Blown tire = Bullpen

Lets just put this out there.  I was HURTIN.  The Murph did me in like no one’s business.  Shoulders, arms, no extension.  The bed was calling.  Obligation as a PAX and as a site Q made my decision for me.  Have to do the hard thing.  Reborn has been on schedule for months and I got a call at 4:30 saying his tire had blown.  No problem.

Pulling into The Coloseeum there were already a large group of men gathering waiting.  With nothing prepared, I decided shared leadership was the key today.

Maximus: COP

Jekyll: 16s on the track.  Carolina Dry Docks and Jumping Lunges at each corner of track.  15/1, 14/2, 13/3….1/15.

Dungaree: Wall Muscle ups, BTTW

MacGuyver: Wall sits into merkins back into Wall sits (#crowdpleaser)

Gekko: Street lights.  AYG to next to pole 2, mosey to pole 3, AYG to pole 4. repeato until 10th pole

Walker: Cant remember but probably Merkins

Jekyll: Mary

all were completely smoked.  Always great to have the high energy and expectation from Walker.  He really drives me to be better and do better.  Unwavering principled man.

We finished up and met up with Ruckers and Pathfinders.

Aye!

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River District Run – Clydesdales

21 posted to Clydesdales.  Pretty simple backblast.  We ran.  Here’s what many pax ran, but not all.

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That was a lot of sit-ups

My 2nd of 3 Q’s in 3 days. Always a pleasure to Q The Swamp!  Now that I am Ruck free and with no big race on the schedule I’m free to just do regular old Bootcamps. My favorite workouts combine a good amount of running(big surprise) with a bunch of other stuff so that is what we did today and  was glad to have a bunch of guys to share it with.

Started off with s nice mosey warm-up with some dynamic warm-ups of butt kicks, high knees, shuffles and some karaoke.

Circle up in the HD parking lot for COP consisting of SSH, IW, Carolina Dry Dock, Peter Parker, Mountain Climbers, then a series of Downward dog to Honeymooner. Back on our feet for Windmills, Apollo Ono(look out for the car), and just for fun some Monkey Humpers.

Mosey to the bike racks at HD for the main thing. Partner up for a nice BOMBS routine. One partner does the exercise the other does a lap around Home Depot.  There  were some complaints that the lap was a little long even though I assured them it was only about 1/4 mile  I was accused of measuring Zima miles.

50 Burpees, 100 Overhead claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups(crowd favorite), 250 Supine Pull-Ups(only because I hate squats and I needed an S).  We did not make through all the pull-ups, headed back to COT for a few minutes of Mary, ending with a Body Destroyer.

Announcements – Convergence 5/24, Honor Badger at Golden Corral 5/21 wear Red, Read your newsletter

Praises for Lutifisk daughter, Dungaree’s 1 year anniversary, prayers for kids cancer relapse.

Challenged the PAX to take the role as the leader in their home.  We are called to lead, do not be a passive bystander or even worse do not take or accept the role as another child in the house.  Be the man/leader you are called to be.

Thanks as always for the opportunity to lead this great group!!

 

 

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Block Party Beat Down

I was excited to Q Block Party after the co-Q at The Fort on Sat.  I arrived early and saw 7 runners take off at 5:00 sharp with Bird Cage leading the way down the back trail.  Cars began to file in and the cars kept coming.  I wasn’t expecting a large crowd and then I heard that CSPAN was still in town and was coming to Block Party so I knew there would be a big and rowdy crowd on hand.

Once we hit 5:15, no FNG’s were present so a short disclaimer and off we moseyed.  Since the park has several obstacles littering the grass from the festival, I was going outside of the park.  We moseyed to the first parking lot up front and circled up.

  • Imperial Walkers
  • SSH
  • Arm circles front and back
  • arm stretch across body
  • mountain climber
  • slow merkin – 3 count down, 3 count hold, 3 count up

Mosey over to the sidewalk and wall near Springs Global.  3 exercises , 3 sets, decreasing reps each set.

  • Dips – Reps –  25/20/15
  • Derkins –         20/15/10
  • Step-UPS –     30/20/10

Mosey to the big hill and meet at the top parking lot.  3 excercises, 15 reps each, then run to bottom of the hill and come back up the hill backwards.

  • Squats/Monkey Humpers/Calf Raises
  • Slow Merkin/MNN/O/H Clap
  • Flutter/ Big Boy Sit-up/Hello Dolly

Mosey back to the sidewalk and wall where we started and do one more set of  dips and derkins 20 & 15.  Mosey back to the park. Since we had a few minutes left I decided to take a lap around the park on the path for an added bonus.  We ended back at the parking lot for set of LBC’s.

This was a great morning and I enjoyed the chatter and hard work.  Through the Q Source, I have been motivated to look for ways to continue to accelerate  in all areas.  I shared with the group that I have been successful in accelerating in King, Queen and Jester control, but the last 4 weeks the QSource was focused on Faith.  I was convicted that I am not accelerating in study and recognize the need to have my shield locks there to hold me accountable and provide the push I need.  I asked everyone to think of where they need to accelerate and who are they going to have beside them to hold them accountable.

Thanks Esso for the opportunity to Q and lead the Pax.

Rebel

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Just a Mere Tune-Up

How in the world did I get the honor of Qing one of the most popular ruck workouts of the year? I don’t know but I didn’t want to disappoint. Usually, that last comment means it’s time to absolutely BRING IT. But the trick this AM was to find that balance of bringing it but not killing it since we’re dangerously close to being short on GRH/GRT/GRL PAX.

Alright, I’ve got my head right, Weinke written and little sleep. Yup, par for the course so let’s roll. 24 brothers joined me at the Fire Ant this morning which for those who’ve not attended, is building quite the strong brotherhood. Again, here’s my plug to try rucking for a month and see if you set the ruck down.

After we disclaimed and talked about the upcoming event this weekend, we made our way to the sidewalk to get in two lines with rucks opened on the ground for a mock inspection. Once complete, zip up, ruck up and fall into 2 lines for a ruck lap around the loop.

Once the lap was complete, stay in 2 lines and lay the rucks on the ground on the outside of the lines. In formation, Side-Straddle Hops, Imperial Walkers, Sumo Squats & Moroccan Night Clubs. Now for a little BEEP BEEP, I’M A JEEP!!

In formation, drop to a squat, hold the ruck out front and duck walk for a bit. Then some ruck curls. Then, drop to a squat, hold the ruck out front and reverse duck walk for a bit back to the starting point. Guess what? More ruck curls.

Now, rotate 90deg so you’re facing the outside, away from the other line for shoulder presses, upright rows and bent over rows. Then a nice set of flutters WITH the needed presses.

Line up on the left side of the 2 long straight-aways for an exercise with the ruck, leave your ruck and run to the far end, do an exercise then run back to your ruck. Here’s the set list:

10 Ruck Thrusters, leave the ruck and run to the other end

5 8ct Burpees then run back

20 Ruck Curls (great on paper), leave the ruck and run to the other end

10 8ct Burpees then run back

Back in our 2 lines of formation for:

12ct Merkins…sans Ruck

Flutters w/ the Press

LBC’s w/ the Rucks up

Box Cutters w/ the Rucks up

More Beep Beep, I’m a Jeep stuff

THAT’S IT!!!

See, not so bad. Just another Tuesday in The Fort.

HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE

SYITG

Maximus

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Mental Health Awareness at the Pantheon

Mosey around the side of the school.

quick word about what mental health means to you

Warm up
15 – Windmills
15 – Imperial Walkers
20 – Moroccan Nightclubs
10 cherry pickers

5 burpees OYO

30 count people’s chair  with arm flutters
Balls to the wall 10 count

30 count people’s chair with
Balls to the wall 10 count
30 count people’s chair
Balls to the wall 10 count

5 burpees OYO

Mosey to the back of the School

discuss that there is more to mental health than depression

20 Merkins
20 CDD
20 Hand Release Merkins

5 burpees OYO

Lunge walk half way down flip to LT. Dan’s

5 burpees

mosey to the side of the school

Plank
Plank shoulder taps
Seal Team Sit-ups

20 American Hammers

Mosey to the front of the School

Global warming with 30 Monkey Humpers each Pax one at a time while Every one held al-gore, imagine 25 pax  = sore legs

Maximus Shared his struggles  and YHC spoke about my struggles in the past due.

It was awesome to hear so many Pax open up and being vulnerable. T-Claps to all that attended this is not a easy subject to discuss.

Prayers sent up for those that are struggling and have struggled with this topic.

 

 

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What….Gecko has a Ruck on?

20 PAX came to the Swamp this morning to push themselves physically, bond socially, and encourage each other into the weekend.  8 men chose the boot camp option and 12 chose an option to Ruck.  After the initial shock that Gecko was standing there with a Ruck sack on we divided up and began the workout.

Boot Camp

Warm up

Mosey to (future) Tuesday Morning Parking lot

  • Windmills
  • Sumo Squats
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • Weed Pickers
  • Seal Jacks
  • Plank
  • Downward Dog….Honeymooner

The Thang

Using the red balls of Target I had placed a piece of paper with two exercises on them. The top exercise was done at the ball and the second was the mode of transportation to the next ball.

Ball One

  • Merkins
  • Bear Crawl

Ball Two

  • Squats
  • Lunge

Ball Three

  • Peter Parker
  • Crab Walk

Ball Four

  • Reverse Lunge
  • Broad Jump

Ball Five

  • Carolina Dry Docks
  • Crawl Bear

Ball Six

  • Sumo Squat
  • Reverse Lunge

Ball Seven

  • Wide Arm Merkins
  • Side Shuffle

Ball Eight

  • Squat Jump
  • Side Shuffle (flap jack)

Ball Nine

  • Hello Dolly
  • Mosey (back to beginning)

3 Burpees

We repeated this cycle three times with increasing reps.

  • Round 1: 10 reps
  • Round 2: 20 reps
  • Round 3: 30 reps

Mosey back to COT for 4 minutes of Mary.

Joined by the ruckers and did Nameorama, Announcements, Prayers/Praises.

I appreciate the opportunity to lead!

Bones

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Breaking Patterns

What a great morning for a run. Low 50’s, no wind and 20 PAX for a post P200 Monday. Up in the rotation today was the newest member of the Flight Plan plans, “Loops of Choice.” They include a 2.5 mile loop that goes over the walking trail at the end of YMCA parking lot, out 6th Baxter, up Sutton and back to Starbucks. And a 1.5 mile loop that goes down market, comes up Sutton and back to Starbucks. Modify as necessary, find a running buddy, have some fellowship, attend COT, check the box.

Flight Plan is an AO that’s predictable. Because of safety, we stay on the north side of 77. We have 4 routes and run each one, once per month. Today’s route emphasizes, (maybe represents is a better word) those circles we find ourselves in. Don’t get me wrong, the workout is beneficial. And I love the sense of accomplishment of conquering the long climb up Sutton (twice) in the gloom. However, the round and round is indicative of what can become of us as men.

But F3 is there to break those patterns. In COT we were reminded of that by two very strong PAX. Pusher (along w/ Twister & Change Order) who has taken the monumental task of leading Q-source. The weekly study of how this group can shape lives, of not just ourselves, but our families and community. If you’re not involved, you’re missing out. If you’ve been going, you know what I’m talking about. The added support outside of fellowship of the gloom, is great.

The other PAX is Stang. What happens when something throws us off these loops we find so comfortable. Something devastating or tragic.  Or what if we struggle just to stay upright on the loops but don’t feel like we can tell anyone so we use other outlets to hide the burden?  Stang is going to lead the discussion on these topics Wednesday at The Tomahawk (Doby’s Bridge Elementary – Kettle Bell). The last 15 minutes of the workout will be a stretching session with discussion on these heavy topics. Things we need to be able to share and discuss if we are going to be the leaders we need to be.

It’s great to see these HIMs pushing us past the 1st F.

Annoucments:

  • See Above
  • Cristina Latini Memorial 8K – Saturday March 30th – Clown Cars leaving Baxter Starbucks at 7:00 for Huntersville or Virtual run 6:30 at Alcatraz
  • Cake Boss 40 Day Challenge – On going

Prayers and Praises

  • Rebel’s daughter getting her first real job
  • The safe return of all the PAX who ran the P200

Welcome FNG – Seuss! (EH’d by Cake Boss)

See you in the gloom!

Boeheim

 

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FTW – Forget The Winkie

I had prepared a coin flip workout 5 weeks ago where we flipped a coin to see if we would use the right hand side or left hand side of the winkie for each exercise.  This week was to be the “other” side that didn’t get selected.  After seeing no FNG’s and giving a disclaimer, the ruckers (led by Maximus) took off and so did we.  Since our numbers were low (good luck p200-ers), Mile High suggested I ditch the winkie and see what happens.  So knowing nothing about what to do, I found us a nice little parking area to get warmed up.

WARM – O – RAMA:
– 15 x imperial walkers
– 15 x hillbilly walkers
– 10 x tempo merkins
– 10 count 6″ plank hold
– Back up for a 10 count: right hand and right foot high
– Flapjack
– 15 x LBC
– 10 Crunchy Frogs, OYO

Mosey to the wall hall between HD and Target:
– Hands on the wall, 10 x shoulder taps, dc
– Run to opposite wall, feet on wall, 10 x shoulder taps, dc, run back
– Wall sit, add on, one PAX at a time as follows:
(PAX 1) –> run to other wall, 10 x derkins, run back
(PAX 2) –> same, add 10 x SSH after the derkins
(PAX 3) –> same, add bear crawl instead of run to other wall
(PAX 4) –> same, add high knees instead of run back
(PAX 5) –> same, add 10 x merkins
Now reverse, so PAX 1 does them all, PAX 2 removes first exercise, PAX 3 removes first and second, and so on.  If you’re confused, just stop trying to figure it out.  It was so that we all ended up doing the same amount of work.

Mosey to water fountain for the thang:
YHC has either a 1 or 2 behind his back. Get it right, do the exercise and run a lap without the islands. Get it wrong, the lap is with the islands. YHC calls out the PAX one by one to guess, and they also get to call the exercise. First up, (1) #wrong 5 burpees + long lap. Second up (1) #wrong 15LBCs but HOLD UP.  We’re going to add on again.  5 burpees plus 15 LBCs + long lap.  Third (2) #correct 5 burpees + 15 LBCs + 10 double count heel touches + short lap. Fourth (1) #wrong 5 burpees + 15 LBCs + 10 DC heel touches + 7 merkins + long lap.  Last (2) #correct 5 burpees + 15 LBCs + 10 DC heel touches + 7 merkins + 30 dips + short lap.

Mosey to Office Max parking lot close to COT. Shuffle back and forth for about 15 parking lot lines. Jailbreak to COT.

All in all we hit 2 miles and did some great exercises and got to build on each other’s ideas.  Not a bad start to a Friday considering there was no plan.  Sometimes, no plans are the best plans.  I had a blast being able to lead for a moment today.  Mainframe had to take off to more bigly importanter things but we ended with a strong COT.  Announcements included a F3/crossfit event at WEP and operation sweettooth. TAP’s to the P200 PAX and all racers for health and safety.

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22 at The Swamp on this cool January morning

We got a break from rain to come out and enjoy a good end to the week

We had 3 groups, Runners, Ruckers and Bootcampers

Those who chose the bootcamp route got YHC as Q

Was nice to be back, haven’t been to the Swamp in a bit so thanks to Cha Ching for the call-up!

We took a nice mosey over to Just Fresh where we circled up to get a warm-up in

Did some SSH, Squats, MC, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Moroccan night clubs, Plank o rama, Plank Jacks, Imperial Walkers

Moseyed over to the Red balls to partner up and do some suicides with a twist of course

Start at the stop sign with your partner and do 1 Burpee, run to the first ball together and do 10 Partner handslap merkins and run back to start together and do 1 Burpee.

Run to 2nd Ball together and do 10 partner handslap big boy sit-ups and return to stop sign together and do 1 Burpee.

Continue this alternating plan until everyone completes 9 rounds

Early finishers do squats until the 6 was in

Mosey over to a wall where we did some wall sits while each of us takes a turn and runs out and completes one Burpee

Short rest then repeat but increase to 2 Burpees

Change it up next round and do BTTW and 1 Burpee

Round 2 BTTW and 2 Burpees but go 2 PAX at a time this time so our shoulder s dont crumble!!!!

Mosey back to COT area to finish up with some AB Lab

Announcements, Yeti coming up and some PAX training for a GORUCK Heavy in a few months!!! Good luck with training and stay healthy everyone.

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