Threefold Cord

Thank you to the 11 total PAX who showed up to The Fort on this fall like gloom to share in some great fellowship and a little fitness. It was an awesome time and if you miss it, well, you missed out. Thank you to Grinder for allowing Johnny Utah and YHC to lead this morning.

WARMUP

We began the morning led by Jonny Utah with a quick mosey to the front corner of WEP where we started off with some Side Straddle Hops and Low Slow Squats. Then we quickly moved into the THANG.

THE THANG

From this point on Johnny Utah led us back and forth across the front of WEP stopping at each front corner for a series of exercises at each corner. I lost track of how many times we went back and forth and what exercises we did, but I learned some new exercises today.

This took us to a little after 0700 and Johnny Utah handed it off to YHC.

Since Johnny Utah had mentioned to YHC he was going heavy on running and pain stations, I figured I would add in a little upper body and . . . legs & Burpees. We took a short mosey to the amphitheater to welcome it to the men of F3 The Fort . YHC asked the PAX to circle up and we commenced to begin a combination of Jack Webbs and Dan Taylors (alternating between the two) from a ratio of 1:4 to 10:40.

Then we lined up at the back edge of the field at this hill. We then did 7’s with Burpees and Bombjacks. After that we took a short mosey to the COT for 6 Minutes of Mary to finish off the 30 minutes.

This morning was full of beautiful weather, mumblechatter, and fun. What you want to have at any F3 Workout.

NMM

Over the past few weeks, I have had many brothers struggling through many different situations. From COVID, to death in families, to dogs dying. This has me and other brothers relying on the power of prayer and support.

This is my challenge to you men today. If you are struggling, do not do it alone. Do not isolate. We as men tend to feel like we must be the strongest with can be without any help or assistance. If you are struggling reach out to a brother or all of us brothers. Be aware that you have men who will act when requested.

Post it on social media, send a text, make a phone call; whatever you do, reach out. We are all better together and not apart.

Aye!

Ecclesiastes 4:12 ‘And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him-a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Reach out to a Site Q to Q a Workout.

9/11 Patriot Day WOD on Labor Day (9/6)-NAFO 0530-0730

The Fort Anniversary-Sept. 17-Details coming.

Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge-Sept. 17-19-See PreBlast for Details

The Sweati – Sat., Oct. 2 at 0630 – Start at Ft. Middle School

FM Care Center Lawn Care

Read your Newsletter.

PRAYERS/PRAISES

The PAX shared their prayers and praises and Longshanks lifted them up.

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SAHCMMPQ

Fourteen pax attended the Second Annual Harry Carry Memorial Minnow Pond Q (SAHCMMPQ).  By mandate, YHC gets to Q Minnow Pond once per year.

Brief disclaimer and launch/run to stop “A” which was the new parking spots on Ardrey St. alongside WEP near 160.

The routine was described: board of pain with pairs of exercises.  Pax need to do a total of 100 of the pair and can split it up any way they want (i.e. 15 Merkins and 85 squats).  I called it a mix/match routine.

Then run to stop “B” which is the big parking lot behind Pike.  Get there by running this route: southwest down Ardrey to Harris, run east to Massey, then up/northeast on Massey to Pike’s big parking lot.  Distance is 0.7 miles between A and B.

There is a board at point B; different pairs of exercises, but same routine, mix/match to a count of 100.

Then run back to point A following the same route. Rinse/repeat the routine.  Exercise details:

Stop “A” exercises (mix/match to count of 100):
Started with: Merkins/Squats
At second visit do: Dips/Monkey Humpers
At third visit do: SSH/American Hammers
Stop “B” exercises (mix/match to count of 100):
First visit do: CCD/Bobby Hurley’s
Second visit do: Shoulder Taps/Freddie Mercuries
Third visit do: Calf Raises/ LBC’s

At 5:50 the front runners began collecting everyone on the run back to point B.  We got everyone back to COT and then did the pledge of allegiance (because I forgot to start off with it).

Approximately 4 miles ran.

Fini, COT

Prayers for those effected by COVID and for schools: kids and teachers.

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Fecta-Traz

11 pax posted at Alcatraz on another warm humid day.
This co-Q was the third Q in my birthday Trifecta (Ranch #1, Varsity was #2).

First Q at bat was Ruby Slippers who gave the disclaimer and warmup:
Cherry pickers, windmills, Peter parkers, parker peters (10x IC).

Thang 1: HIIT
At the playground area of Runde park.  Pax split into three groups. Exercise for 1 minute the groups move to next station.
station 1: pull ups (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Step ups
station 3: LBC
Next iteration was:
station 1: pull up and toes to bar (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Lunges
station 3: flutters
Next iteration:
station 1: Do one pull up and hold at the top.  Goal is 1 min; do a slow negative pull up if needed but hang on to the bars.
station 2: Lunges
station 3: V-ups

Thang 2: Field Sprints (with Merkins)
Pax line up on the outfield
Run at 50% for first 30 feet, then sprint/100% to end of the outfield.
Pax do 20 merkins.
Do the same run routine described above. At end pax do 18 merkins.
Rinse and repeat downwards to two merkins.

Q transition to Harry Carry.

Started with a run as a group in the surrounding neighborhood.  Simple loop of approximately ½ mile. Returned to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 3: Prison Yard Burpees
Pax split into two groups.  Each group has a basketball half-court as their prison yard.
Groups start in corner 1 does 10 burpees.  Then bear crawl (alternate method allowed was lunge walk) to next corner and do 9 burpees.  Proceed with the descending count of burpees and bear crawls until 1 burpee is reached.

Run again as a group, different route, hit the hill on Tara Tea Drive. Distance of about 1/3 mile. Return to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 4: Bear vs Crab Soccer
Done on a basketball court.  Cones used at each end to mark a ‘goal’.
Split pax in two teams
15lb slam ball is mid court
Team 1 bear crawls only, Team 2 crab walks only
Get the ball and try to score
One team did score, don’t remember who.  We did switch animals at some point.

Game was called when a bear tried to eat a crab.

Non-Mary: Monkey Humpers, Imperial walkers (both 10xIC).

Fini. COT

It was quite a spectacle to see pax go after the slam ball and had some scrums too.  A few pax were even able to ‘throw’ the slam ball…may have to modify the rules for future games.  This was good clean fun.
Quite a great way to end my Trifecta of Q’s.  Great group of HIMs we have in our region.

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Sexy Derkins

Six pax for a birthday workout.  This was workout #2 of my Trifecta Q’s.
Warm Up
Mosey run (Toy soldiers, high knees)
SSH (IC 10x)
Windmill (IC 10x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 12X)
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog
Headed towards the benches area under the awning in front of the school.

Thang 1: HIIT Routine (the 1990’s playlist begins here)
Set A: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Dips
Bobby Hurley’s

Set B: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
Amer Hammers
plank jacks

Set C: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imp Walkers
Squat Jumps
step ups
SSH
In between sets we did some bear crawls. Rinse/Repeat sets as time permitted.

Thang 2: Sexy Derkin challenge: Done to the song “I’m too Sexy”. Pax do a derkin at each “sexy”. Total of 22 derkins in 2 minutes 50 seconds.
Run to shovel flag. Some light Mary (LBC, Hello Dolly)

Fini, COT

NMM: Awesome way to start the day, my 47th birthday. Truly an honor to spend it with these pax.
Blessed with a bright shooting star before the workout began (thanks sky Q).
Lots of chatter…I think collectively we named every rock band from the 1990’s.
Treats were handed post workout: Stracciatella mini cupcakes (thanks to my M).
Playlist:

Title artist Year released length
beautiful people maryln manson 1996 3:43
everlong foo fighters 1997 4:11
I am one smashing pumpkins 1991 4:06
song 2 blur 1997 2:01
been caught stealing janes addiction 1990 3:35
flag pole sitta harvey danger 1997 3:37
more human than human white zombie 1995 4:28
seether veruca salt 1994 3:17
suicide blonde inxs 1990 3:52
Vow garbage 1995 4:30
Derkin Challenge Song:
I’m too sexy Right Said Fred 1992 2:50
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Manmaker Ranch

Started with six pax on a warm humid morning.; the seventh came in a tad late and caught up with us.

Disclaimer given.
Mosey run to flag pole of middle school.
Started with Motivators (from 6)
Windmills (10x IC)
Imperial Walkers (10x IC)
Moroccan N/C (10x IC)
Los Slow Squats (10x IC)
Arm circles (10x IC)
Peter Parkers (10x IC)
Plank stretches: Down dog, honeymooners

Run (to Elementary school)
Thang 1: Manmaker Relays
Two cinderblocks, pax split into two groups a form a line behind each block
Pax do 2 manmakers run 150’ down the lot, there is another set of cindys there,
Pax do another 2 manmakers, then run back to the end of their line.
Rinse/repeat. We progressed to 4 manmakers on the next iteration, then to 6, then to 8.
Plank/mary for the six.

Run to benches
Thang 2: bench work
Butt touch squats
Derkins
Calf raises
Incline merkins
Step ups (10 each leg, OYO)

Run towards shovel flag, grab one cindy along the way
Minor ab work to catch breath: Flutters, LBC

Grab cindy and run to curb
Thang 3: Pass the Ammunition
Pax on curb, one man’s arm length apart
Pax do curb merkins in cadence
Then cindy is passed down the pax line and returned (pax stay in plank on curb)
Did 10x IC curb merkins, passed block, then 6x IC, passed, then 3x IC (I think).

Run to COT.
Mary: Monkey humpers, gas pumpers, protractors.
Then Airbornes
Then short mosey run to feel the airbornes effect.

The finish the same way we started: Motivators, from 6.
Fini.

I was part of the support crew for GrowRuck 24 last Saturday Aug 7. Watching those fellas go through what they did reminded me of this passage, so I read it for the pax at the Ranch:

Romans 5:3-5 NIV
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

This was Q number 1 of 3; doing a Trifecta for turning 47.  Varsity on 8/13 and Alcatraz on 8/14.  Oh boy.

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Milkshake Found and Not Found

Six pax posted for Milkshake with half rucking it.  The route and exercises are in the image below.

Through the walk I presented sayings/things that people generally think are from the Bible…but really are not.  These are:

The forbidden apple in the garden of Eden: Bible does not specify it was an apple.

Three wise men: there was three gifts…but the number of wise men is not specified.

A whale swallowed Jonah: Original translations say a “great fish”.

Money is the root of all evil: 1 Timothy 6:10 actually says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

God works in mysterious ways: Isaiah 55:8-9 says that God’s ways are different from ours, not mysterious as U2 may want us to believe.

God helps those who help themselves: nope not there. Variations are proverbial statements in ancient Greek tragedies. The Quran (13:11) has something similar. An English politician gave us the exact wording, which Benjamin Franklin quotes in Poor Richard’s Almanac.

But these next sayings are FROM the Bible:

Escaping by the skin of your teeth: Job says he escaped with his life by the skin of his teeth in Job 19:20.

A house divided against itself cannot stand: not honest Abe but Jesus when rebuffing Pharisee charges that he was casting out demons because He was possessed Himself, Jesus uttered the phrase.

A drop in the bucket: To demonstrate the enormity of God, the prophet coins the phrase in Isaiah 40:15: “the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales.”

Scapegoat: In the Old Testament, two goats were chosen for the Day of Atonement. One was sacrificed, but Leviticus 16:10 speaks of the scapegoat, which was released into the wilderness to carry away the sins of the people.

Writing is on the wall: No one knew what the writing on the wall in Daniel 5 meant, until God gave Daniel the interpretation that the kingdom would be taken away from the king.

Fini.

Milkshake route and exercises

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Carolina Day

Disclaimer
Simple stretches

SSH 38X in cadence

Run to pull up bars, high knees and butt kickers along the way
Six pull up
Six chin ups
Six switch grip pull ups

Grab a cindy and bring it to the curb (we’ll use it later); hold plank out there

Run as a group down to base of hill
Do alt shoulder taps 28X IC
Flag Indian run: flag stays at front, last pax drops and does two merkins

Stopped at bottom of the hill and went through Battle of Sullivan’s Island / Carolina Day story

PRECISION: Six count Burpees, in a moderate-paced cadence, 6x

Run back up the hill

Cinder block routine:
Timer is sled pull: down to stop sign and back (four blocks in sled)
Pax did: Thrusters, Curls, Bent over rows, Squats, Flutters/chest press, KB swings, Uneven merkin/plyo, Overhead carries/walk
Each pax got to pull the sled twice.
Pass the Ammunition
All pax line up at the curb, about an arms-length apart, plank with hands on the curb. We do six curb merkins in cadence; after which the pax at the end pulls through the cinder block down to the pax next to him. Block gets passed all the way to the end of the line and then gets passed back to the first pax. Upon block’s return at the start, pax did another six curb merkins in cadence. Repeat.

Run suicides:
Run to post #1: do two bobby hurleys, run back to start, run to post #2 and do two bobby hurleys, run back to start. Repast, but do three bobbies this round.
Mary:
Big Boy Sit ups (17X IC)
LBC (17X IC)
Protractors
Amer hammer (17X IC)
Flutters (17X IC)

Fini, COT

Carolina Day (formerly known as Palmetto Day): Established to remember/honor the Patriot victory at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island.
This was a battle that the Patriots should have lost as the odds were greatly against them:
The British were well trained
British had twice as many cannons as the Patriots
Patriots had limited amounts of gun powder and ammunition
The fort at Sullivan’s Island was only half-way finished (Two of its four sides were barely constructed).
This is where Divine Providence comes in:
* Early in the battle, a British cannonball/bomb hits the fort’s magazine, but it does not detonate.
* One of large British ships was just a little too far away from the fort and thus put extra  gunpowder in their cannons, and when fired, the cannons broke their mounts.
*British Marines landed on Isle of Palms to attack the fort from the rear, based on the info that they could cross the river to Sullivan’s island with ease. However, the intel was wrong and the gap was too wide and deep. The patriots were able to easily keep the Marines away.
*The British sent in three lighter ships further up the channel to lay heavy cross-fire in the fort. Even though their guides/pilots said the ships could make it, each British ship ran aground and could not lay fire on the fort.

Col. Moultrie for the Patriots used his limited gunpowder and cannons wisely. Making calculated, precision firing resulting in considerable damage to the British ships.
Battle lasted about 10 hours.  Small amount of losses on the Patriot side, heavy on the British side.

About the South Carolina flag:
Indigo color because the surrounding low country grew lots of indigo, and was the color/dye used for the patriots uniforms.
In the battle, a British shell knocked the fort’s flag down. Those watching from Charleston were shocked and expecting the worst to happen next. But Sgt Jasper bravely ran out to the fallen flag, affixed it to a staff used for stuffing cannons, and hoisted it up again. Jasper later would be decorated for his actions.

Impact of the victory:
It took 17 days for the victory news to reach George Washington, and he used it to encourage and boost the morale of his troops. The victory showed the Patriots could stand up to the strongest military in the world and be successful.

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Must meet the standard to make Varsity

Now that the Journey 3rdF meetings have finished my Friday has opened up for hitting some AO’s that I haven’t hit in a while to meet some of the fresh guys who share the Gloom. Little did they know what to expect. Being that the Q point for this week is Accountability which is Q point 2.5 if you happen to be following along with the idiotic numbering system it was time for some accountability at Varsity. My original Q plan got tossed as soon as the number of PAX hit more than 8 so I modified from an accountability rotation where we would all hold a plank and watch each man perform the exercise using their best form while the remaining PAX observe and critique to something more familiar while still tying back into standards and enforcement. The old school APFT was introduced to the unsuspecting PAX after we performed some SSH and some Merkins, and a few peter parkers. Same as always, 2 mins as many correct reps as possible. 2 mins of merkins where must go at least down far enough where your upper arms are parallel with the ground, extending all the way up to lock out arms to complete the rep. No resting on the ground, no removing hands or feet from the ground or the count is terminated. Partner up to make sure the standard is upheld and enforced. Next exercise is the big boy situp. Hands must be interlocked behind the head. No resting on the ground. Feet and hips must remain on the ground during the event. Chin must come up further than your tailbone in order for rep to count. Scoring was based on as many correct reps as possible in the 2 minute allowed time. Final portion was the 2 mile timed run. Thanks to splinter for maintaining a great relationship with the local AO authorities who allowed us to use the track. Clock was started and everyone was off. 8 laps around the track and remember your time when you cross the finish line. Everyone did a great job pushing and encouraging each other to finish strong. Great job fellas. Head back over to COT for CountARama, NameARama, announcements, prayers and praises. Encourgment to find another man or three and lock shields to allow yourself to become fully unlocked. Thanks for the opportunity to lead Splinter on a great morning and was wonderful to see all of the new faces. June FNG Jamboree is in full swing. Find someone and bring them out to F3. Stay Frosty my friends, Olaf
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Colosseum Mayhem

Fifteen Pax posted at Colosseum.

Mosey run to Warm up: SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan N/C, Low Slow Squats, big arm circles, Peter Parkers, Plank stretches.  All in cadence, count varied 10 to 20.

Another short mosey run.

Circle up and did:
Thang 1: Banana splits
Partner up
P1 runs north to a cone placed 500’ away and heads back (distance is 500’ out, then same back, total 1000’).  P2 runs south to a cone also placed 500’ away road and heads back (total distance is also 1000’).
When the pax meet, they do the prescribed exercise:
First meet: do Bobby Hurleys = 100 total for the two pax. Then pax run again. Etc. the remaining exercises are:
Overhead Claps = 150, pax run, then:
Third meet =  Merkins = 200, pax run, then:
Fourth meet = big boy sit ups = 150, pax
Fifth meet = SSH = 100
Join in with the six to finish out.

Run to benches
Thang 2: Bench work, with bear crawl push
At the school’s benches:
Pax grab a spot on the benches.  Pax exercise while one lucky pax does bear crawl a 100’ loop around cones with a 15lb slam ball.
A new pax switches in for the bear crawl and remaining pax do the next exercise called out.  We did: Incline merkins, shoulder taps, LBC, Monkey Humpers, Imperial Walkers, decline merkins, butt touch squats.

Run to COT area; nice work by all pax!

Fini, COT

To close us out, I read Proverbs 13:20 “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
I noted to the pax that this verse reminded me of F3 where we learn from each other and become better for it…although there was a few cracks about the fools part.

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Forrest at the Badger

Four pax posted at Honey Badger to honor a fallen soldier.

Began with a mosey run, and ended at the ROTC building.
Warm up, SWIMLAPPs:
SSH (12x cadence)
Windmills (12x)
Imperial Walkers (12x)
Moroccan Nightclubs (12x)
Low Slow Squats (10x)
Arm circles (12x)
Peter Parkers (12x)
Plank stretches, downward dog, up dog

Thang 1: Forrest:
Pax plank and read story of Special Agent Forrest Leamon (copied below).
Begin with running a 450m loop, start/finish is at the pullup bars. Then:
20 pullups
30 squats w/ cinder block
40 burpees
30 toes to bar
20 KB swings w/ block
Repeat/run loop

We did above for about 35 minutes.

Thang 2: Suffer in Place
Pax pair off
One minute of: P1: low plank; P2: Merkins
One minute of: P1: wall sit; P2: Bobby Hurleys
One minute of: P1: BTW; P2: leg lifts
Partners swap, and do above.

One more run, 450m loop (to get over the one mike mark) and finishing at COT right at 0600.
COT/Fini

Nice to have the shield lock fellas together for this one.

SPECIAL AGENT FORREST LEAMON
End of Watch: 10/26/2009
Forrest was born in Ukiah, California and graduated from Potter Valley high school in 1990. After a year of classes at Mendocino College, he enlisted in the Navy and trained as a cryptologic technician.
Forrest completed multiple deployments overseas in southeast Asia and Bosnia, ultimately earning the rank of petty officer first class during his nine years of service.
After earning his computer science degree, he began a career at the Drug Enforcement Administration. Forrest worked to combat drug trafficking out of the El Paso Texas office for several years before joining the Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team program.
On October 26th 2009, special agent Forrest Leamon, 37, was returning from a counter-narcotics mission in Afghanistan when the helicopter he was aboard crashed. The incident took the lives Forrest, two other DEA agents, and seven US military service members.
Forrest is survived by his widow Ana, his sisters Heather and Wai, and his son Luke was born after his death.
Forest was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

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