Tag: Grout

Trifecta of Q’s

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So, I got asked to Q last minute for Wednesday at Ring of Fire (8/18) and was already scheduled to Q at Footloose for Thursday (8/19) and then NASA had to try and find a sub for Varsity on Friday (8/20), so I just said I’d do it all. I mean @HarryCarey just did it, so why couldn’t I? I’ve been chasing him for years and still have a long way to go to try and keep up/catch that HIM.

So, I planned it out. Arms Day at Ring of Fire, Legs Day at Footloose, and IronPax prep at Varsity. Here we go!

Arms day was an AMRAP with the pull-up bars, Cindy, and some core to break it up. 1 minute on 30 seconds off.
Pull-Ups
Squats with Block
Curls
Overhead Press
LBC’s
Merkins
Flutters
Burpees
Low plank
Side Straddle Hops
Repeat.

Music kept us going with mostly hard rock from the ’90s and 2000s. @Sheild thinks I’m the next Tony Robbins as I was trying to motivate and keep everyone going on our rest periods.

Thursday at Footloose we did 7’s. Launching from the AO, we went over to Minnow Pond to see if we can pick a fight, to which they just ignored us. So, we ran the hill. Monkey Humpers at the bottom near the main road, because you know, Monkey Humpers ;). Up the hill and then squats.

We then ran over to Fort Mill Chruch of God for a round of 7’s using the stairs and the parking lot. I didn’t exactly think this one all the way through before giving instructions. Run up and down the stairs, then do 6 calf raises, run back over the stairs and run a lap around the parking lot and back up over the stairs to do 1 Bobby Hurley. Complete the circuit until 7’s is completed. That ended up being 14 laps around the parking lot. We ended up with 3 miles on this day. Lots of good mumble chatter and fellowship on those laps.

Finally, @ Varsity, we did IronPax prep with the Week 0 2018 workout. 50 squats, 40 big boys, 30 merkins, 20 lunges (modified down from Bonnie Blairs as we’re old and our knees can’t take it), 10 burpees run a lap. Do this 4x for time.

@Slapshot killed it and completed the circuit in 24:39, while @HarryCarey finished in 28:10 and YHC in 30:30. The rest modified and got their own solid workout/ruck in.

Q-ing the trifecta was a great test as it made me get creative and stay engaged with the group. We’re called to be leaders and this was a good test of my abilities over a longer period, not just every once in a while. Thanks to all for the opportunity to lead. I enjoyed it!

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eating our way through the air

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19 PAX Gathered and it was so humid we had to “eat our way through the air.” (-Slash)

We started with a quick warmup
SSH – 19 to the number of PAX

Mosey towards the old Church of God parking lot
IW
HW
Moroccan Night Clubs
Merkins – slow count (everybody’s favorite)

Brief mosey to the other Church of God parking lot
Burpee Square (thanks Naperville)
Start in one corner
10 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
9 Burpees – lunge walk to next corner
8 Burpees – crawl bear to the next corner
7 Burpees – reverse lunge walk back to the first corner
6 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
5 Burpees – lunge walk to next corner
4 Burpees – crawl bear to the next corner
3 Burpees – reverse lunge walk back to the first corner
2 Burpees – bear crawl to next corner
1 Burpee

View the retaining wall and consider how it works…not by specific acceleration, but by staying put at the ground falls around it revealing all the bricks supporting the top layer

Mosey to the old middle school (banks st. community gym)
Some Yoga for the 6
10 Squats
10 lunge steps
10 Jump Squats
10 lunge steps back
Repeat

Mosey Back – I got gassed on the mosey back. Once your belly is full, eating your way back through the air is really difficult.

Flutters to 0600

NMM:

Sometimes, as the flux hits us all, we lack the motivation to accelerate of our own accord. But if we can call on discipline to continue moving, we can see ourselves rising even though we feel like we’re staying put–just like the top level of that retaining wall. I’ve been feeling that flux for a little while leading up to the big 4-0. And honestly didn’t know how to convey that message until I looked up at the end of too many burpees and too many bear crawls and saw that wall.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead and the support of all the PAX. Y’all help hold me up whether you know it or not. Thank you.

—
Band Camp Dismissed

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Running Deck of Cards

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Grassy Knoll has been posting within the Fort for quite a while and hitting Laces In and Alcatraz often. When he asked if I would Q Abyss, I was like when and where is it? Wednesday’s are normal a rest day and it’s all the way over in NC near the bridge…..it’s like those PAX east of the Peach Stand complaining that they have to drive to AO’s west of the Peach Stand. But what do PAX have in common? They support their brothers and don’t complain. So I wasn’t sure what the AO had to offer but figured it would be good to get out of the bubble and experience something new and different. It sure didn’t disappoint me nor the PAX who posted.

SO as we huddled around awaiting GO Time, I had to ask if there was a bigger playground behind the school….of course Grassy Knoll said No (laughing of course). So we began to mossy behind the school and on the way I dropped off a cone along the school road. We ended up right in front of a large playground where I dropped the second cone off and we began to do COP.

After a few warm ups that included SSH’s and windmills, we did 3 rounds of max-out pull ups. What’s a Trucker Q without Pull-ups.

We then gathered around the second cone and a deck of cards were pulled out. The goal was to not stay still and continue to move. The first cone was placed about 400 yards away, and the second end point was about 200 yards away.

We started at the second cone next to the playground. A card was drawn and if it is was a red card you ran to the farthest cone and completed the exercise and ran back to the other cone. If it was a black card we ran to the end of the parking lot past the basketball nets and back.

Hearts = Wide Arm Merkins

Diamonds = regular merkins

Spades = LBCs

Clovers = Squats

If the same suit was drawn three times in a row we had to do 10 burpees (that was a late addition half way through the WO thanks to Cha Ching’s recommendation).

We ended up running 3 miles by the end of the WO. Who would have guessed a Trucker WO would include 3 miles of running??????

Prayers for Cha Ching’s stress test today, for Smithers, and other prayers said and un-said.

Appreciate the opportunity.

Trucker

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Intervals at the Swamp

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I have been on a motivated 1stF acceleration tear recently and this continued with some relentless pain. Some might even say it was terrible. Introduced multiple uncomfortable exercises that targeted those obliques and hips. Penguins were a crowd-pleaser. Cookout Squats were also a fan favorite. Nut crushers took the cake. See the Workout summary if you are like me and get geeked out on the data. Stay Frosty my Friends! OLAF
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Spoon Feeding Instructions

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Learning to give clear instructions and the power of commanders intent.

Gekko was supposed to have the Q this morning but life called and he had to answer. Prayers for him.
5:15 struck and SlowJams brought out an FNG so the disclaimer was disclaimed and an overview of F3 was made.
YHC called his own number and grabbed some cones and headed towards the Home Depot for the warm-up.
Luckily I have been fortunate to get to spend some time with Tesla during the few times I show up for a PreRun at Quagmire so I learned that he had not led his VQ workout yet. So I gave him a heads up that today was his chance to practice leading a few exercises in cadence during the workout so we could all give some feedback before his big day.

YHC started the warm-up off with some SSH and some windmills then passed it over to Tesla to lead some SSH and some merkins. He did pretty well after a few corrections and will be ringing that second bell in no time.
Passed the baton over to Console to lead a few other exercises since he is fairly fresh to the game and I have missed his first couple of Q’s because of scheduling conflicts. As expected he shined like the stud he is. Way to live up to the hype and not be frightened by the thought of being compared to Tesla.

On to the Thang.
Mosey over behind Home Depot on the way to Target and get in a few seconds of peoples chair while waiting on the 6 to join.

Continue over to the Kohls parking lot for the meat and potatoes portion.
This part was supposed to be a lesson in preparation and the chaos that is unavoidable when a leader fails to convey the message clearly.
So YHC started out with no clear instructions to the PAX rather giving them just a single instruction meer moments before they needed it. The PAX were stumbling over each other because my instructions were not delivered in a clear and confident manner and there seemed to be no method to the madness. We started at one end of the parking lot and were moseying to the first street light pole performing the exercise then coming back to the starting line to perform some burpees before going to another light pole but sometimes we would come back to the starting line and other times we would just move on to the next light pole and exercise. The objective was to show how failing to communicate a plan, even a bad plan, was ineffective in achieving the mission (the current mission that I always try to achieve when leading a beatdown is to push every member of the PAX outside of their physical comfort zone while keeping everyone together as well as possible and allowing each member to not feel like a burden to the group or that they should have stayed in the fartsack).
When there is poor leadership the entire group is at the mercy of the commands of the Q. The Q is forced to either abandon the guys at the 6 or handicap the guys at the 12 in order to keep everyone on the same page. Just as in life each one of us men is at different places along our journey and therefore has different needs.

Once we finally got down to the end of the parking lot I let the PAX know my intended message for the workout and apologized for the intentional poor leadership.
Gave the PAX new clear instructions on how to proceed on the way back across the parking lot and turned them loose to go at their own pace. We spent the remainder of the time working through the exercise and encouraging each other to push ourselves to get better.

Finally, it was time to jailbreak back to the COT for Count-A-Rama, Name-A-Rama, FNG naming (welcome GuyTai), announcements, and prayers& praises.

Thank you to the men that showed up and pushed yourselves to get better. Hopefully, I was able to challenge you to look at the people that you lead and reevaluate how well you are communicating instructions to your team. Are you spoon-feeding them one bite at a time or are you laying out the buffet and letting them get after it?

Remember that those you lead are faced with many decisions every day and you want them to have the knowledge and confidence that they can make the decision without having to go into a holding pattern while they run it up the chain of command and await a response.
Set clear expectations, communicate them often, and allow your people to react and overcome.

Garrett Purvis 36
Build your guardrails out of bricks!
Olaf

Stay frosty my friends

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Nov 2020 GC APFT

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11/17/20 Golden Corral APFT results

NAME                             MERKINS               BBSU                 RUN                   TOT/AVE
Grassy Knoll               68 (100%)               35 (63%)          17:32 (70%)      233 / 77.67%
Lutefisk                        57 (82%)                 55 (75%)           16:05 (75%)     232 / 77.33%
Grout                            50 (82%)                 40 (68%)           16:58 (75%)      225 / 75%
Cat 5                              64 (91%)                 40 (62%)           21:28 (40%)      193 / 64.33%
Crop Duster (FNG)    31 (55)%                42 (60%)           16:59 (71%)      186 / 62%

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Honoring Those Who Impact Us

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This week, on Wednesday, we honor all veterans who have served and continue to serve our nation.  As part of that theme, YHC decided to get a little jump start by assigning a workout where PAX would honor a veteran of their choosing and, based on the name(s) of those veterans, complete as many rounds as possible of exercises associated with the letters of their name.

We gathered as 5 to start and, by the time we moseyed roughly 1/4 mile for some COP, Olaf and Flounder joined in.

COP – 11 windmills D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Imperial Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, 11 Hillbilly Walkers D/C I/C, 5 burpees, mosey further up the lot because YHC did not like the smell of trash, continuing with… 11 low slow squats D/C I/C, holding the last rep and remaining in the peoples chair for 9 Moroccan night clubs and 9 shoulder taps – both D/C and I/C.  Legs were warm and off we moseyed to the board of the alphabet.

The main event was designed to be between 2 & 5 rounds and all PAX worked hard, likely did more wall sits than they would in most workouts and it seemed a lot of leg work was done, but the beauty of these workouts was the simple fact that PAX were doing these to honor someone who impacted them – someone who made them better in their life.  May we be so fortunate to do the same for others as a matter of everyday practice.

YHC called time with 3 minutes to spare and we moseyed back to COT for geometry class with a few positions on the protractor before 0600 hit and time was called.

Announcements – Read your newsletter, XMas Party coming up and Thanksgiving convergence at the Ranch with a little football in Lake Wylie afterwards.  Travis Manion WOD on 11-20 at the Swamp.

Prayers – for families, for Olaf’s Mom as she relocates and his step dad struggling with an addiction.  For DaVinici and discernment on the path forward.

Praise for Jekyll’s Dad who served in Vietnam and is spending a weekend with his family coming up and for all veterans who have served us all selflessly and have sacrificed so that we might enjoy the freedoms and blessings of this nation.

NMM –  Q-ing is an honor.  Leading is a privilege and serving is our greatest form of impacting others.  YHC is grateful to the men of F3 who continue to serve as visible reminders each day of what impact and positive ripple effect can look like.  I am humbled to be in your company and thankful that all of you keep me on a better path with you than without.  My thanks to Olaf for the opportunity.

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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Mash-up

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JWOWW (Ruck) and YHC (Boot Camp) had the Qs at Golden Corral on Tuesday.  After the disclaimer, the groups departed from the circle for their respective workouts.

I thought I would try something a little different by combining two exercises together, call it a Mash-up. Like peanut butter and jelly, or like a song with two great singers (No Garth Brooks please!).

The details..one minute of exercises 1, exercise 2, and the Mash-up exercise.  Fifteen second rest recovery between exercises.

Exercise 1                     Exercise 2                      Mash-Up

Round 1                       Merkin                         Peter Parker                    Spiderman Merkin

Round 2                       Squat                           Step-up                           Jump Squat

Round 3                        LBC                              Mountain Climber      Freddie Mercury

Round 4                       Moroccan NC           Flutter                              Moroccan Flutter

Round 5                        Caroline DD             Parker Peter                   Dry Peter

Round 6                        Plank                          SSH                                    Plank Jack

Round 7                        Lunge                         Overhead Clap             Lunge Clap

Round 8                        Shoulder Tap          Ski Ab                               Ski Tap Ab

Round 9                         Imperial Walker     Calf Raise                       Imperial Calf Walker

Round 10                     Burpee                        Broad Jump                 Burpee Broad Jump

 

Once complete, we had about a minute to roll back to COT.

 

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Quagmire Gut Punch

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Pulled this one out of the archives from a couple years back w/ some subtle changes.  I informed the men that we may run a bit seeing that I was coming off a week of vacation and needed to detox a bit.  Here we go:

Nice 0.8 mile mosey to get things started, behind the Depot, Target, down to Kohl’s and back up Rivergate Pkwy to the Sun Trust Bank, with stops every quarter mile for some quick stretching / warm-up (1st quarter mile – wind mills x10, 2nd – mountain climbers / merkins x20, 3rd – squats x10 in cadence)

The real thang, taking up the remainder of the time:  pax will run the remaining length of Rivergate Pkwy, and stop 10 times along the way and do the exercise and rep count I tell them.  To be clear, they do the same exercise and rep count 10 times until they get to the very end, and then run back to the start.  I then change the exercise and rep count up.  Each set of 10 stops was a 0.30 mile run down, and then you had to run back so 0.60 miles were covered for each exercise.

  • 5 burpees per stop = 50 burpees + 0.6 miles
  • 10 big boy sit-ups = 100 big boys + 0.6 miles
  • 15 jump squats = 150 jump squats + 0.6 miles (this one was a d1ck move)
  • 10 merkins = 100 merkins + 0.6 miles

From there, we were out of time and headed back to CoT.  One of these days we’ll get the full weinke in with a 5 / 10 / 15 / 15 / 10 / 5 rep ladder, ending in burpees a second time.  For today, the 500 reps inclusive of the warm-up and 3.2 miles was enough.

I mentioned to the pax that when I was reading my old back blast from a couple years back, I had noted in the write-up that DaVinci was back in the gloom after 2-3 months on IR.  He had spoken to us back then about preparedness, and how we need to prepare for the unexpected, because his IR stint took its toll and he wasn’t ready for what it would do physically, emotionally, relationally, you name it.  It was fitting to read what he said 2 years ago because I had a gut punch myself a week and a half ago.  But honestly, because of this group, and the arsenal of resources we’ve built up supporting one another, I’m more prepared now than ever to pray, lean on others and power through this minor set back.

Prayers were said for Tsunami and his wife, Olaf and his 36 years, and my situation.  I really appreciate the pax who came out and gave it their all, even though some of the things I asked of you were pretty mean.  You guys all did and it and didn’t complain.  Just got to work and kept sharpening your body for when the time comes you’ll need that extra bit of gumption.  Go get it.

Cha Ching

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Start Fast, Grow Steady, Finish Strong

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17 HIM descended upon the Swamp for a strong finish to the month of July.  YHC got a call from Duck Dynasty this week asking to step up and take the Q.  Upon arrival, YHC was greeted by a few early arriving #HIM and the remainder wandered in between 0507 and 0515 – well all but Olaf who came in hot and eventually caught up to us quickly at COP.

Disclaimers were announced and it was confirmed that no FNG’s were present today.

The theme of the workout, fittingly, was 7’s, 31’s and focusing on how we are finishing.  YHC laid out the theme and off we moseyed to the Home Depot Parking Lot for COP and the warm up – all exercises in cadence:

15 D/C Imperial Walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 15 hillbilly walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 10 low slow squats, holding the people’s chair we did 10 D/C Moroccan night clubs in cadence, held the chair for a Duck Dynasty 10-count and finished in the chair with 10 D/C shoulder taps in cadence.  5 more burpees OYO and then moved to 10 D/C seal jacks in cadence followed by 5 burpees OYO before moseying off to Target for the main event.

Main event – 7-31 – Start fast, finish strong.

Fittingly, July 31 required 7’s and 31’s on this relatively breezy morning.  PAX lined up to complete kracken burpees on one end of the parking lot, run roughly 50 yards and did lunges at the rate of 6 kracken burpees & 1 lunge, 5 & 2, 4 & 3, 3 & 4, 2 & 5 and 1 & 6.  After the 6 was in a short plank was called, after which we moseyed to the fountains for 15 D/C dips in cadence and then took on the 31’s to finish July strong.

31’s were a combination of merkins and squats – merkins on one end of the parking lot, followed by a run to the opposite end – roughly 200 (ish) yards and squats.  The sequence went as follows:

27 merkins, 4 squats

23 merkins, 8 squats

19 merkins, 12 squats

15 merkins, 16 squats

11 merkins, 20 squats

7 merkins, 24 squats

3 merkins, 28 squats

As the six came in all PAX, fittingly, got on their respective 6’s for 31 D/C (of course) flutters in cadence. A recover on our feet and a mosey to COT was called where PAX had just enough time for a 60 second protractor at varying degrees and a 30 second body destroyer put us right on 0600 and COT.

Announcements:

Sweati on 8-15 – launching from Colosseum (0530 for ruckers, 0600 for runners): Questions?  Get w/Backdraft.

Operation Stuff the Bus is a week from tomorrow, 8-8, starting at 0800: Bonsai is your Q.  Sign ups for 2 hour time slots are available.

Read Your Newsletter.

Prayers & praises were offered up both out loud and in the silence of our hearts.

NMM – The purpose of today’s workout was missional and aptly was held at the end of a calendar month – to start fast and finish strong.  In fulfilling our personal missions, it is imperative to answer the question “Are we intentional about how we finish or do we go through the motions and check the box?”  What would our M’s, 2.0’s and inner concentrica say if they were asked these questions about us?  Do we take the necessary steps to be thorough?  Do we take the extra minute or two in a conversation with a loved one to let them know we are present and available and not let our minds wander to the next task that lies ahead?   If you could look back at July, how purposeful was your month?  How did you “finish”?

Between 0500 and 0515 (or earlier to get EC) every weekday morning, we as PAX have the benefit of starting a workout with intentionality and purpose – completing that mission by 0600.  Do we take the same level of intentionality to our relationships, our families, our work?  How intentional is our time allocated and used?  We all get the same amount every day.  It is in finishing strong with that time that we make impact for the better and leave no doubt to those around us.  Start fast, and with purpose.  Finish strong to maximize your reach and impact.

YHC is grateful to Duck Dynasty for the opportunity to Q and to the PAX for encouraging the acceleration brought about by F3.

Start fast, grow steady, finish strong!

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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