Tag: Grout

Remembering the First Responders on 9/11

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Getting the opportunity to Q on 9/11 is a big deal.  I’m happy to see that all the men who were given that chance took advantage by creating a tribute to those who lost their lives on that day 18 years ago.  I was not going to disappoint the men who showed up at the Abyss.  4 of those men arrived to kick it off at 5:15am so I shared my thoughts.

A special treat was having Boogie Down join us a few minutes into the warmup. As I was talking with him during the workout he shared with me that he lived in NYC during this terrible event. More on that later…

Today I wanted to honor the first responders who lost their lives on September 11th 2001.  They were:

343 firefighters (including a chaplain and two paramedics) of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY);

37 police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (PAPD);

23 police officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD)

But that was not personal enough, so I gave each PAX a name of one of those 403 first responders and asked each of them to take some time today to look up this person.

I pulled the name of Martin McWilliams, who died at the age of 35 and was part of FDNY Engine 22.  He was a new dad, his daughter (Sara) was born only a few months before his death.  He was great at fixing things, he loved house projects and working on cars.  He played golf whenever he could and was an avid skier.  He was a daredevil, who tried flying lessons and skydiving.  His sister recalls that he was a terrible joke teller.  He would be 53 years young this year.

To pay tribute to these fallen heroes we did the following.

7 Burpees

Then 9 rounds of:

11 Pull-ups

11 Push-ups

11 Sit-ups

11 Squats

Finish with a 403 m Run around our small track = 2 laps

The combined reps for this workout would equal 403. I demanded that the PAX not short any of their counts today, as each rep represented a life lost.

We finished with 10 minutes to spare so we went to our regular hill.

Run down, at the bottom = 9 Bombjacks

Run up, at the top 11 Flutters (DC)

We finished up at COT.  I asked Boogie Down if he would share some of his recollections from that day.  It was moving, and I’m so glad he joined us to share his experience.  What caught my attention the most, was his remembrance of the smell of burnt “stuff” that lasted in Manhattan for months after the attack.  If he wants to share more, ask him next time you see him.

An Honor to Lead

Royale

 

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Making Monday Great Again

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Just another case of the Mondays.  13 of us showed up to get better, including another FNG from Bones named Adam.  We walked him through the disclaimer and then set out to do our warm-up.

Warm-up – quick mosey over to the parking lot in front of office depot and did some quick drills on the parking lines:

  • Run up the lines, side shuffle right, back pedal down line, side shuffle right – repeat all the way down the parking row.  Once you finish, you run around the island and then did #2
  • Turn 90 degrees and do the same thing, so this time you’re doing a side shuffle right for the longer line, back pedaling to the next line behind you, and side shuffling left.  Again, full length, run around the island and then we turned to go hit the real work.

Simple = Hard:  that was the motto, so we did exactly that, we ran about a 1/4 mile down 49 to the corner of 49 and 160 and did our first set –

  • 30 side straddle hops (in cadence – so call it 60) / 15 merkins (in cadence – so 30) / 8 burpees OYO

Started running again, about another 1/4 mile and pulled over on the grass for the second set –

  • 45 side straddle hops (in cadence – 90 kind of sucks) / 23 merkins (in cadence) / 12 burpees OYO

Started running again, about another 1/4 mile, maybe a little more, got in front of Michael’s / Pier One, etc and did the third set:

  • 60 side straddle hops (in cadence – yeah, 120 left me not being able to count as I had no air left) / 30 merkins (in cadence – we stopped half way through to shake it out then finished strong) / 16 burpees OYO

Started running again to the end of the building we were at (in front of Kohl’s), peeled off and did the next set:

  • 15 jump lunges (15 per side) / 15 jump squats / 15 mountain climbers

Kept running, pulled over by the Suntrust bank and did the next:

  • 30 jump lunges (30 per side) / 30 jump squats / 30 mountain climbers

Ran to Buffalo Wild Wings and partnered up for….

  • Partner pushes – partner 2 has his arms on partner 1’s shoulders, is resisting and backing up as slow as they can while partner 1 pushes them.  Each partner did one set the full length of the parking lot
  • Wheel barrows – same, each partner did one rotation the full length of the parking lot

Run to the parking lot in front of Pet Smart and do the last set:

  • No more walking – sprint the length of the parking lot from island to island, jog the width, sprint the next parking lot length, jog, sprint, jog, finish w/ a sprint right in front of best buy and then head to COT.

Final count was 2.3 miles, 270 side straddle hops, 136 merkins, 36 burpees, 45 jump lunges, 45 jump squats, 45 mountain climbers and some partner  pushes / wheel barrows.  Nice little day at the office for the 13 who showed up to get better.  Appreciate you guys being there to encourage each other.  Welcome FNG Shake N Bake (Adam)!  DaVinci had his first respectable name-o-rama which I’m proud to say was at my Q!  It was the loudest “RESPECT” I’ve heard to date.

Cha Ching

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6

What Lacks in Creativity…

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Call it “coincidental”, impeccable luck, dumb luck, divine appointment, proper Site-Q planning or option “F”, None of the Above but I was fortunate to have the Q at the Swamp today; the morning of our region’s Invergence. If the PAX were grumpy this evening due to not having a decent workout to start their day, that would be on my shoulders. I was really hoping to not let that happen.

So when 19 other men rolled in for an even 20, I had to take note of who might need the extra push. Once the mental note was made (and it shall remain mental), I recognized we’d have to get some distance in before jumping right in and even try to gas people a little here and there.

Disclaimer was uttered and again, my request was made: “All of you are carrying something with you this morning. My request is that you be present for the next 45mins, engage, push and be present with us, here.”

We then…moseyed. Made our way the long way (as if there’s a short way) over to the Kohl’s parking lot mixing in Butt Kickers, High Knees, Toy Soldiers and a few rounds of Sprints (yes, on a warm up mosey).

Circle Up for 7 reps in cadence of each of the following:

Wide-Arm Merkins

Regular Merkins

Diamond Merkins

Mountain Climbers

Peter Parkers

Parker Peters

Then 5 Burpees

2 Lines for an Indian Run around the entire Kohl’s/Kirklands/Ulta, etc building coming back to the Ulta parking lot (can’t believe a beauty supply store just made its way into the BB…TWICE).

Then our typical warm up: Slow Wind Mills, Slow Squats

Catch Me If You Can with a partner and incorporating 10 Carolina Dry Docks and 10 Monkey Humpers when your partner catches you. Make the parking lot lap 3 times. Word to the wise, if you’re partnered with B.O.T., mandate that he jogs or shoot, walks…#speedy.

Circle Up for 7 more reps in cadence of each of the following:

Wide-Arm Merkins

Regular Merkins

Diamond Merkins

Mountain Climbers

Peter Parkers

Parker Peters

Then, mosey to the Old Navy parking lot and line up on a white line

Crab Walk 20 yards, 20 dips, crab walk back, 20 Dips

Repeat

Mosey to the Best Buy parking lot

3 reps each:

Wide-Arm Merkins

Regular Merkins

Diamond Merkins

Burpees

COT

See you at the Invergence tonight and the 1st Convergence tomorrow (Sat) followed by Q-Source.

Honored.

Maximus

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6

Block Party

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It was a lovely morning at The Abyss. Light Rain falling and 8 men showed up to the Block Party. It was a simple workout, but a tough one.

We started with a mosey around the parking lot to warmup and stretch out a bit. Along the way we did some toy soldiers, butt kickers, and high knees. After that we made it to the back of the school where we started COP.

COP

15 Side Straddle Hops

5 Burpees

10 Temp Merkins

5 Burpees

12 Produce Pickers

5 Burpees

Now that is out of the way it’s time to party!

For the Main Event we moseyed around the corner where a long hill and 12 cinder block greeted us.  ( I wanted to use the grass hill which was steeper but because of the light rain I switched it up so no one busted their face slipping). The paved hill isn’t as steep, but it is longer so it evened out in the long run.

Main Event 

11’s with Block Snatches and Flying Squirrels with a  press…don’t forget to carry the block with you up the hill!

Once we completed the 11’s we moseyed with the blocks to the basketball court where things got real…In the spirit of Iron Pax season I wanted to do some friendly competition.

Block Relays– Heres how it went down. Two teams of four competed in three rounds. Each member of the team will run one by one relay style.  The losing team is punished with 10 bomb jacks while the winners got to laugh while holding a plank.

Team 1: Flux, Copyright, Whitesnake. Survey Says

Team 2: Royale, Grout, Homebrew, Bones

Round 1: Sprint down about 50-75 yards, do 3 burpees and sprint back. While you are not running you were still doing work! While the first team member runs the non runners where doing Jumping Spiders, 2nd runner runs non runners are doing IN and Out abs, 3 runner runs non runners are doing gorilla squats and last runner runs while the non runners are doing merkins. ( I admit this round was close. Me and Bones where neck and neck sprinting down; we finished burpees at the same time and started our sprint back to see which team would win round 1. Simply put I lost. He beat me by about 3 feet and I am still not over it). Because of that L our team did 10 bomb jacks.

Round 2: Each team member in relay format holds the cinder block over their head and runs/fast walks down the designated spot. While not running you did Peter Parkers, Lunges, Plank Jacks and Merkins. For all those wondering our team lost again. 0-2…but I was the Q so we split the bomb jacks between the teams 5 and 5.

Round 3: Each team member in relay format farmer carries 2 blocks while running/fast walking down to the designed spot. While not running you did Flutters, Crunchy Frogs, Box Cutters and Merkins…spoiler alert this round was not any different. We lost again 0-3. But yet again since I was the Q we split the bomb jacks between the teams 5 and 5.

After that the time was about up and the Pax insisted on helping me out by carrying the blocks back to my car. By the time we did that the clock hit 6am.

It was party but we did not have cake.

 

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Quagmire – Cake Walk around Rivergate

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COP
Mosey
Shuffles
Karaoke
High Knees
Butt kickers
Gasers

Mosey to Home Depot lot and search for my chalk hopefully before sprinklers wash it away

Bear Crawl 10 lines (parking spaces)
Broad jump back
Run Lap

Partner up
Wheel barrow 10 lines
Switch
Run Lap

Side Plank Step right 10 lines
10 Partner Leg raises (partner pushes legs down)
Side Planks step left back

Power skip 10 lines
10 Partner derkins (legs on partner back)
Power skip back

Crab walk 10 lines
10 Partner dips (Dip while partner planks)
Crab walk back

Mosey to Fountain

AMRAP-1min each
Step ups
Box jumps
Irkins

AMRAP-30sec each
Step ups
Box jumps
Irkins

Mosey to COT

15 Airbornes each leg

15 LBCs

15 burpees earlier in the COP/Workout

Talked to the men about Fear and how it keeps us form being our best self. It keeps us from our biggest victories. Fear keeps us from getting better. 

We should have nothing to fear since Sky Q has given us everything including eternal life through  his son. With that fear removed, our focus should be on honoring the one that paid it all in all we do and the victories and achievements will be endless……because we are fearless!!

  • Prayers for CMS schools back in today
  • Prayers for Ms and 2.0s
  • Prayers for Twister and Duck Dynasty IR
  • Thanks for the Q  Jedi/Mile High. Awesome group of PAX!!

Cake Boss out!

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2

Do more pull-ups

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6 Pax came out to the Abyss to answer the age old question, how do I get better at pull-ups?

We started off with a mosey around to the track for COP (MNC, produce pickers, squats, windmills, merkins, burpee x 10 each)

As site Q, I see it as my duty to jump on the new trends, so COP was followed by a mosey around the AO, down Tryon, and back to where we started.

The Thang
A Two Ferns inspired “Nicole” WOD. AKA AMRAP pull ups and lap around the track for 20 minutes.

The big hill was pretty slick, and a teacher was on the paved hill unlocking the gate, so YHC audibled back to the shovel flag for a quick DORA
Pax 1: 200 merkins
Pax 2: run to island, 10 squats and back to relieve Pax 1

Finished with some Mary and COT.

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2

I Love Cindy

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Borrowed part of this #beatdown from  Dirty Pipes down at F3JOCO. Visited those guys at the Mad Mule in Benson NC and this workout just called for testing in The FORT.   Little did I know it would end up taking 12 cinder blocks, 4 pavers, 1 sandbag, and 3 rucks to accomplish the workout.  Having prepped and arrived early to setup I could see the headlamps of the pre-runners making early morning laps. All Set to COT for bring some pain. HOLY COW!!! The cars just kept rolling in to the lot. Clown Car after Clown car.  Thank goodness Copyright brought more cinder blocks than requested.

Quick Disclaimer and we are off. Had to tote the extra supplies with us as we ran to warmup.  Much appreciate the support of guys that jumped on the extra weight.

Mosey to the Fountain

Circle up.

SSH x 20     MNC x 20    Hillbilly Walkers x 15

Imperial Walker x 15     Weed Pickers x 15

Fountain work

Derkins x 15 OYO

Dips x 20 OYO

Irkins x 20 OYO

Decline Diamonds x 20

It ain’t fun unless you do it twice.

The Thang I Love Cindy

Partner up–6 stations

Station 1  OH press Max reps

Station 2  Blocked BBS Max Reps

Station 3 Block Squats Max reps

Station 4 Curls 1 block or 2 pavers Max reps

Station 5 Tricep Press 1 block or 2 pavers Max Reps

Station 6 GTOs Max reps

Partner 1 does max reps while Partner 2 runs 4 cone suicide. Plank the 6 rotate upon completion of group.

Talk to Group about Doubt in their lives.

Read- Pray- Surround Yourself with those to talk it out with. Don’t go into seclusion.

Partner Carry back to COT only ~600yrds—-It was awesome and the PAX loved it!.

Not sure what Punchlist and Lutefisk were going for with the midrift shirts in the Name-O-Rama but hey, You do You Bros!

Thanks for the Tap to Lead Cha-Ching. Awesome experience to lead a literal HERD of PAX through the Swamp.

Duck Out!

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Mile High Special at Quagmire

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This was a Q I was looking forward to.  It marked my 1 year anniversary with F3 and it was at the A/O that I started at.  Not only was it my 1 year anniversary but some #HIM by the name of Jedi offered me to be the site Q.  This is an offer I could not turn down as this is one of the hardest A/O’s in the region and is in the middle of The Fort and Lake Wylie.

My F3 journey so far has been one of the best journey’s of my life.  I dropped a ton of weight (I am below 200 LBS for the first time in 20 years), I am in MUCH better shape than I was a year ago and I can kinda sorta hang with all the beasts in our region.  My life is far from perfect nor will it ever be but F3 has introduced me to a plethora of men that I am happy to call brothers and friends.

THE THANG

I pulled up into the parking lot with Lutefisk only to notice there were 20 men there ready to go! If you have Q’d a workout before you know all about the Qdrenaline and that kicked in right away for me.  After saying the disclaimer we were off.

Mosey from Chick Fil A to behind Home depot (0.4 – 0.5 miles).  Circle up.

  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • 10 Merkins in cadence
  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • 10 Merkins in Cadence

Mosey to the alley

  • 5 Burpees OYO
  • Balls to the wall 60 seconds

Mosey over to the parking lot by the stairs.  There I instructed the PAX to partner up.

The next set was inspired from a Cha Ching BB.  We were going to do 11’s but the one we usually do is both exercises have to add up to 11’s, in this case we did one rep of each exercise and climbed up to 11.

The exercises were Burpees & Merkins.  Method of transportation was bear crawls there and crab walk back. 

Round 1

  • Start with 1 Burpee
  • Bear Crawl to the end of the parking lot
  • 1 Merkin
  • Crab Walk back to starting point

Round 2

  • 2 Burpees
  • Bear Crawl to the end of the parking lot
  • 2 Merkins
  • Crab Walk back to starting point

You get the gist…. all the way up to 11.  Rounds 8, 9, 10 & 11 is where the partners came into play and the method of transportation changes from bear crawls and crab walks to wheelbarrows.  By about round 6 or 7 I never imagined 23 men could be that quiet in a workout.  The plan was working.  A few groups finished early so we did a few laps around the parking lot and then some squats.  With about 3 minutes left and all groups finishing the thang we moseyed back to COT.  

Router lead us of with a 40 or 50 count of American Hammers and I finished it off with a 20 count of Flutters all in cadence.

We named our FNG – Mighty Mouse.

Jedi handed off the shovel flag and I thanked him for the opportunity and his leadership at Quagmire for the last 14 months.

Went through announcements, prayers, praises and I asked Jedi to take us out with a prayer.

Needless to say, everyone got their money’s worth and went home better men.

 

 

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4

Reminisce about the “Pain”theon

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I haven’t been to one of my old favorite AOs in WAY to long.  We start to get spoiled with so many great  F3 options that it gets easy to stay close to home. I love Funhouse’s idea of Ass Kickin’ April and getting out to 30 different AOs during the month.  I challenge each of you to answer the call and post to a different AO and meet some new PAX once every few weeks!

So when I was asked to Q again at the Pantheon I answered the call.  I started DMing some of the Lake Wylie guys to see if they wanted to come with me and we had several show up this morning too!  I was quite surprised to see 24 PAX there at 5:15…. two were FNGs EH’d by Bones and two were 2.0s that Uber brought with him.  The FNGs were named “Grout” and “Safe Word”, respectively.  ALL of them did great on a challenging workout today.  Sorry to the 6 men that were cut out of the video Namorama.  I recalled 3 from my terrible memory, but 3 have been left off the tags…comment below and I’ll add you.

The Thang

Long disclaimer with new FNGs

Dynamic Warmup Lap

COP with SSHs – Imperial Walkers – CDDs – LS Squats – Merkins – Windmills – Mountain Climbers

I pulled some of my old favorite Weinkes from the Pantheon and put them together.

Evolution #1

Took two lanterns with me and we moseyed to the graded hill on the NE corner. Love that hill area and we did “8s” (because 7s is too hard of math for me it seems..)

Bottom of Hill 1 Bomb Jack

Top 7 Merkins

up and down the hill switching until you hit 7 Bomb jacks and 1 merkin

Evolution #2

I celebrated my one year anniversary back in 2016 at the Pantheon as Q.  I pulled out this terrible idea and we did it again.

Burpee Celebration

I counted in year 1 that I went to 147 workouts that year.  We would do the following.

17 burpees to start

Complete a lap in the parking lot

10 burpees at the start until we completed 13 laps. (10 x 13 = 130) + 17 = 147 burpees

With only 25 minutes of time that was a little ambitious.  Many finished 9 laps.  Some +/- 1 lap…

6am back to COT

Got to name our FNGs, Todd and Jason…both did great today.  Todd went first, said something about having a safe word after a pineapples reference that came from living in Hawaii…that was it for him…

Jason does sales somehow related to tile splash or tiles…Grout stuck!

Announcements – Prayers and time to go!

Thanks Bear Grylls and Fish Sticks for having me come out and share.  I really enjoyed being a part of the Pillars of Pantheon series as well!  Great idea and addition.

An Honor to Lead,

Royale

 

 

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