Category: Block Party

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13 HIM showed up on a blustery Tuesday to make the choice to get better.

Warm Up

  • SSH
  • Cherry Picker
  • Windmill
  • Hamstring stretch
  • Peter Parker
  • Parker Peter
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • Mosey to the playground

The Thang

“500”

100 reps of each exercise in sets of 20 with a run up the hill and back after each set.

  • 20 Merkins (x5)
  • 20 Pull-ups (x5)
  • 20 Big Boy sit-ups (x5)
  • 20 Dips (x5)
  • 20 Squats (x5)
  • Run up the hill (x5)

That took most of the time. We mosey-ed around the park as a cool down and it was time for the COT. Pull-ups suck. Must do more.

https://youtu.be/7w02YaC0j1k

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“Brick” Walls of Terror at Block Party

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8 at Block Party for a balmy morning with some lively mumble chatter.

Message:

Read the monthly theme to engage in the discussion.

Living

Stretch
Warm up – Mosey to Anne Springs parking lot for some Rugby Sprints with SSH, Merkins, Goof Balls and Mountain Climbers
The thang – Dora-like with partner on the high wall
– 50 Wall climbs
– 20 Handstands
– 50 Spider-Man’s
Mosey to courtyard x3 increasing by 5 each time
  • 5/10/15 – step ups
  • 10/15/20 – derkins
  • 15/20/25 – dips
Cool Down by going back to the wall for some sits with arm flutters, then morrocan night clubs and finally overhead claps
Return to WEP for some MARY
COT
Pleasure to lead
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Heavy Hors D’oeuvres at Block Party

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Today, we enjoyed a variable palate of play sand, peat gravel, and dirt. Luckily it rained around 0400, making it not “too dry” of an offering. I rolled up around 0445 to check site conditions, and had my back up plan ready in case it was too moist. Cars started rolling in around 0505. 

 

Meet up to start

Disclaimer

Mosey halfway around park and Back

Stop at .10 & .20 Mile Intervals to Warm Up

Each Stop = Warm Up Exercise (s)

Mosey to 

7 x Merkins

Pause for walker!

3 x Merkins

Mosey to next .10

11 x SSH

10 x Windmills

10 x Deep Squats + Yogi Squat

Mosey Back to Parking Lot

Quick Yoga Sun Salutation/Side Plank both sides

 

Partner Up 

This is when I turned to my truck bed, filled with a delicious offering of pain. 

Grab some heavy hors d’oeuvres and mosey to the lower Pike Parking Lot. Halfway(ish) we swap coupons with partner. 

 

Circuit Down in the Parking Lot – Flap Jack the following:

Partner 1 Runs up the grass hill and back, partner 2 works out with coupon. Flapjack.

Squats

Thrusters

Deadlifts

Bent Over Rows

Curls

Every round, shift to sandbag to the left of you so everyone enjoys the varying weights (40-60).

After we finish in the lower parking lot, we mosey to the base of the hill.

Partner Farmer Carry sandbags to upper Pike Parking Lot

Line up on end of the parking lot:

Partner 1 lunges with coupon on shoulders across lot, partner 2 does 10 merkins, runs to partner 1 and flapjack. Do to the end of the lot. Switch sandbags. 

Line up on this side of the lot.

P1 holding sandbag does manmaker burpees while P2 runs to far end of lot and back. Flapjack. Do two rounds. 

Mosey back to COT. Halfway there, partner 2 takes the bag from partner 1. 

Everyone grabs a coupon! Flutters to the end. 

 

Name-a-rama

 

Announcements

YETI Happening 2/23

Joe Davis Run for Recovery – 3/9 – Prices go up 2/1

Q Source this week: Lizards, Bull Frogs, and Leeches 

If you aren’t doing Q Source as the group, it is still worth reading. I was pushed by Pusher to do so, and I think I will. 

 

Prayers/Praises

C-Span was next-door to the active shooter at the UPS store in Philly yesterday. Pray for his (and concentrica) continued safety and readiness at all times. 

Prayers for my brother-in-law and his current dive down deep into “end of times” theories. His marriage, relationships, and work are all suffering. Pray that he keeps his eyes focused on Jesus first and foremost. 

 

After we prayed we discussed our words for the year. I heard a few in passing, but wanted to remind all to keep your focus on your word and let those close to you know it and hold you accountable to it. 

Mine is Activate. I am not the leader I want to be, and I have for too long sat passively and let things happen as they happen. This is the year I activate the leadership within me that I know has always been there. 

Block Party was a mainstay of mine this past summer, and I’m excited I finally was asked to Q. Thanks for the opportunity, Shady. I appreciate you asking me to step up. Everyone kept saying how quickly the 45 minutes went. I agree and I was happy we were able to keep it moving quickly! Great work by all men who showed up. 

Punch List Out.

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“Is this a typo?”, said Grantan. “A long time coming”, said the new Nantan. “Hey man, you tha Q,” said Bonsai.

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Thanks Shady for the chance to VQ. We had 21 PAX at this Block Party. I felt the love and encouragement, made it fun and invigorating. A slight chill on this early 2019 morn also added some vigor.

The first Mosey took us to a lot too close to potential noise ordinance violation, so we audibled to Founders, where the warm-up Windmills, Little Baby Circles, Imperial Walkers, and Hillbilly Walkers ensued. I purposefully passed over the traditional warm-up SSHs, trying to save legs for what came later.

I then introduced a Dora, had two exercises planned for it but one PAX said, “Where’s the third?” So Doras typically involve three exercises I learned, VQ mistake, but then Bonsai chimed in, “Hey man, you tha Q.” So we partnered up and settled in for 100 LBCs and 200 Flutters.

Then a circuitous Mosey route around the bank across the street to the lot below the old Springs complex. Ab work: a Captain Thor 1:4 up to 10 big boys and then Rosalitas in cadence, in Spanish, like they should be shouted.

Then a Bear Crawl up the Hill to the upper lot where we circled up for a word on Accountability. In short, the point: accountability is about more than sharing our brokenness, about more than sharing our struggles, but sharing our dreams and desires and ambitions as we say to one another, “Go for it, brother!”

And then, the beat down. 22 was the operative number, Lunge Jumps and Merkens the mix. It went down like: 20 LJs, 2 Merks; 18 LJs, 4 Merks; 16 LJs, 6 Merks…and so on, down to 2 and 20.

A third and final Mosey then to the COT. Remember QSource. Remember Joe Davis. PAX hopeful for new job opportunities. Sugardaddy’s daughter Caroline going Legally Blonde this week:) Pray for her Elle Woods debut.

LAST WORD: About half way through with us all holding a Chillcut, I shared my one word: Deeper. Going Deeper for me means caring for my soul well this year. But how? I’m gonna pursue better and more beautiful inputs. Yes, I’m talking about reading better literature, listening to better stories, discovering beautiful art and landscapes that inspire me. But better and beautiful abounds when I’m engaged with my 2.0s, and M.

Oh, and this is the mountain if any of you want to “go for it” with me.

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The Cornerstone – Challenge ( One Year Long )

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To all the Pax of F3 Nation

Are you prepared to challenge your self for 2019? I am challenging all Pax’s to join me for 2019 we will take on one exercise for January (merkins single count) 100 reps every day. Then in February we will add another exercise which will be done every day on top of the 100 merkins and so on and so on. We will increase by adding one exercise each month.  These exercises will be above and beyond when you post. So by the end of the year there will be 12 exercises that need to be done everyday at the reps set.

Do you accept the challenge? Do you want to get better?

I will set the next month exercise and reps the week before to keep you on your toes

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Something About Mary

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7 Pax posted in a gloom that turned out a bit frostier than forecast.  The Senator T Thermostat proved that it wasn’t too cold for shorts, but YHC wasted little time with Disclaimer, etc so we could get moving without delay.

The Thang

COP in parking lot — SSH, Hillbilly Walker, Peter Parker, Mtn Climber, run to stop sign and back
(For the record, Offset pulled an Elvis somewhere amid this set and we picked him up on the run portion)

Mosey to the path and launch into Drillbits (all exercises OYO and cumulative, meaning the sequence is repeated adding the new exercise at each successive Drillbit)

1/6: 5 Burpees
2/6: 10 Moroccan Nightclubs
3/6: 15 Squats
4/6: 20 Merkins
5/6: 25 Jumping lunges
6/6: 30 LBCs

Mosey to the playground

10 Pull-ups OYO
10 Plank punches IC
10 Shoulder taps IC
10 Hip slappers IC
10 Pull-ups OYO
Al Gore
10 Monkey humpers

Line up along playground boundary facing the path away from the White Street

Bear crawl to path, sprint back
Sprint to path and back (rinse and repeat)

AYG back home

Mary — Low slow flutters, Slow Freddie Mercurys, Superman

COT

NMM

Thanks to the pax for their energetic effort on a cold morning.  And their investment in the message of the season shared at points throughout the workout.

At launch I referenced my Fartsacking on two days in the past week after making HCs the evening prior.  Excuses abound but they’re all just that.  My personal disappointment in these failures contrasts with one of the most inspiring HCs ever — that of Mary through her response to the angel announcing her pending pregnancy.

In Christmas seasons past, I’ve often used my Q opportunities in 1st and 2nd F to highlight Joseph, a #HIM in all ways who mostly receives limited attention.  This year, however, I’ve found myself contemplating Mary.  Perhaps my focus on Joseph in the past reflected my usual self-centered, masculine mindset. Regardless of the reason, I’ve been concentrating on Mary more this Advent than in the past.  Joseph made exemplary choices, no doubt.  From one perspective though, he could be seen as taking the steps that he should take as a God-fearing adult man.  On the other hand, Mary was a teenager.  Plus, she was the first to be challenged with a twist in her tidy life plans.  Had Mary not HC’d to the angel, Joseph’s opportunity would never have arisen.  Impressive for anyone, and especially for a teenager.

Even beyond Mary’s initial commitment (“Let it be done to me according to your word”), Mary remained true to her mission over time.  The gospels refer to her pondering and reflecting on the developments of the Christmas story and Jesus’ upbringing.  She cultivated and reaffirmed her commitment by recognizing moments, storing them away and contemplating their significance in the fulfillment of her mission.  How often do I slow down enough in my own life to recognize the ties between life’s events and a plan God may have for me?  Could making a habit of slowing down and building in more time for reflection actually yield more experiences of Wonder, Joy, Hope and Peace during this Christmas season and beyond?

Thanks to Shady for the opportunity to Q and to the pax for helping me get back on track with my DRP.

Merry Christmas!

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Christmas on Main Street

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Chilly morning started out with war stories from the GORUCK weekend with three of the PAX in attendance coming home with a Tough patch.  Congrats to Bonsai on his first GORUCK Tough!

Clock struck 5:15, a disclaimer was provided and we took off on a mosey in the direction of Main Street.  We stopped halfway there for windmills and again at the bottom of the hill on Main Street for some merkins.  We reached our ultimate destination at the Fort Mill Animal Clinic parking lot.  YHC is the site Q for the Fire Ant, ruck AO, which meets on Tuesday’s.  Being a visiting Q on the same day as the standard ruck workout, it only made sense that some version of a ruck workout had to come with me.  This is what led the PAX to the back of Maximus’ truck that was stationed in the parking lot.  We pulled out 3 60lb sandbags, 1 40lb sandbag, 1 40lb ruck, and 1 30 lb filler bag to be used in the 12 Days of Christmas.  Given the theme of the workout, I was really hoping the millions of Christmas lights up in the area would be on, but they must not burn all night.

12 Days of Christmas

  1. Run down the hill on Main Street and back (~0.2 miles)
  2. Glow stick bear crawl – bear crawl from one glow stick to the other (down hill) and crawl bear back (up hill) (~20 yards out and 20 yards back)
  3. Jumping Lunges
  4. Bomb Jacks with a Donkey Kick
  5. Man Makers (sand bag)
  6. 4 Count Flutters
  7. Jump Squats
  8. Shoulder Press (sand bag)
  9. Bent Over Rows (sand bag)
  10. Merkins
  11. Curls (sand bag)
  12. Broad Jump Burpees

We didn’t make it all the way to strength items since most only made it 8 before time ran out.  The bear crawls and crawl bears definitely made their presence known and the cardio was evident by the 2.7 miles covered.

With time running out we tossed the sandbags back in the truck and took a quick mosey back to the start point with one stop for some merkins.

Great job by the strong PAX in attendance.  Definitely want a shot at completing this whole series since the first half was a burner.  Thank you to Shady for the opportunity at this great AO.

Announcements:

  • Fort Convergence on Christmas Eve – this is a MUST ATTEND

Prayer Request:

  • Prayers for Skate or Die’s friend as he and his family mourn the early passing of his sister
  • Prayers for the congregation of Unity Presbyterian Church as they recover from the fire
  • Prayers for those fighting cancer
  • Prayers for patience and poise during the holiday season and 2.0s are a little more ramped up than normal.
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Aces UP for a blockparty beat DOWN

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After a quick disclaimer, we took off for the track around to park to make pit stops at each of the posts for some warmup exercises.  At each post, we started with the following exercise and then 2 burpees after each one…for a bonus.

  • SSH x25
  • Imperial and Hillbilly walkers x10
  • Moroccan night club x30
  • Squats x20, Cherry pickers x10

After warmup, we moseyed over to the playground for the Thang:

  • Merkins: 10 diamonds, 10 military, 10 regular, 10 wide arm, 10 derkins
  • Run lap around playground
  • 20 chin-ups
  • Run lap around playground
  • 50 flutters
  • Run lap around playground

Rinse and repeat…during one of the laps, we had two men down due to uneven concrete slabs during the run.  Note to self – be careful out there for the uneven terrain!

Next we found some benches for the next set of fun.

  • 40 dips
  • Run lap around playground
  • 20 step-ups (10/leg)
  • Run lap around playground

Rinse and repeat.  As time was winding down, we had time for one last circuit.  Similar to round 1, we gave this another shot with some modifications.

  • Merkins: 5 diamonds, 5 military, 5 regular, 5 wide arm, 5 derkins
  • 20 LBCs
  • 20 step-ups (10 each leg)
  • 20 LBCs
  • 50 flutters
  • 20 LBCs

Quick run back to COT to wrap up the morning for name-o-rama, announcements, prayers and praises (CSPAN style), and closed out with our prayer!  Great work men and we missed you Fire Marshall Bill…get better my friend!

Shady

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Too cold for a TOGA at Block Party

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There was quite the bite in the air on this Fall morning.  A little different than the balmy 55-degree weather the day before. PAX rolled in and everyone looked very excited to get rolling. Quick disclaimer for the Vets and off we went (might have been a little less stretching than initially forecasted).

 

Mosey up the hill to the smaller parking taking a left and heading to the right parking lot for the warm-up. As we were getting to the top of the hill a late arrival came in hot (not really it just sounds better). JWOW joined shortly after we started the warm-up and I must say there had to have been some hustle by him to get there that quickly. I appreciated the effort.

 

Warm-up

Toy soldiers to stretch the legs

Shuffle left and then switch sides working around the lot

High Knee stretches

Carioca to finish

Mosey to circle up

Imperial Walker- x30

Overhead claps- x30

SSH- x30

Seal Jax- x25

Squat (mumble chatter indicated my delivery was confusing) x15

Windmill- x15

Parker Peter- x15- hold

Honeymooner stretch to Downward dog and repeat

Recover

Mosey across to next parking lot of the business I can’t recall.

Informed the PAX that DORA was the call. Partner up. Initially I had planned these to be individual with laps in between sets. I think this was a better option.

Partner One runs the not so small loop while Partner 2 completes the following. Switching until completion.

100- Merkins

200- Squats

300- Flutters

Quick chat about the word of the month- Vulnerability. I appreciate the PAX sharing and making themselves “vulnerable” to the group with their personal challenges. We all have them.

Mosey took us next to the knee size wall in front of the building just across the street. PAX all found a spot to work through the Three rounds of the following:

Step ups- step to the top of the wall, 10 each leg

Derkins- 10

Dips- 20

 

Mosey back down back where we did DORA to the taller wall space.

Each PAX grabbed small wall and sat in a squat position while each PAX counted backwards from ten.

With a little time to spare, next up was a sprint to the other side of the parking lot and back. Perform 5 burpees. We did this a total of 2 times.

 

Mosey back to COT

 

With 2 minutes left, we did some American Hammers, Hello Dolly, holding it six inches, 90,45,90, six inches.

 

Announcements

CHRISTMAS PARTY! Sign-up- Someone said Ugly Sweater- T or F?

Xmas Eve Convergence

Joe Davis

 

Praises/Prayers

Safe returns from Holiday week

Family

Health to get out and post

 

Our kids (Chicken Hawk’s son)

Strength/Wisdom

State of our Country

 

Thanks for the opportunity to lead Shady and for the PAX who were there to support.

 

Frat Boy

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Wotan in disguise

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5 PAX gathered in the gloom for the 47th Block Party of 2018

Disclaimer

Mosey to the chained-off parking lot next to Springs Corporate for a warm up
Warm up:
30 SSH
10 IW
10 HW
10 Shoulder Taps
10 Mountain Climbers
10 Peter Parkers
Downdog–>Honeymooner

Mosey to Pike Engineering parking lot

2 rounds of Howling Monkeys (look it up)

Mosey to the Millstone playground parking lot

Numerous rounds of Happy Jacks (look it up)
– a pretty good exercises for staying in one place, encouraging dissent among the ranks, and allowing all PAX to modify as needed without getting left behind
Divided up on the little hills/mounds on the playground:
– Start at the top of the hill
– Standing forward bend (aka: touch your toes)
– Inch-worm down into merkin position
– 10 Derkins
– Inch-wormed back
– mosey to next hill until we hit all 4
– Rinse and Repeat, but changed to Bear Crawl between each hill
– (total of 80 derkins……this was a lot)

Back to Millstone parking lot for a few more rounds of Happy Jacks. YHC referenced Happy Jack by The Who, but no one else knew the tune.

Mosey back towards WEP playground

Called round of pull-ups. Like Six Minutes of Uncle (look it up), but the Q calls up and down:
– Pull ups
– Toe Touches
– Chin ups

Sat in progressively sinking Al Gore for a moment of message

Mosey back to COT

10 Merkins in cadence
37 Flutters (almost made it to 40, but if you can’t Q it, don’t do it!)
9 LBC (Q was trying to continue flutters until 6am, but see early comment about making it to 37…)

NMM

Being vulnerable is the theme for the month. I shared that I struggle with my tone of voice when talking to my 2.0s. I often resort to yelling as much as talking. It is something that I work on, but often not with the diligence I approach an F3 workout. Finding the line of discipline vs. direction is a challenge for me as a parent. I don’t want my boys to grow up in a house where their dad just yells and barks commands (or where they don’t feel heard unless they also yell…).

In planning, I considered planking up and holding plank until each PAX shared something vulnerable. But decided that while it is the Qs place to push the PAX, each PAX needs to decide for themselves on their own vulnerability. Forced vulnerability is very different than actually being vulnerable.

Welcome to FNG: “Wotan” (Vot-an) https://sfopera.com/ring/story/dasrheingold/wotan/

Announcements:
Christmas Party signups need to be done

Prayers:
– wisdom in parenting
– for those who have a difficult (or absent) home situation over a holiday like Thanksgiving
– safe travels during the holiday

Band Camp dismissed

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