Sharing Learning From My Travels

  • QIC: Bing
  • When: 03/25/16
  • Pax: ChickenHawk, Gears, Vinny, Mainframe, Zima, Senator Tressell (respect), CobraKai, ShortSale (respect), Legoland, Fishsticks, Sharkbait, Smokey, Cornhole, Gecko (calling himself Gears), Puddles
  • Posted In: The Swamp

Having the opportunity to travel across the Carolinas for work, I enjoy posting at various AO’s across the F3 Nation (plus, who ever sleeps well in a hotel anyway?).  This month alone I have gotten stamps in my F3 passport in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, Winston Salem and Greensboro.  That being said, I have met a lot of great pax and tried many different exercises.  While there is not a pile of bricks to choose from at The Swamp, I wanted to share some of the great exercises we have done elsewhere.

Weather: does it matter?  We workout in anything (it was beautiful out).

With the clock showing 5:15, the Ruckers went on their way and we on ours.

The Thang:

Mosey over to the Home Depot parking lot with some high knees, butt kickers and some dynamic stretching along the way (still trying to remember this Sasquatch).

COP:

  • Windmill (Abe Vigoda Style) x 10 IC (too slow to do more than 10)
  • Imperial Walker x 20 IC
  • Mountain Climber x 20 IC
  • Peter Parker x 20 IC
  • Side-straddle Hops x 30 IC

While studying the list of exercises I had written down, and to come up with an acronym to remember so I didn’t have to peek at my Weinke, I realized the acronym created was WIMPS.  So not the case with this great Pax but it did make it easy to remember the sequence.

Mosey over to the wall behind Home Depot:

Peoples Chair and Bear Crawl the length of the Pax x 2 (arms high, arms straight out)

Mosey over to the lot behind the Just Fresh:

ATMs x 2 (A favorite of mine from the Winston Salem AO):

  • 15 Alternate shoulder touches with a 4-count (Pax struggled not calling out the count at 3 instead of 4)
  • 10 Tempo Merkins
  • 10 Fast Merkins
  • All while not leaving the plank/merkin position

Mosey over to the main street/strip of Rivergate to drop some B.O.M.B.S.

  • Partner up – While one partner runs down the strip and around the two big circles (or one as it was for the most part)
  • 50 Burpees
  • 100 Overhead Claps
  • 150 Merkins
  • 200 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 250 Squats

Time got away from us so much of the Pax completed B.O.M.B and had to pass on the S, but there were ZERO complaints about this what-so-ever.  In fact I heard some rejoicing.

COT:

Announcements

  • Childrens Attention Home 3/26 at 4p
  • Chickin N Wizim II immediately following the workout today (12 folks attended with a great conversation from John 15 verses 1-3)
  • Nun Run in Rock Hill – April 9
  • Lake Wylie launch – April 9
  • April 15 – 3rd F Convergence – Fatherhood
  • Charlotte Knights Game on May 15 (confirm date)
  • BRR sign-up – 30 slots left
  • Ragnar Trail Relay in October – sign-ups with the fees going up mid-month.

Prayer Requests

  • Praise Jesus for giving his life for our signs on this day
  • Prayers for families traveling on this holiday
  • Prayers for healing, especially out boy Royale and his injured ankle (thanks for coming and closing us out).

I am honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to lead a great group of men on this day in which we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Have a happy and blessed Easter.

 

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Last chance to order a FORT Region shirt (new colors)

We will be doing a redesign of the FORT logo later this year, so this is your last chance to order the current FORT design before then. Think of it as a way to say you are a FORT region original before all the newbies arrive. For all of you wondering if we would ever have another option other than gray, you are in luck. MudGear just released red and royal blue!

The MudGear obstacle race jersey fits close to the skin without compression (tapered cut). Its highly breathable, wicks sweat, and has excellent drainage capability. This is the style all regions wear across this great nation of ours. Don’t you want to be a great American? Aren’t you proud of the hours of pain and gallons of sweat you lose with your F3 brothers? Why wouldn’t you get this shirt? Also available in badass black (standard F3 Nation uniform color for our workout ninjas). Is it visible to oncoming traffic at 0515? Nah. Does it need to be? Meh. Will you blend in with your surroundings? Probably. Will you look good wearing it? Heck yes!

Price: $33 (MudGear red, blue, black)

Also available is the black Sport-Tek Adult Competitor Tee. This one is lightweight, moisture-wicking, and breathable. It has a looser fit. This is the more cost-effective version. Not as durable, but just as sweet. Ladies cannot resist a man in black. Heck, there was even a movie (or 3) about men in black. Don’t you want to impress the ladies? Why wouldn’t you want to rock out a bad mama jama black F3 shirt? Show the CrossFitters what a real shirt looks like on a real #HIM! I hear it actually makes you do better merkins.

Price: $24 (Sport-Tek black)

The grey on black looks pretty sweet. Last day to order is 4/3/16. To save you shipping charges, I’ll deliver them to you when they arrive in late April. Get them before they are gone! Don’t look back on this and say, “I wish I would have gotten the shirt.” Just click below and order it now. Operators are standing by. Do it!

F3 The Fort Shirts Pre-Order

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Shopping Spree at the Swamp

  • QIC: Fishsticks
  • When: 03/11/16
  • Pax: Mr Clean, Wapner, Royale, Vinnie, Legoland, Bart, Smokey, Freebird, Gekko, Mainframe, Puddles, Bing, Pick 6, Cobra Kai, Zima, Gears, Fishsticks
  • Posted In: The Swamp

The great weather brought 17 strong men out for the split workout (Bootcamp/Ruck). It was good to see Wapner again after a tough workout at GC earlier in the week. He plans to post at Riverwalk and maybe Alcatraz tomorrow. Very encouraging for just the first week!

Mosey to front of Best Buy

Warm-up:

Knees to chest

Light jog

Hip circles

Light jog

Butt kickers

Mosey to the back of Just Fresh

COP (in cadence):

SSH x 20

Windmill x 15

Imperial Walker x15

Merkins x 10 (6″ hold)

Mountain Climber x 10

Plank – 6” hold

Line up for sprints, jog first, sprint to the island and back x3.

Next, mosey to the back of Target, the Pax walked on their hands with feet against the wall. No stops for 10 count today. Mosey to the front of Target. I informed the group we would not be doing any exercises involving the infamous Red Balls. It would be worse..we were going shopping! The rest of the workout would be dictated by the name of the store we visited. Each letter represented an exercise. Like Wheel of Fortune, the vowels were at a cost, pain.

Here are the stores we visited:

Target

16 – Plank Punches (x2)

20 – Merkins

10 – American Hammers

10 – Rosalitas

10 – Burpees

Rack Room **Bad choice

10 – American Hammers (x2)

20 – Merkins

12 – Carolina Dry Docks

10 – Derkins

10 – Burpees (x2)

15 – Mountain Climbers

CVS

12 – Carolina Dry Docks

15 – Imperial Walkers

10 – Seal Jacks

TGI Fridays   **Another bad choice

 16– Plank Punches

10 – Rosalitas

20 – Merkins (x2)

15 – Flutter Kicks

10 – American Hammers

10- Diamond Merkins

20 – Merkins

20 – SSHs

10- Seal Jacks

Just Fresh

 15 – Jump-ups

10- Jump-ups

10- Seal Jacks (x2)

16– Plank Punches

15 – Flutter Kicks

10 – American Hammers

10 – Burpees

10 – Hello Dollys

Mosey back to COT

Announcements:

P200 next week

Riverwalk – Sunday 6am, all runners, non-runners, and ruckers welcome

Fusion – Saturday 9am, PAX and 2.0 (Middle and high school)

Mudrun – April 30th

Prayer Requests:

Freebird challenged each of us to take his approach when presented with an issue. Take a minute to settle your mind and pray.

Continued prayers for Royale’s friend in a coma

Royale and his family as they transition and support additional family members

Cornhole and his career changes

Mainframe’s coworker who is battling an illness

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Mor “Ruck” an Night Club at the Swamp

  • QIC: Fishsticks
  • When: 02/26/16
  • Pax: Mainframe, Cornhole, Gekko, Cobra Kai, Stockade, Zima, Cerrano, Crash, Puddles, Gears, Wrecker, Sasquatch, Trucker, Vinnie, Lugnut, Family Guy, Bart, Fishsticks
  • Posted In: The Swamp

The Swamp has become a popular place lately.  There are two workout options (Bootcamp, Rucking)  available. It is always interesting watching the PAX prepare for the ruck workout. Not sure what is in the pack: Books, snacks, toys, etc.

18 men showed up this morning, half ruck, half bootcamp. After the disclaimer, we went our separate ways (Journey 1983).  Mosey to the parking lot behind Just Fresh where the music was playing some old hits, another benefit of this AO.

COP (in cadence):

SSH

Moroccan Night Club – Puddles has an interesting (strange) modification to this exercise.  It seems to be catching on with other PAX, or maybe just Vinnie.

Imperial Walker

Windmill

Merkins (6″ hold for 10 seconds x 2)

LBCs

Line up for sprints, jog first, sprint to the light pole in back.  In the distance, we saw the Ruck PAX circled on the ground.  It appeared to be sharing time, remember back in school when you went around the circle and discussed your day.  Just kidding…all in fun.

Next, mosey to the Home Depot wall for people chair, then bear crawl to the Target wall.  Another set of LBCs followed by a mobile balls to the wall (walking on hand with feet against the wall).  Again, another set of LBCs.

Mosey to the infamous red balls.  On a side note, I used to let my 2.0s climb on them before I joined F3.  Now I have them avoid them at all costs.

Exercise at each ball, run back to the starting line.  Alternate between CCDs (x10) and LBCs (x20).  We almost forgot about the bonus ball around the corner of the building…extra credit 50 LBCs.

Mosey to the back of Target for another round of mobile balls to the wall and a set of LBCs.

Short jog to the fountain for a set of dips (x20) and derkins (x20).  More running to the front of Petsmart for a sprint back to COT and one last set of LBCs.  Sasquatch showed his impressive speed.

Lots of AB work and running at different speeds today.  Rough calculations of 300 LBCs and 2.7 miles covered this morning.  Great work everyone!  It is always an honor.

Announcements:

Next week at the Swamp – Armed Forces PT test

F3 Dads – The Patriot, Saturday, Feb 27th @10 am

Fuel challenge – Gathering at Gear’s home for some real food, Ms and 2.0s invited next Friday..more details to come.

Prayer Requests:

Cornhole’s coworker who recently had a stroke.

Patience with 2.0s and other life challenges

 

 

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Harder than it sounds

  • QIC: Gears
  • When: 01/29/16
  • Pax: Howitzer, Backdraft, Mainframe, Fish Sticks, Bing, Stockade, Cobra Kai, Family Guy, Trucker, Cornhole, Lego Land, Royale, Gekko, Tater, Mr. Clean, CSPAN, Zima, Decible, Gears (YHC)
  • Posted In: The Swamp

Shortest backblast ever….

19 Men Posted to the Swamp.  At least 8 or 9 knew there would be rucking involved, but everyone got to enjoy a piece of the Ruck Action.  Unfortunately I skipped the disclaimer, but no FNG’s…

The Thang

Mosey to the Fountain for Warmups:

  • Windmills
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to Home Depot lot for the Main Event

Paired off for Greta 1-2-3 – one PAX ran the length of the HD lot, while the other did the following and flapjack for cumulative counts:

  • 100 Ruck Man Makers (think Ruck burpee with a squat thrust instead of jump)
  • 200 Ruck Thrusters (squat with ruck out front, when standing ruck in Overhead Press)
  • 300 Ruck Flutters (Bench press the ruck for every second leg)

Mosey to COT

 

NMM

Zima had the Bootcamp helm this morning and offered to split it with YHC for the Ruck Option.  Turns out we only had enough time for one #routine, but I’d say it was worth it.  Many of the PAX have said they’ve thought about trying the ruck thing and I think this morning was a good intro.

Also, I have no idea how we wound up with 19 in pairs, but #ItHappened

Massive respect to all the PAX who were there… it truly was harder than it appears here.

 

Announcements

Whetstone – Find the Man in your life you can trust to break down the walls and get after it

Yeti – Get ready… Organized training runs are underway (like tomorrow morning at 0600 from Pantheon)

Expansion – Popeye and Apache are kicking off a workout at York Comprehensive High School tomorrow morning at 0700

 

Prayers

Royale for a Coworker Russ who lost a daughter

Bing for a Buddy who lost a job and for a sister in law who is making bad life choices

 

Honor to Serve.

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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.

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Do It Anyway

  • QIC: CSPAN and Double D
  • When: 01/15/16
  • Pax: Barry Manilow, FNG/Stockade, Cobra Kai, Crab Cakes, Gears, Zima, Royale, Puddles, Family Guy, Willie, Bart, Fish Sticks, Vinnie, Sen T, Lego Land, Gekko, Tater, Qwerty, Mainframe, Trucker, plus other ruckers
  • Posted In: The Swamp

The Swamp was a popular spot, with 26 pax posting, comprised of 10 Ruckers and 16 Boot Campers.  CSPAN rolled in hot 30 secs before launch, ran through the preliminaries and then handed off to Cobra Kai for a prelude based on the “Do It Anyway” message from Mother Teresa.  Since she posted in spirit only and not in person, no F3 principles were violated.  Having appropriately challenged the pax spiritually, Cobra Kai and CSPAN rolled out for the physical challenge portion of the morning.

The Thang (CSPAN in lead)

Warm up run

COP — SSH, Squat, IWs, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Seal Jack

Line up at cross walk in front of Office Max
Run to next cross walk, Merkins x10, Run back, Squats x10
(Rinse & repeat 4x with next further cross walk until reaching far side of PetsMart

Lunge walk to cross walk, bear crawl to next cross walk
(Rinse & repeat until reaching far end of PetsMart)

Return by dong in/out hip stretch march to next cross walk, then out/in version, then run to original crosswalk

Hand off to DD

Burpees x10 OYO
People’s chair
Balls to the Wall
(Rinse & repeat 2x for total of 3 cycles)

Run to fountain area in front of Cold Stone

Merkins x10, around end of parking area and back to other side of fountain, CDDs x10, Run around other end of parking area and back to start
(Rinse & repeat Merkin/CDD/lap sequence AMRAP)

Run home

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

Welcome to FNG/Stockade, who posted for the Ruck portion of the adventure.

Thoughts and prayers for Fun House who is battling herniated disks in his back.  Hope the recovery time is shorter than initial indications.

Lots of mumblechatter about the Target balls.  Sounds like a crowd favorite…with limited time left for YHC’s portion, BTW at Marshall’s had to suffice as a proxy.

YHC mistook Barry Manilow for Paula Dean while faced upside down.  One sings, one cooks/eats, they both sweat…what else can I say?

T-claps to Cable Guy who is clearly providing great leadership based on the spirit and attendance at The Swamp.  Look forward to having CG back in the gloom soon!

Thanks to CSPAN for inviting me out to join in on the fun.  Always an honor to lead.

 

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TheSwamp- 1/8/16

  • QIC: WorldWide Leader
  • When: 1/8/16
  • Pax: Repeat, Photobomb, Vinny, Fishsticks, Kordy?, Gears, Zima, Gekko, Family Guy, Puddles, Bart, MainFrame, Royal, Cornhole, Willy, Trucker
  • Posted In: The Swamp

17 posted on a cool and crisp Friday morning at the Swamp.

4 Ruckers picked up their Dora-the-Explorer backpacks and rucked into the gloom.

The other 13 men followed the welcome back from 3 months+ of marathon training (aka lots of miles, not so much merkins) the HYC- WorldWide Leader.

Mosey- 1 mile warm up

Dynamic warm up – high knees, butt kicks, karaoke, toy soldiers, side shuffle and the WWL favorite, power skips!

Mosey

COP- SSH, Squat, IW, Merkin, Mountain climber, Sumo Squat, Staggered merkins right, Windmill, Staggered merkins left

Mosey to loading dock near Target
Jacobs ladder to 7, Bear crawl up, CDD, lunge walk back, squat

Mosey

Six Minutes of Marry

Ruckers mosey in

COT

Solid workout men! Group was not overly talkative this am, not sure if that was the absence of Gears or HYC’s warmup mile had a few pax winded…

Reminder that Joe Davis run is tomorrow, carpool if you can, HYC will lead a warm up at 0730, WEP.

P200 – start training!

Fuel Challenge – HC!

BRR – start putting together a team!

– WWL

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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

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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.

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