote from him. I am a terrible memorizer but I was able to get this quote on one go-round. Thank you, Lord. I have always admired his efforts in the NFL but this encouragement quote really stuck out this week as I and many of you have had setbacks: “A setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback.” Thanks for the encouragement and true words, Drew.

Go out this week and get at it in all you do. Praise to the One  who made you.

COT: Specific prayer requests: Some wives have really been struggling as of recent. Let’s support them in prayer, love them and be there for them. Prayer for all those working through Hurricane Michael issues today and yesterday and for safe travel for all.

I’m out for 2018. No more Qs. Look me up to Q at your site in Ft Mill/Rock Hill/Lake Wylie mid-Feb 2019+. Peace out!

MANY, MANY THANKS TO JIFFY FOR LETTING ME SERVE THE PAX AT YOUR SITE. Until next time, brother!

 

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Pre-blast – Custom Dark Side of the Moon GORUCK

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Pax,
We put out a feeler and the Nation responded, you are eager and hungry for a CUSTOM GORUCK event in 2019. Details have been set for a truly unique event and event registration is now open.
The next Fort region CUSTOM GORUCK event, “The Dark Side of the Moon” will occur on the weekend of May 4th, 2019. The event is being spearheaded by our respectable CSPAN and soon to be respectable Cobra Kia, both of whom will be 50 years young on the event, plus a few others. Like the Pink Floyd album, which claims to reflect various stages of life, begging and ending with a heartbeat, exploring the nature of human experience, this custom F3 event will not disappoint.

Here’s what you need to know on event details (available at this time):
–Target Date: 5/4/19
–Event Format: this will be a one of a kind GORUCK format including three (3) different event lengths into a single event, first a Heavy (24 hr event) group will launch, then 12 hrs later the Tough group will join in and then 6 hrs after that the Light group will join in. So, three launch times, one for each event but each group will join in the single event, such that all three groups finish the event as a single group of pax. The Heavy is 24 hrs in duration, the Tough group is 12 hrs and the Light group is 6 hrs.
–Cadres: this a single event with two GORUCK Cadre, hand selected.
–Patches: yes, there will be custom event patches! You will only each one (1) patch, you will a single patch for the event you sign up and complete, i.e. the Heavy, Tough or Light.
–Location: will be Fort Mill or the surrounding area.
–Event Cap: GORUCK has a cap of 60 total participants, the Heavy is capped at 30 participants.
–Pricing: registration pricing has been set at $200 for Heavy, $125 for Tough, $75 for Light. Please note that the event is a flat fee charge from GORUCK, we do run the risk of under collecting costs, but based on interest expressed, that shouldn’t be a problem. Any funds collected above the flat fee charge from GORUCK, will be used for the required community service event, F3 patches and can either be refunded or donated with input from the PAX. Event pricing is in-line to GORUCK non-custom events.
–Registration: there is a two-step registration process, you must complete both steps in order to register for this event,
–Step 1 – send payment of the full amount via PayPal to WorldWide Leader, URL = https://www.paypal.me/JustinLaRoche
–Step 2 – send an email to WordWide Leader at Justin.LaRoche@Duke-Energy.com that way I can confirm receive of payment and we will need your email address to provide communication and updates on the event.

Upon successful completion of registration, PAX will be added to the public list of event participants, all pax can see who is registered and who is not and apply EHing as necessary.

Hollar with any questions, concerns or ideas.

Aye, WWL
Twitter – @jclaroche2

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