Category: The Ballroom

My Navy Story

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A gang of four converged at Pleasant Knoll middle for the third installment of Veteran’s month at the Ballroom.   Here is what they did:

The Thang:

YHC greeted the group and thanked them for coming out this morning.  After a quick disclaimer, we made a formation of 4 and moseyed to the parking on the side of the school.

In formation:

SSH x 20, windmill x15, IW x 15,  merkin x 10, Morrocan nightclub x 15, squat x 20, mountain climber x 15/hold/6″/regular/6″/regular/right arm, right leg high/left arm, left leg high/walk up to CDD x 15/regular/recover.  (all done while holding plank)

Form 2 pairs and do 50 yd sprints:  2 at 50%, 2 at 75%, 2 at 100%

Go back to formation for pushorama

10 regular merkins, rest 10s, 10 diamond merkins, rest 10s, 10 wide arm merkins, rest 10 sec, 10 CCD.  Rinse and repeat for total of 3 sets.

In formation, bearcrawl20 yds, sideways crawl 10 yds, backwards bearcrawl 20 yds, sideways crawl 10 yds

Form a single file and do an Indian run around the parking lot twice.   Mosey out of the lot and along the front driveway to a spot under one of the lights for some mini-Mary:

Big boy situps x 15, Freddie Mercury x 15, American hammer x 15

COT

NMM:

When Triple Lindy asked me to represent the Navy during Veteran’s month, I told him there surely there was a better person out there to represent the Navy than me.  Honestly,  I never really considered self a true Navy veteran because  I served just about 18 months and was in school the whole time.   I never felt worthy being grouped together with others who have actually served their country, particularly those who served in a time of war.   As it turned out, though, I was the only guy he knew who was in the Navy, so I told him I would gladly do it.

As we worked through the exercises this morning, I paused several times to tell them about my experiences when I joined the Navy in college,  and my16 weeks at Officer Candidate School.  One of the things I remembered vividly was was when I was saying goodbye to my family and getting ready to drive to Newport, RI from Ohio.  My dad, who was not an emotional man, gave me a big hug and just broke down sobbing.  I think it was a mixture of pride and maybe fear for what I was about to do.  I lived at home while attending school and this was my first time away from home.

Upon arriving at OCS, after a friendly check-in by an admin officer, I was met by a senior student and told to ‘face the bulkhead.’  For the next week,  the ‘Indocs’ (junior students), were put through a series of mind games, semi-verbal abuse, physical challenges, horrible personal hygiene (1 minute to shower and shave),  all coupled with total exhaustion from the lack of sleep.  For a few folks, Indoc week was too much and they dropped out (one guy had to be put in the brigg for insubordination).  For the rest of us, we were relieved to be finished, but we still had 15 weeks to go.

I told the group that the recruiters did not prepare me (or many others, I suspect) for OCS (a little heads up about Indoc week would have been helpful).    I did very little to prepare and arrived there not in the best physical shape.  I couldn’t pass the standard required for push-ups and sit-ups so had to attend extra PE sessions at an ungodly hour of the morning (about same time that I have gotten up for F3 the past 9 years -haha).   Time was the enemy and it seemed that every waking hour was filled with either school, studying for tests, having a watch, or getting ready for inspections.   I was not used to that and struggled sometimes to get everything done.   Time management is still not one of my strong suits.   I can’t say I enjoyed OCS, but I came away from it a better man and with a long-lasting friend.  JP Tennant was the first guy I met during Indoc week and we still keep in touch.

After graduating from OCS, I went to the Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL where my Naval career would end, unfortunately.    It was a really tough school academically and I struggled from the start before eventually flunking out.  I had to option to stay in the Navy in another capacity,  or go to inactive reserves which is what I opted to do.  As a 22-year-old kid, it felt like the right decision, but I shared with the group that it’s one decision that I regret.

I had not thought about OCS in a long, long time and as I prepared for this Q, it was petty cool to go back and think about that time 34 years ago (man, I’m getting old).  It was also fun to share my story with Triple Lindy, Assasin, and Bitcoin.  Thanks for listening, guys and I hope you got your money’s worth this morning.

Announcements:  read the newsletter

Prayers and Praises:   Triple Lindy’s wife (wrist injury), ST’s friend Joe with Cancer, Cornerstone with a kidney stone.

 

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Veterans Month Kickoff- Ballroom

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Lets start the month of November off right. It is an honor to get to represent the Marine Corps. Lets get after it.

Disclaimer
Mosey to Warm Up- Warm up 10 of each exercise in cadence- SSH, Mtn. Climbers, Hillbilly walkers, flutter kicks.

Move to end of parking lot. we will do an exercise than mosey(sprint) to other end and do another exercise. Back and forth, after 4 exercises slow mosey around parking lot.
wide arm merkins
air squats with hold at bottom
LBCs
Burpees
windmills
diamond merkins
Mtn. Climbers
flutter kicks
Burpees
cherry pickers
Reg merkins
Bomb Jacks
Supermans
Burpees
Morracan night clubs
hand release merkins
alternating lunges
hello dollies
burpees
american hammers
dips
We did 246 reps to celebrate the 246th Birthday of The United States Marine Corps

12 of each exercise were completed in cadence except for American hammers we did 15.
Finished with Mary. COT. Backdraft Out

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F3TheFort Holiday Drop-In

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The Forts annual holiday party will have a different feel this year.
With COVID still lingering we have decided to have a gathering but it will be a bit different.

We are encouraging The PAX to go to dinner with your M and either your Shieldlock, Whetstone, or small group of fellow PAX and their Ms. After dinner we will all gather for an hour or so of a social hour(s).
This will give our Ms the opportunity to meet the crazy fellas we spend the early mornings with but more importantly their M.

We are all fortunate to have this crazy group it is also just as important to try and let our Ms meet some other ladies in the community and possibly let them start great friendships as well.

Make it a day of F3. Start with the golf outing, go to dinner and then grab a couple beers, a bottle of J Lohr wine, a cocktail and let’s kick off the holiday season.

If COVID worries you or your M we will have an outdoor area to hang out at as well as indoor areas.

Where- Springfield Community Center- by the tennis courts/pool
420 Horton Grove, Fort Mill, SC 29715

Time- 7pm-9pmish

When- Dec 3rd, 2021

Contact- Backdraft with any concerns…

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Grounded at The Ballroom

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School was in session and we were grounded.

10 PAX rolled in, we disclaimed and formed up in 2 lines for an Indian Run with little direction, only a destination. Get there. And so we got there.

Warm ups consisting of Imperial Walkers, Lunges and Merkins

Mosey down to the lighted road by the new “structure” no one can explain:
10 Carolina Dry Docks
Bear Crawl to the “end”
Lunge walk back

20 Dips
Crab Walk to the “end”
Crawl Bear back

Go back to the top of the road
10 Mountain Climbers
Run 1/2 way
10 Mountain Climbers
Run the rest
20 Flutters
NUR 1/2 way
20 Flutters
NUR the rest

The longest 5 minute plank with a 3 burpee penalty if you break the plank. The challenge here is that when you call this with this crowd, they’ll end up doing whatever they want anyways so it truly is, just a suggestion.

Run the “9” which is down the road, encircling the parking lot, making a 9.
Upon completion, 5 Burpees, 25 LBCs, 50 SSH

Run 15 yards, 5 Merkins, run 15 yards, 10 Squats
Run 15 yards, 5 Merkins, run 15 yards, 10 Squats

5 MOM with different PAX calling counts.

Thank You TL
Maximus

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F3 The Fort Anniversary Party

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Get ready to celebrate the Anniversary of The Fort. Location will be next to The Springfield neighborhood pool under the pavilion. but the date is set Sept. 17th, 2021. 1830-2130 or 630pm- 930pm for anyone that dosn’t know how to do military time. Cant wait to see you all. It will be the same as last year and bring your own dinner and drinks. We will have a few people speaking.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

location- Springfield Neighborhood Pavilion, next to pool

time- 630pm- 930pm

what to bring- whatever you want to eat and drink.

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Lucky 7 at the Ballroom

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Seven strong hit the Ballroom this morning for some mid-summer fun.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Warm-up with arm circles, stretches, knee to chest pulls, toy soldiers, lunge twists, and downward/upward dog.  Mosey to the patio for COP:

COP (all in cadence):

SSH x 20, windmill x 15, merkin x 10, IW x 15, Squat x 20, MC x 15, LBC x 15, wide arm merkin x 15, Burpees OYO x 3

Mosey to the adjacent grassy patch

Bear crawl 15 yds, 15 merkins, mosey back to start

Crabwalk 15 yds, 15 dips, mosey back to start

Lunge walk 15 yds, 15 squats, mosey back to start

Rinse and Repeat.

Jack Webb (traditional) 1 – 7

Mosey to the front parking lot.  Side shuffle along the parking ling, run-up to next line, side shuffle back, run to up next line ……  4-5 lines.  Rinse/repeat back to the start.

Circle up for Mary (all in cadence)

Flutter x 15, pretzel crunch x 15,superman x 3 (25 sec hold), hello dolly x 15.  Finish up with the Body Destroyer.

COT

I am slowly getting back to Qing workouts after a long absence.  This was my second Q since March.  I really enjoyed today’s Q and it was great to see my old F3 friends who I’ve missed a lot this past year.  Also good to see  Dojo and Naked/Afraid again.  The three of us were together at Footloose not long ago.

I really took to F3 when I started about 9 years ago.  I loved the workouts from the get-go, and know I’m a better man through the various 2nd and 3rd F  activities I’ve been a part of since 2012.  I consider myself lucky that I can still do this,  and I don’t take it for granted.  My guess is that the 6 guys who joined me this morning also feel the same way.   We are truly a blessed and lucky bunch.

Prayers and praises:  Residents of the Miami, FL condo collapse, ST’s friend with cancer, mother with dementia, mother in law with illness.

 

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4 Square Dancing at the Ballroom

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4 posted to the Ballroom this morning. Personally I enjoy the small numbers: better conversations.

Warm Up
– Windmill x10
– Imperial Walker x10
– Hillbilly Walker x10
– Mountain Climber – Slow x10
– Updog/Downdog
– Monkey Humpers x10

Moseyed around a bit

Caught some wall for People’s Chair – some single legged
Found some benches for Bulgarian Split Squats

Kept moseying
Lunge walked the basketball parking lot, twice…I think

Found the 4 Square courts
Find a square, we’re moving clockwise
– Merkins in cadence x 10 –> bear crawl to the next square
– Squats in cadence x 10 –> bear crawl to the next square
– LBC in cadence x 10 –> bear crawl to the next square
– Rosalita in cadence x 10 –> bear crawl to the next square

There were 5 total 4 Square courts

Had some cones set up on the hill next (4 Cones lit on a hill)
– I’ve been thinking about backing ourselves into a
problem and then having to work our way out of it, so:

Crawl Bear down the hill to first cone (maybe 10 ft?)
1 merkin
Bear Crawl back up
1 merkin
Crawl Bear down the hill to first cone (maybe 30 ft?)
2 merkins
Bear Crawl back up
2 merkins
Crawl Bear down the hill to first cone (maybe 60 ft?)
3 merkins
Bear Crawl back up
3 merkins
Crawl Bear down the hill to first cone (maybe 100 ft?)
4 merkins
Bear Crawl back up
4 merkins

Ran some cupcakes from the bottom of the hill to cut the lights in the cones off

Moseyed back the long way around
Here’s the route:
https://www.strava.com/activities/5546875884

COT

NMM:
Thoughts on appreciation for respectable PAX that pour into younger PAX

Thanks Drop Thrill for the call to lead; always grateful for an opportunity to Q

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Ballroom: Talking about Feeling and running 2mi ish

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11 PAX at The Ballroom for a mini cannoli run …… moderate means modify as needed.

  • Couple of warm up exercises
  • Mosey for .94mi to Pleasant Knoll Elementary entrance
  • Along way do some exercises
  • 3 rounds of repeats to 5 light polls
    • 10 Merkins
    • 20 Squats
    • 10 America Hammers
  • Mosey back to COT with exercises on the way
  1. The Barry – July 1 7pm
  2. Fastest 5 – July 31
  3. Prayers for Sen Tressel friend Joe
  4. Praises for Yoshi and time with Grandpa

We are all managers….not just in the workplace but in everything. The better word is steward. From the air we breath to time to finances to the very words that come out of our mouths, we need to manage them and ask ourselves are we using this to the best of our ability or wasting it?? Steward all of your resources well!!

Thanks Drop Thrill from the opportunity to Q

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Just keep movin and quit with the bad eating habits already…

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Little did I know that when Drop Thrill asked me to Q at the Ballroom I’d be coming off of one of the more stressful weeks I’ve had in a while.

We drove down to Orlando (the middle of the scrotum of America…) about 10 days ago so the M could be with her dad through his hospital stay. This put me in charge of the 2.0’s. One of whom is doing virtual school, the other, who is 4, just needs someone to interact with. With the M gone most of the day, the all to familiar but also unfamiliar surroundings, and crappy bed, my energy sapped by the end of the day to the point where I couldn’t get out of bed early enough for even a light jog.

We returned on Saturday (after driving through some heavy storms and slowdowns) and it took a couple days to recover from the experience.

I was feeling absolutely dead this morning, but I got up and got my ass to the ballroom.

The gloom

Drop Thrill and a few other PAX were already waiting when I arrived with a couple other PAX on the winding road behind me.

YHC looked around and saw familiar faces (some of which I hadn’t met, but I knew them from name-o-rama’s posted to slack). I had to very loudly issue the disclaimer as the mumblechatter was quite strong with some of the PAX, *cough* Destiny *AHEM*.

The warmup

A quick mosey around the N side of the parking lot and up to the crosswalk in front of the school.

15x SSH
10x Low Slow Squat
Some deep leg stretches for 10 counts
10x Tappy taps
10x Imperial walker
10x Hillbilly walker

the thang

Two sets of 11’s starting with the 3 benches and running about halfway down the parking lot road (55m or so).

First set:
Dips x10 and BBSU

Second set:
Step ups x10 each leg and Squats

When the second set was complete everyone gathered at the crosswalk. We had about 10 minutes remaining. PAX would run a lap around the parking lot (not in the parking lot). At some point they would need to do one pushup per lightpost they passed, whether all at once or stopping at each was up to them. Most PAX chose to save them for the end.

With 6 minutes remaining we lined up in south side of the parking lot for the Doji. Start by standing straight up. Using your L hand reach behind the R shoulder and ‘scoop’ with your fingertips, as you come around the front of your body, step into a deep forward stance with your R knee at 90º, and your L leg straight out, both feet parallel and about 45º off the direction of travel. Shift your stance to L forward stance while scooping behind you with your R hand, when you come back around, step forward staying very low, into L forward stance and push ahead with your L hand open, fingertips just at the shoulder level. Scoop behind w/L going into R forward, then step forward with R and push with R.

PAX then made their way back to CoT but there was still a minute left so everyone got into the Al Gore position while YHC expounded upon how my father in law was a pretty active guy, but eating kielbasa for breakfast every day can still clog your arteries.

cot

A lot of announcements this morning.

For one, check out the “Rumor Mill” section of the newsletter. If you see something in there that piques your interest, reach out to the leadership and ask if you can get involved. There’s probably something you can do!

There’s a blood drive every 8 weeks (next one on 5/6) for… eternity.

Sign up for the FM Care Center!

And more!

Lots of prayers about jobs and health (physical and mental) this morning.

nmm

After last week I’ve naturally been reflecting on the Queen quite a bit lately. I didn’t say much about this during this morning’s Q, but everyone’s body is a bit different. Some people can eat Hostess snack cakes and never gain a pound, and other people can eat nothing and still look like YHC (I’m not in the latter group, trust me, I eat things).

We’ve all seen the stories of people who live into their 100’s. Some of them say drink a gallon of water every day. Others say have a bump or two of whiskey every day.

Really all we can do is be vigilant. As Destiny pointed out in CoT today, get your damned checkups. Go do the blood work. If the doctor tells you to lay off the bacon, lay off the bacon (you can still BE it, metaphorically). I think everyone’s body tends to handle the available food sources pretty well (God made us incredibly resilient creatures, “anti-fragile”), but even so, the wrong kind of stress for long enough is going to wear down the system and it’s going to break.

There’s going to be a higher vegetation to anything else ratio on a daily basis for everyone. I’ve said this in my household many a time before!  However, buy in from the M was difficult to achieve.  After a 4x bypass in the family history, the M is on board.

It’s always a pleasure to Q. Thanks, Drop Thrill, for inviting me back out.

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Ballroom abs

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YHC had the honor of leading some #HIM’s through a WO that allowed the PAX the ability to dial up or down their intensity. It’s important to recognize PAX levels of intensity when Q’ing so that you can ensure each PAX pushes one self to their acceptable level.

COP: SSH’s, IW, Windmills, LSS, big arm circles, and CDD (all in different cadence)

Mossy to bottom of hill at the backside of the PKMS gym.

At the bench 2 rounds of 10 reps each: Step ups each leg, dips, derkins, erkins.

Mossy to fire hydrant to where PAX chooses their intensity. Either NUR, Run, or walk for 11’s. Top of hill 10 Left Leg Scorpion merkins, run back to bottom for 1 Right Leg Scorpion merkin..rinse repeat till 11’s. If PAX finished early they went and picked up the 6.

Mossy back to benches for another 2 rounds of the same.

On the 6 for some marry – a crowd pleaser.

13 Hello Dollies right into 13 Rosaletta’s, right into 10 Hello Dollies and 10 Rosaletta’s, right into 5 of each without dropping feet to ground. Then box cutters, then flutters, then LBCs and finish with flutters.

Sprint to top of hill and come back for the six, mossy to COT for 15 more merkins.

COT

Prayers and praises where plentiful from Cake Boss 2.0 doctor news, to my co-worker and daughter Morvan and Mila, to Spark Plug’s daughter, to my 2.0 Evan.

Thanks all!!

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