Looking at the Respects that showed someone said this more like a Retirement Home gathering!!!!!!

Maybe but 11 PAX were out for a Sunday run of Meadowlakes.  Miles were between 4.7 and 7.6 for the afternoon.  Walker used his run to help with some running tips and the PAX responded well to sharpening their skills. Some used this as a second run of the day to see how their legs will feel during the Palmetto 200.  If this is a relation to the dedication of The Rock to get stronger and sharper and stronger together, we are in great shape as a F3 Region.

Mumble chatter ran throughout the 60 minutes and a few first were made.  Cornerstone run was his longest and he was outstanding along with Blueprint pushing his 2.0s like Flash through the hills of Meadowlakes neighborhood.  Heck I even had a decent run for a 55 year old Samurai.

The COT was held before the run started and prayer request and praises given.  Riddler’s Grandfather recently passed, Ponytail’s daughter’s apartment caught on fire and has her displaced in Charleston and Dream House is having some medical issues.

I briefly spoke to the PAX on being Intentional and there is no difference between little sins and big sins.  They are all sins in God’s eyes and we need not to judge, let’s l eave that to the Sky Q.

Always a pleasure to lead a find group of HIMs.
Samurai Out

The Yeti. Ruck, Run, Bike. Do whatever you need to do to get your butt to the end of this 18+ mile CSAUP! And that’s what 90 Pax from at least 6 regions (by my count) did! For some, the Yeti started the day before. Yes one of the Pax was training for a Goruck Heavy, had already rucked 12 miles, and had been up for 25 hours. Tclaps for surviving and I’m sure you’ll be ready for that Heavy! I also can’t tell you how many times I heard, “This is the farthest I’ve Run or Rucked in my life.” That is music to my ears and makes putting these CSAUPs together worth it. As I try to push a CSAUP just a little further each time, it’s great to hear so many Pax pushing themselves a little further as well. So congratulations to everyone! Y’all crushed it.

The Yeti started fairly early for the ruckers at 0500. Runners launched with Funhouse at 0630 and Mainframe led the Run/Bike group at 0700. You will notice that there were no finishing result times this year. You know your time. You know what you had to do to endure. That’s it. Well that and you got a patch! And some BBQ. Before I get away from myself, I better just get to the THANG.

THANG:

Pax leave at the respective times and head to the 1st Pain Station (4 Miles)

PS1 (Sir Topham Hat)
Ascending Bear Crawls 1-7 (Merkins)
Ascending Lunge Walks1-7 (OH Press)
American Hammers X25
Flutters X25
Burpees X10

Mosey to the Anne Springs Close Greenway, Circle Haigler Loop and Return for 2nd Pain Station (4 Miles)

PS2 (Anchorman)
18 Cones with 18 Exercises. Transportation to each cone varies. Pure Evil!

1. 10 Merkins (Bear Crawl to next cone)
2. 10 SS (Lunge Walk to next cone)
3. 10 Sumo Squats (Duck Walk to next cone)
4. 10 Monkey Humpers (Broad Jump to next cone)
5. 10 Shoulder Taps (Crab Walk to next cone)
6. 20 Flutters (Bob Hurley to next cone)
7. 20 Hillbilly Walkers (Bunny Hop to next cone)
8. 10 Weed Pickers (Lunge Walk to next cone)
9. 10 Mountain Climbers (Soccer Walk to next cone)
10. 20 LBCs (Crab Walk to next cone)
11. 10 Bomb Jacks (Reverse Lunge to next cone)
12. 10 Peter Parkers (Backward Bear Crawl to next cone)
13. 10 Big Boy Sit-ups (Lunge Walk to next cone)
14. 10 Carolina Dry Docks (Toy Soldier to next cone)
15. 10 American Hammers (Karaoke to next cone)
16. 10 Diamond Merkins (Bear Crawl to next cone)
17. 10 Moroccan Night Clubs (Leisurely Stroll to next cone)
18. 10 Burpees

Mosey to Run n Gun for 3rd Pain Station (4 Miles)

PS3 (Bubba Gump) for a Tiger’s Themed Beatdown
• Toy Soldiers 50 yards
• 25 Merkins
• Lunge Walk 50 yards
• 25 Mountain Climbers
• Imperial Walkers
• LBCs
• Old School Rap and a loud Bubba Gump! Go Tigers!

Mosey to Colosseum via Baxter Trails and New Gray Rock for 4th Pain Station (4 Miles)

PS4 (Package) for a Pyramid of Pain
• 1 Minute Plank
• 10 Diamond Merkins
• 15 Parker Peters
• 20 Burpees
• 25 Plank Jacks
• 20 Squats
• 15 Flying Squirrels
• 10 Squat Thrusts
• 1 Minute Plank

Mosey to the finish at Fort Mill BBQ (2.5 Miles)
Total Miles Traveled: 18.5 (for most)

Thank you to all the Pax that participated this year. Love seeing Pax from other Regions join us. There were a lot of stories from this years event. Too many to put in a Back Blast. But here are a few.

• Tclaps to Reborn for baiting me into a pre-ruck (20.8 miles total)
• Tclaps to the Pain Station and Warmup Qs
• Tclaps to Dark Helmet for the Yeti Design this year (not a gorilla)
• Tclaps to Blackberry for staying up for 32.5 hours and covering 30 miles in 12 hours
• Lady stops the ruckers at mile 3.5 asking “What are y’all protesting?” In hindsight I think we were protesting Sad Clown Syndrome
• Condolences to all the Pax that got lost even with the links, turn-by-turn directions and hand holding
• The Pre-blast said less miles. I lied! You’ll figure it out at some point
• Burgundy and Tinker Toy’s relay came in at 2:50 #fitandfast
• Tatanka made it without spilling Chocolate Stout (Glad you made the trip up brother)
• Thank you to Sasquatch for helping brother Scrum when his legs locked up #HIM
• When asked by Longshanks what does he get for being first in the individual run category. My response: “A Patch”
• Congrats to WhatDid, Gears, Trucker, Twister, CoPay, Lugnut, Router and Schaeffer for completing the #Pathfinder 12 Mile Time Hack Challenge in 3:14 (Many of them continued to complete the Yeti)
• Thanks to WWL for the Beer Stop just off the Baxter trails at mile 12 or 13 Beer > Bananas
• Ruckers (Group 1) were short on time and didn’t make it to the Colosseum, this ended in a 2 mile Ranger Run and mini Pain Station at Gold Hill and 160 which included OH Flutters, Squats, Imperial Walkers, Ruck Sq/Curls (I was delirious and can’t recall the counts)
• Ruckers (Group 2) crossed over New Gray Rock and continued on the trails down to the Catawba only to resurface further down New Gray Rock, to Dam Road and back to the end (Tclaps to “navigator” Cornhole)
• Bikers seemed to have a great time on the Baxter Trail System
• Tclaps to Fort Mill BBQ and the great food, service and donation to the F3 Colombia Mission Trip through Forest Hill Church
• $450.00 was raised for the Men’s Mission Trip via funds left over, direct donations and FM BBQ
• No One Died! 2 years running!

Thanks again for your participation in this epic CSAUP! I’ve already got some great ideas for next year! I welcome any and all feedback. See you in the gloom!

Aye!
Zima

• When: 2/18/17
• Where:  The Guidance
• QIC: Walker
• The PAX:  King Hawk, Beethoven, Chihuahua, Travolta, Yzerman, Ravenclaw, Striker, Walker (Respect), NASA, Yogi, Padeye, High Pockets, Shoeless Joe (2.0 of High Pockets)

13 strong men, young and old, posted on this rainy Saturday afternoon at The Children’s Attention Home.  We worked hard and also talked about the word of the month, Intentional.

The Thang:

• Warmup:  Slow mosey to industrial field, SSH, Stretching.
• COP:  (1) Jump Squats, Merkins, 10 reps each, 5 rounds: (2) 180 Degree Jump Squats, Diamond Merkins, 10 reps each, 5 rounds: (3) Standard Body Squat, Merkins, Squat thrust, 10 reps each, 5 rounds: (4) Blast-0ff Merkins, 10 reps each: (5) Isometric Exercises (working against immovable object / using the body as the immovable object) – worked biceps, triceps, deltoids, and chest.  Slow mosey back to the COT.

Naked Man: I encouraged the PAX to be intentional in meeting a new person and intentionally developing a relationship with that person.  I advised them that all of us need a friend and that they may be actually helping a person out (who may be down on him or herself) by intentionally trying to become their friend.  If we are to grow as men in F3, we must be intentional in breaking down the facades that we so often encounter and carry ourselves. We should work to develop real, honest to goodness relationships with our fellow PAX and others that we encounter in our lives. We need to get beyond the F3 nickname, and delve into each other’s lives if we are to really be the High Impact Men that we want to be. Relationships can be messy but God never intended for us to “go it alone”. As succinctly stated in Galatians 6:2, we are called to “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ”. Let us be intentional about fulfilling this mandate.

Read the newsletter for happenings / upcoming events.

Walker Out

Pax,
Our own F3 Linus (GORUCK Cadre Daniel) has launched his 2017 Capital Ruck Tour to raise awareness and funds for Operation Enduring Warrior (OEW).

He will be journeying to 48 State Capitals to lead an epic 20 mile ruck mark ending at each state capitol building, in order to strengthen our community of patriotic athletes and raise funds for OEW. He will be dropped off 20 miles outside of each capital building, where he will link up with local athletes, ruckers and ruck clubs.

Those who join must be able to cover the distance in under 7 hours, carrying 20 pounds or 20 kilograms in your ruck, your choice. Expect a short WOD before step off, fellowship along the way, and a brief presentation upon endex, highlighting the life of a virtuous American whose work impacted the State.

You’ll get a cool patch, and possibly a cold beer. There will be a merchandise table, highlighting the gear of their sponsors, and of course T-shirts. Expect to have a good time, and see some great organizations representing such as F3, Team RWB, FiA, OEW, The Fab Four, and Travail CrossFit.

Approximately 80 days on the road divided into four segments; February through November, 2017.

Cadre Daniel will be rucking Raleigh on Friday October 20th, 2017 and Columbia on Saturday October 21st.

All rucks launch at 1700 (5pm).

More details can be found on the website, including donations.

To sign up for Raleigh, purchase a ticket here.

To sign up for Columbia, purchase a ticket here.

Let’s show some support to our F3 brother and an even greater cause!

Pre-story to YHC coming out to Q at Flash in Union Co. this morning.
1. I Q’ed The Brave Friday.
2. I left my cones (those red nasty little devils) and my hat and gloves.
3. Doc McStuffins picked them up and after a short conversation on twitter he asked me to come out and Q Flash.

19 came out on this glorious Monday morning to see what kind of shenanigans we do in the Fort. After 5 texts trying to figure out where to park (Cuthbertson is a huge campus) an introduction was given followed by a little disclaimer.

The Thang

Mosey behind the school complex where there was a nicely lit path and a gravel lot. After some high knees, butt kicks, toy soldiers, and karaoke we stopped at the gravel lot and circled up for a warmup of:
20 x SSH
10 X Windmills
10 x IW
10 x Merkins
10 x Mountain Climbers
10 x Squats

Got back on the main path and partnered up for some Dora 1,2,3 (love using Dora when visiting an AO for the first time cuz all you need is pace to run and a place to do exercises)
100 Merkins
200 Squats
300 LBC’s
Plank when finished

Mosey back up towards the school hitting each of the 6 light-poles for Merkins
2 Merkins at the first
4 Merkins at the second
6 Merkins at the third
8 Merkins at the fourth
10 Merkins at the fifth
12 Merkins at the sixth
LBC’s once finished
10 Burpees OYO once the 6 arrived

Mosey over to the school for some people’s donkey balls
People’s Chair
10 Donkey Kicks
Balls to wall
Rinse and repeat
followed with 10 Dips (IC)

Mosey to the other side of the lot
Walking Lt. Dans – 1 squat then 4 lunges forward, then 2 squats 8 lunges forward, keep increasing the squat by 1 and using the 4:1 ratio until you reach the other end of the lot (about 100 yards)
Sprint at 60% back to the start. 100% Sprint back to where we came from.

Finished with Mary
15 x LBC’s
15 x Flutters
15 x Rosalitas
15 x Freddy Mercuries
15 x Dying cockroach
15 x Plank Jacks
Superman
Plankarama

COT and BOM

Announcements – Debbie’s house, if you can contribute time or money to the effort. Link here http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/union-county-volunteers-renovate-longtime-family-home/495475242
https://www.gofundme.com/debbies-house-improvement

Prayers – Turtle and the screws in his ankle

Moleskin
Just want to thank Doc McStuffins for getting me out to this awesome group in Union Co. I’ve been blessed to guest Q all over the greater Charlotte/Upstate SC area and if I’ve noticed one thing that each group has its guys that trying to get better. Some guys are out just trying to get in better shape. Some guys need the accountability from other males. But I’ve never met a PAX that is willing to get his butt out of bed before 5:00 that isn’t trying to get better either physically, mentally, or spiritually. Whether its your third day, third month or third year, keep trying to figure out where you need to get better, then find someone that will hold you accountable to that standard.

Longshanks out!! (mic drop)

“How you do anything, is how you do everything.” – The intensity, focus, determination, and level of presence a man brings to a workout, may be the level of intensity, focus, determination, and presence he brings to everything else in his life. The point is not to be “as” anything as the guy next to you, only to be more “as” than you were yesterday…

Coming off a back injury is a perfect time to Q a moderate beat down for my friends…
We disclaimed, then went to work.

A little jog around the lot, then a few warm-up exercises…
Partner up (Size doesn’t matter)
Partner 1 runs the stairs, does 1 burpee at the top and then comes back.
Partner 2 does an exercise until his partner gets back: Merkins, squats, dry docks, jump squats

When both partners had gone through, then we took a short Mary break…

Next it was back to the stairs for some B.L.I.M.P.S.
Partner 1 runs the stairs, does 2 burpees at the top and then comes back
Partner 2 does this order of exercises: Bombjacks, LBCs, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Peter Parkers, SSHs

When everyone was done, we Maryed again…

Then sadly, we realized we had spent another perfectly good 45 minutes of sleep time working out in the cold, dark morning. And we were glad about it…

Helmet, out.

First off, I want to thank Tolkien (and Flipper, Fire Hazard, Thin Mint, and Mario) for getting me out to this AO to lead the fine men of SOB. 4 out of the 5 posted. Tolkien’s too cool for us now since he was privileged enough to lead Combine up in Metro.

Secondly, if you are expecting some witty Backblast about this mornings shenanigans, you’ve come to the wrong place. Not sure when Tolkien comes up with the time to write his masterpieces, but it’s time he could spend training to beat me.

Nice 40 degree temp to get started this morning as 20 posted at The Brave for YHC’s first Q in the land of SOB’s.

The Thang

20 x SSH
15 x windmills

Start running. Took the main road up to the Green and looped around the Green back to main road. About a mile in we come across some red cones 2 parking spaces apart from the next.
10 Burpees, Bear Crawl to the next cone.
9 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
8 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
7 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
6 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
5 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
4 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
3 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
2 Burpees, Bear crawl to the next cone.
1 Burpees, run a lap around the parking lot.
When returning to the cones do the exercise on the opposite side from the burpee, jog to the next cone.
10 Merkins
20 Flutter
10 Dips on the curb
20 squats
10 Diamond Merkins
20 LBC’s
10 Lunges each side
20 Plank Jacks
10 Carolina Dry Docks
20 SSH
Run another lap and start back with the Burpees and Bear crawls.
Run another lap and do the exercises again. Keep running until all PAX have completed 2 full circuits.

Get back on the main road and head towards Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. Stop in a parking lot for 10 Slow merkins and 20 Mountain Climbers. Continue towards BCP and stop at BCP for 25 Dips (OYO) before heading back the way we started. Stopped in the Dynacast lot for some people’s chair and overhead presses before running all the way back to the Vine.

5 miuntes of Mary at the Vine
20 Big Boy Situps
10 Rosalitas
10 Dying Cockroaches
10 LBC’s
1 minute of Burpees.

Announcements – Pineville 5k, Ballantyne 5k, Savage Race Mudrun, Yeti (the Fort)

Prayers – none said but Thanks Mario for taking us out.

Moleskin
1. Thanks again for the guys mentioned above for getting me out of the Fort and working around my schedule so I could lead today. Never ceases to amaze me how awesome every F3 brother I come across is. Takes a special person to wake up a 4:00/4:30 to get a whoopin from someone they barely know. If you have the time, get outside your region and post to a workout that you wouldn’t normally and try to bring a friend along just in case. I’ve learned a lot of different exercises and ways of presenting those exercises just from going to other regions. Plus I’ve met a lot of awesome PAX this way.

2. If you want some witty humor I’m sure Tolkien will have some, whenever he gets around to writingup his BB from Combine this morning.

3. My GPS said 3.71 miles this morning, Strava had it as 3.5, Fahvra and Thin Mint were at 4+. 4 mile minimum = someone got 4 in, so I will say the minimum was met.

4. My shoulders hurt.

Longshanks out!!! (mic drop)

Been awhile since I Q’d a ruck workout. It was nice to shake off the cobwebs and see what we could do this morning. A thought occurred to me that of the two Goruck events I’ve completed, both included quite a bit of repetition. Whether it was unpack your rucks, pack them up, unpack them again, pack ’em up, again, again, faster! Or keep doing this exercise until I say stop…I didn’t say stop! So I figured I would give the guys some repetition (of the Overhead Carry variety). If we make the workouts difficult, the Custom in April will be a breeze, well maybe not that but we will be better prepared.

Quite a bit of mumblechatter for 0515. Hush! Let’s mosey to the band practice field.

THANG
COP at End Zone: 25 SSH (IC), 10 WM (IC), 10 Low Slow Squat (IC), 10 Plank Jacks (IC)

Begin Series of 4 Corners (Utilizing the Ruck at ALL times)! Our corners were the corners of the football field.

Series 1
20 Merkins OYO
100 Yds OH Carry
10 OH Squats
40 Yds Crab Duck Walk
20 Flutter Kicks (IC)
100 Yds OH Carry
20 Mtn Climbers (IC)
40 Yds Mosey

Series 2
10 OH Presses (IC)
100 Yds OH Carry
20 Ruck Swings OYO
40 Yds Lunge Walk
40 Big Boy Situps OYO
100 Yds OH Carry
10 Manmakers OYO
40 Yds Mosey

Series 3
20 Ruck Curls
100 Yds OH Carry
20 Reverse Lunges
40 Yds Bear Crawl
10 American Hammers (IC)
100 Yds OH Carry
10 Plank Jacks (IC)
20 Calf Raises OYO

Mosey Back to COT

NMM
Not a lot to say here. It was a difficult workout (at least for me) and the threats of bodily harm seemed like it was for the Pax as well. Here are my notes:
-Crab Walks can literally choke you out! Tclaps to Trucker for suggesting Duck Walks after a few yards
-I lost count of how many organs Geronimo was going to punch (it’s his Love Language)
-Cheddah has a mean mean ruck stride (Spider-Man too)
-Solid work by Router and Heisenberg
-Thanks to Router for suggesting the man-makers, it was that or 20 burpees!!
-600 Yards of OH Carries
-Repetition is the mother of all learning…and sometimes it’s painful
-Click HERE to copy the #Pathfinder Log

Announcements
-Yeti 02/18
-3rdF Convergence 02/25 0530 (1st F Convergence to follow at 0700 WEP)

Prayers and Praise
-Pray for Marriages. 3 separate troubled marriages mentioned in COT. The enemy tries to divide and tear apart. Pray that the couples put God at the center. He can heal and provides hope!
-Pray for Pax and Others Job situations
-Pray for our families and children

BOM

Honor to Serve
Zima

Conditions: 50’s, dry, with 4 Pax Companions

So this was the second main recon of the York Intermediate AO to hopefully be utilized as a permanent rucking AO site.  The idea for this recon is several things…First, to have a Wednesday workout option in the York area. Second, to help coordinate anyone doing a “Pathfinder” event with a great location that offers several different challenges for training. Third, to help spread the word about “Rucking” and the benefits from it versus other workouts.  Lastly, to offer something different to the regular F3 Pax instead of just SSH, merkins, run/cardio, rinse and repeat like the majority of other AO’s.

If you’ve never been to the Intermediate school, I will give a brief description of what this site has to offer. The Intermediate is in close proximity to two other schools: York Middle and York Elementary.  This gives us three schools next to one another along with all there offerings to include: parking lots, tennis courts, lights, rubberized track, pull up bars, frontage road, cross country track, bleachers/ stairs, covered areas, alleyways, walls, hills, random coupons, ditches, and swings.  As you can see, this one site has just about anything you may want to use in an awesome one stop shop.

Warmup:

Low Slow Squat IC x 5

Windmills IC x 5

No FNG’s so a quick disclaimer was given and the Pax were advised to modify as needed because this workout would by done with either the ruck on back, ruck on front, or ruck in hand. To warmup the upper half we completed:

30y bearcrawl

5y side crawl to the right

5y side crawl to the left

20y crawlbear (backwards bearcrawl)

20y bearcrawl

The Thang:

I placed 12 pieces of tape on the concrete each with the name of an exercise.  I told the Pax that we would do AMRAP with your ruck for 30sec followed by a 10sec rest, then 30sec on again.  After completion we would move to the next exercise in a circuit/ Tabata style.  The exercises went as follows:

Plankjacks, Derkins, Flutterkicks, Blockees, Air Squared, Flutterkicks, Sphinx Merkins, Turkish Get Ups, Ranger Merkins, One Arm Plank, Nipple Scraper Merkins, and Genuines.

We had a few minutes left so we knocked out 50 situps before the third F.  For the third “F” I advised the Pax that the all the exercises that were just completed was part of the message to us.  Each exercise began with a letter that was used to describe what I believe all HIM’s possess.  I read this passage before and decided to pass it along, “when you push your body to it’s limits, when you’re out of breath and in pain, when you’re lying on the ground exhausted – that’s the kind of experience that shows you how bad things COULD BE. But by doing this, you’re changing your mind’s frame of reference to a new set of standards. When that challenging workout is over, the small worries of the day seem like nothing. Then I advised the Pax to:

Stay

Positive P – Plankjacks

Devoted D – Derkins

Fighting F – Flutterkicks

Brave B – Blockees

Ambitious A – Air Squared

Focused F – Flutterkicks

and STRONG!…..Stay INTENTIONAL!

S – Sphinx Merkins

T – Turkish GetUps

R – Ranger Merkins

O – One arm Plank

N – Nipple Scraper Merkins

G – Genuines

Great job to the men who completed this workout. I hope it continues to show that not all “ruck” workouts mean we have to walk/run for miles everytime.  Drifter, you may not see it or feel it, but I see improvement with you at every workout. Chef, I love how you are always a hard worker and never afraid to try something new. Chernobyl, the human machine that never needs a day off…awesome output. Blacklung, you’re the perfect total fitness package of strength, speed, endurance, and cardio.  Keep up the great work guys, I cant wait to sweat with yall in the gloom again.

Announcement given: Yeti, Attendance, Newsletter, Site Q meeting.

COT/BOM

…Bounty…

several got 2 miles for pre-run

Disclaimer in detail

off and running…warm-up-o-rama…off and running…dip circuit…off and running…lunge medley…off and running…ABLAB…off and running…merkin melody…off and running…peoples donkey balls melody…off and running

Prayer and Praise

COT and BOM

Naked Man:

~great to back
~no 1-Niner and his KT tape
~Ringer is still fit
~Fire Hazard is an over achiever
~Kirby is funny = quality #chatter
~The Sauerkraut Kielbasa are the new “dynamic duo”
~General kept his sleeves on for the full workout
~Bounty still hates running…
~Birdcage has the 2nd most miles on his P200 Team = who thinks they aren’t a runner?
~Ringer thank you for the invite
~appreciate the 2nd F at breakfast

Be a better man today than you were yesterday,
AYE!
CSPAN