Thanksgiving Day “Fun Run” with FunHouse

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OK PAX, you are already getting up to head to The Ranch @ 0600 for the Thanksgiving Day festivities.  So why not allow yourself some more caloric intake for the day by joining YHC for the First Annual Thanksgiving Day Fun Run!  Here are the details:

Place: Trail Head Park (Tempo)

Time: Launch 0500

Distance: ~5.5 miles

YHC hates to run alone, so meet at Trail Head with headlights and reflective gear to make this a Thanksgiving that your legs wont forget!

You will need to get a ride back to Trail Head… so Hit a Brother up.

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Hills are alive at Tempo

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  • QIC: FunHouse
  • When: 11/17/2016
  • Pax: Gears, Jeeves, FishSticks, Senator T, Decible, Gecko
  • Posted In: Tempo, The Fort

7 PAX joined up for a hill workout that proved to be too much for YHC.

The Thang:

Run 1.75 miles to bottom of huge hill, run up, .25 miles, run down, .25 miles X 5.

Run back +1 mile back.

It sucked.

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Did someone say Tega Cay hills?

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  • QIC: DD and Trucker
  • When: 11/19/16
  • Pax: Falcon Crest, Sen Tressel, Double D, Fishsticks, Mainframe, Trucker
  • Posted In: Alcatraz

YHC was glad to come back home to his favorite AO and substitute as Q for CSPAN, then Zima as they decided to head south to GrowRuck. DD also volunteered to Q so it was going to be double your pleasure of pain. The Thang:

DD starts of by:
Lunge walk across parking lot
Backward jog back
Sideways lunge walk across lot
Backward jog back
Karaoke across lot and back

COP — all IC x10
Mtn climbers
Peter Parkers
Hillbilly walkers
Imperial walkers
Parker Peters
Merkins
Windmills

Run lap around baseball field
Partner up and line up along fence between ball fields
Wheelbarrow to light post in right field
Backwards run back to fence
(Rinse & repeat wheelbarrow/backward run sequence 2 more x)

People’s chair along fence

Indian bear crawl to right field light post
Backward jog back to fence

People’s chair along fence

Line up for suicides from fence to right field light post w/2 turnarounds before light post
(Rinse and repeat 2 more x)

Short session of Mary — Penguins, Dollies, Freddie Mercurys

Handoff to Trucker

Mossy to small hill and bear crawl up to Park trail, mossy then to the infamous Tega Cay Hill.

After an inspiring convergence at the Fort last week with Olive’s Q and message, I thought it would be good to replicate his workout a little. So we did a mini version of sharknato sine YHC loves to run.
The PAX were informed of the 9s version where there are 3 rounds of 3 laps.

Run down the hill and do 10 merkins, run back up and do 10 merkins
Run down the hill and do 10 squats, run back up the hill and do 10 squats
Run down the hill and do 10 LBCs, run back up the hill and do 10 LBCs
Rinse and Repeat – unfortunately time was running out to finish the third set of 9’s.

Mossy along the Park trail towards the fire station. At the pull up bar (what’s a Trucker Q without pull-ups?)
As each PAX does 5 pull-ups, the other PAX does continuous squats until each PAX did 3 sets of 5 pull-ups.

Mossy to parking lot for toy soldiers the length of the parking lot, and then high knees back.

2 minutes of Mary: Hello Dolly and then protractor

COT

As always, am honor to Q and appreciate DD sharing the Q!!

Announcements: Read the newsletter and signup for the Xmas Party!!

Prayers: there were a few spoken and unspoken, but the Q forgot his phone so apologize for not recalling them.

Trucker

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Independence Pyramid

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  • QIC: Samurai
  • When: 11/21/16
  • Pax: YHC (Respect), Blackhawk, PCH, Rip Stick, Red Fish, Chuckie(Respect) and FNG The Beacon
  • Posted In: The Fort

The only BAD workout is a Fartsacked post!!!

0515 7 HIMs posted in the Cold morning air to push the rock and get better together.  Not much mumble chatter early due to the cold but it did not stay that way too long.  Disclaimers were given and as soon as the warm up was done it was off to Egypt to see the Pyramids.  Man was I humbled to lead this group today, every time I get to Q I am honored to stand in the middle and try to bring out the best in each other, better together!!!

Warm up

SSH     15

Right over Left repeat opposite

Windmill     15

Arm stretch

Merkins     10

Mosey to the first of the Pyramid

At Stonehenge  we started with

Step ups      20 each leg

Low Slow Squats     15

Mosey to the Eagle Front Statue

Irkins    20

Derkins     20

Dips     30

Mosey to a front parking lot for a duo

Merkins     25

Run the parking lot

LBC     25

Run the parking lot

Mosey to Scholar’s Walk

Lt. Dan 1 light pole

Bear Crawl 1 light pole

Squat Broad Jump 1 light pole

Mosey to the bottom of the Amphitheater

Plank Jacks     25

Sprint to the top of the stairs then recover jog back

Box Cutters     20

Sprint to the top of the stairs then recover jog back

Then the start back down the Pyramid, all but one of the exercise stations but the parking lot due to time were sweated out.

While recovering from the mosey to the Eagle Statue, I discussed Mailman’s sermon from yesterday at PHOP about our time we have each day.  Fitting with the theme of the month Margin.  Mailman explained that we have 2 boxes in our daily life.  The spiritual box which we have bible reading, praying and church going, the second box is the secular box which is everything else in your day like driving to work, raising your kids, work and work out things.  Then he explained that all the secular things can be placed in the spiritual box also.  All things we do in our day should put Christ in it whether your work make someone see Christ in  you, driving to drop off the kids call someone and check to see how they are doing and see if you can help in any way.  You can see the direction of the message.  Put Christ in our lives in all we do, it pleases God.

Blackhawk great leadership and thanks for keeping me on time and task.  True HIM

PCH much admiration for continuing to bring Rip Stick and be a positive role model for him.  Great work today.

Rip Stick man am I proud of you for getting out of a warm bed and posting every morning.  I know you are getting stronger by the day and will be a great leader someday.

Red Fish nice finally posting with you and your solid work today proved well.

Chuckie as always you are a solid HIM.  Man of God and someone that has physically transformed since joining the Gloom.  With the Respects we need to stick together and work smart and harder to hang with the younger PAX.  Great work.

The Beacon what a pleasure to have you come out on this cool morning.  Hope to see you again soon in the Gloom and great first workout!!!

Lets all welcome Richard Carr “The Beacon”  to the PAX, he was Head locked by Dog Pound but was not able to join us.  Great work.

Prayed are for the injured and sick PAX and all family members.

Samurai out

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Pushing the Rock of Empathy and expanding our Reach

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  • QIC: DaVinci, Deacon and Chicken Hawk
  • When: 12/03/2016
  • Pax: All PAX
  • Posted In: Uncategorized

@0600-0700 at Eternal Church

We humbly offer this pre-blast as we prepare our hearts and minds for the next conversation, and the important work ahead. These are some of the thoughts and questions that arose as we processed our last meeting of 21 HIM. We hope this will serve to spark thought and further the discussion. We ask that you pray and think about it, and come with some ideas for action.

Background and action to date

This initiative was born out of the strong desire of many PAX to do something following the shooting death of Keith Scott, an African American man, by a Charlotte police officer and the subsequent protests in and around Charlotte. The shooting and events following personalized and localized a recurring and deeply troubling national narrative, bringing to light and placing at our doorstep the undeniable racial divide right in our communities. (Feelings of separation, misunderstanding and mistrust have been further exacerbated by the outcome of our presidential election.)

We men are “fixers” by nature, and the men of F3 began important work several weeks ago with the sharing of empirical facts and professional and personal life experiences from Fellini, Figaro and Deacon.

This was followed by a “round-table” discussion, with many PAX asking questions and offering ideas about how we can address the lack of diversity in our ranks, and find ways to build and nurture empathy both in F3 and our communities at large.

Next Conversation is to agree on vision and agree on tactics 

  1. The WHAT: What are the goals of this initiative?

Is it to… “More intentionally invigorate male community leadership through small work-out groups across all ethnic and racial groups within our community”

If so, how is this best accomplished? Can we accept with incremental, intentional (but organic) Emotional Headocking (EH) and outreach? Or is it best accomplished by swinging for the fence and partnering with houses of worship or other organizations and asking for a chance to present in front of their congregation or group in a Presentation Headlock (PH)

Is it changing the hearts and minds of PAX who may lack empathy and understanding?

Empathy cannot be forced; it can only be nurtured. Otherwise, integration would have solved racism years ago. One of the most interesting and profound things heard Saturday was that the socioeconomic makeup and segregation of communities vary drastically from F3 region to region. “It’s not like it is in Charlotte or Fort Mill.” These realities predicate the need for multiple methods of outreach. Some of these will be more challenging than others based on the specific living and working conditions of area residents.

F3 has the “secret sauce” and this cannot be taken lightly. The formula is proven. Workouts (First F) is where this all begins. It is this weekly (or multiple-times weekly) interactions that is the foundation of trust and the bonds of brotherhood.

  1. The HOW: Tactics For Initiative (Both In and Out of F3)

Empathy and understanding can result from efforts in many different venues. In addition to PAX diversity, there are other ways HIMs can become involved and make a positive impact in the community. These efforts can raise awareness of F3 and its mission, which in turn makes EH and PH more successful.

Some possible tactics include (let’s prioritize 2-3 idea):

  • Make “Empathy” a Theme of the Month
  • Grow involvement of existing outreach and initiatives that allow for interracial interaction such as Let Me Run and mentoring organizations like Boys Club.
  • Reach out to African-American houses of worship, community leaders and civic organizations, sharing the F3 mission of invigorating male leadership, and our goal of building diversity.

Teaching empathy. Displaying empathy. Providing opportunities to develop empathy through intentional interactions and encounters. All of these things will work to move the needle.

There are very real barriers to get men to post, and if they do, to come back. And these reasons have nothing to do with race. Time of day. Work schedule. Life and family situation. Temperature and the cost of proper winter attire. These realities should be factors as we think about how we move forward, and measure the results of our efforts.

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Opportunity knocks at the Ranch

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  • QIC: Backdraft
  • When: 11/17/2016
  • Pax: What did, Fridge, Snap hook, Wapner, McGuiver, Backdraft
  • Posted In: The Fort, The Ranch

As I was pulling into the Ranch on this cool Thursday morning and thinking about getting the day started. I wondered who was going to have the Q of this hopefully terrible beat down. As I sat there a few more headlights started to pull in. I decided it was time to get out of the comforts of the warm truck and join the group in the cold. As it approached closer and closer to 0515 and no one appeared to be taking the reigns What did asked if I were the Q. When I said no he said well it looks like it will be a group Q than. Well this guy had a little different idea see it takes him back about 1 month prior and YHC missed his Q opportunity at this very same AO. Is this a gift from the Big man upstairs he thought? Well if it is or isn’t he was going to take it as it was. So we started with what I call a disclaimer (your on your own don’t blame me or F3 for whatever might happen).

We moseyed around to the back of the school  and circled up for warm-ups.

15 SSH’s, 15 IW’s, 15 windmills, 10 merkins, 10 peter parkers, 15 SSH’s 10 low slow squats.

Mosey to playground we did 5 strict pull ups, 10 merkins, 15 squats drop down 1 pull up on each set until you get to 1. Plank for the six.

Mosey back out to the road and pair up. time for a little Dora 1, 2, 3 while 1 partner does the exercise the other runs to the second light pole and back. 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, 300 LBCs.

After this and all were a little gassed we took a short amount of time to talk about the word of the month which is Margin. To each this could have a total different meaning. But to YHC it means to give up some of his wasted time watching TV and being selficous and start giving more time to his M and what she might be needing. What did also spoke up and said he came up with a play calling sheet with activities for him and his family to do so that he did not waste time trying to figure it out. Awesome idea…

We than resumed with the workout and moseyed to the side of school for three sets of wall sits combined with dips on the benches. We finished at COT for an Abs set and COT.

Announcements were all from newsletter. (Thanksgiving workout, Christmas Party)

Prayers- Fridge’s stepmom and her battle with Cancer. Wapners dad and his battle with cancer also. Also for time and ability to make the most of our days.

I am still not sure who missed there Q but thanks for the opportunity to let me Q.

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Hey, it may be dark, but at least it’s cold!

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  • QIC: DaVinci
  • When: 11/17/16
  • Pax: Witchhunt, DarkHelmet, Wild Thing, Royale, Andretti (FNG)
  • Posted In: Poopdeck

During this morning’s workout at the PoopDeck, I heard three words I never thought I’d hear while running:

“DaVinci, slow DOWN!”

Me. The chronically last guy in. So much that I figured my F3 name would eventually be changed to “Six-Is-In” since that’s what I heard or said so often.

When I posted to my first F3 workout at The Deep on April 16 of this year, never would I have imagined seven months later that I would be out here in the gloom, in the cold, and be happy to be there. Yet, here I am, posting four or five times a week, running and doing merkins and frickin’ burpees and partner carries all the other crazy things we do — all at a ridiculous hour of the morning.

And not only am I participating, but I am stepping up to lead  workouts! What?! Which brings us to “The Thang” portion of this Backblast.

The Thang

We had an FNG (Welcome, Andretti!) this morning at Poopdeck, so I gave a fairly detailed disclaimer and took off for a couple laps around the parking lot. First lap to get the blood flowing, the second lap to do some butt-kickers, high-knees, side-shuffles and karaokes. Then we circled up for the warm-up exercises:

SSH x 20
Imperial Walkers x 20
Windmills (nice and slow)  x 10
Low Slow Squats x 15
Mountain Climbers x 10
Slow Merkins x 10
Honeymooners and Downward Dog to stretch out a bit
LBCs x 20

Then we turned on our headlamps and moseyed around the back of the Bowl ‘n’ Bounce, across the way to the back of the adjacent shopping center where we paused our run for some Toy Soldiers before completing our run around to the front parking lot for the (read over imaginary stadium loudspeaker): “Parking-ing-ing Lot-ot-ot of PAIN-pain-pain!” Or as, DarkHelmet refers to it: the “Workout in a Box” (with no reverb or echo effect).

So, basically, I struggle with coming up with cool workouts. And sometimes, I feel like there are muscle groups that don’t get worked some days. So I chose a series of exercises to cover the bases:

Flying Squirrels x 20
Carolina Dry Docks x 10
Freddy Mercurys x 20
Peter Parkers x 20
Imperial Walker x 20
Burpees x 10 (for DarkHelmet)
Squat-Raises x 20 (Low Squats ending in calf raise on standing)
Merkins x 20
Sumo Squats x 20
Mountain Climbers x 20
Diamond Merkins x 10
LBCs x 20
Flying Squirrels x 10
Parker Peters x 20

Each PAX picked a parking spot to start, did the prescribed exercise and then ran a lap around the parking row islands and progressed to the next exercise in the series. We all ended the circuit with around 8 minutes to spare, and before we began our mosey back to COT, our FNG Andretti, familiar with the area, suggested we take the scenic route back and led the return trip. The duration was perfect, as we arrived back at the flag with a minute to spare.

COT:

Prayers for Witchhunt’s Father in Law, praises for Wild Thing’s mom and her great prognosis following surgery.

Honored to serve. Grateful for my Brothers in F3.

Aye!

~ DaVinci

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Run and Gun in the Dark

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  • QIC: Mainframe, Mary Lou, Bolt
  • When: 11/16/16
  • Pax: Mainframe, Mary Lou, Bolt
  • Posted In: Run 'n Gun

With last week’s R and G cancelled, today was the first in the dark post-daylight savings time.

Thanks to Mainframe and Mary Lou for waiting for me via Twitter as I hit traffic w/ accident on 160. Mainframe was doing a second run today (planned) as part of P200 training. Daily doubles once or twice a week can be beneficial. I was posting a second today, so jus’ running sounded good. Mary Lou agreed.

Ran around a bunch, getting a little off track at first. We needed better head lights to run the trails. We hit Sewer Hill for one run up. Sewer Hill sucks. On the other side of Sutton, we decided to take a break for some exercises. X 2 dealer’s choice. Really funky positions, wonder what the neighbors thought.

A nice mosey back sounded good until Mary Lou exclaimed something which could only have meant “sprint back to the YMCA parking lot.” So we did it.

COT. Xmas party, P200 check it out! Pray for sick family members.

Bolt tried to recruit Mary Lou as the “second” in Fort Mill for the Joe Davis Run challenge as created by Tolkien…10 burpees for anyone who beats us or runs a PR or enters their first 5k/10k. Mary Lou will need more convincing.

Get out to Run and Gun! Don’t let the evening darkness scare you!

Bolt out.

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Round and round and round we went

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  • QIC: Chicken Hawk
  • When: 11/15/2016
  • Pax: Rebel, Tater, Grid Lock, Handy Manny, Green Wave, Basomatic, Corruption, Change Order, Newman, Tesh, Chaser, Anchorman, Barry Manilow, Main Frame
  • Posted In: Clydesdales

15 men came, ran, prayed and we then went to work.

And somewhere in the middle we talked about the importance of relationships in our lives with a call to action to reach out to someone different than us that is hurting to reassure them that it will be ok.

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Ask not for whom the Year tolls- It tolls for thee

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  • QIC: Short Sale
  • When: 11/16/16
  • Pax: CSPAN, Hasselhoff, Falcon Crest, Senator Tressel, Jekyl, LongShanks, Trucker, The Prodigy, Pigeon, Short Sale
  • Posted In: Pantheon

The morning dawned chilly but clear as I approached Pantheon on the first anniversary of my intro to F3. Alas my “sponsors” Howitzer and Bing would not be present due to having moved (Howitzer) and injury (Bing). Fish Sticks, who also had a hand in getting me to try the Daily Red Pill, was strangely absent. Probably busy plotting his next Alcatraz beat-down. Alas, they were all with me in spirit. I recalled my first time posting as an FNG and today brought a similar mixture of anxiety and excitement. But, this time I had Q-drenaline on my side.

Very gratified to see a few cars rolling in including the distinctive Jeep of our very own Q of Serve, CSPAN. Pleasantries were exchanged, Trucker’s home brew was discussed and the disclaimer was disclaimed. And away we went.

Warm-up lap around the “small” circle: Butt Kickers, High Knees, Karaoke and Power Skips (I’ve been reading a few of WorldWide Leader’s backblasts lately). Doubt that my Power skip form was any good.

COP: all in cadence

  • SSH x 25
  • Moroccan Night Clubs x 20
  • Merkins x 10
  • Squats x 25
  • Diamond Merkins x 10
  • IW x 20
  • Wide-arm Merkins x 10 (Q was almost smoked)
  • Hillbilly Walkers x 20

Quick Note on the monthly theme of Margin: asked the Pax to think about how much time each week they devote to the Most Important Things in Life.

The Thang:

Mosey behind the school to Basketball Court for Suicides (at 50%, 75%, 100%) and Bobby Hurleys, At that point, Jekyl asked in a very loud voice “did anyone see what happened to Duke did last night? (they lost) And, then, in a gleeful voice,  “And did y’all see how the Tar Heels did?” (they won). Mumble grumble from the Duke fans followed. Repeat the Suicide progression (crowd pleaser).

Mosey to Playground in back for some Dora. Partner up and knock out 65 Swing Crunches, 100 LBCs, 200 Squats with your partner. 365 in total in honor of my 1-year F3-versary.

Mosey to the kindergarten playground or, as Trucker put it, taking “the long way around the school”. Once there, we did 10 Burpees OYO for the benefit of Longshanks, king of The Burpees. (It’s not a workout without Burpess, right?) Next, grab a spot along the picnic tables for 30 step-ups (each leg) and 30 dips. Rinse and repeat, but just do 10 & 20 this time.

Mosey back to the front of the school and grab a spot on the wall. People’s Chair series where each Pax jumps out of line, does 5 squats (preferably quickly) and returns so the next man can do the same. A small mutiny erupted when our 2 “hate hate”s (Pigeon and The Prodigy) took their sweet time executing their squats and returning to the line. Remind me to split up the Millennials next time. The disturbance was quelled and we moved onto a nice, easy 20-count BTTW.  Now, being sufficiently smoked and nearing the end of my weinke, YHC decided to end with a few minutes of Mary, Pax choice.

Mosey back to the cars and get on your six. Throw it to Longshanks who called out some Dying Cockroaches (in cadence). Next, Jekyl led us through some Rosalitas (in cadence). Sensing that we may have gone overtime, lacking a timepiece to confirm that and running out of steam, YHC quickly audibled to another 10 Burpess OYO for the Pax while I grabbed my phone. Turns out, we had gone into 4 minutes of overtime. No one felt shortchanged.

COT:

  • Announcements
  • Praises to Howitzer, Bing and Fish Sticks for their EH skills
  • Prayers for families, injured Pax, our country, our state and our nation
  • Final thought on Margin: DO say NO to good things so you can say YES to great things and Don’t try to build Margin in your life by doing other things faster
  • Call to each Pax to find that friend, brother, co-worker or acquaintance who could benefit from trying F3. We know that they are out there, so do what you can to get them to post.

Naked Man Moleskin:

YHC also shared some of my personal history during COT. In November 2015, I was in a tough spot. There were some toxic forces brewing at my place of employment that were eating me up and dominating my every waking thought. I was neglecting my duties as a husband and as a dad.  I desperately needed to find a way to get stronger mentally and physically. Now, Howitzer, Bing and Fish Sticks didn’t know of my desperation at the time, but they each had a hand in leading me out of that dark place by continuing to talk up F3. Color me grateful.

I’ve retained some vivid memories from that first Post at Pantheon-seemingly hundreds of Bear Crawls up that infernal hill, cursing the Q at the time under my breath (think it was Double D) and my head starting to spin as I tried to catch my breath doing step ups on a 4 foot wall. However, i also remember how CSPAN, in true weasel shaker mode, came along side me and encouraged me to just try a little bit harder. When it came time for Name-O-Rama and I was christened with “Short Sale”, well, let’s just say it wasn’t my first or second choice. But, it’s grown on me and I am proud to be a member of this brotherhood. Looking forward to the years ahead and sharpening iron alongside my fellow leaders.

Truly humbled and honored to serve. Thanks Fish Sticks for the opportunity.

Short Sale signing off

 

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