8 PAX rolled into Springfield MS on a drizzly morning looking for a beatdown by traveling YHC. Knew this mornings AO had to be continuous movements due to the forecast of rain and knowing that the other PAX are running for some unknown reason (is The Fort becoming a running AO?). So your YHC figured it would be good to tour the entire MS & ES campus. After a quick disclaimer, off we went.

Ran to the entrance to the ES and circled up for COP.
15 Good mornings
15 windmills (rain started coming down and a few PAX ran for cover – not sure why)
15 IM (rest of PAX ran for cover knowing we would eventually get wet)
15 Squats
20 SSH
15 merkins (rain stopped so didn’t need to audible)

Ran to hill for some marking work:
Bear crawl up hill and complete 10 right leg scorpion merkins, backwards bear crawl down hill and complete 1 left leg scorpion merkin
Continue process by reducing 1 scorpion merkin at top of hill and increasing by 1 at bottom of hill

Mossy to back side of ES:
wall sit for 3 ten counts or more, 10 merkins – rinse/repeat 3xs

Mossy to side of MS facing track for another round of wall sits
wall sit for 3 ten counts or so, 10 feet up on wall and 10 merkins – rinse/repeat 3xs

Mossy to playground
10 pull-ups, 10 merkins with feet on swings – rinse/repeat 3xs

Mossy to back side of cafeteria
20 dips, 10 derkins – rinse/repeat 3xs

25 LBCs, right into 25 flutter kicks, right into 10 heels to heaven. Mumble chatter began to increase since it wasn’t speedo season, and all of a sudden Anchorman said he never saw Stripes! The PAX couldn’t figure out why he never saw such a classic movie.
25 Hello Dollies, 10 merkins, and another 10 merkins

Mossy to COT

It’s always an honor to lead the PAX and find ways to not run soo much or soo fast. The Fort Xmas party this Saturday! Prayers for Change Order’s grandfather-in-law, those traveling for the holidays and for Seacrests move.

Trucker

Warm up: In my own sick way of teaching my kids the value of an active lifestyle I had my 7 year old daughter define the warm up portion of the workout. She came up with the exercises and the counts and capped it off with an evil laugh.

• Mosey around the main parking lot for one loop then over to the small drop off circle.
• SSH X25
• Merkins X 20 – It got a little quiet toward the end of these.
• Burpees X10
• Windmills X15
• Imperial Walker X15
• Mountain Climber X15
• Butt kickers
• High knees
• Mosey to the back lot by the middle school (which by the way has the lights timer set 20 minutes later than the rest of the school)

The next portion would consist of six pain stations marked by cones around the parking lot. The group moved from cone to cone completing the exercises written on the cones. The mosey between the cones were completed as a partner carry with distances ranging from 40yds to 70yds.

The exercises on the cones were as follows in this order.

• Big Boy Sit ups X 10 & American Hammers X10
• Elbow Plank while hand slapping with your partner X20
• Spiderman Burpees X10 (Burpee with 2 merkins that include bringing the right leg up then the left the way Spiderman climbs a wall)
• Lateral Jump Burpees X10 (Normal burpee with and jump to the side instead of straight up at the end)
• Pull Ups on the Bleachers or Partner Upright Rows X10
• Step Burpee (4 count of foot touches to the curb followed by a burpee) X10

This rotation was completed twice with a message on Pride was delivered between the sets. PLEASE READ THE MESSAGE BELOW

Mosey back to the picnic table area near the cars.

Wall of Worm: Balls to the Wall, walk hands out and then back X2 and then hold for a 10 count

As always, a true honor to lead such a strong group!!!

A Message on Pride:

“At the deepest level, pride is the choice to exclude both God and other people from their rightful place in our hearts. Jesus said that the essence of spiritual life is to love God and to love people. Pride destroys our capacity to love. The greedy and the gluttonous may still be capable of at least a certain kind of love, but pride is a form of antilove. Pride moves us to exclude instead of to embrace. Pride moves us to bow down before a mirror rather than before God.

Pride moves us to judge rather than to serve. Pride means not only that we want to be smart and wealthy, but also that we will not be satisfied until we are smarter and wealthier than those around us. Pride is essentially comparative in nature.

Jesus himself made this connection when he told a story about two men at prayer. The sins of the tax collector were obvious to all: greed, dishonesty, corruption. The Pharisee thanked God that he was in a different category: “I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” (The Pharisee appeared to be seeking “extra credit” – fasting was commanded for only one day a year.) The Pharisee was right about two categories, but he was mistaken about which one was okay. He was noxious in the sight of God because he failed at the first command to love and didn’t even recognize his need for God’s help. He did not embrace sinners. He did not recognize that his own sin was greater than the tax collector’s. He didn’t realize that he was the biggest sinner in the room. Luke says Jesus told this story to some “who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” Pride and lovelessness always go together.”

Source: “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” John Ortberg

What to take from this:

Don’t confuse self-esteem with Pride. Self Esteem is a stable level of self worth. Pride is the extreme. Be wary of it. In Harvey Pinick’s “Little Green Book,” a book about golf instruction, he references a bottle of medicine. He relates a pill in that bottle to a piece of instruction and how a little tweak is good but taking the whole bottle or over doing the tweak is never good. The same is true for valuing yourself worth. Don’t take the whole bottle of your own self worth. It can creep up on those that are conscious of it and they forget the source of their success. Remember your gifts are from God, the majority of your love belongs to Him and to others.

Announcements:

• Joe Davis Run – 1/9
• Christmas Party 12/19
• F3 Dads for Star Wars at 3:40 12/20 Manchester Cinemas

Prayers for:

• Backdraft’s father as he goes in for an MRI with potential for knee surgery.
• Prayers for Vanilla Ice’s step daughter as she struggles with a recent DUI
• Prayers for all those struggling with family. There are a lot of us that are experiencing these struggles and this is an especially difficult time of year for that.

Eleven Cowboys saddled up for a some fun galloping around the Ranch.

We began with a nice Canter around the race track ending in the rain soaked infield.

Circle up- SSHx10

We decided that we did not want to have a broken ankle and have to put some one down so we moved to the race track.

Windmill x20, Merkins x15, IW x20, CDD x15, plank, Mountain Climbers x20, plank, Peter Parkers x20, Plank, Parker Peters x20, plank

Mosey to drier part of the infield for warm ups:  Karaoke across infield, Karoake back, High Knees Across, Butt kickers across, full gallop across, full gallop back, full gallop across.

To the race track: Full gallop 40 yards x4 until we get the stable.

3 groups: 10 pull ups, 20 dips, 25 freddy mercury-Rinse and Repeat- Rinse and Repeat

15 swing knee ups, 15 hanging knee ups and 15 X/O’s-Rinse and Repeat- Rinse and Repeat

40 yard spring x3 to wall- wall sit/balls to the wall, rinse and repeat- rinse and repeat

Conclude with 6 approximately 40 yard lengths at full gallop.

COT

Valiant effort for all that were there.  I appreciate F3 and the opportunity to lead more than you know!

Go be a light in this world!

Peace

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks to the many blessings that we have received over the past year. This tradition typically includes family and friends gathered around a table complete with a large feast of turkey, dressing, vegetables, etc. The average American consumes approximately 4500 calories on this day which is usually followed by watching some football and a nap!

Within the Fort, each of us has a lot to celebrate and be thankful for over the past year. Whether you have been EH’ed to join, participated in a CSAUP, Q’ed a workout, joined a Bible study, attended a 2nd F or joined your brothers in the gloom for some pain, in 2015 you have been touched by F3. You are a better Father, husband, leader, employee or employer this year than you were last year.

So before you start your Thanksgiving with all of the fixings, I ask you to join us for our annual Thanksgiving Day celebration at the Fort. What better way to start your holiday than with a double down!

Thanksgiving Day Workout

Location: The Ranch (Springfield Elementary School)

Time: 6 – 7 AM

Q: Santini and Pusher; Chef Cake Boss will be cooking a turkey

Double Down Opportunity

Baxter Turkey Trot – 1 and 3 mile options

Location: Baxter Village Hall (3387 Richards Crossing)

Time: 9 AM

Registration: www.fleetfeetfortmill.com/races

Hope to see you there!

18 Brave #HIM took to the Ranch on this beautiful morning. There were no FNG’s present and a short disclaimer was provided.
Mosey to large Soccer Field for Warm-up:
51 SSH IC
25 IW IC
20 WM IC
15 MC IC

The Thang:
Next a Merkin Clock (1-12), on 1, 4, 7, 10 standard merkins, 2, 5 , 8 , 11 Wide Arm Merkins and 3, 6, 9 , 12 Diamond Merkins. Each hour on the clock represents the number of merkins to do.
10 Flying squirrels OYO.
Mosey to small soccer field for some upper body work (all exercises IC
Bear crawl across, then 10 Moroccan Night Clubs, Bear Crawl back, 10 MNC (any mumble chatter quickly ended as some of the Pax recognized this sequence)
High knees across, 10 Merkins, High Knees back, 10 Merkins
Butt Kickers across, 10 CDD, Butt Kickers back, 10 CDD
Run backwards across, 10 MNC, run backwards back, 10 MNC
Jack Webb (1 merkin:4 air presses) up to 10 merkins:40 presses
Now for some Evil 8. As the pax was not familiar with the Evil 8 (taken from F3 Lexington), YHC gave detailed instructions. The Evil 8 uses the 4 corners of a field and the Pax moves in a figure 8 style. Stopping at all 4 corners and the center. So after the Pax reach the center of the 8 after each 2 exercises. The Pax start off in separate groups of 4.
The top left of the 8: 8 Bombjacks
Top right: 8 Jumping Lunge Squats IC
Center of the 8 (intersection): 8 burpies
Bottom Left: 8 Mak Tai Jai
Bottom Right: 8 Knee Tai Jai
Then back to the Center for 1 complete round.
We would get in 3 rounds of the Evil 8.
The back to the circle for 2 minutes of Mary
NMM:
Thank you McGruff for the opportunity. It is always an honor to lead these fine pax.
I have been quite a bit due to my father’s emergency Pace Maker and the flood at my parent’s Columbia house. Has things get a little calmed down, it is great to be able to get back out in the morning.
I am also thankful F3Columbia stopping by my parent’s house to assist in some of the clean-up (minor compared to rest of the neighborhood). My parents were lucky in that the house had an extra tall crawl space (5 ft) that prevented floor and wall damage. F3 was throughout my parents Lake Katherine neighborhood doing awesome clean-up. I am also humbled in how Pusher, Dark Helmet and Menthol stopped by on more than 1 occasion to ensure that my father’s rehab center had water.
Nut Cracked.

An impressive 19 Pax at The Ranch this morning. Chicken Wing visited Fort Mill from his new hometown of Charleston. We gave him a friendly “welcome home” beatdown. An FNG joined us today. We named him Rooter because he heard about F3 during Dredd and OBT’s speech at the Rotary Club. Zima gave him the final headlock.

Mosey to the parking lot near the playground

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x) and  Rosalettas (15x)

Mosey to the next parking lot near the soccer field

Pyramid Drill: At each station/corner, do LBCs, Hello Dollies, Freddie Mercury’s, double count in increments of 5 until we hit 20 repetitions then countdown to 5 as a group. Run to each station.

Mosey to the driveway along the soccer field:

Windsprint 1: Run to the first and trees along the driveway and do Tuck Jumps (10x) at each one

Windsprint 2: Run the first and second trees along the driveway to the field lights and do Russian Twists (20x) at each one

Windsprint 3: Run the first and second trees along the driveway to the field lights and do Bomb Jacks (20x) at each one

Mosey to the wall and do people’s chair (3x)

Mosey to the benches near the basketball court:

Drill 1: Dips (15x), Steps Up (20x), Ab Crunches (15x)

Drill 2: Decline Merkins (15x), Jump Ups (15x), Ab Crunches (15x)

Drill 3: Incline Merkins (15x), Steps Up (20x), Ab Crunches (15x)

Mosey to the next parking lot

COP:

Superman (10 second counts) and Pepper Grinders (15x)

Moleskin:

Your words have power. What you say can either build or destroy the hope of others who are around you. Choose your words wisely to ensure that they are inspiring others.

What is said out of our mouths reflect what is in our hearts. In order to speak words of encouragement, we need to make sure that our hearts are pure. A heart that is full of hate or anger can prompt us to say damaging things that cause pain and regret. What has been said cannot be unsaid or unheard.

As a High Impact Man, your purpose is to be a beacon of light for others. Guard your heart from negative influences. Choose to surround yourself with positivity. Don’t use wicked words that destroy hope. Use words that encourage, inspire and motivate yourself and others.

As the PAX gathered we all waited for the Q.  Site Q McGruff, who was posting even with an injury, had already asked YHC to take the Q five minutes prior should World Wide Leader not show.  It became apparent that he was not going to make it as he continues marathon training which left the rest of us mortals improvise.  This is never a problem in F3 as any one of the PAX could have stepped in to lead.  YHC was lucky to be asked so the task was mine.

Since I made this up as I went, I am sure something is going to be missed, but here it goes.

The PAX started with a mosey around the parking lot to warm up the legs.  This wasn’t necessary for some (Axl & Dark Helmet, sorry if I missed others) that had arrived early for extra credit and logged 2+ miles.  We circled back up at the cars and performed the following:

• SSH X25
• Imperial Walker X15
• Merkins X15
• Windmills X15

Mosey across the field to the road leading to the track.  This workout was designed to be low impact in honor of our injured sight Q, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a test.  We started with lunge walks with brief stops.  At each stop we did 10 Merkins.  We did 4 times until we arrived at the car pool drop off circle.

The drop off circle is a long oval.  For the long stretches we did one movement exercise, a different movement exercise for the short stretches, and then a stationary exercise at each corner.

• First lap:  Bear Crawl the long stretch, crab walk the short stretch, 10 burpees at 2 of the corners, and 15 Merkins at the other two corners
• Second lap:  Backwards run the long stretch, bear crawl the short stretch, 15 Freddy Mercury’s at 2 of the corners, and 15 Bomb Jacks at the other two corners
• Third lap:  Bear Crawl the long stretch, Partner wheel barrel the short stretch, 10 burpees at 2 of the corners, and 20 squats at the other two corners

Partner up:

• Partners run the circle until the team completes 100 Merkins
• Partners run the circle until the team completes 200 Freddy Mercurys

Time was running out so we did the shortest run and gun of all time back to the cars.  Stopped once for 10 burpees and then again for 20 dips on the park benches.

Arrived back of that cars for 5 minutes of Mary and circled up for COT.

As always it is great to lead such a strong group of HIM.  Thank you McGruff for the opportunity.

Announcements:

• The Fort PAX (this includes Fort Mill, Indian Land, and Rock Hill) have been incredible in their generosity to both gather and donate supplies but also for their willingness to make trips to Columbia for deliveries.  It is no surprise that this kind of leadership has come out of F3, but WOW!  It is now time to take all the 1st F training to work.  The Fort has two planned opportunities to travel to Columbia to help clean out houses.  Saturday with Maximus on Q and Monday with Spider-Man on Q.  Sign up!!
• Cerrano and Spider-Man just passed 1 year with F3 and the celebrate are putting together a Black Diamond for Halloween at the Colosseum.
• World’s Fastest 5K – October 17th at Fort Mill High School
• December 19th Christmas Party.  $65 sign up

Prayer Requests:

• Prayers for marriages.  Some PAX are
• Prayers for Legoland’s sister and their entire family who is battle terminal brain cancer
• Take time to connect with each other 1:1.  It will give you the opportunity to get to know them better and potentially be there for them in a time of struggle.