Tag: Olaf

New Fellowship Ruck AO Official Starts 9/10 at 5 am

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The fellowship ruck Sole to Soul that we have been doing unofficially for about 3 months has been gaining momentum so we have official start  date of 9/10 at 5 am. We shoot for  4 plus miles every Thursday starting at Panera Bread in Kingsley followed by Hanging with Stang afterwards. What better way could you start your day with a awesome mumblechatter while rucking and a great conversation afterwards with a great sunrise. Join YHC as we launch this AO. I look forward to seeing you in the Gloom.

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Get Some at GC

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Coming off the Bert on Monday at Honey Badger, I knew I didn’t want to give in and do what my body wanted me to do (ie. stay away from merkins and squats), so I did the opposite.  The results were pretty gnarly.

Did a quick mosey around the Teeter parking lot, but did the widest perimeter possible while staying within the shopping center.  I told the pax that this particular lap is what we’ll be doing in between exercises…about a 0.30 mile loop.

First stop –

15 merkins, 15 diamond merkins.  Do it 4 times.  This seemed more logical when I drew it up.  The moans coming out of Slow Jamz was epic / a little concerning.  120 merkins later, we all took that lap and ran without the use of our arms / chest..

15 squats, 15 lunges.  Do it 4 times over.  120 leg reps didn’t feel good on the next lap we did.

15 LBC’s / 15 freddies…x 4 times.  Woof, then lap.

15 bomb jacks, sprint the parking lot length.  Do it 4 times.

From there, we’re moseyed over to the apartments behind Teeter where we started at the first roundabout and I gave the pax the instructions for what i call 21’s.  Starting in that central location, we do 7 reps of an exercise, run up the hill back to the entrance of Teeter (by Red Bowl) and do 14 of the same exercise, then run back, pass the central point and run down to the water fountain, and do 21 reps of the same exercise.  Quick 42 reps of each, and about 0.5 miles of distance with plenty of uphill.

Seal jacks x 7, run, x 14, run, x 21, run.
High knees x 7, run, x 14, run, x 21, run
Squats x 7, run x 14, run, x 21, run
Burpees (I waited until the very end to throw some of these at the pax) x 7, run, x 14, running low on time so ran to COT and did burpees until 6am (most got in about 5-8 to finish).

I always say, keep it simple, and that’s what we did.  Covered 2.8 miles and about 600 reps – 120 merkins, 120 squats / lunges, 120 LBC / freddies, 60 bomb jacks, 42 seal jacks, 42 high knees, 42 more squats and about 30 burpees.  Not a bad day at the office right there.

Ruckers made their way back and we closed out in prayer – school (our kids, teachers, admin), marriages, sickness / recovery, loss of a home, and praise for our health.

Thanks Luda for the call to lead – always love coming to the Corral.  Don’t ever hesitate to schedule me now that I’m over the bridge – happy to lead these great Fort guys.

Cha Ching

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SNOWMAN taking CHARGE at TheSWAMP

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Disclaimer was the warmup. Let’s just get this party started.

So with any challenge you face in life, I feel the simplest way to prevent procrastination is to just get started. so that is what we did this morning. Had a quick lesson on why learning by failure often can teach the best lessons as long as the consequences of the failure are not death or other terrible things. “Pain” doesn’t fall into the other terrible things category so….So we just started the mosey around the typical Rivergate loop placing cones with exercises listed at various corners until we made it back to the starting point. I believe it was 14 cones in total, or I can only remember 14 exercises at the moment, so let’s just call it 14.

Volentold Cabana Boy to lead the first exercise giving him some key clues as needed and he did a much-improved job compared to previous attempts. Practice makes perfect.
Once we had completed the first loop the message was discussed as we moseyed back to the starting cone.
Life is full of setbacks but the people that get the furthest in life are the ones that can be humble enough to learn from their predecessor’s mistakes. This has been resonating in my mind these past few months and I keep going back to it. So the plan is everyone starts at the beginning cone and performs the exercise then proceeds to the next cone when finished to perform that exercise. But instead of performing the exercise keep moving towards the third cone to perform the exercise before returning back to the second. Once the leader has completed the second exercise he then yells charge and everyone moves towards the next stop which is three cones forward. It sounds way more complicated and it takes more words than it should to explain but I don’t know how to draw you a picture so show up to know if you’re curious.
Check out the Strava map here: https://www.strava.com/activities/3911335002
Replay of beatdown on Strava

Exercise list(no particular order): 10 of each
SSH
Peter Parkers
Burpees
Hand release merkins
ChaCha merkins
Plank Jacks
Bobby Hurleys
Mack Tar Jais
Burpees (yes again)
Imperial walkers
Jump lunges
Suicide squats
Jump squats
V-ups
and last but certainly not least was the 8 count body bag builder burpee. A burpee with a plank jack thrown in there. Crowd pleaser.

NMM:
The lesson of the BB is that even the guy in the six or the one putting in the least amount of effort, or the one with the least amount of experience, can still learn from the front runners “mistakes” and not have to backtrack and repeat the same “mistakes” for themself. This is what makes F3 and the PAX within so rare and valuable in my eyes. Not only are the seasoned guys out in the gloom working hard every day, pushing to get themselves better, but they are also often seen encouraging others to get better as well. In this crazy broken world, it warms my heart, (careful I might melt), to see the positive energy being sprinkled around(some could call it love) by these super MACHO men during the early hrs of the morning. These seasoned men are not following in the expectations of Goo nation by holding the knowledge and wisdom gained from previous sufferings close to their chest but in true HIM style sharing and reaching out to those in need to offer advice, support, and encouragement. It doesn’t matter if you think you don’t have any “life wisdom” to share and I am willing to bet you probably have more than you think but let’s say you are super fresh and don’t for a minute. You still can be an asset to the group by offering your words of encouragement to those out front. I will leave you with this thought: What do you have to offer that you could share to make this dark world just a little bit brighter?

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Honoring Schmalstieg at The Fire Ant

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Taking a page out of the Honey Badger book by using a page out of the Hero Workout book. This day at the Fire Ant, we’d honor Gunnery Sergeant Justin Schmalstieg (December 15, 2010).

First, disclaimer.
Second, minor warmup.
Third, drop to the plank and listen:

Justin grew up in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and graduated high school in 2000. He spent a semester at Penn State before enlisting in the Marine Corps, where he initially trained as a bulk fuel specialist. After serving overseas in Kuwait, Justin was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and was accepted into the Explosive Ordnance Disposal program. He finished the demanding training required to become an EOD technician and completed two deployments in the Middle East.

In 2008, Justin received orders to Camp Pendleton in California to serve with the 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. He deployed twice more, first to Iraq in February 2009 and then to the Helmand province of Afghanistan in September 2010. During a night mission, Justin’s unit was in danger of being ambushed – it was his job to clear the way back to base. Staff Sergeant Justin Schmalstieg, 28, gave his life on December 15 while working to render safe an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his widow, Ann Schneider; his parents, John and Deborah Gilkey; and his brother, John Gilkey Jr. For his service and sacrifice, Justin was posthumously decorated with the Purple Heart and promoted to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant.

The EOD WArrior Foundation is dedicated to supporting EOD service members and their families through a number of assistance programs. Please consider making a donation in Justin’s name at www.EODWarriorFoundation.org/Memorial/Warrior/Justin-E-Schmalstieg.

So, the WOD would be slightly modified for our Ruck AO to the following:

For Time:
Run 800M Slick (without Ruck)

2 rounds of the following:
50 Burpees (slick)
40 Pull-Ups would be substituted with 80 Upright Rows
30 One-Legged Pistol Squats
20 Ruck Swings
10 Hand Stand Push Ups would be substituted with 10 Carolina Dry Docks & 10 Merkins

Run another 800M Slick (without Ruck)

Once we completed this, we did a few core exercises.

Until next time, SYITG.
Maximus

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F3 Dads 2020

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Having no idea what to expect, but knowing that YHC was (IS) not comfortable seeing big groups together at WEP when I drive by on 160, we set up cones 6+ft apart making two lines about 50 yards from each other.

When PAX and 2.0s started showing up, YHC was really happy to see everyone and set some expectations to stay in family units and attempt to maintain some distance from others.

BIG circle up for some warmups. All in cadence, most to 10
– SHH
– Merkin
– Imperial Walker
– Hillbilly Walker
– Squat
– Played: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Burpee
– Just like Rock, Paper, Scissors
except the loser has to do a burpee for every person in their family group that beats them. i.e., if you’ve got 3 kids they all throw paper and you throw rock, then you do 3 burpees.

Line up behind one side of the cones
– Dad vs. Kids race: stipulation Dads have to bear crawl.
Loser did 10 burpees counted by the kids
Lots of form critiquing
– Dad vs. Kids race part 2: stipulation Dads have to run backwards (Nur)
Loser does 5 burpees
*Note: it is a lot hotter in the sun at 0900 than 0515

Dad/Kid DORA
50 Merkins
100 SSH
150 Squats
*kids get to count their reps together. E.g., you have 2 kids and each does 10 merkins while you’re running, then your count starts at 21 as they run.

Mosey over to the shade for some yoga and a message about why Dads are leaving the house at Zero-Dark-Thirty. TL/DR: it’s because we want to be better. Not for ourselves, but for our families and our community.

Mosey back to the cones for a session of Leap Frog. WOW, leap frog is quite challenging on the WEP grass with younger kiddos.

0930, it was hot and I knew we had quite a few 2.0s to name. I could also see the kiddos starting to fade (cause certainly no PAX were). So we called it and headed to COT. Brief message about how school is going to look a lot different. Today’s workout is a slight look at keeping a distance from each other, but still trying to enjoy what we can do together.

FNG Count – 10
Spirit Child
First Responder
Hamburglar
Popper
Pulp
PK
Swordy
Designer
Inch Worm
Rogue One

T-Claps all around

Prayers for wisdom to be a better father.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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7 of Diamonds

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There were 3 runners and 9 PAX joined YHC for the boot camp portion.  Was thankful for the help as this was my VQ for a boot camp.  Wanted to make it memorable…

After a quick reminder, gave the disclaimer and we were off.


Warm Up

Moseyed toward the back of the school stopping at first parking lot for Moroccan night clubs (x15) and merkins (x10).  Then moseyed past the back of the school to the next lot where we did low slow squats (x15) and mountain climbers (x10).

The Thang

As we headed up toward the field the PAX saw the chalk on the ground with the 7 of diamonds exercises laid out…I explained each exercise is done at the four locations I pointed out around the loop that goes around the field – about 1/3 mile loop.  All exercises were oyo.  Then it was time to get to it.  Gears was out the gate first and the rest eventually joined in on the fun.  The exercises were:

Burpees (7, 28 total)

LBCs (14, 56 total)

Lunges (21, 82 total)

Flutters (28, 112 total)

Jump Squats (21, 82 total)

Diamond merkins (14, 56 total)

Burpees (7, 28 total)

 

Only a couple made it all the way through and after the six was in we had about 2 min left.  Found a curb and did 30 dips (IC) and 10ish LBCs with a very irregular counting cadence.
Headed back to the shovel flag for COT.
Thanks 38 Special for the opportunity to lead.

 

 

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Mash-up

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JWOWW (Ruck) and YHC (Boot Camp) had the Qs at Golden Corral on Tuesday.  After the disclaimer, the groups departed from the circle for their respective workouts.

I thought I would try something a little different by combining two exercises together, call it a Mash-up. Like peanut butter and jelly, or like a song with two great singers (No Garth Brooks please!).

The details..one minute of exercises 1, exercise 2, and the Mash-up exercise.  Fifteen second rest recovery between exercises.

Exercise 1                     Exercise 2                      Mash-Up

Round 1                       Merkin                         Peter Parker                    Spiderman Merkin

Round 2                       Squat                           Step-up                           Jump Squat

Round 3                        LBC                              Mountain Climber      Freddie Mercury

Round 4                       Moroccan NC           Flutter                              Moroccan Flutter

Round 5                        Caroline DD             Parker Peter                   Dry Peter

Round 6                        Plank                          SSH                                    Plank Jack

Round 7                        Lunge                         Overhead Clap             Lunge Clap

Round 8                        Shoulder Tap          Ski Ab                               Ski Tap Ab

Round 9                         Imperial Walker     Calf Raise                       Imperial Calf Walker

Round 10                     Burpee                        Broad Jump                 Burpee Broad Jump

 

Once complete, we had about a minute to roll back to COT.

 

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Quagmire Gut Punch

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Pulled this one out of the archives from a couple years back w/ some subtle changes.  I informed the men that we may run a bit seeing that I was coming off a week of vacation and needed to detox a bit.  Here we go:

Nice 0.8 mile mosey to get things started, behind the Depot, Target, down to Kohl’s and back up Rivergate Pkwy to the Sun Trust Bank, with stops every quarter mile for some quick stretching / warm-up (1st quarter mile – wind mills x10, 2nd – mountain climbers / merkins x20, 3rd – squats x10 in cadence)

The real thang, taking up the remainder of the time:  pax will run the remaining length of Rivergate Pkwy, and stop 10 times along the way and do the exercise and rep count I tell them.  To be clear, they do the same exercise and rep count 10 times until they get to the very end, and then run back to the start.  I then change the exercise and rep count up.  Each set of 10 stops was a 0.30 mile run down, and then you had to run back so 0.60 miles were covered for each exercise.

  • 5 burpees per stop = 50 burpees + 0.6 miles
  • 10 big boy sit-ups = 100 big boys + 0.6 miles
  • 15 jump squats = 150 jump squats + 0.6 miles (this one was a d1ck move)
  • 10 merkins = 100 merkins + 0.6 miles

From there, we were out of time and headed back to CoT.  One of these days we’ll get the full weinke in with a 5 / 10 / 15 / 15 / 10 / 5 rep ladder, ending in burpees a second time.  For today, the 500 reps inclusive of the warm-up and 3.2 miles was enough.

I mentioned to the pax that when I was reading my old back blast from a couple years back, I had noted in the write-up that DaVinci was back in the gloom after 2-3 months on IR.  He had spoken to us back then about preparedness, and how we need to prepare for the unexpected, because his IR stint took its toll and he wasn’t ready for what it would do physically, emotionally, relationally, you name it.  It was fitting to read what he said 2 years ago because I had a gut punch myself a week and a half ago.  But honestly, because of this group, and the arsenal of resources we’ve built up supporting one another, I’m more prepared now than ever to pray, lean on others and power through this minor set back.

Prayers were said for Tsunami and his wife, Olaf and his 36 years, and my situation.  I really appreciate the pax who came out and gave it their all, even though some of the things I asked of you were pretty mean.  You guys all did and it and didn’t complain.  Just got to work and kept sharpening your body for when the time comes you’ll need that extra bit of gumption.  Go get it.

Cha Ching

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Start Fast, Grow Steady, Finish Strong

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17 HIM descended upon the Swamp for a strong finish to the month of July.  YHC got a call from Duck Dynasty this week asking to step up and take the Q.  Upon arrival, YHC was greeted by a few early arriving #HIM and the remainder wandered in between 0507 and 0515 – well all but Olaf who came in hot and eventually caught up to us quickly at COP.

Disclaimers were announced and it was confirmed that no FNG’s were present today.

The theme of the workout, fittingly, was 7’s, 31’s and focusing on how we are finishing.  YHC laid out the theme and off we moseyed to the Home Depot Parking Lot for COP and the warm up – all exercises in cadence:

15 D/C Imperial Walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 15 hillbilly walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 10 low slow squats, holding the people’s chair we did 10 D/C Moroccan night clubs in cadence, held the chair for a Duck Dynasty 10-count and finished in the chair with 10 D/C shoulder taps in cadence.  5 more burpees OYO and then moved to 10 D/C seal jacks in cadence followed by 5 burpees OYO before moseying off to Target for the main event.

Main event – 7-31 – Start fast, finish strong.

Fittingly, July 31 required 7’s and 31’s on this relatively breezy morning.  PAX lined up to complete kracken burpees on one end of the parking lot, run roughly 50 yards and did lunges at the rate of 6 kracken burpees & 1 lunge, 5 & 2, 4 & 3, 3 & 4, 2 & 5 and 1 & 6.  After the 6 was in a short plank was called, after which we moseyed to the fountains for 15 D/C dips in cadence and then took on the 31’s to finish July strong.

31’s were a combination of merkins and squats – merkins on one end of the parking lot, followed by a run to the opposite end – roughly 200 (ish) yards and squats.  The sequence went as follows:

27 merkins, 4 squats

23 merkins, 8 squats

19 merkins, 12 squats

15 merkins, 16 squats

11 merkins, 20 squats

7 merkins, 24 squats

3 merkins, 28 squats

As the six came in all PAX, fittingly, got on their respective 6’s for 31 D/C (of course) flutters in cadence. A recover on our feet and a mosey to COT was called where PAX had just enough time for a 60 second protractor at varying degrees and a 30 second body destroyer put us right on 0600 and COT.

Announcements:

Sweati on 8-15 – launching from Colosseum (0530 for ruckers, 0600 for runners): Questions?  Get w/Backdraft.

Operation Stuff the Bus is a week from tomorrow, 8-8, starting at 0800: Bonsai is your Q.  Sign ups for 2 hour time slots are available.

Read Your Newsletter.

Prayers & praises were offered up both out loud and in the silence of our hearts.

NMM – The purpose of today’s workout was missional and aptly was held at the end of a calendar month – to start fast and finish strong.  In fulfilling our personal missions, it is imperative to answer the question “Are we intentional about how we finish or do we go through the motions and check the box?”  What would our M’s, 2.0’s and inner concentrica say if they were asked these questions about us?  Do we take the necessary steps to be thorough?  Do we take the extra minute or two in a conversation with a loved one to let them know we are present and available and not let our minds wander to the next task that lies ahead?   If you could look back at July, how purposeful was your month?  How did you “finish”?

Between 0500 and 0515 (or earlier to get EC) every weekday morning, we as PAX have the benefit of starting a workout with intentionality and purpose – completing that mission by 0600.  Do we take the same level of intentionality to our relationships, our families, our work?  How intentional is our time allocated and used?  We all get the same amount every day.  It is in finishing strong with that time that we make impact for the better and leave no doubt to those around us.  Start fast, and with purpose.  Finish strong to maximize your reach and impact.

YHC is grateful to Duck Dynasty for the opportunity to Q and to the PAX for encouraging the acceleration brought about by F3.

Start fast, grow steady, finish strong!

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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Lead, Then Get Out of the Way

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A month ago Lutefisk reached out for me to Q today and I said yes.  Thinking to myself, that will give me plenty of time to get my sorry butt somewhat back in shape.  Well, that didn’t happen so had to figure out how to lead, without leading.   Thus U vs U was my only option.
Disclaimer
FNG Alex (Soft Tail)
Mosey to Domino’s
    Mtn Climbers (10), Carolina Dry Docks (10), Hello Dollies (10), Lunges (10)
Mosey to Dogtopia
    Side Straddle Hops (54 of course), Merkins (10), LBC’s (10), Squats (10)
Mosey to back of Dollar Tree
    Peter Parkers (10), Plank Punches (10), Freddie Mercuries (10), Monkey Humpers (10)
Mosey to Express Lube wall
    Parker Peters (10), Dips (10), Box Cutters (10), Step-Ups (10-each leg)
Mosey to Walgreen’s Drive Through – Now the U vs U part
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Merkins
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Merkins, 10- Carolina Dry Docks
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Merkins, 10- Carolina Dry Docks, 10 Wide Arm Merkins
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Merkins, 10- Carolina Dry Docks, 10 Wide Arm Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Merkins, 10- Carolina Dry Docks, 10 Wide Arm Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins, 10 Hand Release Merkins
    Some folks did an extra lap (because they can)
Round Two
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Bomb Jacks
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Bomb Jacks, 10- Side Straddle Hops
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Bomb Jacks, 10- Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees
    Run Lap around Building(s) –  10 Bomb Jacks, 10- Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Mountain Climbers ( I think this is as far as anyone got)
    Was an option to substitute Ab exercises but in true F3 fashion peer pressure prevented any of that non-sense.
Always honored and humbled to Q.  Was great to see a lot of faces, haven’t seen in while.  Appreciate the Lake Wylie boys getting up soooo early to make the trek across the pond, but stop your moaning already (Witch Hunt).
Pax: Bones, Witch Hunt, O’Reilly, Royal, Wild Thing, Slap shot, Oscar the grouch, Tesla, Long Duck, Olaf, Shop Vac, Nature boy, Cha Ching, Change Order, Fish Sticks, Duck Dynasty, Stang, Grass Knoll, Lutefisk, White Lightening, Half Shell, Cyclopes, Trucker, Zoo-lander, FNG (Soft Tail), Cake Boss
Cornhole Out
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