Ok, at the request of several Pax, here’ is the pre-blast for the “F3 Goes to the WWC” event!

The USNWC’s 1100 acres offers a wide variety of outdoor activities for all ages and skill levels, including whitewater rafting and kayaking, flatwater kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, rock climbing, zip lines, ropes courses, a canopy tour, and mountain biking on 25+ mile trail system.

Here are the details for the event:
– Thursday, May 19th, 1830 (06:30pm)
– U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28214
– ~45min workout
– Workout options include: trail run (with OCR obstacle option along the way) or a mountain bike ride
– Post workout, pax can shower at the WWC facilities or proceed directly to food, beer, live music and fellowship
– Live music entertainment provided by Samantha Fish – http://usnwc.org/samantha-fish/
– The entire family is ENCOURAGED to participate, there is plenty of things for kids, mini ropes/obstacle course, rock climbing, etc
– Parking costs $5, or you can pay $40 for an annual parking pass
– Plan to park at the far southern end of the gravel parking lot, make a left after paying the parking attendant and head to the end, look for shovel flag

There is no registration or signups, this is just a meet up, workout, hangout deal.

1stF, 2ndF, food, beer, live music, what more could you ask for?!?!

Hit me up with any questions, find more info about WWC- http://usnwc.org/

Yours truly,
WWL

YHC had the privilege to imprompt-Q 10 other PAX at ManU this morning when the designated Q had alarm clock issues. Conditions were perfect: a crisp 48 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

WarmUp (in cadence)
• 25 SSH
• 20 IW
• 15 Windmills
• 15 Merkins

The Thang

Mosey to loading dock area of Target. YHC has been eying a big hill back there for a few weeks. It did not disappoint.

11s
• 1 Squat at the bottom, Bear Crawl up the hill, 10 Burpees
• 2 Squats at the bottom, Bear Crawl up the hill, 9 Burpees
• 3 Squats at the bottom, Bear Crawl up the hill, 8 Burpees
• …You get the idea. Went to 10 Squats and 1 Burpee
• 55 Total Burpees

• Muscle Ups on the Loading Wall – 2 Sets of 10
• People’s Chair – 3 Sets of long 15 Counts
• Calf Raises – 2 Sets of 20
• Dips – 2 Sets of 20
• Mosey to Target parking lot

New Merkin exercise – The Cuckoo Clock Merkin
• Merkin in the middle, Merkin to the Right, Merkin in the Middle, Merkin to the Left, Clap Merkin in the Middle (5 of those monsters)
• 40 Moroccan Night Clubs (in cadence)
• 10 more Moroccan Night Clubs for good measure
• 15 Carolina Dry Docks

Mosey back to Manchester
• Lunge Walk to crosswalk
• Side Shuffle to next crosswalk
• Crabwalk to next crosswalk
• Karaoke to next crosswalk

Mosey back to COT for 7 minutes of Dealer’s Choice Mary
• 25 Flutters courtesy of Turbine
• 10 LBCs courtesy of Bull
• Superman/Paratrooper courtesy of Reborn
• 10 Captain Thors courtesy of Waterboy
• 10 Burpees courtesy of Beaker
• 10 Freddy Mercurys courtesy of Schrute
• 10 Leg Throws courtesy of Bogey

NMM
Great work this morning, PAX. Thanks for humoring me with my off the cuff exercises. Something tells me that hill will make an appearance again in the near future. Always an honor to share the Gloom with you guys.

Welcome back, Aqualung. Two Thursdays in a row. Glad you are back with us.
Turbine and Bogey, enjoy your men’s retreat this weekend. Stay warm.
Bull, good work today. There is no quit in you!
Reborn, proud of the leader you are. Thanks for the constant support and encouragement for the PAX.
Waterboy, losing weight and getting faster. You da man!
Beaker did his best Padre impression today dropping additional Burpees on us as an ab exercise.
Schrute, always good to have your leadership on display.
Mayhem, glad to have you back. Now that the temps are above 40, we expect to see you a few days a week.
Sgt. York crushed the hill of pain today. He made that mountain into a mole hill.

Announcements
• Come See Me 5K, half marathon, and fun run this Saturday
• 3rd F Convergence tomorrow at Eternal Church in Fort Mill (behind Zaxby’s on 160)
• MudRun 4/30 in Gaston SC. Still time to sign up
• Fastest 5K – 5/21 get your teams together now
• F3 Dads – 5/14 Night at the Knights with your 2.0s
• Hog and Cayote – 6/18
• More details to come about Come See Me tailgate
• More details to come about Suck It Up Buttercup – 5/7

Check your email for additional announcements and details

13 PAX rolled out of the fartsack and into Old Town this morning for surprise tri-Q workout. Weather was perfect – a warmish 48 degrees of clear Carolina conditions.

Warm Up

• Birthday boy Mayhem gave us 34 SSHs, some Imperial Walkers, and Windmills.

The Thang

Popeye found the tallest, most unstable fire escape in Rock Hill and had us run up, single file, to the top (5-ish floors). Let’s just say we could see uptown Charlotte from up there (25 miles away).

• While partner 1 ran, Partner 2 did 50 Merkins, 100 Squats, and as many 100 LBCs. Flapjack.
• Shampoo

After a short mosey, YCH handed out some stretches:

• L over R
• R over L
• Middle
• Butterfly
• Sitting Left
• Sitting Right
• And 25 Moroccan Night Clubs for good measure

Mosey to the Hot Box

YHC set up a tic tac toe board up the ramp between floor 1 and floor 2. We partnered up according to speed. At this point, it was a race to the top to drop a bean bag in a square and a race back to tag the next guy. First team to 3 in a row was the winner. 3 rounds.

• Round 1 Winners – Squats, Losers – Merkins
• Round 2 Winners – Merkins, Losers – Burpees
• Round 3 Winners – CDDs, Losers – Flying Squirrels

Zipper –

• Run to the Top, Plank for the 6, Wallsits together
• American Hammers at the bottom
• Run to the Top, Calf Raises, LBCs for the 6
• Run to the Top, Bomb Jacks, CDDs

Mosey back to COT

NMM

Awesome work this morning fellas. Always a pleasure to share the Gloom with such strong men. Also, that fire escape still has me shaking. Fairly certain it was not designed for what we just put it through. I’m learning that the Hot Box never gets easier to traverse. Thanks fellas for pushing hard this morning.

• Beaker – Don’t ever challenge this guy to a race – due is fast!
• Bill Nye – Getting stronger every post. Nice pace to take us back to COT.
• Waterboy – Those shorts – might have to rename you “Fashion Icon”
• Apache – Jaime Diaz – Always enjoy the mumblechatter.
• The Ridder – Good luck with the half this weekend.
• Mayhem – Happy birthday, young gun.
• Van Wilder – Glad to have you back from vacation.
• Popeye – Glad to have you back from injury.
• Sgt. York – Still one of the pilars of fitness for Rock Hill.
• Pistol – RESPECT for this guy! At the front of the PAX at 57!
• Reborn – Quickly stepping up his game.
• Schrute – When the doctor orders no sprinting, he sprints faster!

Announcements

• Come See Me 5K, half marathon, and fun run this Saturday
• 3rd F Convergence this Friday at Eternal Church in Fort Mill (behind Zaxby’s on 160)
• MudRun 4/30 in Gaston SC. Still time to sign up
• Fastest 5K – 5/21 get your teams together now
• F3 Dads – 5/14 Night at the Knights with your 2.0s
• Hog and Cayote – 6/18
• More details to come about Come See Me tailgate
• More details to come about Suck It Up Buttercup – 5/7

Check your email for additional announcements and details

TCLAPs to the men who helped unload and set up equipment Saturday. In typical musician fashion, the bands arrived 45 minutes late and disappeared upon arrival, leaving 7 #HIM to unload two trailers of gear then, unbeknownst to us, set up audio and visual equipment. Our 1-2 hour commitment turned in to 4 hours. Big shout out to Catfish and Schrute who stayed a full 4+ hours. On that note, Chris at WRHI owes us a post in Rock Hill for the extra effort and free labor we provided.

• Peach looked like he belonged with the band (hat, long hair, goatee – no doubt lead vocals).
• Turbine crushed the coffee run and looked the part of band manager.
• Corruption looked at home with a wrench in his hand putting together light stands and video boards and added bonus, he looked like he could shred a tom and bass drum or a mean electric guitar.
• Burgundy, never a hair out of place, I kid you not took 5 minutes to interview the production company lead about where they travel, where they live, and how many weeks they are on the road. I guess you can take the anchor out of the newsroom, but you cannot take the newsroom out of the anchor.
• Schrute was in heaven putting together the video board. He would be the tech guy/soundboard operator at the show.
• Catfish was the MAN Saturday! This guy was directing the paid production crew how to do their job. It was hysterical to watch.
• YHC was just there for comic relief and to pick things up and put things down. I may or may not have said things that deserved bomb jacks after learning that the scope of our morning assistance had grown to doing everything but playing the instruments at the concert.

I’m proud of you guys for stepping up. You worked behind the scenes and no one will know the effort you put into this. Excellent work. Also, its times like these when the alphas step up. Before the production company could direct us to do anything, we were already doing it ourselves. And Catfish, the way you took control leads me to believe you have a roadie career if you want it.

Great work men. It was a pleasure to work alongside you.

8 men joined YHC for a Wednesday morning trivia challenge beatdown. Reborn busted out a STRONG VQ warm up this morning that left just enough time to run through some “On This Day” trivia.

Warm Up

Long Mosey around church.

• 15 SSH
• 12 Slow Windmills
• 20 Italian Night Clubs
• 20 Toy Soldiers

Mosey to other side of church. Circle up.

• 25 Merkins
• 20 Imperial Walkers
• 20 Freddie Mercuries
• 20 Rosalitas

Do the following exercises between the parking lot bump outs (50 feet apart). Switch exercises at each bump out.

• Walking Lunges
• High Knees
• Karaokes
• Butt Kickers
• Walking Lunges
• Shuffle

Circle up.

• 6″ for a 10-count
• 20 Peter Parkers
• Protractor 6″, 45, 90 with a look at the stars. Hold 6″ for a 10 count.

Handoff to Italian Job.

The Thang

Mosey to the front of the church. For every correct answer, 20 Squats. For every incorrect answer, 20 Merkins. All followed by a run around the church.

1) Today is Eric Clapton’s 71st birthday. Which of these songs did he sing?

• In the Air Tonight
• Rocket Man
• Layla – Water Boy nailed it. 20 Squats
• Stairway to Heaven

2) Who painted The Starry Night?

• Vincent van Gogh – 20 Merkins courtesy of Apache (who I think missed on purpose so we could do more Merkins).
• Pablo Picasso
• Claude Monet
• Rembrandt

3) MC Hammer turns 54 today. Complete this line in the song,”U Can’t Touch This” – I’ve toured around the world…

• From London to Bombay
• From London to the bank
• From London to the Bay – Of course Sgt. York would get this right. 20 Squats.
• From Paris to Madrid

4) Celine Dion turns 48 today. What was the first movie to feature her singing?

• Titanic
• Beauty and the Beast – Schrute shocked us all with the correct answer. 20 Squats.
• The Little Mermaid
• Sleepless in Seattle

5) Norah Jones turns 37 today. What instrument made her famous?

• Guitar
• No instruments; just vocals
• Harp
• Piano – Bill Nye with the correct answer. 20 Squats.

6) On this day in 1981, what US President was shot in the chest outside a Washington DC hotel?

• Reagan – Atlas didn’t even need the multiple choice selections. 20 Squats.
• Carter
• Bush
• Eisenhower

After the final lap around the church, we had a few extra exercises to pay tribute to our trivia questions.

• 54 American Hammers in honor of MC Hammer’s 54th birthday.
• 48 Diamond Merkins in honor of Celine Dion’s 48th birthday (reference to the diamond and sapphire necklace in the Titanic film. I know, its a stretch but we had to do something).
• 37 Star Jacks in honor of Vincent van Gogh’s 37 years on the big ball (reference to his painting, The Starry Night).
• 25 Knee Tar Jais in honor of Eric Clapton’s birthday (“Layla, you’ve got me on my knees”).
• 4-10 counts on Wall Sits in honor of Ronald Reagan being the 40th president (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”).

Finally, we had 5 minutes to spare so we did a little Dealer’s Choice. All done for 10 count or in cadence.

• LBCs (Schrute)
• Iron Cross (Bill Nye)
• 6 Inches (Apache)
• Big Boy Situps (Van Wilder)
• Freddy Mercuries (Atlas)
• Parker Peters (Sgt. York)
• Carolina Dry Docks (Italian Job)
• Tabletop Dips (Reborn)
• Mountain Climbers (Waterboy)

NMM

Awesome work this morning. Thanks for indulging me in a bit of “On This Day” trivia. TClaps to Reborn for crushing his VQ warm-up. Site Qs, put him on the schedule, he’s ready. Thanks for crossing the river, Atlas. We enjoyed having you visit. Once again, Sgt. York led the PAX in all exercises. This guy is a BEAST! Waterboy and Van Wilder, both down 20 lbs and falling. You guys are really upping the ante and we’re proud of your progress. Speaking of progress, was that Bill Nye staying at the front of the PAX? I believe it was. Great work! Schrute, you and Apache always make for great conversation. Thanks for the leadership, fellas.

I spoke a little this morning about leading your families and serving our Lord. It is our role as fathers and husbands to be the spiritual leader of our homes. I want to encourage you to continue serving Him at all times, not just when you feel you need a miracle. It is easy to rely on ourselves when the pantry is full and the bank account is up. We can forget who blessed us to begin with when things are good. Our God is always there, whether we call on Him or not. But remember who blessed you first and give Him honor and praise at all times.

Announcements

• Nun Run in Rock Hill – April 9
• Lake Wylie launch – April 9
• 3rd F Convergence “Fatherhood” – April 15
• Come See Me 5k, Half, Fun Run – April 16
• USMC Mudrun – April 30
• F3 Nation, F3 Dads Knights Baseball – May 14
• National White Water Center-for F3 and family 45 minutes 1st F then 2nd F – May 19
• BRR sign-up – 30 slots left
• Ragnar Trail Relay in October – sign-ups with the fees going up mid-month.
• Fort Region shirt order – Last day to order is 4/3