Tag: Cha Ching

Running in McDowell Park, watch out for Pumas!

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Tuesday morning.  9 guys showed up.  We went for a run in McDowell park across the street from Palisades Elementary.  I told the guys to keep turning right.  So we hit the 4 roads that travel down into the park.

Ran back, a few went around the school, three of us went on the back paved trail loop behind the pond. Strava tells me we did 4.5 miles.

~ Fin

Royale

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Sweatin’ With an Oldie: DaVinci at Quagmire

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https://youtu.be/0H6KtpAaCio

It was great Q-ing at Quagmire this morning. We had a dozen (12) post including an FNG. For his benefit, I reviewed F3’s mission as well as our 5 core principles. Add to that the disclaimer and we were off.

The Thang:

Mosey to parking lot in front of Old Navy

COP
SSH x 20
Windmills (Abe’s cos I’m old) x 10
Moroccan Nightclubs x 20
Low Slow Squats x 15 DC
Merkins x 10 DC
Downward Dog (stretch the calves) Honeymooners (the back)
Mountain Climbers x 20 DC
LBCs x 20 DC

Mosey to back of Valvoline to hill

Jacobs Ladder
10 Merkins at bottom/1 Squat at top

Mosey to stairs/raised patio near fountain

5 up and over laps with Bones setting the pace

Mosey to Fountain/Roundabout

Dirty McDeuces
All exercises in cadence
Do all 4 exercises, run lap around traffic circles at either end of parking area

20 Merkins
20 Lunges
20 LBCs

20 CDDs
20 Squats
20 Freddys

20 Ranger Merkins
20 Reverse Lunges
20 American Hammers

Walked over to fountain, found some bench

20 Dips OYO

2 min jog to COT for name-a-rama

Welcome FNG Regal.

Thanks to Jedi for the Q.

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Golden Corral Shovel Flag Hand Off

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We had 20 Combined for the Boot Camp  and Ruckers.

Boot Camp Work Out:

Mosey behind shopping center and circle up:

15 Imperial Walkers, 15 Mountain Climbers, 15 Wind Mills, 15 Peter Parkers, 15 Parker Peters, 10 Merkins and 15 CDD

Mosey to hill:

On Guard Rail do 14s: 13 Derkins and 1 Dip; 12 Derkins and 2 Dips…………..to 1 Derkin and 13 Dips

Mosey to Hill:  Backwards halfway  up hill then run forward- 20 Sumo Squats down the hill then alternating lunges until the 6 is in and then 10 in cadence as a gaggle.  Rinse and repeat x2.

Mosey to roundabout and lunge walk to entrance of the shopping center.

Mosey to parking lot: Backward run to first island then turn and forward run at end of parking lot do 25 CDD then run back….incline merkins until 6 is in then 10 as a gaggle in cadence.

Mosey to COT

It has been an honor to serve as the site Q.  Over the last couple of years I have seen a lot of faces come through and all are better for it.  I am excited to have my good friend Falcon Crest take over and you will see me there on a regular basis.

Remember that the next step is to get involved in volunteering in our area.  Children’s attention home and paradise both need volunteers.  Make the next step in leadership and you will not regret it.  Falcon Crest is a man doing that not just within F3 but also at CAH.  Thank you buddy!

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Jedi’s Post-iversa-Q

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You would think that I’d have some sort of snarky intro to open my backblast for my anniversary Q. But, writer’s block. I blame peanut M&M coma. #keepingitclydesdale

YHC was pleasantly surprised when 11 PAX joined me in the gloom for my poorly hyped celebration. I blame the site Q…  Special recognition goes out to Phish, who is in town for the training YHC runs for his job. Poor soul didn’t know he’d be seeing me in the gloom before putting up with me all day. Anyway, the disclaimer was given and we jumped right into our warm-up. SSH, low slow squats, Moroccan night clubs, and windmills were all done in cadence to some forgotten number before we rolled out.

When I was EH’ed a year ago, my very first post was to a running AO. I hate running (shocker, I know), and at that point I hadn’t run in well over a decade. Not intentionally, anyway. Copperfield gets credit for bringing me out, and since he was training for his marathon, we did a lot of running for my first week. So, to commemorate my first post, we went on a run around Rivergate, working out to right around one mile (we cut out the full loop done for pre-runs, which is ~1.6 miles). Final destination: the fountain.

Mini Moleskin 1

My first big takeaway from jumping into this F3 thing was, you have to put yourself out there and do the uncomfortable thing if you’re going to get better. I hate running, but more than that I hate getting vulnerable and walking into a new situation where I may or may not be accepted. The first couple weeks of posting were more of a mental battle, trying to get over myself, step out, and meet some people because, let’s face it, I had no friends. I wasn’t going to make friends by sitting on my six, so I had to do the uncomfortable thing. Like running. Or meeting a group of guys I’d never met before in a dark parking lot in the wee hours of the morning.

Back to the workout…

Next to the fountain were 10 balloons (taped to cones so they didn’t blow away). Inside each balloon was a card with an exercise and a number of reps. Pretty simple here: pop a balloon, the group does the exercise for the given number of reps, then we all run a lap around the parking lot. Originally the run was around the traffic circles, but that got shortened after the second round.

Exercises completed:

  • 100 hillbilly squat walkers
  • 1000 burpees
  • 400 jump squats
  • 700 squats
  • 500 diamond merkins

Reps were evenly distributed among the PAX, but those completing their reps first were encouraged to pick up reps from those still working. As a team, all reps were completed, with probably some extras thrown in for good measure.

Mini Moleskin 2

After surviving the first couple weeks with F3 last year, I realized that this group was special. It’s been years – probably at least a decade, if not longer – since I’ve had a group of guys who are willing to step in and help out in a moment’s notice, with pretty much anything. Guys who are willing to encourage you, push you, or be a total idiot with you. We aren’t in this life alone, and F3 is a tangible example of that reality. We aren’t made to do it alone, so stop trying, get over yourself, and reach out. There are people around ready and willing to help.

Back to the workout…

With just a couple minutes left, we had to get back to COT. We could run (blech), or we could partner carry. Having recently dropped weight through the generosity of food poisoning, I wasn’t as burdensome as I have been in the past. Nevertheless, Witchhunt took one for the team and carried this Clydesdale halfway back. I lucked out in that deal, as he weighs maybe 160 pounds. All PAX gathered at COT for a final word.

Mini Moleskin 3

In addition to having a group of guys around to help out or be an idiot with, the community here goes deeper than that. These guys are willing to step in and carry your burdens when you can’t. We have PAX in our region who have gone through some awful experiences, just in the past year. Watching the community step in and do for them what they can’t do for themselves at their times of greatest need has been incredible. We can carry each other in a workout, but it’s something entirely different to carry each other through the hardest times. It is an honor to be able to be a part of this.

It’s not about the workout. It’s not about ourselves.

It’s about our brothers.

This is why we do it.

And this is why we give it away.

There were announcements. Read your newsletter.

As for prayers, here were a bunch, but the big ones I remember are recent friends and/or family members of PAX who have died of cancer. Pray for those left behind as they mourn the loss yet continue on.

Thanks to all the PAX who posted with me this morning, and for those who didn’t post but have been a part of this journey. It is an honor to get to serve you.

Jedi

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Lots of balls at the Swamp!

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Short notice Q for the swamp bootcamp this morning could very well be my last before I move to Everett Washington. A lot of Ruckers, only 5 of us for the boot camp.

Thang:

COP

mosy to target balls for the main event:

one armed merkin each arm and a regular merkin at each ball, running between each

15 squats and bear crawl to each ball

5 burpees and lunge to each ball

10 monkey humpers and crabwalk to each ball

last thing we did I beleive is a variation of belching, sprint to each ball and drop to 6 inches, sprint forward and repeat when Q says go. That one actually was pretty intense.

Kept things simple but painful.

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Taters beat down

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23 Pax, 19 for Bootcamp and 4 Ruckers

Welcome FNG Mill-Billy

It’s been a while since Tater had the Q and he did not disappoint!

He gave the disclaimer and we were off to mosey, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Knee to chest, Karaoke

COP Did a few exercises here to get nice and warm before we mosied over to the fountain and partnered up

Dora 1-2-3-4 100 Derkins, 200 Step-ups, 300 Dips, 400 LBC one partner ran the loop while the other partner did the exercise

We got through one full round and started our way back down before we stopped and returned to the COT area to do a little Ab-Lab

Excellent work! It was not an easy workout and we were all challenged!!

Great work Tater and the PAX!!!!!!

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2 Year Anniversary of The Abyss

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Today we celebrated 2 years of the Abyss.  When the shovel flag was planted 6/29/20016 by Dark Helmet the Abyss was merely an idea that “if we build it….they will post.”  And post the PAX did!  Over the past year and half it has been an honor to be the Site Q of this versatile AO and I appreciate all the PAX who have come out and led a workout.

Q got to the AO with seconds to spare due to an emergency bathroom visit at a 24 hr Harris Teeter in route.

Once disclaimers were given and the 5 F3 Principles given (due to FNG) we were off.

Quick mosey around the front half of the AO to allow all stragallers to exit their vehichles (ehem…Wildthing) and then to a warm-up circle.

Warm-up

  • Windmill
  • Weed Pickers
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • Slow Low Squat
  • Plank (a few Broga moves)
  • Merkins
  • Stretch with knees to chest

The Thang

I told the PAX that I wanted to highlight a few of the “features” of the AO during the workout so we started with the Flag pole.

  • Bear Crawl around circle in front of school

Mosey to very back hill of the AO for a series of hill exercises

  • Lunge walk–Sprint to top
  • Broad Jump–Sprint to top
  • Basketball shuffle Flip half way

Mosey to the Basketball court for some Suicides

First Suicide–

all four goals and back

Second–

  • Start with 10 Squats
  • 2nd Goal–10 Merkins
  • 4th Goal–5 Burpees

Mosey into “wet and muddy” field

  • Elbow Plank position with Peter Parker’s
  • Jack Webs (everyone’s favorites)

Mosey to “the hill”

  • Finished strong with 5 sprints up the hill

Mosey to COT.

Everyone pushed themselves and got better for it…includding FNG who was off to the side threatening to Merlot.

Once Namorama was finished we welcomed FNG Oompa Loompa!

Announcements and Prayers

Thanks again for all the PAX who came out today to celebrate this AO.  We had 24 there and we have set the goal for 30 next year!

-Bones

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BEYOND – CONFIDENCE & SELF-WORTH

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Being the BEYOND Q has been something that I’ve found to be quite intimidating after the first few that I attended. I’ll admit, I’m not the most experienced in the 3rd F. How will I find a message that will resonate with the PAX? Will it impact them? Will it move them? These are all of the questions that have been on my mind since getting on Q schedule for BEYOND.

5 brave PAX split from the group and went off into The Gloom with YHC.

Pre-Amble:
Throughout the majority of my life I’ve had the luxury of being able to take the easy way out when things got tough. High School Sports Injury? Rehab is too hard I’ll just find something else. Finding out the career you want involves hard classes and real work? Find something easier that takes less effort. Tough time finding a job? Take the first and easiest option instead of facing rejection. I can’t even count the number of goals I’ve set for myself and just sat back watched as goal date just floated on passed.

What do all of these easy way out decisions lead to? Regret. They lead to happy hours and late night talks about how I could’ve done X, but (insert lame excuse here). They lead to late nights saying I should’ve been Y, but (insert lame excuse here).

Where does all of that come from? What makes it so easy to compromise? I think it comes from not knowing who you are as a man, or what is important to you. I’ve spent most of my life trying to assimilate into whatever peer group would have me. Tupac summed up my teen years the best, “I hung around with thugs and even though they sold drugs, they showed a young brother love”. The quickest way to make friends in college? Find the party or hang out in front of dorms and meet the smokers. So far, probably not the most High Impact Men to surround myself with.

Enter F3 about 2.5 years ago. This group of men has given me confidence. It has built enough self-worth in me that I can now look people in the eyes when I talk to them. It has given me the desire to want to finish what I’ve started, to complete the task, to not accept not meeting the standard. The saying we’ve adopted is “Do the Harder Thing”. That is how I want to live my life.

Today the feeling of regret stops. Today we come back to one task, one goal that has eaten away at me slowly for 18 mos…

THE THANG
About halfway through our F3 Custom GoRuck Challenge, after carrying heavy logs and each other, Cadre Danny and Cadre Flash challenged us to a PT Test.

100 Burpees
Run 1.1 Mi
50 Burpees
Run 1.1 Mi
Time: 32 minutes (for the vent they added an extra few minutes)

My time the first time was over 40 minutes.

All participants finished in 31 minutes or less!

Thank you Maximus for the opportunity to lead.

Until next time in the gloom,

Wild Thing out!

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6/19 GC Ruck

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With the first of my 3 Q’s this week we jumped ventured into the world of GoRuck with their Wednesday Workout from last week. It went something like this:

Partner Up and grab a sandbag
Movement: One mileish to Tega Cay Elementary switch sandbag as needed
PT with your partner: 50x Sandbag Front Squats
50x Ruck Merkins
50x Ruck V-Ups
Movement: Ruck back to COT

YHC got a little aggressive with the distance and movement which impeded finishing the second round of PT

PAX put in great effort. I’m sure I’m missing some from the tag.

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RUCK – GC – RUCKICIDES

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Well it was my turn to Q again and was digging through my twisted mind as to what to do and I started thinking about something with Suicides.  Then the lovely thought came to mind about doing RUCKICIDES, and from there the workout took shape.

Router put out for a pre-run so of course the usuals showed up to do it, but was excited when OLAF wasn’t really feeling it.  So Jedi, Cha Ching, and Router took off for 3 miles and Olaf and I grabbed an 80 and 60lb sandbag, plus rucks and did a little under two miles in 30 minutes.  Those got heavy!!

On to the Ruck, was pumped to see 9 PAX out today!

Warm up

Indian run where last person does some cleans with the sandbag – well that turned out to be way to easy for everyone else and confusing so about 15 seconds in I yell “Screw this, RUCKS overhead”.  So then we run three laps around the parking lot alternating exercises while still running.

Rucks Overhead

Overhead Press

Away from Chest Carry

Curls

Farmer Carry

Overhead

Again all while running.

WOD:

Grab 7 Sandbags and the two person carry cement pipe and start moving.  We carry it to the church parking lot where RUCKICIDES commence.

First:

Bear Crawl – 5 merkins – Crawl Bear back – Bear Crawl – 5 Merkins Crawl bear back (length of parking lot)

Lil E is a bear literally, he beat Cha Ching if that tells you anything.

Second:

Walking Lunge – 10 Squats – Duck walk back – repeat (length of parking lot)

My butt is still sore…

Grab weight and move – This time whatever weight we were carrying beyond our rucks had to be overhead for a certain amount of time.  Sorry Cha-Ching that 80lb bag sucks!

Next we did timed bag toss relay up the hill to the fire station:

We set a time hack of 1.5 minutes and did the first round with the 60lb bag in 1minute 3 seconds.

We cleaned it up and did it in 46 seconds

Next we jumped up to the 80lb bag and knocked it out in under a minute.

At this point we had 6 minutes to make it back to COT and some distance to cover, so we grabbed all the weight and double timed it back!

Pumped for the turnout and to see NASA out there again!

I’ve got a full Q schedule so you won’t see me Q’ing for a bit but come out and support.

Until later,

RAD

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