Charter Band-aids for Little Warriors – PreBlast

As most of the PAX in the Fort and Rock regions knows my 5 year old daughter (Emma) is a leukemia survivor. We still make a trip every 4 weeks to get blood drawn to check her counts at Levine Children’s Hospital. We also stepped up and raised money last year (Christmas time) for a fellow brother bout-time out of Area 51 son Jennings who has leukemia also.

It has come to my attention that the budgets have been cut in some of the pediatric departments and the first thing to go is usually the character band aids. You say how important is to have these band-aids? Well as far as the cancer kids go every time the have their PORT’s (Port is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein) which for some kids is traumatic they get a band-aid over it. For others that are done with treatment such as my daughter Emma has to go back for the next 21 years to get checked (mainly blood counts). This not always easy for instance this past Wednesday she was poked 3 times. Well at the end the band aid can put a smile on a child’s face. This also goes for those kiddos that have to constantly get blood work done not just cancer kids.

So what I am challenging you to do is every week you go grocery shopping buy at least one box or more of character band-aids girls or boys. Also Spread the word in every COT. I will tweet out what AO’s I will be at and if anyone wants to step up and help me collect that would be awesome.

I also challenge others in different regions to pull together and do the same thing. My goal is to gather as much as possible and split it between Levine Children’s Hospital and Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital (St. Jude Affiliate Clinic) before Christmas.

Let a simple act of kindness put a smile on a little fighters face.

AYE. Lets do this.

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77

Ash to Ash at Tomahawk

9 PAX gathered in the only slightly cool October gloom striving to be better. After a disclaimer, we were off on a Mosey around the parking lot.

Warm Up:
SSH x25 (everybody’s favorite F3 classic first exercise)
Mountain Climber x20
Hold Plank
– Honeymooner
– Down Dog
– 6 inches
– Honeymooner
– Down Dog
Mountain Climber x20 (got some mumble chatter spiking after this)
Imperial Walker x20
Hillbilly Walker x20
Good Mornings w/ bells x5
Al Gore Good Mornings x5

Seated forward bends to stretch out the Quadratus Lumborum. (Look it up)

Lined up at the bottom of the parking lot facing the school.

Swing x10
Snatch x10 (each arm)
Squat x10
Lunge walk w/ pass through up to the islands nearest the school
Swing x10
Snatch x10 (each arm)
Planked up: Honeymooner/Down Dog
Swing x10
Snatch x10 (each arm)

Moseyed to a parking lot island with grass, touched the grass, and returned to our bells.

Swing x10
Snatch x10 (each arm)
Squat x10
Solo Test x3 (each arm)
Overhead Squat x10 (each arm)
Swing x10

Moved towards COT, dropped bells.

Found some wall at the school entrance.

BTTW w/ Shoulder Taps x10
People’s Chair – brief lecture on nihilism
BTTW w/ Merkins x10

Back to COT:

Sit and Press x10 (big boy sit up and overhead press)
Flutter w/ press x10
Skull Crusher x10
Time

Naked Man Moleskin:

YHC has been pondering this poem lately.

Ozymandias: by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

The things of the earth for which we labor will inevitably fade away. (Which lead to some mumble chatter about “why did I show up then?” hence the Nihilism discussion.) But our identity is not found in earthly things, and on this we can be thankful. For our labors in for our 3rd F identity will not fade away. What’s the difference between Ash Wednesday “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” and the ethos of Nihilism:  skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence? Only faith.

Announcements:
Christmas Party – 12/1: Sign up Now
Fast 5 – 10/27

Prayers:
Many – we never know what others are carrying with them. May we all be mindful of that in our interactions.

Band Camp dismissed

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5

Beyond at the Swamp – workaholic

12 pax took to the gloom for a Beyond workout. Beyond workouts are a normal workout, the Q is challenged with share something meaningful, something they are struggling with. For me, its addiction to work.

Disclaimer was given and we moseyed.
Dynamic warmup, side shuffle, karaoke, toy soldiers, walk on tip toes, lung walk, high knees/butt kicks, and of course power skips!
Mosey
COP – SSH, squat, merkin, morracon night club, IW, flutter kick, american hammer
20 burpees OYO
 
Switzer:
Work addiction, often called workaholism, is a real mental health condition. Like any other addictions, work addiction is the inability to stop the behavior. It often stems from a compulsive need to achieve status and success, or to escape emotional stress. Work addiction is often driven by job success. More common among perfectionists.
My wife has told me I have a problem… jokingly or not… she’s said it. 
I NEVER leave my work laptop at work, haven’t done in 10 years I’ve been with the company. I’m always connected, phone, email, in my head. When I go on vacation. When i come home. I wake up early and send an email to myself to remind of to do xyz…
Last week alone I stayed up until past midnight working three nights in a row… my wife texted me to come to bed…

Mosey to Target
Suicide, 5 burpees at the start line and 10 merkins at each ball, plank when done
Bearcrawl to ball, 10 squats, lung walk to next ball, 10 squats, alternating until reach the end.

Mosey to COT.

We live in a culture where hard work is praised and putting in overtime is often expected, it can be difficult to recognize work addiction. People with a work addiction will often justify their behavior by explaining why it is a good thing and can help them achieve success. Want to appear committed to their job or the success of their projects.
 
However, ambition and addiction are quite different.
 
Symptoms of a work addiction include:
-putting in long hours at the office, even when not needed
-losing sleep to engage in work projects or finish tasks
-being obsessed with work-related success
-having intense fear of failure at work
-being paranoid about work-related performance
-having a defensive attitude toward others about their work
-using work as a way to avoid relationships
-working to cope with feelings of guilt or depression
-working to avoid dealing with crises like death, divorce, or financial trouble
 
I’ve never spent as much time/effort/focus that I do on my work projects/priorities as do for my family or personal goals. Have I ever planned a vacation like I plan a $100M project.
 
I was putting my 1 yr son to bed the other night, I was in a hurry, so I could fire up the laptop to work.

Be conscious of what we idol and prioritize, hold each other accountable, listen to your spouse or kids, when they say something, something is wrong.

Aye,
WWL
 

 
 

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17

Pre-blast – Custom Dark Side of the Moon GORUCK

Pax,
We put out a feeler and the Nation responded, you are eager and hungry for a CUSTOM GORUCK event in 2019. Details have been set for a truly unique event and event registration is now open.
The next Fort region CUSTOM GORUCK event, “The Dark Side of the Moon” will occur on the weekend of May 4th, 2019. The event is being spearheaded by our respectable CSPAN and soon to be respectable Cobra Kia, both of whom will be 50 years young on the event, plus a few others. Like the Pink Floyd album, which claims to reflect various stages of life, begging and ending with a heartbeat, exploring the nature of human experience, this custom F3 event will not disappoint.

Here’s what you need to know on event details (available at this time):
Target Date: 5/4/19
Event Format: this will be a one of a kind GORUCK format including three (3) different event lengths into a single event, first a Heavy (24 hr event) group will launch, then 12 hrs later the Tough group will join in and then 6 hrs after that the Light group will join in. So, three launch times, one for each event but each group will join in the single event, such that all three groups finish the event as a single group of pax. The Heavy is 24 hrs in duration, the Tough group is 12 hrs and the Light group is 6 hrs.
Cadres: this a single event with two GORUCK Cadre, hand selected.
Patches: yes, there will be custom event patches! You will only each one (1) patch, you will a single patch for the event you sign up and complete, i.e. the Heavy, Tough or Light.
Location: will be Fort Mill or the surrounding area.
Event Cap: GORUCK has a cap of 60 total participants, the Heavy is capped at 30 participants.
Pricing: registration pricing has been set at $200 for Heavy, $125 for Tough, $75 for Light. Please note that the event is a flat fee charge from GORUCK, we do run the risk of under collecting costs, but based on interest expressed, that shouldn’t be a problem. Any funds collected above the flat fee charge from GORUCK, will be used for the required community service event, F3 patches and can either be refunded or donated with input from the PAX. Event pricing is in-line to GORUCK non-custom events.
Registration: there is a two-step registration process, you must complete both steps in order to register for this event,
Step 1 – send payment of the full amount via PayPal to WorldWide Leader, URL = https://www.paypal.me/JustinLaRoche
Step 2 – send an email to WordWide Leader at Justin.LaRoche@Duke-Energy.com that way I can confirm receive of payment and we will need your email address to provide communication and updates on the event.

Upon successful completion of registration, PAX will be added to the public list of event participants, all pax can see who is registered and who is not and apply EHing as necessary.

Hollar with any questions, concerns or ideas.

Aye, WWL
Twitter – @jclaroche2

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60

Brute Force Fight for the Fallen – Sand & Kettlebells at the Armory – PT. 1

We remembered 104 fallen firefighters as part of the Brute Force Fight for the Fallen Fundraiser.  The initiative is led by 555 fitness which is a crossfit box, however we modified our workout to suit.

Warmup:  5 count in cadence – Side Straddle Hops, Diamond Merkins, Sissy Squat Jumps.

The Thang:  5 reps single count of each below in succession while each member alternated performing Brute Force Sandbag Burpees – demonstration link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r51gttAhD_M&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Fight+For+The+Fallen+2018&utm_campaign=20068f1923-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_06_06_46_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4162720ddf-20068f1923-715270073&mc_cid=20068f1923&mc_eid=5041ced337

Squat to KB Swing
Curl to Arnold Press
Rear Lunge to Lawnmower
Front Raise to TriPress
Pullover to Straigh Leg Crunch

8 Revolutions, with Dungaree doing sandbag burpees all the way back to my truck!

In between revolutions, we discussed Encouragement, the Jester, and Bad Ideas.

Finale – 4 minute core thrasher with planks, carolina dry docks, honeymooners, and sphynx planks

Join the Brute Force Fight for the Fallen here. 

2) Sign up as a TEAM MEMBER under your TEAM NAMEF3_RELENTLESS (O’Hara)
 
3) And finally have them use your team discount when paying to save $5, use code: RELENTLESS
Prayers for guidance, clarity, strength and patience.
THANK YOU, AYE!

 

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4

“Tappy Taps? Did you make that up?”

‘Twas a glorious morning at NaFo, and 14 PAX rose to the occasion, including some from surrounding regions (Aye!). A lot of new PAX I’ve never met as well, perhaps a glimpse into how large this community really is. Had a moment to think how much of an impact this community has had on these men, and the impact it will have on many more. The clock struck 5:15 and we began.

Disclaimer to start it off, then we headed out for our warm up.

Mosey 1/8 Mile

COP
Moroccan Night Clubs x 25
Tap-py Taps x 10 (Look it up! It’s a thing on F3Nation.)
Plank Position
Peter Parkers x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
Alternating Shoulder Taps x 15

Recover

Mosey to the Pull Up Bars for our Weinke Of The Day

Descending Rounds of 30 – 25 – 20 – 15 – 10 – 5

Burpees
Lunges
Squats
Derkins
Dips

Mixed in with 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2

Pull Ups

Plank in wait for the 6 each round you finish and then we start the next round together. The best part about this weinke… it gets easier every round.

Ran back to our original spot for a little Mary
In & Outs (Boat/Canoe I was told) x 6… messed up my inflection there and someone caught me!
Six Inches x 1 Minute
Recover

COT

Announcements

Convergence at Walter Elisha Park Saturday – 7:00AM.
Pre Ruck – 6:15, Pre Run – 6:30. Both launching from Panera @ Kingsley.

Poverty Simulation is coming.

ABH (Always Be Headlocking!)

SpeedforNEED this weekend in Ballantyne – Isabella Santos 5K.

5K/10K Race and Fun Run

Prayers/Praise
Pray that Gods will be revealed to me and I accept it.
Praise for Drop Thrill having a job for a year!
Pray for Sugar Bugs parents on Pawley’s Island – The rivers are rising and the water is about 5’ from their house
Pray for those affected by Florence, those still dealing with flooding, and those who lost everything trying to recover.

Thank you Wegmans for the opportunity to lead 13 men in this gloom we love so much.

For fun… Notable MumbleChatter for the day:

As I laid out the Weinke: “Gee, Punch List… this is kind of Honey Badger-esque…”

“Kielbasa can you demonstrate a polish burpee for me?”
“I’m going to do 30 Polish Burpees… *waits two seconds* DONE!”

“I’m going to do my max number of pull ups over here… (20 yards away from the bars).”

IMG_7663

 

Punch List Out.

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5

16 got Brenton’d at the Honey Badger

16 brave little badgers got their man card punched this morning at the best AO in The Fort Region – The Honey Badger.

This AO is always a little bit harder, and a little bit longer than the rest. If you fight badger on Monday, and start your week like a hero – the rest of the week is a little bit easier.

This week we honored Officer Timothy Brenton.  Brenton, husband and father of two, was killed in the line of duty on October 31, 2009

The Brenton workout calls for five rounds of bear crawls (100 ft) standing broad jumps (100 ft) with 3 burpees after every five jumps. We modified this slightly to bear crawls of 100 yards, and broad jumps of 100 yards with 3 burpees every 10 yards. We also added a 400 meter run in between sets.

This is the second time the Brenton has made it to the Honey Badger – both times it was modified to 100 yards. So we are adopting this as the new standard.

Prayers to all effected by Hurricane Florence

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9

The Fire Ant. 9/11 WOD

There were roughly 2000 steps in the towers… If you just walk that (not on stairs) it’s roughly a mile…
There were nearly 3000 souls who lost their lives as a result of the terror attacks on 9/11…

Therefore, we were going to perform 1 mile of running (with rucks) and 3000 reps (one for each person who died).

Mosey over to the hill behind the apartments by the fountain (consult Google Maps if you have no idea what I’m talking about).

Up the hill and back (1/3 mile)
10 exercises/100 reps each

  1. Curls
  2. Merkins
  3. Squats
  4. Overhead Press
  5. Partner Leg Press
  6. Flutters
  7. Chest Press
  8. LBC
  9. Mtn Climbers
  10. Upright Row

Up the hill and back

  1. 100 count front hold
  2. 100 count plank hold
  3. 100 count squat hold
  4. 100 count overhead hold
  5. 100 count body destroyer
  6. 100 count lateral hold (switch arms at 50)
  7. 100 count close body hold (bent arms)
  8. 100 count tri hold
  9. 100 count boat hold
  10. 100 count body destroyer

Up the hill and back

  1. Curls
  2. Merkins
  3. Squats
  4. Overhead Press
  5. Partner Leg Press
  6. Flutters
  7. Chest Press
  8. LBC
  9. Mtn Climbers
  10. Upright Row

Now… we only got to about Flutters on set 1. I thought we’d get a little further, but it was HARD. The element of not being able to finish was kind of baked in there though, since all the people that day who died very unexpectedly didn’t get to finish either… Live every day. Don’t be complacent. Take the #DRP. Get right, Live right, Lead right, Leave right.

Helmet, out.

**Also, there was one other dude with us that morning, and I’m sure he’ll be offended, but I can’t remember for the life of me who it was… If you remember, or if it was you, sound off in the comments.**

 

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3

It’s the Badger after all…

Over the weekend, many of us had the opportunity to participate in the 9/11 GORUCK events. It was a powerful reminder that our days are numbered and we don’t have any idea what that number is… One of our Cadre, Mike S., told us stories of men that he knew that had joined the Armed Services in some form or fashion (just as he had) as a direct result of the events of 9/11. One of those was a man that later would give his life in service to his country, Severin Summers III. Cadre Mike knew Severin, and told us some of his story at the event. We thought it only fitting to perform the workout that bears his name at the Badger yesterday. And it was hard…

50 Pull-ups
100 Hand-release Merkins
Run 5K

You could do it straight or break it up as you saw fit. For me, I did them in sets of 10, 20, and 800M runs until complete. I think that everyone chose to break it up in some way… There was a lot of sweat. And pain… those are the things I remember…

We started our week on the right trajectory, with a reminder to live THIRD… like a hero…

Helmet, out…

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