PRE-BLAST: Uptown Lunch Gonna Funk You Up…

Oh me, oh my…
The revival begins on Feb. 5 at 1130, and will continue on the First Friday of EVERY month going forward. PUT IT IN YOUR CALENDAR.
Location: Jason’s Deli in the Epicenter Uptown.

The 2nd F Uptown lunch had sputtered and maybe even stalled, but just like two good F3 men who don’t know when to quit (yes sir, may I have another?) Italian Job and YHC decided it was time to get serious and make it a thing again. (Because somewhere in my brain-damaged mind, seeing you fools in the Gloom isn’t enough…)

BUT! You say, can’t we go somewhere else? Jason’s Deli isn’t my favorite… Answer: It’s a free country. Do what you want. But WE will be here. Trust me, we wracked our brains to figure out the best spot based on seating capacity, price range, proximity, etc. This is the spot. The VSF is planted and this is the plan until further notice.
I mean, I get it. Jason’s isn’t exactly gourmet. Might not even be all that #FuelChallenge friendly, but kind of like First F stuff, if you came for the food only, you may be missing the point. So, spread the word to all your favorite Uptown-working PAX, tell it in the COTs, tweet it, etc., and get over there for some high-quality 2nd F.

Again, the details are above. To reiterate, Jason’s Deli in the Epicenter. The First Friday of every month. At 1130.

Questions? Concerns? Please feel free to bug Italian Job with that crap.

Otherwise, see you there. It’s Friday morning and we’re in the spot… Don’t believe me? Just watch…

Helmet, out.

TClap |
0

We wouldn’t run in circles all by ourselves

  • QIC: Boeheim
  • When: 1/21/2016
  • Pax: Decibel, Spud, Minuteman, Zima, White Lightning, Senator Tressel
  • Posted In: Alcatraz, Tempo, The Fort

YHC was the Q at Tempo today.  As Q’s go, this is a rather easy one. Fort the most part you say “Run!”

Today I provided a little more guidance so I could inflict the pain of an interval workout. The parking loops at Tega Cay ES are perfect for it. The big loop .33 miles w/ a slight upgrade for the “fast track.”  The small loop is just about .20 for a “recovery track.”

The Thang:

After a mosey from Trailhead and a dynamic warm up around the big loop, we were off.  8 sets of spinning around the black circles while on the lookout for a few icy patches.

While I was trying to draft off of Senator, Minuteman & Spud (and failing miserably) I was also trying to come up with a message for COT.  I had to put some thought into this Q after all.  Maybe I could use the icy patches as a metaphor (you’ll find out in the NMM).

Mosey back to Trailhead.  Running hard. Qing easy.

NMM

As we started to head back to Trailhead and mumble chatter about our laps, Decibel ended up putting a new spin on our old adage.  We always talk about how we wouldn’t do “all these burpees on our own” or “we would have stopped these merkins a long time ago if we weren’t at the F3 workout.”  Well Decibel pointed out that “We wouldn’t have kept running in circles all by ourselves.”

But maybe we do in the metaphorical sense.  When we have an issue at work or an issue with family, how many of us go over and over and over the problem in our head without looking for help?  I know my biggest “circular issue” right now is my career.  That’s a reason I’m really looking forward to the 3rd F convergence at Eternal tomorrow.

What’s going round and round in your head?  Can you talk to your M about it?  Do you reach out to the Sky Q?  Can you talk to a PAX about it?  I’ve heard many great stories of our HIMs being there for each other.  And I’m proud of all the F3 PAX stepping up for each other.  Laps on the track help the 1st F. Laps in the head aren’t good for anyone.

Prayers & Praises

Noah Fike’s NIC-U buddy Jonathan still fighting

Zima’s wife skillfully juggling career marriage & family

Annoucements –

3rd F Convergence tomorrow 1/22 @ Eternal Church

Oral Cancer 5K 2/6/2016 – http://f3nation.com/2016/01/09/pre-blast-oral-cancer-foundation-run-in-memory-of-jeremy-blevins/

Cupid’s Cup 5k 2/13/2016 http://f3nation.com/2016/01/20/pre-blast-the-best-laid-plans-cardiac-rehab/

THE YETI – 2/20/2016 http://f3nation.com/2015/11/03/the-yeti/

Proudly,

Boeheim

 

 

 

 

TClap |
0

The Fort Fuel Challenge 2016

Listen… We work out… Some of us work out most days a week.  So with all this working out, the question is: Why aren’t we shedding the love handles and the spare tire?  With the amount of physical torture we endure, we should be chiseled like a Marble Statue.

Alas, working out is only a portion of the plan… you have to stop eating garbage.

With that, I bring you The Fort Fuel Challenge 2016.  This is the new incarnation of what we did a little over a year ago (found here), but this time around you have experience on your side… I am not a professional, but we’ve done this before and have seen results.  YHC lost 7.5% of my mass (presumably fat), with the overall lead by Cash coming in at just shy of 10%.

The key to this isn’t calorie reduction (although that may be something you have to look into) and it isn’t about eating the same food every day for lunch.  You don’t need to starve yourself to see results, you just need to feed the machine the right fuel.  To feed yourself the right fuel, you need discipline and accountability.  That’s really what the Fuel challenge is all about…

So here’s the deal.  We are going to kick off on January 18th through February 29th.  This gives you two weeks to do two very important things… in fact, these are so important that I would propose that you cannot succeed in this program with out completing them:

  1. Clear out all the junk in your pantry/fridge.
  2. Get the M on board

Number 1 is easy.  Get rid of the junk now before you start.  Less junk means less temptation.  Eat it in the next two weeks if you have a problem with throwing it away, but get it out of your food storage before January 18th.

Number 2 is not as easy for some of us, but it is crucial.  You cannot do this in your house on your own, especially if your wife is eating a bowl of Ice Cream after dinner every night.  You will either come off as a self righteous prick or you will cave.  Neither of these is a recipe for success.  Get the M on board, she really wants to eat better too.

Base Program

The Fuel Challenge will give you a chance to test yourself with the support of your fellow men of F3.  And maybe after 6 weeks, you will stick to the plan (or much of it) in order to live a healthier lifestyle. The program will have a base list of items that are prohibited during the six weeks as follows.  This is mandatory and is really what will make the biggest difference in your quality of food intake.

  • No Fried Food
  • No Fast Food (inc. Pizza)
  • No processed snacks like Potato Chips, Candy Bars, Etc.
  • No Dessert
  • No Sodas or Sweet Tea
  • No Cheeses (including shredded, feta, or slices. Get it off your sandwiches and salads)(Cottage cheese will be allowed)
  • No Cream Based Sauces/Dressings (This Includes Fat Free Options for Ranch, Caesar, Alfredo, Etc.)

This seems like a significant challenge, especially for the road warrior, but you can do it.  You just need to be aware of what you are eating and plan.

You will receive ONE free pass per week – this could be a steak dinner, a pizza, etc. – no carryovers though, the pass can only be used that week – try to use your weekly pass in moderation.  Some call this a “cheat”, but use if you need to.

After week one, we introduce challenges, which are cumulative.   Some would argue the health benefits of a few of these, but I don’t think anyone can claim that limiting these items will have a detrimental effect on your well being.   Remember this is not about “dieting”, but about discipline.  Keep that in mind.

Here are the cumulative challenges:

Week 2 (and on) – No Red Meat
Week 3 (and on) – No Breads (Sprouted Grain is accepted)
Week 4 (and on) – No Pork
Week 5 (and on) – No White Starches (Potatoes, Pastas, White Rice. We’ll talk about substitutes)
Week 6 – No Dairy or Things Cooked in Butter

Just like last time, we’ve “modified as needed”.  Here are a few “Extra Credit” challenges for those so inclined.  These are not mandatory, so feel free to adopt whatever works for you.

  1. HC to F3 250.  For those that are at 2-3 posts a week, this could be a way to up your game.  Tracking F3 250 along with this attention to dietary details could be what takes your fitness (and physique) to the next level.  You can even track using this handy template.
  2. Implement Intermittent Fasting.  I’m planning on doing this and would encourage you to try the same if you can handle skipping breakfast.  There are numerous health benefits that are purported as side effects to Intermittent Fasting, but do your own research and try it if you think it makes sense.

Similar to last time, here’s how we’ll be tracking for accountability/encouragement from the participants:

  1. On January 18th, post your starting weight in the comments of this page. You have time to buy a home scale or find out where the one at your gym is. On the pending February 29th backblast post, you will post your weight using the same scale. This requires honesty and consistency. If you want to weigh yourself in the buff (don’t tell us) just do it both times. Same if it’s in underwear and t-shirt, swim trunks, etc. Having a scale also helps track progress along the way but is not the ultimate measure of health. You will need to post your weight on both posts. You will also track your weight on the My Fitness Pal page.
  2. Sign up for My Fitness Pal and download the app if you have not done so already (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ ).  Enter in all of your information including starting weight. This will factor into your suggested daily calorie consumption. Send me (Gears) your MFP id so I can invite you to the group. You can reach me via twitter (@vinsonizer) or simply put the id in the comments below.  If you didn’t have enough options, you can just go to the following URL and request group membership: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100013-f3thefort
  3. Track your exercise and calories on My Fitness Pal. If you see really good results, guys may want to go back and see how you did it. The app allows you to scan bar codes, enter in recipes and ingredients to determine calories, and already has a robust library of foods from restaurants and grocery stores.  You can also enter in weight goals and it will help provide daily calorie count, protein, carb and fat limits. You gain higher limits to stay on track with your goals by entering in your workouts.

One last comment to reiterate the above: If you are moved to do so, please view this as an opportunity to exercise not only physical/mental discipline, but also spiritual discipline. Any type of fast can be leveraged as a catalyst for prayer and worship, allowing the limiting of the desires of the flesh to remind us of our dependence on SkyQ. My personal hope is that this will be fruitful in all the self-dimensions of our personal lives: Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind.

If you are ready to go, comment below

TClap |
0

The Ultra-vergence… Man, that’s a lot of vergence…

(Poorly paraphrased from Dredd that AM): “Well, we [he and OBT] said, we’ll show up and if it’s just us two, then we’ll go do something else, but if they [the other invited Pax] show up, then we might have something and we’ll see where it goes…” (emphasis added)

That was 5 years ago. Now, we’re celebrating a new year, and we’re celebrating the 5 year anniversary (birthday?) of F3. Clearly, they had something…

As approximately one Pax for every day of the year crawled out of their clowncars and onto what may have been the wettest field I’ve ever been on, the energy was palpable. Friends from all over F3 Nation were reconnecting and new ones were being made, including an FNG from The Fort who apparently EH’ed himself (welcome Speaker)… There were smiling faces and shovel flags everywhere. The fun had started, but before long, it was time for the workout to begin…

As you can imagine, attempting to lead a group of 365 Pax is… well… ridiculous. It’s a little amusing to me that part of the whole reason Dredd and OBT broke off from the other workout group to create F3 was because the size of the group had become problematic and unwieldy. So, how should we celebrate 5 years of F3? Well, let’s see if we can’t have the most problematically-sized group come together and let’s try and make them follow instructions. (*COUGH* *GASP* *COUGH* You’ll have to excuse me, I’m choking a little on the irony…) Regardless, though, we warmed up, Dredd split us up into groups, and off we went. The workout, the “thang”? It was in there… We rotated through stations… there was some running, some ladders, some dips, some derkins, hills, burpees (of course), some other stuff… Was it the best workout I ever had? Well, it wasn’t the worst one for sure. But if you came for the workout, you may have overlooked what was happening.
As always, there were a couple of guys who were definitely there to prove they were fitter than the rest of us. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were a couple of guys who were clearly struggling to keep up at all. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were guys who wear blue collars all week long. That’s cool, you’re welcome here. There were guys whose net worth is that of a small country in certain parts of the world. That’s cool, you’re welcome here, too. Black, white, fast, slow, tall, short, rich, poor, fat, thin… all irrelevant. Welcome is what you are when you are here. It is this way because for that one hour, we all look basically the same (you know the uniform…) so you don’t know who is rich or poor or otherwise. For that one hour, we all basically act the same (unless you are Apache), we’re here to workout and fellowship a little. No one is elected, there is no hierarchy, no one is grading your performance… You know what it is? It’s because for that one hour, I believe, we are about as free as we can be in our modern, over-technologized, overcommitted, over-everythinged lives. We’re free from roles that weigh us down, free from the constraints that life and the world put on us… We’re just free to BE. That’s why we plant a flag, hustle, then take a knee at the end to give thanks to the SkyQ. That’s why we are proud to call ourselves a part of the Brotherhood of Minivan Centurions.

So, we converged, because I think somewhere deep inside we wanted to show our gratitude for this thing that has meant so much to us. Partly to God for leading us to it (or it to us, whichever), partly to the Redwood Originals for starting and sticking with it until it got to us, and partly to each other for continuing to push us to make ourselves more of what we were put here to do. I think that we came because there is strength in knowing and then physically seeing the fact that we are clearly not alone in this battle we fight. That at every turn, there is a man in a black shirt and running shoes that will help if needed.

Again, paraphrased very poorly from Dredd (right before the Ball of Man): “So now our job is to give it away. To share what has meant something to us. Because there are guys out there right now that you know who are crappy fathers, guys who are crappy husbands about to lose their marriages. There are guys who are crappy employees, or are otherwise just dissatisfied with their lives… and YOU CAN SAVE THEM.” (again, emphasis added)

To quote the immortal Forrest Gump: That’s all I have to say about that…

Until the next one…
Helmet, out.

TClap |
0

Columbus Day in Columbia


Gentlemen,

As you know Columbia was hit very hard over the past weekend by severe weather.  Many of our F3 brothers, their families, and friends have been impacted.  Daily trips are already in motion to deliver water and other necessary items.  As the waters subside the clean up will begin.  Let’s converge on Columbia to help our brothers dig out and clean up.

Details:

Plan to cut limbs, shovel mud, carry furniture, etc.  We will coordinate with those in Columbia and refine the details as we get closer.

When: Columbus Day, Monday, October 12th.

  • Meet at 6:00 – 7:00 to collect donations
  • Depart 7:30am

Where:  Lowes by Baxter Parking Lot (Slo Burn)

  • 1640 Highway 160 West, Fort Mill, SC 29708

What to bring:

  • At least one case of water
  • Sawzall (battery powered)
  • trash bags
  • Face mask
  • Chainsaws
  • Loppers
  • Gloves
  • Rope
  • Hacksaws
  • Water
  • Shovels – (snow shovels and regular)

What to wear:

  • Solid Shoes or Boots
  • Jeans
  • F3 shirt
  • Gloves – I know you have some smelly ones somewhere that have seen their day in the gloom

BEFORE YOU GO:

A tetanus shot is highly advised for cleaning up a flood area.  You can get this taken care of at a CVS or Walgreens so please get this done.  Get this done in NC so you can complete it without a prescription.  Check your insurance coverage, I was able to get this done at no charge.

Please help us make an impact!

Count so far:

HC:

  • Spider-Man
  • Dark Helmet
  • Chicken Hawk
  • Deacon
  • Cerrano
  • Jekyll
  • Barry Manilow
  • Fish Sticks
  • Senator Tressel
  • Rebel
  • Smuggler
  • Boeheim
  • Jennifer Cameron – BAC
  • Hank Chou – BAC

 

Thank you!

Spider-Man

TClap |
0

Be a #HIM and help out the Columbia Community

Gentlemen:
As you may (or may not) be aware, Columbia has been hit hard be storms and has gotten over 2 FEET of rain in the last couple of days. It’s a pretty bad situation for a good number of folks have had to evacuate and some have lost homes and other property.

There isn’t a ton we can do from this end until it stops raining, but we are mobilizing to collect supplies to deliver to our F3 PAX down there, so they can help Red Cross and others distribute to those in need.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Bring the following to AO’s where you post tomorrow and Tuesday: Food (dry), water, clothes, blankets, toiletries. Anything you’d need if you were suddenly rendered homeless. We are asking Site Q’s and Q for the day to collect and I will be in touch to collect it all to take it down to Columbia. We’ve been in touch with folks down there and he and I will be working out the delivery of goods.

If you want to donate go here: http://gofundme.com/9x5mxfv8

Please step up and help.

Helmet, out.

TClap |
0

Ask Decibel about his pace

  • QIC: Boeheim
  • When: 10/01/2015
  • Pax: Funhouse, Gecko, CornHole, Spud, Minute Man, Decibel, Senator Tressel, Boeheim (YHC)
  • Posted In: Alcatraz, Tempo

8 Pax took advantage of a break in the rain AND humidity to enjoy a cool(ish) run from Trail Head Park to Windjammer Park.

The Thang:

5 miles through Tega Cay as described above. A little bit of mumble chatter before we started that included an EH for Decibel into the P200.  His words said HC but his tone of voice (couldn’t see his eyes in the dark) said “What the heck am I saying.”  Stay on him pax, ISI

Spud, Minute Man & Senator led the charge w/ a 7:45 pace. Gecko & YHC came in not far behind. Corn Hole still looked strong from BRR. And Decibel found his pace to be equal to Funhouse, providing Funhouse takes a “long pause” at the Windjammer outhouse.  Strong effort from everyone!

Announcements:

Fast Five on 10/17 4 PM at FMHS

Mud Run on 10/24 in Columbia. If you haven’t signed up, check w/ OldBay.

F3 Christmas Party  on 12/19 at the Dairy Barn. Reserve your spots now. $65 for catered dinner & BYOB. Please pay Funhouse at  https://www.paypal.me/JoshuaSale

A patient of Decibel’s mentioned he walks at WEP.  He remarked that the F3 people are in his way a lot.  When running on the main path, be mindful of other’s.  When stopping for pain stations, get in the grass (guilty here of trying to stay dry on the path).

Prayers

Spud’s niece Lilly going through cancer treatment and Minuteman’s brother in law Dave looking for relief from a back injury at work.  Please keep Lilly & Dave in your prayers.

Great terrain in ‘dem der hills in Tega Cay.  Come out & get your pulse up at Tempo!

 

 

TClap |
0