Category: Abyss

Escape From McDowell Nature Preserve

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So I have been doing more running than usual lately in preparation for the Ragnar and on a  hot muggy July 3 I decided to bring the rest of the PAX along for some of my training, much to the chagrin of some of my F3 brothers. Disclaimer was given and we were off to the back basketball courts where we circled up for…

COP-SSHx20/Reach to Sky/Touch Toes/Down Dog/Honeymooner/merkinsx10/Down Dog/Honeymooner/Touch Toes/Reach to Sky/Sun Gods x11 fwd/rvrse. Circle Burp-High Knees while each PAX calls down and we all do a Burpee on the down.

Main Event

We ran to the back of the McDowell Nature Preserve where there is a lake and a circular parking lot. The run is about a mile back with a bunch of hills and there were a few PAX who were not exactly happy bout that. Sorry not sorry. Once we did get to the lake parking lot we Burpee Broad jumped around in a circle which was another crowd pleaser. At this point we were all around 50 or so Burpees which is another training goal of mine as I prepare for a Spartan Race(50 Burpees a day/100 if I do not post). We then had to escape the preserve. As most of us were winded I had us start back by lunge walking up hill to catch our breath, then we bear crawled for a bit before running back to COT.

We still had a few minutes before COT. Thank you Royale for leading some Flutter Kicks until the 6 was in.  We finished off with a few Sprints until the end.

Thoughts And Prayers

Leading a mostly running workout is a challenge as everyone is not in running shape and there was some separation. Overall it worked, but just barely. Prayers for travel, disease, losing loved ones, dealing with family and a big praise for ‘Merica on its 243 birthday since the Deceleration Of Independence from Britain in 1776. Thanks also to Jiminy Cricket and Crux from F3 Lake Norman for coming out. Peace!

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If Wilt Chamberlain met Nicole (well he probably did)

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It was cool morning and 11 showed up for my Q at the Abyss. I gave a brief but full disclaimer. We did a fast mosey, because they don’t always have to be slow (I picked this up from a Backblast where Duck Dynasty “Cobain’d” for a fast mosey and Maximus said that they are fine and not really intended to be slow but they have evolved into being slow). We circled up for COP in the grass because only snowflakes circle up on the clean smooth asphalt and I ain’t no Snowflake (poor grammar intended).

COP was basically a modified Worse Merkin Ever Routine (hats off to Whitesnake who caught on after we departed the workout).
30 SSH in Cadence followed by 15 Ranger Merkins in Cadence (correct Merkins) – Royale said something about liking that I do 15 instead of 10 (or at least that is what i heard).
30 Seal Jacks in Cadence followed by 15 Werkins in Cadence
15 Smurf Jacks in Cadence followed by 10 Diamond Merkins
(O’Reilly does not like my COP’s, he would prefer Windmills or something like that, but see above – I ain’t no Snowflake) Kidding……Windmills are ok to do also.

We then took a long run around the school and then regrouped at the Monkey Bars where we performed a “Nicole”
(Nicole is one of the girls of Cross-fit. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Pax will complete AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of the following: Run 400m; Pull-ups AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) Mix up the pull-ups, chin-ups etc. as you see fit.; Repeato until the timer sounds.)

We still had time so we then started and almost completed the “Wilt Chamberalin”
(Space cones 100 ft apart. Length of basketball court. Line up at first cone do 100 lbc’s then run to second cone do 100 squats back to first do 100 flutter kicks(each leg) then end back at second to finish off with 100 lunges(50 each leg). Nice ab and lower body routine. Named for Wilts NBA record 100 pt game.) Copyright got called out by a couple guys (O’Reilly) for bailing on the Lunges and jumping ship or “Turncoat” as O’Reilly kidded around saying should be his new F3 name. But O’Reilly did not realize that Copyright did like 500 Weighted Lunges the prior day.

I then asked if anyone wanted to say their reps and 1 Pax (Flux) stated he did like 100 Pull ups and like 6 Miles and I told him that I researched what “Nicole” averaged and he was almost as good as her. Of course I added to what ever Flux told me and tried to make him feel less of a man. I did no such research of course. Well it was approximately 12:30 and it apparently was in his head and he called BS on my research. I didn’t think it would have taken till 12:30 though.

Finished up with a COT a couple prayer request (Joie heading to Guatemala, Whitesnake has a friend in a dark place in life, and a couple others I am sorry I forgot them but I know now more than ever that the Lord heard them!!!!!!! I also had an unspoken one that is really heavy on my heart right now and engulfing my mind with fear so if you are ready this please include my M in your prayers.

Thanks Copyright for the chance to lead such a good group of men.

Two Ferns

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Millendian Run @ the Abyss

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It was a beautiful morning for a “millendian” run at the abyss.
Quick mosey to the courts/track and circled up.
Windmills
Imperial walkers
Moroccan nightclubs
SSH
Then we began!
100 reps 10 exercises 2 teams
First pax from each team to complete the 100 “won” for their squad. The prize regular 1/4 mile Indian run, the consolation prize was a burpee Indian run.
Merkins
Crunchy frogs
Sumo squats
CDD
American hammers
Flutters
Shoulder taps
BBS
Monkey humpers
Ski Abs
That took us to 2.5 miles and 2 minutes left.
1 round of hello dollies and some Makhtar N’Diayes

It was an honor to lead and sweat with these men. Thanks for a great time.

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Olaf is evil

Snowman Celebrates America

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22 Mericans joined YHC at #Abyss for some stars and stripes work.
Disclaimer was disclaimed very well and everyone was clear on my style of “fun” so to get the party started we counted off by twos but since nobody remembers their number we did stars and stripes. Then YHC’s paintrain was opened up and each PAX that was a star was asked to carry a tire carcass and the stripes had to pick logs.

Mosey over to back track and get artistic by making a flag with coupons from paintrain. Wish YHC would have taken a picture of the magnificently heavy flag.

Circle up for some COP/warmup
SSH x 13
Circle of hump x 13

Everyone grab a partner and grab something heavy and make a lap around the track AFAP.

Circle back up for more COP
Suicide squats x 17
Hip slap x 50 (crowd pleaser)

Everyone grab a partner and grab something heavy again and make a lap around the track AFAP.

Last little bit of COP
13 Bropees with high five at the top of the jump.

Now we storm the beaches and charge the back hill in memory of all the great men and women that have died protecting our great country.

One partner grabs a machine gun, aka log, while the other partner grabs a ring of belt ammo for the partner’s machine gun, aka tire carcass, and charge up the hill AFAP.

Starting at the top of the hill, lunge walk down to the middle light then backward lunge walk to the bottom. Then crab walk back up the hill to the middle light then bear crawl up to the top.

Grab all the coupons and rumble down the hill back to the track circle for some ring toss fun.

Broke PAX into 7 fire team columns of 3-4 men each. Starting at the end by the playground first pax up will ring toss tire carcass towards other end of parking lot, then run to where the ring stopped and perform 3 Kraken Burpees. Next man up grabs ring and tosses then chasses and performs krakens and so on until the team reaches the other side. Nobody was seriously injured so we ramp up the difficulty and with it comes more excitement and maybe more danger, remember the disclaimer….Same rules as first trip down but now ring has to be tossed overhead. Now as you can imagine the level of chaos and confusion got pretty intense. I can’t imagine the horror of being in a firefight with my fellow men getting dropped and scattered from a rain of machine gun fire from a superior position. Guys were ducking from other tires being heaved and jumping over their teammates and even jumping over other guys that were not even on their team but somehow there tire rolled into their path so they had to jump over them too, It was mayhem. Nobody died and there were some pretty good laughs so we continued.
All the coupons and logs were then distributed around the oval track for the final exercise. Deep squat expedition was about to start. Everyone started at a coupon around the track. Every time you encountered a coupon in your path you had to stop and perform three deep squats. If there were two coupons side by side, you guessed it, six deep squats for the double coupon. continue around the track until one minute to Endex then jailbreak to COT leaving coupons at the track.

Count-A-Rama,
Name-A-Rama,
Announcements before ball of man for COT with an open moment for PAX to lift up prayers and praises.

Great job by all the men gutting out a physical fast paced good old fashioned American beatdown in celebration of our wonderful nation.

Thanks for the opportunity Copyright to lead and Funhouse for the accountability to get it blasted.

NMM
If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations or comments on how I can offer a better beatdown please let me know. DM me or hit me in the gloom, I would love to discuss. I know that we are very fortunate to be AO rich and have multiple options on where we post each day so I want to make sure I am delivering a beatdown that is worth you unfartsacking yourself for. I don’t think I am alone in striving to serve up a beatdown that checks all of the 3S2T and if anyone has any feedback good or bad let me have it brother. Hit me with the hard truth, I demand it, because we can’t get better unless we get truthful. Here is your chance to work on your Candor, deliver a hard truth to me and let’s discuss like men how to make it better for everyone. I want to represent this region right when I have the opportunity to guest Q downrange so help me make us look good. Get out of your comfort zone and put yourself out there to become a better leader, be vulnerable and learn from the mistakes and analyze the feedback. I can’t wait until next time and I hope you feel the same way.

Stay frosty my friends,
OLAF

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30 of Everything

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18 at the Abyss for some 30th birthday themed fun.

COP

30 Moroccan Night Clubs
30 Peter Parker’s
30 Imperial Walkers

The Thang

Counted off to form groups of 3, each got a CB

Each pax:
Pull ups x 30
Push Press x 30
Plank for 6

Circled up for 30 body builder burpees in cadence (crowd pleaser) followed by a couple 10 counts

Swings x 30
Step ups x 30
BBS for 6

Squats x 30
Wide armed Merkins x 30
Diamond Merkins x 30
Farmers Walk to end of track and back
Crab Cakes/flutters/lbcs for 6

No time for Jack Webs… oh well.

COT
Read your newsletter.

Welcomed FNG Mudslide (works in corrosion prevention)

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Prime Counting with Bora

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Disclaimer made.

Mosey with dynamic warmup around the parking lot.

 Warm-o-Rama

All exercises were completed in sets of prime numbers. After each exercise bomb jacks were done in increasing fashion, also using prime numbers (2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19, 23…). There was no reason for doing this other than YHC wanted to see if anyone would figure out the pattern. I did this once before a while ago, so thought maybe someone would have it in the back of their brain. Props to Jedi who figured it out way quicker than I anticipated the PAX would.

MNC, windmills, mountain climbers, merkins, imperial walker, superman hold and other such things.

 

The Thang

Partner up for Board of Dora (Bora? Dor of Pain?). P1 does exercise on board while P2 nurs to the end of the basketball courts, does 1 bombjack then jogs back to the beginning. All counts were cumulative between the pairs. A few pairs finished in time and it was good to see the men going and picking up the six.  Board:

150 Burpees

300 Squats

150 Big Boys

300 Monkey Humpers

150 Merkins

300 Imperial Walkers

* Pick up the 6 when done

 

Copyright is the man for letting me lead the PAX at a great AO. Abyss is one of the few remaining workouts that men from both sides of the Lake regularly attend – a reminder of the old days.

Stay Classy,

Homebrew

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Duck Season

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12 #HIM reported for Duck Season at the Abyss. Couldn’t have asked for a better crew for my VQ. All got better, All put in solid work and held each other accountable for reps. When Copyright asked me if I’d Q 3 weeks ago in the gloom at FireAnt, I was a bit worried. Wasn’t sure I physically had what it took to lead men of this caliber with barely 1.5 months of F3 #BEATDOWNS under my belt. I felt the drive to #Accelerate and took him up on the offer. 1 day short of 2 full months in, I took the reins. I said that to Say this- F3 is the real deal. From day 1 I have had far more in shape and capable guys pick me up and push me through the hardest challenges. Creates a real drive in a Fella to Accelerate! You don’t get that w/your ear buds at the gym! No Turning Back Now!

Now to the Fun!

0514- All veteran Pax on hand, so a quick disclaimer about No Liability, all exercises are suggestions and modify as needed.

Quicker than expected Migration/Mosey to the back of the school with a ½ lap around the track and circle up for COP.

Warm Up “The Hunt”

  1. 15-16 SSH IC
  2. 20 Morrocan Nite Clubs IC
  3. 20ish Imperial Walkers- Yes it is harder to count the cadence but the more the merrier, Right?
  4. Ahead of time so an on the FLY adjustment:
  5. Plank Position- Hold some decent amount of time.

While holding Plank: Question our 3yr anniversary man Da Vinci- What the Best Part of his F3 Journey? Comradery with the Pax and the consistent Push to be and do better. Not a direct quote but the sentiment is right.

  1. SuperMan: Question Lutefisk on His favorite park of F3? Knowing there is a car in his drive way waiting for him to go workout every day.
  2. SuperMan w/ Arm Flutters- Mumblechatter picked up here with guys swimming with arms and legs churning away. Question Cornerstone on the above. Comradery again was the Key. Yes it does get harder to talk and listen while holding an Arm Flutter SuperMan!

Back to our Feet for last preset exercise

  1. 15 Cherry Pickers IC

Migrate to side of School for 2 rounds of peoples chair with Bear Crawl down the line. Rnd 2 PC with 10 squats down the line.

Migrate back to the Front of the AO.

The Thang- #TheDucksStrikeBack

Johnny Cash showed up for an Ole Fashioned Ring of Fire. Preplanned on the day before so all exercises and modes of travel were all  written in  chalk, including directional arrows. Pax partnered up to hold rep accountability. Thanks Jedi for keeping me honest on that 1st set of Burpees. Not sure how I got off but yes I was short reps and made them up accordingly.

We met at the center of the ring and knocked out the first set of 10 Merkins.

  1. 25 Carolina Dry Docks- Duck Walk to Center -10 Merkins
  2. 20 Lunges 10/leg –DW to Center – 10 Merkins
  3. 15 Bomb Jacks- Bear Crawl to Center- 10 Merkins
  4. 15 BBS and 15 LBC-BC to Center- 10 Merkins
  5. 15 Burpees- BC to Center- 10 Merkins
  6. 15 Diamond Merkins- Sprint to First green column in traffic circle and back.
  7. 25 Mountain Climbers- Sprint to cone in handicap spot- Surprise 10 Squats
  8. 15 GTOs with provided Ruck or Cinder Blocks. Sprint to cone in back corner- Surprise 10 more squats.

Sounds like most pairs and 1 threesome made 2-2.5 rounds. Might have had a pair of Monster #HIMs who made 3 full rotations, Cha-Ching and Lutefisk. That has not been verbally confirmed but Good On Ya Men either way.

Big Ups to Royale for knocking out the entire workout with his Ruck ON. #RuckFriendly

Wrap up to COT w/ 2mins to spare. FunHouse suggested 2 mins of SSH. Ask and Ye Shall Receive. Mumblechatter ensues over cadence pace so I sped up the count.

Announcements

Reminder about F3 Mental Health and Suicide Awareness- Keep it at the forefront.

Date Night 4-27 TT Ft Mill

Prayers and Praises

Bone’s Home Appraisal Today

Cornerstone- 2.0 having Blood work done and he is starting a new health plan.

PAX Traveling and injured.

Thanks Copyright for the Honor to Lead these Men!

 

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Relays at Abyss

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Been trying to come up w/ ideas that force guys to naturally push themselves harder than they would normally.  What better way than to do some team relays w/ punishments and a time hack that forces us to push it to be under the time challenge.

Took the pax on a quick mosey to the back of the school, one lap around the track and then a warm-up in order of merkins, downward dog, honeymooner, peter parkers, wind mills, squats and moroccan nightclubs.  Relay time.  On the long hill in way back of Palisades Elementary.

Instructed the pax to count off by 2 (we had 14) so we had two teams of 7 – Team 1 vs. Team 2.  I then asked the pax to count off by 2 again within their teams.  This apparently was too much counting  for these particular guys at 5:20a.  Lots of grumbles from the crowd, but they finally got it.  My intent was to “evenly” (we had 7 per team) split each of the teams so that half would be at the bottom of the hill and the other half would be at the top of the hill.  Half of each of the teams ran to the top of the hill and the half at the bottom started each relay:

  • Relay 1 – first guy in line on each of the teams sprints up the hill and tags their teammate at the top of the hill, who then sprints down the hill and tags the next guy up.  This particular relay lasts as long as it takes all team members to sprint 4 times (two uphill, two downhill).  While all the sprinting is happening, the rest of the team is doing 3 exercises (you switch exercises once a runner finishes at your end of the hill).
      1. 6 inch holds
      2. Jump knee tucks
      3. Big boy sit ups

WINNER – Team 1.  Team 2 does 6 KRAKEN BURPEES while Team 1 does 6 normal burpees

  • Relay 2 – wheel barrows.  First TWO guys in line on each of the teams (at the bottom of the hill) wheel barrows half way up the hill (it’s a solid stretch) and then switches w/ the guy holding his legs.  Once they get to the end, they tag their teammates on the other side and they wheel barrow down the hill switching midpoint.  Same idea – entire relay lasts for all pax to do one wheel barrow hill.  Exercises done for this relay, with a switch in exercise taking place each time a partner changes on the wheel barrow was as follows:
      1. Diamond merkins
      2. Lunge jumps
      3. American hammers

WINNER – Team 2.  Team 1 does 8 KRAKEN BURPEES while Team 2 does 8 normal  burpees

  • Relay 3 – ruck run.  First guy in line on each of the teams has a ruck that they carry and they sprint up the hill, tag their teammate on the other side by throwing a ruck sack at their face, who then runs down the hill.  This relay lasts as long as it takes all pax to complete 2 full hill sprints w/ the ruck sack.  Exercises during this relay that are cycled through were:
      1. Carolina dry docks
      2. Side straddle hops
      3. Plank on elbows

(HIGHLIGHT – DUCK DYNASTY FOUND HIS CALLING.  THIS DUDE THREW A RUCK SACK ON HIS SHOULDER AND SPRINTED LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT, PICKING UP MAJOR GROUND FOR TEAM 2 ON HIS LEGS!)

WINNER – Team 2.  Team 1 does 5 KRAKEN BURPEES while Team 2 does 5 normal burpees

From there, we only had 7 minutes, so it was time for a quick Time Hack.  I started the timer on my phone that is as bright as the sun, and as a team, we did one lap on the track w/ a stop in the middle for 15 merkins.  We did it in 1 minute, 10 seconds (clock stops upon last guy finishing).

  • Time Hack Challenge – do two laps on the track, stopping once during each of the laps at midpoint to do 15 merkins in 2:35.  We did it in 2:50, a 15 second party foul.  That meant 15 burpee penalty…wa wa.  If I had more time I wanted to do a 3 lap time and a 4 lap time hack w/ the same burpee penalty.  Would have been fun.

Flew back to COT, did our burpee penalty and ended 1 minute past 6am (shame on me).  Prayers were shared for kids, travel mercies for Witch Hunt and family, new beginnings at work, and healing.  Thanks Copyright for the chance to lead this awesome group of Lake Wylie pax.  Crazy to see the explosive growth out here.  Had a blast!

Cha Ching

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#HillWork at the Abyss

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I gave the Pax a warning the night before on twitter about the workout. We were going to celebrate 3 crazy years of F3 with some old school #HillWork. And Hill work we did, a lot of it.

5:15 hit and it was time to go. We had 20 Pax ready to get going.

We took a short mosey around the property and circled up in the back of the school for the warm-up:

  • SSH x25
  • 5 Burpees
  • Moroccan NC x30
  • 4 Burpees
  • Imperial Walkers X15
  • 3 Burpees
  • Low Slow Squat x10
  • 2 Burpees
  • Hillbilly Walkers x15
  • 1 Burpee
  • Mountain Climbers
  • 2 Burpees
  • Plank Jacks x10
  • 3 Burpees
  • Wind Mills
  • 4 Burpees
  • Potato Pickers
  • 5 Burpees

From there we moseyed to the bottom of the hill across from the school for the #HillWork:

2 Squat Jumps
2 Plank w\ Hip Touch
2 Merkins
2 Froggers
2 Squat Jumps

Run Hill 4 times.

4 Squat Jumps
4 Plank w\ Hip Touch
4 Merkins
4 Froggers
4 Squat jumps

Run Hill 3 times.

6 Squat Jumps
6 Plank w\ Hip Touch
6 Merkins
6 Froggers
6 Squat jumps

Run Hill 2 times.

8 Squat Jumps
8 Plank w\ Hip Touch
8 Merkins
8 Froggers
8 Squat jumps

Run Hill 1 time.

10 Squat Jumps
10 Plank w\ Hip Touch
10 Merkins
10 Froggers
10 Squat jumps

Quick 10 count and then:

  • 5 Burpees
  • 4 Backwards Hill Runs (THIS WAS PAINFUL)
  • 7 Burpees
  • 2 Backwards Hill Runs
  • 9 Burpees
  • 1 Backwards Hill Runs
  • 11 Burpees

2 Quick 10 counts and I gave the Pax the choice of more hills or something else. They picked hills (Choose the harder thing) and we did:

  • 10 push-ups, 10 squat jumps, 4 Bear Crawl up Hill/Run Down
  • 14 push-ups, 14 squat jumps, 2 Backwards Run up Hill/Run Down
  • 18 push-ups, 18 squat jumps, 1 Backwards Run up Hill/Run Down
  • 10 CCDs, 10 Bomb Jacks, 4 Run up Hill/Run Down
  • 14 CCDs, 14 Bomb Jacks, 2 Run up Hill/Run Down
  • 18 CCDS, 18 Bomb Jacks, 3 Run up Hill/Run Down

We ended with a fairly brisk Indian Run back to COT.

Thanks to all the Pax for showing up despite the warning of #HIllWork. I appreciate all the support and look forward to another 3 years.

Now back to the hunt…

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#F3MentalBattle at the Abyss

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YHC came in hot, as I slept through my alarm and woke up at 5:13, but I wasn’t going to miss this one.   Thanks to Royale for taking over the warm-up run.
COP – IW x 15, MNC x 15, SSH x 25, Peter Parkers x 10, Merkins x 10
The Thang
Pax partnered up for Dora on the hill.   After Burpees were done, we each shared with our partner how mental health or suicide has affected us or someone we know.
Dora:
50 Burpees
100 Squats
22 CDD for the 22 vets that we lose a day
Run a lap

45 merkins for comparison, the amount of homicides per day
Run a lap

96 flutters for every man that we lose a day
Run a lap
125 lbcs (I think I called out 145, sorry) for every suicide per day
Run a lap
Finished up with sharing my own experiences with depression.  Appreciate the Shield Lock… and then half a round of Jack Webs before COT, where we opened the floor for anyone to share.
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