The Darkest of ALLL Convergences

80ish of the Fort’s, Lake Wylie’s, and Rock Hill’s finest converged this fine Monday to celebrate and show our support for the Darkest of All Helmet’s becoming the new Nantan of F3 Nation.

After my usual disclaimer and a giving of thanks for those who all showed , Dark Helmet led the warmup. As any true leader would do he quickly refreshed (and reinforced via burpees) the core mission of F3 and our core principles. After a rough start we did eventually nail it. After some side straddle hops and merkins the Pax were released into their own unique workout groups.

HERO WOD(Honey Badger)

This was my Q and I’m always humbled to lead Hero style workouts. They should be hard but also purposeful. For me I have created two unique workouts to honor different men of my family who have served. They would be the last people to ever consider themselves heroes. But that’s why I honor them. They sacrificed more than I ever could and I will always be inspired by them. I hope that in this very simple way their stories help inspire others.

For the purpose of today’s workout I truncated both them in the interest of time.

The “Uncle Paul”

I encourage anyone to Google the USS Pueblo Incident to get the full details but the long and short of it is that my wife’s Uncle Paul was a member of the USS Pueblo crew when it was captured by North Korea in 1968. For 11 months he was help captive as POW. Tortured, sleep deprived, and subject to all sorts of propaganda he along with 81 of his ship mates were eventually returned to the US. As a result of his PTSD he hasn’t been able to sleep for almost 50 years.

The Workout:

82 SSH (IC)

11 Burrpees OYO.

1 LAP around the Earth Fare Complex.

As we returned to our starting position I began the Second Hero Workout of the day. The “Sgt. Major”. This one is a WOD I’ve done before for the Honey Badger and is about my father who was a Command Sgt. Major in the 28th ID. Again for the sake of time I limited the usual 3 miles I try and incorporate into this workout for 3 laps instead. The exercises are as Follows.

28 Burpees

1 Lap

28 Burpees

56 Squats

1 Lap

28 Burpees

56 Squats

112 HR MErkins

1 LAP.

(Pick up the 6 if you can)

This pretty much took us up to the bell after a brief visit by the ruckers. Thanks to all who broke off to me to indulge me and these workouts. They are supposed to be hard and challenging and I hope we all got our money’s worth.

 

Running Boot camp: Sweep the Leg – FishTix

Group was split into teams of 4. Relay race around the parking lot two stops with exercises. Two runners traveled to stop 1 and stop 2 respectively while the other team members did the exercises at the stops. Once the runners arrived the running duties were handed off. Process was continued until the closing bell.

Stop 1 Exercises: HR Merkins, Dips, Burpees, CDD, Mike Tyson Merkins

Stop 2: Jump Squats, Flutters, Mnt Climbers, Lunges, Box Cutters

Rucking – VA – Olaf

4 corners with low slow squats, merkins, Lunges, and shoulder taps. After round 1 got a 40 and a 60 pound sand bag to spice it up. The bags were rotated around by the Pax.

Kettlebell – Armory – BandCamp

4 Rounds:

16 clusters (clean, squat, press

16 single arm swings (alternating)

16 lateral lunge with a row (8 a side)

Short Mosey

Some overhead lunges and suitcase deadlifts when the heart rates got too high.

Running – Flight Plan – Bass-O-Matic

Ran a bunch 🙂

At 6:00 I blew a whistle and we all reconvened for the longest Namearama I ever conducted a brief reminder of the Rooster, to read the newsletter and to have our Nantan of the Fort Esso lead us out.

Best of luck to Dark Helmet in his new role! Let’s all continue the mission!

AYE!

 

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Longest 11 ever

WARMUP: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Downdog
THE THANG:
Mosey to the school for a round of 11’s.
Breakdance merkins(double count) on one side.
Crunchy frogs(in cadence) on the other side.
Distance between points was approximately 0.2mi.
No one got through all 11. Maybe it was too far?

Thanks for the opportunity to come run with the high performance HIM’s of the Fort. I’m always impressed by the showing and the effort laid down.

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Not a Mile

https://strava.app.link/p88mB09efpb

Warmup:
SSH
IW
HW
Good Morning
Around the World
Merkin (slow count)
Yoga
Halo

10 Swings
10 Goblet Squats
10 Merkins
Move (bear craw, waiter carry, suitcase carry)
10 Swings
9 Goblet Squats
9 Merkins
Down to:
10 Swings
1 Goblet Squat
1 Merkin

1 Clean
1 Racked Lunge
1 Press
Each side
2 Cleans
2 Racked Reverse Lunges
2 Presses
Each side
Got up to 5 reps

Head back toward COT
stopping occasionally for
1 thruster
1 manmaker
1 burpee snatch each side

NMM: Good Friday
I’m afraid that, like Peter after the Last Supper, I’m more willing to fight for Jesus than to die for him.

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Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.


Band Camp dismissed

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Bushy-Co-Q

Six pax for the Bushwood bootcamp on this REMARKABLY PLEASANT morning on December 29th.

The Q was shared by Ruby and HarryCarry, both of which are recovering from injuries so we Q’d what we could actually do.

Started with Ruby: focus on legs/running and core.
Pax started at the top of the hill on the back side of the school. Set-up a starting line at the top of the hill with 5 stations approx. 20 yards apart traveling down the hill. At the starting line PAX had to complete 25 squats and then would travel down the hill to the next station. There was a core exercise and a mode of transportation back up the hill to the starting line written at each station. Here’s the flow: Starting Line = 25 squats, Station #1 = 30 LBCs & Broad Jump back to the starting line to complete 25 squats, Station #2 = 30 Flutters(counting 1 leg only) & Apollo Ono back to the starting line to complete 25 squats, Station #3 = 30 Freddy Mercury’s(count 1 side only) & Lunge Walk back to the starting line to complete 25 squats, Station #4 = 30 Gas Pumpers & NUR back to the starting line to complete 25 squats, Station #5 = 30 American Hammers(count 1 side only) & RUN back to the starting line to complete 25 squats.

BREAK BREAK BREAK: Let the record show NUR was actually found to be written as “NER” on the pavement. 🙂

Hand off to HarryCarry: focus on arms. 

Thang 2.1 = Bench work
pax at benches and do: Step ups (10x per leg); Derkins; Butt-touch squats; Incline Merkins; Dips; calf raises (all 10X IC).

Thang 2.2: Prison Yard Burpees
Four cones about 15′ apart, in a square.  Start at cone 1 and do SIX burpees, then bear crawl to cone 2 and do FIVE burpees; bc to next cone do FOUR burpees, et cetera to ONE burpee.  It’s only 21 burpees in total.

Thang 2.3: Pass the Ammunition
Pax plank on a curb, approximately arm’s length apart.  Pax do three curb merkins and then:
pass a cinder block down the line while still in curb-plank, pass it back to the beginning pax and repeat curb merkins. repeat until burned/pax drop out.

Thang 2.4: Pull up bars
NOTE: poor excuse for pull bars at CRHS, but we made due.
Pax on bar, do 10 pull ups, we cycled the pax through (some did plank or dips while waiting for the bar to open up.  Then we did 10 toes to bar.  Same cycle through.

Fini.  Run back to COT, with the  cinder block getting handed off among the Pax.

COT: Prayers/Praises.  All Pax, led by Ruby, named something they praised for in 2021.

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Run, do this. Run, do this…

It’s Sweep The Leg, the start to a new week, it’s supposed to be a challenge and the headlights kept on coming. Man, what a great day in The Fort. As my Q slots continued over this past week, I’ve been reminded of several things, mostly encouraging. One of those is that if you’re willing to make the workout/route/plan more challenging, guys will show up.
Let’s be honest, it’s humbling yet exciting to see guys show up to your Q so why not make it worth it. That was the aim this morning.

Simple? Yes
Effective? I hope so
Worth it? For sure

We had 29 total.
Redwoods and guys who just hit the 2wk mark.
7min/mile guys and 12min/mile guys.
14yo – 50+yo

The Thang:
Disclaimer and just a few warm up things
Run to the teacher lot at the entrance to GHES
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Velux on the corner of 160
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Horizon Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Model A
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back up to Famous Toastery
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to South State Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back to the Earth Fare lot for 4 Corners:
Corners 1 & 3: 10 Alternating V-Ups
Corners 2 & $: 20 X’s & O’s

All in all, everyone got 3.2mi+ and some got closer to 4mi.

How will you follow that up this week? After all, you’re up 1-0 now go live life as a servant leader.

Maximus

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