21 posted to Clydesdales. Pretty simple backblast. We ran. Here’s what many pax ran, but not all.
We played a little bit of “It pays to be a winner” this AM at Laces In in honor of GoRuck Team Selection which starts today.
If you aren’t familiar, this is a common phrase spoken in Selection, and it’s a great tool they use to get into guys heads to make guys feel pressure and push themselves.
Here’s what it looked like… The Thang:
We moseyed to the back parking lot behind the baseball field (the Band Practice Lot) for a little warm up. Some Mountain Climbers, Windmills, SSH… the usual fare.
Then we moseyed to the front of the school for some CDDs, lunges, and flutters. Spiderman made a comment at one point about losing guys because of the pace. I thought about that… With a crowd as large as we had this am, I wanted to get a sense of where their heads were. Who’s pushing, who’s trailing, who’s struggling…? Am I struggling? Am I trailing? Can anyone even really know these things…?
Anyhow, then we moseyed back the lot from whence we had just come, where we began every Pax’s favorite game show: “It Pays to Be a Winner” (at this point, the Pax didn’t know we were playing). We lined up at one end of the lot and got underway.
Round 1: Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won this round. Because he’s 17. And quite fit. Since he won, he got to choose the method by which we traveled back to the other end. He chose Bear Crawl. He was disqualified from choosing anymore. Because he’s 17. And quite fit.
Round 2. Bear Crawl to the other end. Alchemy won again. Shock. So his prize was that he got to pick who chose the next method. He chose Moab. I don’t remember what he chose, but it was no fun.
We continued to play a few more rounds with Pax choosing sprints, Bernie Sanders (Nur, Backwards Run, whatever you want to call it), Power Skips, and finally Broad Jumps. J-WOW won that round and so he got to set the pace back to the bottom of the hill by the stadium (the driveway in). We made a stop at one point to let everyone catch up and did an exercise there… No recollection what it was… anyway, we finished our mosey to the bottom of the hill and partnered up. SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS. #TWSS
Bonsai won the sprint to the bottom of the hill, despite my best efforts to cheat, and so he picked the partner method of travel to the top of the hill. He chose wheelbarrow. Because he hates happiness. Funhouse and Jekyll tried to cheat to get ahead and despite my best efforts to pull them back and make it “fair” (which meant making them go back to the start so I could cheat instead), they still won. So we moseyed back to the bottom of the hill and since they were the winners, they chose the method of travel to the top of the hill. They chose Partner Carries. Because they hate Bonsai.
The winners this time were the come from behind, dark horse team of Zima and Dirty Harry. Turns out Harry runs faster under weight. Which confirms our suspicion that he’s not actually from this planet. One more trip up running backwards and that was pretty much it for us…
The party bus came, saw, and spread the love…
-DH
The disclaimer was remembered, although, I was reminded that it was incomplete. F3 cannot be sued.
Moseyed to the HD parking lot – High knees, butt-kickers etc. Karoke is not a good warmup if you are nursing plantar facitis.
Circled up for IW, HW, Morrocan NC, Plank/Down dog/Honeymooner and slow/old-man/windmills.
Moseyed to the back of Target where the bad ideas started – probably as a result of being a slug for sometime. We did several rounds of 7’s between the walls, by the dumpster; interrupted by the Peoples’ Chair. Rd 1 – Mode: Bearcrawl, Peter Parkers and Parker Peters. Rd 2 – Mode: Lungewalk, Monkey Humpers and Squat Jumps. Rd 3 – Mode: Crabwalks, Rosalitas and Freddie Mercury. Rd 4 – Mode: Hop, Calf-raises and Bomb Jacks.
Moseyed 10 feet to long, back wall of Target for Peoples’ Chair and Donkey Webbs. After the previous bad ideas Donkey Webbs were a badder idea.
Moseyed to Best Buy for a brief taste of core exercises. I needed the core to start working of my large sit-up muscle.
COT: Prayers for families and loss of loved ones and for difficult conversations to be had with friends. Praises for new jobs and wedding anniversaries.
The word for May is mentorship. We saw examples this morning – young men, mentored by fathers and friends holding friends accountable. Pastor Tony Evans has a quote – “We are born male, but we choose to be men”. Maxim #3 in “Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men”: is “Manly Men, build Manly men.”
Thank you Jedi for getting me out of bed with the opportunity to Q. It is always an honor. Tater.
Five was the number that hit the road (briefly) with the weekly Laces Out run. We ran to through the old Kingsley business complex, stopping briefly for a few standard-fare warm-up exercises:
The route from there was to loop the pond as many reps as time would allow. MacGyver and Corruption decided to go rogue and alternate pond loops with larger “Kingsley Loop” loops. Mileage ranged from 5-7 miles amongst the group.
Strong work by all men!
18 #HIM’s chose to avoid the fartsack on a mild Thursday morning. YHC called his own number and brought out a PAX favorite from the past and, thanks to the efforts of Esso, a FNG joined us for the festivities. After disclaimers were placed, a welcome given to the FNG and a brief description of what F3 is, we moseyed off through a few parking lots to COP…..but just a few.
COP – YHC was reminded through various events of this week what makes F3 what it is. In light of those experiences, it seemed appropriate after 20 MNC’s in cadence to hold the pose and go around the circle of #HIMs with each taking a few moments to talk about who brought them into F3 and what keeps them coming back. After a lengthy hold, we proceeded to do 10 more MNC’s in cadence…..just because. Then we did the following:
Imperial Walkers x 15 (I/C)
SSH X 30 (I/C – varying speeds)
Merkins X 15 (I/C)
Staying in the plank, moving to Mountain Climbers X 10 (I/C)
Hold the plank – right arm high and left arm high, regular holds, and 6 inch hold with Stang administering a dubious 10 count, YHC’s interpretation of its duration was called into question and, as a result, excessive mumble chatter by the PAX threw YHC off. Therefore, penalty burpees were called. After which……
Low Slow Squats X 15
Mosey to the Main Event
Main event – YHC’s first Q at Laces In seemed to provoke not so subtle comments from various PAX – some of whom were in attendance this morning. Only appropriate to call a Jacob’s Ladder consisting of Burpees at the Bottom, Carolina Dry Docks at the top (2nd lightpole up the hill toward Munn Road), and lunge walking to get there (Mosey back down to bottom after each sequence). All exercises added up to 10 since 10 PAX were present – 9 burpees, lunge walk two poles, 1 CDD, mosey back down, 8 burpees, lunge walk, 2 CDD, mosey down, you get the idea.
10 additional burpees were called at the end…..just because. In addition, planks or Al Gores were held until the 6 was in. The main event (always popular) took us until 5:53 so time to mosey back to COT for a little Mary:
American Hammers X 15 (I/C)
Protractor (varying degrees with holds of varying lengths of time)
Rosalitas X 10 (I/C) – YHC was not so subtly reminded of the proper angle from which this should be done – thanks was given to the PAX for keeping YHC in line.
Boxcutters X 10 (I/C)
Body Destroyer for 40 seconds and we put a wrap on things for the morning.
Welcome FNG – Heathcliff and T-Claps to Esso for the EH.
Announcements – Read your newsletter, Custom Ruck event 5-4-19 and Travis Mannion W/O at WEP on 4-27-19.
Prayers – for families, those traveling for the spring break holiday and prayers to remember the true reason for celebration of the Easter weekend and what it should mean to all of us.
Honored to Serve,
Cyclops
A Running BB? 6 was the count at Sea Legs Tuesday. I couldn’t believe Bones was out here only 1 week after twisting his ankle pretty badly at the previous Sea Legs session. You would think that would have slowed him down!
Gave disclaimer and course direction. My goal was to run the Oleander Hill a couple times, I have set up a Strava segment for it to help us get better. We would do that loop twice then head up to the Soccer fields on Palisades and head back to our start.
When we finished all PAX were accounted for, with Bones and Hauschka leading the way. On our usual run for Sea Legs my goals is 5 miles. Today I was pushed to 5.5 miles. How? Bones slowed down long enough for me to pace with him for the first 4.5 miles.
So how do you run faster? RUN WITH FASTER MEN.
Thanks for the push!
~Royale
After a crazy weekend of March Madness – and Duke should have lost…13 PAX decided to post
mossy to concrete pad for bracket buster round 2.
In between each round, run a lap. Rounds go 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64.
So 2 burpees, run; 2 burpees and 4 shoulder presses, run; 2 burpees, 4 shoulder presses, 8 chest presses, run; 2 burpees, 4 shoulder presses, 8 chest presses, 16 curls, run; 2 burpees, 4 shoulder presses, 8 chest presses, 16 curls, 32 skull crushers, run; 2 burpees, 4 shoulder presses, 8 chest presses, 16 curls, 32 skull crushers, 64 LBCs run. 10 count
So 2 burpees, run; 2 burpees and 4 squats, run; 2 burpees, 4 squats, 8 chest presses, run; 2 burpees, 4 squats, 8 chest presses, 16 skull crushers, run; 2 burpees, 4 squats, 8 chest presses, 16 skull crushers, 32 hello dollies, run; 2 burpees, 4 squats, 8 chest presses, 16 skull crushers, 32 hello dollies, 64 flutters run. 10 count
So 2 burpees, run; 2 burpees and 4 step ups, run; 2 burpees, 4 step ups, 8 overhead swings, run; 2 burpees, 4 step ups, 8 overhead swings, 16 LBCs, run;
COT
Lutefisk was put on the IR this week and YHC felt called to respond to his call for a substitute Q at Golden Corral. Disclaimers were delivered to a crowd of 14 HIMs – Gekko took a 5-mile ish mosey in preparation for this weekend’s long training run (aka P200). The remaining PAX moseyed off for a March Madness themed workout with many reps.
COT – all I/C (note the counts and their march madness like numbers)
Moroccan Night clubs x Sweet 16
Arm circles forward and backward x Sweet 16
SSH x 32 (just because…..)
Windmills x Sweet 16
Mountain Climbers X Sweet 16
Merkins D/C X Elite 8
Honeymooners, planks, salutations to the right and left with a few 6-inch holds dome for 10 counts of varying length
Mosey to the Brackets. Disclaimer – Like the NCAA’s – some brackets are more difficult than others. Regardless of the challenge, the mission is the same – survive and advance. All exercises were completed twice (or until YHC called time)- the first round was descending down the list and the second was ascending up the list – 64-32-16-8-4-2-2-4-8-16-32-64.
Bracket #1 – East region
64- Squats
32 – Shoulder taps
16- Dips
8- Burpees
4 – Hello Dollys
2 – Dying Cockroach
Bracket #2 – West region
64- Squats
32 – Clave raises – 32 inner, 32 outer and 32 middle: 96 total – just because………
16- Burpees
8- Lunge walks (per leg)
4 – Dying Cockraoch
2 – LBC’s
Bracket #3 – Midwest region
64- Flutters (single count)
32 – Merkins (single count)
16- Burpees
8- Boxcutters
4 – Flying squirrels (just for C-SPAN)
2 – Burpees
Bracket #4 – South region
64 – LBC’s
32 – Dying Cockroaches (Single count)
16- Walking Lunges (per leg)
8- Burpees
12 – Clave Raises – 4 inner, 4 outer and 4 middle
2 – LBC’s
The last round finished at 5:58 – just in time to hustle back to COT, but jailbreak did not need to be called.
Announcements:
Operation Sweettooth 8k in Huntersville 3-30-19. Support Olive. VIrtual run from Alcatraz at 6:30 AM the same day. Questions – Change Order
Paradise Reading Center Monday & Wednesdays – Bethlehem Baptist Church 4:00 PM – great way to fill the 3rd F – Questions – Crabcakes and Copay
Read your newsletter
Prayers: One year to the week of Badger’s diagnosis and 10 months this Thursday since he went to be with Sky Q. Lift up his M and 2.0’s
It is an honor to be a part of such a terrific group of HIMs who are committed to accelerating. I was glad to come out of the bullpen for this Q. And to those considering stepping up to Q for the first time (or not), to steal a phrase from Nike – just do it. In the COT, thanks was given for our group of F3. Our ability to push one another past our comfort zones and get comfortable with discomfort is a privilege that should be treated as a blessing – let’s accept it as such and see it for the springboard of growth it is meant to serve.
SYITG
Cyclops
What a great morning to get out in The Fort for a little jog around Wally World. Attendance is strong lately with all of the P200 training and the handful of (almost) only running PAX. There’s a pace and a buddy for everyone when the crowd is this size for a running workout.
The Thang:
Wally World – A Flight Plan original wrapping around a shopping mecca and the back road for two of Fort Mills finest learning institutions. All kinds of opportunities to modify distance and incline. So if you were well rested, take that Dave Gibson Hill. If you had too much for St. Patty’s day, easy out and back to WW entrance. It was a glorious morning to be reminded how lucky we are to have our brotherhood and inhale that late winter frosty air.
COT/Announcements
Jekyll took the lead at COT. Reminding us to support our brother Olive and The Christina Latini Memorial 8K on March 30th. Sign ups right now are lower than last year. Let’s get the word out not just to the PAX but to everyone we know. Olive has taken the worst of situations and grown it into a lasting tribute. Something that he has made easy for us to be a part of. He’s done all the heavy lifting and we can claim a little bit of pride simply by doing something we already do, run a little bit. If you can’t make the actual run in Huntersville or the virtual one set up by Change Order at Alcatraz, then still donate. You will be smiling all day after you do (Christina Latini Memorial 8K) Thanks for the reminder Jekyll
Paryers:
Lift up Funhouse’s brother Scott . He’s going through major life changes today; new home for himself as he starts the painful process of a divorce. He will need the strength of Sky Q so be sure to add Scott to your prayers.
Help Hootie as he travels this week. He asks that we lift his M & kids in prayer as they work through the week while he’s gone. The life work balance is hard on everyone. Supporting each PAX with fellowship and prayer will get us through.
NMM:
A COT this large can be tough for me. I don’t hear well (Funhouse & Pusher excepted) and can’t wear my hearing aids while running. The sweat makes them shut down. I miss a lot of the jokes and camaraderie that goes on. But the energy that comes from the circle is real. Just like the workout, it doesn’t matter if you’re wide awake or struggled just to make it back, there’s something in there for everyone. Take these jokes, causes, praises and prayers to heart. Think about them as you go through your day. Give them the extra prayer they need or the smile/laugh to yourself they bring to your soul. And know there’s more waiting for you tomorrow when you need it all over again.
Boeheim
Aye!
Perfect weather to bring out some toys to play, I did my regular 4 stations setup where each stations works a particular group of muscles. After the disclaimer we did a quick run and started our warm up:
Windmill
Moroccan night clubs
Low Slow Squats
Mountain Climbers
Low Slow Merkin
The plan was to finish a full 4 station circuit within 22 minutes and we did, after completion of a station you had to bear crawl the next one. stations were setup as follow:
STATION 1
30 LBC’s
30 Rosalitas
30 Sledgehammer swings (15 each side)
40 Heel Touches SC
40 Dying Roach SC
20 slam ball to ground with 20# ball
STATION 2
10 burpees
10 Tire flips
20 Monkey Humpers
20 lunges SC
30 low squat (touch the ground with hand)
50 calf raises
STATION 3
10 diamond merkins
15 wide arm merkins
20 regular merkins
30 battle rope wave SC
40 Shoulder taps
40 plank jack
STATION 4
USE WEIGHTS OR CINDY FOR ALL EXERCISES
10 man makers
15 biceps curls
20 bent over row
25 overhead press
30 triceps extension
40 shoulder shrug
After about 32 minutes we were done with a full circuit and had the visit of the legendary captain Thor, 1 Big Boy Sit Up and 4 American Hammers, progressive to 10 BBSU and 40 AH, lots of whining during this exercise, one PAX was even offered some cheese to go along with that whine!! After we finished captain Thor it was time to stretch out our backs with superman, we did 2×25 count. With about 5 minutes to spare we lined up next to what used to be Fort Mill BBQ and did some sprints all the way across to the end of the parking lot, after 5 sprints PAX where smoked but we had one minute left so we went for a 6th sprint, not sure if PAX liked it since there was lots of mumble chatter.
We moseyed back to COT for announcements, prayers and praises.
Great push by everyone, good mix of legs, core and upper body work.
Tinsel out…