WHETSTONE RELAUNCH – Pre-PreBlast

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  • QIC: WWL/Repeat/Reborn
  • When: 03/25/2018
  • Posted In: 3rdF

F3 The Fort – Relaunch of WHETSTONE

Most of us have come to learn that accountability among men is a two way street. On the one side, we need to have accountability as individuals or for ourselves and on the other side we need to be an accountability partner to other men. Although these roles are very different, they are both very much needed in our lives.

When we break it down, accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. When carefully read, we can see that accountability is something that you are willing to do or you feel obligated to do. Generally we all agree that it’s much easier to be willing to do something than to feel obligated. Obligation will always make you hold back some of your stronger feelings and your time will be wasted in the end. Men must become willing to be held accountable and accept full responsibility for their actions.

Why is it important to be held accountable?

Accountability in one’s life can be a blessing rather than a curse. When you are able to open up and be honest with another man, you will learn that he understands you or has gone through similar problems in his life. God teaches us an effective lesson in the book of 1 Peter that says, “Resist Him (the enemy), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” -1 Peter 5:9.

This verse tells us to remove signs of selfishness and to be more open to sharing our heart, fears and struggles with other men.

Why is it important to hold other men accountable?

It is clear in our culture that men are dying, spiritually, and a lot of it has to do with the pressures of this world. Most men are not willing to talk or share their feelings and that is why we must have a heart to help other men. Hebrews gives us a good idea of what holding other men accountable should look like; “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” -Hebrews 10:24-25.

What better way to keep your own hypocoristic in check than being responsible for sharpening another man?

WHETSTONE is more than just accountability, it’s about sharpening another man and sharpening yourself. A knife is sharpened by a whetstone. While water is used to lubricate the whetstone prior to sharpening that is not where the “whet” part comes from. To whet actually means to sharpen, like with a man’s appetite and his curiosity. In other words, to whet both blade and man is to put an edge on, with a result that is sharp, dynamic and ready to cut. The unsharpened man is dull and lethargic, in-effective as a leader and ill-prepared for the obstacles he will face in his life.

WHETSTONE partnerships are not for everyone. Like most things in life, you’ll get out what you put it. And in order to truly benefit you need to be committed to your partner. Hard looks and straight talk, tempered by love, get results. Sharpening does not happen by accident. It must be done with deliberate relationship between two men who set out to see it happen.

Like the Shield Lock, the WHETSTONE relationship that is subject to the 3P to be effective: Proximity, Purposeful and Periodic.

  • Proximity – although phone and email are good, it does not replace physical meeting where you can look each other in the eye. It is strongly encourage it find a partner that you can meet face to face.
  • Purposeful – WHETSTONE is not a bi-weekly social gathering, meetings should be tactful, well thought out, honest and with a particular outcome in mind.
  • Periodic – there is no set rule for frequency, but it must be frequent enough to be effective but not too frequent to be overburdening. Every other week seems to be a good cadence.

SO WHAT IS WHETSTONE?

  • WHETSTONE is a committed relationship between two men. One (the Stone) serves as a mentor to the other (the Blade), you can serve as both Stone and Blade in most partnerships.
  • Although the Stone and Blade may indeed be friends, the WHESTONE differs from a typical friendship. The purpose of the WHETSTONE is the deliberate sharpening effort in helping men to hone the skills and character qualities that comprise the High Impact Man (HIM) he is called to be.
  • As with anything F3, WHETSTONE is free, voluntary, at-your-own-risk, and you can modify as needed.

CALL TO ACTION

The Fort and the Rock Regions are joint re-launching WHETSTONE will the purposeful intent of encouraging PAX to honestly evaluate their current life situation and ask themselves why you aren’t a part of WHETSTONE?

WHETSTONE will officially relaunch on mid_April, be on the lookout for a follow-up PreBlast with additional info on a 1st & 3rd F Convergence, how to sign up for WHETSTONE, and changes to the support structure for WHETSTONE.

Starting examining yourself, think about pax you’d think you’d want to be in a WHETSTONE partnership and talk with fellow pax.

Give us a follow on twitter @F3FortWHETSTONE and @F3RockWhetstone

Until then, mull on these quotes from a few pax who have been engaged in a WHETSTONE partnership:

“If you’re not actively participating in a Whetstone relationship, you’re still in the kiddie pool when it comes to the 2nd F.”

“A man can improve all aspects of live with perspective through council.”

“At a time in my life when I have had so many disruptions and setbacks personally, I could not have imagined how much more my struggle would be without my whetstone partner. There have been times in the last two years that I have been in despair, confused, sad, defeated, depressed, etc. My whetstone partner got in the ditch with me where it was bad. He encouraged me. He prayed with me, for me, and for my family. He helped me keep my faith when my faith was weak. He sent me encouraging Bible verses, he did not judge. I think the greatest gift sometime of a whetstone partner is to just listen. And allow that person to talk. To build trust and confidence that what is said is confidential. There are things in life sometimes that happen that you don’t feel like talking to with a family member or a work friend or sharing at COT. The whetstone partner allows all to be said if it’s working the correct way in my opinion.”

“My whetstone partner has helped me keep a focus on raising my kids, keeping faith, staying focused, and not giving up!”

“it’s comforting and challenging to know there is a close friend who is going to ask me the tough questions about where I struggle in life, and they’re not afraid to ask.”

“Having another man in your life that you can speak with freely and share your highs and lows and walk with through life is important and specifically addressed in Scripture. This world throws a lot at us and it’s important to have people in your life that can shine light on the shadows and encourage, challenge, and walk together through this life.”

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15

Last Minute Q at Footloose with a promise of no stairs

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So I took the Q at the last minute to help out Beacon, and during the initial twitter planning there was a request made for no stairs, so I decided to make today’s beat down leg friendly in the event any P200 guys were going to post.

So we started out with a quick disclaimer, and then a short mosey to the entrance on the left side of the church where we circled up for a warm-up:

  • SSH’s in cadence – 25
  • Overhead hand claps in cadence – 25
  • Windmill in cadence – 10
  • Moroccan Nightclubs in cadence – 25
  • Cherry Pickers in cadence – 10

Mosey to the back lot under the overhang for the start of the main course

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in Cadence – 25
  • Boat/Canoe single count – 10

A quick discussion on the word of the month (Abide).  We discussed how one of the critical components to being able to abide in something is trust.  Then once the trust is established we need to relinquish control and trust in whom we abide (specifically in Christ)

Rinse and Repeat

Took a quick mosey around the parking lot, then over to the wall for some People’s Chair

  • Each PAX popped out of the chair for 3 strong burpees, starting at both ends and working to the center

Around the corner for some more core work:

  • Hello Dolly’s in cadence – 20
  • Freddy Mercury in cadence – 20
  • Big Boy Sit-ups single count – 10
  • American Hammer in cadence – 20

Back around the corner for some more People’s Chair

  • Each PAX popped out of the chair for three strong bombjacks, starting at both ends and working to the center.

A quick on the spot question to Lugnut asking how he got his name and what F3 has meant to him, then back around the corner for some upper body work:

  • Merkins in cadence – 10
  • Diamond Merkins in cadence – 10
  • Carolina Dry Docks in cadence – 10
  • Wide arm Merkins in cadence – 10

Rinse and Repeat

Mosey around the parking lot and back to under the overhang.  Another quick on the spot question to Spitz asking how he got his name and what F3 has meant to him, then a lightning round of core work:

  • LBC’s in cadence – 15
  • Flutter Kicks in Cadence – 20
  • Hello Dolly’s in cadence – 20

Mosey back to COT for a bit of stretching lead by Kilbasa

Done.  All that planning for a P200 friendly workout and the only one remotely interested was Anchorman who started training for the P200 today 😉

Smithers – Out

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2

Deck of Death – Uno at PoopDeck

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A cold chilly wind was blowing over the marina this morning as 6 HIMs joined the Poopdeck to take a little break and play some cards since all the P200 runners are resting in preparation for the big day.

After a regular dislaimer – adding that we would be staying close to CoT so phones did not need to be brought along in case of emergency – did a mosey around the lot with high knees, toy soldier, toe walk and heel walk.

Circle of Pain
21s (QIC calls out in cadence and then goes silent, all PAX must stop after 21 reps or suffer a penalty exercise)
Windmills
SSHs
CDDs
Mountain Climbers

Lined up on a parking lot line for an Deck of death with Uno cards
Yellow – Mike Tyson Merkins
Red – Bearpee (burpee reps with a 20yard bear crawl)
Blue – Bobby Hurley with Knee tuck
Green – Monkey Humper reps with 20 yard duck walk
Skip – 10 count
Draw 2 – 2 Absolutions (8 count combo in plank of frog tucks, mactarjai and plank jack
Draw 4 – 4 Captain Thor (big boy with 4 single count american hammer)

Totals:
49 Mike Tysons
18 Burpees 60 yard bear crawl
32 Bobby Hurley knee tucks
57 Monkey humpers 140 yard duck walk
40 count rest
24 absolutions
8 Capt Thor

Abide!
Men, abiding as defined by Webster is to act in accordance with a rule, decision or recommendation, but Jesus came to this world to heighten and deepen our understanding of what is right and to bring matters into the heart as inward thoughts and feelings and not just outward actions. Abiding in Jesus is obeying and acting in accordance with others rules, decisions and recommendations and adding on a layer of selflessness, respect, and humility. If asked to go one mile, go two. If asked for your shirt, give your coat also. This was the word left with the PAX this morning

Indian Run around the parking lot, front PAX drops for 5 merkins then catches up to the line to yell DROP to the new line leader, everyone dropped twice

Lunge walk ALL THE WAY from the little restaurant back to CoT, you LKW PAX must be hurting just reading that now.

2 minutes of flutter, hello dolly and protractor to call it a day

CoT
Count-a-rama
Name-a-rama
Wild Thing’s kid – prayers that the attitude is a passing moment and not a prolonged phase of life
Homebrew’s M – new baby, less sleep, we all understand and are supporting you
IcedT’s son – is moving to a nval base in FL to be closer to his son’s wife
Respectable Olaf’s family – they just moved here a few weeks ago and are going through those normal struggles
Picasso – prayers to let fleeting matters go away and only dwell on what matters
QBert – wife is putting in more daytime hours at the hospital to prepare for the change to night shift and stressing about being ready for the higher level of responsibility and autonomy

AYE!!!!!

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2

CSPAN in Relief at a Ruck Swamp

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So this is a really late backblast…we did some ruck stuff trying to focus on teamwork but it was an afterthought to this topic

The subject matter has sparked a bunch of side conversations, and hopefully, men realize we realize that we all have the same weaknesses and we will only get better when we can lock shields and truly walk with each other

My topic was lust…

Lust for money, power, a woman…or naked women…we could only have lust for women that day

The Bible is clear on how to handle lust…

Matthew 5:27-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

Lust

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

We discussed on how porn feeds our lust…and the statistics are frightening:

Stats on porn – and is this where all the lust comes from?

11 Porn Industry Stats That Really Need To Change:

  1. Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, & Twitter combined each month. (HuffPost)
  2. 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related. (WebRoot)
  3. 34% of internet users have been exposed to unwanted porn via ads, pop-ups, etc. (WebRoot)
  4. Porn increased marital infidelity by 300%. (WebRoot)
  5. At least 30% of all data transferred across the internet is porn-related. (HuffPost)
  6. The most common female role in porn is women in their 20’s portraying teenagers. (Jon Millward.) (In 2013, Millward conducted the largest personal research study on the Porn Industry in the U.S. He interviewed 10,000 porn stars about various aspects of the business.)
  7. Recorded child sexual exploitation (known as “child porn”) is one of the fastest-growing online businesses. (IWF)
  8. 624,000+ child porn traders have been discovered online in the U.S. (Innocent Justice)
  9. Child porn is a $3 billion industry. (TopTenReviews)
  10. Porn is a global, estimated $97 billion industry, with about $12 billion of that coming from the U.S. (NBC News)  
  11. In 2016 alone, more than 4,599,000,000 hours of porn were watched on the world’s largest porn site. (PH Analytics)
  12. Eleven pornography sites are among the world’s top 300 most popular Internet sites. The most popular such site, at number 18, outranks the likes of eBay, MSN, and Netflix. (SimilarWeb)

Viewing Stats That Are Hard To Believe (from NCOSE):

  1. 64% of young people, ages 13–24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often. [1]
  2. Teenage girls and young women are significantly more likely to actively seek out porn than women 25 years old and above. [2]
  3. A study of 14- to 19-year-olds found that females who watched pornographic videos were at a significantly greater likelihood of being victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault. [3]
  4. A Swedish study of 18-year-old males found that frequent users of pornography were significantly more likely to have sold and bought sex than other boys of the same age. [4]
  5. A 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike. [5]
  6. A recent UK survey found that 44% of males aged 11–16 who viewed pornography reported that online pornography gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try. [6]

Amazing that @F3TheFort has this many men in our group and nobody struggles with porn? what is too much? once a year? once a month? once a week? once a day? once an hour?

If you are struggling find a man to hold you accountable…we owe it to each other and each other’s families

The conversation will continue…

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3

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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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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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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