It’s always an honor for me to lead the pax.  When you throw on top a July 4th Convergence, WEP as the AO, and my fellow Founder of The Fort, Santini, as co-Q, my pulse picked up more than a few ticks.  Thank you to Cake Boss for piecing this together and inviting Santini and me to lead.

90 pax posted, including 3 FNGs, for the holiday adventure and fully engaged in all 3 Fs throughout the morning.  In addition to FNGs, we had a number of Kotters back in action as well as some pax returning for only their second workout after initial post in the past week or even yesterday.

Upon arrival, it was clear Santini and I were out of sync with a large group who had already completed some Extra Credit.  10+ ruckers.  20-30 runners.  Lots of sweat already flowing from this group before we even launched.

Independence Day marks the adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  This document was signed by 56 men, representing all 13 colonies.  These men were lawyers, farmers, merchants and teachers.  They were educated, had families, owned property and were visible leaders in their communities.  They ranged in age from 26 to 70, with an average of 45.  These traits sound familiar?  Yes, these men were just like every member of the pax.  They had full lives with great blessings.  And yet they chose to risk it all by signing their names to that document, knowing fully that it would be viewed as an act of treason and potentially punishable by death if they were captured by the British.

They signed the document anyway.  They went to war.  Eight years of war.  We know the stories of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams who signed and later became President.  We know of Benjamin Franklin and all he contributed to America.  What we may lose sight of amid the hot dogs, burgers, brews, swimming and fireworks on July 4th is the risk these 56 men took.  And many paid a steep price.  Nine of these signers died in the war.  A dozen had their properties pillaged and burned.  Several were captured and mistreated for long periods.  Many suffered irreplaceable losses of loved ones and livelihoods, leaving them and their families to live in radically different circumstances for the rest of their lives.

So on this day when we celebrate Freedom, what would you be willing to die for?  What truths are self-evident to you such that you would be willing to risk everything you have to stand up for?

The Thang

Mosey to the parking lot at Springs building

COP —  13 reps IC of Mtn climbers, Squats, SSHs, Merkins, Moroccan Night Clubs, Peter Parkers, IWs

Mosey to the hill along 160 and plank it up on sidewalk

Partner 1: run to top of hill + Merkins x13 + run back
Partner 2: Plank
(Flapjack)

Handoff to Santini & cross street to Memorial park

SSHs x56

CDDs x10

Merkins x10

Bombjacks x10 OYO

Pledge of Allegiance led by Shark Bait

Burpees x10 OYO

Merkins x10

Bombjacks x10 OYO

Handoff to Double D and mosey to parking lot behind Hobos

Plank sequence

Donkey kicks x10 OYO

Monkey Humpers x10

Donkey Kicks x10 OYO

Monkey Humpers x10

Mosey to corner of Tom Hall & Main Street and form column on sidewalk on each side of Main Street for July 4th Lunge Walk Parade to Hobos

Mosey back to Memorial Park

Partner up & complete 56 Merkins w/partner (either aggregate or 56 each)

Mosey back to WEP

Form 5 columns for Santini’s famous Pain Platoon and proceed to complete countless series of squats

Partner up & complete 56 Burpees in aggregate w/partner

Mosey home

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

Thanks to all pax for enduring the meandering path through town.  Santini and I chose not to poke at those whining about grass and rashes and instead took the group off campus.  Not an easy feat with 90 pax in tow.  It certainly wasn’t perfect, especially when I took us down Main Street for the “parade” session.  Santini would not have made that call, but like a good partner he locked shields, pushed forth and pressed the “teaching moment” element.  Thankful for the safe return without issue and the enthusiasm the pax displayed throughout.

Shout out to Cable Guy, who sat broken on the curb after a rolled foot during the pre-run.  He was off to Urgent Care later in day and enjoyed his fireworks in a boot.  Look forward to getting you back out soon!

Shout out to Red Banjo, High Life & Flacco — three of what may have been even more Kotters out for the celebration of pain.

Solid lead put forth by Shark Bait on the Pledge when called upon on the spot.  Well done!

Welcome to our three FNGs — Price Check, Pylon & Snow Cone!  T-claps to Dixie Chicken and Olaf for EHing them.

Great to meet some newcomers, including Kung Fu Panda, Night Court & Prophet.  Keep posting, men.  It doesn’t get easier, but you get stronger/better.

What a terrific morning! We had the full spectrum of brothers out — Pax & 2.0s, young guns & respectables, black, brown & white, gritty F3 veterans & recent comers, Kotters & FNGs.  On those cold mornings of 2-5 men posting at Block Party in winter of 2012, neither Santini nor I could have imagined this is where God would take this thing we call The Fort.

None of us will ever know what those 56 HIMs expected to come from their efforts to draft and adopt a document called the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago.  What we do know is what each of them believed because it is there in black and white with their signatures at the bottom.  “Life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness.”  Freedom is a gift granted by God that these men chose to pronounce, to honor and to defend.  That Freedom works two ways — Freedom from something/someone AND Freedom to choose something/someone.  What are you doing with your Freedom?

Thanks for honoring your country, your brothers and Santini & me by posting today.

To close out the last #RockRegion invasion of the Fort YHC was given the great honor of Qing at Block Party. I am humbled to be asked to lead a fine group of men into uncharted waters for myself. I have never Q’ed a Fort area workout and early reconning was needed to find what Popeye likes to do……… stairs.   Thanks was given to the Fort PAX for the foresight  to bring F3 to Rock Hill.  The Fort is the Foundation for the Rock Region so today we worked on our foundation… aka legs.

The Thang –

Warm Up

• 15 (IC) SSH – (I was given some type of warning from Twister about not being loud but I didn’t hear him)
• 15 (IC) IW
• 15 (IC) MNC
• 15 (IC) Negative Merkins

Mosey

To the wall at the parking lot next to the springs building

• Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes in Peoples Chair… The plan on the winkie was to just go to 15, but since YHC couldn’t hear anyone counting we went to about 30.

Mosey and stop for Apache to lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

Mosey to the stairs right at the end of main street.

• 10 Squats
• Run the stairs
• 10 Monkey Humpers
• Run Stairs Double steps
• 10 (L&R Leg each) Bulgarian Squats
• Floating Steps running the stairs
• 10 Sumo Squats
• Jump Squat the stairs

Rinse and Repeat – SSH waiting  on the 6

Mosey to the hill leading up to the parking lot of the Springs Building

• Nur the hill
• 10 ranger Merkins
• Run down
• Nur the hill
• 10 ranger merkins

Mosey to the parking lot

10 rows of Bear Crawl Merkins.

Mosey back to the COT.

Run the hill at the COT and back

• 10 (IC) SSH –
• 10 (IC) IW
• 10 (IC) MNC
• 10 (IC) Negative Merkins

Done.

Earlier in the workout  I asked the PAX if they knew the what the greatest Naval Recruiting video of all time is? Answer: Top Gun.

In that movie Maverick made the job look fun & easy, but he was just one guy. In Real life that one pilot has 5000+ men now women behind him making sure he & the multi-million dollar aircraft get off of a floating runway.  Not to mention we watch Top Gun in my Navy A School of what NOT to do on the flight deck.

In reality when an aircraft carrier starts flight ops the ship captain turns the ship into the wind not away from it.  Many times we get our ship of life turned into adversity, just like the Flanagan Family Lexington is facing right now with the loss of Cheech. We saw F3 brothers from all over the country rally to Cheech’s family. To launch an aircraft it starts way below decks in the engineering space create steam to power the ship and put steam in the catapults. The cooks who feed the pilot, to the parachute gear riggers, to blue, purple, red, green, and yellow shirts – the enlisted plane captain who gets the jet ready so all the pilot has to is get in an flight right into the wind and complete his mission.  I am comforted to know that if a tragedy would strike here or with me – we have thousands PAX everywhere that would take care of your or my family.

Let just hope we are not put to the test.  However in the end Sky Q gets all the Glory not Maverick.

Aye! Popeye OUT!

8 of The Fort’s Finest showed up to continue RockRegion Block Party Take over. I was asked several months ago to lead by IJ, and I jumped at the chance to cross the river again. I made my way showed up early got a little prerun in. Bill Nye Joined me from Rock Hill, so did RiverRat who lives right in the middle of The Fort/Rock Region city lines.

Warmup
Windmills
Squats
Little Baby Arm Circles

The Thang
Started a mosey up the hill towards the church

Indian Run Merkins(Front Pax Drops does 10 Merkins and runs to the back of the line, yells drop when complete)
Continue into a Mosey Around The Church

Had Pax Partner Up, Macgyver paired with me since we had the same gloves. The stairs provided a great opportunity to do some fun stair workouts.

Partner One Bear crawl stairs three times, Jog down before the next rep
Partner Two Merkins until Partner Finishes bear crawls
Then Switch. Continue to do the following exercises
Partner One Frog hop stairs
Partner Two Alternating Shoulder taps
Partner One Left Side Crawl
Partner Two LBCS
Partner One Right Side Crawl
Partner Two Hello Dolly
Each Partner Did both exercises and as many partner two exercises they could do while Partner One did the stair work.

Partner Leg Lifts 100 each partner(Crowd Pleaser)
Do 25 then switch, rinse and repeat until both hit 100.
FUN PART Attempt to throw partner off balance, by pushing their legs in different directions.

Plank Alternating claps down the row.
Think Indian Run In Planks, Go down the line and Clap hands with each pax, rinse and repeat until every pax has gone at least once.

Overhead claps on knees 50 in Cadence(Another Crowd Pleaser!)
Little baby arm circles
10 Merkins
Over head claps 25
Moroccan night clubs 15
10 Merkins
Little Baby Arm Circles
10 Merkins(Left Arms Dead!)

Zig zag Indian run back to AO
Pax Ran between each person in the line!

Not Quite two miles so finished with a jogging exercise group:
Toy soldiers
Butt kickers
Side shuffles

COT and Prayers
Spoke about 1Kings 18 Elijah and how he stepped in faith knowing the Lord would reveal himself by sending fire down to the altar.

CAH golf cart rally details coming soon
Check the Newsletter!

Thanks for letting me lead Double D!

The Riddler OUT!!!

This morning brought heavy humidity and pouring sweat to 14 PAX at BlockParty. Conditions were soupy and the park was dark, but the PAX trudged through for 2.17 miles of fun in the gloom. Here’s what we did:

Warm UP (all done in cadence)

• 25 SSHs
• 20 IWs
• 20 MNCs
• 20 Rock Hillbilly Walkers

The Thang

Mosey to the Playground

Partner up for:

• 50 Pullups
• 100 Merkins
• 150 Squats
• 200 LBCs

Exercises were done while partner ran a lap around the playground. Once the lap was complete, partner’s flapjacked.

Once exercises were complete, the PAX did 15 Dips (IC) for good measure.

Mosey downtown

Stop at the Veteran’s Memorial for the Pledge of Allegiance

Mosey to The Wall

• People’s Chair (15 IC)
• Hold People’s Chair while PAX take turns doing 10 Merkins each
• 10 Count Austrailian Mtn Climbers (crowd pleaser)

Mosey to Subway

• Karaoke
• Nur
• Shuffle
• Run

Mosey back to COT

• A little Broga
• 25 Shoulder Taps
• 60 Calf Raises

NMM

Thank you Double D for the opportunity to cross the river and lead. Today I shared with the PAX something that I think many of us struggle with: Pride. Like Kielbasa said, as we get stronger through our workouts, we often start thinking we are invincible. We as men struggle mightily with pride. Is it because we live in a nation that says we can be anything we want to be? Is it because we drink too much of the “me” Kool-Aid? Perhaps we believe all the times folks have exalted us for our achievements. Heck, now we get trophies for participating! Pride leads to distruction. It is the root of all sin. It is what led Satan to say, “I will make myself like the Most High.” It is what led Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. It is what let a 10-year-old me to second and third place finishes for two years in taekwondo. It’s what led to 22-year-old me into the bosses office to be told no one is irreplaceable. It is what led 29-year-old me to nearly splashing Merlot at WEP at my first workout. Pride is our way of saying we know better than God. When things go well, we praise ourselves. When things go poorly, we blame God. Humility is knowing there is a God and you are not Him. John tells us “He must increase and I must decrease.” We are called to put others first – to live third. Humility comes before honor. A proud man is always looking down on others. While looking down, you cannot see anything above you. Let’s stop looking down and looking in and start looking up. It is better to be humble than to be humbled.

Aye!

Italian Job

14 men not afraid of a little water showed up to try and get better this morning at Walter Elisha. Let’s get it on…

Mosey to the small parking lot off of 160 for warmup.

WARMUP:

• 30 Side straddle hops
• 10 4-count merkins HOLD POSITION
• 20 double count mountain climbers HOLD POSITION
• 20 peter parkers RECOVER
• 30 Moroccan night clubs
• 10 4-count windmills
• 30 low slow squats

The THANG:

Mosey to upper parking lot

• Burpee broad jump to first line, bear crawl to second line, burpee broad jump to 3rd line, plank for the 6, mosey back to start
• Run to first line, 20 merkins, run to second line, 20 squats, run to curb, 20 dips

Mosey to awning next door…dry ground for a few minutes of Mary

• Wall sits + overhead extension x 20 + 4 10-counts
• On your six:
  • Boats & Canoes in cadence x 20
  • dying cockroach in cadence x 20 (legs all the way down – parallel to ground for each count)
  • protractor in cadence x alot
  • Captain Thors in cadence 5×20

Mosey to the wall

• Muscle ups, 4 count x 10

Quick word re: accountability – be a leader to those around you during your workouts. You quit, they quit. You do work, they do work. Keep this in mind.

Mosey to playground (YAAAAAAY!)

• Partner up, P1 does pullups, P2 runs around p-ground. Rinse & repeat.
• WORST PART OF THE WORKOUT – Squat burpees (1 burpee + 5 squats after each burpee jump) x 10.
• 20 dips

Mosey to COT.

Announcements: CAH June Burpee Challenge, Colombia Mission trip fundraisers (wristbands, car wash cards, Gutters & Gringos)

Prayers requests: Sen Tressel brother in law (health), Dark Helmut friend (health), Double D parents (travel), Manchester bombing victims. Praise for the day ahead.

APOLOGIES TO HEEHAW FOR GETTING THIS UP SO LATE…I’VE GOT A POCKETFUL OF EXCUES BUT NONE THAT ARE SUFFICIENT.  NICE JOB BROTHER!!!

17 pax, including 1 FNG and several from The Rock, posted to Block Party to welcome HeeHaw to the Q Club for his virgin rodeo.  With a solid welcome and a proper disclaimer in front of the assembled barristers, HeeHaw took the pax off on his adventure.

The Thang

Despite the advertisement to his  2.0 FestiFun and the advance coordination with DD that indicated little running, Q was off to the races when the gun sounded, leading the pax down 160 to the lot in front of UC Synergetic.

COP — SSHs, IWs, windmills, squats, CDDs

Partner up

Partner 1: bear crawl across lot, merkins x10, run back
Partner 2: Preacher’s chair
(flapjack)
(rinse & repeat 2x for total of 3 cycles)

Partner leg throws x25 (flapjack)

Mosey to Massey Street Hill

Partner 1: run to top of hill, hello dolly x10, run down/
Partner 2: continuous CDDs
(flapjack)
(rinse & repeat)

Run back to WEP with pause in park at corner of 160

Plank series

20 Burpees OYO (FestiFun favorite!)

Mosey down trail toward parking lot w/stop along way

20 Bombjacks OYO

10 Bombjacks OYO (practice makes perfect)

Mosey to parking lot

Mary session — Russian hammer, LBCs, dying cockroach

COT

Naked man moleskin

T-claps to HeeHaw on a solid first outing as Q!  Don’t be confused by that handle…he’s not a knee-slappin’ bumpkin’ from 1970s TV.  He is a classic OG living an “It’s a Wonderful Life” script.  Nice to have you in the center of the pax!

Not only did he work a nice Weinke, with more running than anyone anticipated (keep ’em guessing!), HeeHaw came with a solid message.  Great challenge to the pax to make the #Maturity theme for the month count for more than just personal growth but also growth in your marriage.

Welcome to our brothers from across the river, especially FestiFun who posted despite recovering from flu and recent injuries in order to support his old man on his VQ voyage.  Great to have all of you!

Welcome to FNG/Gutterball, who posted for the first 3 mins of pain, before jetting off to get to work.  T-claps to Sauerkraut for the EH.  Keep on coming, Gutterball…we’ll get that roll straightened out over time.

12 posted for a sampling of some GORUCK Good Livin!  The Ruck-Truck rolled in overflowing with Rucksacks and Sandbags much to the concern of the PAX.  One FNG posted this am to see what all this was about, so full Disclaimer given and the it was time to Ruck Up.

The Thang

Mosey up the path a bit for our warm-up session of SSH,IW,WM & Mtn Climbers

Partner up for first series, which included Partner 1 doing 5 burpees while Partner 2 starts around the Path with 2-rucks or 1-sandbag.   P2 then sprints to Partner 1 and hands-off the rucks/sandbag and does the exercise.  Rinse & Repeat around full path for .6-mi.  This staple of our wokouts is known as Catch Me If You Can. #winded

After a short discussion on F3-Mission Statement and how F3 brothership bonds and Leadership come into play during GORUCK Events, Pax lined up in 2-columns for a little Sandbag toss relay race.  Front team member cleaned the #40 sandbag and exploding up, throws it out front of him. Man behind him steps up and does the same, Indian Run Style all the way down to the #60 sandbag.  Return w/the #60; That was fun….Lets do it one more time!

Circle Up. Lay Bag or Ruck down in front of you.  15 burpees oyo on your Ruck, replacing the jump up with a hop over to the other side after each rep.

Finished off the am with same Partners doing 100’s of Merkins & Squat Thrusters with Rucks.  P1 doing the work, P2 sprinting across field and back taking over for P1. Flapjack to 100 is achieve as a team.

Return back in Two Columns for COT.

Thank you to Double D for the invite out to come show how the Rucksack can be incorporated in a normal Bootcamp and to the Block Party Faithful for going along.  Shout out to FNG Bunyan for posting his first time out at the place it all started and for for offering such a solid prayer to take us out.

Always a pleasure to Lead

8 of us showed up for some running and bootcamping!!

Lap around WEP and COP

20 SSH
10 Diamond Merkins
20 Low Slow Squats
10 Peter Parker
10 Parker Peter
6″ Plank
20 IW
10 Merkins
20 Seal Jacks
20 Mountain Climbers

Partner up (size does not matter) Speed might!

Partner one stays home and does continuous
10 merkins, 20 dips, 30 LBC until partner 2 returns home (Flapjack)

2 laps each and quite a few merkins, dips and LBC’s!

Finish up with 5 minutes of Ab Lab and off to COT

Finished up at 2 miles and no mumble chatter! Just the way I like it (quiet)!!!

Asked the PAX to tell us what we are all thankful for. I for one gave my thanks for F# and the positive impact it has made on my life including body, mind and spirit! Thanks Dredd and OBT!!! You might not know it but you are saving people and building better men everyday! What a fantastic legacy!!