NYE at the “Ant”- BB 2wks late

Link to the Pre-Blast: https://f3thefort.com/2019/12/18/the-force-to-bring-us-back-in/

The script changed but we discussed burnout and the challenges associated with getting burned out. Nevertheless, we did some work with heavy sand bags and rucks. The legs were put to the test and teamwork was present.

A lot remains on the written weinke which should see the light of day or the darkness of the gloom…some day.

Until next time.

Maximus

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Petty Officer Taylor J Gallant

On this breezy and 66 degree December morn, eight badgers answered the call to post for the last Monday of the decade. We honored Petty Officer Taylor J Gallant by putting our all into a one hour suck fest.

The Work:

Run 1 Mile (4 Laps)
60 Burpee Pull Ups
Run 800 Meters (2 Laps)
30 Burpee Pull Ups
Run 400 Meters (1 Lap)
15 Burpee Pull Ups

It was an oldie but goodie, and fun was had by all. We finished just in time for a quick round of flutters and mosey back to COT.

It was great to see Shield and Cheddah back from their stints on IR.

Announcements: 

Read your newsletter.

 

Prayers/Praises:

Dirty Harry enjoyed a prolonged break with his M over Christmas – her longest stint off since starting her new job. Praise for that time, prayers that it happens again soon.

Pray for your word for 2020 and for each PAX to step up and lead in their respective circles of concentrica this year and beyond.

 

Dirty Harry – thank you for trusting me with this last Badger of the decade.

Punch List out.

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Extortion 17 Spl Spencer Duncan

Five men posted at Honey Badger to honor the 31 heroes of Extortion 17, and Spl Spencer Duncan.   Conditions were cold and raining.  NaFo has two entrances with some awning cover and we utilized both.

Warm up:
Under the large awning: Run loop under awning, 17 times, drop a clothespin in the bucket to keep count.
Then warm up exercises:
SSH (IC 12x)
Windmill (IC 10x)
Imperial Walker (IC 12x)
Moroccan Nightclub (IC 12x)
Low Slow Squats (IC12x)
Peter Parker (IC 12x)
Plank stretches
Downward dog
Honeymooner
All pax in plank: read story of Extortion 17 (copied below)

Thang 1:
13’s: start at a bench do a derkin, bear crawl to other side, do two derkins at other bench, change incrementally to 13
(do box cutters for the Six…)
Do 31 step ups
Plank for the Six
Read Spl Spencer Duncan Story (copied below)

Thang 2:
Run to small awning (distance of 350 feet)
17 Block Curls
17 Block Squats
31 heavy Freddies, hold block and do freddie mercuries
(Plank for Six…)
Blocktanamo: standing, line up hold block out at 90 degrees, each pax runs and presses/slaps/etc the other pax’s blocks.

Thang 3:
Run to Large awning
Indian Bear Crawl
21 bobby hurleys
21 squats (IC)
Indian Bear Crawl-Merkins
21 jump squats
31 calf raises

Thang 4:
Run to small awning
21’s: 20 block swings, 1 merkin…change incrementally 21 merkins
This was cut a little short due to time, and it quite sucked.

Run back to large awining
Fini, COT

Prayers/Praises
Dirty Harry’s wedding anniversary is Dec 24; HarryCarry’s first born turns 16 today; Marriages; those in medical care.

Reason for the season: Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the son of earth, Born to give them second birth.

Reason for the workout:
Extortion 17
On August 6, 2011, a U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter approached a landing zone in Afghanistan 40 miles southwest of Kabul. The helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was on a mission to reinforce American and coalition special operations troops. It would never return. Insurgents fired at the Chinook, severed one of its rear rotor blades, and brought it crashing to the ground. All 38 onboard perished instantly in the single greatest moment of sacrifice for Americans in the war in Afghanistan. Those killed were some of the U.S.’s most highly trained and battle-honed commandos.

Specialist Spencer Duncan was born Feb 6th 1990 in Meriam Kansas and graduated from Olathe South High School in 2008.

He knew he wanted to make a difference in the world, and chose to join the US Army Reserve after high school. After basic training at Fort Knox, Spencer qualified as a helicopter repairer and was stationed 7th battalion, 158th Aviation regiment in Kansas. He loved working as a mechanic and became door gunner for Chinook helicopters. In May 2011, Spencer was sent to Afghanistan for his first deployment.

Specialist Spencer Duncan, 21, was a member of the Extortion 17 air-crew when it was shot down in the Wardak province on August 6, 2011. He is survived by his parents Dale and Megan, brothers Tanner and Calder, and his beloved dog Dixie.

When Spencer’s body was returned home to Kansas, over 15,000 people turned out to line the roads and show solidarity with the Duncan family. Specialist Spencer Duncan was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal. He is interred at the National Cemetery in Ft Leavenworth Kansas.

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Rainy Block Party

@ESSO taking me away from my site to inflict some pain at WEP.  SOOO let’s mosey to a random parking lot for COP. The typical Lutefisk warm-o-rama containing windmills, imperial walkers, merkins, mtn climbers. mosey to nasty hill (you know the one). 10 squats at the top, 10 SSH at the bottom, nur up, run down. nice way to burn the legs.  mosey to the traffic lights, waiting for the signal let’s knock out 15 Makhtar N’Diayes.  On to the gravel lot for toe taps and some lot-length shuffles. Moving on to the downtown area as it starts to rain pretty hard. BTTW with peter parkers. Mosey to the building with a long undercover area. Team up, teams of 3. One partner holds a position, one exercise, the other runs the length and back. Flapjack each circuit until all have completed it once, then move to next circuit. These are not in order and that’s ok!

HOLD: Al gore, chillcut (elbow plank), BTTW, superman, wall sit w/arm flutters
EXERCISE: ssh, tempo merkin, lbc, v-up
RUN: run, run, run, bear crawl, broad jump

Mosey to COT for announcements, prayers and praises, lutefisk’s message on the f3 brotherhood being more than a workout, and prayer on the way out. Honored to lead, til next time.   AYE

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Twitter Burpee Challenge

There is something about twitter and Slack (your welcome Crab Cakes) where you get to poke the bear and start a rash of replies about which AO is better, which one will have more PAX post, and who’s WO will SUCK more. Your YHC tried to create an unofficial convergence by calling out multiple PAX, and then Punch List took it to another level and would do burpees if additional PAX would post….Stang where were you???? Your Vols are bowl eligible, you should be posting now that you can be seen without getting grief. Actually where were all those PAX who were called out??? Disappointing, we all wanted to see Punch List do 100 burpees 🙁

The 12 PAX who did post were not disappointed.

The Thang:

Warm up with toy soldiers along roadway for 2 light pole lengths (longer than I thought), return with knee ups and lunges.  Circle up for COP – some windmills (Dirty Harry loves these!), Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Slow Squats, and merkings. Mossy past the pull up bars….PAX were shocked we didn’t stop there….they just didn’t know what as in store for them…to the bottom of the hill for round 2 of COP. Moroccan nightclubs, overhead claps, and toe touches.

Mossy up the hill to the pull up bars. Time for the real thing. Dora 400! Partner up. As a duo, 60 pull-ups with a challenge that each PAX does 20 true pull-ups (not using the foot rests). 100 merkins, 150 squats, and 200 LBCs. I know, this does not total 400….The other partner runs to the bottom of the hill and back.

Each PAX was then required to do 10 true pull-ups and 10 toe touches, while resting wall sits. Once completed, 5 more pull-ups. Can’t get better without doing them and they are the best exercise out there!!

Mossy to crosswalk and sprint to next crosswalk. Finish with 3 minutes of Marry.

Appreciate the opportunity to lead and push PAX on pull-ups, thanks Punch List.

Read the newsletter!

Prayers for Cash and Karrie who are fighting cancer….you can do it!

Trucker out

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QvQ 19.1 – Jiffy vs. Sasquatch

21 PAX showed up to the first round of QvQ 2019. This first round is the classic match up from last year, which was decided by ONE point! That’s right, the reigning champ versus his challenger.

Jiffy versus Sasquatch

Brief history: Sasquatch lost to Jiffy last year by one point. ONE point! It was necessary for the match up to be repeated given the level of intensity at which both of these #HIM operate.

The clock struck 0515 and I directed everyone’s attention to the championship prize. A custom F3 shovel flag curated by YHC.

The intent of this shovel flag is to be much like a championship belt. I hope that it passes hands over the years, and we write the name of each years’ reigning champ on the back of the handle. It shall be brought to CSAUPs as well at any time the champion posts and desires to gloat. See below for a glimpse of the trophy.

0515.

I had five minutes to lead a quick warm up to get the PAX ready for what was to come.
Once we got our Tappy Taps out of the way, it was time to get down to business.

The rule of order is the competitor who is earliest to arrive will get to decide who goes first. Jiffy arrived at about 0435, so he was the clear winner. He chose to receive and go on the offense first.

0520.

Coupon Roulette

We came upon a sinister circle with 20+ cinder blocks, 50/60lb dumbbells, and retaining wall blocks! He had us circle around the coupons and choose one.

With your selected coupon you will complete in cadence called by Jiffy:

Shoulder press x 10
Curls x 10
Squats x 10
4 Count Flutters x 10

Jiffy then rolls three dice. One determines the direction we rotate. Two determine how many coupons in that direction we shift.

Get to your next coupon, repeat. Roll again.

Next coupon, do equal amount of burpees to number of coupons we rotated. Repeat four movements.

Roll again. Next coupon, do equal amount of partner clap push ups to number of coupons rotated. Repeat movements.

We hit round four and I was praying for a miracle, because my arms were already smoked.

0530.

Sasquatch takes the reigns and moves us to the pull up bars for a very creative assembly line of face kicks.

Nine PAX line up at pull up bars. The rest at various nearby stations. Do one pull up, shift one bar to the left. Once you reach the end you then BTTW crawl back to the other side of the pull up bars. Then head out to the street.

The remaining PAX are either doing burpees at either curb on the street nearby or run/nur down and up the hill (AKA Quadzilla!). Once you finish your respective station, move to the next and tap somebody at that station to proceed.

That was super original, and also tclaps to Jedi for doing a full handstand walk with no wall support both times through.

0540.

Jiffy gets his second opportunity to remind us why he is the champ.

We remain at the pull up bars and count off by threes.

Group 1: four rounds of 5 burpees/10 squats and then end with 10 partner clap push ups.

Group 2: four rounds of 5 pull ups/10 Merkins and end with 10 partner clap push ups.

Group 3: run to bottom of hill a dm bearcrawl up. At each cone do 10 Carolina Dry Docks.

We made it through 2.5 stations before running out of time. A great use of the AO. I wondered how Sasquatch was going to answer this painful segment.

0550.

Sasquatch has us count off by fours. He then leads us on a brisk mosey to the turf field. As we approach, we see two sleds at the closest end zone, and two at the far end zone. He sets one group up at each sled and has us complete the following exercises as a group on repeat:

Seal Sit-Ups x 10
Jump Squats x 10

Meanwhile, one PAX from each group pushes the sled 100 yards across the field to the opposite end zone. Once they reach the end, swap with someone in that group and they then push the sled back to your original group. Continue that snake like move until time is called. Woof.

0600 couldn’t come soon enough. Those sled pushes were terrible.

We hit 0600 and head back to COT to vote. The votes were cast, the points were tallied, and a winner was decided upon.

The winner of week one of QvQ is:

Sasquatch

It was close, but this time it was decided by 7 points. Sasquatch was awarded a patch since he will be advancing to the championship on 10/30.

A great showing by both of our competing Q’s. I think I speak for everyone when I say that was one of the more difficult workouts as of late at The Coop. And we’ve had some tough ones!

I’m looking forward to week two. We’ve got the Airborne Bad Assery of Geronimo lined up to take on our very own 1st F Q – Shady!

Announcements

Broga at The Ranch tomorrow! A special recovery focused workout for those running Ragnar this weekend.
QvQ next week: Geronimo vs Shady!

Prayers/Praises

Wegmans’ father in law has prostate cancer. It’s slow moving, but it’s cancer. Pray that it can be eradicated without much detriment to his M’s father.
Pray for the multiple PAX with pregnant M’s. It’s a transitional time but it’s well worth it. Pray we can as husbands love our wives like Christ loves the church while they are going through so many changes.

Thanks for the great beatdown, men.

Punch List out.

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Sometimes You Are The Six/IronPax wk2

This is simply one PAX’s IronPax story.

Of course you can see who is posting this backblast, but that is really not relevant.

You can review the PAX in attendance and know which region and which AO this was held, but that is irrelevant, too.

IronPax was created by F3Greenwood for the Nation to step out of their comfort zone, to be tested and stressed physically. to organize a little competition, to see where you stand with your peers.  Throwing in a little competition to the Nation is a good thing; competition (much like running times in races) is definitely a driving force to maintain, build upon and evaluate individual’s fitness levels.

But ultimately it is about 2 things:

1) You vs. You.  How far, hard and/or fast can YOU push yourself? Where does YOUR fitness level stand? Do YOU need to post more to maintain YOUR desired fitness level? Are YOU taking advantage of the F1 opportunities in your region?

2) PAX supporting PAX.  When you are out there doing a weekly IronPax challenge, you are out there WITH OTHER PAX DOING IT.  You will not be left behind, and you will not leave others behind. Use your fellow PAX for inspiration. They are with you doing it.

After having done IronPax in the past, my goal this year was to simply finish each week’s workout. Week 2’s “Meatloaf Massacre” challenge was a super hard arm workout challenge. For this runner’s skinny arms,  adding in I have not been posting as much as I should recently, I knew I was going to have a tough time.

Cinder blocks were brought by a PAX. 12 men had taken the challenge on this day.

By round 2, I knew I was in trouble. This was going to be a struggle. I was ready to quit then knowing I was not going to finish. I kept going simply by the fact that other PAX kept going. Through round 3, into round 4, I had fallen way behind as my arms were nearly dead. I was watching the clock as we got closer and closer to 0600.

After 30 of 50 merkins in the last round (with one running lap to finish), I announced I was done. I didn’t want to hold anyone up.  But my quitting was not an option for 2 of my fellow PAX (who these PAX were is also irrelevant, but WE know who they were). “How many more Bolt?” was asked. It did not matter to them. I was getting  20 more done. “Ok, 5 at a time. We’re doing it with you. Let’s get it done.” Back on my knees in front of my cinder block with 2 PAX to my right. 5 merkins, rest. “5 more Bolt.” So 5 more, rest. Then 5 more, rest. And the last 5. “Go get your last lap done, Bolt.”  Before I knew it I was done.

I certainly was not expecting to be the six, but now I had an IronPax time to submit.

And that’s all that really mattered on this day.

I’m expecting I will need PAX support in the final 2 weeks of IronPax. And I know I will get it.

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Honoring 5 heroes from 9/11 at the Honey Badger

16 PAX joined me to honor our fallen heroes, this time I went off the book and decided to do my own version and honor some of the heroes from the tragedy of 9/11.

-During the September 11 of 2001 attacks, 2,977 people were killed (excluding the 19 hijackers) and more than 6,000 others injured

-The immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon

-Of those who perished during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were New York City police officers and 37 were officers at the Port Authority.

We had hundreds of heroes that day but I decided to honor 5 that made a great impact, they are not in any specific order but here are their names:

  1. NYPD Officer Moira Smith was the first officer to report the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 when she saw the first plane strike the first tower of the World Trade Center. Smith, a 13-year veteran, ran into the towers and began assisting in the evacuation. Officer Smith is credited with saving hundreds of lives that day, giving her own in the process. She was the only female NYPD officer to die on 9/11.
    She was survived by her 2-year-old daughter and her husband.
  1. Welles Crowther was an investment banker working on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center (the south tower). When United Airlines Flight 175 struck the south tower, Crowther remained calm. Just minutes after the plane hit, Crowther called his mother to let her know he was okay. He then began assisting others in evacuating, at one point carrying a woman down 17 flights of stairs, only to return to the 78th floor to continue helping others.
    Crowther had made it out of the building and was running back into it with a “Jaws of Life” tool when the tower collapsed. He was 24 years old.
  1. Mark Bingham ark owned a public relations firm, the Bingham Group. He was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham was among the passengers who, along with Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick, formed the plan to retake the plane from the hijackers, and led the effort that resulted in the crash of the plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, thwarting the hijackers’ plan to crash the plane into a building in Washington, D.C., most likely either the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House. Before their final mission, Mark called his mother and told her that he loved her very much. His mother, Alice Hoagland, is a former flight attendant. Since Mark’s death, she has become a world-renowned expert on airline safety as well as an activist for LGBTQ issues in memory of her heroic son.
  2. Ronald Paul Bucca was a Fire Marshal with 23 years on the job with FDNY. An Army Special Forces reservist, Bucca was known as “The Flying Fireman” after a spectacular fall from a tenement fire escape. Bucca, a marathon runner, died responding to the 78th floor of the south tower moments before it collapsed.
    He was the only FDNY Fire Marshal to be killed on 9/11.
  1. Retired United States Army Officer Rick Rescorla was working as the head of security at Morgan Stanley on the 44th floor when tragedy struck. Rick was there during the bombing at the Trade Center in 1993 and believe that the Towers were still a target for terrorists. He even predicted that a plane might be flown into them one day. He implemented security procedures for Morgan Stanley, including having practice evacuations every three months.
    On 9/11, Rick systematically helped the firm’s 1,000 employees out by ordering them through the stairways. He sang a Cornish battle song to boost morale, as he had done for his troops in Vietnam. After someone told him that he also needed to evacuate Rick said, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out”. He was last seen heading up the tenth floor when the Tower collapsed.

WARM UP

We started with a slow mossey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers in between runs.

Back to COP for warm up exercises:

Windmill

Moroccan night clubs

Low Slow Squats (crowd favorites)

Cherry pickers

THE THANG

Mosseyed to the pull up bars area were some utensils had been setup for the following 9-11 format WO, 9 exercises with 11 reps each and then RUN down the hill to the stop sign and NUR back up, RINSE AND REPEAT, the plan was to do this 5 times, one for each hero but due to time restriction we completed 4 circuits with just enough time to run back to COT for announcements, prayers and praises.

11 pull ups BAR

11 big boy situps

11 toes to BAR

11 sledgehammer swing

11 knee raises BAR

11 merkins

11 slam ball to ground

11 Carolina dry docks

11 tire flips

It was a tough workout but it’s totally worth it when honoring our heroes; everyone pushed themselves through it with lots of mumble chatter but at the end we left better men!!

I was honored to Q the Honey Badger this week, thank you Dirty Harry for the opportunity to lead. #NeverForget

TINSEL out…

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September 11 Memorial Stair Climb

Today I was honored to lead 39 men of the Fort in my version of a 9/11 Stair Climb…. I asked these gentlemen to bring rucks or sandbags and headlamps. This was to simulate the equipment worn by the first responder’s who entered the World Trade Center to do their jobs. We also had Charetta appear courtesy of Dirty Harry…she was our victim that needed to be  carried up and down the NaFo bleachers ….everyman carried their fare share of weight.

The workout was simple!!!!  There was no warmup….we didn’t need one….

The object was to climb the bleachers 27.5 times up and down carrying a ruck or sandbag….the goal 1980 steps or 110 stories….NaFo bleachers are 36 steps up and down…the men of the Fort  conquered this simple request but there was a catch…..when they came back down they had to do 9 inclined merkins and 11 squats… I think most did more than the required amount and for that I’m in awe…. I love being part of this great nation

Before the climb I shared a little about my experience that day 18 years ago as an NYPD officer and I asked each man to reflect between the hours of 8:46 am to 10:28 am these were the hours that changed my life and change the world as we knew it….I also wanted to remember my friends who gave their lives to save as many people as they could that morning :

NYPD PO MARK ELLIS TRANSIT DISTRICT 4

NYPD PO RAMON SUAREZ TRANSIT DISTRICT 4

PAPD PO ANTONIO RODRIGUES PORT AUTHORITY BUS DEPOT

I worked with these gentleman and they will never be forgotten…

Thank you Punchlist for letting me.lead these great men .

We had one FNG Lassie….welcome

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3 X 12 at Varsity

Eight men in total posted at Varsity for a Tabata routine workout on a somewhat breezy morning.
Started with six pax and then an additional two Iron Pax gents joined in about 20 mins into the workout.

Warm Up
Mosey run
SSH (IC 10x)
Windmill (IC 10x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Merkins (IC 10X)
Plank stretches
Downward dog
Honeymooner
5 Pullups OYO

The tabata routine noted below was three sets of four exercises repeated three times, hence 3×12,

Thang 1:  I used the Seconds Pro timer to prompt us through the thang.  Also had tunes going.
Interval routines: exercise for 32 seconds, rest/transition for 10 seconds
Set #1:
Imperial Walkers
Dips
LBCs
Bobby Hurley’s
Repeat 3x

Short mosey Run

Set #2:
windmills
American Hammers
Step ups
OH claps
Repeat 3x

Short mosey Run

Set #3:
Derkins
flutters
Cherry pickers
Bomb jacks
Repeat 3x

Thang 2:
Sally routine (Moby’s song Flower): Leg lifts (down position should be 6″ off the deck)

Fini, COT

The 3×12 tabata was decent, but I’d bump it up to 45 seconds on exercise next time.

Doing the Sally  routine with leg lifts is a different take on the high plank/low plank version of it.  But it still rage-worthy by the twentieth time Moby cycles through “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down”

Playlist:
The Man (Killers)
Got Nuffin (Spoon)
Higher Ground (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Come on feel the noise (Quiet Riot)
South Bound Suarez (Led Zeppelin)
We Will Rock You (Queen)
Fire (Hendrix, live)
See Emily Play (Pink Floyd)
Living in the USA (Steve Miller Band)
Flower (Moby)

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