Tag: Curious George

We are one Brotherhood

Leave a comment

15 came out on this mild morning, not knowing what they would be doing.  The point is, they got out of bed and came anyway.  There were no FNG’s (although there was a Kotter – Dog Pound, welcome back!) so I gave the abbreviated disclaimer and off we went.

Mosey down to the lot in front of Empire Pizza and circled up for the following warmup:

  • SSH’s
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • and Windmills

We moseyed a short distance to the lot in front of the Indian restaurant for the Thang…and what do you know, there was a white board with a bunch of things written on it.

I had called out on Twitter that this would be a moderate workout, and to some it was, yet to others it required a little more effort.  Either way, we were here, and this is what we were doing!

First thing we partnered up.  Each partner was to do the full amount of the exercises, but they were to hold each other accountable and drive to the end together.  If your group finished, you went to another group that was still going and joined in wherever they are.  Then when that group finished you joined up with another…and so on until we all finished together!  Here were the exercises done:

  • 50 Bombjacks (Single Count)
  • 50 Carolina Dry Docks (in cadence)
  • 50 LBC’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Monkey Humpers (in cadence)
  • 50 Squats (in cadence)
  • 50 Merkins (in cadence)
  • 50 Calf Raises (in cadence)
  • 50 SSH’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Reverse Crunches (in cadence)

So, as we wrapped up, everyone had completed a minimum of 850 reps of these various exercises, and those that finished earlier than others kept adding to those totals.

We finished up with a bit of Broga, and a slow mosey back up to COT where we shared a couple stories on what IMPACT we saw this past week.

Was this moderate?  You tell me.  Was it hard, absolutely (evident by all the complaining).  The point is that if we were doing this on our own, we most likely would have quit or cut corners at some point throughout the workout.  But we weren’t alone, we had our partner holding us accountable.  Take that same concept and apply it to Whetstone.  That is EXACTLY what we are doing when we commit to having a Whetstone partner (in my case, Destiny).  We hold each other accountable for day in and day out mundane tasks…we encourage each other when things go sideways…but…we do all this TOGETHER!

If you do not currently have a Whetstone partner, I seriously urge you to pray about it, and consider joining up for the program!

At a minimum, check in with a Brother throughout the week to see how they are doing, and be willing to be transparent and honest if someone reaches out to you!  Remember, WE are not worthy to judge others…but WE are called to lift each other up!

Smithers….Out

 

TClap |
5

Jedi’s Post-iversa-Q

1 Comment

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

TClap |
10

What is a minute really?

Leave a comment

What is a minute?  It’s not very long, and they go by SO fast!  Today we had 14 PAX and we learned how short/long a minute can be!

Started with a disclaimer, and then a mosey down to the parking area past the Empire Pizza strip.

Warmup:

  • 25 SSH’s in cadence
  • 10 Windmills in cadence
  • 25 Mor. Nite Club’s in cadence
  • 25 Overhead Hand Claps in cadence

And then we got right into it.  We were not going to do much running, in fact at this point we had done exactly half of the running we were going to take on this morning.  Instead I utilized a bit of technology (having some of the standard technological issues) to setup a solid 34 minute workout in minute increments.   We did two rounds, with a 2 minute break between rounds.  The list below are the exercises we did for a minute (30 second breaks in between).

Didn’t look like too much on paper, but we got our sweat on for sure, even without the running!

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Merkins
  • LBC’s
  • Calf Raises
  • Squats
  • Dips
  • Plank
  • American Hammers
  • Wide Arm Merkins
  • Flutter Kicks (the final round of flutters was performed at COT).

It’s been a busy summer, but I enjoyed being able to take the opportunity to Q the workout today.

COT:  Prayers

  • Bob The Builder’s recovery
  • Popper’s recovery
  • Traveling mercies for those heading out of town over the upcoming holiday

Thanks for the opportunity…

Smithers…out

 

 

TClap |
0

Some new things at Slow Burn

Leave a comment

Thanks to Smithers for the opportunity! Reaching respectable now allows me to feel a little more comfortable at a moderate workout. No more razzing from the PAX!

Arrived early, set out things. Put in the bifocal contacts to help see taped-on-arm weinke (as usual). The bifocal contacts did not really help too much but this weinke was almost memorized. Welcomed the PAX. Lots of new faces for me. Highly recommend to get out to different workouts and meet new guys.  Read the disclamer.

Mosey along Empire Bldg with high knees, toy soldiers, shuffle it up. To middle of parking lot for warmup exercises: SSH, WM, LBC, Merkins, Goofballs, IW, Flutters, MNCs. Then to curb for a couple new exercises for many…

Rocky Balboas (boxing motion, alternating toe taps on curb), Twist Merkins or Nipple Scratcher Merkins (hands on curb, on drop down, one leg twist through trying to get each “nipple”…hey, it’s in the exicon…to touch the curb), RB’s again, Mike Tysons (feet on curb in flat position, squat, on the up, do  a merkin), RB’s again. Back to middle of parking lot for…

…4 corners explanation. 4 cones at the corners with 3 exercises each. Complete exercises, plank until ALL PAX done, mosey to middle for core work. Broke into groups of 4.

  • Cone 1: 10 Carolina Dry Docks, 10 Donkey Kicks, 10 alternating plank arms high.
  • Cone 2: 15 Monkey Humpers, 10 Bomb Jacks, 20 High Knee Taps.
  • Cone 3: 15 Squats, 20 Calf Raises, 20 side to side jumps.
  • Cone 4: 10 Merkins, 10 Dips, 20 Mountain Climbers.

We got through one cycle. Core work included LBCs, Hello Dolly, Freddy Mercury, Protractor, and… I think here…maybe in warmup…”point/whip the finger” one leg flutters. Ok, I made this name up. An exercise I do, on six, one leg tucked under butt, one leg flutter, lower as safely as you can from flat to on your elbows. The flutter leg is the ‘pointer’ of the 5 body appendages.

To side of Lowes. Stayed in groups of 4 and had 4 stations.

  • Station 1 sprinted length of Lowes and yelled “turn” at the corner signaling other groups to turn around. (This was to have e1 finish about the same time.)
  • Station 2, 2 PAX carried the #120 Worm coupon until hearing “turn” then handed off to other 2. Good job PAX in improvising the alternating carry as I had not indicated so.
  • Station 3 Burpees until finish.
  • Station 4 Lunge walk until hearing turn then back.

Oh yea, PAX carried and passed around a 30# coupon the whole workout. I did not say, but this coupon was intended for a peoples chair line pass w/ overhead press, curls, etc, if we had time. We didn’t.

We covered good standards of a workout including small group, partner and individual work. And for a moderate workout, maybe a little less running, a few less reps and nice mix of moving and rest time. Weinke it so that PAX are finishing exercises about the same time.

COT.

Noted to PAX to talk with your kids about things in the news, including recent suicides and the immigrant situation. They are seeing these things and it is our job as fathers to talk with them the best way we can.

Prayers for Foley who is dealing with cancer.

Sweati on the  way! No details yet makes it all the more intriguing. G-Fit in Paradise and CAH workouts need Q’s!  Use this opportunity to take a small step to #ServeCommunity.  F3Dads Camp Thunderbird camp coming up near end of summer.

Shout out to NASA for his work and commitment to CAH.

All are invited and encouraged to attend the 4x/week F3 gatherings in Fort Mill to improve your mind and spirituality. It is an open environment and all men will feel comfortable.

Aye! Bolt

TClap |
1

Golden Corral Foursome

Leave a comment

A group of 22 pax converged at the HT lot for another edition of Golden Corral.  Once the runners took off, and the ruckers marched on, 3 Pax joined YHC for the bootcamp workout.  Here is what we did:

Mosey around the HT parking lot and pause for a quick warm up of knee pulls, ankle pulls, toy soldiers, lunge twists and arm circles.  Mosey a little further to the perfect spot for COT:

All in Cadence:

SSH x 40, merkin x 10, squat x 20, mountain climber x 30, alternating lunges x 15, CDD x 15, LBC x 20

Mosey to front of HT store and face the front parking lot:

Full parking lot suicides (stop at each concrete island in lot).  Repeat 2 more times.

Mosey to the side of the HT store:

  1.  Balls to the wall/hold, bear crawl to the O’Reilly parts store and balls to that wall.  Bear crawl back to HT store.
  2. Peoples chair against HT store, 10 overhead claps, lunge walk to O’Reilly parts store and peoples chair against that wall.  Lunge walk back to HT store.
  3. Repeat #1 above
  4. Repeat #2 above

Plank it up for a quick talk on the word of the month:  IMPACT

I mentioned to the Pax that one of the strongest aspects  of F3  is the network that has been built over the years.  There is strength in numbers and I the best example of the impact of a large network was the flood relief provided to Columbia two years ago.  Hundreds of men organized a relief effort in an incredibly short time.   It was an amazing thing to see and to be part of.  Another way you can have impact through your F3 relationships is reaching out to your Pax when they need encouragement or just a note to let them know you are thinking about them.  A quick text or phone call can make a huge difference when you are down.

Back to work.  Indian Run around the whole lot and circle up for quick ablab:

Hello Dolly x 20, Freddie Merc x 20, Superman hold x 30.

End with the Body Destroyer (lie flat on the ground, breath deep, relax, no talking)

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

Was good to be Q at the Corral after an extended break including some time on IR.  It’s still one of my favorite AO’s.  Something about being under the lights makes it pretty cool.  We had a good group today.  My apologies to Manifold and Curious George for not learning your names before we started the workout.  My calls for 10 counts from ‘you guys down there’ were a little awkward.  Glad to have you men, and Bones with me today.  Hope to see you again soon.

I shared my thoughts on the word of the month, IMPACT, with the group (which is a rarity for me).  I’m not much for breaks when I Q (other than 10 counts) so we did this in the plank position.

It was an awesome, very humid,  morning at the Corral and a pleasure to lead such a fine group of men.  Thanks for the Q spot, Decibel!

Announcements/Prayers/Praises

Go Sleeveless for Cheech, this Friday, June 22 at all workouts

Prayers for Dark Helments friend who was killed in a motorcycle accident, F3 Elmer who has luekemia, and for a friend of Drop Thrill , whose child who has recovered from a serious illness.

 

 

TClap |
1

Hat trick at Slowburn

Leave a comment

Quick disclaimer for this BB: after 3 Q’s in as many days, some details are a little fuzzy.

After a quick disclaimer we moseyed down the hill to the far side of the building on the right. After we completed your standard warmup, we got right down to business.

The first order of business was a little thing called triple check. We divided up into groups of 3 and up against the building, P1 held an air squat, P2 held a plank and P3 ran down around the island and back. P3 goes to P1, P1 to P2, and P2 runs. Did this little number 3x in keeping with the theme of 3s .

Next we moseyed down to the long side of Lowe’s and found a piece of wall and held a wall sit while the person on one end did 3 burpees and ran down to the other end and found a new piece of wall to hold up. After every person completed this, we did it again. If YHC didn’t have another trick up his sleeve we would have repeated .

We then made our way down to the front of Empire Pizza to find a nice stale beer smell to complete our last of 3s. We completed a little thing called triple nickel. We did 5 merkins on one end of the parking lot, ran to the far end and did 5 WW2 situps. We completed 5 rounds of this. Moseyed back to COT for some Mary and tried to avoid the early morning Chick-fil-A cravings .

Thank you to Smithers for the invite to lead!

Wegmans

TClap |
1

D-Day Army Training

Leave a comment

Warm up – Toy Soldiers, Windmill, Moroccan night clubs, SSH, Merkins

Modified APFT test
F3 Name
Merkins
Situps
1 Mile Run
Cornhole
40
45
Modified
Spartacus
18
 10
Modified
Curious George
38
50
9:04
Fish Sticks
76
64
6:58
Fun House
45
63
6:42
Cable guy
65
60
8:05
Mr Clean
45
50
7:50
Brick
57
66
6:35
Tesh
80
80
7:50
BMT
54
45
7:24
Offspring
22
45
6:46
Gopher
45
46
8:22 ?
Sugar Daddy
48
53
7:20
Announcements – Hog & Coyote, Sweati, CSPAN B-Day Bash, Lawn Mowing FM Care Center
Prayers Praises – Work Meetings, Service Members, Vacation-Family, Daughter Cheer leading, Ron Brown Stroke, Health, Son away at camp, Son Summer School, Friends Brain Tumor, Family Relationships, Winchester had a Stroke
D-Day Notes
  • Deception Efforts
    • Operation Bodyguard
      • Fictitious First US Army Group – Commanded by George Patton
        • 20 made up units – Had patches made
        • False Radio Transmissions
  • Delayed 24 hours due to weather
    • a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable
    • Full Moon – Aid Pilots – illuminate obstacles on the beach
    • High Tides – limit exposure on the beach
  • 156,000 Allied Troops
  • 12 medal of Honor Recipients
    • BARRETT, CARLTON W. – Private, U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
    • *BUTTS, JOHN E. – Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Co. E, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.
    • *DEGLOPPER, CHARLES N. – Private First Class, U.S. Army, Co. C, 325th Glider Infantry, 82d Airborne Division.
    • EHLERS, WALTER D. – Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *COLE, ROBERT G. – Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division.
    • *DEFRANZO, ARTHUR F. – Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *KELLY, JOHN D. – Technical Sergeant (then Corporal), U.S. Army, Company E, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division.
    • *MONTEITH, JIMMIE W., JR. – First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • OGDEN, CARLOS C. – First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company K, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division.
    • *PEREGORY, FRANK D. – Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division.
    • *PINDER, JOHN J., JR. – Technician Fifth Grade, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *ROOSEVELT, THEODORE, JR. – Brigadier General, U.S. Army.
    • * Denotes a posthumous award
TClap |
1

Quagmire: Expected cooler temps but was still Hot Mess!

Leave a comment

7 PAX came to the muddy shoreline called Quagmire for a Monday morning kickoff of their week.

Friday YHC Q’ed at Varsity and had 4 sets of exercises to get through and only got through 2, so today we will complete the circuit….almost.

The Thang:

Mosey through Rivergate, past McDonald’s and the smell of something briefly appetizing and then quickly gross. Continued on to RISE for quick COP

  • Low Slow Squats
  • Merkings
  • LBCs
  • Hill Billy walkers
  • Moracan Night Clubs
  • wide arm merkins
  • Freddy Murcurys

Mosey to the Fountain

  • Derkins-30seconds
  • Box Jumps-60 seconds
  • Dips/Irkins-90 seconds
  • 1 min rest
  • 3 times

Mosey to other parking lot

  • Mtn Climbers-30seconds
  • Leg raises-60 seconds
  • Jump Rope-90 seconds
  • 1 min rest
  • 3 times

Mosey to Home Depot

  • Pullups – 30 seconds
  • SSHs – 60 Seconds
  • Burpees – 90 Seconds

Mosey to Marshals

  • Sprint up Hill and Back
  • 10 Box jumps

COT:

Spoke to the men about “Witnessing” and that it is referenced often in spiritual sense but also in a court of law. Speaking to what you saw, facts of things that have happened. Question and challenge to all us PAX is what are people witnessing about you. Not the Facebook you but the REAL you and who you really are. Can they state the facts of what kind of man you are or is everyone covered in the Facebook facade of you. Facades fade and crumble. Make and impact with the real you and let that be your witness!

Cake Boss out!

 

TClap |
2

Be IMPACTfull each and every day

Leave a comment

This month’s word on the month is IMPACT. what a better way to start the month than being Impact full as a Q. Smither’s also was Q at CnW and what a better way to emphasize the word of the month, then to have back to back messages. I normally don’t develop a weinke a few days in advance, but lately I am dealing with personal challenges that are Impacting me in various ways. So when I began to prepare for the Q I thought it would be interesting to develop a weinke around the word IMPACT. I thought it would be easy to find exercises starting with each of the letters in the word, but I was wrong. It sure was a challenge to for a few words, knowing that I couldn’t utilize coupons and wanted to keep it “moderate”. Below are the various exercises that were performed in order to spell IMPACT (a few were re-used due to the limited selection). We spelled IMPACT 5 times, if I did my math right.

I: Indian Run (we started and ended with this as we ran to/from the Clean Eats parking lot); Iron Hulk (Lexicon states this is Jack Webb with 1:4 ratio); Incline Merkins

M: Merkin; Moroccan Nightclubs; Maktar N’Dyies; Mountain Climbers

P: Peter Parker; Parker Peter; Protractor; People Chair; Partner Merkins

A: Abe Vigoda; American Hammers

C: Carolina Dry Docks; Chilcut; Catch me if you Can (crowd pleaser with merkins)

T: Tony Hawk Burpee; The Chinook; Temp Merkin; Toy Soldiers

Don’t let the day go by without being Impact full with your M, 2.0s, Community, and faith. LEt HIM speak to you in how you can do so. Your M and 2.0s look up to you and rely on you to be an Impact on their lives by leading by example. I have failed this countless of times, but I know and NEED to continue to remind my self that HE died for our sins. This was and still is the most Impact full thing anyone could do for us.

Trucker

TClap |
2