It was a privilege to Q the newest AO “Sweep the Leg” this week. The term in one of my favorite movies, “Karate Kid”. Lots of life lessons, bad 80s music, and my Hollywood crush, Elisabeth Shue. What a beauty!
Ok, back to the workout. Pretty simple and repetitive. Run a lap around the parking lot. In the main lot, there were exercises (Carolina Dry Docks, LBCs, Merkins, Jump Squats – 20 of each) at each one of the four light poles. Sprint between the light poles. Run a lap around the parking lot..Rinse and Repeat.
Great job by everyone. Lots of men getting better and encouraging each other.
Thank you to the 11 PAX, including YHC, who showed up at Minnow Pond on this moist humid gloom to sharpen iron and push each other. It was a blessing to be back at this AO with my brothers and facing the gloom together and not alone.
WARMUP
We began this workout by sharing the F3 Core Principles and the F3 Disclaimer. Then at 0514 Longshanks led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The warmup included the following in 5-Merkins in Cadence, 20 Jump Lunges OYO (10 Each Leg), 10 Flutters in Cadence. YHC then gave the route and plan to all and we began.
THE THANG
After this everyone was pretty much warm, we began the thing. The Prelude was to head up Main St. to the corner of Academy St. and turn Rt. The route was down Academy St., Left of Withers St., Left of Tom Hall St., Left of Main St., and Left on Academy St. until we were complete with time.
YHC asked the PAX to stop at the four corners (Fort Mill Church of God, Fort Mill Town Administration, Fort Mill Animal Hospital, and Fort Mill Police Dept. parking lots) and perform the following exercises at each location:
10 Merkins, 20 Jump Lunges (10 Each Leg), 20 Flutters (Dbl. Count), and 10 Burpees.
Then we headed back to the COT where YHC shared from the heart a little.
All men did an awesome job this morning. Great work was displayed by all. Thank you again for joining YHC and Longshanks this morning.
NMM
This past Saturday there was a discussion in the Region about the current situation we are experiencing in our country. The unfortunate thing is that this current situation is not current. It is ongoing and has been since the beginning. People are different, but the issue is the same. I am not talking about the beginning of the founding of our country. I am speaking of the day Adam & Eve decided to eat of the fruit. Since that day, man has been dead, and his heart has not been right.
Ephesians 2:4-10 ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’
Paul was speaking to the church of Ephesus and to us in the beginning of this passage concerning their state prior to salvation, and then explained their state after Christ. This passage has been resonating with YHC over the past few weeks. God has shown us mercy and given us grace through Him. And because of that we have been ‘raised up’ from the dead and seated us along with Christ at His own right hand.
What we are experiencing in our world is a display of the state of man without Christ. Without change in the heart, no change in the world can happen. Policies may be changed; reforms may occur; the world may feel different; but will it be different without the changing hearts of man? The things of this world will rust and fade away, but the things of Heaven will last forever.
My challenge to you today is to look first at your heart. Not what is around you, but what is inside you. If you are not spiritually alive, then things may appear to be changing, but they technically are not. Once you have made that heart change, you can be a part of the real change that must occur in this world. A change in the direction of where we should be heading and need to be heading. The direction of Christ.
Once you know your heart is right, then I challenge you to go out and love others as you love yourself. If you love others in this manner, you will want to serve them, and by serving them they will respect you. Show love and be blessed.
If you do not know how to make this Heart Change for yourself, please let YHC know and we can discuss further.
Aye!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reach out to a Site Q to Q a Workout.
Hog & Coyote this weekend in Rock Hill. See YHC or Honeypot for info.
F3 The Fort Convergence – July 11 – Location TBD.
Cutting Grass at FM Care Center – Speak with Corruption for details.
Read your Newsletter.
PRAYERS/PRAISES
The PAX shared their prayers and praises and YHC lifted them up.
Week 3 of Sweep The Leg was not about to be a letdown. Apparently, 24 other PAX posted to hold me accountable in ensuring they got the return on their investment, too. Gears started this AO a few weeks ago to present the PAX with an opportunity to push themselves harder and faster than currently offered at another AO, at least on a Monday. It is so easy to come out of the gates hot but the hard work is in consistency. Hard work was what we did for 40 of the 45mins this morning which concluded with some up hills and a jail break to ensure we finished as strong as we started.
Lots and lots of headlights kept rolling into the lot and as we were about to start the disclaimer, 4 more cars rolled in. So…
Sweeper identified…check (Thank you Cake Boss)
Overview of Sweep The Leg for the rookies…check
Count off…25, are you serious?
Disclaimer…check
Warm up mosey out of the lot, L/T Len Patterson, L/T 160, L/T Dave Gibson Blvd and circle up at intersection with Ben Casey Dr.
Warm Up
Wind Mills
Imperial Walkers
Moroccan Night Clubs
5 Burpees
Overview of the pace. When I say “Get It”, it’s your fast pace or All You Got to get to the next stop. If you’re in the first wave of runners to get to the destination, we’ll be starting the exercises and doing them until the 6 got in.
Get It: To parking lot in front of GHES
Box Cutters
Dying Cockroaches
10 Burpees
Get It: End of straight way in front of the schools to the lot for Colosseum
5 Merkins
Get it: Run the GHMS drop-off loop then 1/2 the GHES loop taking us to the benches near the basketball hoops
20 Derkins
20 Dips
10 Carolina Dry Docks
Get it: Run to the end of the bus parking lot, run back, run to the end of the lot again and stop
Get it: Run up the long, never-ending bus entrance hill to just before Dam Rd and back to the start.
Mountain Climbers (keep the merlot down)
Peter Parker
Parker Peter
Get it: Run the remaining loop in front of GHES to the bottom of the hill on Dave Gibson Blvd.
5 Burpees
Get it: Run to 160, back to Patricia Ln (almost all the way back to the bottom of the hill), then back up to Ben Casey and thanks to Vuvuzela, circle up in the bank parking lot.
Merkins
Diamonds
Wide-Arm
American Hammer
Now really get it: Run down the straightaway back to COT.
Gears, I appreciate what you’re doing here. Thank You.
If anyone is still reading this, please wear black on Wednesday but something reflective if you’re running.
2nd Tuesdays of the month at GC will be the APFT and we’ll track progress.
Mosey to Lake Wylie Brewing for 10 windmills, 20 imperial walkers, 10 low slow squats. 2 mins AMRAP merkins for count, 2 mins AMRAP big boy sit ups for count, and timed 2 mile run.
Points are awarded for count/time bracketed by age group.
19 Pax posted on a Yumid morning to salute Old Glory and dig deep to tackle the surrounding hills. We were honored to welcome FNG/The Fonz (EH’d by Pusher) and a quasi-Kotter in Santini ( who has lost his excuses for not posting to any downtown FM AOs). Longshanks led The Pledge and then the fun began.
The Thang
Hills, hills and more hills — that was the recipe for the day.
Brief warm-up in the parking lot to allow Body Wash to catch up with the pax on his late arrival — SSH, Mtn climber, Parker Peter, Merkins
Run to parking lot at WEP
Muster at bottom of hill leading to stop sign at entrance of parking lot
Run to top, do # Burpees of your choice, run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Burpees on each return to the top (UvU format — you pick initial # and increment); continue repeatedly
Muster at bottom of Stairway to Heaven
Run to light pole at top, do # Merkins (starting from last # Burpees, using same increment pattern), run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Merkins on each return to top; continue repeatedly
Run to large parking lot across from gun shop on Massey Street
Run to bottom of Massey Street; run back to top, do # Freddie Mercurys (starting from last # Merkins, using same increment pattern), run back down; rinse & repeat adding # Freddie Mercurys on each return to top; continue repeatedly
Mosey home
COT
Naked man moleskin
Thank you to Longshanks for the Q invite at Minnow Pond — great AO, great format, lively pax who all got after it today. It was especially sweet since it was my first Q back in The Fort in 90 days. (Apologies to a few pax I missed in the attendees — Gen X camera malfunction)
Welcome to The Fonz! Yes, he set a new fashion standard to rival Slash’s collars. Plus, he pushed toward the front of the pax throughout. Great first time out….look forward to seeing you again. And T-claps to Pusher on the EH.
Great to have Santini in The Gloom! If you have any history with this #Redwood, then you know why it’s great to have him back. If you don’t, then find the chance to saddle up next to him the next time you see him in the circle and ask him about origin of the Moroccan Night Club. or Stairway to Heaven or the Echochamber.
Theme for the day was hills, because they provide great training for runners. AND, because we’re living in “uphill times” in my view (pandemic, unemployment, social distancing, racism, injustice, protests, rioting — pure chaos in the headlines). These hills in life (short, long, steep or any combination) can be strong training ground as well. Much has been said by many about the “silver linings” of lockdown life. Certainly that’s been true for me and my family. At same time, the tough stuff, the difficulties, the adversity in life are also challenges that can build endurance, resilience, passion, vision for the road ahead. Take some time to reflect where the tough parts of your current situation are sharpening you and your family for the journey ahead. Don’t limit your review to just the fun, funny, joyful, positive experiences — the darker more challenging moments can provide training benefits too.
23 was the number to launch The Fort’s newest AO: Sweep The Leg. The goal of any AO should be acceleration of overall fitness of the Pax, and I believe we delivered this morning.
The workout was simple. 3 miles, half mile segments with pain stations. The goal was negative splits with 3 minute pain stations between segments. Something like the following:
.5 miles at 8:15 pace, 3 min pain station
.5 miles at 8:00 pace, 3 min pain station
.5 miles at 7:45 pace, 3 min pain station
.5 miles at 7:30 pace, 3 min pain station
.5 miles at 7:15 pace, 3 min pain station
.5 miles at 7:00 pace, 3 min pain station
Pain stations included crowd favorites such as:
Burpees
Bombjacks
Squats
Hillybilly Squats
Flutter
Freddy Mercury’s
Merkins
Mountain Climbers
Peter Parker
Parker Peter
Monkey Humpers
The leaders of the pack did the full pain station, those bringing up the six may or may not get to do the exercises at the pain station, but it kept the pax mostly together and pushed guys to keep up since the overall pace continued to speed up.
BAOPS. It’s an acronym that Trucker has been pushing, almost devoting himself to, with regard to the AO, Alcatraz, he now oversees. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several weeks, let me enlighten you on Tega Cay’s own “Rock.”
Rather than being on its own island, our version of Alcatraz is almost at the end of a peninsula. Rather than water with treacherous currents, our version has streets with treacherous hills.
Just as you have to plan some extra time to get to THAT Alcatraz, you also have to plan some extra drive time to get to our version of Alcatraz…it’s way down TC Drive.
When Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was in operation, it housed the hardest, most notorious criminals of its day. In Trucker’s verbiage, BAOPS stands for the “Baddest Area of Operations (AO) for Pain on Saturday.” Consistent with the last several weeks, some of the most hard-charging PAX from The Fort & Rock Hill (The Rock-how fitting) posted at Alcatraz this morning. Some even thought they rolled up on a convergence when they drove in with all the cars.
21 PAX (welcome Suplex) joined Router & YHC for a total of 23 to embark on a twist of a workout this morning. It’s been a minute since we’ve had Router post with us but consistent with our memory, he was prepared to bring it. After we were disclaimed and he shared with us his plan to put us through some conditioning (as part of the strength & conditioning workout), we took off for a warm-up mosey, ultimately leading us to the top of “the hill” on the back side of the park. This time however, we’d be going the other direction.
So here’s the deal, we’re running segments, of which there are 3. Segment 1, you’re running to your “pukey” limit. You know what that is; the place you get to where you’re about to splash. Yeah, get in that zone. Run it to the stop sign just past the Firehouse and do a recovery run back to the start. Then pukey-limit run to the stop sign and run to what amounts to the trail entrance just past the COT parking lot and recovery run the remaining trek back to the start. Now, pukey run that whole thing. Oh no, then….do a few more of those segments again but honestly, this is where the wheels started to come off as the PAX spread out and nobody was exactly sure what to do next . So, some ran more, some did some mary and some picked up the six. Yup, just as planned.
Then…oh dear Lord, this is where we take it to the next phase and you think your heart is going to pop out of your eye socket. Router takes us to the bottom of the hill, yes that hill. He explains his plan for 30/60/90. Fortunately, we never made it to 90 but nevertheless, when he says GO, we’re to take off up the hill, running for 30 seconds until he says stop. Yeah, that was tough but he made us go back down the hill to do the 60. Run up the hill and keep running for 60 seconds. Now that was B-RUTAL. Fortunately it was now 0701 and it was time to hand off to Maximus for the strength portion of the strength & conditioning.
With Max on Q, we would slow mosey (oh, thank you) back to the parking lot, pull a Switzer at one end and drop to a plank (ala Honey Badger). Next up, a nod to a USMC Serviceman named Cpl Albert (Bert) Gettings, 27, of New Castle, PA. Yup, we’re doing a modified BERT. If you’ve never done the real Bert, go give it a run and recap it to me afterward. Cpl. Albert Gettings was killed in action Jan 5, 2009 while conducting counter-sniper operations in Fallujah, Iraq. He was serving as a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, NC.
HERE WE GO!!!
25 Burpees
50m Bear Crawl to the other end of the parking lot
50 Hand-Release Merkins
50m Bear Crawl
80 Walking lunges
Bear Crawl back
50 Squats
50m Bear Crawl
80 Carolina Dry Docks
50m Bear Crawl
Mary til the six is in
In closing, please do yourself a favor, push yourself to do something more challenging than what you thought you were capable of. Not just in the 1st F although that is a great start, but in the 2nd & 3rd, too. This world needs it now and frankly, you’ve been built and called for this. Do not be a wallflower.
Announcements: Gears starting a new hard-hitting AO this Monday, 6/1. Classroom Ready partnership oppty coming soon from Bonsai, Q-Source is for everyone, AO’s opening back up week of 6/8, big ‘ol convergence 7/11 and several other announcements.
Prayer Request: PAX going through job/life transitions. Our country always but especially now with community tensions. Health of family/friends.
With Laces In being temporarily relocated to Empire Pizza lot (the home of the slowest of all burns), I decided to take advantage of the nice, evenly spaced parking lot lines today for this week’s edition of the work out by pulling some deep cuts from The Exicon. 11 stallions answered the call. Some were sorry during, but none were sorry after.
The Thang
Immediate mosey to lot in front of Lowe’s.
Warm up by “Bone the Fish”:
Side Shuffle up one parking lot line, run forward to next, Side Shuffle the other direction x 4
Karaoke back and forth x4
Repeat till the end of the lot and turn around to do it all the way back
Transition to Bearpees – Jack Webb style Burpee (1) x Bear Crawl (4). Made it to 8 for 36 Burpees per Pax, Mosey back to start line
Transition to Escalator. One exercise with prescribed count (IC), run the full lot and back
10 Box Jumps
20 Burpees
30 Merkins
40 Low Slow Squats
50 Lunges
Switch to Apple Turnover – Bear Crawl from one line of parking spots to another, flip to Crab Walk from that line to the next. Flip and repeat till the end of the lot.
Run back to the start with 3 Bomb Jacks at each line
Finish Lot work with Paula Abdul for the length of the lot (40 more Burpees):
Run forward 2 Parking Lines
Nur back 1 Parking Lot Line
5 Burpees
Mosey to parking area beside Persis to close with 7’s
Mike Tyson
Bear Crawl forward
Squat
Crab Walk back
Mosey to Shovel Flag for some COP, but first… 5 Burpees OYO
Prayers for Anxiety in different fronts (Cancer screenings, Kids, Job status, etc). Prayers for Badger’s family, 2 years since his death.
Announcements:
Read your newsletter
New AO opening by YHC at Earthfare June 1, read the pre-blast.
I had the privilege of Qing for the first time in quite some time. Thank you for the opportunity, 38 Special!
In honor of my son turning 13 soon (an American teenager!), most rep counts today were 13 in nature, single count for most of them.
4:45 was a run to Palmetto West and back
5:00 was more running past Lakeshore Christian Church and through the stairs backway to the Pantheon
5:15 boot camp and runners split. Disclosures stated.
Small warm-up with SSHs, various leg stretches, and windmills.
Ran to backside of TC Elementary to gradually rotate around the school and did 3 exercises per random location to include:
Reverse Lunges, Bench Jumps, Incline Merkins
Turkish Get-ups, Air Mountain Climbers or Goofballs, Lunges
Merkins, Jump ups (super high), Bear Crawls
Pull ups, Broad jump, Cross jumps (creating a cross)
Mountain climbers, High knees, Spiderman crawls
More bear crawls, Jump down from benches focusing on solid landing, Dips
75% effort level sprints X 2, Bear Crawls
Thought about stealing the Broga-boyz shoes – (yes, this was an exercise)
Then on to Circuit Training: The timer was the jump rope to 100 and then we rotated.
Shoulder press with a Spartan bag
Sandbag pickups and over the shoulder throws
KB individual curls
Band curls
Ended with various ab exercises as a group to include, but not limited to: Starfish crunches, Side crunches, Cockroach, and everyone’s favorite, Russian V-twist get-ups.
COT to include announcements, LOTS OF PRAISES, and some prayers.