Tag: Bones

Big 50 Birthday bash

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Today was my 50th Birthday and Maximus allowed me to lead a Beyond so that I could take some extra time to discuss somethings that I have been pondering as I approached this milestone birthday.  To go along with our monthly theme of Vulnerable I took the opportunity to share some struggles as well.  With that we moseyed.

Warm up of SSH, Imperial walkers, Squats, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, and Plank Jacks

Moseyed to Rite Aid parking lot(some chatter about too much running, but I ignored it).

Sharing time #1 – Shared with the Pax that I feel like 30 year old me would have thought that 50 year old me would be “further along”.  Further along Professionally and Financially, Further along Spiritually and in Family.  In 2001 I was recruited to Charlotte for a position with a new company, for a salary that I thought would be my ticket ahead.  I had great plans that I could do this for a bunch of years, make a bunch of money and then I could check out and go do something that I wanted to do , maybe full time ministry or teaching.  Within 1 year it all blew up, I was demoted for not doing a good job, salary was slashed plans were gone.  17 years later we’re still feeling the affects.

First circuit – Partner up – Partner 1 does People’s Chair Partner 2 does a lap, then flip it.  Next Partner 1 does Plank, Partner 2 does a lap, flip it.  Next Partners do 100 Merkins as a team, 1 runs I does Merkins, flip it.

Sharing time 2 – Felt like I would be further along spiritually.  30 year old me would have thought I would have gotten past my need for man’s approval.  I would have thought that the sins that tripped me up back then would be conquered and pride & lust would no longer be an issue foe me, but they are still there.  Felt like I would be further along in family & parenting. My plan was to be an empty nester at this point, but here I am with a 7th and 9th grader still at home, and t top it off I’m not particularly better at parenting then I was when I 30.

Circuit #2 Partner again – Lap #1 Partner 1 does Al Gore Partner #2 does a lap.  Lap #2  Partner 1 does Flutters Partner 2 does a lap.  Lap #2 Team does 100 Big Boy Sit ups total while 1 partner runs.

Sharing time 3 – The truth is that when I look at my life with clear eyes I can see that my life has been Blessed beyond measure!  I have a job that I mostly enjoy, and work with great people(shout out to Royale) and I am well compensated.  I have a beautiful wife of 26 years and we have a great marriage that keeps getting better.  I have 5 awesome kids who are healthy and bring me great joy, and sometimes frustration.  To add to it I have found this thing called F3 and a group of friends and Brothers that I never even knew I needed!  To see my 50 year old life s anything but blessed is ridiculous.

Off to COT for 2 minutes of Mary

Final share – What I have found is that the only times that I get down about where I am at 50 is when I look around me at others and I compare myself to what  my perception of them is.  This can lead to pride but for me it mostly leads to despair.  What I am trying to learn is contentment as Paul describes it in Phil. 4, whether he had much or little Paul was content.  The source of this contentment is found in Phil. 3 where Paul shares that all of his achievements, any possession he may have or any legacy he may be able to boast about , all of is it is worthless, or as he calls is a big pile of manure, compared to knowing Christ.  Paul says he has 1 aim, and that is to Know Christ!!  The secret Paul learned is that all he need was Jesus and if he had Jesus he had all he needed, and if he had Jesus, he could never lose him so therefore he could always be content.  In whatever amount of years I have left let this be my aim; that I may know Christ!!

Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

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Cold Blooded at the Swamp

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So it was the coldest day of November (so far) but at least there was no rain.  A balmy 33 degrees to start the workout.  My goal was to keep the energy level high to keep the blood flowing!  Only 3 of the 15 men planned on rucking this morning, so I gave the disclaimer and the other 12 of us were off.

Mosey with a dynamic warmup to the Home Depot parking lot.

COP with IWs – Windmills – SSHs – MNCs – Mountain Climbers – CDDs – Plank Jacks – Merkins?

These days whatever keeps me moving is what I call.  I like to take Pushers guidance and change the count for each…which always gets the PAX talking! It’s almost impossible to get Jedi and Witch Hunt to stop chattering nowadays… which always adds a fun playful air to the warmup.

Enough of that stuff… moving on!  I like to find new routines in the Lexicon that we might not have done before.  I found these:

“The Dab”  (I was immediately asked why it’s called that…not idea just from the workout)

10 burpees in 1 minute

Run a quarter mile lap around the parking lot

Do this 4 times

It went pretty well…and it kept us warm unfortunately Half Shell “popped” his calf muscle… that’s not good for running! No man will be left behind so I tried to modify a little.  I’m sorry if it was not enough Half Shell…

Slow walk towards Target, but a bear crawl for good measure to keep everyone together for about 50 yards.

“Triple Check”

Teams of 3

1st PAX wall sit

2nd PAX Plank

3rd PAX run 50 yards and back.

Rotate through your team and complete this 3 times.

This took longer than expected so item #3 of the evolutions was left off and we moseyed back to COT.  With 2 minutes to spare more burpees were completed.

Namorama

Announcements & Prayers

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

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The Right Kind of Sacrifice

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14 men awoke to not so bright/wet conditions and converged in the gloom of the hallowed ground at The Swamp for a Beyond message from YHC.  Here’s what went down

Warmup:      20 SSH IC, 20 Imperial Walkers, 15 windmills (wonderfully executed), 10 Mtn Climbers.    Let’s mosey

The Thang:      Mosey to the alley behind Home Depot for a perfect location to perform the BLIMPS workout and grab some wall for 1-min wall-sits in between each as their active rest, allowing YHC to convey the message for today.  At each 1-min sit, YHC shared what has been on his heart about sacrifice.   This is defined as something that is a loss or something  you give up for the sake of a better cause.    Approximately 1-year ago, my wife and I were celebrating her completion of treatment for Breast Cancer.  Surgery, radiation, DNA testing, doctors, etc…pronounced her as Cancer Free and we returned to our routine.  Our faith had been a anchor throughout and continued to grow thru prayer and my F3 brothers and Journey group, yet I had one main question.  How did this trial change us and by us I mean, me and my role as a husband, father and leader of my home.  I realized how consumed I was with my martial arts training, races, Goruck events, etc..that I was actually not IN my home very much.  That which I thought was making me healthier, stronger and better for my family had me gone for large amounts of time from them.

Time for a sacrifice! I am going on year of stepping away from all those things that took me away from her and the kids to activities to do together and that were important to her!  She never once asked for this and struggled with me giving it up after so long but it’s been the best decision of my life.  God has changed my path for the better by sacrificing what I thought was important to what is truly important.

Sacrifice will lead you to make significant choices. But being a husband and father is a significant experience!

B  5 Burpees OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
L 10 Lunges each leg OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
I 15 Imperial Walkers IC, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
M 20 Merkins OYO, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
P 25 Plank Jacks, followed by 10 SSH IC
1-min wall sit
S 30 Squats, followed by 10 SSH IC

Mosey to the large parking lot for some 4-corners of Blimps!  Total of 6 laps around the parking lot stopping at each corner to perform the exercise.  First (1) lap: 5 burpees @ ea corner (2) lunges (3) 15 IW (4) 20 merkins (5) 25 plank jacks (6) 30 squats (stop at end of each full lap to wait on the 6 with planks; modified the M, P, & S

Return for COT and some last words:  Identify that thing in your life that you may be placing your identity in that may be causing you to miss the mark of your Concentrica Bullseye!

Good work, men.  It was an honor to lead you this morning.

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VQ At the Abyss

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The Abyss has been around, what, 2 years or so?  YHC has never made it down there, and that’s a shame.  Not only is it a great, well-lit AO, but the pax there represent Lake Wylie very well! Sure wish Siri hadn’t been lying to me all this time on how long it takes to get there.  At 4:45am, it seems every AO in TheFort can be reached in 15 minutes or less.

This cool halloween morning, the count was 14 pax.  The mumblechatter level made it feel more like 25. Excellent! YHC knew most of the pax there, but the hats and my historically bad memory for names threw me off (cobains Wolverine for calling you “Moreen”).

Disclaimer was issued as Flux was coming in hot.  We moseyed the opposite direction from where he parked, but made a loop for him to catch up.  Stopped in the same front lot for some warm-up:

  • SSH (IC) x25
  • Imperial Walker (IC) x20
  • Mountain Climbers (IC) x20
  • Flutters (IC) x20
  • Windmills (IC) x20

Moseyed around to the back lot to find 4 cones set up, one in front of each basketball goal (along long side of track).  Time for some Webb-o-Rama.  The exercises at each cone were to be done in a Jack Webb style, (1:4 ratio).

Cone 1: Burpees and Side Straddle Hops, then Bear Crawl to cone 2

Cone 2: Big Boy Sit-ups and American Hammers, then wheelbarrow to cone 3

Cone 3: Knee Tar N’Diayes and Run-Stance Switches, then wheelbarrow to cone 4

Cone 4: Traditional Jack Webb (merkins and overhead claps), then run around track back to cone 1

We did a total of 3 loops of the circuit.

Round 1: 1-5

Round 2: 6-8

Round 3: 10 (didn’t have time for 9)

Moseyed back to COT.

NMMS

I took just a few minutes after round 1 to share how my kids are at an age that I’m really proud of them.  But as a father, it is very important we don’t give them the impression that our love and pride for them is based on winning or achieving a certain status.  It should be based on them showing a good work ethic, passion, and self-motivation to try and use the gifts God has given them.  And shifting the perspective a little, I am incredibly grateful that God’s love for me is not based on how much I “win” or am “successful”.  Thank God for His GRACE that keeps me from having to accomplish things in order to earn His love.

 

Excellent effort by LW’s finest this morning.  Thanks for making me feel so welcome.  And thanks to Bones for the opportunity to lead.

Keep it spicy.
-old bay

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Forties for 40

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Well today was the day… turning 40…why not take the Q today?  I asked Bones for it months ago.  There’s nothing better than leading a group of men and friends at an F3 workout, especially on a birthday.  I was really happy to see 17 other men here, including a few faces that don’t usually travel to the Abyss.

We started up with a mosey around the parking lot.  Nemo and Flux were pulling in right at 5:15 so we did a lap and let them catch up.  Standard dynamic warmup stuff on the lap.

It was cold so the warmup had some more cardio items than usual.

-SSHs – Ab Vagota – Seal Jacks – Squats – IWs – Mountain Climbers

We ended with the Merkin Circle

6 rounds around the circle.  1 merkin each for the 18 guys while in plank.

We moved over to the Hill.  I found an exercise in the lexicon called “Forties”.  I figured if we added the hill we could call it the “Over the Hill Forties”.  That got some laughs, and some groans…

It’s a ladder with higher reps.  An Exercise at the Top of the Hill, one at the bottom.  Take 30 reps at the top 10 at the bottom, then subtract 5 and add 5 until you’ve flipped to 10-30.

1st round : Top = CDDs Bottom = Flutters

2nd Round : Top = American Hammers Bottom = Calf Raises

We took a break and I shared a little message about reflections.  How these men and F3 have helped change me to be a better person and on a better path in life.  I reflected on who I might have been at 40 with out these men… it wasn’t so pretty.

We moseyed next to the front of the school.  I split the group into 2 teams.

Team 1 would stay for wall sits while Team 2 bear crawled around the circle

Flipped it

Next round BTTW as long as you can, then wall sits while Team 2 Crab Walked the circle

Finally we head back to COT for a very special circle.  For my birthday we we’re going to play a game.  The group had to answer questions about me.  If correct 10 SSHs.  If wrong… 10 burpees!

The Questions were:

  1. How many siblings do I have? right
  2. What is my favorite professional sports team? right
  3. What High School did I attend?  Bonus, what was the mascot? right with bonus!
  4. What was my favorite children’s toy in 1985? wrong
  5. Where do I work? right
  6. Where did I go to college? right

To my surprise these men got 5 of 6 right…and to Iced-T’s credit he was saying He-Man for #4…but the group out voted him!

Announcements

Thanksgiving Convergence

Christmas Party

Fast 5 postponed

Prayers

For Soprano and the passing of his brother

Hurricane victims still in need

Grateful for all the people in our lives

If you’ve read this far the answers were

  1. 1 sister = Rachel
  2. Green Bay Packers
  3. South Meck = Sabres
  4. He-Man
  5. Merrill Lynch
  6. UNCC

An Honor to Lead!

-Royale

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A Ring of Fire to Keep Jedi Warm

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Oh man would it have been awesome to stay nice and cozy and warm in the fartsack this ‘chilly’ morning. And to think that in a month or so we would look back and say this was warm. But myself and four others decided to shake off the Monday chill and get better. Jedi shows up in shorts and was shivering a bit, waiting to get going. He claims to own no mandex to keep his legs warm. Poor guy, we need a fundraiser to fix that.

Unfortunately no FNGs. The disclaimer was disclaimed and off we went for a warmup run…..but not too far.

COP at the parking lot at the water fountain by Just Fresh:

  • SSH x 15
  • WM x 15
  • IW x 15
  • MNC x 30

Then a very short mosey to the parking lot behind Just Fresh, near Home Depot, for the thang

Tabata Ring of Fire

YHC had placed 9 cones marked with fun stuff in a rather large diameter circle around a central light pole, with each cone about 10 yards or so apart. Each cone had an exercise and a transition movement. The idea is to perform the exercise AMRAP for 1min 45 sec nonstop, then you were given 20 seconds to transition to the next cone by the means noted.  All of the transitions and cone spacing gave no rest time once you got to the next cone. I had everything timed down to exactly 45 minutes total, COP and all.

Cone # / Exercise / Transition Movement:
1. Merkin / bear crawl
2. LBC / crab walk
3. Jump lunges / bear crawl
4. CDD / crab walk
5. Flutter / crawl bear
6. Monkey humper / side crab
7. Plank jack / long jump
8. American hammer / bear crawl
9. Squat hillbilly walker / crab walk

Each PAX picked a cone to start off at and away we went. I used a tabata timer app on my phone combined with a bluetooth speaker to audible a whistle when to start an exercise, an air horn when to transition to the next cone, and clapping when we finished a set. We did a complete set nonstop until we got back to where we started, then we had a 2 minute break where I spoke on encouragement, then we got back at it for another nonstop second round. We did 2 rounds / sets total. With the timing given and abilities of the PAX there, it was safe to say that each PAX probably did at least 100 of each exercise both rounds combined. Everyone did quite well, hammering it all out to my Pandora workout station tunes – even through the commercials. I do not have time to download music and make playlists, sorry.

Then a quick AYG run back to COT for announcements, P&P:

  • Read your newletter
  • Fast 5 – POSTPONED
  • SIGN UP FOR THE CHRISTMAS PARTY!! JUST DO IT!!
  • Prayers for Repeat’s mother who was quite recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We are here for you brother!!
  • Get involved in making a difference in your community

NMM on Encouragement:

I did not have long to speak, I’ve been trying to cut back on my jibber-jabbering when I Q. I spoke a little on this month’s theme is on encouragement. As a leader, that is something you should be giving out all the time, but do we? I noted that we as men and leaders tend to give out encouragement to our kids, and other kids, rather easily, openly, and freely. If you don’t, then you should. But do we give out encouragement as easily, openly, and freely to our peers, coworkers, subordinates, friends, and/or to our M? Today’s society, especially in the workplace, is very results oriented, goal driven. It is VERY easy to completely focus on the results and goals and lose track of the most important resource that makes it happen – the people. It is very easy to hammer people on lack of results, how things can be better, how, in a nutshell, we are not achieving to our expectations. How often do folks in those situations go into a meeting where the person holding it just hammers on results, goals, and how they are not being met, then leave the meeting feeling unsatisfied? A little encouragement offsets alot of negativity if done in the right time and place. If you end a meeting pointing out inefficiencies, lack of achievement, or suggestions for improvements, that is not very motivating. Meeting agendas still have to cover those things, it is what it is. But if you end a meeting, or a personal conversation for that matter, on a positive note of encouragement and/or praise, that ends things on a totally different perspective. Always end an encounter on a high note of positivity. Rule #1 in my opinion for sustained positive interpersonal relationships. I challenge everyone out there to try it, and live by it, and you will see how people respond. Encouragement is a powerful thing simply because everyone wants to feel valued, respected, loved, needed, and that they belong. Those are simple human needs and desires. So no matter how bad things are, ALWAYS END ON A HIGH NOTE.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
– NASA

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beatdown summary

Warm Hugs For Everyone…….that survives

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In celebration of the cooler weather that was exactly one weekend later than requested for a perfect Ragner Carolinas Trail race YHC got the nod to do my thing this past Monday morning at the most proper bootcamp workout west of I77 in Fort Mill. Warmup was handled by my main partner in crime ChaChing so you know by the time YHC took over the upper body was already smoked.
Choose the harder option I’ve been told so we performed some Circle of (insert painfull exercise here).
Circle of Merkins, hold plank and critique all possible things that can be critiqued and even some that cant is expected by the PAX while observing the victim complete 10 merkins. Pass the pain to the right and let the critiques rip. One round was good so we went straight into the Circle of Hump. Same theory just more inappropriate comments from the PAX while each participant performs his best monkey humper. Two rounds of hump were performed because a true HIM never wants to deny her an encore if requested. Next on the docket was the Ring of Fire. That finally ended after two rounds or approximately not a second before everyone had red indicating fluid leaking from some area of skin directly covering a pointy joint. Sorry guys but just chalk it up as mental toughness. Could always be worse, think fire ant infested grass outside of Winthrop basketball gym. Thanks Packman for the memories and mental toughness.
Mosey to the wall beside BestBuy for some BTW, shoulder tap BTW, and some burpees before heading to the Home Depot parking lot.
Get your crawl on ladies. Each PAX perform one loop around the greenspace before running to the Lawn and Garden entrance and back. Methods of transportation around the loop were as follows: Bear crawls, crab walks, crawl bears, inchworm, then one last loop of bear crawls. Mosey back towards Pets Mart and perform some team staggered sprints from crosswalk to crosswalk. Great job guys pushing each other and encouraging until the end. Finally make it back to COT for a quick round of Cha-Cha Merkins since all snowmen love to dance before the Count-A-Rama, Name-A-Rama, P&P, Anouncements and closing prayers by YHC. Thanks for the opportunity Jedi and to the PAX for hummoring YHC with my requests. Warm Hugs for Everyone

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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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Awkward and Uncomfortable

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On a Monday following the Ragnar, most PAX in the Fort/Lake Wylie seemed to find their Fartsacks more than their local AOs.  Just 3 PAX total seemed it a wise idea to find themselves at Quagmire for an awkward and uncomfortable BC.

In “honor” of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, the plan was to perform a series of awkward and uncomfortable partner exercises but because there were just 3 of us, that weinke went right out the window!

Now it became a little more awkward for me as I had to resort to my backup plan on the fly.

The “group” took a short mosey to the back of Home Depot’s parking lot for a short warm-up.  After a few windmills, Moroccan night clubs, and walkers of the Imperial and Hillbilly variety, we moseyed on over to the front of Target.

With the wildly popular red balls, we did 4 rounds of Route 66:

Merkins, Squats, LBCs, and CDDs  stopping at 11 different stations, adding one rep at each step.

After the fourth round was completed it was another short run over to the stairs adjacent to the fountain where the PAX took on a little of the awkward partner work.

In a rotating partner fashion, one PAX started on the top balcony performing Merkins while the other two performed Stair Barrows then on partner stayed at the top and did Merkins while the other two ran down the stairs to perform Stair Barrows again; rotating until all PAX had performed both the Stair Barrows and Merkins at the top.  After all PAX had performed the Merkins, the exercises changed to Deep Squat Rows using the railings-then calf raises and then Carolina Dry Docks.  If you think this sounds awkward and confusing, you should have been there….terrible.

We finished at the fountain with two rounds of Dips and Step-ups: 25 reps each.

COT was a little more personal than usual as the three of us were able to speak a little more directly and with more detail about the things going on in our lives. Some following up on things that had been mentioned in COTs of past.

Thank you Jedi for the opportunity to lead.

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Pre-Michael Showdown at the Abyss

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YHC didn’t look at the weather forecast last night so it was a bit of a surprise walking outside this morning to the pouring rain. No big deal but had to audible a couple of things on the weinke.

One thing I love about F3 is the dedication of the PAX to show up rain, shine, freezing rain, snow, single-digit temps, etc…to get to a workout. Today was no exception and 16 men (2 of whom were runners) showed up in the pouring rain to get better. One FNG was present so an F3 certified disclaimer was given and off we went.

Mosey to Bus Circle

Butt Kickers, High Knees, Side shuffle facing the school, Side shuffle away

Warm up (In Cadence)

15 – SSH
15 – IW
15 – WM
15 – Mountain Climbers
25 – Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to the covered sidewalk for some partner work. Some grunge music seemed apropos so it accompanied our work.

Brief Discussion on Encouragement – YHC asked the PAX to thing of someone in their life who has been a big encouragement as we completed the exercises.

Partner up – Size doesn’t matter

Partner 1 – Run the circle
Partner 2 – Work on the exercises
Flapjack

150 Carolina Dry Docks
250 Squats
350 LBC’s

Everyone completed one round and a few Pax made it through the CDD’s for the 2nd round.

Mosey to the paved hill at the exit of the school. No partners for this part.

Lt Dans to the first set of rocks, backwards lunge to the second set, sprint to the top, and slow mosey to the bottom
Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
5 burpees OYO
Bear crawl to the first set of rocks, backwards Lt. Dans to the second set, sprint to the top, 5 burpees OYO and slow mosey to the bottom

Mosey to the wall for wall sits

Round 1
Each PAX counted to 10 while holding the wall with one leg out
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)
Round 2
Hold the wall while each Pax ran to the sidewalk, 2 burpees and back to the wall
Shake it out, Rinse and Repeat (Mumble chatter)

Mosey back for COT

Announcements

Read your newsletter. Christmas Party, Bourbon Chase, etc…

Prayer Requests

Moab and his wife are foster parents and are receiving a newborn today. Prayers for them and for the mom.
Unspoken prayers that are heavy on our hearts
Having the strength to encourage others in our circles

Great job by the Pax and great job by the FNG Matt (F3 Aztec). He did a great job keeping us with us and did a lot better than I did on my first post. Keep up the good work!

Always an honor to lead. Thanks Bones for the opportunity.

Until next time…

Hauschka

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