Tag: Dungaree

We’ll Make It Breathable

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I know Beacon had this idea in mind but as you’re reading, think about an area of your life where you can push yourself just a little bit more. Not in the sense of looking to DO more but rather, looking to BE more. This comes from pushing yourself. Push yourself to meet guys at another workout, push yourself to be present for others, push yourself to be more engaged. When you get comfortable with your routine, you coast rather than accelerate.

23 was the number at Footloose this morning and evidently, not everyone knew who was on Q. Once they learned, I was happy that nobody left. We started with 23 and we finished with 23. My ask of the PAX was this: I don’t know what you’re carrying on your mind as you roll in here at 0515 but as you’re here for the next 45mins, be HERE, be present, enjoy the guys to your left and right.

Once we were disclaimed, we took a long mosey over to and up Main Street to the Methodist Church to circle up in their parking lot.

Wind Mills

Imperial Walkers

Hillbilly Walkers

5 Burpees by special request

Squats

Moroccan Night Clubs

Carolina Dry Docks

5 more Burpees by special request

Mosey over to behind the Baptist Church

Switzer to explain the deal. Partner up while partners start on opposite ends of the large parking lot.

Each partner bear crawls to their respective 1st island then run to meet their partner in the “middle” of the lot. 20 Single count merkins, run back to that previously-mentioned island and crawl bear back to your starting point. Remember, push yourself just a little bit more.

Rd 2 was crab walk to that island, then run to meet the partner, 20 Wide Arm Merkins, run back to the island and walk crab back to your starting point. Remember, push yourself just a little bit more.

Mosey back to our starting parking lot for a little plank work.

20 Mountain Climbers

10 Peter Parkers

10 Donkey Kicks

10 Parker Peters

2min plank hold

2min Al Gore

1min Burpees

Remember, push yourself just a little bit more.

1min Side Straddle Hops

7min of Mary

WWII Sit-Ups

Flutter Kicks

Freddy Mercury

Heels to Heaven

Protractor

Remember, push yourself just a little bit more.

And that was it…well done.

Announcements:

  1. Mini-convergence at Slow Burn tomorrow to pray for and send Wegmans off on his F3 mission trip to Peru. (Broga will be at 0500 at Slow Burn AO)
  2. Engage in the running training plan that Anchorman and Barry Manilow are leading guys through
  3. Read your newsletter b/c I forgot the remainder.

Prayers:

PRAY

 

Until next time.

Maximus

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Lucky 7 at the Yard

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7 was the number at the Yard on Saturday for a cool start to the day.  I got out there early to do a little pre work on the site.  Chalk is necessary item for school yard planning.  Went through the disclaimer and a brief intro to our coupon for the for the morning.  Mr. Kettlebell that signifies the burdens that we hold close to our vest and don’t share with other.  It was encouragement to have the pax think about men they would like to lock shields with and be held accountable. Kept passing it around to all the pax so everyone gets a turn.

After the brief intro it was on to the excitement with a mosey to our first stop.  Warmup consisted of Imperial Walkers, Windmills, Merkins, Mtn. Climbers, Moroccan night clubs and squats.

On to the meat and potatoes.  Short mosey over to the basket ball court for some four corners.  Three exercises at each corner 15 reps each. Corner 1 – Merkins, LBC’s, Squats. Corner 2 – Mtn Climbers, Rosalitas, Freddie Mercuries. Corner 3 – Carolina Dry Docks, Calf Raises, Flutters.  Corner 4 Side-strattle Hops, shoulder taps, LBC’s.

Brief word of encouragement and on to the next series of fun.  Short mosey to the light poles.  If you ever wanted to know how many light poles there are at the Yard there are way to many.  We ended up doing 13 with 20 counts of the following CDD, Freddy Mercuries, Hillbilly Walkers, Mt. Climbers, American Hammers, Shoulder taps, SSH, Flutters, Calf Raises, CDD, squats, LBC’s and Merkins.  Rinse and repeat. Yikes

Headed back to COT for a few minutes of Mary.  Off to Q Source.

All PAX took turns at hanging onto the bell.  Hopefully this allowed some reflection time to think of those back we could get into a shield lock with.

Thanks for the opportunity.

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The Workout!   16 Boot Campers and 2 Runners

After a lengthy disclaimer, we began the workout with a warm up –

  • 20 LSS
  • 25 SSH
  • 10 Merkins
  • 15 Seal Jacks
  • 10 WAMs

Mosey across 160 and down to McAllisters.  Here we took a break to talk about committing to a word of the year!

Dora #1

With partner run up stairs, across top of building, back down stairs and execute

  • 150 Merkins
  • 200 LSS
  • 300 Gas Pumpers

Dora #2 

Same running pattern with

  • 100 calf raises
  • 200 SSH
  • 300 LBC

A wee bit of stretching with a mosey back to COT.  This was perhaps a bit more than a “moderate,” but the admonition to moderate was liberally announced.  Good work by all and I think Maximus had worked up a sweat by close.

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Capture the Dodgeball Bear Crab Crawl

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Not feeling well and with three Qs in four days, YHC almost requested a substi-Q, but decided against it. Knowing I would need to be up and moving for the Wednesday Q Source launch, what better way to guarantee my attendance than having me Q the workout before? So I dug through past workouts, found one that was fairly straightforward yet enjoyable, modified it, and prayed it would work out well.

0515, and a whole bunch of PAX posted, as is the standard for Abyss these days. Short disclaimer given (I think all the points were made), and off we moseyed out of the parking lot, toward the entrance, wrapping around the island for side shuffles, flap jack, then heels to butts, knees to chest, and toy soldiers. Circle it up in a random area behind the school before we got to the “track.”

Truth be told, the delay in the writing of this backblast has led to the forgetting of what was done in COP. Vaguely remember SSHs, windmills, MNCs, merkins, and maybe some downward dog/stretching. I don’t know. We warmed up.

Quick mosey around the school to the middle of the track for the Thang:

Flag capture the dodgeball bear crab crawl

PAX were divided into two teams. Every PAX received a length of fabric to use as a flag/tail (think flag football). A dodgeball was placed inside the perimeter of a hula hoop (to keep it from rolling away) roughly 20 yards from the “start” line. Cones were lined up to mark the outer limits of the course. Rules were simple-ish:

  • Complete the buy-in exercise
  • Bear crawl to the ball (or equidistant to the ball if somebody else got there first)
  • Crab walk back to the start
  • The team that gets the ball back to the start “wins” that round and does half the penalty
  • Losing team gets the full penalty
  • Any time you lose your flag, you have 5 burpees on the spot (even if you step on it yourself)
  • Forward passing after losing a flag is not allowed (this was Omaha’d in later)

After every round, PAX ran a lap for good measure.

Buy-in exercises:

  • 50 merkins
  • 50 squats
  • 50 CDDs
  • 50 monkey humpers
  • 50 werkins
  • 30 lateral lunge leg lifts

Penalties:

  • Odd rounds: 20 donkey kicks for loser; 10 for winner (teams tied first round due to rule confusion and all did 10)
  • Even rounds: 20 jump lunges/leg for loser; 10 for winner

Mosey back to to COT, arriving at exactly 0600 (as though I planned it).

Quick name-o-rama, announcements, and prayers. Apparently YHC was rushed to get out to Q Source, so apologies to any PAX who didn’t get to share.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead, Copyright, even though I was scheduled by Bones.

~Jedi

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The 2018 Fort Clave Boss 5k & Christmas Convergence

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0545 – Arrive at Palisades Elementary School AKA The Abyss where Bear Grylis is tailgating like its the Summer Concert tour and he’s at FORT-A_PALOOZA.

Ruckers and Runners were gathering and getting ready for a full morning of all 3 F’s. The Pre-Ruck led by Bonsai (as Worldwide Leader was MIA) got together and away they went.

YHC gathered all of the Clave Boss 5k runners and gave the instructions for the course. Signs were posted however it was still difficult for some to follow (Royale, Funhouse and some others) and they got 3.5mi surprise.

0605 – The 4th Annual Clave Boss 5k launched and 32 runners hit the hills of Palisades. This year we awarded Bundt Cakes to the first runner at various paces.

  1. MacGyver flew in at 20:47 6:60/mi and then went back to encourage other runners – True #HIM
  2. Sharkbait came in at 24:43 7.88/mi
  3. Islander rolled in at 27:10 8.74/mi
  4. Twister with a 31:25 10.08/mi
  5. Smuggler wrapped it up with a solid 34:11 11:00/mi

Appreciate all the participants. Next Year’s 5th Annual will be a special event for sure!!

0700 – Preruck has returned, Clave Boss has wrapped up and now more cars have entered the parking lot with PAX gathering all around. It was time to launch the convergence. YHC ask if there were FNGs, and we had 4 in attendance, gave the disclaimer. YHC then gave RUCK crew green light to jet with a 0750 COT. The remaining 75 or so PAX had YHC and Maximus for the next 50minutes

The Thang:

Mosey parking lot….20 SSHs, Go to other end of lot, Merkins, go to other end of lot for squats, back to other end of parking lot for LBCs

Line up in 6 lines, each line goes to a cone and each cone has exercise on it

  1. Merkins
    1. Bearcrawl
  2. Leg Lifts
    1. Lunge walk
  3. Wide Arm Merkins
    1. Run
  4. Donkey Kicks
    1. Bearcrawl
  5. Spider-man Merkins
    1. Lunge walk
  6. Sumo Squats
    1. Run

3 rounds of above, 5 reps, then 10 reps, then 15 reps

The mumble chatter was classic and the fellowship as always enjoyable

Handoff to Maximus

Mosey to back of School and line up in 6 lines for Pain Platoon

  1. Santini led squat routine that is always a crowd pleaser
    1. Burpees
  2. Pusher led Lunges
    1. Burpees
  3. Double D led Mc-tar-Ny ??
    1. Burpees
  4. Bubba Gump led SSHs
    1. Burpees
  5. 4 lines – turn to face one another – then Seal Team Sit ups–always a big crowd pleaser

Mosey to front of school for COT:

Plank while waiting on RUCK crew and 6 inches with Walker…..always fun!!

  • 93 was the count with 4 FNGs
    • Bo Knows
    • Ferris
    • Gaylord
    • Doubtfire

 

  • We Switzered to gather around and listing to Mr. Clean give a message and challenge to the PAX
    • I’m honored to speak with you today;
      Tomorrow (Christmas night) is the 1 year anniversary of me and the kids finding Cindy (my wife) unconscious. She was immediately put on life support
      Cindy died 3 days later from complications of MS and an addiction to alcohol
      I thought our life was on cruise control. I was being non -purposeful and non intentional. Being a single parent and grieving thru the tragic death of a spouse has been unreal.A few things I have learned from this that I would like to share.

      1. I have a much deeper awareness of emotional health. I have been humbled. Being humble creates avenue for change and growth. My question to you is…are you vulnerable and humble enough to let brothers in to help you?? Are you humble enough to ask for him if you are escaping reality w addictions? Alcohol, porn, etc
      2. I have a more real relationship w Christ.At a time when I doubted Christ care for me and my children and his desire to help our family Christ stepped in and answered a very exact prayer request. If you have doubts about Christ, speak to me please. I would love to share with you what He alone has done.
      3. I am thankful for the suffering. It has brought our family closer together. Even though I and the kids are miss Cindy everyday, we have so much to be thankful. I am thankful for the life that we had w Cindy. I am thankful that she is suffering no more. I am thankful that Cindy is made as new. Most importantly, am thankful for the birth of Christ. He gives us HOPE for a better day.
    • My Challenge to you is Love Deeper and Speak Sweeter. — too often people speak disrespectfully of their spouses and children and parents. Words matter and we all need to choose them wisely. We need to hold each other accountable and “get our heads out of our asses” as you never know when that person will be taken from you.

YHC can’t thank Mr Clean enough for this message and his friendship. over the last 2 years we have grown together to be better Christ followers, better husbands and fathers. He is such a great leader and I’m blessed to have him in my life.

If you need someone like this in your life, reach out to me and we’ll get you set up as there are a boatload of HIMs in the PAX

********ALERT***********ALERT**********ALERT*********ALERT***********ALERT****************

It was time for some major announcements in leadership. YHC has led as NANTAN for The Fort region for about 15months. Prior to that I was Weasel Shaker and prior to that 3rdF Q and in-between Site Qs of Ranch, Ballroom, Crossroads,, ChicknWizdim, and led CSAUP teams at P200, Kiawah and others.

It was time to hand over the keys to this well oiled machine to a new leader. A man I’ve watched grow and lead in all 3 F’s and lead well. First got to know him well on the 2014 BRR 9 man team. I was asked to attend Colombia mission with with him in 2015 that he led. Have Qd many times with him and attended a retreat in Boone with him in 2017 and saw his heart for God, Family and the PAX of The Fort. In 2018 he led BEYOND and pushed men to not only dig deep physically but to stretch themselves emotionally and spiritually. This sealed it for me that this man understood leadership and that men needed to be Freed to Lead.

MAXIMUS is the new NANTAN of The Fort!

I personally am excited for this next chapter and look forward to more men being Freed to Lead by his example and inspiration. With this change, some other leaders have stepped up as well.

  • Weasel Shaker = Funhouse
  • 1stFQ = Royale
  • 2ndFQ = Wegmans
  • 3rdFQ = Gecko

I personally want to thank Old Bay for years of leadership and more importantly friendship. I true HIM who makes so much happen behind the scenes that there is no way The FORT would be where it is today without him.

Also, want to thank Anchorman for 2nd F Q during my time as Nantan, as well as all his leadership at Footloose, encouraging guys to push themselves and the many great ideas and ways to challenge the PAX. Appreciate you brother!

BOM – Gecko had great words to close out this convergence. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus and all of the Holidays, I pray we find JOY in everything and not take anything for granted. I appreciate all the PAX and my brothers of THE GLOOM.

Cake Boss

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Footloose for a Post 1/2 Marathon “no-running” Bootcamp

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15 PAX made it out for a not so moderate beat-down after I had a brief taper week from the Kiawah 1/2 marathon.  Went through the disclaimer and the don’t sue me stuff an off we went for a very brief mosey that lasted all but 100 yards at most.

Warmup: consisted of windmills, Imperial Walkers, SSH, Cherry Pickers and yes some Broga.  The broga turned out to be quite comical as we all tried various balance poses.  Not good.

I had everyone line up for a very long Indian run down to the COG parking lot.  PAX stayed together pretty good no stragglers or rogue running going on.

On to the thang.  I broke out a winkie from a year ago that I never used for my 49th birthday.  You can guess where this is going.  We set up 4 corners with 3 exercises at each corner.  PAX stayed together for fellowship until the pain started.  First round was 49 merkins, 98 LBC’s and 147 squats. See the pattern there?  Not good.  Slow mosey to the next corner. 49 CDD’s, 98 calf raises and 147 flutters.  Mumble chatter started getting quiet.  Corner 3 49 SSH, 98 shoulder taps, 147 LBC’s. Last corner 49 Mtn. Climbers, 98 Rosalitas, and 147 Freddie Mercuries.  Not fun.  Started with an Indian Run back to COT, but ended up being a jail break due to cars.  With 10 minutes left we did a couple of rounds of 10 count exercise and running the stairs at FBC.  More pain not fun.  Finished up with COT.

Great time had by all!  Thanks for the opportunity Beacon!

 

Bass-o-Matic Out!

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Santa’s Trip Around The World

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It was a cold one at the Abyss on Wednesday.  Sub-freezing temps at COT as everyone slowly made it out of their warm vehicles before starting.

Nice-long mosey to get the blood flowing and the body warm… again… sub-freezing temps.

Warm-O-Rama:

SSH, Windmill, Hillbilly Walker, Peter Parker, Mountain Climbers, Honeymooner/Downward Dog

The Thang:

Take the 4 corners concept and make it into 7 to represent the different continents of Earth.  In the center is the North Pole. Partner up.

One partner runs to one of the locations while the other stays in the center (North Pole) and chooses an exercise (AMRAP) until the partner returns.  When the partner returns, they switch places.  Repeat this until all places have been visited twice (2 different exercises at each place).

What made this fun for me was choosing exercises that were loosely connected/related to each continent/location.

EUROPE- Visit 1- Freddie Mercury x 30 and Visit 2- Ski Jumps x 30

ASIA- Visit 1- Sumo Squat x 30 and Visit 2- Bear Crawl (to cone)/Crawl Bear (back)

AFRICA- Visit 1- Diamond Merkin x 25 and Visit 2- Moroccan Night Club x 30

ANTARTICA- Visit 1- Seal Jack x 30 and Visit 2- Imperial Walker x 20

AUSTRALIA-Visit 1- Peter Parker x 25 and Visit 2- Spiderman Crawl(Cone & Back)

NORTH AMERICA-Visit 1- Carolina Dry Docks x 40 and Visit 2- Crabcakes x 20

SOUTH AMERICA-Visit 1- Mountain Climbers x 30 and Visit 2- Monkey Humpers x 30

North Pole-: Rotate between Sleigh Stuffers (with weight, start to the side of one foot and raise above head to opposite side of body, wash/rinse/repeat), Boxcutters, SSH’s, and American Hammers

Some of us made it through the full rotation.  Some others got relatively close.  Due to it being cold, I didn’t fully go over my master plan.  PAX had a choice on how they and their partner would complete the 7 corners.  Some chose to complete an exercise, swap with partner, then return to the same location to complete the second exercise.  This was the way it was intended.  Others chose to run to a location and complete both exercises before returning.  This was also acceptable, however it did lessen the amount of running.  As long as PAX are completing exercises, does it really matter?

Circle up for COT… annoucements, prayers… and peace out!

I really enjoyed getting my first chance to Q at the Abyss.  I look forward to Q’ing again in the future… thanks Bones for the opportunity!

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No stinkin’ rain at The Armory!

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Having been in a Thanksgiving hangover after spending most of it on the road, the commitment I had made to Q the Armory on Monday was not even a thought. That is until, I got the DM from JWOW at 2pm on Sunday. Hmmmm…what excuse could I make I instantly thought, and then after further self-evaluation, and no easy way out, I committed to fulfilling my original obligation.

Weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain. Fortunately, they are almost always wrong, and we got a nice 50 plus degree morning perfect for a KB workout.

All Vets were at the AO, so after a quick disclaimer, off we went.

Warm-up

Mosey (no KB) towards the front of the Church and then back towards the left side. Started with some side shuffles, changing directions, then butt-kickers and finished off with a little carioca ending back at the original launch spot.

SSH- x30

Moroccan- x30

Arm rolls- forward for 10 and then back for ten

Windmill- x15

LSS- x15

Merkins- x10/ hold

 

Recover

 

Mosey to the far-right parking lot when facing the Church.

 

The Thang

How convenient that there are 4 perfectly placed light posts on the side. And with that came the opportunity to complete 3 rounds of exercises, running between light posts. Just in case we were facing rain, I had placed each round of workouts in a special Ziploc. The PAX were impressed…not really.

Round 1

First light post- One arm curls- 20 each

Run to next

Second- Goblet Squats- 20

Run to next

Third- Overhead press- 15 each arm

Run

Fourth- American Hammers- 30

 

Round 2

 

First- Chest press- 20 each arm

Run

Second- Upright rows- 20

Run

Third- Cleans- 10 each

Run

Fourth- Big Boy- 20

Round 3

First- Single arm triceps extensions- 20 each

Run

Second- Straight arm raises- 15

Run

Snatch- 10 each

Run

LBC’s- 25

Run to final post

Partner Up

Time for some Dora

100- KB swings

200- Two-handed Tricep extensions

300- American Hammers

 

Partner one does the exercise while Partner two runs around the outside of the light posts we were just working through.

 

Called an audible partial way through the triceps due to time.  Asked the PAX to get to 150 Tricep extensions and 200 AH. Once completed, work on 100 squats until time.

 

Everyone hit the 100 squats just in time to get back to COT. With A couple minutes left, all PAX on their six for a quick round of Flutters.

 

Recover. With one-minute left I thought it was good timing to touch briefly on our word of the month, which happens also to be my word of the year. Shared with the PAX my struggles and the growth I think I have had over the last year and asked for their thoughts on the meaning to them. Many thanks to the PAX that did. I think vulnerability is a tough word to wrap your head around and even more difficult to exercise as a man. Challenge to all PAX to be especially more vulnerable to your M’s and 2.0’s. It will definitely bring you all closer and hopefully strengthen your relationships as our 2.0’s face their future challenges.

 

COT

Announcements- Xmas Party, Joe Davis, and Xmas Eve Convergence

Prayers-

PAX who are looking for work

Safe returns from the Holidays and for what’s ahead

California victims

Children fighting illnesses

Very appreciative for the PAX who showed up this morning and for the push. Thanks for the opportunity JWOW!

 

Frat Boy Out

 

 

 

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Burpees at Slow Burn

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It was a dark and cold Thursday night. I was about to retire to my study when Steve Jobs spoke to me. Well, one of his inventions did. It was Destiny reaching out. He was getting a Unicorn Tramp Stamp tattoo either removed or placed on his back early the next morning and wouldn’t be able to Q Slow Burn.  He needed a substi-Q. Would I be that guy? Could I be that guy? I impulsively said YES.  With time running short and my bedtime quickly approaching I set about writing a winkie. After several visits to the exicon, and some advice from Punch List (thanks, Buddy) things were set and I waited for 0515 to get here.

8 of us assembled in the Chick-fil-A parking lot, at 0515 the disclaimer was disclaimed and off we moseyed down the hill towards Persis. High Knees, Butt Kickers, L/R shuffle. Cirlcle up for a round of SSH, windmills, overhead claps, low slow squats and 5 burpees OYO.  Now that we were  warm, the fun began.

The Thang:

Pax wall sit while first guy in line does 3 burpees, continue until everyone has done burpees. Mosey to guard rail near Lowes, Jacobs Ladder of 10 dips, 1 burpee (mumble Chatter).

After we completed the ladder we took up a mosey to the parking lot left of Lowes.  (b)L.I.M.P.S we did plenty of burpees earlier. 10 Lunges 15 Imperial walkers(I.C.), 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks (I.C.), 30 squats. Bolt 45’s followed, 15 squats 1/2 down, 15 squats 1/2 to bottom, 15 full squats. Partner up, 100 merkins, 100 LBC, 100 squats. Partner 1 does exercise while partner 2 moves from traffic island to traffic island. Pax cant walk or run.  Saw bear crawls, crab walks, lunges, broad jumps and sever other creative ways to travel the distance.

Short mosey behind Lowes for more group wall sits. First Pax runs to guard rail 15-20yrds does 6-10 Carolina dry docks then back to the wall for a sit until everyone had gone. Time flies when you are having fun. Mosey back to COT for a few minutes of Mary. Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, prayers and praises, ball of man

Thank you for this opportunity to Lead

 

Dirty Harry out

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Just for Kicks – Foot Loos

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About 18 men awoke to a nice dark morning before the roosters crowed. It was for more than just for kicks, it was because they are courageous to take on the challenge that was before them.  Here’s what went down

Warmup:      Moroccan Night Club, Wind Mills, some funky Imperial Walkers, Low slow squat.    Let’s mosey

What’s Up: A Dora Set – 100 Merkins, 100 Squats, 100 Flutters, 100 CDD, and helped finish off the teams that needed some bold encouragement. Small Mosey around the parking lot to hear words of encouragement from Joshua 1:9. Wall Sits, with individual counts down the line, and yes, we did wall sits again. Don’t be alarmed because two times a charm.  Time to Mosey again.  Left and then Right curb merkins followed by a friendly squat walk up the steps.

Wrap Up: More merkins, Mtn Climbers, Parker Peter, Peter Parker, Moraccan night club.

Fun was had by all and we even had some runners join in at the end. GREAT way to start a morning.

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