A collection of 10 men including bootcampers and runners alike gathered in the #gloom to get worked over by fundementals and fellowship. Perfect weather, 1 FNG, disclaimer, disclaimed.

COP: SSH, Merkins, Sumo Squats, IW, CDD,

The Thang:

Dirty McDeuce:

• Merkin, LBC, Squat
• CDD, Heels to Heaven, backward lunge
• Diamond Merkin, Box cutter, Mary Catherines
• Curb Merkins, Flutter, Jump knee tucks

Dips (20), Derkins (10) rinse/repeato X3

• 10 burpee OYO
• Karoeke L, R
• Toy Soldiers,
• Sneaky toe Lunge

Naked Man Moleskin

T- Claps to Riddler- If he hadn’t reminded me of my Q, I would not have had the opportunity to lead such a strong group of men.  Just wasnt on the calendar. “if it wasnt in my #Outlook, it didnt happen”.  I get inspired and encouraged everytime I’m in The Hill.  Need to make it more of my weekly routine.  Happy for and proud of FNG Pony Boy today.  He hung in there and gave it all he had  All of us need to remember that you dont get better by haviing things brought down to your level.  you get better by rising up to the higher level.

Announcements:

• 3/26 Saturday  1600.  Childrens Attention Home fun day.  Contact chicken hawk for details
• 4/15/Friday      0610. Eternal Church behind Zaxby’s Fortmill 3rd F convergence on Fatherhood
• 4/30 Saturday           Mudrun
• 5/14 Saturday 1805 F3 Nation, F3 Dads Knights Baseball.  block of tickets will go quickly
• 5/19 Thursday   1745 National White Water Center-for F3 and family 45 minutes 1st F then 2nd F

L&R

Jekyll

Where the heck is spring, it seems like winter was back with a vengeance. We did however have two P200 Super Stars join us today(Popeye, and Apache). Knowing Old Town never let’s up I found an awesome workout from Posh from a few weeks ago that looked great.

With it being so cold we went straight to the Hot Box!

Warm Up
Left over right stretches
Right over left stretches
Cherry Pickers
Wind Mills

The Thang

Run to the top
Sprint to the wall and back (x4)
Merkins in between
Sprint back to ground level

35 Merkins on level 1
30 Merkins on level 2
25 Merkins on level 3
20 Merkins on level 4
15 Merkins on level 3
10 Merkins on level 2
5 Merkins on level 1
• American Hammers until the 6 was in

35 Squats on level 1
30 Squats on level 2
25 Squats on level 3
20 Squats on level 4
15 Squats on level 3
10 Squats on level 2
5 Squats on level 1
• American Hammers until the 6 was in

35 LBCs on level 1
30 LBCs on level 2
25 LBCs on level 3
20 LBCs on level 4
15 LBCs on level 3
10 LBCs on level 2
5 LBCs on level 1
• American Hammers until the 6 was in

Then I added some extra value to this workout:
2x Walk Sits 10 count
Plank Over Head Walk Taps – 10 both arms. From plank position reach above head with one arm as high as you can and touch the wall.
20 Heels to Heaven

Repeat with variation
2x Walk Sits 10 count – Hold one leg with opposite hand, then switch. These become painful and you can figure out which leg is truly weaker during the 10 count.
Plank Over Head Walk Taps – 10 both arms
1 minute of protractor 🙂

Mule Run back to COT

MoleSkin
A good showing and we had double digits again with 10 showing for Old Town which is amazing considering P200 just wrapped up. Seeing Popeye and Apache come out this morning was a real inspiration! Those guys are definitely #HIM great leadership from both of them.

Announcements
Read the weekly email lots of things coming through.
Come See Me Half Marathon is coming up
Mud Run
Nun Run
Tons of other awesome things.
There are guys that need F3, bring them out now it the time! Get Turkey Punching!

Riddler Out!

It’s always good to lead a slow burn. It’s also great knowing that your brother’s are starting P200 the same day. It makes us all closer and want to strive to achieve what they are doing. Also a P200 runner showed up before he headed to columbia the One and Only Apache! We were all stunned and excited to have this brother of the gloom with us.

Warm-Up
Left over right stretches
Right over left stretches
Cherry Pickers
Wind Mills

The cups were out in full force, but this time they were used as markers for 10 different sections of the parking lot. However…..

In honor of P200 we needed to get at least a mile in before we started this slow burn. We took off and went all the way down to Mount Gallant.

Took some curb and performed some calf raise’s

Back to the main Parking Lot of Petra

The Thang
What started off in my mind as a good slow burn quickly turned south… :

In honor of P200 you do 20 of an exercise at each cup to start it off.

Bear Crawl to Each Cup
Perform 20 Carolina Dry Docks

Thus Brought the pain which apparently it was arm week in Rock Hill, as we had many, “I thought this was a slow burn”.

OMAHA
We didn’t like what I had next, so I switched it up.

Return trip:
Lunge walk to each cup
20 squats

Spin around
Alligator crawl to 4 different cups
50 LBCs

Then 50% run to end of the line.

Back down cup alley with some sprint

Reverse with some Karaoke for 2 rounds

Then bring it back into COT

Moleskin
P200 is today, prayers were sent to each man that was on a team. It was also encouragement to see more people from Rock Hill join next year!

Bill Nye and Water Boy are killing it out there week in and week out. It is amazing to see how quickly they have become lynchpins to what F3 is about!

Prayers
Injured Pax
Men competing in the 200 for safety and rest.

Lead by example or be lead into a place that you need not be. We are in a broken world and the enemy is attacking our families through a variety of things. Consult the word, lean in on the Lord, and lean in on each other!

The Riddler

Men of F3 in the Fort, on Friday April 15^th at 0610 What Did will be hosting a 3^rd F Convergence at Eternal Church.  The last 3^rd F Convergence was on Whetstone and Accountability. This month we’re focused on Fatherhood and our accountability as Fathers.

This is a very important topic and many times during COT we have men asking SkyQ for guidance, support and even each other to help us be better fathers. But what does it mean to be a better Father?

It’s an easy question to ask and doesn’t have an immediate right or wrong answer. It’s different for each of us, whether we’re an expecting dad, father of one, two or even more and especially if we’ve already walked the course of life and are now empty nesters or even grandfathers.

We’ll have fellow Pax sharing their perspectives based on raising their own children from early childhood (<5), adolescences (6-12) and teenage years (13+).  Discussion topics include the role of the Father and successes and mistakes that we make along the way.

What a great Saturday morning. The rain held off, temp was close to 60 degrees.  It was going to be a good day to try and tame the Dragon! I was so excited for my first full Q of the Dragon I woke up an hour early and got to the AO 30 minutes early.  I did a little recon to check my route on the Weinke, and I’m glad I did because a gate was locked on a primary path I wanted to take.

The PAX started gathering and we had a little bit of good mubblechatter before we got started, and I was happy to see Kunchuck EH’d an FNG Heath to join us (Welcome Redwood!).  We had 8 PAX ready to roll at 7am.  Gave the long disclaimer, and we were off.

The Thang

Dynamic warmup in the parking lot with light jog, high knees, butt kickers, knee to chest, ankle pull to chest.

Mosey over to the flagpole.

COP

Gave a little instruction to the PAX around proper COP and cadence structure. Announce exercise, prepare the PAX and tell them to “begin” when leading the count.

20 SSHs 20 IWs 30 MNCs 20 MCs 10 Merkins Manly Yoga (Honeymooner Downward Dog RAH LAH) 15 Plank Jacks

Mosey to the Wall

Little mumble chatter about the Dragon being quiet this morning.  If you don’t know when the Dragon speaks, come to York and you’ll soon find out!

People’s Chair for a few PAX 10 counts, BTTW rinse & repeat 3x

Stopped to discuss the 1st F and F3’s Mission Statement and Purpose. Why were are here. Gave a little bit about my experience over the last year.

mosey to the next area…and it happened.  See the moleskin…

Now a slow mosey to the marching band field

Bear crawl 10 yards 10 merkins bear crawl 10 yards 5 burpees, go around 100 yards repeating this cycle. (I personally modified to merkins only with the bear crawl)

The Dragon finally spoke! Stop and complete the “Dragon Walk.”

Mosey to the ROTC field

Course start at beams for arm crossing, at the poles zig zag crab walks, at the end 25 LBCs then the net, bear crawl through the hurdles. (I love this feature of the Dragon) Did this twice.

checked the time and modified the Weinke, light jog to the small road for Lt Dan’s.

Quick discussion around the 3rd F and what Faith means in F3.

Mosey to AO start for a 4 min Ab Lab

Flutter Kicks, Freddie Mercurys, LBCs

COT

Annoucements: 4/30 Mudrun; 4/9 Nun Run; Sandie’s 2nd F coffeteria

Prayers for High Pockets wife and pregnancy; Limp Bizkit’s home and family (lighting strike).

Moleskin

I was so excited to be able to lead in York at the Dragon for the first time.  I’ve been out there several times and was supposed to Q previously, but CSAUPs and Qs elsewhere had kept me away on Saturdays for over a month. I’ve shared little bits and pieces while joining the PAX about F3 but today was my day to really be able to share what F3 means to me and how it’s changed me for the better. I was well on my way until about 25 minutes into the workout.  I was moving us to the 4th of 6 locations I had set up in my Weinke, and was thinking about where and how to work on the next exercise. Well that’s the rare time I was NOT watching the curb intentionally like most times during a workout…and my left foot slipped off the curb and turned inward at a terrible angle! I took one more step before I knew how bad it was and then stopped abruptly. It was bad. I tested my ankle, and was a little relieved that I didn’t have sharp shooting pains in my first few steps indicating it was broken…but it was severely sprained at best. The PAX stopped and asked if I was OK…and it took me a while I know if I was. I asked them to go ahead and I’d catch up. Then Drydock says to me, “Didn’t you say no man is left behind this morning? We’re not going without you.” In that moment, I knew things were being done right in York, that the F3 message is being heard loud and clear.  That the bonds you make during the 1st F are multiplied through the 2nd F and then strengthened with the 3rd F.

We made it through the workout, my wife cursed me for continuing after injury… and my ankle is “thanking” me Sunday from the bruising and swelling that will be around for some time.  I received messages from members of the PAX all over our region asking how I was doing and praying for a quick recovery. THIS is one of the many core strengths that F3 provides, and we need to share this with ALL men!

An Honor to Lead…

Royale

Written by our QIC Chappie:

(A nod of respect to Royale who served as my humble inner-web post amanuensis to bring this BB to you…still getting things figured out.) Second time YHC, Chappie, was given the opportunity to Q a workout, but first things first…

The Thang:

Drifter got us warmed up on this surprisingly cooler Gloom with some serious stretching:

`Leg stretches/back stretches

`Reverse crunches/Superman

`Mountain Climber Merkins

`Air-squared/Hillbillies/Seal-jacks/Moroccan Nightclubs

Down to the parking lot light pole and back: High knees/Lunges/Side-to-sides/Dragon Crawl…then shortly thereafter she (The DRAGON) snorted…always time for 10 “steps” of the Dragon Crawl no matter where you’re at on the York AO. If you don’t know what that means, join us and you’ll figure it out. Shout out to TURBINE: That Dragon will never be tamed, Drifter’s gonna make sure of that. GREAT WARM UP w/Drifter!

DRIFTER HANDED IT OFF TO CHAPPIE – time to mosey to near corner of the building and prepare to paint the four corners with some upper and lower workouts: CHAPPIE called for “18” count on every exercise done in cadence.”18″ to be the anticipatory thought lodged in PAX minds for a future THIRD F. Hmm…intriguing…let the anticipation build.

Building Corner #1:

Patty-Cake Merkins followed by Prisoner’s Squats

Mosey to next corner (it is a big building!)

Building Corner #2: (PAX on Six)

Not-so Lazy Boys for an “18” count followed by American Hammers

No mosey here, laid some RAILROAD TRACKS to destination–far end of the building…

Building Corner #3:

Imperial Squat Walkers (in cadence) followed by OYO Tempo Merkins followed by the Gold Standard: Side-Straddle-Hops (in cadence with double-digit counts – “zero, one. zero, two. zero, three”…you get the idea)

Easy mosey to Alley of Pain for some THIRD F

YHC read from Exodus 33:12-15 and gave a brief word on that “One thing we CANNOT do without”: Moses was to lead the people into the Promised Land but initially God said an angel would go with them, but NOT His presence. After Moses interceded and pleaded for God’s presence, He promised that His presence would go with them. Moses replied in v. 15 “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not lead us up there.” Key: That one thing HIM cannot do without is God’s presence. It’s what makes them HIM personally, in Family, in work, in all of life, etc. But have you ever thought about why would God withhold His presence or hide it from His people? YHC shared how this was brought home to me when my 2.0’s were younger. Walking the trails through the woods near our home, two of my three toddler 2.0’s were distracted and would not stay with me. They were distracted and wanted to keep exploring on their own, build forts, play with sticks…as boys naturally do. The problem was that it was dusk and it was time to head to the house. After several reminders to keep up, and their continued ignoring of my promptings to stay close; rather than cruelly heading out of the woods on my own, across the parking lot, and into the house to abandon them shivering and panic-lost in the cool night, I simply slipped behind a big tree and hid my presence from them. They could not see me but they were NEVER out of my sight. Immediately I heard the words I’d expected: “Daddy, where are you? DADDY!” That’s when it hit me…Hiding my presence from them brought them to call out the very same words our Heavenly Father desires to hear from us when we sense that He’s hidden His presence from us: “Daddy, where are you?” That’s what Moses cried out to the Lord, and it points out that one thing HIM cannot do without: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not lead us up there.”

Time to mosey again, but not before hitting about 40 yards worth of LT. DANS on our way to…

Building Corner #4:

Protractor held for “18” count @ 90, 45, & 10 degrees followed by Rosalita’s (in cadence)

All-out mosey back to corner #1 and AO to close out the Gloom.

COOL-DOWN HANDOFF TO ROYALE

But first 18 more SSHs! Then static stretches including foot over foot calf stretches, honeymooners, and downward dog

Uh, oh…what was that!? She (The Dragon) snorted again…time for one more DRAGON CRAWL. We almost skipped this one due to ‘selective hearing’, but she, like our M’s, has us listening more attentively all the time.

COT: Numberama, Name-arama (Thanks again Royale), Announce-a-rama followed by Ball of Man Praises & Prayers:

Praises for the men of F3, the PAX at the Dragon AO. Great to see High Pockets again, without you showing up, brother, there are no Patty-cake Merkins (gotta pair up, right?)

Prayers for Royale’s family; Limp-Bizcuit and family ;P200 PAX on their rigourous journey this weekend…run Forest, run!

I was honored to be granted the privilege of leading these #HIM. Appreciate especially the apprenticeship taking place between all you F3 veterans and those of us not so distant from FNG status.

Great job by all.

CHAPPIE out! (but not without HIS presence)

COT

Took a lap to warm the soul.

Suprised everyone with a PHOP style Gear workout at the Easgles Nest. Entered into the Circle of gear with Kettle Bells, Sledge hammers, Ammo Cans and Concrete blocks!

Tabada timer and Martin Garix gave us 45 sec to push it and 15 sec of rest at each station. We started off the workout with some Jimmy Buffet on Pandora but once “One Love” from the Marley band came on we had to get a more motivating genre going.

Cool down stretching!

COT

BOOM!

COT

Took a lap to warm the soul.

Entered into the Circle of gear with Kettle Bells, Sledge hammers, Ammo Cans and Concrete blocks!

Tabada timer and Martin Garix gave us 45 sec to push it and 15 sec of rest at each station.

Cool down stretching!

COT

WHEN: 3/15/2016

QIC: RealTree / TURBINE

THE PAX: Apache, Dry Dock, Drifter, Chappie, Lego Land, Bull, and Nunchuck

YHC was honored to lead with RealTree this morning in the gloom. A balmy 55 degrees was absolutely perfect weather to introduce the PAX to a couple of new friends….hot lumber and cold steel!

THE THANG-

RealTree began with the warm up:

• SSH
• Buckets
• MNC
• Merkins
• Then we took a little mosey to the Dragon obstacle course.
• 20 Dips then down the hill
• 20 Merkins then up the hill
• 20 Dips then down the hill
  • DRAGON CRAWL
• 20 Diamond Merkins then up the hill
• 10 Dips then down the hill
• 20 staggered Merkins, 10 each side

REALTREE TO TURBINE HANDOFF- NICE WARM UP BY #HIM

Mosey to rear parking lot

• Parking lot Thirds
  • 1/3 BKickers
  • 1/3 Lunge Walk
  • 1/3 HKnees
  • 20 Derkins
• Mosey to the loop past the Cougar
• Grab some lumber, take a 4 corners lap while holding lumber over your head!
  • Corner 1: 40 Squats
  • Corner 2: Irkins (feet on the board)
  • Corner 3: 20 Bombjacks
  • DRAGON CRAWL 
  • Corner 4: 20 Merkins on the board
• RECOVER
  • YHC gave a brief word on the support of our M’s and mentioned Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. Our M’s put up with a lot of CSAUP stuff we do. Thank Them, Hug Them, and Never Neglect Them as the small stuff to us is greatly important to them.
• BACK AT IT
• More friends to introduce: FNK’s- friend new kettlebells!! (THX BOGEY!!)
• The PAX teamed up in 3 teams of 3s
  • THE SET UP:
    • PAX-holding board w FNK hanging on it-PAX-holding board w FNK hanging on it-PAX
• This was repeated 3 times to ensure each PAX had a chance to meet the steel.
• THE COOLDOWN:
• 1 Final lap around the loop
• Mosey to AO….we had 1 minute left for some extra SSHs!
• Oh wait!!! for the appropriately timed THIRD DRAGON CRAWL that finished up the morning.

Praise for Chappie and his future opportunities upon his recent meeting.

Prayers raised up for the Davis family, Limp Bizcuit and family, and High Pockets.

I was honored to lead these men this morning. Observation from YHC; many strengths in “3s” today.

Challenge: Identify the strengths in 3s today around yourselves.

A few of mine:

• The Holy Trinity
• 3 Teams of 3 PAX this morning
• 1) My M, 2) our boys, and 3) myself make up our family unit.
  • Had to get stronger today, as we experienced 3 Dragon Crawls

Great job by all.

TURBINE out!!

Please read the whole Pre-Blast, but here is the gist of it all:

1.     Sign up here as an individual:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/f3-spring-mud-run-2016-f3-only-tickets-22178583741  Choose Fort Mill, SC as your region

2.     Email Spider-man with: Team Name and the F3 Name, Hospital Name and the Email Address of each man on the team here: jeffparker1978@gmail.com

This preblast contains all The Fort PAX need to know about the 2016 Spring Mud Run.

What: The Ultimate Challenge Mud Run is the F3 Nation “Super Bowl,” only better because it happens twice a year. The course is around 6 miles with 30 some obstacles. Obstacles are pretty evenly spread out throughout the course with obstacles about every 1/5^th of a mile.

When: Saturday, 30th April, 2016 at the Leatherneck course near Columbia, SC.

How: 1. Go to the main eventbrite to register https://f3mudrunspring2016.eventbrite.com to register. Individuals register on your own – not as a team. Register by March 20, 2015. Select Fort Mill, SC as your region. Registration is $55. We are still working out the details on the transportation. It normally runs $35- $40 per person. Sundries and drinks for the bus ride are on your own (no hard liquor please). The F3 Beer Boat will be at the race.

Registration is considered a “hard commit” with no guarantee of refund should you be unable to compete, even if your slot is filled by a free agent (see below). If you register and cannot meet your commitment, it’s your responsibility to your team and your Region to find a replacement.

2. Once you have registered, send YHC an email at jeffparker1978@gmail.com letting me know if you are part of a full four-man team already or if you need help forming a team. The email should include your Team Name and the F3 Name, Hospital Name and the Email Address of each man on the team. Note: If your team has an FNG, use the F3 name “FNG”.

YHC will be maintaining a Free Agents list to assist will building 4 man teams.