22 showed up to get better….22 left better (more tired like YHC, but they took the red pill today). Pledge of allegiance was properly performed, very short disclaimer (I think) but 5 core principles were done for the FNG…YHC tried to wait for what he was told about 2 PAX coming in HOT only to realized they were already there. Upon that notification, we were off at a 7 min pace.
We ran down Academy street to the open parking lot by the top of the hill before we got to all the churches…did some planking while we waited for the 6…counted off to make sure we started and left with the same number. At this point, YHC explained the drill and early route.
10 – hand release merkins
20 – squats
30 – American (no, not russian twists) hammers
We did these in the parking lot, ran down the hill, were greeted from the Footloose PAX (welcome FNG) with some proper form (I guess) monkey humpers. Very nice call Trucker – brownie points… We ran to the corner of Tom Hall where we did our 10, 20, 30 – then ran to Hardees for another 10, 20, 30. Waiting for the 6 we planked…as we should. Once all PAX were in attendence, YHC instructed the PAX to run up Spring St and cross over to Unity where we would do 10, 20, 30. At each “up and over” (basically creating an L), we would perform the exercises at either Unity or Spring depending on the up and over…always doing the exercise at the “over” cross street. Once we reached Summersby (all the way in the back of the neighborhood), we ran back to Hardees. Due to bad time management by YHC, this caused everyone to run all the way back to COT so you’re welcome for the non-rest. Sorry, not sorry.
At COT, we named our FNG – Trickle (welcome!!). D2D race for announcements which sold out in about 5 hours to the surprise of everyone. Prayers and praises – we had a little of both. Overall, just the right amount of suck but we got better and that’s the goal.
Shady out (thanks Shanks for the gap in schedule!)
The Sweati 2020-
79 HIM took to The Forts annual summer CSAUP event. It was 78 degrees when 24 Ruckers launched from The Coliseum at 0530. They had their disclaimer and direction to the first of the 3 pain stations. Just After at 0600 54 runners took to the route. They departed and ran about 2.5 miles and got to meet Bones at Golden Corral for the first pain station. He worked them over as they came in for about 10-15 minutes. Once he finished dishing the pain they took off to Pantheon only about 1.5 miles up the Road. Fishsticks was waiting for sprints and pain. He had the PAX attention for another 10-15 minutes. Once they left they brought the route back to YHC. While waiting for the PAX to return and doing burpees I decided that my other two Qs most likely put the PAX through so much I would give them a choice. Either 20 burpees at 5 light poles with bear crawls in-between or they could buyout of it for a $50. going to our brother Cash. Most wanted to take on both challenges. We wore black for Cash and am still amazed at the Photos coming in from across the Country showing support to this HIM. We love you Cash. Here is a link to the pay-pal account if you feel you would like to support.
15 (I think) maybe 16 answered the bell at Minnow Pond for 3 miles- #rabbits got 4 and Merk/LBC/Squat box of hate.
Twitter machine instructions:
0514: Pledge
0515: AYG to Post Office, Wait for instructions
The Thang:
Partner up. leave in opposite directions for a run around the block. Meet up, exercise. keep running your loop. Meet up, Exercise Add street from the block back each time.
Pain: 50 Merkins Net, 100 LBC Net, 150 Squats net. Rinse/repeat until 0555 and head back to shovel flag.
Man- Expected Gears and Long Duck DONG to be out front but watching Darkest of All in action is a thing to behold. Don’t let hair gel (Cat 4 approved) fool you. Fast lean and drives to front of pack. Partnered with Refugee (San Diego transplant). 4-5 post so far and crushing. Although apropo and fitting to be my partner as he spilled merlot. but gutted it out. Well done Refugee.
Partner theme appealed to me today and the exercises with net numbers allowed to pick up your partner. My charge for you today is to pick up someone today. Emotionally, physically, help with a task or just tell them you were thinking about them.
Prayers for teachers, patience, relationships and for Cash.
13 men showed up for loops of fun this morning. We began with the Pledge of Allegiance at 05:14. A quick disclaimer and description of the route thereafter. The warm-up consisted of running to the top of the hill on Massey Street. We stopped there of a minute so I could explain the “Sprint Zone. ” Four sprints after completing pain station #2. To keep it simple since I tend to forget the pain station exercises, each station had the same exercises: 10 bomb jacks, 10 hand release merkins, 10 squats. Four stations: Gas station on the corner of Massey and Spratt, parking lot on Massey, parking lot on Spratt, and steps on White. Each loop was about a mile. The “Sprint Zone” turned into a “Recovery Zone” for most after the first lap.
Everyone did a great job. I appreciate coming out each morning, hearing the encouragement from others, and challenging myself to do better.
12 PAX gathered, brief disclaimer and we’re off at what was collectively determined as “not mosey” pace.
Each stop:
5 burpees
10 Carolina Dry Docks
15 Jump Squats
20 Hello Dollys (some in cadence, some not)
At the Harris Street Park basketball court, we bear crawled cupcakes (line touches). FYI, baseline to baseline is a long way.
6 stops total.
Visited the monument to state sovereignty and the “faithful” slave. Talked about the kinds of questions we ask. YHC grew up in this town and never thought to ask why these monuments were here. Minnow Pond meets at “Veteran’s Park,” but “Confederate Park” is just up the hill… a monument to separatists that fought against the armed services honored at Veteran’s Park. Longshanks typically leads the pledge of allegiance before a workout, yet there are monuments to those who flew a different flag designed to replace the “stars and stripes” just across the railroad tracks. Interesting…
YHC is reading, because that is how academics solve problems. Recommended for non-academics as well. #accelerate
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“None of us were promised to end the fight on our feet, fists raised to the sky. We could not control our enemies’ number, strength, nor weaponry. Sometimes you just caught a bad one. But whether you fought or ran, you did it together, because that is the part that was in our control.”
How are the questions we ask reinforcing togetherness or keeping us divided? Can we ask better questions?
Welcome FNG from West Charlotte: “Chimay”
May have broken his back, good thing I was also the one who EHed him.
Want to Run or Ruck and Sweat? Join YHC for both. Let’s get out of your comfort zone.
Come out and enjoy 5.75 miles of running or rucking. Included with your ticket is 3 pain stations that will test out if you have been posting to workouts over the summer/ Covid pandemic. This has been and will continue to be the summer sweatdown.
Launch from Coliseum (1025 Dave Gibson Blvd) you will be told where to go next.
Ruck- depart 0530
Run- depart 0600
Water will be available at pain stations. Bring your own if you are against trash.
Coffee will be provided by The Fort. Donations to the fund are accepted.
Q Source will follow at this site. Please bring chair and Q Source manual (not required)
Q source will start shortly after PAX catch there breathe.
This was YHC’s second Q at MP – and what a joy it was. I scanned through all *cough* ten *cough* of the back blasts to ensure the weinke was worth the price of admission.
As the HIM rolled in, the clock struck 0513 and we headed to the flag to say the pledge of allegiance.
0514: Disclaimer, quick run down of the warm up lap and a hint at the plan for the day.
And we’re off.
.55 mile loop at a 6:45 pace up Main St, left on Clebourne, left on 160, back to the gravel lot for a quick few movements.
Dynamic Warm Up
Karaoke in Gravel Lot, facing 160 out and back
Side Shuffle in Gravel Lot, facing 160 out and back
Butt Kickers
Circled up for Wind Mills in the paved lot.
It was at this moment that the bat flippers thought I wouldn’t get the required mileage due to the stop for the wind mills. I enjoyed their words and snickered on the inside as we prepped to head out.
Weinke
The weinke was to be simple, but effective; a DIY DORA, if you will.
Start at the base of Massey St and mosey up to the end of the Sisk Memorial Church Parking Lot
Upon arriving at the end of the lot each PAX was to do the following:
10 Merkins
20 Squats
30 LBCs
Mosey back down the hill, rinse and repeat ten times to total 100-200-300.
After that first lap, it got awfully quiet.As we passed each other, like ships in the night, each PAX put in the work necessary to conquer “Hill One.” Esso did give me a good laugh. At one point he and I passed and he whispered “I hate you right now.” 100% worth it.
Fish Sticks, Long Duck, Maximus, and Gears led the pack as the rest of us hobbled behind. I am sad to say that nobody completed the full 10 rounds, though a few hard hitters made it 9.
As quickly as it started, it ended, and we ran back to COT across 160. 3.9 miles total.
Naked Man Moleskine
This weinke, again, was simple yet effective. YHC has been attending Sweep The Leg and the hills have been my downfall. My goal today was to target a weakness and attack it, in the hopes to become better. That is the life we as leaders must live, or else we will become stagnant and fail.
We should have this perspective with our faith as well. I think of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27.
26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
This is the way we must live out our faith. For if we run aimlessly and without plan, the enemy will overtake us. Take some time today to focus on your current path and what trajectory you are on – intentional or unintentional.
Thank you to the 11 PAX, including YHC, who showed up at Minnow Pond on this moist humid gloom to sharpen iron and push each other. It was a blessing to be back at this AO with my brothers and facing the gloom together and not alone.
WARMUP
We began this workout by sharing the F3 Core Principles and the F3 Disclaimer. Then at 0514 Longshanks led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The warmup included the following in 5-Merkins in Cadence, 20 Jump Lunges OYO (10 Each Leg), 10 Flutters in Cadence. YHC then gave the route and plan to all and we began.
THE THANG
After this everyone was pretty much warm, we began the thing. The Prelude was to head up Main St. to the corner of Academy St. and turn Rt. The route was down Academy St., Left of Withers St., Left of Tom Hall St., Left of Main St., and Left on Academy St. until we were complete with time.
YHC asked the PAX to stop at the four corners (Fort Mill Church of God, Fort Mill Town Administration, Fort Mill Animal Hospital, and Fort Mill Police Dept. parking lots) and perform the following exercises at each location:
10 Merkins, 20 Jump Lunges (10 Each Leg), 20 Flutters (Dbl. Count), and 10 Burpees.
Then we headed back to the COT where YHC shared from the heart a little.
All men did an awesome job this morning. Great work was displayed by all. Thank you again for joining YHC and Longshanks this morning.
NMM
This past Saturday there was a discussion in the Region about the current situation we are experiencing in our country. The unfortunate thing is that this current situation is not current. It is ongoing and has been since the beginning. People are different, but the issue is the same. I am not talking about the beginning of the founding of our country. I am speaking of the day Adam & Eve decided to eat of the fruit. Since that day, man has been dead, and his heart has not been right.
Ephesians 2:4-10 ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’
Paul was speaking to the church of Ephesus and to us in the beginning of this passage concerning their state prior to salvation, and then explained their state after Christ. This passage has been resonating with YHC over the past few weeks. God has shown us mercy and given us grace through Him. And because of that we have been ‘raised up’ from the dead and seated us along with Christ at His own right hand.
What we are experiencing in our world is a display of the state of man without Christ. Without change in the heart, no change in the world can happen. Policies may be changed; reforms may occur; the world may feel different; but will it be different without the changing hearts of man? The things of this world will rust and fade away, but the things of Heaven will last forever.
My challenge to you today is to look first at your heart. Not what is around you, but what is inside you. If you are not spiritually alive, then things may appear to be changing, but they technically are not. Once you have made that heart change, you can be a part of the real change that must occur in this world. A change in the direction of where we should be heading and need to be heading. The direction of Christ.
Once you know your heart is right, then I challenge you to go out and love others as you love yourself. If you love others in this manner, you will want to serve them, and by serving them they will respect you. Show love and be blessed.
If you do not know how to make this Heart Change for yourself, please let YHC know and we can discuss further.
Aye!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reach out to a Site Q to Q a Workout.
Hog & Coyote this weekend in Rock Hill. See YHC or Honeypot for info.
F3 The Fort Convergence – July 11 – Location TBD.
Cutting Grass at FM Care Center – Speak with Corruption for details.
Read your Newsletter.
PRAYERS/PRAISES
The PAX shared their prayers and praises and YHC lifted them up.
Differences between this version of Minnow Pond and the last time I Q’d the MP:
1. Societal tension coming from years of oppression and ignorance.
2. The disgusting humidity
3. PAX age range: 14-57
One of these, we discussed & analyzed.
One of these, we suffered through.
One of these, we appreciate.
For the first time in I don’t know how long, there were 0 PAX for extra credit BUT (anything before the but doesn’t matter) we had 11 of us post for the Pledge of Allegiance to our great Nation at 0514. A brief disclaimer followed by a very brief warm-up mosey followed by a very, very brief round of Windmills led us into the substantive portion of the post.
With the Nation (and world) now (and always, really), we need to address our own personal sins and shortcomings before looking elsewhere. We have to own it rather than saying it is due to someone or something else. Specific to our present tensions onset by centuries of racial injustice, what have I turned a blind eye to, or what have I tolerated? In other words, we need to have a Michael Jackson moment by taking a look at the Man In The Mirror.
As he sings in that song,
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change.”
A key component to addressing these ignorance’s and learning is to put yourself into challenging 1:1 conversations. In the spirit of the 1:1, we’d be doing 1.1mi loops with 3 stops along each loop.
The loop had us run up Massey to the gas station for stop 1. R/T onto Harris then R/T McCammon then into the Founders bank lot for stop 2. R/T Clebourne then R/T Main St then back to the AO parking lot for stop 3.
At each stop:
10 Mak Tar Jai’s
10 Inch Worms
10 Toe Touches
10 Mountain Merkins (4ct Moutain Climber + 1 Merkin)
After completing the first lap, I realized the rep count was a bit too aggressive. So, we cut it from 10 to 5 and I think everyone was able to complete at least 2 laps. Had I talked a bit less in the beginning, we might’ve even gotten to a full 3 laps.
Back at COT, we talked about the topic a bit more, shared some announcements and offered prayers & praises. Great start to the day with brothers to my left & right.
19 Pax posted on a Yumid morning to salute Old Glory and dig deep to tackle the surrounding hills. We were honored to welcome FNG/The Fonz (EH’d by Pusher) and a quasi-Kotter in Santini ( who has lost his excuses for not posting to any downtown FM AOs). Longshanks led The Pledge and then the fun began.
The Thang
Hills, hills and more hills — that was the recipe for the day.
Brief warm-up in the parking lot to allow Body Wash to catch up with the pax on his late arrival — SSH, Mtn climber, Parker Peter, Merkins
Run to parking lot at WEP
Muster at bottom of hill leading to stop sign at entrance of parking lot
Run to top, do # Burpees of your choice, run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Burpees on each return to the top (UvU format — you pick initial # and increment); continue repeatedly
Muster at bottom of Stairway to Heaven
Run to light pole at top, do # Merkins (starting from last # Burpees, using same increment pattern), run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Merkins on each return to top; continue repeatedly
Run to large parking lot across from gun shop on Massey Street
Run to bottom of Massey Street; run back to top, do # Freddie Mercurys (starting from last # Merkins, using same increment pattern), run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Freddie Mercurys on each return to top; continue repeatedly
Mosey home
COT
Naked man moleskin
Thank you to Longshanks for the Q invite at Minnow Pond — great AO, great format, lively pax who all got after it today. It was especially sweet since it was my first Q back in The Fort in 90 days. (Apologies to a few pax I missed in the attendees — Gen X camera malfunction)
Welcome to The Fonz! Yes, he set a new fashion standard to rival Slash’s collars. Plus, he pushed toward the front of the pax throughout. Great first time out….look forward to seeing you again. And T-claps to Pusher on the EH.
Great to have Santini in The Gloom! If you have any history with this #Redwood, then you know why it’s great to have him back. If you don’t, then find the chance to saddle up next to him the next time you see him in the circle and ask him about origin of the Moroccan Night Club. or Stairway to Heaven or the Echochamber.
Theme for the day was hills, because they provide great training for runners. AND, because we’re living in “uphill times” in my view (pandemic, unemployment, social distancing, racism, injustice, protests, rioting — pure chaos in the headlines). These hills in life (short, long, steep or any combination) can be strong training ground as well. Much has been said by many about the “silver linings” of lockdown life. Certainly that’s been true for me and my family. At same time, the tough stuff, the difficulties, the adversity in life are also challenges that can build endurance, resilience, passion, vision for the road ahead. Take some time to reflect where the tough parts of your current situation are sharpening you and your family for the journey ahead. Don’t limit your review to just the fun, funny, joyful, positive experiences — the darker more challenging moments can provide training benefits too.