Mid-term Exam @ the Coop

23 Men arrived with lots of chatter and welcome to FNG “Horse Shoe” and the EH by Couter inviting the intern out.  It was a beautiful day at the Coop for a Mid-Term Exam to remind ourselves of the word that we chose at the beginning of the year and to challenge our selves to finish strong.  

For those that chose a word at the beginning of the year… how is it going?  What have you learned? How are you approaching life differently?

For me… My word is Wisdom and I struggle for perspective and often lose my way and need to be anchor and guided.  The verse that has been shown to me to help is below:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. – Ephesians 5:21

The Thang:

 –  Warm up… Thank you Pitts for stepping up and leading us through a series of warm up exercises!!  Nice leadership and excellent cadence! 

(mosey to band parking lot)

Power skip to 50 yard line and back

10 min Amrap

  •    5 burpees
  •    10 donkey kicks
  •    15 bomb jacks
  •    Sprint to 50 yard line and back after each round

  – bear crawl / Merkin ladder (1+ merkin every 10 yards) to 50 yard line and back

  – lunge walk/jump squat ladder (1+ jump squat every 10 yards)

Mosey to the NaFo wall for some wall sits and a bit of balls to the wall

3 minute Amrap

  –  5 – Flying squirrels

   – 5 – mountain climbers

   – 5 – Carolina dry docks

It was an honor and privilege to lead and thank you to Sugarbug for the opportunity.

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BackBlast from The Ranch 7-27-17

16 HIMs showed up in the gloom to join me at The Ranch for my last Q/post until after I become a father of 4.

Mosey to the back of the school.

Warmup

  • 20 Side Straddle Hops
  • 20 Squats
  • 5 double count Merkins
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • Honeymooner
  • 20 Moroccan Night Clubs

Short Warmup so that we could get to THE THANG:

BOARD OF PAIN

Mosey Back to COT

Announcements

  • Last week of F3Dads this Saturday the 29th – NEED A Q or 2
  • Last week of QSchool next Tuesday the 1st
  • Effort to get VQs in September

Prayers/Praises:

  • Senator Tressel’s Sister & Brother in Law
  • Flat Tire’s mother (health)
  • Flat Tire’s wife – praise for new J-O-B!
  • Prayers for Bella (Ginsu’s soon to be daughter)

Thank you to the men who posted!

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Get busy living at the Yard

12 #HIM responded to the call this warm and humid morning. We all said our normal grumbling hellos and soon the mumble chatter started. YHC gave the disclaimer, brief and to the point as there were no FNG’s, and the PAX began to mosey.

The Warm Up
The PAX circled the parking lot and proceeded to the front of the middle school where a little high knees, butt kickers and Karaoke were in the cards while running to the parking area near the top of the hill. Warm Up exercises were as follows:
SSH
Windmill
Moroccan Night Clubs
Cherry Pickers
Mountain Climbers
Imperial Walkers
Merkins

The Thang

The PAX proceeded to the bottom of the hill at the entrance to the schools, partnered up and began a little round of Dora 1,2,3. Partners traded off on running up and down the hill while the other performed the Dora, consisting of 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats.

From there, the PAX moseyed back up the hill, grabbed some wall for multiple rounds of preachers chair complete with arm raises and overhead claps.

Sensing there was more living to do, the PAX moved to the back parking lot where cones awaited for a bit of 4 corners. PAX were broken into 4 groups and instructed to perform 3 laps around the cones, performing 10 reps of the identified exercise at each cone. The exercises:
Flying Squirrels (this is a moderate so no Burpees)
Flutter Kicks
Carolina Dry Docks
BOXCUTTERS
One more round was performed for giggles.

All ended with a round of Mary, with nearly half the PAX having the opportunity to lead an exercise. Back to COT.

With the word of the month being FREEDOM, the discussion turned to what that meant to each of us. The common theme iterated by the group centered on the freedoms we have as a country, as a people, to worship where and how we want and most frequently, the choices we have the freedom to make. Choices that have positive outcomes, such as the choice these HIM made to come out and get better, and choices that have consequences which everyone of us has experienced in this life.

We prayed for families, those traveling, those with job loss, and those struggling to live lives based on choices that the Sky Q would be proud of us making.

Thanks to Hasselhoff for allowing me to lead this group. I remain thankful and humbled.

V/R, M*A*S*H

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The British are coming, the British are coming…..

Alcatraz invited a British VQ to lead the PAX to try and escape the infamous AO. Very little word got out that the British were invading Alcatraz, but 7 PAX stood their ground awaiting for a beatdown by our very own brit – Sparkplug. After giving a good disclaimer, mossy through the baseball fields for COP. His weinke was written in british, but the best part of COP was the accent!! lots of mumble chatter relating to that. Mossy over the restroom wall.

PAX took a seat on the wall for various counts, then sprinted to outfield wall and back. BTW followed with another sprint. Mossy back to other baseball field entrance for 4 corners. Each corners involved 50 reps. first corner involved the blocks near the playground. Only got through 3 of the 4 rounds before passing the tea over to Trucker.

Mossy to playground for 3 rounds of 5 pull-ups and 15 LBCs.

Mossy to short steep hill for more rounds of pain.

Line up in a single line and one at a time run to the top and back. Once the PAX reaches the top, the next PAX takes off. Those not running are doing merkins. RInse and repeat two more times.

Mossy to COT

Great VQ by Sparkplug!!!

Prayers to Senator Tressel and injured.

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Farewell to Fred Astaire or Goodbye Ballroom

17 gathered to bid farewell to the Ballroom with visits to classic site areas and two games of frogger.  (Written on iPad at 23,000 feet)

 

The thang

 

warm up – no clear recall on what that was

Mosey to Founders parking lot. With partner do two sets of squats and crunches whilst partner runs around building

Mosey to Publix while engaging frogger   50 calf raises and 15 merkins

Mosey to coupon pile with stop for bear crawls and merkins on the very moist grass

With partner and coupon complete curls, presses, one armed rows, and triceps extensions while partner runs up and down hill

Mosey back to warehouse wall while playing frogger across Gold Hill road

With partner wall sits while partner scales two,retaining walls – 2x

Return to COT via retaining walls with finish of 25 SSH

Moleskin:

Freedom means being able to,choose but also requires the acceptance of consequences

 

 

 

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Theatre of Pain with Motley Crue

Met him in Vegas in 2008.

THEATRE OF PAIN WITH MOTLEY CRUE 

Warmup – jog around soccer field alternating high knees, butt kickers, side shuffle to l/r then gorrilla walks to left then right.  Circled up for chicken wing side straddle hops and seal cross straddle hops in cadence.

The Thang – 4 songs with a tour of 6 stations on  soccer field in between each song.

Song 1 – Dr. Feelgood – 4 mins of body quats during music/lyrics to squat jumps during chorus.  Knee tuck slaps during guitar solo.

Round 1 – in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each at 6 stations for plank jacks, wide grip merkins, squat jumps, ab box cutters, L/R reverse lunges, and ab superman pumps.  Bear Crawl and Lunges alternating to each station.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 2 – Wild Side – 4 mins of side straddle hops during music/lyrics to bombjacks during chorus and slow burpees during guitar solo.

Round 2 –  in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each at 6 stations for plank thrusts, diamond merkins, double squat jump, ab flutters, plyo lunges, superman jacks.  Bear crawl and lunges alternating to each station.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 3 – Girls, Girls, Girls – in tribute to all M’s.  American hammer during music/lyrics to hello Dolly’s ( Free Bird was thinking about my wife during this ) during chorus, to windshield washers during guitar solo.

Round 3 – in corners and middle of soccer field, 10 reps each of 123 plank hops and regular hold merkins.  Mosey to parking lot for song.

Song 4 – Home Sweet  Home – the closer, plank to sphynx pose during music/lyrics to honeymooners during chorus and downward dog during guitar solo.  Springled in a few childs pose and arm huggers at end.

Announcements – 8/4 convergence.

Prayers for all parents/children travelling during this time, freedom from daily restraints/expectations, freedom from addition for my brother Michael,  peace for the souls of my friends Ken, John and Micheal in their passing.

 

 

 

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DPQ – New F3 Acronym (Don’t Poke the Q) Rad Brad’s Fault

Rad decided it was a good idea the night before to start ragging on my Monday Q and that pre-runs should be required in order to get a decent workout.  Well, didn’t really need that motivation, but it definitely pushed me to add more weight to the flat bed relays.

Warm-up (or lack thereof):  2 songs played – one drove merkin count, one drove squat count
– The Police – Roxanne:  every time you hear Roxanne, drop it down to 6 inch hold, next Roxanne push up.  Do it for the whole song w/ plenty of instrumentals played at the 6 inch hold
– AC/DC – Thunderstruck (sorry DaVinci):  same as above, only squat and hold down on the word “Thunder” and then when you hear it again, come up but then immediately do calf raises until the next “Thunder”

  • Next up – flat bed relays.  Prior to the workout, Olaf, Lutefisk and myself hit Home Depot looking for some flat bed carts.  After being questioned by the manager on duty for some “shady-ness”, we convinced her it was cool and that we’d return all Home Depot assets post workout.
    We then proceeded to load up each flat bed w/ the following:  2 cinder blocks, an engine, a car battery, and about 3 bags of metal pellets (each weighing approx 15-30 lbs).   2 teams (one for each flat bed cart) – while one pax from each team pushed the cart the full length of the Home Depot parking lot and then back, the rest of the pax did as many they could of the following exercises (each exercise was done 3x, ie. 3 seperate team member flat bed pushes) – carolina dry docks, jump lunges, toe touches
  • 2nd station – wall sits between Target and Home Depot.  All pax held a wall sit until all of the following was complete:  each pax sprints to the opposite wall one by one, does 5 burpees and sprints back (then the next guy can go), each pax sprints to the opposite wall one by one, does 5 vertical jumps (touch the highest brick you can on the wall) and sprints back.  We then finished her off w/ single leg wall sits for 20 sec holds each.
  • 3rd station – moseyed on over to the fountain and did some new wave tabata (thx for the inspiration On the Rocks).  No timer w/ this tabata – our “timer” was 2 pax at a time doing suicides.  While they did suicides, the rest of us did the following exercises max rep – single arm row planks, diamond merkins, crab cakes, knee to elbow merkins.
  • Finished it off w/ all you got 50 yd sprints in front of Best Buy x 3 w/ a jailbreak to COT.

Thanks for allowing me to lead DaVinci.  Had a blast.  Left the pax w/ some words around making more time for what’s important.  I’ve been struggling w/ putting in way too many hours at the office, and have sacrificed time w/ my kids, wife and in the word.  I recently got my hands on a leadership book from a guy at work (Leading…for God’s Sake) and one of the passages states “If you are too busy for God, maybe you are busier than he intended you to be”.  Make the time.

ChaChing

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2017 Board of Pain at The Abyss – 7/19/2017

17 brave souls showed up for everyone’s favorite summer tradition- the Board of Pain.   With the majority being first-timers I knew this was going to be fun.  There is not better representation of ‘You vs You’ than the #BoardOfPain.

The Thang: perform each exercise and the associated rep count.  You can not move on to next exercise until previous exercise is complete.  In between each exercise is a recovery run of 1/4 mile.  Below are the stats on the day.  Come back next week to compete against the others and yourself.

An amazing effort from all the Pax today, especially first timers.  The Board of Pain tests you both physically and mentally.  Below are resutls:

Prayers
Went around the circle and everyone Pax was asked to give a pray or praise. Too many to remember but they were heard.

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Sea Legs gets a Security Detail

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, If you haven’t made it out to Sea Legs yet you are missing out. For my first post at Sea Legs I got to run across Buster Boyd Bridge and and witness some of Sky Q’s work in a beautiful sunrise. It’s a great AO, so set your alarm clock a few minutes earlier and get on out to Lake Wylie. As added incentive you’ll get some great 2nd F with some of the best #HIMs in the county.  Enough of the sales. Time for the meat and potatoes.

I arrived a few minutes early and scoped out T-Bones parking lot for some interval work. As I rolled in I shined the high beams on a couple of York County’s finest having a little conversation. I immediately exited the parking lot looking back to see if they noticed me.

Arrived to see some fellow PAX that I haven’t seen in awhile (great seeing you Axl and Hauschka). 0515 came, short disclaimer and off we went.

  • Warm-up: Run to Blucher* Circle and did a little loop around to T-Bones parking lot and then did 1 lap
  • As we lapped the parking lot I asked Witch Hunt if this was cool or if the police would stop us and ask what was going on. He said they were with the program, All good!
  • Workout: Intervals, run 1 lap (approx. .25 miles) at 10K or faster pace and then 1 lap recovery until time is called

My legs are feeling it and everyone seemed to “enjoy” the workout. Thanks for the opportunity Witch Hunt and please keep me in the rotation.

NMM

  • We ran laps around the 2 patrol cars for probably 30 minutes before they departed. I’ve never felt safer running which is saying a lot for me.
  • Great 2nd F conversation with Witch Hunt, next time I’ll let you speak
  • As much as DaVinci denies it, he’s a runner and likes it..I think
  • Great to meet you Never Never
  • Again, great to see Axl and Hauschka. I’ve missed you guys but it’s probably my fault I haven’t seen you.
  • Solid work put in by Andretti
  • Strava Art, look we made a pirate hook (as noted by DaVinci)

*Fun Fact, Blucher is the name of Frau Blucher from Young Frankenstein. Every time her name was spoken you could hear horses whinny in the distance. A common rumor was that her name Blucher meant glue in German (and glue is made from horses obviously) and is why the horses would whinny every time her name was mentioned.  This is one of the best ongoing gags in a comedy. To find out the real (less interesting) story click HERE. And if you haven’t seen Young Frankenstein yet, you are doing yourself a disservice. It is comic gold and some of Mel Brooks best work. PSA over!

Announcements

  • It’s all in the newsletter
  • The Delta
  • Lake Wylie Shirt order closes 08/02

Praise and Prayers

  • Prayers for DaVinci and his business’ focus
  • Prayer for Witch Hunt’s M (2.3 due November)
  • Praise for Zima and family fun last minute vacation
  • Prayers for injured PAX

Great morning to get better. Thanks to all who posted and to Witch Hunt for the opportunity.

Zima

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BackBlast 7-25-17: That One Big Thing @ #Colosseum

Humidity was at an all time high in the swamp they call the Colosseum on Tuesday morning. 22 men showed up ready for some action and they got what they came for.

Mosey to the parking lot.

WARMUP:

  • 30 Side Straddle Hops
  • 12 Windmills
  • 10 4-count Merkins
  • 10 4-count Mountain Climbers
  • 10 4-count Peter Parkers
  • 20 Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to the first light post (you know what’s coming next).

The Thang (Light Post Workout – $1 to Jekyll):

  • 10 LBCs/post
  • Mosey back to start
  • Plank for the six
  • 5 Burpees/post
  • 6 Inches for six at top
  • 20 LBCs in cadence
  • Mosey back to the bottom
  • Plank for the six
  • 10 Diamond Merkins/post
  • 6 Inches for the six
  • 20 4-count Flutter

Mosey back to COT

  • Captain Thors to 5×20

Announcements

  • New Thursday 3rd F led by ChickenHawk
  • Last QSchool next Tuesday the 1st led by Funhouse & Senator Tressel

Prayer Requests

  • Lutefisk’s Mom
  • Cornerstone’s Daughter
  • Ginsu’s Adoption

Maximus took us out in prayer.

Moleskin

For years, adoption has been something that I’ve thought of doing, but it seemed too big. I have a heart (as most people do) for the less fortunate, especially children, but didn’t think that we could handle bringing home another child to live with us. It was my one big thing that I new I was being called to do, but I couldn’t do it. It was too hard, too much, made me too uncomfortable. Fortunately for me, my M has a bigger heart and far more faith than I do and over a series of months, convinced me that this is what God was leading us to do and that we should trust the He would give us everything we need along the way. Also, fortunately for us, we had others around us (e.g. Maximus & his M) who been through it before and provided all the support and advice we could ever need.

That was my one, big thing. The thing that I knew that God was telling me to do, but I didn’t have the faith or courage to pursue it…until now. I’m still scared of what is around that corner, but I know that God will be with us every step of the way.

What is your one, big thing? That thing that has been tugging at your heart for weeks, months, years, or even decades? For us it was adoption, but for you it may be bigger, require more sacrifice, more faith, and more courage.

I encourage you to pray about it. Trust that God will take you through whatever He is calling you to do. Do that one big thing, whatever it is.

Ginsu

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