Laces In – Not for the weak minded or those that are hungry!

4 Runners came at 0500 to get some laps in at the track. Daytona is around the corner, but they are preparing for P200 and using their feet. Crawdaddy saw his course for P200 and decided it was time to get training…no messin around!

14+YHC took to the campus of Fort Mill High School. After required discaimer and no FNGs, away we went for a mosey

COP

DID a bunch of stuff….the usuals

  • SSHs
  • Merkins
  • Squats
  • Imperials
  • Peter Parkers
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Flutters
  • Parker Peters
  • Inch Worm Merkins
  • Hillbilly walkers
  • Mosey to front of school for some people’s chair on the wall and 20 overhead presses
  • Mosey to benches for 20 dips 15 derkins 2 rounds

Warm Up over

YHC spoke to the men about the things we keep putting off and avoid doing as much as possible. Tough conversations, the house projects, the doctors visit and most importantly the relationships that need some work or simple phone call. 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, -Romans 5:4

By pushing through the tough stuff and the hard things we get stronger and we become the men Sky Q built us to be. Avoiding and masking the pain and suffering we only become weak minded and have no character, as we are not who we should be in all areas of our lives. Continue to get better and build character!

Mosey to main driveway entrance

8 exercises – 15 reps each – run down hill and back up in between each exercise. Fun time had by all!

ski hops
lunge Hops
inch worm Merkins
leg lifts
wide arm Merkins
Merkins
sumo squats
donkey kicks
Mosey back to COT with a few ab stops along the way
YETI is 2.24
Sign up to participate as receiver of pain or giver of pain. See Anchorman!
Prayers for Karson Bailey Whitesell and her family as well as first responders and our community.
Thanks Lil E for lead
Cake Boss
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Block Party 2018.04

So I was expecting it to rain for this Q so I had an entire plan for under the awning of the Springs Global building but alas, the sky Q seems to always lighten the precipitation at 5:15…

Warmup
Mosey to Springs Global building parking lot
SSH, Hillbillies, Merkins

Thang
Head to wall for 30sec People’s Chair, 30 sec Balls2Wall, for a total of 5 min.  Last round doubled the time added arm flutters to chair and inverted mountain climbers.

Mosey to the top of Gun Shop hill and partner up for a Dora123.  100 bombjacks, 200 merkins, 300 squats, run to the bottom of the hill and back

Mosey to circle drive to nowhere parking lot and do more peoples chair.  1 min then chalf raises while in peoples chair x20

Mosey to playground for 1 1arm pullup each arm, 5 pull ups, activated deadhang until failure.

Mosey back for COT
I touched on what the word of the month brings to my mind.  Beginning.  Beginning is the time in which you define the problem you are going to fix, the answer you are going to solve.  If the reason you do Merkins is to be able to do more Merkins, then this may not be for you.  But if you do Merkins so that you will get stronger and better at pushing, then maybe you have something.  Exercise is answering a problem, but first you need to know what problem you are solving.

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Beyond #2…Honoring our officers

Round 2 at Beyond, this time at The Coop. The original plan was to talk about “Fear” but 36hrs ago, 4 of our local law enforcement officers in York County were involved in an incident that has our community praying for their healing and their families. I found it only appropriate to bring our attention as a PAX, for a mere 45mins, to these men and what they’re fighting for at this moment. We should also be praying for the rest of the law enforcement community as well as our first responders, nurses and doctors who are doing everything they can for them and our community. I am given the opportunity to roll my eyes at a radar trap because of what community servants like these 4 men do on a daily basis and the families that send them out the door every single day. That said, I’ll try to cease my misguided eye-rolling.

This is not the place to put the officers names but we all know who they are. I read the names of the men this morning and asked everyone to keep one of those names in their mind as they’re going through our workout this morning. I will however, include their years of service to York County in their current capacity: 34yrs, 13yrs, 12yrs, 3 yrs. So there you have our topic for round 2 of Beyond; 4 officers with a combined 62yrs of service SO FAR in their current roles.

Warm up jog leading us around the lot and over to the intersection with the ROTC building.

When you see 31, know that it was in cadence for a total of 62

SSH x 31 in cadence

Carolina Dry Docks x 31

Squats x 62

Merkins x 20 which was followed by a 4-tier sprint then followed by the remaining 11 Merkins

Make our way to the pull-up bars for some partner work:

Partner 1: 62 Pull-Ups (use assistance as needed)   Partner 2: Elbow Plank

Partner 1: V-ups (toe-touches) x 31    Partner 2: Mak Tar Jah’s x 31

Bear crawl 62 paces and grab some curb for 62 calf raises

62 Jump Squats and 31 Jumping Lunges (crowd pleaser)

Bear crawl 62 paces

American Hammers x 31

Dying Cockroach x 31 (might’ve included a breather in there)

The pull-ups were definitely the highlight but it was awesome to see guys of all conditions pushing through those, not matter if they had a busted paw or not (Bolt). It is extremely humbling and honoring to have another 8 guys join me as we push ourselves and work out some of these new-AO wrinkles. Please, above all, pray for those 4 men and thank our servants when you see them.

If you’re still reading, thank you. You’ll now learn that Cha Ching will be bringing his A-game to his Beyond Q next Thursday, 1/25 at the Poopdeck in Lake Wyle. If his Q today was any indication, bring your big-boy pants.

As you were.

Maximus

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Beyond #1…What’s at your CORE?

Beyond can be defined as “Outside the understanding, limits, or reach of.” That is what this thing is all about; recognizing that a push beyond, in all many aspects of life, can be a really good thing. If you’re a killer runner, come do a Merkin and a Pull Up with us. If you’re strength nut, come do a few sprints and bear crawls with us. The reasoning for this is well documented now, dating back a few months to when Jekyll let me share about this at a Colosseum Q I had.

And yes, I am 8 days late in getting this BB written which is rather ironic. I will work to get these posted both by the Q’s and YHC in a more timely manner.

We started last Tuesday with the 1st round of Beyond and the theme was CORE. Besides the obvious, physical reference to the word, Core can be defined as, “A central and often foundational part usually distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature.” In other words, when the world strips away your exterior, what are you left with to truly guide you. To take this a step further, I let the PAX know that Beyond will challenge them to push past the limits they’ve previously established for themselves. This is aided by listening to a Podcast, “Team Never Quit” in which you listen to stories of people who’ve endured unbelievable challenges and have pushed through to find the redemptive outcome on the other side. It seems impossible when you’re in the thick of “it”, whatever “it” might be in your life, but God has a plan. Bad and difficult things happen, yes, but we try to find a glimmer of hope and positivity on the other side.

Enough rambling…I need to figure out a better way to capture the names for Beyond but for now, we’ll have to rely on my fuzzy memory. I know we had 15  which I think included the following, Bob the Builder, Geronimo, Band Camp, Straight Up, Fire Marshall Bill, Frat Boy, Longshanks, Jedi, Cha Ching, Ginsu, Trucker, Lutefisk, Bonsai, MacGuyver, YHC. My sincere apologies if I got a few of these wrong.

Once we separated from the Block Party PAX, we jogged through the park and made our way to the playground, which still sounds strange every time I write that. We did a few warm up exercises like SSH, Arm Circles, Sumo Squats and more SSH which was then followed by a little stretching and lot more of my talking (rambling). What I was trying to get to was that you can’t quit and if you need a little motivation to keep from quitting, look to the man to your left and right and realize they won’t let you quit and you don’t want to let them down. If it were just you out there, we’d quit a lot sooner. Remember, YOU’RE NEVER ALONE OUT THERE…SO DON’T QUIT.

100 American Hammers (we all thought about quitting on that one unless you’re Jedi/Geronimo

25 LBC

100 Flutters

30 Peter Parkers

50 Mountain Climbers

Partner 1: 50 Carolina Dry Docks   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done and flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Burpees   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done

Mosey to the Big Hill where found some cones forming a 15yd x 20yd rectangle on the hill.

Backward run up the hill, 5 Burpees at the top then run down. Repeat this 5 times.

Next we bear-crawled around the rectangle for 3mins which was awesome…

Mosey to the wall at the Springs building

Nothing fancy, just a mere 3mins of muscle ups…yup, it was turrible.

We talked about not quitting and trying to answer the question of whether or not you can change what is at your CORE. What is left when the world takes what you see, away? So that was it. I learned a lot in these 45mins and I hope we continue to see a good contingent of guys willing to push themselves.

As you were…

Maximus

 

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There 5 HIM waiting to push some speed for need chairs but Dark Helmet went AWOL.

Gave the disclaimer and did a standard warmup.

The thang:

Start in the upper left corner of the parking lot do 10 Merkins then run to the middle of the parking lot and do 20 squats. After we ran to the far end of the parking lot and did 10 LBCs. Repeat the whole way down the parking lot, doing the same exercises on the same sides of the parking lot.

After we happened upon the pull up bars. We held a wall sit while one person did five pull-ups and we went down the line. Rinse and repeat.

Next we did the same thing but did 15 squats while holding the wall sit. Rinse and do one more set with pull-ups.

Next we lunge walked halfway down the hill towards the elementary school. Called upon Band Camp for an exercise which he called out the Wolverine. Lunge walked halfway up the hill and did two more sets of wall sits and pull ups.

Head back towards COT for some Mary.

Thanks to Sugar Bug for the opportunity to lead. After this leg workout, I’d wish my hamstrings would’ve snapped off my legs.

Wegmans

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A different kind of Dora

Perfect weather for the Gloom today, 43 degrees and foggy at Walter Elisha Park.

Quick Disclaimer and of we went.

The Thang

Mosey up the Hill
20 x SSH (IC)
10 x Slow Merkins (IC)

Butt Kickers Down the Hill
15 x IW (IC)
10 x Windmills (IC)

High Knees Up the Hill
15 x Squats (IC)
15 x Mountain Climbers (IC)

Mosey back down the hill
At The bottom, Karaoke Left, then Karoake Right.

Mosey to the first Drill Bit
10 X Peter Parkers
10 x Parker Peters

Mosey to the playground For Dora 1,2,3
Partner up one partner runs to path and back while one does the exercise.
100 Pullups
200 Sumo Squats
300 Dying Cockroaches

Drill Bit work with 10 Merkins, 15 Squats, 20 LBC’s with Indian Run Between each.
Finished with 5 minutes of Mary/Q school as each PAX called out an exercise IC.

COT and BOM

Announcements – Joe Davis Run, Christmas EVE EVE Convergence this Saturday – Clave Boss 5k/10k at 0600, Regular workouts at 0700.

Prayers – Lonely and depressed during this time of year, those battling cancer and other diseases.

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Holiday Lights Tour by Donkey

13 pax celebrated the gift of a new day at Block Party.  All vets on hand for this journey, so the Disclaimer was short and sweet.  Then the pax saddled up for the Fort Mill Christmas tour.  The theme for the tour was Preparation, in particular, the preparation that Joseph undertook to position himself to fulfill his role in the birth of Christ.

The Thang

Short warm up run to the corner at Ardrey and 160.

COP — SSHs, Mtn climbers, Hillbilly walkers, Merkins, Windmills

Mosey to front of Springs building under the angled windows

People’s chair

FM History Lesson:  The angled windows were inspired by the Hindenberg.  The Springs family made a trip back from Germany via the Hindenberg in 1936.  Anne Springs Close is the last living passenger from the Hindenberg, and she says her father was inspired by the bright light and lack of glare of the angled windows on the Hindenberg, so he put that feature into the building on 160.

10 Burpees OYO

10 Bombjacks OYO

Mosey to parking lot on 160 in front of UC Synergetic building

People’s chair while pax take turns doing 10 merkins each

10 burpees OYO

10 Bombjacks OYO

pax split into 2 groups
Group 1: on wall for 10 donkey kicks OYO
Group 2: LBCs
Flapjack
Rinse & repeat for 3 total cycles

10 Burpees OYO

10 Bombjacks OYO

Mosey to grassy corner where 160, Main Street and RR tracks converge

Plank sequence

10 Burpees OYO

Mosey to field on other side of war memorial and line up along first lit tree

Move to other end of field through sequence of lunges, bear crawls, crab walks, switching at each lit tree.

Mosey back to UC Synergetic parking lot

Back on the wall for donkey kicks and merkins (flapjack then rinse & repeat for 3 more cycles)

Mosey to wall at back of Springs building

10 wall pull ups OYO

Mosey home

COP – Freddie Mercury, Box Cutter, Penguin, Flutters

COT

NMM

Great collection of pax this morning!  Nice to have the Springfield clown car find its way to WEP.  It was also a treat to have the Thrill Brothers out (Drop and Rock).  It’s also good to see BP regulars Uncle Sam, Band Camp and Flash along with a return from Sawdust.

The weatherman predicted 30s so some pax were a bit overdressed for the 40s.  Ginsu had to shed the orange to make it through the session.  Drop Thrill just plowed right through in shorts and short sleeves like it was September.

The lights around downtown Fort Mill offered a festive hue to the workout.  YHC gets frustrated with the work involved in holiday decorations at the house, so a tip of the cap goes to those who decorate the town — the lights provide a much needed dose of perspective amid the hustle of closing out the work year.

This season of Advent always brings Joseph to mind for me.  He is a true #HIM if there ever was one.  His ability to see, hear and discern the voice of God was remarkable.  His obedience in following God’s call, even in the midst of doubt and difficulty was awesome.  His willingness to leave it all behind to follow God’s direction to go to Egypt presaged the apostles leaving their lives and work behind to follow Jesus.  How did Joseph get to a place that he could make all those choices (YES, those were choices!)?  Preparation.  He could never have known what he was preparing himself for, what God was preparing him for.  Yet, he prepared.  We don’t know any specifics of hi preparation, yet it must be part of his story.  There is no other way he could have pulled the trigger on all that without preparation.  Am I preparing myself properly?  What am I preparing for?  What is God preparing me for?

Thanks for giving me the honor to lead you today (and hopefully in some small way to contribute to your preparation).

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Just Say Yes

9 strong men gathered for the latest edition of Block Party.

The Thang

Here is how it went down-

No FNGs today, so standard disclaimer was given and off we went into the gloom.

Mosey the long way to FFCU parking lot via Ardrey to McCammon. YHC has been to this AO many times to post and is very familiar with the homeowner with the small, but LOUD dog and her adoration for us at 5:15 AM. No desire to talk to the police today, so we went the LONG way. Plank up for the 6 to arrive.

Warm Up-all IC

Windmill x 19, Imperial Walker x 7, Merkin x 7, Low Slow Squat x 7

The PAX seemed eager to get to work, so we did.

Line up at the end of the parking lot for The Escalator. Jump Squats and Merkins. Run across parking lot for 1 Jump Squat, then back across for 2 Merkins. then across for  3 Jump Squats and back for 4 Merkins. Originally planned to do this to 20, but audibled to 10 so as not to miss the other fun stuff planned. Plank up till everyone finishes. Recover. CSPAN excelled at this!

Mosey towards the flags downtown by way of the big field by FFCU. Pit stop there and PAX line up in  plank side by side with enough space between that we can all take a turn doing box jumps over each PAX legs all the way down the line. Once everyone completes this,  all transition to  high plank while everyone crawls through for the tunnel of  love. Recover.

Mosey to the flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. Thank CSPAN and Hee Haw for their service. YHC is thankful for freedom and feels every day should be Veteran’s Day.

Mosey across street to brick steps at the millstone downtown. All together for the first circuit. 7 Hand Release burpees, Run up steps, run sidewalk to swings and do 19 calf raises. Run to short brick wall by playground for 19 dips, 19 derkins and 7 step ups per leg. Run to playground parking lot and bear crawl across the lot. Run down sidewalk back around to the brick steps.

Round 2 is U vs. U. All you got and then plank up to wait for the 6 when finished.

Running low on time, so let’s do 7 more hand release burpees and mosey back.

Gather up for some Mary at the parking lot near 160 and Audrey.

LBCs x 20 IC, Flutters IC x 20, Hello Dolly x 20

Mosey back and bell rang as we pulled in.

COT and a great take out by Chicken Hawk.

Moleskin

It was a great morning and YHC was honored to get the call up from DD. Everyone was getting after it and that is what we post for, to get stronger and better. We covered  2.25 miles.

Most exercises today were in sets of 7 or 19. During the warm up, YHC explained the reason for this. Recently, I posted a pre-blast for The Joe Davis Run for Recovery and I wanted to explain why YHC and my family feel passionately about this cause. 1 in 7 American will face Addiction. We had 9 in the circle. It could affect one of us. Also, 1 American dies of an opioid related overdose every 19 minutes. That is at least 2 lives lost while we worked out. Think about that. Addiction is a big issue and this is why we run the Joe Davis Run for Recovery.

Later on, YHC also took a moment to explain in COT that, as leaders, we need to understand that what we say and do influences others. Ideally, in a positive way. YHC doesn’t get to spend as much time with Double D as I would like, but a couple of years ago, at a Coop workout, he really impacted me by encouraging the PAX to “just say yes.” We all have a lot of responsibility in our lives, but are we missing the good stuff because our default answer is “no?” Since that day, it has stuck in my head and impacted my thought  process.  Whether it is our kids asking us to read to them after a long day at work or our wife asking us to watch a “chick flick,” let’s try to find a way to “say yes” and live 3rd. I gave a personal example of me being out of work  2 years ago for a short period and my wife asking if we should go ahead and take our kids to Disney World with the money we saved versus waiting. Timing and finances didn’t not seem optimal, but I “just said Yes.” It was one of the funnest trips we have ever taken and won’t ever be forgotten. What a blessing that came from what was a suboptimal situation. Be warned though, “saying yes” will take you out of your comfort zone! Not a bad thing.

Announcements-

Bags for Beds

Bags for Beds

Turkey Drive

Paradise Turkey Giveaway

 

Christmas Party

Pre-Blast: 2017 F3 The Fort Christmas Party

Joe Davis Run for Recovery

2018 Joe Davis Run for Recovery

 

CSPAN noted hat this is all in the newsletter and we should read it!

Thanks for the opportunity to Q, DD!

Honor to lead,

RT

 

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Election Day – Do you know about Pennies for Progress???

Knowing that today is Election Day and that there is an important referendum on the ballot to help continue to improve York County’s roadway infrastructure (since SCDOT has no $$$ to help), YHC figured it would be good to incorporate some very important statistics regarding the Pennies for Progress program into the WO. Further info to come on that….

COP consisted of windmills, good mornings, squats, alternate version of the Rocks up then mossy to….playground where the P4 trivia began.

288 – two pull ups, 8 LBCs, 8 Squats…why this number you ask??

434 – 4 pull ups, 3 LBCs, 4 squats…again why this number you ask?? YHC kept asking and there were a few bites but mostly discussions revolving around PSU football championships, statistics to the PSU-MSU game, but not even close. YHC kept giving hints relating to election day…..

We repeated those two again.

Mossy to first drill bit. Bonsai is celebrating the “originals” of the Fort the month of November at WEP and I would consider myself as one of them since I started 3 months after this greatest thing started in Fort Mill. The first WO Senator Tressel dragged me to at WEP involved the Drill Bit. So I figured we would all have some fun. At each drill but, PAX did 2 merkins, 8 LBC, and 8 squats….see a pattern yet? once the lap was completed, a new series of numbers: 97 (for 1997). YHC considered 97 merkins, but decided 9 merkins and 7 squats was adequate.

Mossy to playground for more history. 03 (for 2003) pull ups per PAX, then 11 (for 2011) pull ups. Bonsai then shouted our that the numbers and sequence related to the Pennies for Progress 4 referendum!! He wins, nothing of course, but is correct.

Mossy to small parking lot to do some Rugby Sprints in honor of Crab Cakes. Included 10 rounds with a few bear crawls thrown in there. Finished with some 5 minutes  of Mary.

Mossy to COT

Why the numbers?? in 1997, Pennies for Progress 1 was approved by York County voters to fund $99M of roadway improvements; in 2003 Pennies 2 was approved to fund $173M; and in 2011 Pennies 3 was approved to fund $161M – all totals $434M of roadway improvements. This program allowed York Co to widen I-77 to 8-lanes!! Without Pennies, York County roadways would be even worse in regards to congestion. This program is extremely essential for York County to TRY to keep up with growth. Its not the only answer, but without it, the roadways would be nothing but a crawl. You can debate that congestion hasn’t gotten better, but remember, York County has grown over 30% since 2000 and projected to grow another 40% by 2045. Since SCDOT is not flush with $$, this program helps mitigate as best of possible.

Today we vote on P4. $288M of roadway improvements, on a 1cent sales tax that York Co residents have been paying since 1997 – This is NOT an additional tax but a continuation. Many of us who moved into York County since then have been paying this tax and haven’t realized it. Without a dedicated tax towards roadway improvements, SC 160 would not have been widened at Zoar Rd, Gold Hill Interchange would not be scheduled to be upgraded, US 21 Bridge would not have been built….

Okay, enough of my soapbox, lots of F3 events, so read newsletter and sign up for Xmas Party, T-Giving convergence, and Joe Davis 5/10k.

Prayers to marriages – lots of struggles within the F3 community; raising our children; to the injured and loss of life; and to Texas tragedy.

Peace out – Trucker

 

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18 And Life To Cut Footloose!

Firstly it was actually 17, I must’ve been counting SkyQ this morning.

17 strong showed up for a little KISS workout (keep it simple stupid).  It went a little something like this.

COP

10 – SSH
10- Low Slow Squats
10- Hillbilly Walkers
10- Windmills

Now that we’re warmed up a bit here’s the thang:

At the center of the parking lot five burpees, at one end ten squats (jumping or otherwise) at the other end, ten merkins.  Repeato until you reach ten of each round of squats and merkins.

Once our gazelles reached ten, we circled back up for a couple rounds of squats, lunges and core work before wrapping up with some stretching.

This was my first time qing at Footloose.  Thanks for the honor of leading.

Great work out there by everyone!

DT Out.

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