Snow Day – Pantheonish – RUCKS – SNOW

So yeah, I knew Tempo was going to be closed but I really really really wanted to “play” in the snow.  So I threw it out on Twitter that I would be at the Pantheon field with sandbags and a RUCK if anyone wanted to join.

To my SURPRISE, OLAF and Maximus were there!!!

The workout:

Warm – Up

Unload the Truck – Workout in itself

Sandbag lap around the field

A second lap around the field but now we tossed sandbags the entire way

Half lap tossing/carrying sandbags

Coupon Suicides 

These ran the entire length of the soccer field – How it went down

Mosey carrying sandbag – 40, 60 , 80 to first check point – drop it sprint back to start and back to coupon – exercise – 40 = curls, 60 = Squats, 80 = Deadlift – Carry back to the start grab a different weight and repeat to next stop until we did the whole field.  That went down twice.

Circle of Pain 

Gathered in a circle and each took turns calling out exercises

Round 1 

Rad – Curls

Olaf – Overhead Press

Maximus – Tricep Extension

Round 2 

Rad – Ruck Swings

Olaf – Lift up and over soccer goal post (AWESOME IDEA)

Maximus – Cleans with squats and overhead

Round 3 

Rad – Run a lap around field alternating carrys – Bear Hug – Farmer Right – Farmer Left – Overhead – Tray Carry – Carry by waist strap

Olaf – Low Slow Squats

Maximus – Curls

Thanks for coming out guys and always allowing us to push ourselves further than we think.  Prayers for officers and safe travels.

FUN TIMES

 

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Different Q to prevent 0-59. Turns out it was just a #GDTBATH

Temps of 20F, 15 PAX were early and ready to go. Mumblechatter of running vs standing around was way better.
Mosey through Pickup Lanes x2
  • Regular
  • High knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Toy Soldiers
COP at Basketball Court
  • SSH
  • Windmill
  • Moroccan Nightclub
  • Peter Parker –> Jekyll was quick to call YHC’s exercise as Mountain Climbers, so Jekyll gave a demo of a real Peter Parker (legs wide) and everyone was enlightened
  • Parker Peter
YHC is a Clemson fan, and the goal was to do something different today so that Clemson did not go 0-59 (Spoiler Alert) when playing basketball at UNC. So we did some basketball themed work
Basketball
  • Baseline
    • Side shuffles “Defense” (reverse, back up)
  • Circle up
    • Wojo – slap ground, clap – 4count x15
    • Plank + Merkin Wave 2count – x2
    • Squat – basketball ball hot potato in circle
  • Curb
    • Toe-taps – 4count x30
    • Dips x30 OYO –> The name “Herb Sendek” was mentioned to Maximus by YHC during this exercise. We kept that between us.
  • Baseline
    • Ball roll backwards (pretend 1 hand on ball, 1 hand in air) in a defensive position – 4-counts to switch position
    • Suicide
  • Knock-out
    • PAX wearing gloves shooting on 10ft goals wasn’t awesome. But we Played knock-out for about 5min and PAX did SSH-like exercises while they waited, or if they were knocked out
  • 4-Corners – showing respect to Dean Smith, totally 58
    • 10 Burpees
    • 10 Merkins
    • 20 Mountain Climbers
    • 18 LBCs
Over the wall
  • Burpee from 1 up to 5 count
    • Over-the-Wall
  • Donkey Kicks, 1 each time
Mary – people’s choice
  • Nomad – American Hammers
  • Flattire, Jekyll, MacGyver, Maximus – I forgot what they called 🙁
  • Cooter – LBCs
  • Router – Boxcutters
  • Fishsticks – Superman + Parachute
COT
  • Prayers
    • Nomad – Father’s, to be better ones, for youth group that doesn’t have them, and to make sure we are following our heavenly one
    • Maximus – Fathering daughter’s
    • Router – teaching son how to be a man, and girls for the type of man they should find
    • Maxims – In Memory, Gremlin in Mint Hill
    • Jekyll – for us to be able to receive love.
It was a fun Q. It didn’t end Clemson basketball streak of losing at UNC, but it still has me sore as I finish this backlist within 48hr of completing the Q, so thats good?
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Beyond #2…Honoring our officers

Round 2 at Beyond, this time at The Coop. The original plan was to talk about “Fear” but 36hrs ago, 4 of our local law enforcement officers in York County were involved in an incident that has our community praying for their healing and their families. I found it only appropriate to bring our attention as a PAX, for a mere 45mins, to these men and what they’re fighting for at this moment. We should also be praying for the rest of the law enforcement community as well as our first responders, nurses and doctors who are doing everything they can for them and our community. I am given the opportunity to roll my eyes at a radar trap because of what community servants like these 4 men do on a daily basis and the families that send them out the door every single day. That said, I’ll try to cease my misguided eye-rolling.

This is not the place to put the officers names but we all know who they are. I read the names of the men this morning and asked everyone to keep one of those names in their mind as they’re going through our workout this morning. I will however, include their years of service to York County in their current capacity: 34yrs, 13yrs, 12yrs, 3 yrs. So there you have our topic for round 2 of Beyond; 4 officers with a combined 62yrs of service SO FAR in their current roles.

Warm up jog leading us around the lot and over to the intersection with the ROTC building.

When you see 31, know that it was in cadence for a total of 62

SSH x 31 in cadence

Carolina Dry Docks x 31

Squats x 62

Merkins x 20 which was followed by a 4-tier sprint then followed by the remaining 11 Merkins

Make our way to the pull-up bars for some partner work:

Partner 1: 62 Pull-Ups (use assistance as needed)   Partner 2: Elbow Plank

Partner 1: V-ups (toe-touches) x 31    Partner 2: Mak Tar Jah’s x 31

Bear crawl 62 paces and grab some curb for 62 calf raises

62 Jump Squats and 31 Jumping Lunges (crowd pleaser)

Bear crawl 62 paces

American Hammers x 31

Dying Cockroach x 31 (might’ve included a breather in there)

The pull-ups were definitely the highlight but it was awesome to see guys of all conditions pushing through those, not matter if they had a busted paw or not (Bolt). It is extremely humbling and honoring to have another 8 guys join me as we push ourselves and work out some of these new-AO wrinkles. Please, above all, pray for those 4 men and thank our servants when you see them.

If you’re still reading, thank you. You’ll now learn that Cha Ching will be bringing his A-game to his Beyond Q next Thursday, 1/25 at the Poopdeck in Lake Wyle. If his Q today was any indication, bring your big-boy pants.

As you were.

Maximus

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Beyond #1…What’s at your CORE?

Beyond can be defined as “Outside the understanding, limits, or reach of.” That is what this thing is all about; recognizing that a push beyond, in all many aspects of life, can be a really good thing. If you’re a killer runner, come do a Merkin and a Pull Up with us. If you’re strength nut, come do a few sprints and bear crawls with us. The reasoning for this is well documented now, dating back a few months to when Jekyll let me share about this at a Colosseum Q I had.

And yes, I am 8 days late in getting this BB written which is rather ironic. I will work to get these posted both by the Q’s and YHC in a more timely manner.

We started last Tuesday with the 1st round of Beyond and the theme was CORE. Besides the obvious, physical reference to the word, Core can be defined as, “A central and often foundational part usually distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature.” In other words, when the world strips away your exterior, what are you left with to truly guide you. To take this a step further, I let the PAX know that Beyond will challenge them to push past the limits they’ve previously established for themselves. This is aided by listening to a Podcast, “Team Never Quit” in which you listen to stories of people who’ve endured unbelievable challenges and have pushed through to find the redemptive outcome on the other side. It seems impossible when you’re in the thick of “it”, whatever “it” might be in your life, but God has a plan. Bad and difficult things happen, yes, but we try to find a glimmer of hope and positivity on the other side.

Enough rambling…I need to figure out a better way to capture the names for Beyond but for now, we’ll have to rely on my fuzzy memory. I know we had 15  which I think included the following, Bob the Builder, Geronimo, Band Camp, Straight Up, Fire Marshall Bill, Frat Boy, Longshanks, Jedi, Cha Ching, Ginsu, Trucker, Lutefisk, Bonsai, MacGuyver, YHC. My sincere apologies if I got a few of these wrong.

Once we separated from the Block Party PAX, we jogged through the park and made our way to the playground, which still sounds strange every time I write that. We did a few warm up exercises like SSH, Arm Circles, Sumo Squats and more SSH which was then followed by a little stretching and lot more of my talking (rambling). What I was trying to get to was that you can’t quit and if you need a little motivation to keep from quitting, look to the man to your left and right and realize they won’t let you quit and you don’t want to let them down. If it were just you out there, we’d quit a lot sooner. Remember, YOU’RE NEVER ALONE OUT THERE…SO DON’T QUIT.

100 American Hammers (we all thought about quitting on that one unless you’re Jedi/Geronimo

25 LBC

100 Flutters

30 Peter Parkers

50 Mountain Climbers

Partner 1: 50 Carolina Dry Docks   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done and flapjack

Partner 1: 15 Burpees   Partner 2: Pull Ups until your partner is done

Mosey to the Big Hill where found some cones forming a 15yd x 20yd rectangle on the hill.

Backward run up the hill, 5 Burpees at the top then run down. Repeat this 5 times.

Next we bear-crawled around the rectangle for 3mins which was awesome…

Mosey to the wall at the Springs building

Nothing fancy, just a mere 3mins of muscle ups…yup, it was turrible.

We talked about not quitting and trying to answer the question of whether or not you can change what is at your CORE. What is left when the world takes what you see, away? So that was it. I learned a lot in these 45mins and I hope we continue to see a good contingent of guys willing to push themselves.

As you were…

Maximus

 

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5 at Armory with Celebrity Jailbreak

5 braved the cold for some kettlebell misery while we watched other Pax head to the warmth of the Journey Group (Respect.)

Maximus was our celebrity jailbreak as kids have no school so he had nothing better to do in 23 degree temps.

After a mosey and some warmups, kettle bell were used for sets of:

Calf raises, John Travoltas, Figure 8’s and a jog.

KB swings, Around the worlds, Clean Presses and a jog.

Lunges, One hand swings, Snatch and squats and a jog

Big Boy Sit-ups, Flutter kicks, Benxh presses and a jog .

I really enjoy the times we have smaller numbers. It gives us a chance to share more about ourselves and as we learned in COT we have some heavy hearts.  We lost a member of the Pax from Mint Hill. Prayers to Short Sale on the death of his brother.  Prayers for Squeaky’s daughter recovery from mono and for his family as they think of loved ones in the coming months who have been through some tragedy.

God bless –

ASSASSIN

 

 

 

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Just in Time

YHC peeled into the parking with 1 minute to spare before the 515 start to see 12 eager PAX waiting to warm up in the cold.  It would have been a bad look for the Site Q to be late to his own Q.

The Thang

Mosey to the Band Parking lot for COP

Usual suspects – SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Squats.

Mosey over the parking lot loop at the front of the school for Dirty MacDuece.  4 sets of 3 exercises done to 12.  All in cadence.  Lap of the parking lot in between each set.

Set 1 – Merkins, Squats, LBCs

Set 2 – CDDs, Alternating Leg Lunges, Freddy Mercury

Set 3 – Diamond Merkins, Monkey Humpers, Rosalitas

Set 4 – Wide Arm Merkins, Sumo Squats, Hello Dollies

Mosey back to stadium parking lot for Mary.  Went around the circle with Pax calling out exercises – Freddy Mercury, LBCs, Toe Touches, American Hammers, Peter Parkers, Makhtar N’Diayes

COT – Announcements, Prayers and Praises.

Thanks to all that came out on a cold morning.  Your support is appreciated.

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More Running, Less Bootcamp

#HypeTrain rolled into the #LacesIn Station once again.  This time it was a family affair with #SPEEDFORNEED coming south to join forces as well as #LacesOut (#F3RunClub) (#Yogging (soft J)) converging with the Bootcampers for 45 minutes of …..well lots of running.  The irony was not lost on YHC (the artist formerly known as Mountain Buffalo) as he gave up the ‘running for an extended period of time’ thing years ago.  Vowing never to return.  Yet his own Q hijacked by nothing more than simple running.  At the very least YHC squeezed in a couple of merkins (only for #Rooney’s sake) and taught everyone what an “updown” was – seriously?  Who doesn’t know what an updown entails?!?  It’s even in the gawl-dang name.  YHC digresses.  Here is what happened:

Little Baby Jog to the football field (so cushy – so soft).

Dynamic Warmup

High Knees, Butt Kickers, Side Shuffles, Toy Soldiers, Toe Touches, Long Strides, Power Skips (Trademark: WWLs).

Then merkins (Rooney!!!)  and windmills to straighten everyone out.

Time to Bootcamp:

Partner up and size kinda matters for very confusing sequence.

UpDown – Partner Push – Run to Opposite Side of Field – UpDown – Partner Push

Repeat this every 20 yards as you move down the field to the endzone and then go back down to the other endzone.

(This was a rugby (shocker – I know) simulation – expend energy – sprint – get on the ground – get back up – expend more energy – sprint again – then repeat.  While it was unorthodox and confusing to some – it was a smoker.)

Rinse and Repeat with 2 updowns before each partner push.  Another smoker.

Give me a ten count.

Hey – let’s breakout the running chairs and do some sprints!!!  Tolkien was nice enough to give us all a quick tutorial about how they work.  We split into teams and relayed around the track with weights.  Then we got on the field and chased the chairs for 100 yards – over and over and over and over and over again.  Then some (small) pax jumped in the chairs and they got pushed and the rest of us chased for 100 meters over and over and over and over again.  Okay – enough running!!!  Back to the field.

YHC went back to one of his favorites – the extra long bear crawl.  This time – 100 yards.  Crowd pleaser!

We worked our way back with some rugby sprints (could not resist).

Ended with a little bit o mary then ran the chairs back to COT.

 

Great time out there among so major #HIMs and it’s always an honor to lead.  YHC saw a tweet asking for more “SERVICE” to our community from F3Nation.  No better example of pure SERVICE then Tolkien.  The amount of time/energy/passion/service this man brings to #SPEEDFORNEED is incredible.  Follow his lead in 2018 – get out there – get uncomfortable – and serve others!  Aye!

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Forefeast of the Theophany

10 PAX posted in the arctic air this morning (the Ninth Day of Christmas) after emerging from their warm vehicles. There was some mild griping about the weather and a college football game from the night before. Before our feet froze to the ground, YHC directed a mosey to the WEP playground:

CoP

SSH 27
Windmill (Abe Vigoda style) 18
Imperial Walkers 9
Hillbilly Walkers 9
Mountain Cimbers 9
Plank to Down Dog to Honey Mooner back to Down Dog
Pull-ups (oyo) 9

Mosey to missing drill bit:

CoP

Brief quiz on Theophany that resulted in a lack of correct answers and lead to:
Merkins 9
Low Slow Squats 9
Burpees 9

Mosey to Calhoun St. parking lot

The Thang

Begin w/ 9 bomb jacks (modify to squats if needed)
Run to the center of the parking lot
5 burpees
Run to the end of the parking lot
9 merkins (reserve the right to call hand-release merkins if form is suspect)
Run to center of parking lot
4 burpees
Run back to start

Rinse and Repeat 9 times – (due to time constraints we completed 6-7)

Mosey to CoT for Mary (9 reps of 9 exercises)

1 Love – Flutter
2 Joy – Freddie Mercury
3 Peace – LBC
4 Patience – American Hammer
5 Kindness – Box Cutter
6 Generosity – Monkey Crunches
7 Faithfulness – Big Boy Situps
8 Gentleness – 9 count
9 Self-Control – Catalina Wine Mixer
*Bonus* Stubbornness – 9 Burpees

Naked man moleskin

January 2 is the Ninth Day of Christmas and/or the Forefeast of the Theophany of Jesus Christ. The Theophany, in the orthodox tradition, is the revealing of the divine in Jesus at his Baptism. This date in the more modern tradition coincides with Epiphany, which is the revealing of Jesus as coming to redeem the Gentiles as well as the Jews represented by the Magi.

Some Protestant traditions also celebrate Paul’s nine Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as part of the Ninth Day of Christmas, hence the focus on repetitions of 9. I add a bonus fruit of the spirit, stubbornness. Stubbornness has been a real blessing to my life (and occasionally a source of frustration).

We welcomed FNG, Spay, to the ranks. It is a good sign for a FNG to post in 11ºF (which for the record is -12.2ºC). Welcome to Spay!

This was my VQ. It was an honor to have so many come out and post! Thank to Double D for the opportunity!

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Holiday Run and Gun

Run and Gun experienced its largest numbers of recent times this past Wednesday night.

 

Two PAX – CC (Tiny) & Twister kicked off RNG at 5:15 with a pre-ruck and a short visit with Quack Attack and his son (searching for an Eagle project).

At 6:15 the rest of the PAX joined with Cornhole and CG running with the balance (four) rucking with two coupons 40 lb and 60lb (courtesy Cornhole) and executing the 7 – seven minutes rucking followed by three exercises, rinse and repeat until time is called.

After COT – where we offered prayers for PAX Mr. Clean,  Cornhole, CG, MF and Twister adjourned to Six Pence for 2nd F where libations and hearty fare (including properly toasted bread on CG’s BLT) were shared.

Happy New Year to all the PAX across the US

 

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’Tis the Season to be D.E.L.I.G.H.T.ed!!!

Song from Caedmon’s Call:

“We delight in the law of Your Word.

We DELIGHT in the son who was perfect from birth!”

Yes, I truly did serenade my fellow PAX. Fortunately, no major side comments were heard although one PAX leader stated that it may be the first recorded serenade at an F3 workout.

It was an honor to share a Q at this time of year (in 29 degree weather) with such a remarkable set of F3 men! Merry Christmas!

Today’s Q was in honor of Jesus. I definitely DELIGHT in the son who was perfect from birth!

For today between each exercise, each person throughout the workout gave at least one thing over the past month they are thankful/grateful for OR something they have learned about regarding giving.

WARM-UP:

DYNAMIC STRETCHING emphasis:

Jog – 1 Min

High Knees – 30 Seconds

Butt Kickers – 30 Seconds

Toy Soldiers – 30 Seconds

Lateral Shuffles – 30 Seconds (each side)

Lateral Lunges – 10 (5 each side)

Squats – 12

Alternating Forward Lunges  – 10 (5 each side)

Merkins – 15 single set

Single Leg Toe touches with other leg going back – 10 (5 each side)

Glute Bridges – 10

Rolling Crucifix – 5X each side

Table Twists – 5X each side

 

The Thang:

For each exercise, PAX randomly chose their D.E.L.I.G.H.T.(ful) A, B or C exercise option! Below are the ones chosen. For the ones that were not chosen, you will just how to show up for a future workout of mine! (Maybe next 12/26: “The Return of D.E.L.I.G.H.T.(fulness)?)

(Note: I had a lot of positive feedback about this workout and some requests for descriptions so I have put them in below in case you want to use them for any of your next Qs.)

D:

Daft Punk: 1 rep is 4 way lunges each side of your body for a total of 8 aggregate reps

E:

Empty Wheelbarrow: crab walk with a fellow PAX holding your feet about 25-30 yards – 1 round each

L:

Low Country Crab: crab walk position, left arm touching right toe and do other side: 10X minimum or go to failure or whenever it gets boring for you

I:

Indian Bear Crawl: line up head to toe in plank; first person from back bear crawls to front, while everyone else does OYO 1 rep very slow merkin with a pause and continuing until it is your turn to bear crawl

G:

Good morning Abbey: lay flat, move feet in and sit upright, then get up without touching the ground (if possible), then lower self back without using arms again (12 X)

H:

Hurpees: hand release burpees with a twist for my version: 5X: 1 hand release merkin, then 1 merkin, then 5X: 5 hand releases, then 5 slow merkins

T:

(just when you thought you were done . . .)

Tempo Merkin: 13 Merkins in cadence with 3 count down and 1 count up

 

Extra Credit for these 10 hardworking PAX:

Daniel-Son: Karate Kid position; alternate legs in quick succession

rotating with Dying Cockroach (10 reps, then 8, then 7)

3 rounds accomplished with different speeds

Abs:

Seated Ab Circles – 30 secs each direction; 5 sec rest between each

Cross Knee Planks with a leg raise (similar to a Parker Peter with a leg raise) – 60 secs

Recliner Elbow to Knee Tucks – 30 secs – (seriously this one hurt if you are really reclining)

Planks on elbows with right arm/left arm high rotation – 60 secs

Plank – 1 minute

Flat back stretch, rotate arms on top

Downward Dog with A+ form

Honeymooner with knees not touching ground

COT:

Highlighted Announcements: Joe Davis Run, New Black Diamond AO beginning 1/9/18, Laces In this week highlighted

Highlighted Prayer Requests: for babies to be born this year and babies just born

Closing Prayer of Thanksgiving

Final shout out: These 10 PAX did an excellent job today of sharing and being open with each other as well as pushing themselves physically. Again, it was an honor. Thank you, Jekyl for the opportunity!

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