Under the Bright Lights

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  • QIC: Short Sale and Spiderman
  • When: 9/10/16
  • Pax: Reborn, Senator Tressel (Respect), Mainframe, What Did, Pigeon, Bullwinkle, Rice a Roni
  • Posted In: Alcatraz

Imagine our surprise to roll up to Alcatraz in the gloom and see the lights on at full power. Caused each of us to raise our game.

The Thang: Nice mosey lap around Windward Dr

COP:

  • SSH (x 20)
  • IW (x 20)
  • Merkins (x10)
  • Plank Series
  • Hillbilly Walker (x20)
  • Moroccan night Clubs (x20)

Mosey over to that nasty hill at the end of Tega Cay Dr for some Jacob’s Ladder= Burpees and Derkins (x7). Hand off to Spiderman as YHC wanted to keel over.

Mosey back to ball field for some Jack Webbs (x10), over to the playground and split into groups of 3. 1s do 20 dips, 2s do 20 derkins and 3s do 10 pull ups (a real crowd pleaser). Rinse and repeat x3. Head back to the parking lot and each Pax grab a coupon on the way. Circle up for squats and nose breakers, pax exercise with the coupon as each takes a turn running around the circle. Ended with 10 minutes of Mary with each pax calling out an exercise.

Announcements and prayers for all of the BRR Pax and Reborn’s continued health..

So honored to lead a great group of men and thanks to Spiderman for coming up with such a good 2nd half plan. Lots of encouragement today amongst the pax and I was again humbled trying to get stronger and keep up. To YHC, Alcatraz is one AO that consistently tests the lints of my fitness.

Short Sale out.

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Thank you Dark Helmet for the cinder blocks

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As we assembled, reliving Monday’s workout & the Murph, the 2K+ yards of sprints that Chicken Wing had us do at The Coop on Wednesday and Birdcage’s neverending series of plank jacks at WEP yesterday, we readied ourselves for the imminent pain and got on our way.  Leaving the Nation Ford High School football stadium area, we began a mosey up and around the bus loop ending at the stash of cinder blocks near the tennis courts – “hey, cinder blocks all around – woot woot!”.  We then mosey’d down the hill (carrying the cinder clocks), stopped to complete warm-ups consisting of 10 side straddle hops, 10 imperial walkers, 10 low slow squats, 10 morroccan night clubs, and 10 seal jacks (we did not use the cinder blocks in warm-ups, but food for thought for next time), and then continued on to the Sugar Creek Elementary School playground basketball court.  I was clearly not awake when placing the cones out on the court, because the reality of just how dark it was outside became evident when we could not see the exercises written on the cones – frankly, we couldn’t even see the cones.  Using the light on my phone, we preceeded to begin the 4-corners of pain challenge.  A total of 5 cones were placed out – 1 cone in each corner of the the court and 1 cone located at center court.  Each cone (station) had 3 exercises written on them.  Each exercise directly incorporated the cinder block.  Stations 1 & 3 were upper body, stations 2 & 4 were lower body, and center court was abs.  Starting at station 1: the first exercise was completed (25 reps, 15 each side if split left/right), before carrying the block to center court and completing the first exercise (AMRAP until the 6 is in and has completed 10 reps).  The group then proceeded to station 2.  Rinse and repeat until all 3 exercises at all 4 stations (and the associated abs exercises) have been completed, carrying/using the block the whole entire time.  Exercises were completed as follows: Derkins, Leg Lifts, Alternating Back Lunges, LBCs, Wide Arm Derkins, Freddie Mercury’s, Alternating Lunges, American Hammers, Dips, Leg Lifts, Low Slow Squats, LBCs, Overhead Triceps Extensions, Freddie Mercury’s, Squat & Curls, American Hammers, Carolina Dry Docks, Leg Lifts, Alternating Power Step-ups, LBCs, Curl & Presses, Freddie Mercury’s, Alternating Side Lunges, American Hammers.  Did I mentioned that every exercise directly incorporated the use of the cinder block?!  We then picked up the cinder blocks and cones and mosey’d back up the hill, re-stashing our cinder blocks to be brought out and put to good use again in the future.  Hearing the 6 o’clock beep of one of the PAX’s watch, we mosey’d back to COT where it all began.  Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama (6 PAX – Leg Breaker, Kielbasa, Chicken Wing, MP, SkateOrDie, and named FNG “Red Card”), Prayers & Praise Reports – prayed the safety and success of the PAX (F3 & FIA) running BRR and BOM.

Great job today – it was a great finish to a great week!  #HIMS #UvU #MeVMe # ISI

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The Buffet at Academy

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  • QIC: Java
  • When: 09/06/16
  • Pax: Lucky Charm, Reborn, Smiley Face, Watson, Outlaw, Catfish
  • Posted In: Uncategorized

Who doesn’t love a buffet? you just get a little of everything… and when you leave you feel awful.

The Thang:

Approx half mile mosey around the parking lot

Warm up: Side straddle Hops, Merkins, Holy Ghost (high knees with hands up) , Peter Parkers, etc…

100 kettle bell swings and run after

50 curls – Run after

100 squats – Run

50 lawn mower pulls – Run

Kettle bell swings until the 6 is in

Circle of Plank:

All hold plank while one is running across the parking lot

after that we had a quick run

COT!

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Workout of Myths and Legends – Thanks LB

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  • QIC: Bogey
  • When: 09/08/16
  • Pax: Bill Nye, Pescadora, Slow Pitch, Turbyne, Limp Bizkit, Hot Sauce, Bull, Water boy, Money Bags, Honey Pot
  • Posted In: Uncategorized

No cutting corners allowed this morning as we paired up for a beat down that would be talked about for days. We were paired up because no one can do life alone especially not a workout designed by Bogey…hahaha This workout was designed to imitate ones life where he struggles along and then gets a little bit of Jesus time before getting back to the grind. Not until you actually stop and give it all to HIM is when you find peace and freedom or in the workout this morning, the COT and water. Great job men of the gloom! What an elite group of guys that came out to sharpen iron with each other today.

Station 1

Read Bible Verse and think of how it applies to your life. Ecclesiates 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Round 1 – 25 Burpie plank jacks

Round 2 – 25 Burpies

Round 3 – 25 Burpie Hand Release

Travel to next station: Sprint to Station 2

 

Station 2

Read Bible Verse and think of how it applies to your life. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Round 1 – 25 Carolina Dry Docks (In Cadence 123 count)

Round 2 – 25 Merkins (In Cadence 123 count)

Round 3 – 25 SSH (In Cadence 123 count)

Travel to next station: Bear Crawl

 

Station 3

Read Bible Verse and think of how it applies to your life. John 8:36 So if the son sets you free you will be free indeed.

Round 1 – 50 LBCs (In Cadence)

Round 2 – 25 Box Cutters (In Cadence)

Round 3 – 25 American Hammers (In Cadence)

Travel to next station: Pogo Jacks

 

Station 4

Read Bible Verse and think of how it applies to your life.1 Peter 3:8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted and humble in spirit.

Round 1 – 30 Low Slow Squats (In Cadence)

Round 2 – 25 Jumping lunges

Round 3 – 30 Calf raises

Travel to next station: Inch Worm merkin

 

Station 5

Read Bible Verse and think of how it applies to your life. 1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

Round 1 – 25 Bomb Jacks

Round 2 – 30 Moroccan Night Clubs!

Round 3 – 20 Diamond Merkins

Travel to next station: LT Dans

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Oh, it was Deep alright…

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  • QIC: Dark Helmet
  • When: 08/03/16
  • Pax: DaVinci, Witch Hunt, Royale, Snooki, Mainframe, Twister (Respect), Lil' E, Alamo, Short Shorts, Vila, Dark Helmet (YHC)
  • Posted In: The Deep, The Fort

Another beautiful day at The Deep… Weather was good. Men showed up. And with Twister and YHC on Q… Things got loud… and a little stupid.

Disclaimer got disclaimed, and off we went with YHC at the helm for half number 1…

We jogged around a bit and did some typical warm up things:
SSHs, IWs, Moroccan Nightclubs, Squats, Merkins, that sort of thing…
Then we completed 3 Kraken Burpees and ran 3 laps as fast as we could around the small traffic loop at the far end of the front of the school (approx 1/2 mile).
Next, it was time to grab the blocks… Pax were warned… But they came anyway…
Each Pax performed the following with their cinderblock:
12 8 count bodybuilders (was supposed to be 25, but I was afraid of mutiny… don’t worry, we finished them later…)
25 4 count flutter kicks with block press
25 leg lifts (this was a TERRIBLE idea – put your feet in the holes of the CB and then extend legs – then nearly die from a CB hitting you in the face)
25 merkins (one hand on block then switch)
25 air squats
25 hello dollies
12 more 8 count bodybuilders

Good news! The first half is over… Bad news? There’s a second half.
Twister has everyone shoulder their block and then start running around the BIG parking lot.
Run halfway around, then do:
15 curls
15 shoulder presses
15 squats
and I think one other terrible thing…
Then REPEAT FOR A HALF HOUR. This utterly sucked. We ran roughly two miles, WITH BRICKS ON OUR SHOULDERS! What the heck is WRONG with that guy? And WHY DID WE LISTEN?!?!

Limp back for COT… 🙂

NMM:
Actually, it was glorious. It was hard and horrible and fantastic. And OF COURSE we followed Twister. And I’ll tell you why:
Number 1: We like that guy. He’s a good dude, and even though he has his own brand of crazy, it matches enough of our crazy that we get along with each other.
Number 2: Because that’s how this works. A man puts himself out there, voluntarily, in front of his peers, and we support him. We do what he says because we trust him. We know that our turn will come and we will want the same support in return. The workout is a microcosm of life. It is a pattern for life in many ways as well. (More on that in an upcoming backblast)

Helmet, out.

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The Jester can kiss my A$$

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  • QIC: Royale
  • When: 09/07/2016
  • Pax: Hauschka, Snookie, Bones, Cerrano, Valley Girl, Witch Hunt, Vinny, DaVinci (Happy B-Day!), Puddles, Cornerstone, Bart, NASA, Mr. T, Royale
  • Posted In: Abyss

I showed up at the Abyss 15 minutes early to put some cones out, always happy to see the site Q Witch Hunt already beat me there. After doing my thing, we circled up and had 13 PAX ready to push it today…and with 30 seconds to start, our boy Vinny peels into the parking lot, slams it in park and is ready to take off! It amazes me how he can always get within 45 seconds of 5:15pm to any AO. Gave the disclaimer, no FNGs – we mosey.

Headed towards the bus parking lot in back, did some dynamic warm-ups while we headed that way.
High Knees – Butt Kickers – Karaoke – Toy Soldiers

Circle up for COP
25 SSHs – 20 IWs – 25 MNC – 10 Merkins – 20 Plank Jacks – maybe a few others…

Mosey back around to the front of the school. I shared something on my heart (see the Moleskin) then we started the hard work.

There were 6 cones set up around the parking lot, total distance about 0.4 mile. At each cone do the exercise, run to the next cone, next exercise. There were two exercises at each cone so we could finish two laps.

Exercises were:
Cone 1 30 Ranger Merkins
Cone 2 30 Monkey Humpers
Cone 3 30 Bench Dips
Cone 4 40 Carolina Dry Docks
Cone 5 10 Burpees
Cone 6 50 Flutter Kicks

Back to Cone 1 Round 2
Cone 1 20 Diamond Merkins
Cone 2 40 Mountain Climbers
Cone 3 20 Derkins
Cone 4 50 Side Straddle Hops
Cone 5 20 Bombjacks
Cone 6 30 V-Up Twists

We gathered everyone back up at Cone 6, and continued to do V-Up Twists, which everyone HATES (thanks Witch Hunt!) so it ended up being around 50-60…

We still had 15 minutes left, I thought about adding something else to do, but Vinny pointed out we should do it again…and so that saved me the brain power! We started around the lot for a 3rd loop, and then Vinny was kind enough to scold me for NOT having a stronger mental capacity to think of something fresh. Some days you just can’t win!

I told the PAX pick which of the two exercises you want to do at each cone. We finished the loop once again, no one picked V-Up twists, not a surprise…

We finished with a few minutes left of Ab Lab. I started with Freddie Mercurys, tossed it to Witch Hunt for Hello Dollys (I think) and then to Vinny. He was kind enough to pick V-Up twists, and he found the EXCELLENT cadence to keep us on count!

The Moleskin

I attended Crossroads Tuesday for a quick coffee refresh and C-Span started sharing about the King, the Queen and the Jester. I have read Dredd’s posts about these three, but C-Span jogged my memory just at the right time. I told the PAX that the King is fitness and exercise, and the Queen is what you put in your body. A good rule is the King CANNOT outrun the Queen! But I’m not talking about them, I wanted to talk about the Jester.

The Jester is that voice in your head that tells you to sleep in instead of post, or that you should quit at (X). He tells you that you’re not good enough at your job, or to have another drink even though you’ve had too much already. He likes to tell you you’re a bad parent and husband.

Sometimes he’s just a whisper, but other times he likes to shout at you that you are no good. Lately for me, he’s been shouting a lot more than not. When I have those times where he wants to pull me down, I’m so thankful for this group of men that help me quite his nonsense! Find yourself a whetstone partner, come out to a 2nd or 3rd F gathering. These men have your back!

I really needed this group this week, and as always they never disappoint!

Keep posting PAX!

Royale

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Laboring on Labor day

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  • QIC: IronSight
  • When: 9/5/2016
  • Pax: Blackhawk, Sapper, Popeye, Big Papie, Chucky, PawPaw, Anchor Bur, Apache, Kindergarten Cop
  • Posted In: Uncategorized

The morning started off with most of us showing up for Apache’s Q-school 101 class. Where we each participated in some Qing instructions that I got to put to use at 5:15am.

Warm-up

With me singing the cadence…..Which i stayed in turn the entire time

SSH- 15

Seal Jacks- 15

Wind Mill- 15

Empire Walker- 15

Then a long mosey warm up lap

The Thang….

Mosey to the Hill at Dinkins for some work

1st round- Bear Cawl up to the top 10 Merkins

2nd- Nur up to the top then 10 merkins

3rd- Lt Dan up to the top the to merkins

4th- PawPaw Picked – High knees to the top then 10 merkins

Then long Mosey Lap

Then we hit the wall for:

100 dips

100 Irkins

Then we went on a really long mosey around again.

Went back to a COT……..

Circle of Peer leadership… Each Pax picks a exercise then we go around

Prayers and Announcements:

 

 

 

 

 

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Improving at Home…lets to go to Home Improvement

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  • QIC: NUNCHUCK
  • When: 09/06/16
  • Pax: Stranger, Cutter, Redwood, Joe Dirt, High Pockets, Chef, Nunchuck
  • Posted In: Uncategorized

Seven Pax came out in the gloom to improve themselves and each other this morning in the great town of York, SC!    I hear a lot of guys I try to EH say that getting up early and trying to work out is just too hard to do.   Now, I’m not sure about their jobs and home-life, but I can attest to you that at least for me personally, my F3 time in the morning is the easiest part of my day.   Getting up, meeting my buddies, getting after it with a boot-camp workout, sharpening a little iron, giving thanks and prayers…..that’s easy stuff my brothers.   The stress comes when you hit the rest of what life is going to deliver once you leave the AO; Family, Spouse, Work, Deadlines, Problems, Issues, Bills, etc., etc.

So as I was trying to come up with some ideas for leading the workout this morning my thoughts kept coming back to “How do I do a better job at taking my F3 discipline home”?   I have plenty of room for improvement in every aspect of my life….but a good starting point for me is at Home.   So….let’s hit the Home Improvement Store for this mornings workout!

Kick it off:   Mosey to Lowes Parking Lot.   Circled up and knocked out a little Windmill, SSH, Moroccan Nightclubs, Merkins, and Ski Hops.
Main Event:
Front Push Kicks from one parking row to the next and back
Front Snap Kicks from one parking row to the next and back
Buttkickers to the 1st row, High Knees to the second, run back
Karaoke’s to first row, turn 180deg, Karaoke to the 2nd, run back
Suicide runs
Alternating running suicides mixing in Merkins, LBC’s, and Burpees at the end of the longest leg prior to running back.
Ruck Bag relay = Everyone on their back with legs 6″ up, then passed the 30lb ruck from one end to the next with Pax calling out “on your left” “on your right” as the bag was coming.  2 times
Ruck relay with chest presses:  10 chest presses before passing the bag, with feet at 6″

A little 3rd F
Shared with the Pax a western slang nickname for a cowpuncher is a Waddie.   Back when I was Rodeoing, I got really into cowboy poetry.  One of my favorite Cowboy Poets is a gentlemen named Waddie Mitchell.   He has a great poem that I memorized years ago, and break it out on occasion, called Typical:

Out on the Cliffs Edge, further than he’d ever been before
He sat with legs dangling, high above the valleys floor
He was lost in thought, while drinking in the Grandeur of it All
When suddenly a strong wind unseated him, and he began to Fall
Twas a drastic situation, he dared not think slow
For certain death awaited him on those rocky crags below
So he called upon a friend, I guess the only one he could
You know, the one we all forget about when things are going good
He said: Dear Lord, if you’d help me now, I’ll quit my sinful ways
I’ll do the things you’d have me do, I’ll work hard all my days
I’ll quit the booze and cigarettes, I’ll help my loving wife
I’ll spend time with the needy, God I’ll turn around my life
I’ll spend time with my children, God I PROMISE TO REPENT!!!
Just then a tree branch snagged his coat, and stopped his fast descent.
And while hanging for the tree that grew from that rocky shelf
He looked skyward saying, Never mind, I handled it myself……

Oh, how many times have we all been there.  You get in a bind, you’ve let life’s events get out of control, a bad situation happens, and you reach out to God…sometimes making promises that you know you can’t keep.  Promising Never Again….only to mess up, drop the ball, and fall again.  Guys, we live in a fallen world.  However, I have great news to share; God Loves you, and he has offered Grace to save you.  I know I have a lot of areas I need to work on in my life, some home improvement to do, and it is a reassurance to know that I don’t have to make promises I can’t keep.  God sent his only son to come and save my sorry hide and offer forgiveness for my shortfalls.   I challenge every man reading this to break open your bible and do some searches on what Grace means to you, and never, ever, never, ever give up trying to improve yourself and those around you!!

Own your Actions!   Aye!!

-wade

 

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Laces Out – Old School Style

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  • QIC: Old Bay (Imprompt Q)
  • When: 09/08/16
  • Pax: High Hat, Chickenhawk, Macgyver, Old Bay
  • Posted In: Laces Out

With the BRR launching tomorrow, most of the LO regulars were tapering, and the result was a relatively low attendance count. But the 4 of us where there to run, no matter what the count was. And everyone had headlamps, which was especially useful for the route YHC had in mind.

The plan was a simply out-and-back run with nothing fancy by way of speed work or hill repeats. Here’s the route:

– Left on Munn
– Left on Harris
– Right on Spratt
– Straight on Brickyard (as opposed to veering right to stay on Spratt)
– Turn around at dead end of old Brickyard

The stretch on Brickyard is very dark…for now. That is where Mega Home Builders is building 100,000 house in the coming months (or something like that).

The pax kept a strong pace, and we got back by 5:50 for a few minutes of stretching.

Moleskin
First and foremost, godspeed to the BRR pax. We hope you mountain goats have as much fun as possible climbing those hills. Prayer request was also made for High Hat’s M in recovery from a recent medical procedure. Chickenhawk also discussed how counter-culture Grace (our 3rdF word of the month) is. So true, especially in certain areas of our lives, like competitive sports.

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Metz Bros. Revenge

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  • QIC: Zima, Old Bay
  • When: 09/03/16
  • Pax: Major Tom, Javert, Crash, Pusher, Senator Tressel , Smuggler, Sparkplug, Bullwinkle, Old Bay, Zima
  • Posted In: Alcatraz

With Gears still on the IR for boot camps, he arrange for Zima to take his place, and the schedule lined up that the Metz brothers were on Q together once again. According to the annals of F3 Backblasts, it has been 16 months since pax were forced to chug a Zima and Oldbay cocktail. Cheers!

Zima took the first half, starting off with a no-FNGs-present version of the disclaimer and headed to the streets of Tega Cay for a warm-up run. A few minutes later, we returned to the parking lot for warm-up COP.

Warm-up COP

  • SSH (IC) x20
  • IW (IC) x20
  • Mountain Climbers (IC) x20
  • Merkins (IC) x20
  • Carolina Dry Docks (IC) x20

We then began a routine of laps (as a group) on the path around the ball fields, stopping every half lap for 25 merkins and 50 squats. There was no shortage of complaints about the merkins, which perhaps perpetuated the madness. In fact, this continued until Zima’s half had expired.

YHC slid into the driver’s seat and steered the pax though the pathway of the bent ladder that was up next. Starting from the entrance to the parking lot, pax were to run backwards through the open gate on to the ball field, then shuffle right (still facing the parking lot) to a cone about 50 yards down along the fence. There they did the “top of the ladder” exercise, which was Morning Wood. Shuffling back to the left now (again, still facing the parking lot) until the gate was reach, and a regular run to the bottom of the parking lot entrance for their “bottom of the ladder” exercises, which was Bomb Jacks. The reps were 1 to 7, in traditional Jacob’s Ladder style.

Once complete, a few recovery 10 counts were administered. Pax then moved to an arrangement of 4 cones in the outfield for Webb Squared.

Cone 1: Traditional Jack Web (1:4 ratio) – only had time to get to 4 merkins
Bear crawl to next cone (about 15 yards)
Cone 2: Dan Taylor variant – Knee version of Mukhtar N’Diayes (4 Knee tar N’Diayes for every one squat)
Inch worm to next cone
Cone 3: Captain Thor – 4 American Hammers for every 1 big boy sit up
Lung walk to next cone
Cone 4: SSH/Burpee Webb – 4 SSH for every 1 Burpee
Bear crawl back to cone 1

Time was up, and pax head to COT.

Another installment of a Zima and OldBay duet was survived by all. Perhaps the hint of cool fall air helped, but the hard work and encouragement were undoubtably in full F3 effect. Excellent work, pax! And thanks to Senator Tressel for allowing us to Q.

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