A Summer Reunion at Crow’s Nest

Great way to start your week.  5:15 bootcamp with 95% humidity! We gathered up in the gloom and I was happy to see 10 guys join me for our Monday morning beat down.  Two Ferns made his Crows Nest debut, Austin Powers returned  from his vacation across the pond and we had Viogt join us from Rock Hill at the request of Homebrew.  Excellent group this morning, especially after Olaf and Nemo ran up late to COP!

I quickly gave the disclaimer and we were off. Mosey down the service road to the back parking lot of the school with several dynamic warmup moves.  It’s funny how you go under the street lights and they TURN OFF when we stroll by… really tells us how wanted we are.

COP

Random counts of Imperial Walkers – Moroccan Night Clubs – SSHs – Merkins – Yoga – and Mountain Climbers

Didn’t take long to break a sweat, so we moseyed to the playground area farther back in the school.

We started a cycle of an easily written, but hard workout. UvU

Station 1 = 10 pull-ups

Station 2 = 20 Merkins

Bear crawl about 40 yards to next station

Station 3 30 Sumo Squats

Crawl Bear another 40 yards back to station 1

Rinse and Repeat 5 times

Once this was over I shared a few “motivational” words about being tougher than you think you are.  Completing this cycle was a big challenge, and everyone made it.  It’s opportunities like this that show you how far you can actually push yourself.  Keep it up throughout your day and challenge yourself to be better in everything you do!

Mosey around the school to a wall for next evolution

Wall sits for 60 second counts

Wall Plank with feet on wall then we did 10 in cadence shoulder taps. (real crowd pleaser)

Wall sit another 70 seconds of counts

BTTW 30 seconds of count.

Made our way back to the front of the school for the last 5 minutes of Ab Lab.

PAX went in clockwise circle picking the Ab exercise and counting the cadence.

Ended with COT and our prayers.  Shared a summary of the 3rd F Invergence from the previous Friday.

Honored to Lead

-Royale

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Sea Legs 7/31/18

The route was simple: Langston -> Oleander -> Grand Palisades Pkwy around the traffic circle -> Rt on 49 back to COT.

It was muggy, it was hilly and we got it done.

Praises for life and the realization of how quickly it can be taken away
Praise for faith
Prayers for those seeking employment
Prayer for a friend meeting with Dr’s about a cardiovascular issue.

Until next time,

Wild Thing Out!

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Anniversary Q & Lake Wylie Pub Tour

One year ago I posted for the first time at F3. Unlike most men in F3 I was not EH’d by a friend, coworker, or relative. I was EH’d by a podcast. I listened to the episode (link below) while I was at work, and by the end I knew I had to see what this F3 thing was all about. I posted the next day. Not because I was excited to wake up early, or to walk up and hang out in a group where I knew no one (fellow introverts, you know what I’m talking about). I posted the next day because I knew if I didn’t post right away I never would. At the time, I was not even sure I could do 10 pushups. But I was a textbook example of a Sad Clown, and I thought “Well, if this is a dumpster fire I just won’t come back.” I got smoked at that first workout, and it was great. I went to 2nd F drinks that night, posted again the next morning, and posted to CNW2 right after. All 3 Fs in the first 26 hours of showing up – I was hooked.

Podcast #324: How Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith Are the Cure for Sad Clown Syndrome

Today marked the anniversary of my first post. So I did a reprise of that first workout, which was originally Q’d by Kenyan.

The Thang
Disclaimer disclaimed. We found out that Witch Hunt had stepped on a piece of glass during a pre-run and that a policeman had given him hand sanitizer (foot sanitizer?) for the wound. He still did the full workout with a bleeding foot #ManPoints

Run to Copper Pub – Big boy sit-ups until 6
* The PAX saw what appeared to be Respectable Olaf getting a ticket by the Foot Sanitizing Policeman. Sources later confirmed that the offender was not Olaf but a similarly dressed doppelganger who also drives a red pickup. What are the odds?

COP
• SSH
• Merkins
• Mountain climbers
• Plank jacks

* 10 monkey humpers between each exercise. Apparently 4 count monkey humpers was a bit zealous for some, but YHC went for it with gusto which resulted in a fair deal of mumble chatter.

Run to Sweetwater – Plank until 6

Lazy Doras
• 100 Merkins +  plank
• 200 LBCs + 6” leg hold
• 300 squats + Al Gore
Switch with partner every 25 reps

Run back to COT. Total we ran about 2.5 miles.

Thank you to all the PAX who have been a part of my first year at F3. Whether we’ve sweated together, shared a beer together, prayed together, or done a CSAUP together I have been blessed to share a bit of the good life with you. This is definitely more than a workout.

Thank you Peg for the opportunity to lead.

Stay Classy,
Homebrew

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Crows Nest 7/2

8 pax came out to Crows Nest.  A disclaimer was made and we mosied up to the rock piles for COP.

COP

MNC x 25, Windmills x 12, HBW x 15, Merkins x 15, Peter Parker’s x 15

Everybody grabbed a rock and we made our way to the back of the school for the main event.  First we all did 10 pull ups OYO.

YHC had set up 10 stations and PAX paired up.  Every exercise was x 25 while Pax#2 did the second exercise and then both pax ran a lap… Except for the burpee stations, where both pax did 10 burpees with 2 laps. (Tri ext/6″ Squata/Al Gore, OHP/ MNC, diamond Merkins/plank, curls/curb hops, Merkins/plank, lunges/flutter, BOR/LBCs).

 

Had to finish up early and head back for COT with thr rocks.  Had some extra time so we made it through 40 jack webbs in 6 mins.

 

Announcements/Prayers for PAX job hunting and for Bob the Builder and his family.

Thanks Flux for the opportunity to lead.

 

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Taters beat down

23 Pax, 19 for Bootcamp and 4 Ruckers

Welcome FNG Mill-Billy

It’s been a while since Tater had the Q and he did not disappoint!

He gave the disclaimer and we were off to mosey, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Knee to chest, Karaoke

COP Did a few exercises here to get nice and warm before we mosied over to the fountain and partnered up

Dora 1-2-3-4 100 Derkins, 200 Step-ups, 300 Dips, 400 LBC one partner ran the loop while the other partner did the exercise

We got through one full round and started our way back down before we stopped and returned to the COT area to do a little Ab-Lab

Excellent work! It was not an easy workout and we were all challenged!!

Great work Tater and the PAX!!!!!!

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2 Year Anniversary of The Abyss

Today we celebrated 2 years of the Abyss.  When the shovel flag was planted 6/29/20016 by Dark Helmet the Abyss was merely an idea that “if we build it….they will post.”  And post the PAX did!  Over the past year and half it has been an honor to be the Site Q of this versatile AO and I appreciate all the PAX who have come out and led a workout.

Q got to the AO with seconds to spare due to an emergency bathroom visit at a 24 hr Harris Teeter in route.

Once disclaimers were given and the 5 F3 Principles given (due to FNG) we were off.

Quick mosey around the front half of the AO to allow all stragallers to exit their vehichles (ehem…Wildthing) and then to a warm-up circle.

Warm-up

  • Windmill
  • Weed Pickers
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • Slow Low Squat
  • Plank (a few Broga moves)
  • Merkins
  • Stretch with knees to chest

The Thang

I told the PAX that I wanted to highlight a few of the “features” of the AO during the workout so we started with the Flag pole.

  • Bear Crawl around circle in front of school

Mosey to very back hill of the AO for a series of hill exercises

  • Lunge walk–Sprint to top
  • Broad Jump–Sprint to top
  • Basketball shuffle Flip half way

Mosey to the Basketball court for some Suicides

First Suicide–

all four goals and back

Second–

  • Start with 10 Squats
  • 2nd Goal–10 Merkins
  • 4th Goal–5 Burpees

Mosey into “wet and muddy” field

  • Elbow Plank position with Peter Parker’s
  • Jack Webs (everyone’s favorites)

Mosey to “the hill”

  • Finished strong with 5 sprints up the hill

Mosey to COT.

Everyone pushed themselves and got better for it…includding FNG who was off to the side threatening to Merlot.

Once Namorama was finished we welcomed FNG Oompa Loompa!

Announcements and Prayers

Thanks again for all the PAX who came out today to celebrate this AO.  We had 24 there and we have set the goal for 30 next year!

-Bones

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BEYOND – CONFIDENCE & SELF-WORTH

Being the BEYOND Q has been something that I’ve found to be quite intimidating after the first few that I attended. I’ll admit, I’m not the most experienced in the 3rd F. How will I find a message that will resonate with the PAX? Will it impact them? Will it move them? These are all of the questions that have been on my mind since getting on Q schedule for BEYOND.

5 brave PAX split from the group and went off into The Gloom with YHC.

Pre-Amble:
Throughout the majority of my life I’ve had the luxury of being able to take the easy way out when things got tough. High School Sports Injury? Rehab is too hard I’ll just find something else. Finding out the career you want involves hard classes and real work? Find something easier that takes less effort. Tough time finding a job? Take the first and easiest option instead of facing rejection. I can’t even count the number of goals I’ve set for myself and just sat back watched as goal date just floated on passed.

What do all of these easy way out decisions lead to? Regret. They lead to happy hours and late night talks about how I could’ve done X, but (insert lame excuse here). They lead to late nights saying I should’ve been Y, but (insert lame excuse here).

Where does all of that come from? What makes it so easy to compromise? I think it comes from not knowing who you are as a man, or what is important to you. I’ve spent most of my life trying to assimilate into whatever peer group would have me. Tupac summed up my teen years the best, “I hung around with thugs and even though they sold drugs, they showed a young brother love”. The quickest way to make friends in college? Find the party or hang out in front of dorms and meet the smokers. So far, probably not the most High Impact Men to surround myself with.

Enter F3 about 2.5 years ago. This group of men has given me confidence. It has built enough self-worth in me that I can now look people in the eyes when I talk to them. It has given me the desire to want to finish what I’ve started, to complete the task, to not accept not meeting the standard. The saying we’ve adopted is “Do the Harder Thing”. That is how I want to live my life.

Today the feeling of regret stops. Today we come back to one task, one goal that has eaten away at me slowly for 18 mos…

THE THANG
About halfway through our F3 Custom GoRuck Challenge, after carrying heavy logs and each other, Cadre Danny and Cadre Flash challenged us to a PT Test.

100 Burpees
Run 1.1 Mi
50 Burpees
Run 1.1 Mi
Time: 32 minutes (for the vent they added an extra few minutes)

My time the first time was over 40 minutes.

All participants finished in 31 minutes or less!

Thank you Maximus for the opportunity to lead.

Until next time in the gloom,

Wild Thing out!

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Gym Jones and a little DORA

It’s been a while since I’ve been back to my old stomping grounds at The Deep and thought this would be a great way to warm up for BEYOND coming on Monday. 9 PAX answered the call in The Gloom. Here’s what went down:

Quick Disclaimer and Mosey over to the parking lot in front of The Office (slight location adjustment was needed due some leftover splashed merlot).

A brief warm up followed.

THE THANG
A while back Facebook into me to Bobby Maximus and some of his Gym Jones challenges. It goes like this: Set a timer for one minute. Starting at one increase by one Burpee every minute until you can no longer complete the number of Burpees in that minute. This group pushed themselves to the limit and made it 15! For those who don’t want to do the math that’s 120 total Burpees

With all the PAX sucking wind we slowly moseyed over to the building and partnered up for a little DORA. With a partner complete 100 Dips, 200 Squats, and 300 double count Flutters while their partner ran to the parking island and back.

With the PAX sufficiently smoked, we moseyed back to COT.

MOLESKIN
F3 has impacted my life in more ways than I can count. I shared today that for most of my life due to various factors including being bullied, I have never had the confidence to look people in the eyes while speaking with them. I didn’t feel worthy. It felt intimidating. While I’ve held leadership positions, I’ve never known what it took to be a leader. F3 has given me the confidence to finally do that. The mental shift that happens when all of a sudden you lead and others follow is life changing. It’s downright empowering. These 45 minutes or hour leadership sessions have not only impacted my relationships, but my professional life as well.

There’s your preview for BEYOND. Check out the next BB for PART II.

Wild Thing Out.

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Mystery Filthy Fifty at Crows Nest

As I was heading out the door, I was asked to Q today. I had already been thinking about the Weinke for my next Q the same week, so obviously I threw all that out the door and started over as I was driving to the AO

Completely forgot the disclaimer for a bunch of vets though, so ooops.

Moseyed around toward the Y with the standard butt kickers, toy soldiers, bear crawl… wait what? and then stayed in plank as we crawled into a circle for some stretching and warmup

Partner DORA 1-2-3
Pointed out a short distance to run and swap with your partner through 100 merkins, 200 squats and 300 LBCs (a classic in my opinion)

I keep with me a brown paper bag of exercises printed out into baseball card sleeves (mega cheap guys, maybe have one in your arsenal as well just in case) so we did 50 OYO of each exercise that was drawn by the PAX

In no particular order
Monkey Humper
Pistol Squat
LBC
CDD
Big Boys
SSH
Inchworm Merkin (this was slooooooow)
Overhead clap
Apollo Creed – no one could agree or remember what this was so we did something Wolverine called out where you sit up like an American Hammer but instead of twisting, you alternate punch and alternate bicycle kick your legs out. makes more sense when you see it, need to name it

Moseyed back for 4 MoM (dolly, box cutters, protractor)
And ended the workout with 5 burpees as expected 6:00:01 was the time

CoT
Sweati July 14 at First Baptist Fort Mill – in the newsletter
Homebrew,DaVinci,NASA doing the GoRuckLight in Colulmbia on 6/30

Homebrew’s brother? is engaged now!
Witch Hunt is traveling to St Louis
Wolverine just hit 2 years in F3!!!
Nemo admitted he needs to have a better attitude even though his life is going great with a wonderful family, kids and job. AYE!!

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RUCK – GC – RUCKICIDES

Well it was my turn to Q again and was digging through my twisted mind as to what to do and I started thinking about something with Suicides.  Then the lovely thought came to mind about doing RUCKICIDES, and from there the workout took shape.

Router put out for a pre-run so of course the usuals showed up to do it, but was excited when OLAF wasn’t really feeling it.  So Jedi, Cha Ching, and Router took off for 3 miles and Olaf and I grabbed an 80 and 60lb sandbag, plus rucks and did a little under two miles in 30 minutes.  Those got heavy!!

On to the Ruck, was pumped to see 9 PAX out today!

Warm up

Indian run where last person does some cleans with the sandbag – well that turned out to be way to easy for everyone else and confusing so about 15 seconds in I yell “Screw this, RUCKS overhead”.  So then we run three laps around the parking lot alternating exercises while still running.

Rucks Overhead

Overhead Press

Away from Chest Carry

Curls

Farmer Carry

Overhead

Again all while running.

WOD:

Grab 7 Sandbags and the two person carry cement pipe and start moving.  We carry it to the church parking lot where RUCKICIDES commence.

First:

Bear Crawl – 5 merkins – Crawl Bear back – Bear Crawl – 5 Merkins Crawl bear back (length of parking lot)

Lil E is a bear literally, he beat Cha Ching if that tells you anything.

Second:

Walking Lunge – 10 Squats – Duck walk back – repeat (length of parking lot)

My butt is still sore…

Grab weight and move – This time whatever weight we were carrying beyond our rucks had to be overhead for a certain amount of time.  Sorry Cha-Ching that 80lb bag sucks!

Next we did timed bag toss relay up the hill to the fire station:

We set a time hack of 1.5 minutes and did the first round with the 60lb bag in 1minute 3 seconds.

We cleaned it up and did it in 46 seconds

Next we jumped up to the 80lb bag and knocked it out in under a minute.

At this point we had 6 minutes to make it back to COT and some distance to cover, so we grabbed all the weight and double timed it back!

Pumped for the turnout and to see NASA out there again!

I’ve got a full Q schedule so you won’t see me Q’ing for a bit but come out and support.

Until later,

RAD

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