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Encouragement at The Arsenal

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The Arsenal Q 10/25 – Sorry this one is late, I was on vacation and lost track of it…

5:00 Pre-Run

Fire Hazard

General

Punch List

Soft Pretzel

5:30 Workout

Fire Hazard

General

One Niner

Punch List

Sharknado

Slow Pitch

Soft Pretzel

Cobbler asked me to Q at The Arsenal what feels like forever ago. I liked the idea of “crossing the borders” from The Fort to Indian Land. It also helped that this is the closest AO to my house… so there’s that. The opportunity rose and I met it. Plus it’s a very versatile AO with many options. 

Rewind to 10/25:

Four PAX up for the pre-run at 5:00. Seven PAX showed up to increase their self esteem by way of “positive talk” for the main event. The clock struck 5:30 and we moseyed down to the football fields. 

We stopped for COP on the practice field for a little warming up. It consisted of:

Al Gores

SSH x 29

Merkins x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 23

Tappy Taps x 10

During the Al Gores I asked the group what kind of leadership skills they’ve gained from being part of F3. Hilarity ensued.

“I’ve been voluntold to do everything, so I’ve learned how to voluntell people what to do really well.”

“Fire Hazard has really built up my self esteem over the years.”

“I’ve gotten really good at mumble chatter.”

This came up later… but a great technique to speed up a group if runners involved getting in front of them and dropping a bomb of sorts to “encourage” a faster pace.

So we got some good laughs, it was a good quick discussion. We finished off the COP and moseyed over to the football field.

Football Field Circuit

Partner Workout

Each Partner Wheel Barrows every other 10 yards, both partners complete workouts equal to yard marker on the field that you land. Start at one end zone and work toward the other.

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

10 – Donkey Kicks

20 – Hand Release Merkins

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

40 – Air Squats

50 – LBCs

40 – Air Squats

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

20 – Hand Release Merkins

10 – Donkey Kicks

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

Out, Lap around the track.

Pick Up the six who may or may not have splashed merlot over the fence. Remixed the workout to add a little more pain. 

All Together

Bear Crawls every 25 yards, stop for a workout

25 Yards 

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

25 Yards

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

End with some Jack Webs to burn the shoulders – made it to 6 Push Ups & 24 Claps

Mosey up to parking lot

Duck Duck Goose Abs x 2 (Lay in a circle and hold legs at 90°, each PAX takes turns running around the circle throwing legs down, hold at 6” until next PAX gets up).

Hillbilly walkers for obliques x 10

Pistol Crunches x 10 each leg

Overall it was a tough workout with 7 HIM answering the call. The field was wet and made for some discomfort. In the words of Geronimo… get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Thanks for the opportunity to lead and sorry about the late backblast… Disney was calling my name! 

Punch List out. 

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Deck of Burpees

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I always appreciate the opportunity to lead a workout.  I’ve also enjoyed #Pantheon each time I’ve been there.  Its a solid AO, with a lot of opportunity/locations to dish out the pain!

I decided with this workout, that I wanted to go simple.  Every time someone brings a deck of cards, I always think it will be easy and inevitably end up completely gassed.

5:15 Disclaimer and off we went…

Warm-up:

Mosey around the parking lot with some dynamic stretching.  Circle up and run through several warm-up exercises.  The usual suspects were there: SSH, Imperial Walkers, SSH, Hill Billy Walkers, SSGH, Merkins, Planks, etc.  You get the drill.

The Thang:

So cards it was – although with a slight twist.  Rather than each suit representing an exercise, the suit and the number/face card provided a matrix that was used to dish out more varied pain…

Each PAX took turns selecting a card from the deck and looking up the exercise on my phone (a bit hard to read).

Key:

[H] Hearts [D] Diamonds [C] Clubs [S] Spades AND # on card = number of reps; J, Q, K = 15 reps

2-5: [any suit]: burpees (56 in total)

6: [H] Merkins; [D] Diamond Merkins; [C] Wide Arm Merkins; [S] Hand Release Merkins

7: [H] Low Slow Squats; [D] Ground Touch Squats; [C] Sumo Squats; [S] Squats

8: [H] Alternating Lunges; [D] Alternating Reverse Lunges; [C] Alternating Jump Lunges; [S] Speed Skater (Apollo Ono)

9: [H] Calf Raise (both legs); [D] Tuck Jumps; [C] Single Leg Calf Raise (L); [S] Single Leg Calf Raise (R)

10: [H] Table Dips; [D] Shoulder Taps; [C] Crab Cakes; [S] PAX choice

J: [H] BCs; [D] Flutter Kicks; [C] Dying Cockroach; [S] V-ups

Q: [H] Heels to Heaven; [D] X’s and O’s; [C] Big Boy Sit-ups; [S] Protractor

K: [H] Scissor Kicks; [D] Weezie Jefferson; [C] Rosalita; [S] Plank Waterfall (each PAX 15 count)

A: [any suit] 2 line Suicides

This took us right up to time for COT.  Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, Announcement, Prayers/Praises, BOM.

As always thanks for the opportunity and the push!

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1+1=Terrible Downpainment

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19 Pax descended on Block Party including 3 for Pathfinder for an old school beatdown by YHC and Mash. Little did YHC know when I suggested to Mash that he co-Q with me that it would be his 50th Birthday at Block Party #Respect.

Mash and I have been friends for many years and I already had tons of respect for him. He is a good Christian, Husband and Father coupled with being a military veteran. Our children are the same age so we have lots in common. More importantly, he has demonstrated being a true #HIM since joining the Fort several years ago.

The Thang

Full Disclaimer

Mash on Q – Mosey out

COP – lots of chatter here…I may have been contributing

SSH

Moroccan Night Clubs

Windmills

Merkins x 15 (YEAH!)

Mosey to gravel lot and partner up

Dora 1,2,3

100 Merkins

200 Flutters

300 SSHs

Pusher on Q – Mosey to hill

Bear crawl up hill – #turrible

Dirty McDeuce powered by Halloween Candy

Side Note: Avg American eats 3.4 pounds of candy on Halloween; Candy has calories (duh!); 1 minute of Burpees equals approximately 10 calories;

All exercises IC x 12; Calories are based on “Fun Size” portions

Starburst (40 cals) – Squats

Skittles (63 cals) – LBCs

M&Ms (73 cals) – Wide Arm

Take a lap

Kit Kat (70 cals) – Jumping Lunge

Snickers (80 cals) – Flutters

Twix (80 cals) – Carolina Dry Docks

Take a lap

Reeses Cup (90 cals) – Bomb Jacks

Baby Ruth ( 85 cals) – Freddy Mercury

Butterfinger ( 85 cals) – Diamond Merkins

Take a lap

York Patty ( 50 cals) – Burpees

Crunch ( 60 cals) – Rosalita

Hershey ( 63 cals) – Burpees

Mosey Home

 

Moleskin:

  • Happy #Respect Birthday to Mash
  • Christmas Party on 12/1/18
  • Pre Christmas Drop In on 11/2/18 with Shady at Armor Artis
  • Be a HIM in your community…lots of examples were shared
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Block Party – Smoothing the Stones

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Today at the Block Party I was ready to have a namesake beatdown with Cinder Blocks and all the fun of them. So the wienke was made and the plan was to utilize the blocks at Honey Badger Central or Den or the Coop or whatever they are calling NAFO these days. At 0430 I left to go get the blocks and find there are no blocks to be found. It seems the FMSD has taken our blocks away……again!!

After quick conversation with the Darkest of Helmets I had to call….Omaha…..Omaha!!! Was not too bad to change some of the exercise moves and YHC was ready to roll.

15 PAX arrived and I was excited for the turnout at WEP. Its an original AO and one of our best and so love to see the PAX still coming. We had 13 bootcamp and 3 runners for Pathfinder and at 0515 away we all went.

Mosey up the Stairway to Heaven

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat
  • Windmills

Mosey along path

  • Al Gore
  • Merkins (Stealth)
  • Low Slow Squat
  • Imperial Walkers

The Main event

List of 10 exercises, 100 reps cumulative with Partner

Partner  1 runs around Playground, Partner 2 exercise move…..working the list

  • Squats
  • Merkins
  • Lunge (50 each leg)
  • Swing Crunches
  • Pullups
  • Step ups (100 each leg)
  • Dips
  • Toe Taps
  • Derkins
  • Leg Raises

Nice work by all the PAX. FNG, Liquidate, did great and fun was had by all!!

I talked to the men about David and Goliath and when David chose 5 smooth stones there was a reason. Smooth stones would fly straight and accurate versus those with edges and odd shape. The stones were smooth from being in the water and rubbing against each other over years and smoothing each other out. We as men need each other to help us shoot straight and face our Goliath. By surrounding ourselves with PAX that want to get better and live for something bigger than ourselves, we will all get smoothed out and be able to fly straight and stay on path. Get those trusted advisers in your life and GET BETTER!

Cake Boss

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Charter Band-aids for Little Warriors – PreBlast

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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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Ash to Ash at Tomahawk

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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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Beyond at the Swamp – workaholic

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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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Pre-blast – Custom Dark Side of the Moon GORUCK

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

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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 NAME: F3_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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“Tappy Taps? Did you make that up?”

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‘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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